Suddenly, a shrill bugle call pierced through the night sky.
On this supposed-to-be quiet spring night, the sky over Lige City was ablaze with fire. The stars in the sky instantly lost their luster. Beneath the dark and vast sky, every household in Lige City had their doors tightly shut. Cavalrymen holding torches galloped through Wutong Street, surrounding the Prince Cheng's Mansion water-tight.
Since the founding of the Li Xia Dynasty, there had only been one succession turmoil. It was a hundred years ago when the ancestors of Li Xia drew their swords against each other because of party strife. The war lasted for more than a month. The whole Lige City was filled with blood and corpses.
At that time, Li Xia was in a dilemma. While there was internal strife, enemy spies invaded, almost leading to the downfall of the dynasty.
That party strife brought great trauma to Li Xia and also rang an alarm bell for its ancestors. Since then, to avoid repeating the same mistakes, the ancestors of Li Xia made an agreement that only the crown prince, the one with the purest bloodline, could succeed the throne of Li Xia to ensure the long - standing of the dynasty.
To make the common people accept this rule, the ancestors of Li Xia often gathered all the officials for sacrifices, begging for punishment from Xing Tian for the disloyal. They started annual sacrifices and education, subtly engraving this new law into the memories of the people.
Those who obeyed the law would prosper, while those who violated it would be condemned and imprisoned in the death row as a warning. Through both hard and soft means, the ancestors of Li Xia finally turned this law into a dogma engraved in the beliefs of the Li Xia people.
However, the ancestors of Li Xia thought too simply of human nature.
They didn't know that power was the most eye - catching thing.
Similarly, later generations didn't understand the good intentions of the ancestors of Li Xia. After all, what people learned from history was that they never learned from history.
This was why in the vast history of China, with the passage of time and dynasties changing, almost every last emperor had similar characteristics of being fatuous, incompetent, and trusting treacherous officials.
This was also why in the vast world, most countries still turned a blind eye, with corruption, selfishness, using the blood of the poor to brew their own wine, which finally led to countless uprisings and struggles.
In the long history, ethnic opposition and party strife were almost the root causes of all contradictions. The old man of history was like an indifferent onlooker, quietly watching the weak humans on this land repeatedly performing the same drama. After each performance, he would sarcastically say: Look, this is the root of contradiction. Humans will never learn.
Why couldn't they learn?
Shen Qingfeng looked at Xia Yanhe, who was standing in front of him, wearing armor and arrogantly sitting on a horse.
He found the answer in Xia Yanhe's eyes.
Desire.
Intense, eager, and arrogant.
This was something that humans had been unable to avoid since ancient times.
A beggar who had never been able to get enough money would be very happy if a kind - hearted person gave him a copper coin every day to buy steamed buns.
When the kind - hearted person became rich and gave him five copper coins every day to buy meat pies, the beggar would be extremely grateful.
But one day, when the kind - hearted person suddenly went bankrupt and only gave the beggar one copper coin, what would the beggar say?
The beggar would scold the kind - hearted person -
Since you are wearing such good clothes and eating such good food, why can't you even afford five copper coins?
The beggar didn't know that if it weren't for the kind - hearted person, he would have starved to death many times.
This was desire. Once it arose, it could never be satisfied. After getting a little, one would want more and more.
Just like Xia Yanhe. He was just a marginal prince. Because Xia Yonglin was imprisoned and Li Yanqing was captured, this guy who originally had no access to power suddenly got Li Yanqing's military power.
So he became arrogant and conceited. He thought that if he killed Xia Chuli and Shen Qingfeng, he could become the king of Li Xia.
He thought so and said so. With a ferocious look on his face, he pointed his spear at Shen Qingfeng and laughed: "Shen Qingfeng, if I kill you, what chance does Xia Chuli in the Eastern Palace have to compete with me? With the military power in my hands now, the imperial guards in Bian Palace are no match for me!"
Shen Qingfeng stood alone in the main courtyard of the Prince Cheng's Mansion. He didn't say a word. He just stood there with his hands behind his back, then slowly looked up and said contemptuously: "Xia Yanhe, do you think you are qualified to be the king of Li Xia?"
Xia Yanhe's eyes widened. He never thought that when he surrounded Shen Qingfeng and his dozens of people with more than 3,000 men, Shen Qingfeng could still say such words calmly.
Shen Qingfeng's words were extremely humiliating. Xia Yanhe trembled with anger, his eyes red. He shouted: "Shen Qingfeng! What the hell did you say?"
Shen Qingfeng stared firmly into Xia Yanhe's eyes. His voice was as cold as his face. He said word by word: "I said, you are not worthy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Yanhe felt as if countless needles had suddenly pierced his skin. He let out a roar and rushed forward with his spear pointed directly at Shen Qingfeng's throat!
The people behind him also rushed forward almost at the same time. For a moment, the men from the Listening Wind Pavilion and the imperial guards clashed directly with Xia Yanhe's army!
"Clang!" With a loud noise, Shen Qingfeng pushed Yu Shuang, who wanted to block in front of him, aside, and drew his sword to meet the attack. The tip of his sword collided with the tip of Xia Yanhe's spear, creating a blinding spark.
"Xia Yanhe, what makes you think you are worthy of the throne of Li Xia? Is your brain much bigger than an almond? Li Xia doesn't need a stupid emperor!" Shen Qingfeng deliberately provoked him. Xia Yanhe was a stupid and reckless man. Only by provoking him could Shen Qingfeng find a way to defeat him more easily.
"Ah ah ah -" Xia Yanhe was indeed provoked. He roared hysterically: "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
Xia Yanhe held his spear with both hands and suddenly lifted it up. Shen Qingfeng barely dodged and took two steps back. Before he could stand still, the angry Xia Yanhe rushed forward again.
"Sir!" Yu Shuang, who was closest to Shen Qingfeng, had just killed a man with a single knife. Turning around, he saw that the tip of Xia Yanhe's spear was less than the length of a chopstick away from Shen Qingfeng's throat!
"Sir, be careful!" In the blink of an eye, Xiang Cheng rushed forward like a ghost. He swung his knife with one hand, deflecting Xia Yanhe's spear, and then kicked Xia Yanhe in the chest, kicking him several feet away.
But Xia Yanhe's fighting spirit had been completely aroused by Shen Qingfeng. He bounced up, jumped up suddenly, picked up his spear and continued to fight with them.
In an instant, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the sound of metal clashing never stopped. People around him fell one by one, and blood spattered everywhere, staining Shen Qingfeng's white clothes red.
Although the people from the Listening Wind Pavilion were all highly skilled, they were still outnumbered. Moreover, the enemies they were facing now were more than a hundred times their number. In less than half an incense - burning time, everyone had wounds of different depths. Yu Shuang and Xiang Cheng were closest to Shen Qingfeng. Both of them were red - eyed from killing. While hacking at the approaching enemies, they also had to take care of Shen Qingfeng's safety. Even Yu Shuang, who was extremely skilled, had a small wound on his neck. It was only a few inches away from cutting his carotid artery.
At first, Xia Yanhe was defeated by Yu Shuang and stood behind to rest. But now, he seemed to see the embarrassment of the other side. Seeing that the people on the other side were protecting Shen Qingfeng in the middle and retreating step by step, he was overjoyed.
He walked to the side, picked up a bow and an arrow. Taking advantage of the chaos on the battlefield, he slowly raised the arrow behind the fighting soldiers, drew the bow, and aimed at Shen Qingfeng, who was standing behind Yu Shuang and was in the middle of the fight.
Shen Qingfeng was already in poor health. After several rounds of fighting, he was out of breath and couldn't notice the sharp arrow that had locked onto him on the chaotic battlefield.
"Haha..." Xia Yanhe snorted arrogantly: "Die, Shen Qingfeng."
"Whoosh -!"
The extremely fast arrow cut through the air. In the sound of breaking through the air, the arrow tip pierced into the flesh, crushed the muscles, scraped against the breastbone with a harsh sound, and then "poof" went through the chest.
Shen Qingfeng was stunned. He stared blankly at Xia Yanhe, who was standing not far away with his eyes wide open. He saw Xia Yanhe staring at the arrow in his hand in disbelief. Then, he slowly lowered his head, and his eyes gradually fell on his chest, on the red arrow that had penetrated his body.
Not far behind him, a tall figure was sitting on a horse.
He maintained the posture of shooting the arrow. His black armor reflected the faint moonlight, and his red cloak fluttered in the night wind.
His thin lips were tightly pursed, his eyes were as sharp as torches. The fine hair on his forehead was blown by the gentle breeze, revealing the beautiful tear mole at the corner of his eye.
Shen Qingfeng stood there stiffly like a wooden man. He stared at the familiar figure, his eyes burning, his heart pounding.
The familiar and affectionate name lingered on his lips. The longing that had been accumulated in every silent night seemed to have suddenly had its fuse lit, burning continuously and on the verge of explosion.
The man on the horse slowly put away his bow. His eyes slightly turned. As if they had a telepathic connection, his gaze finally stopped on Shen Qingfeng's face.
He slowly opened his mouth. In Shen Qingfeng's gradually blurred vision, he mouthed:
"I'm here, Feng'er."