In the 18th year of the Qingfeng era in the history of Lixia, a palace coup took place in the Bian Palace, and King Xia Jie was killed on the spot.
This was the largest struggle for the royal throne in Lixia's history. On that night, the sounds of killing in the century - old Bian Palace shook the heavens, and the sparks from the clashing swords never ceased for a moment.
Historians once described that night as a disgrace to Lixia. In the history books, there were only a few big characters saying "Marquis Dingbei plotted a rebellion and was captured", and there was nothing else recorded.
Therefore, people in later generations didn't quite know what exactly happened that night.
They didn't know that on that night, the blood of the slain had dyed the entire Jiying Hall red. The Lu family's army fought desperately, and in the end, only a few survived.
They also didn't know that on that night, the rebellious official had let out a heart - rending cry and asked someone in the army that came to rescue the king.
They even didn't know that when the Lu family's army was left with only a few soldiers, a young man in white robes suddenly broke free from his shackles, stood in front of the blood - soaked person, and with a long knife across his neck, defied the fully - drawn arrow of Cen Shuning, threatening to die.
That night, as dawn was breaking, a light rain began to fall.
The blood - stained man with his long hair disheveled propped himself up on his sword and knelt on the ground.
He looked at the back of the young man in white robes who was holding a sword to face the enemy in front of him, and laughed silently.
The laughter grew more and more shrill and desolate. In the end, it was like a mournful wail, crying in unison with the heavens.
The long - lasting hatred made the common people cry, and the silent grief moved the gods and ghosts.
Lu Yan's lips moved, and finally he uttered a few words:
"We don't share the same sorrow. Why bother acting?"
The young man in white robes paused. His hand holding the sword trembled. He slowly turned his head, and his eyes full of grief shed tears that fell on the blood - stained white jade floor tiles.
He clearly saw that in the eyes of the exhausted man in front of him, something precious had shattered into pieces and rolled down along with the tears on his cheeks.
"As long as the heart is sincere and then dead, it's all right."
At that moment, Shen Qingfeng watched as the man he loved lost consciousness and fell backward. His heart was stabbed like with a knife. He cried and tried to catch him, but just as he stretched out his hand, someone hugged him from behind, preventing him from moving forward even an inch.
Shen Qingfeng let out a shrill scream. The person hugged him tightly and whispered something possessive like "mine, the only one" in his ear, but Shen Qingfeng couldn't hear anything. His heart and eyes were filled with only that man. He watched as Lu Yan's tall body collapsed like a mountain. He wanted to go to Lu Yan's side, kicking and punching, struggling non - stop. Finally, after a shrill scream, he felt a sweet taste in his throat, spat out a mouthful of coagulated blood, and then fainted with his head tilted.
In the east, the rising sun shone ironically on the blood - soaked ground in front of the Jiying Hall.
A butterfly woke up from its slumber and landed on the ring finger of an unknown corpse, slowly flapping its wings.
Dawn was approaching, and the long night was finally over.
-
Three days later.
Liu Mei, with the fox fur around her shoulders, strode along the palace corridor.
The maids passing by knew that her relationship with the crown prince was special, so they didn't dare to stop her easily. She smoothly walked in front of Xia Chuli's bedroom and kicked the door open.
For some reason, although Xia Chuli was now the legitimate crown prince, he didn't seem willing to move to the former King Xia Jie's bedroom. He still lived in this small Eastern Palace and asked the ministers who submitted memorials every day to come here instead of going to the Shanhe Hall. No one knew if it was because he didn't have time to move or if he was missing something.
Liu Mei looked at the familiar furnishings around and slowly walked in.
By the red - wood carved bed, Xia Chuli was sitting in a bright yellow robe, looking down at the unconscious man on the bed.
Liu Mei was silent for a while and then said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, I hope you'll keep your promise."
Xia Chuli didn't even turn his head. "What?"
Liu Mei angrily said, "I've told you before, right? I don't want to get involved in this mess anymore. Three days ago, you begged me with King Xia Jie's life, and I reluctantly agreed to help you. But now, why did you ask my subordinates to help you clean up the court today?"
"Because Cen Shuning alone can't handle it." Xia Chuli replied.
"I'm not your subordinate!" Liu Mei shouted coquettishly. "You have no right to order my people!"
Xia Chuli looked at her and said, "Don't be so angry, aunt. Now that King Xia Jie is dead, I'll do as I promised you before to save Xirong from the dire situation."
"When?"
"Soon, after killing Lu Yan!"
Liu Mei stared at him in shock. She looked at Shen Qingfeng on the bed and exclaimed, "You're going to kill Lu Yan?"
"What's the problem?" Xia Chuli sneered. "Aunt, don't tell me you want to plead for him."
Liu Mei scolded, "Don't you see how Mr. Shen is now? Have you forgotten what the imperial physician told you? If you kill Lu Yan, isn't it like killing Mr. Shen?"
"He's mine!" Xia Chuli suddenly roared. He turned his head and looked at Liu Mei, with veins bulging on his forehead. He said in a dangerous tone he didn't even realize himself, "He shouldn't have fallen in love with Lu Yan! Lu Yan is just an outsider. He dared to provoke Shen Qingfeng on his own. He deserves to die!"
Liu Mei was startled by him. She swallowed hard. After a while, she asked, "Then why did you only order to detain Lu Yan before?"
Xia Chuli stared at her fixedly without saying a word.
"When Mr. Shen stood in front of Lu Yan, you were scared, weren't you? You know what Mr. Shen would do if you pushed him too far."
"Shut up!!" Xia Chuli shouted. "Liu Mei, instead of lecturing me here, you'd better go find that damned Yu Shuang. It's been three days, and you haven't even caught a glimpse of him! With the hidden danger of the Listening - Wind Pavilion, how can we save Xirong?"
Liu Mei paused and said, "He's too good at hiding... Most of the ten people in the Listening - Wind Pavilion have been killed or injured, and three have been captured. If it's just him..."
"Then turn Lige City upside down to find him!" Xia Chuli said. "It doesn't matter if we can't find the other people in the Listening - Wind Pavilion, but this Yu Shuang must die!"
-
Chen Luo tore off the human - skin mask on his face and carelessly sat in Su Huanyu's tent. He showed no sign of being a guest at all. Instead, he took the initiative and said to the blood - covered man sitting opposite, "Your name is... Yu Shuang, right?"
Yu Shuang looked up at him coldly, then turned his head away.
"Hey, I know you're not here to see me, but I'm still a marquis after all! If you're so disrespectful to me, I'll punish you!"
"Humph." Su Huanyu sitting on the main seat snorted coldly and said indifferently, "Instead of guarding your fiefdom to resist the Xirong Kingdom, why did you come to Dongxiang?"
"Hey, keep your voice down. I'm in disguise. Everyone thinks I'm still there." Chen Luo said with a laugh. Then he looked at the personal letter from Shen Qingfeng that Yu Shuang had brought on the table and said meaningfully, "If I hadn't come, wouldn't I have missed this good show?"
Su Huanyu pursed his lips and said nothing. Yu Shuang beside him gritted his teeth and said, "Marquis Dongxiang, my young master said that he sent you a letter before, but he didn't receive your reply."
Su Huanyu said, "I know what you want to say. If you're going to lecture me with things like national righteousness, I'm sorry. I'm not Marquis Dingbei, and I don't have the Xia family's blood in me. What happens to Lige City has nothing to do with me."
Chen Luo raised his eyebrows and looked at Yu Shuang as if watching a good show.
Yu Shuang said, "Marquis Dongxiang is joking. How dare my young master ask you with such unrealistic things? My young master just wants to talk to you about the pros and cons."
Su Huanyu raised his eyebrows.
Yu Shuang sat up straight and repeated word - for - word what Shen Qingfeng had told him - that was Shen Qingfeng's last plan. On a certain day before the palace - forcing incident, Shen Qingfeng had found a way out for Lu Yan.
At that time, he didn't expect Cen Shuning to get involved, but he also considered various situations such as the failure of the palace - forcing and Xia Chuli's betrayal. So, he asked Marquis Dongxiang Su Huanyu for help to rescue Lu Yan.
As for Su Huanyu, although he seemed indifferent, he attached great importance to the people in his fiefdom. Due to his personality, when King Xia Jie was on the throne, he didn't pay any attention to Dongxiang at all. Moreover, Dongxiang was located in a poor area, backed by snow - covered mountains, and its only neighboring country was the Northern Kingdom. In previous years, during the heavy snow disaster and the earlier locust plague in Dongxiang, only the Northern Kingdom had provided relief. Now Shen Qingfeng took advantage of this to poke at his soft spot.
"Now, Yushan has also joined this power struggle." Yu Shuang said. "You know Cen Shuning's profit - seeking character. Regardless of what Xia Chuli promised him, if Marquis Dingbei falls into his hands and there's a regime change in the Northern Kingdom, the only one who can take over the Northern Kingdom will be Cen Shuning. But Cen Shuning is not as chivalrous as Marquis Dingbei."
Su Huanyu narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you threatening me?"
Yu Shuang lowered his head respectfully and said, "I'm just stating the facts."
Su Huanyu snorted and said, "Shen Qingfeng told you to say this, right?"
Yu Shuang replied honestly, "Yes."
"Haha..." Chen Luo sitting beside laughed and closed the folding fan in his hand with a snap. "Lu Yan really found a good wife."
Su Huanyu glared at Chen Luo.
"Hey, little Susu～" Chen Luo hooked his lips into a smile and pointed at Su Huanyu with the fan handle. "Are you going to intervene?"