In the main hall of the Lu Mansion.
Currently, there are only four people in the huge main hall: Lu Yan, Yu Shuang, and two men in purple robes.
As soon as the voice of the purple - robed man named Lan, who was leading them, faded away, the entire room fell into a deathly silence. Lu Yan's face turned extremely grim.
Lan was sitting comfortably on a guest seat. After he finished speaking, he completely ignored Lu Yan's murderous look as if he wanted to devour him alive. He played with the teacup on the table on his own, completely unaware of the shocking news he had just revealed.
"You've really managed to distance yourself from all this." Lu Yan was so angry that he laughed. He reached out and tapped the armrest of his seat with his fingertips.
Lan's robe covered his face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed. Hearing this, his eyes curved into a smile. He turned his head and looked at Lu Yan, saying, "What does Your Lordship mean by that?"
Lu Yan squinted his eyes and said, "As you said, the death of the Lu family army was masterminded by King Xia Jie. You just followed his will, built the tomb for a thousand people, and transported the corpses of the Lu family army back to Liange?"
Lu Yan smiled and said, "Do you think I'll believe that?"
"Whether you believe it or not is up to you." Lan's voice sounded like that of a young man who had just turned eighteen. But according to Yu Shuang, this man was probably over fifty. However, he still spoke brazenly. One didn't know if it was because of his special status or his absolute strength. "He wanted to replace the king of the Northern Kingdom with a more obedient one. Weren't you the best choice at that time?"
Lu Yan's face darkened. He slowly clenched his fists and snorted, "You're really bold. Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"
"Oh? Why don't you give it a try?"
Yu Shuang, who was sitting on the side, was startled. Seeing the increasing tension between the two, she quickly tried to smooth things over. "Well, Your Lordship, how about we first ask about his... his purpose?"
Hearing this, Lu Yan glanced at Yu Shuang. The killing intent in his dark eyes had not subsided.
"Hehe." Lan, who was sitting on the side, suddenly laughed and joked, "Yu Shuang, is this your new master? Not a bad choice."
Yu Shuang instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Lu Yan, as the Marquis who pacified the north of the Northern Kingdom, was of the royal lineage of the Li Xia Dynasty and was also the invincible god of war of Li Xia. His status, in Lan's eyes, was only worthy of a "not bad" evaluation.
After hearing this, Lu Yan's eyes darkened. The killing intent in his eyes grew stronger, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.
"Marquis who pacifies the north, if you want to kill me, you have to have the ability." Lan said, "You should know that if I didn't come here on purpose to cooperate with you, I could have killed all of you with lead - silver water when I entered this main hall."
Yu Shuang knew the power of lead - silver water. This merciless weapon was Lan's unique creation. When the Southern Xiang State still existed, she had witnessed Lan use a small bottle of it to kill half a mountain of enemies. She was sweating all over and couldn't help but look at Lu Yan, whose face was almost as black as coal. She thought that Lu Yan had been so glorious all his life and had never suffered such humiliation. So she carefully tried to mediate, saying, "Leader, please tell us your purpose first."
"Yo, willing to call me leader now? Good boy." Lan seemed to smile, and his voice rose a few tones. He didn't want to waste any more words. He turned around and pulled the other purple - robed man to the center of the hall mysteriously. "The Marquis who pacifies the north is about to attack Liange City now. I'm here to give you a reason to start the war."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly tore off the purple robe from that man!
The next moment, Yu Shuang and Lu Yan opened their eyes wide in shock.
Lan slowly stretched out his hand. His slender fingers gently hooked under that man's chin and said, "King Xia Jie's son, Xia Yanhe. How about this gift?"
-
After a stick of incense burned out, the entire hall fell into silence again. Lu Yan still sat in the main seat, propping his head up. His expression was rather hard to read.
On one side, only Yu Shuang was left, sitting quietly. Lan had already left gracefully.
"Can he be killed?" Lu Yan asked in a deep voice.
"No." Yu Shuang sighed and shook her head helplessly. "Your Lordship, please listen to my advice. Lan is a crazy and unruly person. He is extremely arrogant. One can only follow him, not go against him."
Lu Yan sneered a few times, stood up, and said, "You and he are both from the 'Wuchen'. Are you so afraid of him?"
"When I was in the 'Wuchen', he had already lived for who knows how many years. Moreover, he rarely showed his true face. He is good at making poisons and using mysterious tricks. Not to mention that just a whiff of the lead - silver water can be fatal. Your Lordship also saw that he could use his body - nourishing technique to make the Marquis of Xiangcheng forget his past, and make Xia Yanhe come back to life as a puppet..." Yu Shuang paused and said, "Your Lordship, now that he doesn't plan to be our enemy, why do we have to provoke this tough guy?"
Lu Yan knew the truth in this. He thought for a moment and said, "Then why do you think he wants to help me?"
Yu Shuang shook her head and sighed. "Maybe it's just for fun. I followed him for ten years, but I still can't understand him even now."
-
Five days later.
Lu Yan announced that he had regained the political power of the Northern Kingdom. With the slogan of "eradicating the tyrant in Li and protecting the new lord", he began to lead his troops southward. They crossed the Kongtong Mountains and headed straight for Haojing, the largest city bordering the Northern Kingdom.
Although Xia Chuli had guessed that Lu Yan would rebel after Cen Shuning left, he never expected that Xia Yanhe was still alive! It wasn't until the day Haojing was captured and the distress letter from the city guard of Haojing was sent to Xia Chuli's desk that he knew that Xia Yanhe was really alive and had formed an alliance with the Northern Kingdom to rebel against him.
Compared with Xia Chuli's exploitation and tyranny towards the people of Li, Xia Yonglin and Xia Yanhe's selfishness and cruelty were mainly directed at Xia Chuli. If at first the people of Li Xia had a good impression of Xia Chuli because of the rumor that the legitimate son had been brutally oppressed by the illegitimate son, after Xia Chuli came to power, the tyranny of the legitimate son was something they actually experienced. Under Xia Chuli's corrupt rule, the farther a town was from the royal power, the greater the impact it suffered. The sharp increase in taxes and corvée, combined with the powerful Lu family army that was much stronger than before, made the people in Haojing rebel during a very short - term stalemate. Caught between the enemy outside and the rebels inside, the city guard of Haojing only had time to write a distress letter before being beheaded by the people who rushed into his tent.
Xia Chuli was furious. He immediately summoned General Fei Yu to discuss countermeasures, but it was of no use. The 200,000 troops led by Qi Yang would take at least ten days to reach the border of the Northern Kingdom. Before that, it would only take the Lu family army one day to cross the Wei River from Haojing and attack the military - important city of Youhu.
Fei Yu was a good general. He had been promoted by Shen Qingfeng in his previous life. For this reason, Xia Chuli was initially reluctant to promote him. Moreover, he thought that with Cen Shuning's support, there would be no loopholes. So when he insisted on sending troops before, he didn't listen to Fei Yu's advice. Now, after making a big show of sending troops, he didn't expect to be outmaneuvered.
"What's the current situation in Youhu?" Xia Chuli frowned and asked him. Using a general promoted by Shen Qingfeng in his previous life already made him inexplicably angry.
Fei Yu replied in a deep voice, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Youhu has 50,000 troops and enough food and supplies to last for half a month."
"Then send a message with a flying swallow and tell them to hold on until Qi Yang arrives!"
Fei Yu gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive my bluntness. The defense of Haojing was not weak. Judging from the speed at which the Lu family army captured Haojing, they are very likely to capture Youhu within ten days..."
After hearing this, Xia Chuli suddenly drew his sword and put it across Fei Yu's neck. "Are you saying that there will also be traitors in Youhu? Are you saying that there is something wrong with my governance?!"
Fei Yu was not afraid. "I'm just making a reasonable speculation. I have no intention of blaspheming Your Majesty's will."
"Reasonable speculation? Hahaha!" Xia Chuli was a bit crazy. He pressed the tip of his sword against Fei Yu's throat and said in a confused way, "Shen Qingfeng really knows how to choose people. All of them treat me like a fool?!"
Fei Yu took a few steps back and knelt down. "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty's kindness to your subordinate will surely be repaid with all my loyalty. But we can't be careless about the war. The Lu family army is much stronger than before. We must not act rashly!"
Xia Chuli was trembling with anger. He of course knew Lu Yan's strength and clearly remembered how Lu Yan had rushed southward all the way and beheaded him in his previous life. So in this life, he had tried every means to kill Lu Yan. But he didn't expect that Shen Qingfeng had set a trap for him and let the tiger return to the mountain. He had to use the Northern Kingdom as bait to keep Cen Shuning as his shield. But he didn't expect that Cen Shuning would just quit. Who could stop the powerful Lu family army?!
Su Huanyu? Chen Luo? Or Chu Jietian? He had thought about these people in his previous life, but they all tried to protect themselves and were unreliable!
Only Cen Shuning, only Cen Shuning! Didn't he love the Queen Mother? I helped him avenge and killed King Xia Jie. Why didn't he continue to help me!
Xia Chuli went crazy and swept all the things on the table to the ground. The exquisite and expensive porcelain instantly shattered into pieces.
Why, why did he still end up in the same situation as in his previous life even though he had been on guard against Lu Yan everywhere in this life?
He had tortured Lu Yan so much and tried so hard to drive a wedge between him and Shen Qingfeng. Why did Lu Yan still come all the way to kill him regardless of everything?
Was it love?
Xia Chuli covered his face and laughed distortedly.
Love? What love? Love was the most unreliable thing! If love could really achieve something, then why didn't Cen Shuning, who was so infatuated, help the last bloodline of Princess Liuli?
Xia Chuli suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Could it be that Cen Shuning hated him?
Hated him for being King Xia Jie's son?
"Hehe..." Xia Chuli suddenly laughed. His laughter was creepy. Fei Yu, who was kneeling on the ground, was startled and couldn't help but take a step back.
"Turning love into hatred? Hehe... The same love, how could it..." Xia Chuli covered his face and took a few steps back. He slumped down on the throne.
"Urgent report from the front line—" Someone rushed in in a hurry. Without even having time to report, he knelt down on the ground with a thud and said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, the Marquis who pacifies the north... the rebel army has started to attack Youhu!"
Xia Chuli looked up blankly.
"They also said... they also said..."
"What did they say?" Xia Chuli was a bit weak.
The man trembled like a sieve. "The Marquis who pacifies the north said that if you hand over Queen Shen, they will spare your lives..."
Xia Chuli's pupils shrank suddenly. He instantly flew into a rage and roared, "Get out!"
"Get out! Get out!!" He went crazy, waving his sword and slashing randomly. The servants in the Shanhe Hall were so scared that they scattered and fled out of the door.
"Get out——!!!"