Chapter 123

“Uncle! There’s words here!”

Zhuge Yue dashed to the side of the fireplace, seeing a few words carved on the wall. The strokes were forceful, showing that the person who wrote it had many complicated emotions.

I’m leaving, no need to find me. I will not go back for revenge. Take good care of Mo’er.

Under these words, there was another row of words that had been hastily scrawled.

Thank you, Zhuge Yue.

Thank me? For what? For not killing you? for the help along the way? or for taking care of this child?

Zhuge Yue suddenly bellowed in anger, kicking the pile of firewood aside. Mo’er froze, cowardly retreating to the side, not daring to approach him.

Zhuge Yue took a few big steps forward, wanting to dash out of the cave.

“Uncle!” The child, afraid that he would be abandoned, called out, “Where are you going?”

That’s right, where was he going? To chase after her? What right did he have?

Zhuge Yue suddenly laughed, throwing away the things he held in his hand. He stood in the empty cave, looked up, took a deep breath, and muttered to himself, “Zhuge Yue, you fool!”

The rain was heavy outside, sufficient enough to cause flooding in the rivers. Chu Qiao’s horse galloped in the heavy rain. Her mind was blank. All the events started to connect in her mind. She scolded herself for being so stupid, that she had to witness what was going on to understand it all. Her blood was boiling. The look in her eyes was bright, and her breath was rapid. The horse galloped along the mountain ranges.

The sky was dark and cold. After a long time, the valley appeared in Chu Qiao’s sights again. She felt weak, sitting on the horse’s back. Looking at the now empty valley, she started to calm down. She jumped off the horse’s back, treading through the muddy water step by step. As expected, she saw Xingxing’s small corpse at the original place where she had found her.

Four hours later, a new grave was built on that place. Beneath the grave, lay three innocent lives who had been lost. Chu Qiao stood in front of the grave, sticking her sword into the ground at the side. She knelt on the ground, disregarding the dirty mess.

“Xingxing, I’m sorry,” Chu Qiao muttered softly with sorrow in her voice. “Sister can’t avenge your death anymore.” She kowtowed on the ground heavily, causing the muddy water to splash around.

She knelt on the ground silently. She wanted to say a lot of things, but all of them would sound unbelievably ironic. She grabbed at the dry straw on the ground. Her look was determined, but tears were streaming down her face. She did not know whether she was sad over the child’s death or something else.

“I’m sorry! I can’t do it!” Her voice was choked. She stood up, climbed on the horse’s back, and galloped swiftly towards the direction of Tang Jing.

It was afternoon, but the sky was dark. The dark clouds hovered above the sky, giving off a suffocating feeling. The wind blew towards the forest, causing rustling sounds to emerge. Everything was focused on the shadow fading into the distance, including the newly erected grave. The storm was heavy, causing the leaves to fall to the ground. When would this gloomy weather end?

Simultaneously, over a hundred miles away, the city gates of Tang Jing opened. A majestic horse carriage dashed out quickly. The carriage operator was about 18 or 19-years-old. He looked depressed, saying to the man in the carriage, “Your Royal Highness, I can’t go any faster. The horse is almost out of breath!”

“Faster, faster!” the man in the carriage chided, revealing his demonic face. He was dressed in a red robe, similar to a wedding outfit. He widened his eyes and ordered, “If I’m still caught this time, I’ll order your two sisters to be sent to the palace to become concubines.”

The young man was shocked upon hearing his words. With a surge of energy, he whipped the horse’s buttocks. The horse let out a long neigh, galloping even faster towards the front.

Yuping Peak, Ponan Lake.

After the storm, the lotus flowers on the surface had sunk to the bed of the lake, leaving the black branches floating on the surface. The occasional bird landed on the surface, causing ripples to form. The cold wind blew across the surface of the lake. There was a long wooden bridge constructed across the lake, secured by ropes and wooden boards. Although it looked to be hastily designed, it looked natural, giving off a poem-like feel.

The winds were light; the white flowers by the side of the lake were blossoming. The fishes swam in the water, their tails wagging slightly, curious about what was happening above the water surface. The sky was azure blue, without any clouds after the storm. The sun shone brightly in the sky, to the point that it was almost blinding. It was approaching dusk, but the landscape was still bright.

The wooden bridge led to a pavilion built on the surface of the lake, via the center of the lake. A young man dressed in red stood alone at the center of the pavilion. The wind blew, causing his sleeves to flutter in the air along with his long, black hair. Big roses were embroidered on his clothes, like real roses blossoming in the wind.

The man’s facial features were portrait-like. The ridge of his nose was high, his eyebrows were slightly parted and his posture was cultured. His eyes scanned the crowd standing outside the pavilion, carrying a look that was thirty percent cultured, thirty percent noble, thirty percent cold, and ten percent deep.

“Get out of my way, if not I’ll kill myself!” a sharp voice sounded out, spoiling the portrait-like setting. The man in red held a knife to his neck, trembling in fear. However, he was unable to. His hands trembled for a long while, but he did not manage to raise the knife.

“Your Highness, we are not in the mood to care about whether you’re alive or dead. Your Majesty has spoken. He wants to see you either dead or alive. If you don’t go back with us, we will answer to Hades in the netherworld,” a young servant dressed in green blabbered while leaning on a pillar outside the pavilion. His face was pained.

The man in red turned around and said ruthlessly, “All right, Lu Yunxi. I’ve looked after you in vain all this while. You dare to attack a man in trouble. When I’m back in the capital, I’ll capture your sisters and send them to the palace.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Lu Yunxi said, dejected. “When I was unluckily tasked with this mission, my eldest sister brought my three unmarried sisters to Nian An Nunnery. As long as you step into Tang Jing alive, they will become nuns. The knife to shave their heads has been prepared already.”

“What?” The man froze, a look of anger appearing on his face. “They would rather become nuns than spend time with me? Ridiculous!” the man bellowed. As he finished his sentence, the man turned around and said to a man dressed in brown, “Tie You, do you want to oppose me too?”

“Your Highness…” The big man squatted on the wooden bridge lifelessly. He clasped his head with his hands, about to drift off to sleep. With a blurry tone, he replied, “I don’t have any sisters.”

“I know!” the man said ruthlessly. “But you have a daughter!”

Tie You sighed again, his look remained lifeless. Helplessly, he said, “Your Highness, my daughter just turned one month old yesterday. Isn’t it too early to threaten me?” Finishing his sentence, Tie You shook his head, adding, “I haven’t even celebrated Nannan’s first month, and she’s going to be captured by you.”

“All right, I see that the lot of you want to rebel already!” The man started to feel around in desperation. He looked at another handsome young man, and sulked, “Sun Di! Do you want to oppose me too?”

Sun Di gave a sinister smile and replied, a bright look in his eyes, “Your Highness, although I don’t have any sisters, my mother gifted me four concubines. I look forward to bringing them into the palace for your pleasure. It will be the greatest honor of my life.”

“Your Highness,” a fatigued voice sounded out. A muscular young man, about 17 or 18 years old, yawned and said, “Are you done? If we travel down the mountain now, we will make it back to the city before the gates close. There’ll be space at the brothel too when we get there.”

“What brothel?” the man replied in anger. “I’m telling you all, I’m determined to escape this time.”

Everyone looked at him helplessly. The mockery in their eyes was sufficient to send the Xia Emperor to kowtow in front of Yan Shicheng’s grave in shame. The message was evident: Which time were you not determined?

However, the man did not demonstrate any guilt. He frowned and proclaimed, “I will not submit to Father’s despicable threats!”

Tie You sighed. Assuming the position of an elder, he advised, “Your Highness, the princess of Xia has entered the city already. The diplomatic envoys from various lands have arrived. If the Xia Emperor knows that you have escaped, he will be so angry.”

“Exactly. Look at the big picture. At most, once you’ve married her, you can just ignore her.”

“That’s right! Tolerate it for a while. It’s better if you compromise. Your Highness, don’t be so narrow-minded.”

“Shut up!” the man hollered, looking up towards the sky. “I already have someone I like. I must reserve the place in my heart for her, to await her arrival.”

The other four people pouted in disdain. He has someone he likes? Unless Xia willingly obliges.

Lu Yunxi looked up at the sun and sighed. “Your Highness, it’s getting late. Let’s not waste any more time.”

The man in red took a step back cautiously and said, “What are you doing? I tell you, I’m a man of my words. Don’t be so overbearing.”

Tie You clapped his hands twice and stood up. He walked forward lazily and added, “Let’s get to work. Once we finish, we can enjoy an early dinner.”

Sun Di took out a long rope, shook his head and said helplessly, “Looks like we can only resort to this.”

“What are all of you doing? Don’t forget who took all of you in. Little Lu, when you lost money in that gambling den, I bailed you out! Alright, although I admit I framed you, I did not tell anyone to chop off your hand!”

“And you, Sun Di! Did you forget the time when you were disowned by your mother? You were in debt to a brothel! The entire city of ladies looked down on you! If not for me, you would still be locked up in Yihong Building’s underground chamber… Although the reason why you were disowned was because I forced you to admit to fathering Qiu Tao’s child…but you profited too! Qiu Tao is a beauty, and she’s your wife now…”

A cry of agony suddenly echoed out, piercing through the sky. All the birds and creatures within a 20-mile radius escaped in shock. Li Ce, the beloved Crown Prince of Tang, let out a cry of agony on top of Yuping Mountain. “Bunch of ingrates! Scoundrels! I’ve treated all of you so well, yet you’re striking me down in my moment of trouble! Wait and see! Sooner or later, I’ll capture all the women in your families!”

With a few motions, Li Ce had been subdued and tied up. As the rest of the people heaved a long sigh of relief, a horse walked along the trail up the mountain. The horse walked on but stopped upon seeing the few of them. The horse looked strangely at the group of people, seeming curious to find out more about them. The main thing was that there was a person on top of the horse’s back. Everyone was shocked and stared at that person.