The Death of Wei Si

Wu Qi, using the Peach Blossom Sword for the first time, was very adept and fought fiercely with Wei Si. After a few exchanges, both of them were injured. Wu Qi won with speed but lost with technique, while Wei Si won with power but lost with concentration.

He did not seem to intend to take Wu Qi's life.

Wu Qi: "If you don't want to fight, then I can let you go today."

Wei Si: "But I have never let a single person go."

Wu Qi: "That's because you're shameless."

Wei Si was used to such descriptions and his heart was not greatly disturbed. Swords clashed, producing a series of crisp sounds. He blocked Wu Qi's attack and said, "Wu Qi, wasn't your father shameless? Why is it that my mother died, but you can live so well?"

Sometimes, when he saw how pampered she was, he felt only irony.

"You think my father killed your mother?" Wu Qi felt sorry for Wei Si, but she bluntly stated, "My parents didn't kill your mother. Princess Pingyi's death on Beikun had nothing to do with my father. When my father received the news, Princess Pingyi was already..."

She said, "Wei Si, you know perfectly well that it wasn't my father who killed Princess Pingyi."

"Isn't that so?"

Wu Qi bent down to dodge, then turned and launched an attack, which was blocked by Wei Si.

He said, "How would I know? I can't find out the cause of my mother's death."

Wu Qi stretched out his arms, took two steps back, stood still, pointed his sword at Wei Si, and mocked, "Wei Si, how could you be so stupid? Isn't the fact that you can't find out the answer already? Isn't it something you find hard to accept?"

If they couldn't find out Wei Si's identity, then they must have already found out.

Wei Si nodded and sheathed his sword, saying, "It doesn't matter anymore. My mother didn't want me to investigate. Now that my mother is dead and my father is dead, I don't really want tomorrow either."

Strangely enough, after his mother's death, he always resented his father for not investigating the cause of her death, and even suspected that his father was using his mother's death as an obstacle to his career. When his father went to the battlefield, he rarely cared. As long as his father was alive, that was enough. As for how badly he was wounded, he never cared and never visited him.

But then, my father died.

He was like a drifting duckweed, all alone in the world.

After reading the two letters, he finally understood why he couldn't find out the cause of his mother's death. His mother had never thought of killing that person until now, so how could he kill him?

He killed her, how could he face his mother?

He was so looking forward to seeing his mother.

He can't kill him, but someone else can.

Wei Si smiled and drew his sword. Wu Qi frowned in response. She sensed something and tried to sheathe her sword immediately, but Wei Si grabbed it.

His palms were bleeding, but he did not back down at all.

Wu Qi immediately released her grip and retreated, but it was too late; there was no way to avoid it. Wei Si intended to commit suicide by her sword. She saw Wei Si's face clearly. She couldn't believe there was such a person in the world—he died happily, he died with a purpose, and he wanted others to die with him.

Having figured this out, Wu Qi paused, his brows furrowed, and with a forceful backhand, killed Wei Si.

Wei Si was smiling when he died.

"Your Highness!! Your Highness!!" The Vice Minister of Justice, disregarding Yi Shen and the Minister of Justice whose neck was bleeding, rushed to Wei Si's side in three strides. "Your Highness! You can't die! If you die, we can't live either!"

The Minister of Justice collapsed to the ground, despairingly saying, "It's over, His Majesty will beat us to death..."

Wu Qi glanced at Wei Si's corpse and the wailing Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice beside him. At that moment, just that moment, she truly felt that Wei Si had committed many evils throughout his life and was eccentric and ruthless. Perhaps it was because others had shed too many tears of true affection for him that when it came to his death, no one shed a single tear of true affection for him. It was just his fate.

Yi Shen picked up a handkerchief and wiped the blood off the sword, then handed it to Wu Qi. He then asked with unusual seriousness, "Elopement?"

Wu Qi replied without hesitation, "I would naturally be willing to elope with you, but it will have to wait a while."

Wei Si dared to commit suicide, so he must have had a backup plan.

Taojian was sheathed, its sharpness temporarily concealed. Wu Qi tapped the hilt of his sword with his finger, and through the layers of walls, he saw light. Beneath the light were soldiers and horses, the people of the Dali Temple. The leader of them was Li Xi, the Minister of the Dali Temple.

Li Xi arrived at the gate of the Yi residence, dismounted, and, as he walked, flashed his token and said sternly, "Anyone who disturbs the Dali Temple's investigations will be put to death."

There were many people in the courtyard, but Li Xi didn't pay much attention to them. Instead, she said, "Men, surround this place. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy." After saying that, she flicked her cloak, squatted down in front of Wei Si, and checked his breathing.

The Vice Minister of Justice said, "Lord Li, you've come just in time! Look at His Highness the Crown Prince, he's still..."

"Shut up," Li Xi snapped.

The Vice Minister of Justice frowned and said, "Lord Li, we were colleagues, after all. I am not your subordinate. Why do you speak to me in such a tone?"

"I'll say it again, shut up, or you're dead."

Wei Si is indeed dead. Li Xi said, "Someone, take Wu Qi away."

Several people were about to step forward and tie Wu Qi's hands and feet when they saw the sword in her hand, so they tried to take it away. Wu Qi calmly tossed Tao Jian to Yi Shen and said, "Young Master Yi, you must take good care of my Tao Jian."

Yi Shen took Tao Jian and looked intently at Wu Qi.

Without her sword, Wu Qi was about to be bound hand and foot by the men who took out ropes. Li Xi frowned and said, "No need, she won't run away, she can walk on her own."

Compared to the others, Wu Qi seemed quite at ease. She waved to everyone and followed Li Xi away, leaving them only with a resolute back view. Qi Kong covered his mouth, tears streaming down his face, and collapsed into Wu Shanyun's arms as if he couldn't hold on any longer, silencing his sobs in his palms.

Her daughter...

Wu Qi was not as calm as she appeared; in reality, she was very worried and had no idea whether she would live or die.

Li Xi asked, "Why did you kill Wei Si?"

Wu Qi said, "He chose to commit suicide himself."

Li Xi: "Didn't you know he was going to commit suicide?"

Wu Qi: "Of course I guessed it, but does guessing it mean I have to do what he wants? He wants to commit suicide by my sword, but I won't let him. I will kill him and not let him commit suicide."

While Wei Si was delaying in arresting her, she had already begun to have a vague suspicion.

Li Xi sighed and said, "Why are you doing this?"

Wu Qi replied, “I also feel that everything needs a ‘why’ to be considered, but why did Master Sun give me the pardon? Why did Master Sun die at Wei Si’s hands for Ying Chang’s sake? Why did the soldiers defending the city risk their lives to protect it? You see, there isn’t always a ‘why’ to be considered. As for my killing Wei Si today, consider it a lapse of judgment. But I will never make things difficult for Lord Li; the judgment should be made as it is.”

"You knew perfectly well that Wei Si was Princess Pingyi's son. You killed him, so how could you possibly live?" Li Xi paused, looked at Wu Qi, and said incredulously, "You threw your sword to Young Master Yi because you knew you were in grave danger?"

“Yes.” Wu Qi nodded in agreement.

If she were to truly die, she would never want Yi Shen to die for love. Therefore, she wanted to give Yi Shen something so that he could live on day after day.

“Perhaps this is too cruel for him, but…” Wu Qi was unusually at a loss, “I don’t want him to die, and I don’t want him to die for me. After I die, whether he guards my sword or marries someone else, as long as he lives, I will be happy in the underworld.”

There were too many stories of lovers dying for each other in the storybooks, and whenever Wu Qi read this part, she could never believe that there were people in this world who would give their lives to commemorate love. When she told Yi Shen about this, Yi Shen glanced at the storybook a few times and said softly, "But there are people in this world who are willing to die for you."

Wu Qi was stunned for a moment, then put away his sketchbook. Afraid of hearing what Yi Shen would say next, he hurriedly got up to leave, but Yi Shen grabbed his wrist. He said, "It has nothing to do with the memorial service; it's all voluntary."

If she really died, he might actually commit suicide for love.

In a moment of desperation, Wu Qi reluctantly tossed him her sword, leaving him only a glimmer of hope. Looking back now, it seemed rather cruel, but she wanted Yi Shen to live, to play the zither and paint, to sit gracefully by the flowing water and before the peach blossoms, free from the weight of wind and snow.

Even if he understood, even if he resented, she accepted it.

Wu Qi was imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison. Perhaps because of Li Xi, the prison cell where she was imprisoned was spacious and clean, and there should be no rats or scorpions. Wu Qi breathed a sigh of relief, patted the quilt on the bed, and found it clean. So she unfolded the quilt and draped it over her shoulders, and looked at the moon through the small window on the wall.

Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Oh no! I haven't told Yi Shen the second half of my love poem yet!"

The moonlight fell on her face, and also on the ground around her.

A woman wearing a cloak had her hood covering most of her face. In the moonlight, only a touch of red on her lips could be seen. The red was not the natural red of her lips, but rather a pale red from lip rouge.

As soon as she approached the door, several guards drew their swords and stopped her, demanding to know who she was.

She didn't say much, but simply showed the token in her hand.

This token was extremely strange; it was neither properly shaped nor did it exude any sense of authority. It was decorated with flying birds and running beasts, soaring snakes and winged dragons, exotic flowers and rare herbs, and even seemed to contain some scriptures. If one were to describe what this token resembled, it would somewhat resemble the token of the Moonfall Camp.

However, this is not a token from the Moonfall Camp.

"What is this? There is no such token in the palace. You should leave quickly, or you may save your life." This must be a newly arrived guard. He frowned and urged the woman to leave, but she did not leave. Instead, she turned the token over.

Under the moonlight, the guards finally saw what the pattern on the back of the token was, and they all knelt down, saying, "Please forgive us, Lady, we were blind to your greatness!"

The woman put away the token, and in a flash, the patterns on its back became clear—the engravings on the jade seal.

In this world, there is only one person who can carve patterns on an imperial seal.

His Majesty once issued a secret decree: "To see the jade seal pattern is to be as if I were personally present."

The secret order had been given, but they had never seen the jade seal pattern before. Therefore, they were a little slow to react and a little slow to kneel down. They were also quite negligent towards this noble person, and they didn't know if this noble person would blame them.

The woman asked, "Where is he?"

A guard said, "Your Majesty, His Majesty is waiting for you in his bedchamber."

The guards needed to see the back of the token to realize that the woman was a noble person who was not to be trifled with and who often served the emperor. Just by looking at the woman's figure, without even seeing the token, they respectfully went up to her, carefully inquired about her health, and patiently said, "Your Majesty was waiting for the lady so long that he almost fell asleep."

As they spoke, they opened the door to the Emperor's bedchamber for the woman. After she stepped inside, they closed the door and stood guard outside.

The man who could speak a few words with the woman coldly ordered, "The lady has arrived. His Majesty will not see anyone tonight. You all guard this door. If this door is broken open from the outside, you will all be killed."

The woman stepped into the palace, took off her hat to reveal her face, looked at the person sitting on the ground, and said, "Didn't you say you were waiting for me so long you almost fell asleep?"

The Emperor smiled, stood up, removed the woman's cloak, and said softly, "I've been thinking of you so much that I've fallen asleep and woken up again."

The woman took two steps back and said coldly, "You shouldn't have sent people to kidnap Xiao Qi."

The Emperor sighed, seemingly helpless with the woman, and squeezed her hand, saying, "You came to me tonight just to argue? Xiao Qi killed Luan Hua, you have to have a limit to your favoritism, Yu Qu."