Chapter 432 Even you're feeling sorry for her?

Nangong Ming handed over the authority to deal with the mute woman to Madam Su, while he went to deal with the two sons who were trying to rebel against him.

He said to Han Bing, who had secretly sent someone to provide support, "Do you want to see Sui Sui die, or do you want me to die?"

Han Bing was unable to answer and remained silent with his head down.

Nangong Ming simply said, "Once you've figured it out, bring all your men back."

After a long pause, Han Bing finally spoke, "Yes."

Nangong Ming looked indifferently at his other son, who was full of resentment. Before he could speak, Su Feng said, "You don't need to ask me that question. I will neither let you die nor watch Sui Sui die."

“Alright,” Nangong Ming nodded, a hint of mockery in his eyes, “You have another choice, either choose Sui Sui or choose Zhongli Que.”

Before "Father" Han Bing could finish speaking, Nangong Ming continued, "It seems you want to become the second Sui Sui, Su Feng. I have given you enough freedom on a daily basis. Even if you are thinking about the children of the Zhongli family, I have not stopped you, because I know what family name you should support."

He stared directly into Su Feng's shocked eyes, his expression and tone colder than ever before: "You want me to indulge you, yet you also want to rebel against me. Su Feng, now is the time for you to make a choice. You can go and save Sui Sui, but from now on, there will be no possibility between you and Zhong Li Que."

Su Feng's eyes trembled, suppressing anger and sorrow: "Father, do you really have to do this?!"

"You already proved to me last time how deeply you love Zhongli Que. Are you trying to show me your brotherly and sisterly affection again this time?" Nangong Ming's gaze was icy.

"I grew up with Sui Sui, am I just supposed to watch her die?" Su Feng's anger broke through his fear of his father. "What did Sui Sui do wrong? Isn't the reason she has to die absurd?"

"You've been saying that the Breath of Soil is within her for over ten years, and now you're saying it's only half there, and that she must die to restore the Breath of Soil, all in the name of the greater good of Qingyang. Father, did you plan to sacrifice Sui Sui from the very beginning?!"

Su Feng angrily questioned, "Why must Sui Sui die? And why must it be the Nangong family who wants to kill her!"

Nangong Ming said, "Because of her existence, the Breath of Earth was split in two, so this is her fate."

Su Feng sneered, "I can't accept that reason!"

Sheng Fei, who had been silent until now, looked at his two elder brothers and said, "Isn't there a way to restore the Breath of Earth without killing her?"

Nangong Ming found his statement amusing: "If you have such a method, you can say it and try it out."

Sheng Fei pursed his lips and did not reply.

“If you want to save Sui Sui, you can go now,” Nangong Ming said to Su Feng. “After you go this time, never come back.”

Su Feng could sense from his father that this time, his father was serious about kicking him out, unlike last time when he could be forgiven again as long as he admitted his mistake.

Su Feng felt both respect and fear, pride and helplessness towards his father. His father held many meanings in his life, giving him many things and teaching him many things.

However, Yu Sui also gave Su Feng many memories of his childhood. He was ignorant and jealous in his youth, and his unfamiliar sister always followed behind the three brothers, quietly and timidly watching them.

He thought his new sister would steal his father away, but he later found out she wouldn't. He thought his new sister, as the heir, would step on him, but she didn't.

Su Feng believed that none of the things he disliked had happened.

On the contrary, when the younger sister took the initiative to ask them for advice on horseback riding and archery, all three of them readily agreed. From then on, they were no longer strangers who would not speak to each other when they met.

Later, he became more mature and composed, and understood many things he didn't understand when he was young. Only now did he realize why he had thought his sister was always afraid.

If she had known from the beginning that her parents would eventually abandon her and her family would kill her, how could she not have been afraid?

His eldest brother and third brother went to Taiyi, leaving only him and Yu Sui in Qingyang. Because of his disobedience to his father, Su Feng was often scolded and disliked, but he didn't feel anything. Occasionally, after being scolded by his father, the two of them would secretly walk behind each other and exchange comforting glances, which would make Su Feng feel a little better. He received a lot of comfort from Yu Sui, which even his mother had never given him.

That is the strength and beauty that family members can give each other.

Seeing Su Feng turn to leave, Han Bing grabbed him: "Su Feng!"

Sheng Fei also looked at Su Feng in surprise and whispered a reminder: "Second brother, Father doesn't seem to be joking with you this time."

"Brother, don't stop me." Su Feng brushed Han Bing's hand away, his expression extremely calm. "You all know that I like Zhong Li Que, and now you can also know that I will not watch Sui Sui die like this and do nothing."

Su Feng looked at Nangong Ming one last time, his breathing became heavier, and his tone became deep: "I know you are very disappointed in me, so be prepared to be disappointed to the very end this time."

As Nangong Ming watched the child resolutely turn and walk into the dawn's downpour, his already indifferent expression gradually became even more icy.

In Su Feng's heart, his younger sister was more important than his father.

"Father, Second Brother was just confused for a moment. He has spent more time with Sui Sui than we have, so he can't accept it." Sheng Fei tried to say something nice to Su Feng, but Nangong Ming just sneered silently and ignored him.

Cao Yan came in from outside and told Nangong Ming about entering the palace. His Majesty's patience had reached its limit, and he had to pull himself out of his anger to deal with it.

Nangong Ming was silent for a moment, then said to Han Bing, "I'm going to the palace. You can handle the affairs of the mansion."

After saying that, she glanced at Sheng Fei again: "Don't blame me for not reminding you, that weak and harmless Sui Sui is long gone, and the little sister who always followed you around calling you 'brother' and looked at you with envious eyes is also gone."

Sheng Fei's expression was subtle, and the words of persuasion he was about to say became difficult to utter.

"All this time, she's been hiding her true feelings, waiting for this day. So, how has Sui Sui felt about you all these years?"

"Do I treat you as respected elder brothers, or am I just laughing at a fool?"

Sheng Fei swallowed back his words of pleading and dissuasion, and Han Bing lowered his head, not uttering another word in rebuttal to Nangong Ming.

Cao Yan held up an umbrella and protected Nangong Ming as they walked into the rain.

He whispered to Nangong Ming, "The people in the neighborhood still haven't found the Second Miss. The three from the Nine Departments said they're prioritizing finding Gongsun Qi. If they encounter the Second Miss, they'll definitely make a move."

Nangong Ming's expression was unreadable: "He's old, disobedient, and useless."

He Yuan did not tell Nangong Ming that the person they took away was Zhao Yuxiang, nor did he reveal to Nangong Ming the relationship between Yu Sui and Zhao Yuxiang, or the power she possessed.

Cao Yan added, "This time, a new envoy from the He family was sent, and he didn't seem to care much about Gu Gan, thinking he was really dead."

"I'll say it again: we need to find him alive or dead." Nangong Ming thought of Gu Gan, whose whereabouts were unknown, and a dark cloud settled over his eyes. "The new envoy doesn't seem to be interested in forming an alliance with us. We must find Gu Gan before anyone else."

Nangong Ming was also confident that if Gu Gan was really not dead, then he would definitely come back to find him.

Cao Yan paused, then said in a low voice, "Should I go over to the Second Miss's side?"

Nangong Ming paused, his dark eyes flickering: "Even you've softened towards her?"

Cao Yan lowered his head: "This subordinate has absolutely no such intention."

Nangong Ming replied, "I almost forgot, you watched Sui Sui grow up too."

“I’ve watched every child in the Prince’s mansion grow up, but the only person I’m truly loyal to is the Prince,” Cao Yan said in a low voice. “It’s just that I think none of the people I’ve sent out seem capable of completing the tasks the Prince has assigned.”

Nangong Ming continued walking forward, saying expressionlessly, "If Sui Sui hadn't died on 36th Street, what do you think she would have done?"

“Perhaps… he will come back to find Madam,” Cao Yan said.

"That's the last chance," Nangong Ming said. "You stay here at the Prince's residence."

He sat in the carriage on his way to the palace, recalling the divination Qin Shan had mentioned, and slowly closed his eyes.

I'll trust this person one last time.

...

Three claps of thunder rang out in quick succession. At dawn, the sky remained a hazy gray, devoid of any light, with only flashes of lightning and thunder emanating from the thick clouds.

Yu Sui stood by the window and saw the torrential rain washing the long street outside.

She rested one hand on the window, focusing her energy. She could always freely peek into the strange fire hidden deep within her soul, but she rarely managed to see the incomplete Breath Soil.

Often, it seemed as if it didn't exist, even its struggle for the Five Elements energy was silent. This half of the Breath Soil seemed to only use her as a temporary hiding place, concealing itself deeply within.

According to Wu Huaiwei, she is a being of the Five Elements, generating the Qi of the Five Elements herself, and so is the Breath of Earth, which can ensure the endless generation of the Qi of the Five Elements. However, the Breath of Earth will not complain about having too much of the Qi of the Five Elements; it will take as much as there is.

When Yu Sui was young, she didn't understand. Later, she realized that when she observed the strange fire, she was observing the soul. When she used her Heavenly Eye to dismantle several mountains countless times, she was strengthening the power of the Divine Mechanism Technique. Only the Breath Soil was something she never figured out.

It seems that the half of the Breath Soil only makes a sound when the power of the strange fire is triggered, but since it was sealed by his master, Yu Sui has never felt its presence again.

Even though she was sealed away, if she killed Su Xing, could she still restore the Xirang?

Han Ziyang knocked on the door and came in, asking, "Didn't you say you were going back to the Prince's Mansion? Gongsun Qi is about to leave."

Yu Sui turned to look at him, her expression thoughtful.

"Can your divine punishment break my master's seal?" Yu Sui asked.

"I don't know, but shall we give it a try?" Han Ziyang asked.

Yu Sui stretched out her hand to him: "Try it."

Han Ziyang: "But if I break the seal, won't you become a pacifier again?"

After pondering for a moment, Yu Sui asked, "Does the change of the rules of Heavenly Punishment involve altering the existing rules?"

“That’s one way to understand it,” Han Ziyang said. “Under the known conditions, we can change the rules that Qi manifests, but before that, I need to understand the direction of these five elements of Qi.”

“Like when I helped you avoid divination before, using the known methods of divination by the masters of the arts to guide the flow of qi and arrive at different answers, the answers that Qin Shan was able to divine were all given to him by me,” Han Ziyang said. “However, I am not very proficient in this, and even a saint-level expert would probably discover the clues in the end.”

Yu Sui stared at him for a long time without speaking. Han Ziyang frowned and asked suspiciously, "You don't expect me to use Heavenly Punishment to change the rules of the Breath Soil for you, do you?"

"How can you change it?" Yu Sui asked.

"The premise is that there is a rule of materializing qi. Now, in your situation, how should it be calculated?" Han Ziyang pointed at her. "It is a fact that the Xirang (breath soil) was divided into two."

Yu Sui stretched out his hand and said, "Let it out."

Han Ziyang raised his eyebrows, seemingly not understanding: "Come out?"

"It attaches itself to my body to obtain the Qi of the Five Elements. Can you change its rule that it doesn't need the Qi of the Five Elements?" Yu Sui asked.

Han Ziyang: "That's instinct; divine punishment can't really do that."

As he spoke, he still reached out and tried it.

Yu Sui simultaneously used his Heavenly Eye to see invisible air currents appearing out of thin air inside the room. These currents, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, were constantly destroying and rebuilding, over and over again. Even the Heavenly Eye could not completely capture these air currents.

Han Ziyang tried several different hand gestures, but finally shook his head: "No."

"What about breaking the seal?" Yu Sui asked again. "Just try it out, we don't need to break it now."

Han Ziyang took another deep breath, focused his mind, and began to probe for her.

Yu Sui could sense a power spying on her, but she did not stop it. Following this power, she eventually found the half of the Breath Soil hidden deep within her soul.

It was clear and pure, faintly glowing with a lustrous light, like the shape of a small crescent-shaped pebble.

Yet it appears fluid, like a pool of clear water, or a swollen, silvery crescent moon.

Trapped in place, it seemed to sense Yu Sui's gaze, and the crescent moon moved, as if it wanted to hide even deeper.

"Give me more time," Han Ziyang finally said.

Yu Sui: "Then I'll trouble you to remove the seal for me when I get my other half."

Han Ziyang thought to himself, "Then I'm afraid I'll have to run away from Qingyang too."

The two had just finished talking and were walking outside when they came downstairs and found that Situ Jin and A Quan were still there.

"You haven't left yet?" Han Ziyang asked.

Ah Quan raised his chin slightly and made a shushing gesture.

Yu Sui looked outside and saw Gongsun Qi standing alone under the street wall, looking up at the evergreen tree that stood taller than the courtyard wall.

There seemed to be nothing wrong with this scene. Just as she was about to ask, she noticed that Gongsun Qi suddenly looked to his left, opened his mouth and laughed, and even reached out to support himself in the air, as if someone was beside him.

"He..." Han Ziyang was stunned. "Who is he talking to?"

Situ Jin whispered, "His mental state is not good, it's sometimes good and sometimes bad, and now he's unfortunately having a relapse."

Suddenly, they heard Gongsun Qi burst into laughter, a hearty and cheerful laugh that was completely different from his usual detached silence and indifference.

At this moment, Gongsun Qi in the rain looked so relaxed and cheerful, completely different from the person Yu Sui knew.

The torrential rain drowned out the man's voice, and they couldn't hear what Gongsun Qi was saying. All they knew was that he seemed to have returned to a moment of unparalleled happiness from the past.

Yu Sui watched this scene, her eyes trembling slightly.

Did Gongsun Qi ever truly regain his senses?

She didn't want to end up like Gongsun Qi, going mad after losing everything and only able to live on past memories.

...

Yu Sui did not wait for Gongsun Qi and went to the Nangong Prince's Mansion first.

She left the North and South Thirty-Six Streets openly through the Azure Dragon Army. People fell silent when they saw her blood-stained clothes. The commander of the Azure Dragon Army simply raised his hand and gestured, silently allowing her to pass.

After learning that Yu Sui had emerged from the street covered in blood, Zhong Lishan asked, "Where did she go?"

"It looks like they're heading back towards the Prince's residence."

People were guessing where Yu Sui was going, but no one could keep an eye on her in the downpour, and soon Yu Sui disappeared from their sight.

News of the Second Miss Nangong leaving the neighborhood and heading back towards the Prince's Mansion spread to all sides.

Su Feng was stopped on the road by the other members of the Nangong family when he suddenly learned that Yu Sui had returned. He subconsciously asked where she was and took out the Wind Listening Ruler to send a telepathic message, but no one responded.

Han Bing remained silent for a long time after hearing the news, until Sheng Fei finally spoke up: "She won't act like nothing happened when she comes back."

Cao Yan said, "Madam's side is already heavily surrounded."

Sheng Fei didn't speak. He looked towards the mourning hall. Almost all the other women from the Prince's Mansion were there, except for Fourth Madam, who was still in her own courtyard.

After a moment, Sheng Fei said, "Sui Sui wants to go home, and you have no reason to stop her. If you see her, let her in."

Cao Yan looked at Sheng Fei with some surprise.

Sheng Fei met his elder brother's gaze and calmly said, "Just like Father said, the Breath of Soil is a problem she must solve. Whether it's Sui Sui or Auntie, only the two of them can completely solve it."

"Second Brother said he didn't want Sui Sui to die, so why didn't he go and kill Auntie?"

"Sheng Fei," Han Bing rebuked disapprovingly, but Sheng Fei replied coldly, "Didn't I suggest the simplest and most effective method?"

"You harbor resentment towards Sui Sui, but can you really watch her die?" Han Bing asked.

Sheng Fei laughed: "Why don't you ask her the same question? She can watch me die, so why can't I?"

“Brother, ask yourself the same question,” Sheng Fei said. “I don’t think you’ve thought it through yet.”

Han Bing frowned: "What exactly happened between you and Sui Sui in Taiyi?"

"It's nothing," Sheng Fei said calmly.

Seeing that he remained unmoved, Han Bing turned to the others and said, "From now on, the Prince's residence will not receive any guests. Let the guests who have come to offer condolences leave, and do not allow any irrelevant personnel to approach the Prince's residence."

After seeing Sheng Fei leave, she asked again, "Where are you going?"

Without turning his head, Sheng Fei said, "Go offer incense to Grandmother and make up for what you all forgot."

Han Bing: "..."

Sheng Fei entered the mourning hall, took an incense stick from the side, calmly lit it, and knelt down to worship the spirit tablet.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.

Madam Su stood at the door, silently watching the raging rain. Most of the flowers and plants in the courtyard had been destroyed by the torrential rain and wind overnight. Without the mute woman's help to clean up, the water was full of flower branches and leaves.

The person who usually takes care of these flowers and plants patiently collapsed in the puddles and piles of fallen leaves.

As soon as Yu Sui stepped into the courtyard, she saw blood mixed in with the water on the ground.

She walked forward until she stopped in front of the mute woman. Yu Sui bent down and touched the woman's face, which was covered in bluish-black discoloration; the temperature of her fingertips was icy cold.

The mute woman ingested the Heart-Eating Powder and died, bleeding from all seven orifices.

Yu Sui carefully examined the mute woman's appearance and patiently brushed away the withered leaves and flowers from her face.

Madam Su watched her movements and whispered, "You're the one who killed her."

“The wicked accuse first.” Yu Sui said softly, picked up a withered leaf, straightened up, and looked at Madam Su.

When their similarly dark eyes met, both of them activated their protective auras and attacked simultaneously.

A thunderclap boomed amidst the layers of dark clouds, and the sudden eruption of the five elements' energy from the ground caused a commotion, drawing everyone's attention. Sheng Fei, holding an incense stick, also turned to look.