Chapter 283 Divine Power

When Yun Chen returned to the Huo Mansion, it was almost nightfall.

The courtyard of Qiyunju has been cleaned up and is back to its original state.

Yun Chen could imagine Runhe's funny face cursing as he cleaned the black dust all over the yard.

Taoist Guanxu said that if a man ate the jade-like elephant bones in the snake's belly after burning them into ashes, he would live longer. Huo Gannian obviously couldn't finish the big sack by himself, so he asked Ye Yan and others to share it together.

Unexpectedly, the ashes smelled extremely fishy when they came into contact with water, making them impossible to swallow. They could only be eaten with bread dumplings.

Even so, the dumplings still smelled terrible when they were cooked, and the pot still smelled bad after cooking, so Runhe had to throw the pot away.

Ye Yan and his companions ate the ashes dumplings with gritted teeth.

There was still half a sack of ashes left. Huo Gannian took a cup and put it aside. He sat in the yard, staring at the cup in a daze.

Yun Chen called out "Anian", Huo Gannian looked up at him, his eyes were full of deep worry, and a little drunken.

Since returning to Beijing, Huo Gannian's brows have hardly ever relaxed.

His face was filled with worry day after day, as if there was some invisible weight pressing on it, leaving him no time to even look up at Yun Chen.

Yun Chen walked over and sat down beside him, and as usual, found a comfortable position and lay on his legs.

She sniffed. "You've had a lot to drink. When you're with Duan Jie, you always drink a lot and talk for a long time. Did you and Duan Jie know each other before? Oh, I heard that Doctor Xu is also attending the banquet today. I remember he loved talking to you."

Huo Gannian nodded, leaned over and hugged her, burying his face in her back so that she couldn't see his expression.

The moonlight cast his shadow on the ground, a dark ball curled up, with an unusually lonely feeling.

It was rare to see him like this, so she said softly:

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy talking to Duan Jie?"

He replied in a muffled voice:

"Happy."

She didn't ask any more questions, but patted his back comfortingly and hummed his favorite song softly.

"Go home, my fields are almost overgrown with weeds, why don't you go home... I'm not far off the path, I realize today is right and yesterday was wrong... Why am I so anxious and restless, where am I going? I don't want wealth and honor, and I can't hope for the throne..."

After singing a song, he said softly:

"You sing so well. My Chen'er sings so well."

He slowly straightened up, pulled her up with him, and let her sit in his arms.

He stared intently at those dust-free eyes, as if only from there could he obtain precious coolness and tranquility.

He looked at her deeply:

"Chen'er, if I do evil, will you still love me?"

Such a childish question, not something he would ask. She asked curiously, "For example, how 'evil' is it?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his phoenix pupils becoming sharp and narrow. "For example... killing people, setting fires, tearing bones and drinking blood?"

She said seriously, "Aren't we always doing this? Is murder and arson necessarily evil? If everyone in Nan Country were vegetarian and Buddhist, where would we find soldiers to guard the border? To other countries, we are just fat sheep eating vegetarian food. Good and evil are not on the edge of a knife, but in the heart."

"Chen'er said it well." He wanted to ask another question, but he moved his mouth and finally didn't ask it.

Good and evil, black and white, when everything is pushed to the limit, the boundaries become blurred.

He felt his chest getting stuffy and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. He could only desperately hug Yun Chen, like a dead tree struggling to avoid sinking into the mud, just to get a little breath.

"The country is engulfed in war on three fronts, yet the Eastern Palace is solely focused on monopolizing power and killing Ni Kun. To this end, they called a three-way ceasefire, giving the enemy a respite. This means the past year and a half has been fought in vain, and so many soldiers and civilians have died in vain... We have crawled out of a sea of ​​blood and a mountain of corpses, and traveled thousands of miles back, all for a ridiculous selfish desire...

He smiled bitterly and continued, "The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was truly lavish, with fine wine and delicacies, everything was extremely expensive. Many of the items were things I, the richest man in Nan Country, had never seen before... and the soldiers on the front lines had never seen them in their entire lives. With their meager military pay, they would never be able to afford it until they died... But even with such a small amount of military pay, the Eastern Palace still used Ni Kun's name to prevaricate, cut back, and force me to make up for it with the Huo Gang's money..."

He raised his head, and for the first time, sadness and pleading appeared in his eyes, which were always calm.

This was the only time he could reveal his true self and vulnerability in front of Yun Chen. He said:

"Chen'er, I've told Her Highness everything clearly. I've exhausted all the investigations by our spies and the situation we've deduced day and night. I've shown her everything without reservation. Luojiang, the remnants of the former Great Chu, the Black Scale Cavalry...

I told her everything behind this, word for word, but she didn't believe it! She only wanted the poison wrapped in frosting, only wanted love, and didn't want the people of this world... Chen'er, Chen'er... What can I do..."

Yun Chen was a person who didn't have any calculations in her mind. Huo Gannian never hid anything from her about conspiracies and intrigues, such as the national war conspiracy, the mastermind behind the scenes, the Black Scale Cavalry, and even Yan Shijiu, but he also rarely told her about them.

As if carefully protecting a piece of pure white, he never let her listen to those dirty things.

Now, she finally understood his sorrow and the frustration and pain he felt day after day.

Especially when facing Nan Lijun, who only cares about power and not the war, all loyalty seems so ironic and ridiculous when seeing the extravagant money spent in the palace.

"Sometimes I can't help but think..." His voice was choked and trembling. Only by pausing could he stop the emotions that were about to burst out. He said sadly:

"What if she even pretends? She pretends to be wise and compassionate in front of us... But she doesn't even bother to pretend..."

Whenever he saw the peaceful and prosperous singing and dancing in the palace, he could not help but think of the scene of corpses floating in the war zone.

Whenever he saw the extravagance of the Eastern Palace, he couldn't help but think of the two ragged grandparents and grandchildren who were so hungry that they staggered when they walked.

Just by looking at Nan Lijun sitting there with her hair full of gold, jade and pearl hairpins, he seemed to be able to hear the wailing and crying of countless people in the war zone.

This is not our Lord.

These words had quietly taken root in his heart, splitting the abyss and causing countless ghosts of desire and conspiracy to emerge from it.

The more he thought about it, the gloomier his expression became.

At this time, Yun Chen held his face, rested his forehead on his forehead, and said softly:

"I understand, Anian, I understand everything."

Then, her next words were like divine power splitting the sky, instantly forcing back all the filth, closing the abyss, causing the dead tree to sprout again, and raising a small but precious hope, which even moved him to the point of wanting to cry.

She said, "Anian, we fought bloody battles to defend our nation's borders. Aren't we protecting the peace and tranquility of Kyoto? Our blood was not shed in vain. Our loyalty is to the 'king' who protects the world and the 'people' who live forever, not to the throne that will eventually turn to ashes."

After a long while, he finally managed to steady his voice and spoke:

"Chen'er, really... thank you..."