Chapter 37 Madness, Seventeenth Time!
Chapter 37
Yan Danqing sat up straight instantly, her nerves tensing. Her previously calm gaze sharpened as she stared intently at Ye Pei, her voice hoarse and strained: "A marriage decree? By whom?"
Ye Pei's expression was equally unpleasant; he gripped the imperial edict tightly, speechless.
Bai Chengguang glanced at the person beside him, then turned his gaze to Yan Danqing, and said in a low voice quickly, "Chizhan Lance wants to marry Ye Xiren, the eldest daughter of Ye Pei, the Minister of Revenue, as the Crown Princess... She will be a hostage in Nandu for three years and wishes to settle down in Daliang to maintain good relations between the two countries."
The iron chains binding Yan Danqing's hands broke off, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.
He didn't change his expression when he heard that he was to be killed, and he remained calm when he heard that the court had chosen to abandon him. But when he heard about the bestowal of marriage, the muscles in his arm tensed up, and he unconsciously broke the iron chain, which crashed to the ground with a "crash." His lips were pursed, and his killing intent surged.
Okay, okay.
What a wonderful arranged marriage!
Yan Danqing's eyes were bloodshot, his fingers were clenched so tightly that blood oozed from his palms, and his bones cracked, sending chills down one's spine.
Bai Chengguang was shocked.
The chains were tied haphazardly, but they were still made of iron, yet they managed to break free just like that? How much strength did it take... or rather, how much energy did it take?
Ye Pei watched this scene with a complicated expression.
First, the Crown Prince of Northern Yan, Chizhan Lance, requested a marriage decree, and then General Yan reacted fiercely. For the first time, he realized just how deeply involved his daughter, who "never leaves the house" and "accidentally" stumbled into the midst of trouble, really was!
How did she know these two people?
Seeing that no one spoke, Bai Chengguang had no choice but to continue:
"Although we do not know why Chizhan Lance sought to marry Miss Ye, his marriage to a Liang woman as the Crown Princess, his settlement in Nandu, and his return to Beiyan three years later all prove his sincerity in seeking peace. Now that Beiyan has the upper hand, the court will not refuse on such a trivial matter."
For the imperial court, this is no small matter.
Let alone Chi Zhanlan Ce wanting to marry Ye Xiren, even if he wanted to marry a princess, the court would be overjoyed and agree. The emperor couldn't be happier to have a Liang person placed next to the most important person in Northern Yan.
She is the Crown Princess of Northern Yan, the future Queen of Northern Yan. Why would they refuse to let the people of Daliang take her place?
After Chi Zhanlan proposed the marriage, Chiang Kai-shek agreed on the spot, and Liang Yue didn't say anything. Compared to killing Yan Danqing and paying tribute, no one raised any objections to this "minor matter".
Ye Pei's expression was similar to Yan Danqing's. He gripped the imperial edict tightly and squeezed out a voice with difficulty from his throat: "In the spring, Chi Zhanlan threatened us with his life. Even we cannot be sure of his true purpose. The situation has come to this point, and there is no way to break through."
"I came here on imperial orders to ask if you have any other solutions? I want to stop the forced marriage, but before that, I must stop the peace talks between Great Liang and Northern Yan. However, Northern Yan seems to be genuinely sincere..."
Ye Pei's brows were furrowed with pain. He hadn't slept all night and had been arguing all day. His head was buzzing. The thought of the arranged marriage made him feel dizzy and almost unable to hold on.
He didn't want to marry his daughter to Chizhan Lance!
But if the peace talks succeed, he can't stop the imperial decree. Sabotage the peace talks? What if Northern Yan's peace talks are genuine?
Even they couldn't figure out Chi Zhanlan Ce's intentions. In every aspect, he showed sincerity in peace talks, and apart from wanting to kill Yan Danqing, he did nothing that would be detrimental to the Great Liang.
To kill Yan Danqing, Chi Zhanlan Ce also stayed in Nandu, willingly offering his own life as a bargaining chip.
If he wasn't genuinely interested in peace talks, why would he do this?
Don't you want to live anymore?
In fact, compared to Yan Danqing's role in the Great Liang, Chi Zhanlan Ce seems to be more important to the Northern Yan. Not to mention that he is the beloved son of the King of Northern Yan, who was made crown prince at a young age and the King of Northern Yan couldn't wait to let him ascend the throne, he also has the status of "holy son". He has a lot of support in Northern Yan, and he personally led the 100,000 iron cavalry...
Who would believe he would trade his life for another?
When the imperial edict was issued, the Northern Yan crown prince's order to withdraw the troops was also sent out at the same time, heading towards the Huai'an Canal. Everything went smoothly.
“He would never give up on capturing Daliang.” Yan Danqing looked at Ye Pei and said, word by word, “But he has blocked all the paths, leaving no trace of any conspiracy.”
"Lord Ye, may I have an audience with the Emperor?"
Ye Pei paused, then shook his head.
Bai Chengguang averted his gaze, unable to bear looking at him, his voice trembling slightly:
"After Prime Minister Jiang agreed yesterday, His Majesty has yet to issue an edict to execute you. This morning, we rushed into the palace and argued with the pro-peace faction all day, but we still haven't reached a conclusion..."
In fact, many of the pro-war faction members switched sides after the argument went on. Given the current situation, where is there any possibility of "fake peace talks"? Even they can't stop such peace talks.
Peace talks are beneficial to both sides, so it's acceptable.
However, they insisted that Yan Danqing must not be killed; no matter what, he had to live.
The two sides argued endlessly, but the pro-peace faction almost overwhelmed the pro-war faction, and most people tacitly agreed to sacrifice General Yan. The reason they could argue for a whole day without making a decision was that the emperor was also unwilling to kill General Yan.
The court was in an uproar, and the Northern Yan was furious.
At noon, Chi Zhanlan Ce woke up and, upon hearing that Yan Danqing was still alive, ordered his men to pack their bags and prepare to return to Northern Yan immediately. He declared that either Liang would kill him or let him leave, and they would settle things on the battlefield... Liu Duoxi and Li Renyi could not stop him no matter what they did.
The Northern Yan was pressing too hard, and they were arguing outside without reaching a conclusion. The Emperor locked himself in his study and delayed making a decision.
Later, Jiang You requested an audience.
It's unclear what they said inside, but when they came out, Jiang You was holding an imperial edict.
Bai Chengguang lowered his head, his voice growing increasingly strained: "His Majesty said he has no face to see you..."
Without any evidence, or even a clue, they could only rely on "intuition" to say that Chizhan Lance was not sincere about peace talks. Even if they met with the emperor, what good would it do? How could they persuade the emperor and his court officials?
"Chunzhou, you should leave." Ye Pei suddenly spoke, his eyes closed, his voice trembling.
Bai Chengguang looked at the person beside him in shock, dumbfounded. No wonder he came here with the imperial decree; this person had come to release Yan Danqing!
For a moment, his heartbeat almost stopped, his nostrils flared, and he was breathing heavily. He could hear his own breathing as if it were right next to his ear, and his mind was a complete mess.
But my thoughts were more intense than ever before, my scalp tingled, and I was extremely calm.
This is a huge gamble!
If the peace talks are to come to fruition, they will not only lose their gamble and their own lives, but they will also plunge countless people of Daliang back into war, becoming sinners for all time.
Bai Chengguang then looked at Yan Danqing, the handsome young general sitting upright in the prison, dressed in black. He seemed to still see the shadow of the previous generations of loyal and brave marquises in his face...
He took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and stretched his hand behind his back, with a key hanging from his fingertips. It was the key to open the prison gate, and also the key to his head.
There is no evidence.
But like Ye Pei, he chose to believe in Yan Danqing!
"Go to the Ye family, and take Xixi with you." Ye Pei opened his eyes, picked up the key, and opened the prison door. "The imperial decree for the marriage has been issued; she cannot stay in Nandu..."
"Kill me, but grant me a marriage?" Yan Danqing looked at his hand, which was bleeding from being pinched, and a flash of ferocity crossed his eyes. "He's dreaming."
He won't leave.
If he leaves, Ye Pei, Bai Chengguang, and even the entire Dali Temple will not have a good ending.
“I am willing to be executed, but I would only die at the hands of Miss Ye.”
Ye Xiren was the way he chose to die.
-
"It's Miss Ye again?" Liang Yue sat on the dragon throne, having not slept for two days. He looked haggard and worn out, with dark circles under his eyes. Many memorials were scattered on the table, books in the imperial study were smashed on the ground, and vases were broken all over the floor, leaving a mess.
He didn't let anyone clean up, nor did he let anyone in.
Only when news of Yan Danqing came from the Dali Temple did he allow someone to come in and report. Upon hearing the name of this familiar person, Liang Yue paused, slowly lowered his hand from rubbing his temples, and looked puzzled.
"Indeed..." The eunuch bowed his head respectfully, "Ye Xiren, daughter of Ye Pei, Minister of Revenue, is the Crown Princess whom the Crown Prince Chizhan Lance of Northern Yan is seeking to marry."
Liang Yue suddenly realized, and after a long while said, "No wonder there was such a farce in the West Market. It seems that the girl was the one who injured Chi Zhan Lan Ce?"
The eunuch was puzzled, his eyes filled with confusion.
Liang Yue offered no explanation, waving the man away. "Agree to his request, grant him whatever he asks... In the end, it is I, and the Great Liang, who have wronged him..."
After the eunuch left, he closed the door again.
Liang Yue looked at the "evidence" laid out on the table. These were the witnesses and physical evidence from the military rations case that had just been delivered today. These things were enough to prove Yan Chunzhou's innocence.
But it's no use now.
Liang Yue slammed the memorial to the ground, his face grim. He suddenly slumped down amidst the mess. He was only twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, but there were already strands of white hair at his temples, and his brows were furrowed with worry.
[While others may not know, how could His Majesty not be aware of the current situation?]
[If protecting Yan Danqing truly leaves us with more than a 50% chance of victory, then of course we could go all out. But His Majesty and I both know perfectly well that we have no choice, and neither does the Great Liang!]
His head was throbbing with pain. He raised his hand to rub his temples. In his agony, he seemed to see a person before him. She smiled gently, picked up the folded paper, and walked behind him, gently pressing on his throbbing head...
Liang Yue subconsciously turned to look at her face, but her shadow had disappeared.
-
Ye Xiren rushed in, her steps hurried, large beads of sweat on her forehead as if she had just been pulled out of the water, her cheeks flushed.
The prison doors were open.
Their eyes met, one's eyes instantly welled up with tears, while the other smiled, gazing at each other from afar.
"You've arrived," Yan Danqing said with a smile.
Ye Xiren was somewhat frightened and subconsciously stepped back, not daring to go in.
"Don't be afraid, you know we can reopen." Yan Danqing reassured her softly, clearing her throat, her voice as gentle as water.
“This is different.” Ye Xiren’s eyes were moist. The mist made it almost impossible for her to see the people inside. The candlelight flickered, and the shadows were blurred. “This is different from before.”
She was overjoyed today, thinking she could finally take Yan Danqing away.
It's the fourth day of the third lunar month. He's been cleared of all charges of treason, so why is he still getting the same result?
Ye Xiren already knew the whole truth, and the fire in her heart burned brighter and brighter. Looking at the person sitting inside, the fire seemed to want to set her on fire and burn her to ashes.
"They are the same."
Yan Danqing looked back at her and said slowly:
Ye Xiren puffed out her cheeks and shook her head.
She didn't want to hear his analysis. In fact, it was that group of people in the imperial court who, under the guise of doing what was best for the Great Liang, wanted to kill General Yan, who was protecting the Great Liang!
Previously, he was accused of being a traitor, charged with numerous serious crimes, and imprisoned in the imperial prison where he suffered endless torture. Now that he has finally been exonerated, they still want to kill him...
That's the truth.
She spoke suddenly, with utmost calmness:
"Yan Danqing, you can leave now. If you still want to do something, go to the Huai'an Canal. Your Yan family army is there. If you don't want to get involved anymore, just stay far away. The world is vast; you can go wherever you want..."
"Nonsense." Yan Danqing shook her head, but a smile appeared in her eyes. Her heart, riddled with wounds, was being soothed by warm water, the warmth flowing through her entire body. "What will happen to you if I leave?"
It wasn't just Ye Xiren who came to "kill" him, but also Ye Pei and Bai Chengguang who were "guarding" him, and even all the people of Daliang... He had the blood of the Yan family flowing in his veins. He was General Yan, just as he once said. Daliang was never the Daliang of those people in the imperial court. He didn't care about the court, but only about this land of more than three million miles and the millions of people.
He won't leave.
Ye Xiren stepped forward, squatted down in front of him, and said urgently, "If you stay, what way do you have to escape? That Chizhan Lance has blocked all the paths and trapped you here to die."
Having finally escaped from the imperial prison, he found himself in an even more unsolvable predicament. He could be exonerated even if he was guilty, but what if others knew he was innocent and still wanted to kill him?
Yan Danqing looked at her, his deep eyes seeming to etch her into the depths of his soul. "We still need to figure out the reason for the cycle and how to break it. Don't try to save me, but try to get you out of the cycle. Your life shouldn't be tied to someone like me who could die at any moment."
If we can separate them and let Ye Xiren break free from the cycle, everything will be much easier.
Why bother thinking about her at a time like this?
Ye Xiren could no longer hold back her tears, her voice stubborn: "We are all in the cycle, already bound together. If you die, I won't live a single day either. How could I not save you? What if the condition for escaping the cycle is saving you?"
She shouldn't be crying at a time like this, so why can't she control herself at all?
She was both angry and heartbroken, wishing she could run to the palace and confront the Emperor and all those who wanted to kill Yan Danqing. Why? Why did they all want to kill such a good person?!
Where exactly are justice and divine retribution?
"Don't cry, there will be a way."
"Xixi, remember this: when the next cycle begins, find your father and, by any means necessary, make him and Lord Bai advocate for my execution in court to clear yourself of any wrongdoing. Also, do nothing and do nothing."
"What are you going to do?" Ye Xiren asked, tilting her head back.
After wiping away her tears, Yan Danqing felt a burning sensation in her fingers. She instinctively pulled her hand back, clenched it tightly, held her breath, and calmly said, "I will not let you marry Chi Zhanlan Ce, and I will live, I will not let you die because of me..."
His words were calm, but the murderous aura on his face gradually intensified. In that instant, Ye Xiren suddenly realized that this was not a prisoner who could not even kill a chicken, but General Yan, who had fought on the battlefield.
But this malevolent aura didn't frighten her; instead, it made her feel safe and secure.
After Yan Danqing finished speaking, he reminded him, "Those who need to take action will soon be entering the fifth day of the third lunar month. Once the fourth day of the third lunar month is over, we will have no chance to turn the tide."
He raised his long neck, his Adam's apple bobbing, veins bulging slightly, his voice laced with laughter: "Try the killing move I taught you again."
He was laughing, but Ye Xiren was crying.
Time passed second by second. Even though she didn't want to do it, she still pulled out the dagger. Blood splattered on her face, and Ye Xiren's face was already covered in tears.
"Don't cry, take care of yourself."
Yan Danqing felt no grievance. There was someone who died for him time and time again, shed tears for him, got angry for him, and felt sad for him. How could he feel wronged?
Lowering his head, Yan Danqing could no longer restrain himself. His forehead touched Ye Xiren's forehead slightly, pressed together, and as he gradually lost his strength, his voice became soft:
"The road ahead may be more difficult, but don't be afraid... I'm here for you."
Ye Xiren could no longer control her crying.
-
The bright red was glaring, and her body seemed to be bound by the blood, unable to break free. She struggled violently in pain. Ye Xiren suddenly sat up, raised her hand to touch her face, which was already covered in tears.
My body felt like it had been beaten, and I had no strength left.
Xuechan rushed in, anxious: "What's wrong, Miss?"
Ye Xiren shook her head, wiped away her tears after calming down, and asked again, "What's the date today?"
Xuechan answered almost instinctively: "The fourth day of the third month, at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM)."
Sure enough, I always woke up at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).
The third day of the third lunar month has passed, and when I woke up again it was the fourth day of the third lunar month, which was even worse than the third day.
Ye Xiren regained her strength, calmly got out of bed, picked up her black cloak and fastened it, then touched Yan Danqing's private order that she always carried with her. She let out a breath and walked out.
"Where are you going, young lady?"
"Go find Ye Changming!" Ye Xiren's voice had already faded into the distance.
Ye Changming was dozing off outside. He had spent the whole night looking for someone, and when he came back, he heard that Ye Xiren had already gone to bed. So he waited outside with a lot of questions in his mind, but he was too sleepy and dozed off.
Ye Xiren arrested him.
Before he could even ask his questions, Ye Xiren interrupted him, saying, "Brother, I need your help."
"ah?"
Ye Changming looked bewildered and scratched his head: "What would I do to help you?"
"Bring me to Jiang You." Ye Xiren looked up at him, her eyes sincere, her voice soft.
Yan Danqing told Ye Xiren to leave everything to him. Although he didn't know what Ye Xiren was going to do, Ye Xiren was not one to sit idly by and wait for death. He wouldn't really wait patiently. It was already the fourth day of the third month, and many things were already too late. Every move Ye Xiren made could easily put him in greater danger. It would be better for Ye Xiren to take matters into his own hands.
Ye Changming was increasingly puzzled and looked bewildered. He carefully examined his sister and felt that she was different from the sister he had seen when he killed Lu Qian yesterday.
...It's even more terrifying than yesterday.
After all, she was still somewhat rational yesterday. Today, Ye Xiren's eyes were clear and her demeanor was calm, but there was a faint sense of madness in her every move. Before dawn, it was as if there were two balls of fire in her eyes that could no longer be suppressed and burned people to ashes.
Ye Xiren added, "I know you can do it."
In the previous cycle, she had already asked Ye Changming about the things she hadn't done in the Dali Temple. She was determined to do them in this cycle and believed that the outcome couldn't be changed!
Ye Changming hesitated: "Then tell me first, what do you want to see him for?"
Ye Xiren smiled slightly:
"Kill him."
-----------------------
Author's note: Ye Xiren: I've gone mad, don't bother me.
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