Chapter 214 You came here to kill me?
Ji Heng still remembers the last time he left the capital. Lin Shi held the child and saw him off at the gate of the mansion, saying that when he returned, the child would definitely call him "Daddy".
He had thought that the child might inherit his talent, and he could teach her cultivation when he returned home. If she didn't have the talent, he could teach her to read and write, and she would surely become a famous noblewoman in the capital in a dozen years.
He picked up a pen and wrote the name Ji Chan on the paper.
His grandfather taught him calligraphy, and even his teacher praised his calligraphy for its unique style.
Unfortunately, I never had the chance to teach that child.
Ji Heng's thoughts drifted away. This year, A Chan should be nineteen years old. If nothing unexpected happens, she should be of marriageable age.
She married a nobleman's son in the capital, stayed at home to support her husband and raise their children, and lived an ordinary life.
Unfortunately, she was unlucky, but she survived.
After all, that was his first child, and he wasn't without feelings for her. However, he was always clear-headed and knew what he wanted, even if it was the bond between father and daughter, he knew when to sever it.
The father and daughter were destined to have a short-lived relationship.
Because he suddenly thought of Ji Chan and recalled some past events, Ji Heng felt a rare touch of sadness.
Before the emotions had subsided, I suddenly heard bursts of cheerful laughter coming from outside the window; it was Xiao Wu's voice.
He got up and walked to the window to look down. There was a large open space in front of the Eternal Palace, where Xiao Wu was playing with the demon servants who were serving in the palace.
The game played by the demon race is more brutal than that played by the human race. Looking at the formation below, it is some kind of chess formation. When a "chess piece" steps on the same square, it has to fight. The winner stays and the loser is eliminated.
Xiao Wu is a pawn positioned at the front of the chessboard, and he was so happy just now because he eliminated the opponent's "piece".
The game lasted for more than an hour before it ended. Ji Heng watched the whole time, and the more he watched, the more satisfied he became.
Although Xiao Wu is young, her talent is already evident. She doesn't show any fear when fighting against demon servants who are several times her age. Although she wins and loses half the time, she has a strong desire to win. Among the five children, Xue Yao has high hopes for their eldest son, but she feels that Xiao Wu's personality is more like hers.
After watching the game, Ji Heng returned to his desk, took out a piece of paper, dipped his pen in ink, and sketched a few lines on the paper, bringing to life the scene he had just witnessed.
He couldn't help but smile as he looked at the scene in the painting, then put the painting aside and picked up a book to read.
As Ji Heng turned more than half the pages of the book in his hand, he heard heavy footsteps outside. Before he could even look up, the study door was flung open with a bang.
"Daddy, I'm back." Xiao Wu ran to his side like a gust of wind, curiously looked at the book in his hand, and then turned to look at the painting on the desk.
Ji Heng gently touched her sweaty, disheveled hair and said softly, "Why didn't you wash up before coming over? If your mother saw you, she would definitely scold you."
"Mom's not home, is she?" Xiao Wu chuckled.
Her mother had the most rules, and she only dared to play like this when her mother wasn't home; otherwise, she would definitely be scolded if she were seen doing so.
As she spoke, she picked up the painting on the table and spotted herself in it with just one glance.
"Father's painting is so beautiful." She held the painting in her arms. "I'm taking this painting too, so Mother won't find out."
Ji Heng knew exactly what she was thinking, and tapped her nose: "Then you'd better keep it safe."
Xiao Wu nodded hurriedly, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the paper under the drawing paper with the words "Ji Chan" written on it.
"Ji, Chan?" She read out the two characters, then turned to ask Ji Heng, "Whose name is this?"
“This is…” Ji Heng paused for a moment, “This is your eldest sister’s name.”
"Eldest sister?" Xiao Wu looked puzzled. They all had human names, which were given to them by their father, but the eldest sister was not named Ji Chan.
“She is my first child, and none of you have ever met her.”
Xiao Wu was still a little dazed, but he quickly accepted it.
My mother said that humans have short lifespans, so they have to get married and have children early. My father had a high status among humans before he and my mother got together, so it seems normal that he had been married and had a child.
But this incident still had a significant impact on her.
She glanced at the two words on the paper again out of the corner of her eye, memorized the name, and then tentatively asked, "Does Father miss her?"
Ji Heng patted her head but did not answer the question.
Do you miss him? He doesn't even know what that child looks like now. But for some reason, he suddenly thought of him today.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Xiao Wu said with a wronged tone, "Am I not Father's favorite daughter?"
Seeing her vying for attention, Ji Heng smiled and said, "Of course, Xiao Wu is Father's favorite daughter."
"Then Father, please don't think about her anymore, okay? From now on, Xiao Wu will stay with Father."
"……good."
Those faint memories of Ji Chan's childhood were ultimately completely replaced by the clever and sensible child before her.
"Father is so good." Xiao Wu nestled contentedly into Ji Heng's arms, her robes concealing her dark eyes.
A lowly human, yet he dares to occupy my father's mind; I must tell my mother about this later.
We should get rid of this Ji Chan as soon as possible.
Just then, a figure appeared outside the door. Ji Heng looked up at the person and said, "Come in."
The one who came was one of the half-demons who had come to join them in recent years. This half-demon had the bloodline of the Golden Eagle Clan and was extremely fast, making him the most suitable person to gather information. Xueyao often sent him to the Great Xia.
The half-demon entered the study and stood still, bowing to Ji Heng: "Your subordinate is late, please forgive me, Master."
Although these half-demons were used by Xueyao, they all followed her wishes and served Ji Heng as their master. Having such a powerful master, the half-demons did not resist and were even overjoyed.
Ji Heng wasn't particularly concerned about this. He had led troops in battle among humans and was a general in his own right. He was used to having a large following and was used to being able to command a large army. These were just a few half-demons who had surrendered halfway through their lives, and they were not worth his attention.
"How's the information Xueyao asked you to gather?" Ji Heng asked.
Xiao Wu also turned his head and looked over curiously.
The half-demon's face was tense as he replied, "I have learned that the human emperor has sentenced the Marquis of Jinyang to be torn apart by chariots, exterminated the three clans of the Ji family, exiled the rest of the Ji family members, and barred the descendants of the Ji family from taking the imperial examinations for five generations."
Ji Heng nodded and asked, "Has any news of the Marquis of Jinyang come out?"
"No, I bribed many humans, but I still couldn't find out any news about Marquis Jinyang."
Ji Heng sighed softly. Ji Mo wasn't smart. If he were, he wouldn't have chosen him in the first place.
A cowardly fool, if threatened with death, will certainly not keep a secret.
By this time, the Emperor of Great Xia probably already knew that Ji Mo was a fake.
However, the Great Xia Dynasty could not afford to lose face and would never publicize the matter. Therefore, on the surface, the Ji family seemed to still have hope, but in reality, it would not be long before those Ji family members who had been exiled would die unexpectedly.
Ji Heng asked the other party, "What else did Xueyao instruct you to do?"
The half-demon respectfully replied, "Your subordinate has prepared substitutes as instructed by the princess. Once the exile corps leaves the capital, we will replace them with your relatives. Does Your Highness have any other instructions?"
"Let's do as she says, and save as many as we can."
The Ji family prospered because of the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion, and perished because of him. All he could do was try his best to preserve the Ji family's bloodline.
Ji Heng knew perfectly well that in the eyes of the Emperor of Great Xia, the Ji family, whom he could easily manipulate, was nothing. The other party would probably target him, the culprit.
However, he was not worried. Although the Great Xia was powerful, the demon race was not to be trifled with either. He had already thought of this day when he chose to betray them.
Xueyao's identity is extraordinary. As long as he doesn't leave the demon territory, the Great Xia would never dare to risk angering the demon kings to kill him.
"Your subordinate obeys."
Just as Ji Heng was about to dismiss the half-demon, his gaze fell on the table and he suddenly paused, then spoke again: "Do you know if Ji Chan, the daughter of the Marquis of Jinyang, is on the execution list?"
The half-demon pondered for a moment and shook his head, saying, "She had already been expelled from the Ji family, so she wasn't implicated this time."
"That's good." After a pause, Ji Heng asked another question, "Do you know how she is now?"
Before the half-demon could speak, the light outside the window suddenly dimmed. A black vortex appeared silently, obscuring the entire sky.
In the next instant, the entire Eternal Palace was breached. If Ji Heng hadn't intervened in time to stop the violent force, Xiao Wu and the half-demon in the study would probably have died on the spot.
Even so, he only managed to save their lives; the entire study and even the entire Eternal Palace had been reduced to ruins.
Ji Heng stood amidst the ruins, looked up at the inexplicably appearing vortex, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said loudly, "Since you've come, why hide yourself? Why not come out and show yourself?"
After staring at it for a moment, Ji Heng saw nothing unusual about the vortex, but then he heard a voice behind him: "Should I call you Marquis of Jinyang, or should I call you Ji Heng?"
Ji Heng blocked the terrified Xiao Wu behind him and slowly turned around.
Not far behind them, Bai Xiuming, dressed in a black, narrow-sleeved, cross-collar robe, stood holding a sword. Although the tip of the sword was hanging on the ground, the long sword hummed incessantly, and a faint dragon's roar could be heard.
Ji Heng sized up Bai Xiuming: "Who are you?"
"Your life is in vain."
“It’s you.” Although Ji Heng had always been with the demon race, he knew the name Bai Xiuming.
The demon seal that Xueyao sought for his breakthrough was stolen by Bai Xiuming, and all her capable subordinates who were sent out also died at his hands.
The adopted son of the Great Xia Ming King, the most likely successor to the Ming King's throne.
He only remembered the name because Xueyao had suffered repeated setbacks at the hands of this person. He never expected that this person would have such amazing talent and break through to the fifth realm so quickly.
"Did the Ming King send you?"
Bai Xiuming looked at Ji Heng, whose expression was constantly changing, and patiently answered the other party's question: "No."
Ji Heng believed Bai Xiuming's words because he felt that the Ming King would not be so irrational.
It seems that this young man, after his breakthrough, became arrogant and sought out this place on his own.
Ji Heng wasn't surprised at all. As a prodigy, he was always arrogant and disdainful of others. If he had broken through to the fifth realm at the same age as the other person, he would probably be even more arrogant.
"You came here to kill me?"
"We do have this plan."
Bai Xiuming looked at Ji Heng in front of him. His face was not exactly the same as Ji Mo's fake face; he looked much younger.
He exuded an air of composure, his gaze calm as he looked over, showing no emotional fluctuation even after the destruction of the Eternal Palace.
His nominal father-in-law did seem to be quite difficult to deal with.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
