“The Turkic cavalry trampled past me countless times, even trampling over me, nearly crushing my internal organs. But the eldest prince covered my face in blood, so they didn’t recognize me or realize I was still alive.”
"And...and..." Zhou Tong couldn't continue speaking at this point, choking up several times. After a long pause, he finally said, "All their attention was focused on the eldest young master."
If Prince Duan, Chu Mingyao, was the God of War of Dayan, then his two sons were the Lesser Gods of War. The Turks had suffered countless losses at the hands of the father and his two sons and had long harbored deep hatred for them.
Now that the father and his two sons were all dead, the Turks were ecstatic.
Perhaps feeling that killing Chu Huaiqing with one arrow was not enough, they actually tied his arms with ropes, attached him to the warhorse, and dragged him along, laughing loudly.
Zhou Tong was lying in a pile of dead bodies, watching helplessly as those damned Turks humiliated Chu Huaiqing, but he was powerless to do anything about it.
He wanted to rush out and use his last bit of strength to snatch Chu Huaiqing back, but he was unable to move because Chu Huaiqing had acupunctured his pressure points.
It wasn't until it was completely dark, and the Turks had already stormed into the border and were killing, burning, and looting in the towns along the way, that his pressure points were finally released.
That day was the fifteenth. A full moon hung in the night sky, and its pale light shone on the pile of corpses. Zhou Tong struggled to get up and stood in the pile of corpses where blood flowed like a river. All around was silent; not even the chirping of insects could be heard.
His first reaction was bewilderment; he had no idea what he should do.
He turned left and right, but never dared to look behind him, as if as long as he didn't look, the last glimmer of hope in his heart would not be extinguished.
He dared not look, could not bear to look, and could not look.
But in the end, we still have to turn back.
"Song Ting." Zhou Tong's eyes were bloodshot, blood seemingly welling up from his lungs, his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. "Do you know how I turned around, how I walked towards the eldest young master?"
"They hung him on the flagpole, just high up there, like a triumphant object, just hanging there..."
Chu Huaiqing was covered in blood and gore, and Zhou Tong couldn't even recognize him. He couldn't believe that this person was his eldest son, yet he knew better than anyone else that this was indeed his eldest son.
At that moment, Zhou Tong really wanted to die too. To die right beside Chu Huaiqing.
They had clearly agreed to stay together forever, even to the ends of the earth, he would follow this person.
But then he suddenly remembered what the other person had whispered in his ear.
He has to survive.
He wanted to kill all the Turks, kill all the people in Chang'an, and avenge Chu Huaiqing.
I also want to take Chu Huaiqing to see the peach blossoms in Jiangnan.
“Song Ting, it was hatred that sustained me as I crawled out of the pile of corpses and returned to Chang’an from the northern desert.”
“You will all pay the price for this! But even if you die a thousand times, ten thousand times, it will not be enough to atone for the sins you committed back then.”
The memories of that year were too painful, yet Zhou Tong thought about them again and again in his heart, never daring to forget them for a single day.
Especially the way Chu Huaiqing smiled at him at the end. It appeared in his dreams every night.
“Song Ting, my only purpose in life is revenge, so either you kill me now, or you wait to be killed by me.”
The complete annihilation of the Xuanjia Army was a major event that shocked the court and the public. From court officials to ordinary people, no one wanted to believe that this invincible army would be defeated so suddenly and so tragically.
Many people believe that Chu Huaiqing betrayed the emperor, leading the Xuanjia Army into hiding, preparing to launch an attack on the imperial court and avenge his parents and brothers.
It wasn't until the imperial court officials rushed to the northern desert and saw the mountains of corpses that they dared to believe the Xuanjia Army had truly been defeated.
Not a single person survived.
When the news reached Chang'an, some speculated that Chu Huaiqing had colluded with the Turks to avenge Prince Duan, but was instead betrayed.
Otherwise, it would be very difficult to explain why the Xuanjia Army suffered such a crushing defeat.
If it were before Prince Duan's rebellion, no one would believe this speculation. But at that time, such a major incident had just occurred in Prince Duan's mansion, and it seems reasonable that Chu Huaiqing would do something foolish in a moment of panic.
Even more likely, the Xuanjia Army and the Turks may have already colluded.
Such rumors spread wider and wider, and eventually seemed to become an undeniable fact.
Prince Duan plotted a rebellion.
The Xuanjia Army rebelled.
The war god and the invincible army of Dayan became sinners of Dayan in the blink of an eye, and their crimes were so heinous that people dared not even offer them memorial tablets in their homes.
Song Ting knew, of course, that Chu Huaiqing could not possibly betray him, but he was truly unaware of the reason for the annihilation of the Xuanjia Army.
He had suspected the issue of the grain supplies, but since it involved the crime of treason, and the case files from that year had been altered, he was afraid of alerting the perpetrators and didn't dare to investigate further. He was waiting for the right opportunity to investigate them all at once.
But that's the truth.
He couldn't bear to hear the truth, and he couldn't imagine how Huaixu would feel if he knew.
"Huaixu...do you know him?"
“Of course.” Zhou Tong’s tone was no longer as agitated as before, but rather calm after extreme resentment. “I told the young master about everything that happened back then, in detail, more than once.”
Song Ting's expression gradually stiffened. He slowly raised his eyes, even the muscles in his cheeks twitching slightly: "How could you... how could you do this?"
Zhou Tong stared at him with a strange expression, as if he had said something that would make people laugh their heads off:
"They are brothers, so of course the Third Young Master should know how his elder brother was murdered! We are the same, all vengeful ghosts who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood! Our purpose in life is revenge!"
Just thinking about Huai Xu's reaction after hearing about these things made Song Ting's heart ache as if her internal organs were being twisted together: "The eldest young master wouldn't want Huai Xu to know."
Zhou Tong, however, was already blinded by hatred, and he resentfully said:
"So what? Why not? If the young master had never known all this, how could he know who he should hate and how could he be so heartless as to hurt you?"
"You were the poisonous snake he picked up. If it weren't for you, everything might have been different. You betrayed the prince!"
Song Ting let out a long breath: "Are you doing this on purpose, Brother Zhou?"
Zhou Tong sneered, his eyes fixed on the spear held in Song Ting's hand: "It was the young master who asked, he begged me to tell him, so of course I will grant his wish."
That was Chu Huaiqing's most beloved youngest brother. Song Ting, that ingrate, was also brought back by Chu Huaixu. Of course, he should kill Song Ting with his own hands to avenge the Duan Prince's Mansion!
"Song Ting, go to hell!" Zhou Tong seized the opportunity and lunged forward, a dagger that could cut through iron like mud appearing in his hand without him even noticing!
Song Ting dodged with a swift movement, easily deflecting Zhou Tong's attack. Then, she raised her longsword, its dazzling light flashing like a silver snake as it aimed at Zhou Tong's chest.
The latter's pupils flickered; he tried to dodge, but it was too late...
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