Chapter 53 Chapter 53 Waiting
He chuckled softly, his melodious voice almost like music: "Sister, do you hate me to the bone just because I didn't stop you from marrying into Longxi?"
Yan Xifang's pupils trembled.
So all of that, what she wanted, had already been laid bare before his eyes?
As if stripped naked, "I..."
Yan Dibai closed her eyes, her smile now devoid of any flavor: "My elder sister has disappointed me time and time again."
Yan Xifang staggered. Huo Demei's eyes widened as if she had heard a joke:
"disappointment?"
Suddenly, she could no longer maintain her composure and cried out in a shrill voice, completely losing her composure: "Disappointed?!"
"Yan Dibai, my good brother, do you even know what disappointment is?!"
A dilapidated palace, a pitiful mother, a tyrannical emperor who is nominally her father but actually her grandfather, and vicious palace servants. The long, winding road to Longxi, and the Li family's constant harsh treatment of her…
Those past events that she hated most.
Yan Xifang's eyes reddened: "Do you know how disappointed I was back then?"
"Yan Dibai!" Her eyes blazed with hatred like a raging storm. "You are just like Yan Qi, you have no heart! You were born wrong, you are a beast who cannot distinguish between good and evil! I cherished you and protected you until you were five years old, do you have even a shred of gratitude towards me?!"
Her red lips trembled uncontrollably. Years of accumulated pain tore at her heart every moment.
The younger brother who took her hand, the younger brother who brushed the snow off her, the younger brother who smiled sweetly and made her happy.
In the dead of night, Yan Xifang always hesitated, wondering if her younger brother truly didn't love her.
He really didn't love her.
“I have done everything right for you! I have borne most of your suffering. I didn’t hold it against you when I was young, Yan Dibai, if you had even a shred of conscience, you wouldn’t have let me struggle in Longxi for four years! You heard it all, didn’t you?”
Yan Xifang gritted her teeth, several marks appearing on her face. She stared at Yan Dibai, whose face remained expressionless, for a short while before tears streamed down her face.
She straightened her back and pulled back her stray hairs. In the blink of an eye, the dazed beauty transformed back into a dignified and noble princess. Yan Xifang looked down at him slowly and deliberately, looking into his eyes, his face, and his thin, fragile body.
Yan Dibai turned his head and looked back. His eyes showed no emotion.
A moment later, Yan Xifang wiped away her tears, coldly reached out to him, and gently smoothed his disheveled clothes. Yan Di rolled his eyes and looked away, but suddenly, the hand that had been stroking his clothes snapped back and lunged at his neck.
A sudden heaviness gripped her neck. Yan Dibai groaned, her face flushing red as she struggled to breathe. Yan Xifang's strength was unusually great, and a ferocious glint flashed across her face.
"..." The broken porcelain in his hand almost fell due to lack of oxygen. Yan Dibai tried to look into Yan Xifang's eyes again. The woman, however, seemed frightened and tightened her grip on his neck, trying to cut off all his chances of survival.
Yan Xifang remained silent, staring intently at Yan Dibai's face, waiting for him to die along with her as time passed.
The boy did not struggle, nor was he able to. His raven-feather-like eyelashes fluttered wildly under the force, slowly about to cover the eyes that she loathed, and his face gradually turned a pale blue, as if on the verge of death.
Yan Xifang's heart suddenly began to pound wildly. When the boy's eyes uncontrollably popped open, she screamed and fell to the ground in a panic. Seeing Yan Dibai begin to gasp for breath, Yan Xifang was filled with fear and terror. Ignoring the pain in her body, she tried to grab Yan Dibai's red and purple neck again.
The hand that had been extended outside the bed suddenly twitched. Yan Dibai squinted, watching the shadows of ten fingers overlap on his cheek, his gaze wandering until it landed on her slightly faded phoenix-red nail polish.
"Sister." He called out to her, his thin lips moving slightly.
Yan Xifang froze, then suddenly came to her senses and tried to cut off his words, but the young man said calmly:
"My sister's nails haven't been painted in a long time."
“I remember it was your mother who taught you how to paint your nails, and then you taught me.”
She was struck dumb.
Yan Dibai coughed heavily, drawing out a streak of deep red blood. He slowly propped himself up, turning his head towards her with the same innocent look he had when they were children:
"Whenever my sister makes a mistake, she always comes to me in a panic and asks me what to do. It turns out that my sister is still the same as before."
"Unable to bear the punishment, yet unable to bring myself to be ruthless."
Yan Xifang roared, "...Enough!"
He chuckled, "You always expect me to kill for you in secret. Sister, we're both like pinworms that grow by attaching themselves to others. If you kill me, who will understand you?"
As if plunged into an ice cave, Yan Xifang's blood froze all over her body.
Yan Dibai's eyes were sinister yet sincere. "You're right. From childhood to adulthood, I've never really cared about you."
He looked smug, enjoying Yan Xifang's humiliated expression, and then let out a long sigh.
"But we were born from the same woman's womb. Apart from being equally despicable, how else are we similar?"
Those things that I hadn't cared about for years, I now remember deeply.
As a child, his older sister was frail and prone to tears, but Yan Dibai was different; he loved to laugh.
To outsiders, the siblings look very different.
He had heard countless whispers, as numerous as grains of rice thrown away in the kitchen. There was nothing to be held accountable for. But his older sister was different; she cared deeply. She would secretly get angry and shed tears on his palm.
A woman's tears are troublesome, as the late emperor once said.
Yan Dibai didn't like it much and found it boring. He was troubled by his elder sister's tendency to cry. Until, a palace maid who had been the subject of gossip was kept overnight by the late emperor, and the next day a decomposed corpse was carried out.
The older sister also rushed over to see, and although she was scared, the tears in her eyes were unusually excited.
Yan Dibai then understood. Her elder sister would be happy as long as the person who was gossiping stopped appearing.
But my sister would never kill anyone herself.
…Never mind, he can just do it for me.
Yan Dibai stared at Yan Xifang's resentful eyes and silently wondered—was he born heartless?
Did Yang Liuqing also say this?
...He doesn't remember much.
It doesn't matter whether it's horizontal or vertical.
Yan Dibai, having lost the porcelain shard, calmly said, "My sister wants to kill me; now is actually the perfect time."
“You—” Yan Xifang avoided his narrow gaze as if fleeing, suddenly took a deep breath, and raised her chin high.
"We are indeed siblings. I originally intended to give you a quick death. But now,"
She laughed haughtily:
"Yan Dibai, don't even think about dying so easily."
As the long sun sets, only scattered silver remains.
Yan Dibai lay on the couch and calmly closed his eyes.
"Get out of the way!" The usually amiable princess's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and her steps were ruthless. The concubine and her servants were so frightened that they kowtowed repeatedly.
"His Majesty—?"
The maidservant stopped her without batting an eye:
"Your Highness no longer needs to serve the late Emperor. Please move to a separate residence to live out your remaining years in peace."
-
"Old Yang, do you know a few words? Quickly take a look at what's written on it?"
Beneath the city wall, a gaunt commoner painstakingly caught a fat fish. Just as he was about to grill and eat it, he was shocked to realize something was wrong when he cut open the fish's belly.
"Hey, hey, let me see." The man called Old Yang was in his thirties, not very mobile, and was thin and dark-skinned. He hurriedly folded the strips of cloth soaked in fish blood and muttered, "It seems to be, the old emperor has fallen, and the new emperor is in power?!"
"What?!" The man catching the fish jumped up in a panic. "You're not mistaken?"
Old Yang nodded blankly: "It's these words, it is..."
"Oh no, this is bad, what, what is this?"
As the light flowed, the man picked up the half-piece of jade that had flowed out of the fish's belly. His movements attracted a crowd of people who crowded around, chattering amongst themselves.
"This is jade! Enough to feed my family for three years!"
"Why is this broken? If it weren't broken, I could pawn it."
"Don't touch it, something looks different to me. Why are the patterns on this jade so intricate? A snake? Why does a snake have claws?"
Someone shouted, "It's a dragon! It's a jade pendant! Something from the palace!"
"That strip of cloth—could it be that a real dragon has appeared in the world?"
The ignorant country folk were increasingly agitated, as if reflecting the rumor that "Heaven is dead," and some began muttering incoherently:
"This is an omen of heaven! The young emperor's dragon aura has been extinguished! What kind of fish is this? A carp! Carp can transform into dragons! What kind of river is this? The Dragon River that flows through the imperial palace! The carp has come carrying the mandate of heaven, announcing to the four seas that a new emperor shall be established!"
"Are you out of your mind? Aren't you afraid of being beheaded?" the man who spoke first said suspiciously. "I saw that Lord Xiao was guarding the city and no one could get in. The new emperor? Bah! Give me ten bushels of rice and I'll acknowledge him as the new emperor."
After hurling a few angry curses, the group was still stumped. Just as they were wondering what to do, two rows of fully equipped cavalrymen rode out of the city, holding aloft a crimson imperial edict and reading it aloud—
"The young emperor, knowing his crimes were grave, requested to abdicate. Coincidentally, the new emperor returned to the palace and ascended the throne that very day—all of Great Jin shall obey this decree!"
"You scoundrel, come here and issue the imperial edict!"
The man was stunned for a while, but after being yelled at, he immediately said "yes" respectfully and returned with the imperial edict, his face filled with fear.
"I was wondering why there wasn't a war going on outside; it seems the people were inside."
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances and fell silent. Only Old Yang stared blankly at the fish, then at the imperial edict, before suddenly grabbing his lame lap and running toward the city gate.
Those around were startled: "Hey, what are you doing there!"
Old Yang didn't even turn his head, staggering as he said, "My daughter is still in the palace!"
"Oh no, it's thundering!"
It thundered.
Qingqing wiped the raindrops from her face and quietly stood in the corner watching the aristocratic family members finally appear and capture the fleeing palace servants.
They were all wearing black armor, the emblem of the Xiao family.
Wo Xue huddled behind her and whispered, "There's definitely more than that. I don't believe that Li Mingshao isn't a ghost. But who exactly is this new emperor, and when did he hide in the palace? I've looked through the files, and the late emperor definitely only had one son, Your Majesty, in the capital."
The two dressed as the most ordinary palace servants, trying their best not to attract attention.
She didn't reply, and Wo Xue shrank even tighter, saying:
"Since we haven't been able to find Yi Fu, I'm afraid he's already been dealt with by the princess's men. He's stupid, unlike me who can assess the situation. Should we wait a bit longer? I don't think Lord Xiao's men are going to kill us all; they're either looking for someone..."
"He won't kill us, nor will he kill His Majesty?" the girl suddenly asked in a clear voice.
Wo Xue choked: "Regardless, the situation is already settled. The abdication edict has been issued, and I said I'd spread rumors about the true emperor to stabilize public sentiment and the court. They don't need to deliberately conceal His Majesty's death; they're all meat on the chopping block anyway. Keeping the late emperor would demonstrate benevolence, but keeping a tyrant whom everyone wants to kill—who would serve a tyrant? Right now, they should be arresting and interrogating people everywhere. Hmm, but what's going on with the Li family and the princess? Have they allied with Lord Xiao? Turning hostility into friendship to jointly assist the new emperor?"
Qingqing shifted her feet: "If you're not going, I will."
Wo Xue: "...Alright, alright, they'll be coming to arrest us soon anyway, I'll go keep watch for you. If His Majesty is still here, we can discuss this further, what do you say—hey!"
The girl waved away the withered green leaves and rushed into the rain without a care.
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Author's Note: My poor condition stems from a difficult life... These past two years have probably been tough for everyone. Perhaps because of the real-life struggles and hardships, it's affected various aspects of my life (I'm trying to change). Thank you for your comfort, but please don't waste your time trying to comfort me—don't ruin your good mood. Please ignore my rants. I'll try my best to update twice tomorrow; my period of being "imprisoned" is almost here (it'll be quite miserable for a while, hahaha!). Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-11-27 21:36:12 and 2023-11-28 22:52:41!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Lulululu 3 bottles; Snowy Evening 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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