Chapter 83: Retribution
After Luo Qingling died, Qin Yanheng kept her red dress with him, folded it neatly at the head of the bed, and placed it together with the imperial edict granting marriage that he had specially requested.
The leaked evil spirit has been suppressed by the Golden Dragon Sword under the Divine Ridge. No one knows where Song Yutai's private soldiers are hiding. Right now, the entire Jiangnan Road is unusually calm.
There were candles burning in the room and heavy snow was falling outside the window.
Qin Yanheng stood in front of the table, looking down at the map in his hand. His chin was covered with stubble, and his already thin face looked even more tired in the candlelight.
The unruly youthful spirit had disappeared from Qin Yanheng, replaced by calmness and stillness.
The girl he deeply loved died in his arms, and the cause of his beloved brother's death remains unknown. The one responsible for all this was his younger brother, Song Yutai, who had always admired him, following him around since childhood and calling him "Brother Heng."
"What a good brother Heng is." Qin Yanheng smiled bitterly at himself.
He and his elder brother, the Crown Prince, treated Song Yutai as a brother and taught him personally, but they ended up killing each other, which is really sad.
There was a knock on the door. It was Xuanying who made the noise.
"Your Highness, I have found out that the Song family's private soldiers are hiding on the top of Xiaoyun Mountain. I believe Song Yutai is waiting for the opportunity to attack the city. Your Highness, do you want to continue waiting in Raocheng?" Xuanying walked in and reported in a low voice.
Song Yutai was planning to attack the city, that was for sure, but no one knew at the moment whether this thief would have other ideas. After all, having grown up together, Qin Yanheng was very familiar with his character. Song Yutai might seem foolish, but in reality, he was full of evil intentions.
A normal person would think of taking Raocheng first, and then split into two routes by land and water, taking Jiangnan by land while attacking the capital by water.
Raocheng has been the most central place besides the capital since ancient times. Otherwise, when Liuqiu State launched the war, it would not have chosen to attack Raocheng first.
But Song Yutai is not a normal person, he is a complete madman.
How can a madman think like an ordinary person?
"Song Yutai won't attack the city," Qin Yanheng put down the map and ran his finger over it. "He will go straight north to attack the capital. His real goal is to seize the throne and rescue Song Haisheng."
"But this place is a thousand miles away from the capital!" Xuanying didn't believe it.
Qin Yanheng's finger, which was sliding upwards, stopped at a certain place on the map. He pointed it hard to signal Xuanying to look carefully.
"The south of Xiaoyun Mountain faces Rao City, and the north faces the capital. The private soldiers you see stationed in the south of Xiaoyun Mountain are just what Song Yutai wants you to see. He is just misleading you."
"The Song family soldiers who are truly capable of fighting on the battlefield are in the north."
"Song Yutai is diverting his attention. He must have already started heading north," Qin Yanheng narrowed his eyes. "There is no time to lose. Lead your troops and follow me."
In the streets and alleys of Rao City.
The road that was bustling with people a few days ago was now deserted, with only soldiers standing by the roadside with swords in their hands.
Someone came flying on horseback not far away. The soldiers who were standing there immediately stood at attention and looked at the person flying in front of them. Everyone had a serious look on their faces.
"What are your orders, Lord Xuanying?" The leading soldier stood at attention and asked loudly.
"The Song family soldiers are stationed south of Xiaoyun Mountain. Mount up immediately and follow me to attack the south!"
Less than an incense stick of time passed before a massive army of soldiers rushed southward toward Xiaoyun Mountain. The roar of their drums was like thunder, so powerful that even a hundred miles away, the sound could be heard. The people of Jiangnan Road knew that the young prince Qin was about to attack the rebels from the south.
On Xiaoyun Mountain, the private soldiers scattered throughout the southern part of the mountain had already heard the commotion in Rao City. Someone stood up and looked out from a distance, only to see a group of soldiers filing out of the city gate and running straight towards them.
In the blink of an eye, countless soldiers were fighting each other. The south side of Xiaoyun Mountain was in chaos, the smell of blood was floating in the air, and officers and soldiers were rushing in from Raocheng.
There was war in the south, and no movement in the north.
Deep in the forest, Song Yutai stood in black, his back to the south, sneering, with tall private soldiers standing beside him.
Here, were the real Song family soldiers. As for the group of people in the south, they were just random assassins he had raised to confuse Qin Yanheng and make people mistakenly think that he wanted to attack Raocheng.
"Qin Yanheng is too self-righteous. He has been a superior giving orders for too long and doesn't understand the minds of his subordinates at all." Song Yutai said with a sneer.
"Now that there are no soldiers in the capital, it's the best time to seize the throne. Qin Yanheng certainly didn't expect me to do the opposite. He is destined to be defeated by me, Song Yutai."
Everyone mounted their horses and followed Song Yutai down the mountain secretly to the north to attack the city.
There was only movement in the south of the entire Xiaoyun Mountain. At this moment, the Song family soldiers stationed in the north secretly came down the mountain and were running towards the capital.
Song Yutai was riding his horse at the front. He turned his head to look at the south where flames were rising into the sky, and made a gesture with disdain - that was an agreement he and Qin Yanheng had made when they were children playing, that one day when facing a defeated opponent, they would make such a gesture.
The moment he turned around and whipped the horse, Song Yutai opened his eyes wide.
Not far ahead, a young man in a black and gold brocade robe, a jade crown on his head gleaming in the night. Sitting on horseback, in front of the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers behind him, he made the same gesture toward Song Yutai.
Song Yutai, you are my defeated general.
Qin Yanheng tilted his head without saying a word. He raised his chin and slowly pulled the bow, aiming the arrow at him in the same manner as Song Yutai assassinated Luo Qingling.
Seeing this, Song Yutai broke out in a cold sweat. He was done for. Qin Yanheng would not be his defeated opponent today.
Having been Qin Yanheng's brother for so many years, he was even taught how to draw the bow and shoot arrows by Qin Yanheng himself. How could Song Yutai not understand Qin Yanheng's character?
Yes, Qin Yanheng has always been a smart person. He is unconventional in doing things. He can think of what ordinary people can think of, and he has already done what ordinary people cannot think of.
Song Yutai is just a transparent object in front of Qin Yanheng. Not only Song Yutai, but everyone is like this in Qin Yanheng's eyes.
The young man in front of him loosened his hand holding the bow, and Song Yutai closed his eyes, waiting for death to come. Unexpectedly, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and he fell off his horse and rolled to the ground.
You can't die, and you can't live for long.
"Oh," Song Yutai laughed self-deprecatingly, looking at the long boots of the young man in front of him, "Brother Heng, you are still so cruel. You won't even let me die quickly."
"Don't call me Brother Heng!"
Qin Yanheng half-knelt down and grabbed Song Yutai's collar, saying viciously, "Your brother Heng is still alive, you must be very upset, right? But you deserve it!"
"When you killed the crown prince, did you ever think about it? He was our brother! You kept calling me Brother Heng, and we'd been brothers for twenty years. I didn't even know it was you who killed my brother with your own hands..."
"Also, you used the crossbow I gave you on your eighteenth birthday to personally assassinate my princess, preventing her from entering the reincarnation cycle. You were the truly cruel one!"
Song Yutai laughed with his head tilted back, his voice hoarse, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, choking him and making him cough several times.
"Why were you born a high and mighty prince, while I can only be a royal relative? The highest official I ever held was only the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple. Compared to you, there's a world of difference. Why?"
"Is it so important to stand on it?" Qin Yanheng calmed down.
"Important!" Song Yutai's face was grim. "I've never enjoyed the admiration of everyone, but this is your daily routine! I've followed you and the Crown Prince since I was young. Everyone's eyes are on you, but what about me? Who cares about me?"
"So you and Song Haisheng sold the war information to Liuqiu State in exchange for the Soul-Calling Ghost, slandering General Luo and Scout Gao while using the Soul-Calling Ghost to unknowingly kill the Crown Prince?"
"Yes, you and the prince should die, and everyone who owes me should die!"
Song Yutai became more and more excited as he spoke, and his stubborn look made Qin Yanheng feel as if he had never met this person before.
"I just like seeing the pain you feel when you lose your loved ones again and again. It makes me happy to see you suffer."
Qin Yanheng sneered and pushed Song Yutai to the ground. Then he pointed at his abdomen where the arrow had hit him and whispered, "Do you remember that my brother taught you how to shoot arrows in the most torturous way?"
He placed his fingers on the arrow handle and swung it gently for a moment. Song Yutai's face turned pale with pain, and a look of death appeared on his face.
"Remember, stab me in the abdomen so I can talk a few more words before dying."
Song Yutai squeezed out a voice from between his teeth. He pointed at the place where he was injured, smiled with relief, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.
In the depths of winter, blood flowed in the snow and gradually solidified.
Thousands of horses trampled over Song Yutai's body, which was lying on the snow facing the sky, with no one to collect it.
On the same day, Song Haisheng, the emperor's uncle who was imprisoned in the dungeon, bit his tongue and committed suicide. The Song father and son's rebellion failed and ended up in an irreparable end.
All the truth came to light, the unjustly killed scout Gao was vindicated, General Luo's title was restored and he was transferred back to the capital to recuperate, and a crowd of people knelt in front of the late prince's grave.
The gates of the capital were wide open, and everyone was congratulating Prince Rong An on his triumphant return.
Only Qin Yanheng saw three young and frivolous figures riding horses out of the city when he entered the city. It was his childhood dream passing by him.
Capital city, imperial palace.
After the snow stopped, the palace was covered in silver and white. Everyone did not hide the joy on their faces at all. The imperial edict was handed to Qin Yanheng along with the shouts of the people.
"Luo Qingling, the eldest daughter of the Luo family, saved the people and now inherits her father's title and is posthumously named the Great General Protecting the Nation."
"Prince Rong'an Qin Yanheng has pacified the world, and now the Eastern Palace is without a master..."
Qin Yanheng stepped forward and pulled out the imperial edict, then looked up at the sage. "My princess has passed away, and I will never marry again. However, my country cannot be without a queen. I am not the best choice, so please choose someone else."
The cold wind was so biting that it penetrated into the bone marrow.
The figure who was riding a horse alone and leaving Beijing gradually disappeared into the distance. He was no longer young, and there were no longer three of them.
The blizzard blurred his figure. He and his horse disappeared in the snow-capped mountains. His black hair was draped over his shoulders and he was not wearing a jade crown. The black and gold brocade robe he wore was no longer as high-spirited as before, but instead revealed a bit of desolation.
After the Crown Prince's death, the Eastern Palace remained vacant for four years. The following spring, the deceased Crown Prince's son, Qin Jici, took over the Eastern Palace. Qin Yanheng, Prince Rong'an, was so accomplished that he was named Regent, the Emperor's uncle.
From then on, all matters in the Central Plains were decided by the emperor's uncle.
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