Chapter 35 received an excited message from the Imperial Palace: "You want to talk to the big wolfhound..."
"Coo." Black Falcon lazily entered Weiyang Palace, occupying only a corner of the study.
The emperor, who had already resolved never to stay up late again, is now up all night.
Various departments began to investigate the entire Feng Yong case, and convicted Feng Yong overnight, estimating the assets he had taken away.
Before the Emperor's desk, the Vice Minister of Revenue, carrying the calculation results, reported in a panic: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Feng Yongshao said it's 150,000...150,000 taels of silver..."
Feng Yong held a high position but did not wield significant power.
But a high position itself is a means to amass wealth.
The various censors, officials from the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review also submitted belated reports to the emperor detailing the specifics of Feng Yong's embezzlement case.
Ying Xi had a considerable amount of documents piled up on his desk. He reviewed them one by one and wrote down his execution recommendations.
Exhausted, he gestured for several ministers to go out and attend to their duties. The ministers then took their leave.
Yu Jing stepped forward and advised the emperor to go to bed.
Ying Xi asked, "Have you found the person?"
Yu Jing was taken aback before saying, "The various teams that were sent out to search have not yet given a reply."
"Send more people, including my guards."
Yu Jing's eyes darted around, and he intuitively sensed something indescribable: "The Duke of Ying is a lucky man, blessed by Heaven."
Ying Xi frowned: "Feng Yong still has 150,000 taels of my silver."
Yu Jing immediately stopped daydreaming. The current emperor should save money wherever possible, but 150,000 taels of silver was to trample on the emperor's bottom line, which was a matter of utmost importance.
"This servant will take care of it immediately!"
After Yu Jing left, Ying Xi picked up her teacup, her jade-white fingers rubbing the cup between them, her crystal-clear nails seemingly trying to embed shards of porcelain.
"Aren't you worried about the big wolfhound?" Tian Tong asked.
Ying Xi did not answer; the black falcon curled up into a ball.
That falcon was fierce towards Lian Qingchao, but it was trembling with fear and cowardice towards Ying Xi.
Ying Xi withdrew her gaze from the roof beam where the falcon perched, a layer of mist rising in her dark gray eyes, as if she were looking at distant memories through the fog.
He asked Tian Tong for confirmation: "Can you help me find a lover?"
Sweetie exclaimed excitedly, "You're going to date a big wolfhound!!!"
The two were not on the same page, so Ying Xi ignored Tian Tong's ecstatic joy and steered the conversation back on track: "If so, can you let me see Xie Qing immediately?"
This was an area that Tian Tong was interested in, and Tian Tong immediately perked up: "I can do it in the future, but not now. This is an advanced function of this system, and it takes time to accumulate."
He can't wait.
Ying Xi then asked, "If I cannot see him in person, is it possible to contact him?"
The romance system is amazing, often exceeding expectations.
He is now waiting for news, but he doesn't like this passive feeling, so he thinks of using the system.
The request wasn't unreasonable, Ying Xi thought. It was perfectly normal for both parties in a relationship to want to stay in touch after it had blossomed into marriage. He only needed Xie Qianli to tell him where he was.
Sure enough, Tian Tong replied crisply, "Sure!"
It answered sweetly.
Ying Xi, who was usually calm, suddenly tensed up: "What should we do?"
Before he finished speaking, a cloud-like cloud of smoke appeared before his eyes. When the smoke dissipated, a beautiful, grayish-brown goose appeared on the table, which alerted the black falcon on the beam.
“I can send a letter via 'wild geese',” Tian Tong said.
It then explained, "You can write a letter to your target, and the wild geese will deliver it for you. But this function can't help you find General Xie."
Why?
“If General Xie is tied up, unconscious, or doesn’t open the door, he can’t receive letters, let alone reply to them. He’ll only have messages coming in but no replies going out.”
Sweet Tong said regretfully, "It must be very dangerous for the big wolfhound to go for revenge. How could he possibly give you any feedback?"
In an instant, Ying Xi's newly ignited hope was extinguished by Tian Tong's few words.
Wild geese hopped and jumped on the emperor's desk.
Ying Xi stroked its smooth back, pondering the dangerous sound, her brows furrowing more and more. Lost in thought, her fingers still touched the goose's feathers, which aroused the black falcon's jealousy, causing it to land in front of Ying Xi and wait to be touched.
"Gurgle."
"!!!"
The sudden appearance of the raptor startled the geese, causing them to instinctively flee for their lives.
Unexpectedly, this awakened the hunting instincts of eagles and falcons, and birds instantly circled around the study of Weiyang Palace.
Hearing the commotion, the guards outside became agitated and called out from outside the door, "Your Majesty? Has Your Majesty given any orders?"
In the study, Ying Xi remained silent, gazing up at the black falcon, lost in thought.
He watched as it chased the goose, purely out of spite, yet not daring to actually peck it to death, maintaining a distance that left the goose both terrified and forced to fly away in a flustered frantic manner.
Ying Xi gave a very faint smile.
From small things one can know great things; from one example one can infer many others.
The scene before him was enough for Ying Xi to think of the fastest way to find the person—he was to arrange for Tian Tong to immediately send a message to Xie Qianli, and then he would open the window and let the wild goose out.
The wild geese fluttered away.
The falcon landed on Ying Xi's shoulder, staring intently at the direction the wild goose had gone, showing both hostility and dissatisfaction towards this bird that had appeared out of nowhere.
The emperor stroked the falcon's chin, soothed it slightly, and tied a bright yellow ribbon, which was extremely conspicuous even in the darkness, to the falcon's talons.
Ying Xi summoned the guards and gave them orders:
"Take my decree with you, ride the fastest horses, and chase after this falcon."
The guards looked at each other, having long since stopped questioning any of the emperor's arrangements, and immediately agreed.
Raptors spread their wings, eagles soar through the sky!
***
A manor on the outskirts of Chang'an.
Feng Yong realized he had fallen for a ruse; Xie Qianli had used himself as bait to lure him from somewhere deep in the mountains to come here on his own.
Realizing it was too late, Feng Yong panicked and immediately burrowed into the group of assassins.
Xie Qianli had just seized the knife when he used it decisively, thrusting the blade forward to strike his opponent's weakness. Then, protecting Feng Yong's two henchmen, he killed them with a single blow.
Feng Yong scrambled and crawled, his luxurious black silk robes now covered in blood and mud.
The fall of the two assassins exposed his back, and fearing he would be stabbed to death, Feng Yong cried out, "Protect me!"
Another string of blood droplets splattered—
Xie Qianli's palms were icy cold. His movements aggravated his injuries, and blood gushed out of his armor. His vision blurred.
That momentary lapse in concentration caused his body to become sluggish, halting his sword strike. Feng Yong fled forward desperately, shouting, "Stop him! Stop him!"
Of course, a living British duke is more valuable than a dead one.
The soldiers dared not fire their arrows, but another group of men came forward, and six or seven knives stabbed Xie Qianli in various parts of his body. The cold light illuminated the night.
Given Xie Qianli's condition, it wasn't worth fighting back against the siege. So he discarded his sword and rolled downwards, avoiding several sharp attacks. When the enemy soldiers from the Feng residence gave chase, Xie Qianli got up and went to the central courtyard to pick up the Youlong E.
You Long'e used his superior strengths to overcome the enemy's weaknesses, causing the pursuers to lose their advantage and be swept away by heavy weapons, their blood splattering everywhere. Feng Yong was once again exposed outside the circle.
The silver light from the gun shot straight into Feng Yong's chest, and Feng Yong fell to the ground.
However, Xie Qianli could no longer hold the heavy dragon-shaped sword.
His face turned an even paler shade of white, his sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes dimmed, and his brows furrowed tightly. The silver spear that was supposed to be stuck in Feng Yong's heart had instead pierced Feng Yong's thigh, its tip pointing downwards a few inches.
"Aaaaaahh ...
Feng Yong howled like a pig being slaughtered, and blood splattered on the ground.
Feng Yong was terrified. He dragged his badly injured leg backward, leaving a long trail of blood.
Xie Qianli continued to stumble forward, still leaning on his spear.
One step, then another.
Each step left a bright red footprint.
No one can stop this revenge.
Behind Feng Yong were countless souls who should not have died, including his father, his deputy, and his soldiers who were like brothers to him.
Xie Qianli mustered all his strength and raised the Dragon-Edge Sword again: "A life for a life, blood for blood."
Feng Yong could no longer dodge. He struggled desperately, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Kill him! Kill him! Fire the arrows! Fire the arrows now!!!"
Countless bowstrings tightened, and arrows flew like rain. Xie Qianli blocked half of them with his armor, but those that couldn't were stuck into his body, turning him into a silver and red hedgehog.
At the same time, a piercing cry echoed through the night.
The messenger geese arrived first, followed by hawks with golden ribbons around their feet, which flew swiftly in pursuit, and countless palace guards rode up on horseback.
The guards ran and shouted as they rushed into the manor, proclaiming the imperial edict: "By His Majesty's decree, Feng Yong has plotted to murder the monarch, embezzled public funds, and caused the deaths of meritorious officials and generals. His crimes are heinous. The Duke of Yingguo is hereby ordered to execute him on the spot to uphold the law. So be it."
The spear tip pierced through Feng Yong's back, pinning him completely to the ground.
With a final grasp of his hand towards the void, Xie Qianli's figure appeared in his pupils. The guards surrounded the courtyard, along with the silver coins he had accumulated over the years that he had not yet enjoyed.
"I...don't want...to...die...I don't want to..."
Feng Yong gradually fell silent.
Having avenged his great enemy, Xie Qianli's belief in continuing the fierce battle had been exhausted.
His head was buzzing, and in a daze, he could only hear people around him shouting Ying Xi's imperial edict. The edict came at just the right time, convicting Feng Yong as quickly as possible and ordering him to kill Feng Yong with his own hands.
Xie Qianli's mind was in chaos, his heart was burning with a burning desire, and his body could no longer support him. He collapsed to the ground with a thud, as if a jade mountain had crumbled.
The guards helped him up.
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, "The Duke of England! The Duke of England!!!"
***
As dawn broke, it was supposed to be the grand court assembly, but Ying Xi did not hold the morning court session.
Outside the study in Weiyang Palace, Yu Jing delivered the latest intelligence: the guards found Feng Yong's hiding place at an unnamed manor more than 20 miles outside the city. Feng Yong was dead, and all his property was seized. The Ministry of Revenue has sent people to check the detailed amount. Please rest assured, Your Majesty.
Ying Xi slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, his gaze scrutinized Yu Jing, who was terrified. He continued, "The Duke of Yingguo is injured, and the guards are transporting him to Chang'an City."
Ying Xi pursed his lips, remained silent, and his eyes involuntarily dimmed.
The guard outside reported again: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Yingguo has entered the city. The Xie family has requested Physician Liu to come out for a consultation in advance, but the Xie family does not have a physician!"
"..." This is indeed something the Xie family is capable of doing.
The emperor said, "Granted."
Ying Xi added, "Send some medicine to treat the injuries."
The guard was also talkative. Seeing that the emperor had shown favor to Xie Qianli, he wanted to show off in front of the emperor, so he rambled on, "Your Majesty is wise and your grace extends to all corners of the world. Even if the Duke of Yingguo was stabbed by Feng Yong and then wounded by an arrow and covered in blood, he could not repay even a fraction of Your Majesty's kindness!"
In the quiet study, the fragrance of incense gently wafted.
Ying Xi had unknowingly stood up from the dragon throne.
Perhaps he was too tired; his eyes were dull, and his once clear and noble voice became hoarse as he spoke: "I..."
Yu Jing hurriedly stepped forward to serve the emperor, offering him a cup of tea. The chief eunuch secretly wanted to reprimand the guard for talking too much, but the inexplicable suspicion resurfaced in his mind. He dared not speak, for fear of misunderstanding the emperor's thoughts: "Your Majesty has not slept all night. This servant begs Your Majesty to take care of your health."
The Xie residence was farther from the city gate than the imperial palace.
Physician Liu's journey would waste time.
Ying Xi pushed away the teacup and finally decided in a deep voice, "Let's move him here and allow him to receive treatment at Weiyang Palace."
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