The hatred of killing one's brother is irreconcilable.
Qin Chengxiu was speechless, and he slowly put his arm around Lu Bingzhao's shoulder.
The force was very light, but it was like snow pressed down in the cold winter, catching the crumbling and broken things in its arms.
He murmured in response.
So, in front of Fang Weian, Qin Chengxiu spoke in a voice transmission that only the two of them could hear.
He said, "Okay."
He said, "Bingzhao, trust me, let's take revenge."
Qin Chengxiu values talent, so he gives Fang Weian opportunities again and again.
But because of his love for talent, his right prime minister lost his life, and he no longer had the heart to cherish and recruit talent.
From cherishing each other to turning against each other, it only takes a thought.
Qin Chengxiu turned to the person who was still kneeling on the ground, and the emotions in his eyes finally turned completely cold.
For the first time, he spoke to Fang Wei'an with such indifference: "Where is the letter I asked him to bring you?"
Fang Weian took out something from his arms. There were bloodstains on the fine Danling paper.
He presented it with both hands, but Qin Chengxiu didn't even look at it and raised his hands in anger.
The fire surged, and in an instant, the piece of paper was burned to ashes.
Qin Chengxu's voice was hoarse, but every word was cold: "This book was signed by him."
"He died in your camp. No matter what he promised you, it will no longer count."
He asked, "Do you have any objections?"
Fang Weian was still kneeling, but he just lowered his head and replied in a low voice: "Weian has nothing to say."
Qin Chengxiu said indifferently: "Lu Hengyan, please rewrite it."
He took a deep breath and was silent for a long time before speaking: "Fang Weian, a man of great military prowess and far-reaching ambition, is a renowned general. He now submits his loyalty and surrenders to the remnants of the previous dynasty. His surrender is a testament to his meritorious service. I bestow upon him the seal of the Southern King and grant him the right to inherit the throne without interruption, in order to maintain peace in the southern border."
Lu Hengyan put down his pen in front of the desk.
The young man slowly knelt down and said, "I cannot write this edict. Your Majesty, please find someone else."
Qin Chengxu looked at the put-down pen and remained silent for a moment. A hint of anger lingered in his coldness. "If you can't even handle this little thing, how are you going to take over Hengyu's position? Should I look for someone else to take over the position of Right Prime Minister of Dagan?"
But Lu Hengyan still didn't raise his head. His usually gentle eyes were now as cold as a thousand mountains of snow, piercing his bones. "Your Majesty, please find someone else. The hatred for killing my brother is irreconcilable."
The young man spoke each word with great emphasis: "I swear I will never serve in the same court with this thief."
As he finished speaking, there was the sound of armor behind him. Lu Bingzhao lifted his robe and knelt, "Your Majesty, please revoke your order. I, Lu Bingzhao, will not serve in the same court with this thief."
The atmosphere was tense, and Ren Xuan felt that if he didn't kneel now, he would be out of place. He lifted his robe and knelt: "Your Majesty, please reconsider. I, Han Xiuyuan, will not serve in the same court with this thief."
Qin Chengxu and his confidants were usually informal and relaxed when interacting with each other. However, once they were in front of the imperial court, they all maintained a cautious demeanor. To maintain the emperor's dignity, even if they wanted to argue, they would discuss it in private.
But today, this group of trusted ministers embarrassed Qin Chengxu in front of outsiders.
Unprecedented.
At this moment, the three most important ministers in the general's tent knelt together, one civil and two military, all of them were talents not seen in a hundred years.
Now, he defied the imperial edict in public.
Qin Chengxiu's brows darkened suddenly, and he shouted angrily, "Lu Hengyan—stand up! Look at what you look like now!"
Lu Hengyan did not move, nor was he afraid: "If your Majesty dislikes this, just depose me."
Qin Chengxiu's eyes grew colder. "Abandoning your official position? You keep saying you'll serve the people forever, but your brother's body is still warm and you're already giving up your position. If you think you can do him justice, then just give up your position."
Lu Hengyan suddenly raised his head and retorted, "My brother's body is still warm, yet Your Majesty wants to make a murderer a king. Your Majesty feels that this is fair to him. Please write this edict according to my instructions!"
Qin Chengxiu laughed in anger: "Okay, okay! Kneel if you want!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the corner of Fang Weian's clothes, and pulled him up. His low voice was as cold as frost: "Watch me carefully, I have been abandoned by everyone because of you! I have no choice, and neither do you. Take over the seal of the Southern King and bring Xiao Dingyuan's head here. Do you understand clearly?!"
Fang Weian gritted his teeth and lowered his voice: "This matter has nothing to do with Prince Yong'an. Weian is willing to guarantee it with his life."
Fang Weian bowed his head to the ground and said, "Lord Lu has passed away. I will die for you. Your Majesty, if you want to kill me, I will not hesitate. I only ask Your Majesty not to implicate innocent people."
Anger surged in Qin Chengxiu's eyes. He sneered, "Innocent? He's innocent?"
"Is Xiao Dingyuan innocent?! What are the guilt of the tens of thousands of people whose bodies are piled high in the sky in Pengcheng?"
"He, Xiao Dingyuan, dragged Fang Weian, the man the people called an upright official, into the flames of war, dragging hundreds of thousands of people from the Southern Territory into the flames of war."
"So many people died in vain? He's innocent? I'm the one who's wrong, okay? I shouldn't have believed that you, Fang Weian, were a gentleman. I shouldn't have insisted on meeting you despite the generals' objections."
His voice finally became hoarse, as if he had forced a mouthful of blood down his throat: "Heng Yu went for me, he died for me."
Qin Chengxiu laughed and said, "If I die, just wait and see how many people will claim to be emperors and kings tomorrow."
Fang Weian was silent for a long time. He finally spoke, his voice rough as gravel, yet clear: "Your Majesty is diligent in government and loves the people. You are destined to be the founder of a legacy that will endure for eternity."
Qin Chengxiu looked at him coldly, and said in a calm tone: "Don't use the people's lives to pressure me anymore."
He took a step closer, his voice lowered. "Fang Weian, those are your people. If you want to fight this battle, I will accompany you. If you want to cause great suffering, I will accompany you in your suffering."
There was a moment of dead silence in the tent.
Fang Weian kept his head down, as if suppressing all his emotions into the ground: "Three days."
"Within three days, I will hand over all the real culprits behind this to Your Majesty. Wei An swears on his life that he will not hide a single one."
He spoke with great emphasis: "Prince Yong'an... as long as he knows about it, regardless of whether he was involved or not, Wei An will never protect him."
Qin Chengxiu looked at the kneeling Fang Weian.
The man was tense, like a statue that was already full of cracks but still held on and remained unbroken.
Qin Chengxiu even knew that from the beginning to the end, the "Prince of Yong'an" who was protected by Fang Weian might not have even touched the chessboard. But he didn't ask, and he left no room for doubt. If he wanted to, Xiao Dingyuan would know.
Qin Chengxiu sneered, his voice like a sharp blade: "You don't need to investigate, I will investigate myself. Except for Xiao Dingyuan, send all the Xiao family members you have here."
Fang Weian did not refute: "I can hand over the person, but I beg Your Majesty to allow me to participate in this case."
Qin Chengxiu's eyes were filled with sarcasm: "What do you want to participate in? Who are you trying to excuse? Who are you pleading for?"
Fang Weian raised his eyes and said calmly, "The Xiao family has such a deep and complicated relationship with the people that they are clinging to us. If they continue to point fingers and accuse us, even Your Majesty might not be able to tell the truth from the false."
Qin Chengxiu chuckled softly, his sarcasm undisguised: "I think you don't know that the Xiao family has long been rotten to the core."
Fang Weian lowered his eyes and said nothing in reply, "Weian is willing to serve Your Majesty in the Southern Frontier forever. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to participate in this case."
Qin Chengxiu could see clearly that this sentence was the bottom line that Fang Weian could compromise on.
Qin Chengxiu said nothing more, but slowly calmed down his emotions, his voice as cold as heavy snow weighing down a branch:
"Fang Weian, if you break your promise to me again."
"The day the city was broken—"
"I will torture all members of the Xiao royal family to death, starting with Xiao Dingyuan."
Fang Weian kowtowed slowly, and when he retreated, his figure was like a mountain carrying snow. He left quietly, but it seemed as if he took away the remaining warmth of the entire tent.
Inside the tent, the three men were still kneeling.
Qin Chengxiu turned around gently, looked at the scene in front of him, and finally sighed: "What are you doing...get up."
No one moved.
Qin Chengxiu felt even more helpless, his tone almost mocking himself: "Do you want me to order you to get up?"
Lu Bingzhao still lowered his head, and Han Xiuyuan did not move.
Qin Chengxiu sighed, with a hint of helplessness and fatigue in his eyes.
He no longer had the energy to care about Han Xiuyuan and Lu Bingzhao.
Qin Chengxiu walked straight up to Lu Hengyan and half-knelt on one knee.
Qin Chengxiu spoke softly, half coaxingly: "Heng Yan, there were outsiders here just now, and I spoke too harshly. I apologize to you."
Lu Hengyan's eyebrows remained unchanged. He only whispered, "Your Majesty's heart is tied to the nine provinces and the vast land. What has Your Majesty done wrong? I will return and hand in my resignation."
His tone was extremely restrained, but he still couldn't hide the slight trembling in his eyes.
Qin Chengxiu lowered his voice, as if trying his best not to irritate the other party: "Heng Yan, don't be angry. I said that to Fang Weian. I was wrong, brother, I kneel down for you, okay?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he really made a gesture to kneel down.
Ren Xuan, who had been a close confidant of the emperor for many years, quickly tried to help him, but Qin Chengxiu waved him away with a scornful tone, "Why are you helping me? Go get Heng Yan a chair!"
But Lu Hengyan's expression remained unchanged, and he simply said, "If Your Majesty wants to comfort me, there is no need to do this."
Qin Chengxiu sighed and said earnestly, "Heng Yan, your brother is still watching. If he knew that you wanted to resign right after he left, and I allowed you to do whatever you wanted, he would definitely punish us both."
In return, Lu Hengyan suddenly raised his eyes.
For a moment, murderous intent seemed to pierce through the ice of rationality, and Lu Hengyan's voice turned from stern to slightly cold: "Don't mention my brother again. Every word you said just now was using his life as a bargaining chip to pressure Fang Weian."
In a word, like a knife.
Qin Chengxiu fell silent. He offered no explanation, his eyelashes drooping, his expression complex.
Lu Hengyan was right. Qin Chengxiu had nothing to say about this.
He took a step forward, and regardless of whether the young man struggled or not, he forced him to sit on the chair, then half-knelt down, put his hands on Lu Hengyan's shoulders, and lowered his voice: "Hengyan, listen to me."
"Think about it, why did the Xiao family set up an ambush? Those parasites want us to start a war with Fang Wei's security line. They can take advantage of the chaos and have a chance to turn the tables."
"Why should we negotiate peace? The thirty southern counties were conquered from the foreign tribes one city at a time by Fang Weian. Now, the hundreds of generals in the cities only recognize Fang Weian's orders, not the emperor."
"The Battle of Pengcheng resulted in countless casualties. Of course I can win, but at what cost?"
"Now that Hengyu has died, Fang Weian feels guilty. A gentleman can be deceived. If I don't use my life to pressure him, but instead turn against him and start a war according to the Xiao family's wishes, then was Hengyu's death in vain?"
The so-called emperor can use anything as a bargaining chip. All decisions must take into account the interests and must make decisions for all parties. Even if his heart is broken, he must still calculate the pros and cons.
The young man in his arms stared at him intently, and asked in a hoarse voice: "If you make Fang Weian a king, will my brother rest in peace? Will you take care of his revenge?"
Qin Chengxiu also stared at him, his eyes bloodshot, but he spoke very calmly and steadily: "Heng Yan, Fang Weian came here today to seek death. Why should we obey him? I killed him to make his wish come true."
He spoke very quietly, but every word was sharp: "That's not called revenge."
Lu Hengyan gritted his teeth: "Then what is revenge?"
Qin Chengxiu's voice dropped, and Ling Shuang said, "He wants to die, but I won't let him die."
"I will kill everyone he wants to protect one by one."
"He wants to unload the burden of the Nine Provinces in the Southern Territory, but I insist that he carry it."
Qin Chengxiu looked at him, as if every word was ripped out from his heart: "I won't let him have his day."
At that moment, Lu Hengyan seemed to finally understand something, as if he had finally drained away all his strength. He stopped arguing and shouting, but just collapsed bit by bit, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Qin Chengxiu caught him and held him in his arms.
He lowered his voice very softly: "It's okay, cry if you want. Your brother Bingzhao is still here, your brother Xiuyuan is still here, and I am still here too."
The young man finally burst into tears, suppressing his voice but still trembling uncontrollably.
Qin Chengxiu's eyes were dark and unclear. The light and shadow fell on his shoulders, but could not shine into his eyes.
He spoke each word with the same calmness as the edge of iron blunted by fire:
"I promise."
"Let him pay with blood."
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