The melodious Buddhist chants
Inside the Buddhist temple, Qin Huaijin took out a book from his sleeve and said, "I also bought the newly released 'Xizhou Female Heroes' Chronicles'."
Lu Xingshuang's eyes lit up, and his anger subsided a lot in an instant.
Lu Xingshuang flipped through the new volume with a dissatisfied tone.
"Why is there suddenly a scholar?"
"A female warrior should be free and unfettered, wandering the world alone."
Qin Huaijin smiled and said nothing.
Qin Xuan also imitated Qin Shu and hid behind the candle cabinet, sighing leisurely: "Your Majesty, you were once so high-spirited and energetic."
Qin Shu tutted his words: "This is a problem. The Queen is now at least at the level of the sixth rank."
Qin Xuan understood: "Just the two of us are not enough for the heroine to use in one hand."
How to make the emperor's world collapse? The answer is simple - just kill the queen.
But at this moment, the combined combat power of the second and third princes is less than five, and they have no chance at all.
Qin Shu gave Qin Xuan a meaningful look and said, "Why would you need a sword to kill someone?"
Qin Xuan glanced at Qin Shu, understood what he meant, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, walked out of the corner, and headed towards the direction of the flickering candles in the temple.
Qin Xuan spoke gently, with the perfect air of a down-and-out gentleman: "You two are here so late at night, don't you have anywhere else to go?"
Qin Huaijin raised his eyes to look at the newcomer, his gaze calm but alert: "Your Excellency, are you——?"
Qin Xuan bowed, a look of helplessness between his brows. "My last name is Qin, and this is my younger brother. My brother and I were kicked out of our home and have nowhere else to go, so we'd like to stay here temporarily."
Qin Huaijin's eyes swept over Qin Shu behind him, and his brows furrowed slightly. He said nothing, but his fingertips rested on the edge of the scroll.
The air suddenly stagnated for a moment.
Lu Xingshuang, on the other hand, glanced back and forth between the two of them and spoke slowly, "It's late at night and the dew is cold. We're both seeking shelter from the rain, so why not sit together?"
Qin Huaijin glanced at her imperceptibly, and finally withdrew his hand from the painting.
He said calmly, "Please."
Qin Xuan thanked him with a smile, sat down opposite the candlestick, and gathered his sleeves. "Brother, you have a scroll in your hand. May I ask if you are a painter?"
Qin Huaijin put it succinctly: "The means of making a living are not worth mentioning."
Qin Xuan smiled gently, "The form and spirit are both there. The elegance and grace of this brushstroke cannot be learned by others."
Lu Xingshuang raised an eyebrow: "You are good at talking."
Lu Xingshuang looked inquiringly at him, "This temple is located in a remote area. Why did you two brothers come here so late at night?"
Qin Xuan shook his head and gave a bitter smile, "My brother and I were banished all the way here. Our father only liked my eldest brother and couldn't stand us brothers, so he kicked us both out of the house."
Lu Xingshuang glanced at him sideways: "How can there be such a father?"
Qin Huaijin nodded after hearing this and said, "As a father, how can you be so biased?"
Qin Xuan looked at the candlelight, a complex expression flashing in his eyes. "My dear brother, when you have a son in the future, please remember what you said now."
The rain was falling heavily at night, and the sound of water dripping under the eaves was heard.
Qin Xuan and Qin Huaijin spoke with a bit more familiarity, and Lu Xingshuang cast curious glances at them from time to time.
Lu Xingshuang looked at Qin Shu, who had been isolated from the other three, and raised the corner of his lips slightly: "Brother, you don't like to talk?"
Qin Shu raised his eyes and glanced at him, without saying a word or moving.
Qin Xuan smiled and defended the other person: "It's my nature, it's my nature. I only say a few more words in front of people I know well."
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of regular footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall, dense and rapid.
A stern shout rang out in the rainy night: "Seal off Shengde Temple!"
Qin Huaijin's face changed. Before they could react, the temple gate burst open and a team of armored soldiers rushed in. The leading general held up a torch, and raindrops dripped down his armor onto the ground.
"Surround them! No one can escape!"
Lu Xingshuang stood up and swept his sword across, forcing back all three officers and soldiers who were rushing towards him.
She turned to look at Qin Huaijin and said, "You go first." Then she shouted to the Qin Xuan brothers, "You two, follow him and leave!"
The candlelight in the hall flickered, reflecting the interweaving of the cold light of the sword and the cold glow of the armor.
Qin Huaijin's face changed slightly. He saw that the officers and soldiers were approaching layer by layer, but they were all forced back by Lu Xingshuang and his sword.
The leader of the soldiers had a sinister look on his face and suddenly sneered, "Lu Xingshuang, Qin Huaijin is the descendant of a rebel king. If you continue to resist today, starting with Western King Lu Jianyi, everyone in your Western Mansion will perish because of you."
Qin Xuan was startled when he heard this, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. Back then, when the Queen had protected his father during his escape, she had clearly been using an alias. How could these officers and soldiers know her true identity?
The sword in Lu Xingshuang's hand trembled slightly.
Qin Xuan looked at the situation in front of him, his eyes darkening a little: "Third brother, have you reported it to the police?"
Qin Shu stood before the torch-lit Buddha statue, his expression remaining expressionless. "Otherwise? Chatting with my brother like I did?"
Qin Xuan chuckled lightly, without a trace of smile: "You are really heartless."
Qin Shu raised his eyebrows slightly, not taking it seriously: "It's just an illusion, my royal brother really is chanting Buddha's name."
Lu Xingshuang stood upright between the blood and light and shadow. She could have easily taken people away, but at this moment, she seemed to be in great trouble.
Furthermore, the young man who was just chatting and smiling with her was in danger of his life.
If she takes a step back, her family will be doomed.
The hand holding the sword, which had always been steady, was trembling at this moment.
Outside the palace, the wind and rain suddenly became fierce, and the government troops were approaching in a tight encirclement.
"Lu Xingshuang, don't stubbornly resist. You will be the only one who will suffer the consequences today. Otherwise, we will be ordered to kill you without mercy."
Before he finished speaking, the bowstring sounded and an arrow flew towards him through the wind!
Lu Xingshuang's fingertips turned white, but he could no longer lift the sharp blade in his hand.
Swords and knives kill people, but what binds people are the invisible and intangible so-called emotions - including family, of course.
Those shackles, entangled between her blood and surname, are suffocating.
Qin Huaijin stepped forward and intercepted the arrow. The barb on the arrow shaft sank into his palm and blood gushed out.
In the silence, Qin Huaijin sighed. The sound was not loud, but it was like a heavy stone pressing down on the hall.
"The person you want to kill is me."
"Don't push her."
His gaze rested on Lu Xingshuang's face for the last time, affectionate, resolute, and gentle as before.
At that moment, many images seemed to appear in his eyes——
It was the image of the heroic female warrior who defeated the enemy with a single sword and shielded him from the rain with an umbrella in the wind;
It was her who smiled and complained about the "extra scholar" in the painting;
It is also the unspoken words: "I draw you because I want to be with you forever."
Qin Huaijin sighed: "I ran away for so long, but I didn't escape after all."
He paused for a moment, a smile appearing at the corner of his lips.
Qin Huaijin used the chivalrous spirit that Lu Xingshuang had always loved to bring their story to an end:
"We met by chance, but it's only a chance encounter. Xingshuang, the road ahead is long, I won't see you off."
The next moment, he gripped the arrow tightly and stabbed it straight into his heart.
His voice was still gentle, even so low that it was almost swallowed by the wind and rain.
"The guilty minister Qin Huaijin will be executed today."
Blood flowed down the arrow shaft and stained the clothes.
The blood splashed on the unfinished "Chronicles of Female Heroes of Xizhou". Under the blood-soaked ink marks, there was a woman in blue riding a horse, her back was distant and the horizon was in sight.
She rode her horse through the dust and looked back with a smile.
The smile had not yet faded when the blood spread, painting the entire picture scarlet.
The blood-stained pages began to glow brightly.
The entire Buddhist temple began to shake violently, and the walls, Buddha statues, and the ground were like broken mirrors, with cracks spreading.
The illusion began to collapse.
This is the same ending as before - only slightly different.
It was just a hair's breadth of difference. Now, the Lu family has one king and five marquises, and they have great power in the court.
Now that Qin Huaijin is dead, the world in this scroll will naturally collapse.
Qin Xuan sighed softly, his eyes etched with the pool of blood that was gradually spreading beneath Qin Huaijin's body. "Father was able to do this for the Empress, but how could he be so cruel to you and me? We are not biological children."
Qin Shu jokingly responded, "Father, the Crown Prince is just one son."
The huge Baoxiong Hall began to collapse from the top, like an old scroll torn into pieces.
When I opened my eyes again, it was still the Baoxiong Hall.
But this time, it was no longer in the illusion.
The emperor in front of him, dressed in bright yellow, no longer had the same aura as the young painter in the scroll just now.
Qin Huaijin was lowering his head and smoothing the yellow sword in his hand: "I told you not to enter without permission, but you still came in."
He raised his eyes and said in a stern tone: "Qin Shu, are you going to rebel?"
Qin Shu narrowed his eyes. What the emperor held in his hand was a deed.
"Father."
"You lend your life to the Queen, that's your own business."
"But you borrowed Xiyun's life—"
Qin Shu's eyes grew colder, "Your son disagrees."
Every word he said was sharp: "I don't mind rebelling against you."
Qin Xuan narrowed his eyes. The third brother had always been a reserved person, so it was rare to see him in such a head-on confrontation.
Qin Xuan sighed softly, "Father, please stop. How are you going to explain this to the Empress?"
"I don't need to explain."
Qin Huaijin shook his head: "Xiyun knows, but Xingshuang won't know. I don't have anyone else to explain to."
Qin Xuan shook his head: "Father, I can't hide this anymore. Too many people already know about this."
Qin Huaijin stared at the flickering candlelight in front of him, feeling inexplicably chilled. "You still don't understand. I don't care how many people know, and I don't mind killing anyone. Including you."
"You don't understand." Qin Shumuran smiled. "Two hours ago, Lord Lu entered the palace. What do you think he went there for?"
The emperor's face darkened: "Are you threatening me?"
"So what?" Qin Shu replied pointedly, "If you're not afraid, just keep burning."
The sound of evening drums is deep, and the melodious Buddhist chants are so gentle that not a speck of dust settles.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
