Chapter 344: Chilling
Late at night, Xiao Beiheng galloped all the way and dismounted his mount at the gate of the capital.
From the Anzhou hunting grounds to here, panic and fear gripped his heart, twisting his face, making it difficult to breathe, and even blinding him. Only when he saw the towering outline of the capital did he regain consciousness.
He absolutely couldn't go back in such a mess. If anyone saw him, they would definitely ask him what he had done.
He jumped off his horse and came to a pond. He quickly gathered his long hair. He didn't know where his hairpin had fallen, so he pulled out a silk handkerchief to tie it up. Then he squatted down and used the water to wash the mud off the hem of his robe.
The water washed away the mud, revealing specks of crimson, the blood that had splattered on him when he had pulled the sword out of his father's body.
Seeing the blood, his hands began to tremble violently again.
When he was extremely frightened, his hands would tremble. He had trembled before when he shot the Beidi child. He had also trembled before when he obtained Yanque and was about to kill Xiao Zhuo, but never as much as this time.
With shaking hands, he dipped his robe into the icy water and scrubbed vigorously, trying to wash away the bloodstains. The stain grew larger the more he washed, staining the hem a deep crimson. The pungent smell of blood grew stronger, making him want to vomit. Unable to bear it any longer, he drew his Yanque sword, cut off the bloodstained area with one stroke, and threw it into the water.
Standing up, he took two deep breaths and felt better.
Emperor Ming of Qi was truly inconsiderate to Xiao Zhuo, constantly praising him and disparaging his own son. Even when Xiao Zhuo achieved great success in pacifying the two provinces, his father showed no special appreciation. On the contrary, upon learning of Xiao Zhuo's identity, he treated him the same as himself. It's hilarious. According to Dayan law, Xiao Zhuo's mother was neither his father's wife or concubine nor a slave; the proper term for her was bastard. How could a bastard stand alongside the noble?
He endured all of this, even going so far as to celebrate the Qixi Festival with Xiao Zhuo. While there was an element of testing Xiao Zhuo's motives, he was also quite magnanimous, calling Xiao Zhuo "big brother" and Shen Yuexi "sister-in-law." He was the legitimate, undisputed king, so wasn't it enough to treat a bastard with respect?
He had done enough, yet Emperor Ming of Qi still wanted to give the crown prince position to Xiao Zhuo. Not only did he give it to Xiao Zhuo, but he also constantly humiliated him, bringing up all his mistakes. Why did he do this? Could it be that the son he had raised for twenty years was not as close to him as a bastard?
If you don't care about the father-son relationship, don't blame him for being cruel.
After thinking about this, Xiao Beiheng calmed down a lot. He put Yan Que back into the scabbard and jumped on his horse.
Late at night, the four gates of the capital were closed. The soldiers patrolling on the city wall recognized Prince Ping and opened the gate for him. He rushed into the palace, crossed the deserted square, passed the Golden Palace, and came to the Zhaixing Tower.
The Star-Picking Tower is a nine-story wooden structure shaped like a pagoda. Wind chimes hang from the eaves, and the building is surrounded by white jade railings. At night, standing on the rooftop overlooking the tower, the tinkling of the wind chimes creates the illusion of plucking stars with one's hands, hence the name.
The person in charge of guarding Zhaixing Tower was Song Zhen, whose residence was in the side courtyard next to the tower. When a guard reported that Prince Ping had returned from the hunting grounds, he quickly got up, dressed, and led the others out to greet him.
The soldiers lit torches, and Song Zhen was surprised to see Xiao Beiheng's unkempt hair and sunken eye sockets. Especially since Xiao Beiheng's elegant robe was wrinkled and stained, with grass stalks, leaves, and other unknown stains. A large piece was missing from the hem of the robe, as if it had been cut by a sharp weapon. He looked as if he had rolled on the ground, and this, coupled with the fact that he was there so late at night, seemed a bit eerie.
Song Zhen didn't dare to ask Xiao Beiheng why he looked like that. He could only put the feather fan in his hand behind his back and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Prince Ping."
Xiao Beiheng waved his hand and said coldly: "I want to go in."
Song Zhen didn't dare to ask why Xiao Beiheng looked like this, so he bowed and said, "Prince Ping, His Majesty has ordered that no one is allowed to enter the Zhaixing Tower."
Xiao Beiheng glared and said, "You also know that I am the Prince of Ping and the son of His Majesty. How dare you stop me from going in?"
Song Zhen maintained a smile on his face and bowed repeatedly, "Prince Ping, His Majesty's decree is enshrined in the Zhaixing Tower..."
Xiao Beiheng took a step forward, drew out a half-broken sword, and said, "Song Zhen, don't forget how you got your current identity."
The gleaming sword light startled Song Zhen, who involuntarily took two steps back. Even the imperial guards behind him were intimidated by Xiao Beiheng's ferocious expression. At that moment, Xiao Beiheng seemed to have transformed into a vicious python, devouring anyone he saw, and whoever he caught sight of timidly retreated.
Seeing that many soldiers were shrinking back, Song Zhen knew that they were afraid of Xiao Beiheng. But he was a strategist after all, so he coughed and said:
"Prince Ping, if you want to go upstairs to enjoy the view... hehe, that's fine. Just don't violate His Majesty's decree, otherwise I won't be able to explain to His Majesty."
The sky was now dark, and no stars could be seen. However, he had to bite the bullet and find a way out for Xiao Beiheng.
"Okay, I'll go up and enjoy the scenery." Xiao Beiheng's expression relaxed a little. He put the Yanque Sword back into the scabbard and strode towards the entrance of Zhaixing Tower.
The imperial guards at the door saw Xiao Beiheng approaching, and they didn't know whether to stop him or not, so they just turned their eyes to Song Zhen. Song Zhen clenched his fist and coughed a few times, then waved his hand to signal everyone to move aside.
Xiao Beiheng walked into the building and ascended the wooden stairs. His goal was the imperial edict of Emperor Ming of Qi, which was enshrined in a niche on the ninth floor.
The Star-Picking Tower was made of pure wood, and there were no lights or candles inside. He held onto the cold, smooth railings and ascended the stairs, each step creaking softly under his feet. Dim light streamed in from the window lattice at the corner of the platform, illuminating half the stairs and railings, and half the floor. The entire building seemed gloomy and oppressive.
After climbing four floors, Xiao Beiheng felt his legs grow heavy. He didn't understand why this happened, but after forcing himself to climb another floor, his legs felt like they were filled with lead. Every step took a tremendous amount of effort, and even his breathing became rapid.
He paused, looking down at his hands in the dim light, only to find they were trembling again. He looked up again, finally realizing the invisible pressure was coming from above.
He dreaded seeing the decree, dreading seeing it declare Xiao Zhuo the crown prince. It was like a mysterious box, containing all evil. Once opened, all that evil would surge out, swallowing him like a quagmire. He could only struggle hopelessly, watching his mouth and nose gradually sink into the mire, unable to breathe, and no one knowing, dying silently.
It's not a physical death, but a psychological one.
His fear grew stronger and stronger, and he felt his legs begin to weaken, and he no longer had the strength to climb up. But he didn't want to give up halfway, so he held on to the railing with both hands and pulled himself up a few steps until his legs could no longer support his body.
He fell to his knees on the stairs, sobbing with his head in his hands.
His mother was right, he was too timid and didn't have the courage to face these things.
He turned around and ran down the stairs, practically running for his life. He fell on the way and rolled all the way down the stairs. His face was burning, as if it had been scraped open, and something hot was running down his cheeks. He ignored them and rushed out of Zhaixing Tower, stumbling away amid the shocked and suspicious gazes of the crowd.
Song Zhen was standing downstairs and clearly heard the noise coming from inside the building. Then hurried footsteps were heard from inside the building. Xiao Beiheng rushed out in panic with nothing in his hands.
"Farewell, King Ping." He saluted towards Xiao Beiheng's back.
He knew that Xiao Beiheng had not gone to the top floor to get the imperial edict, and that was enough. He did not want to offend Xiao Beiheng, nor could he violate the will of Emperor Qi Ming. Although Xiao Beiheng had violated the rules and entered the Zhaixing Tower, it was late at night, and it was just him and the guards. As long as he kept silent, his men would definitely not say anything, and no one would know about it.
After Xiao Beiheng's figure completely disappeared, he said to his soldiers: "You all keep good guard, I'm going to rest."
He returned to his residence, yawned, and was about to undress when suddenly a red light appeared outside the dark window. He stopped undressing and was about to call for help when a soldier rushed in in a panic, shouting, "Minister Song, Zhaixing Tower is on fire!"
Song Zhen was shocked and asked, "How could it catch fire?"
"A rocket flew from nowhere..."
Without waiting for the soldier to finish speaking, Song Zhen ran out of the door and rushed towards the Zhaixing Tower.
Under a night sky as dark as the bottom of a pot, a bright flame ignited on the roof of the Star-Picking Tower, crackling with a clatter. The numerous imperial guards below panicked. Although they had buckets and other fire-fighting equipment, the fire was too high up, and they dared not enter the building without permission, so they could only stand below and watch.
Song Zhen was worried about the imperial edict and shouted, "Put out the fire, put out the fire quickly!" After that, he rushed into the building and ran to the roof desperately.
"Minister Song, please come back quickly," a sergeant in the crowd who understood the situation shouted at the flames on the roof. "The fire is getting bigger, please come back quickly."
The wind was strong at high altitude, and the fire was fueled by the wind, and the wind helped the fire to burn a large ball of fire on the top floor of the Zhaixing Tower, like a huge torch lit in the dark night, which could be seen throughout the imperial city.
Xiao Beiheng stood in the dark and looked at the burning Zhaixing Tower. He put down the bow in his hand, his mouth twitching and he let out a dry laugh.
As long as you burn everything clean, you will have no worries. Out of sight, out of mind.
Just the sound of this laughter made him shudder.
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