Chapter 49: Something happened. Only one can survive.
"Lu Songyuan!"
Seeing that things were going wrong, Jing Yang stood up and shouted, "How dare you!"
Lu Songyuan calmly released the dagger, leaving it embedded in Jing Ao's chest, before turning to look at Jing Yang.
"What, what are you going to do?!"
After Lu Songyuan released Jing Ao, Jing Ao's stout body swayed twice, took two steps back, and fell heavily into the chair, pointing tremblingly at Lu Songyuan.
His eyes bulged with anger, a frightening sight. Jing Yang's chest heaved rapidly as he looked at the scene before him, cleared his throat, and looked at Lu Songyuan.
Lu Songyuan's eyes were deep and unfathomable, causing Jingyang's heart to tremble.
He stepped back while extending his hand and said, "Let's talk this out."
As he retreated to the door, Jing Yang looked at Lu Songyuan, turned his head and shouted outside, "Get out here and protect me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tightly closed doors and windows behind him suddenly opened, and the wind howled in. Jing Yang immediately sensed something was wrong and turned around to see dozens of soldiers in black armor standing neatly behind him, clearly a well-trained army.
It's the Northern Army!
He and the guards and maids that Jing Ao brought with them have all disappeared!
Jingyang stared wide-eyed, then turned and tried to run away to another place.
Lu Songyuan watched with amusement as Jing Yang fled in panic, then beckoned to the group of Northern Border soldiers.
Upon receiving the order, the crowd stepped forward, seized Jing Yang, and forced him to kneel before Lu Songyuan.
Lu Qingyue instructed everyone, "Close the door and remove the table."
"yes."
The group worked quickly and efficiently, and then stepped aside.
Lu Songyuan sat in his wheelchair and turned his head to look at Jing Ao.
"Now you know?"
Jing Ao clutched his abdomen, sweating profusely from the pain.
He pleaded through gritted teeth, "I really didn't know, you've misunderstood, please let me go."
Lu Songyuan raised the corner of his lips, and as if by magic, his empty hand produced another dagger. With a casual toss, the dagger was embedded in Jing Ao's left chest.
"ah--"
Jing Ao gripped the chair armrests with both hands, his body arching backward in pain, and his shouts were deafening.
Lu Songyuan looked at him quietly, and another dagger appeared in his hand.
"No, stop stabbing me!"
A drop of blood trickled from the corner of Jing Ao's mouth. He straightened his body and looked at Lu Songyuan with difficulty, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
Lu Songyuan remained calm and composed, toying with the dagger in his hand, this time aiming it at Jing Ao's heart.
"My patience is almost exhausted, Second Prince."
"Yes, it was my maternal grandfather! He taught me archery after my brother left and sent me to the North to assassinate you! It was all him!"
After Jing Ao finished speaking, Lu Songyuan keenly sensed something and turned to ask, "Your elder brother, Xu Yanchen?"
"It's him, it's definitely him."
Lu Songyuan casually tossed the dagger into Jing Ao's outer thigh, stopping him from sliding down. He glanced at him and said, "Wasn't Xu Yanchen exiled to the southern frontier?"
Jing Ao bit his lip until it bled, and said, "He's dead. He died long ago in the Southern Frontier."
Sweat dripped from Jing Ao's forehead into his eyes. He saw that Lu Songyuan had another dagger in his hand and hurriedly said, "My mother said that my grandfather only had his son in his heart. Back then, for his son's sake, he didn't hesitate to wipe out the entire Tang Manzhou governor's family and send someone to take his place! My mother said that she had known all along that my grandfather wanted to use a fake to deceive us and have my brother seize the throne from our Jing family. In order to protect my throne from my grandfather's control, my mother set up a scheme to frame Xu Yanchen, and after my father demoted him to the southern border, she sent someone to kill him and had someone impersonate him to write letters to my grandfather every month to deceive us!"
So that's how it is.
Lu Songyuan chuckled.
"What about the North?"
"After Xu Yanchen was demoted, my grandfather wanted me to succeed to the throne and let my elder brother return. However, Jing Hui was deeply favored by my father. Once, when my father was drunk, he told my grandfather that he had already drafted the edict of succession, which was to let Jing Hui ascend the throne after his death."
Jing Ao spoke haltingly, his breathing becoming increasingly disordered.
Lu Songyuan glanced at Lu Qingyue, who then stepped forward to feed Jing Ao a cup of water and pressed acupoints on his chest to temporarily preserve his breath.
Jing Ao felt a little better. His closed eyelids trembled. After a moment, he opened his eyes and continued, "At that time, Jing Hui and Lian Zhong discovered that one of my grandfather's subordinates was selling official positions and interfering in the imperial examinations. After careful consideration, my grandfather conspired with people in the palace to poison my father."
Who administered the drug?
"Jingyan".
"It was him."
Lu Songyuan still remembered that Jing Hui disliked everyone in the palace equally, but his attitude towards this seemingly innocent fourth brother was different.
This is really...
"Go on."
"Father is stubborn and distrustful of everyone except Jing Hui and Lian Zhong. Grandfather suspects that the military power in the court is in their hands. However, rebellion cannot succeed without troops, so Grandfather thought of the northern border. But you were too difficult to control, so Grandfather thought of crippling you, then persuading Father to summon you back to the capital, and then slowly convincing you. But he never expected..."
He married Jing Hui.
Lu Songyuan listened calmly to the fact that he already knew, and then chuckled.
Along the ancient roads of the Northern Frontier, there are often some half-baked Taoist priests who have come from the Liang Dynasty. One of the phrases these Taoist priests often say is, "Everyone has their own destiny. What is destined to be yours will be yours, and what is not destined to be yours will be nothing but a futile effort."
This is now fully concrete.
Lu Songyuan stroked his chin, thinking to himself that his little princess was truly a chosen one.
"Oh."
Lu Songyuan chuckled.
Jing Ao, who was kneeling in front of him, trembled. Lu Qingyue frowned and asked, "General, is there something wrong?"
Lu Songyuan shook his head and looked at Jing Ao.
He had nothing to say to this fool. Just as he was about to plunge the dagger in his hand into Jing Ao's heart, he caught a glimpse of Jing Yang kneeling beside him.
"Do you two want to live?"
He seemed like a demon who controlled the Book of Life and Death, able to casually seize people's lives with just a few words.
Jing Ao and Jing Yang stopped at the same time, looked at each other, and said simultaneously, "Yes, yes!"
Only one can live.
After Lu Songyuan finished speaking with a smile, he threw the dagger in his hand in front of the door, and at the same time signaled the people holding Jing Yang to release him, saying, "You can choose for yourselves."
How vicious it is to kill each other!
Jing Ao and Jing Yang both looked at Lu Songyuan with eyes filled with anger, while Lu Qingyue and the Northern Border Army on the side remained unfazed.
This method could be considered Lu Songyuan's gentlest approach. They had seen it many times in the Northern Territory, and they even thoughtfully moved behind Lu Songyuan to leave enough space for the two brothers.
Jing Ao cleared his throat, glanced at Lu Songyuan, and then said to Jing Yang, "Good brother, let me live. After I ascend the throne, I will definitely avenge you! Okay?"
Jingyang knelt on the spot, lost in thought.
"Please, brother, Mother is waiting for me to return to the palace. You... you know, it doesn't matter if you die..."
"What's the big deal if I die?"
Jing Yang looked at Jing Ao in disbelief, and then suddenly flew into a rage.
"It's always like this! From childhood, I've been your lackey, and everything I've ever wanted has been discarded by you! From a small piece of clothing or a jade pendant to the love of my mother, the attention of my father, and the favor of my grandfather, it's all yours! No one has ever truly valued me or cared about me. Now, am I even supposed to give you my life?!"
"Have you made your choice?" Lu Songyuan asked urgingly.
Jing Yang remained silent, while Jing Ao cried out excitedly, "Brother, good brother, I beg you, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
Jingyang gripped the clothes on his knees tightly with his five fingers, lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing this, Jing Ao broke down and shouted at Lu Songyuan, "Lu Songyuan, I've told you everything, why won't you let me go!"
Lu Songyuan clicked his tongue, stretched out his long leg, and kicked Jing Ao's chair over. Jing Ao fell to the ground and howled again.
Why do you think so?
He is vindictive and has different methods for dealing with different people.
For someone like Jing Ao, killing him with a single blow would be too easy. The real pain would come from having the person he despises the most kill him with their own hands.
"Don't you want to choose?"
Lu Songyuan said, "That's easy then. Let the Second Prince live. You take that dagger, kill the Third Prince, and you'll live..."
Before Lu Songyuan could finish speaking, Jing Ao was overjoyed. He struggled to sit up, only to see Jing Yang leap up from the ground, grab the dagger, and rush toward Jing Ao.
Then, a knife was plunged into Jing Ao's heart.
Jing Ao's eyes widened, his eyeballs seemingly about to pop out. He opened his mouth and mumbled something for a long time, but couldn't utter a single word. Blood flowed from his mouth, dripping onto Jing Yang's hand.
"ah--"
Jingyang realized what was happening, released the dagger, took a few steps back, and fell to the ground.
He was a coward since childhood because everyone around him loved Jing Ao. No matter what he did or how well he did it, the one who was always praised was his brother, who accomplished nothing and did nothing at all.
Over time, Jing Yang became self-conscious, sensitive, and narrow-minded. He became dark and bloodthirsty. He stood behind Jing Ao, offering him advice and strategies. Every time he saw Jing Ao kill someone according to his plan, he felt very proud, as if he had done it himself.
Moreover, only by helping Jing Ao in this way would his mother and maternal grandfather's eyes linger on him, and occasionally praise him a few words, making Jing Yang so happy that he couldn't sleep all night.
He began to convince himself to like, respect, and help this older brother.
However, under the long-term suppression, his feelings for Jing Ao became increasingly distorted without him realizing it, until he finally confronted Jing Ao, and Jing Ao's long-suppressed feelings were finally released.
He only let out one scream before calming down, and even a smile appeared on his lips.
"You're finally going to die, hahaha, you're finally dead—"
Upon hearing this, Lu Songyuan raised an eyebrow and said, "Third Prince, well done. Only someone like you is fit to live in this world."
Lu Songyuan's encouraging tone further fueled Jingyang's fervent excitement, and he burst into an almost distorted smile, "Yes, only I deserve to live, only I deserve to ascend the throne!"
"premature."
Jingyang was taken aback.
Lu Songyuan pointed at Jing Ao, "He's still alive."
Jing Ao lay on the ground, his gaze almost gentle as he looked quietly at Jing Yang.
"That look again! That look of looking at filth again! Jing Ao, go to hell—"
Jing Yang, his hair disheveled, crawled over, grabbed the dagger from Jing Ao's chest, raised it high, and brought it down heavily.
With each stab, blood splattered everywhere. He was in a bloodthirsty rage. After Jing Ao's chest was stabbed into a blurry mess, he stabbed his legs, his arms, and his face into blurry messes as well.
Blood was everywhere, and Jing Ao, lying on the ground, was unrecognizable; he looked more like a monster without skin.
"vomit--"
Jing Yang was covered in Jing Ao's blood. After he stopped, he saw Jing Yang's corpse, vomited twice, and vomited directly onto the corpse.
Lu Songyuan, Lu Qingyue, and the Northern Border Army all stared expressionlessly at Jing Yang. After Jing Yang recovered his senses, he looked at Lu Songyuan, pointed at Jing Ao's corpse, and said, "I killed him, I killed my brother, I can live! From now on, I'm all alone. I'm finally alone. I'm going to find my mother—"
His admiration was teetering on the brink of madness; he began to speak incoherently, and his laughter was sharp and piercing, like that of a demon.
Lu Songyuan asked, "Regarding the events in the deep mountains, did you ever intend to kill Azhu?"
Jing Yang replied without hesitation, "Yes, I will kill her. After all, Father loves her the most!"
Lu Songyuan chuckled and spread his hands.
Upon seeing this, Lu Qingyue immediately drew a long sword from the side of the wheelchair and handed it to Lu Songyuan.
Jing Yang stared blankly as Lu Songyuan walked up to him, his tall figure looming over him, leaving Jing Yang in complete darkness.
He finally remembered to run. He pushed himself back a few steps with his hands on the ground, tried to stand up several times but couldn't, so he crawled forward.
"I want to live! I want to live and go back to my mother! You can't kill me, Lu Songyuan!"
Two Northern Border soldiers stepped forward and pinned Jingyang down, slamming his head to the ground. Lu Songyuan picked up his sword, held it at the back of Jingyang's heart, and then released it. The tip of the sword plunged heavily into Jingyang's body, pinning him to the ground.
"ah--"
Lu Songyuan's clothes were stained with blood from either of the two brothers, and he frowned in disgust as he walked past Jing Yang.
The darkness outside the door had fallen, and Jing Hui should have woken up.
"You will die a horrible death; Jingyan will not let you go."
These words were even less offensive than those spoken by foreign enemies in the North, and Lu Songyuan did not falter.
“He and my grandfather have already taken control of my father. As soon as my father changes the will, they will kill him, and then I will be the emperor. After I ascend the throne, I will not let you go.”
He's almost dead, yet he's still thinking about ascending the throne. Lu Songyuan chuckled, then abruptly stopped in his tracks.
What does "admiration" mean?
He turned around and looked down at Jing Yang, "Jing Yan has taken control of Emperor Jingwen?"
"Yes, they want to usurp the throne. They killed my father, and Jing Hui is next—"
Lu Songyuan's breath hitched. No wonder, no wonder Jing Ao came here, no wonder he said those things.
Xu Tengyuan colluded with the Fourth Prince to poison Emperor Jingwen, forcing Emperor Jingwen to alter the imperial edict while Jing Hui, himself, and Lian Zhu were away. The altered edict was sent to this place, where Jing Ao could directly issue an edict to kill Jing Hui. At that time, the other princes in the court would be unable to take the throne, and Jing Ao could then return to the capital and ascend the throne openly and legitimately.
Fortunately, he killed Jing Ao.
But why would Jingyan obediently listen to Xu Tengyuan? Could it be—
"General, something has happened!"
Lu Songyuan turned his head and saw Lu Zhouxue, who was seriously injured and should have been recuperating at the General's Mansion.
Lu Zhouxue was still not fully recovered, and she was panting heavily when she walked.
She dismounted at the entrance of the Dahe Hall, strode up to Lu Songyuan, knelt down and said, "General, the palace gates have not been opened for three days. Our men just risked their lives to send a message saying that someone is plotting a rebellion and forcing the emperor to abdicate!"
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