Chapter 105: Gu Meng Xie Xuanlan is dead, did you know?
Wang Zhaoshen's eyelids twitched for no reason when he was buttoning his trouser pocket.
He listened to the noise outside, but it seemed too quiet. He didn't rush upstairs, lingering for a long time. When he still didn't hear Gu Zha calling for him, he felt something was wrong.
Wang Zhaoshen ordered the guards to surround Chunfeng Tower. As he stepped onto the wooden stairs, drops of water suddenly fell on his face. He reached out and wiped it, and it was warm blood. He suddenly looked up and saw a bloody head hanging on the railing on the third floor, with curly hair and wide-open eyes. He could vaguely recognize it as Gu Zha, who had been chatting and laughing with him just now.
Wang Zhaoshen was startled and stepped back subconsciously. At this moment, the diagonal wooden board was broken open with great force, and a long knife flew towards him. He grabbed a guard beside him to block it, and heard the sound of the blade sinking into the guard's flesh and bones, and his face was splashed with blood.
Wang Zhaoshen wiped the blood from his face, looked at Xie Xuanlan and coldly ordered: "Whoever can kill him will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver! Anyone who dares to retreat will have their entire family executed!"
The guards drew their swords and knives and rushed towards Xie Xuanlan like a swarm of fish.
Ever since Wang Zhaoshen learned that Xie Xuanlan was still alive, he'd been accompanied by a large number of guards. For today's banquet for Gu Zha, he'd only brought eight people, but in reality, there were over three hundred people, including the plainclothes shop assistants and the pedestrians and vendors outside. If Xie Xuanlan dared to come, he'd be unable to escape even if he had wings.
Wang Zhaoshen sneered and retreated to a safe place.
Xie Xuanlan took advantage of the narrow terrain to jump up and down, kicking and slashing, clearing out wave after wave of enemies on the stairs. However, there were too many people, and someone was setting up a ladder behind him, intending to climb up using the railing.
The blade of the stolen knife was bent several times, and the wound on the abdomen that had not yet healed was torn and bleeding faintly.
There were corpses piled up at his feet. The dead were all soldiers stationed in Xizhou, alive or dead, with expressions of fear on their faces. Now, the one pushed in front of Xie Xuanlan was a frail young man, his hand holding the knife shaking constantly.
Xie Xuanlan took a breath and asked him, "How old are you?"
The young man trembled and said, "Ten... fourteen..."
He was one year younger than the age required to join the army as stipulated by the imperial court.
Xie Xuanlan scoffed, "When I was your age, I could have committed murder and arson in a gambling den, and been chased all over the city by soldiers."
After saying that, he snatched the knife from the young man, pressed his shoulders to twist him in a different direction, kicked him in the butt, and sent him rolling down the stairs.
"Go back and eat your dry food!"
Killing people like this is not a solution. Wang Zhaoshen's grandson has already disappeared.
Xie Xuanlan looked around, jumped onto the thumb-wide railing, and then jumped against the wall to gain leverage. He swung the long sword in his hand in the air, and the sword energy instantly extinguished more than a hundred candles on the hundred-candle lamp hanging in the air in the restaurant.
Then the candles on the walls and the lamps in the corners were extinguished one by one. The entire Chunfeng Tower was shrouded in darkness, and people were shouting restlessly.
Xie Xuanlan hung upside down from the suspended Hundred Candles Lantern, his legs entangled in the iron chains. He strained his waist, dangling the Hundred Candles Lantern in mid-air. He listened carefully to the sounds emanating from the darkness in every corner of the restaurant, searching for Wang Zhaoshen's hiding place amidst the wails, curses, and rebukes.
Finally, he noticed a silent corner with only suppressed breathing but no shouting.
The people around consciously avoided this corner and did not dare to push.
The candlelight flickered, and Xie Xuanlan slowly drew out his long sword.
At this moment, someone lit a torch, illuminating the scene in the building for a moment. Wang Zhaoshen and Xie Xuanlan, who was hanging on the Hundred Candles Lamp, looked at each other, and they both drew their swords almost at the same time.
Phew.
Xie Xuanlan was stabbed in the shoulder, and Wang Zhaoshen was stabbed in the throat.
The Hundred Candles Lantern swung back, and the moment the blade was drawn out, blood spurted out. Wang Zhaoshen kept his eyes wide open until his death.
He was once a major general in Wuguanyunjing, but he had been stationed in Xizhou for many years, living a life of luxury and his swordsmanship had slowed down.
As soon as they saw Wang Zhaoshen being killed, there was chaos in Chunfeng Tower. Many people trampled on each other and ran out. Some of Wang Zhaoshen's confidants, seeing that they had caused a big disaster, wanted to kill Xie Xuanlan and take his head back to atone for their sins.
Xie Xuanlan covered his shoulder injury and fought another fierce battle. At the end, he could not tell whether the blood was the enemy's or his own.
Chunfeng Tower was soaked in blood, and it was not until dawn that the killing finally ended.
Xie Xuanlan's right arm was numb from the pain of blood loss. He put the Yanzhi knife back to his waist, and in his left hand held two bloody heads - the Tartar General Guzha and Wang Zhaoshen, and walked out of Chunfeng Tower with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
The rising red sun shone on him, and his whole body was blood red, but only his handsome face looked clean, with clear eyebrows and eyes.
Looking at the prefect of Zhanzhou, who was trembling with fear as if facing a formidable enemy, Xie Xuanlan's eyes were filled with a smile as spring breeze. He lazily threw two heads in front of him and said, "Prefect Kang, you've come at the right time. Since you are my father's disciple, these two heads are given to you as a reward. They are evidence of Wang Zhaoshen's collusion with the Tartars--"
Before he could finish his words, he was hit on the knee. Xie Xuanlan managed to avoid falling down by supporting himself with the Yanzhi knife and managed to kneel on the ground.
Seeing the prefect's horse take two steps back, he smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? I'm not going to kill you. What you should be afraid of is how to clear yourself of suspicion. You've been the governor of Xizhou for twelve years, and you didn't even know that Wang Si was colluding with the enemy right under your nose..."
The prefect's face showed a look of panic. He shouted, "The real Third Master Xie died on the night of the Tartar attack! This man impersonated Xie, assassinated generals, and massacred border troops. His crimes are heinous and he must be executed on the spot!"
The government soldiers shouted in unison and drew their swords.
Xie Xuanlan closed his eyes tiredly. This time he really couldn't kill them all, and he couldn't kill them all.
The wounds of all sizes all over his body ached slightly, and the resentment in his heart was like vines in a damp place, gnawing at his flesh and growing wildly.
...Am I really going to die here?
His flesh, blood, and bones would turn into dust before he had the chance to write her a letter home.
At this critical moment, the loud neighing of horses and the clatter of galloping hooves were suddenly heard from the city gate. The leader shouted sternly, "Kang Huayu, let him go! Pass on the prince's order!"
Governor Kang stumbled and nearly fell off his horse.
Prince’s decree, which prince?
The person who came was Chen Zhang.
He stepped forward, token in hand. His followers dismounted and stood before Xie Xuanlan, swords in hand. Chen Zhang thrust the jade token inscribed with the title of Prince of Jin into Kang Zhizhou's face, "Release him! Your Highness the Prince of Jin has guaranteed his life."
Governor Kang had been isolated in Xizhou for a long time, and he was unaware that Prince Jin had stopped his seclusion and was secretly trying to get involved in state affairs.
At this moment, I just felt very surprised: "But thank you——"
Chen Zhang looked at him with a sneer, and Kang Zhizhou immediately reacted: No, he couldn't admit that this was Xie San!
Otherwise, as a disciple of Prime Minister Xie, he wanted to kill Prime Minister Xie's son. If the news got out, everyone would know that he was not a clean person in Xizhou.
Kang Zhizhou looked carefully at the imperial token and then at the postures of these people. It did not look like a forgery. Cold sweat broke out all over his body. He had no choice but to wave his hand helplessly and let them go.
I was thinking about how to write a memorial to clear myself.
First of all, he must never admit that it was Xie San who massacred people in Chunfeng Tower. He must insist that it was a Tartar who impersonated Xie San.
He said he thought Xie San was dead.
Yes, write it like this.
＊
Congying has moved from Prince Jin's Mansion to Taiyi Girls' School.
In preparation for the end-of-year literary gathering, she worked tirelessly day and night. That night, she was so busy that she fell asleep at her desk and had some strange dreams.
She dreamed that Xie Xuanlan was about to die.
He was not seriously injured and dying, but was surrounded by wolves. He was defending the city, but no one hoped that he could hold on and survive.
The Western Tartar army threatened to lay siege and attack the city at any moment, but the army had only a half-month supply of fodder, and some small leaders were secretly plotting a mutiny. Xie Xuanlan went to the prefect of Zhanzhou to request grain, but the prefect, Kang, evaded the issue, saying that the grain in the granary was for the winter famine and that the people of Zhanzhou must not starve to death. He then instructed Xie Xuanlan to seek grain from other prefectures.
The four northwestern states, Kang, Xu, Yan, and Zhen, except for the governor of Kangzhou who is a disciple of Prime Minister Xie, the transport envoys of the other three states are your lord's men.
Your Lord wishes him dead, how could he possibly provide him with food?
Upon learning of this, Cong Ying became extremely anxious. She went to consult with Prime Minister Xie, but she found him so worried that his temples had turned white. His voice was cold and gloomy, "If we cannot win this battle, the Northwest Military Authority will be handed over. The Emperor will use this opportunity to punish a number of Xie's disciples. How many more years can I endure this? I'm afraid the Xie family's decline will begin from now on."
She cared more about Xie Xuanlan's safety than the Xie family's prestige.
Seeing that Prime Minister Xie was also helpless, she had no choice but to think of a risky method - to steal the seal of the master, forge the master's documents, and let the transport envoys of Xu, Yan and Zhen states send food and grass to Xie Xuanlan.
Since she learned that "Wei Qiang Jushi" was the noble master, in order to avoid suspicion, she cut off contact cleanly and neatly, letting "Luo Xi Shanren" disappear from the world, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
She knew that the noble master had contacted her, but she did not dare to show up and admit it.
Now, after more than a year, she has taken on the identity of "Luoxiangshanren" again, hung a wooden sign on the tung tree in Xuandu Temple, and said that as long as the master sends her a letter with a seal and confirms that the master's identity is not a lie, she is willing to accept the master's recruitment.
Two days later, she obtained the seal of the noble lord, copied the noble lord's handwriting, and wrote a handwritten order to the Three States Transport Commissioner, ordering him to supply food to Xie Xuanlan.
Prime Minister Xie had his own way to ensure that this letter was delivered to the transfer envoy through a reliable channel.
Xie Xuanlan received the food and fodder as scheduled, but the truth could not be hidden. The noble lord was furious and conducted a thorough investigation. He soon found out that she was the one, suspecting that she was the one from Luoxi Mountain.
Xie Xiang told her the news and asked her tentatively, "Could it be that you are really the hermit that your master has been looking for? You have been friends with your master for so long, you must know many of her secrets. Tell me, perhaps the life of the third brother and the turning point of the Xie family depend on this."
Zong Ying hadn't slept for several nights, and she forced a smile on her haggard face: "Your Majesty, I have misunderstood. I am not a Luoxi Mountain person. The real Luoxi Mountain person is dead. I am just using her name."
"Really?" Xie Xiang looked at her and said, "Then, can you lend me this favor again?"
Prime Minister Xie asked her to forge a letter to frame the noble lord for killing members of the royal family, collaborating with the enemy and committing treason, and intending to rebel.
Prime Minister Xie said that this concerned Xie Xuanlan's life.
Listening to it, Cong Ying laughed until tears came out of her eyes. She just felt it was absurd, sad and ridiculous.
The prime minister actually used his own son's life to threaten his daughter-in-law.
Xue Luwei once said that Prime Minister Xie only looked at the righteousness and was responsible for the prosperity of the family, but in fact he was very cold-blooded. In order to maintain the prestige of the Xie family, he wanted to use everyone in the Xie family as his puppets.
His sister is Concubine Xie.
His second son is Xie Xuanwen.
Now it was her turn and that of Xie Xuanlan.
It felt like a heavy mountain pressing down on her. Cong Ying felt suffocated and terrified. She was silent for a long time before she replied to Xie Xiang: "This matter is of great importance. I will go back and think it over carefully to avoid any mistakes."
She made up her mind. After returning to Dulanju, she sat at the desk and began to write a letter to Xie Xuanlan.
She wrote fifteen letters in a row, pretending that she had left the Xie Mansion with the Crimson Cloud Crown Master due to an injury, and had gone to a secluded paradise with picturesque scenery and unknown places to recuperate. Every year, she would send a letter to Xie Xuanlan, telling him that her injury was gradually improving, telling him about the various pleasures in the paradise, and that they would meet again when the osmanthus trees in the courtyard were shady and fireflies were flickering in the autumn night...
Fifteen years was enough for him to get over the pain of losing his wife and accept her eternal departure.
It’s just that the person who wrote the letter couldn’t bear to do so.
Tears fell and wet the letter paper, so she had to rewrite it.
Fifteen letters, written in a whole day and night.
Then she handed the letter to the Lord of the Crimson Cloud Crown and begged her to help her tell the lie.
Then, she delivered a visiting card to the princess's mansion and asked Princess Chun'an to meet her at the secluded and deserted Xuandu Temple.
The issue of food and fodder disrupted Princess Chun'an's political plans. Also because of Cong Ying's deception, Princess Chun'an was so angry that she fell seriously ill. Her face was pale, and only her pair of phoenix eyes were burning with anger, and as if they were tempered by ice, they looked at her hatefully.
Princess Chun'an asked her if she knew her identity from the beginning and deliberately approached her to gain her trust.
He also asked her whether all this was instructed by the old censor Jiang or the strategy of Prime Minister Xie.
She said that she really shouldn't trust anyone. She just looked at the glorious and glorious life, but everyone lied to her, envied her, and wanted her dead, just like how they treated her mother, the late queen.
Cong Ying shook her head slightly and said, "No."
Princess Chun'an questioned her, "At this point, are you still trying to deceive me with your eloquence?"
Cong Ying said, "I am not from Luoxi Mountain."
She told the princess that the real person from Luoxi Mountain was Yiyun, who was beside the Lord of the Crimson Cloud Crown, but she was dead.
"I killed her last year."
Cong Ying said, "Because I learned that she and the princess exchanged letters and were close friends, I had a hunch that this identity would be of great use. To secure it, I killed her. This is why the princess hasn't received a reply from her in nearly a year. The letter that tricked the princess into giving me her seal wasn't written by the real Luoxi Mountain Master, but by me, the wife of the Third Young Master of the Xie Clan."
The lies he had prepared thousands of times in his mind could now be spoken calmly and fluently in front of her.
Let her think that the real Luoxiangshan man is dead. Let her have hatred and anger, but she will not lose trust in the whole world in despair.
And keep a little of her sincerity for yourself...even if it is through shameful deception.
Princess Chun'an was incredulous: "You said you killed her...you killed the man from Luoxi Mountain?"
Cong Ying nodded: "Yes."
With a clang, the princess drew out her sword. When the blade pierced her heart, Zong Ying did not dodge but just closed her eyes slightly.
It hurts so much… My heart feels cold and my head is spinning.
Cong Ying slowly raised the corners of her mouth and looked at Princess Chun'an, blood flowing along with her broken voice.
She said, "Before she died, Luoxishan said... because her identity was exposed, she had caused trouble for the princess, and she felt very guilty... She said she felt sorry for the princess... She said she prayed for the princess... to live for a thousand years, and to sing the praises of pepper flowers."
It is the people of Luoxi Mountain who have let the princess down.
The dream fell into darkness, but Cong Ying in the present world suddenly woke up and found that he had slept at the desk all night, his shoulders and back were numb, and there was a whole smear of ink on his face.
But she didn't care about the embarrassment and discomfort, and subconsciously touched her chest.
It was as if I had really experienced the pain of a sword piercing my heart, and the guilt and pain in the dream that was even more unbearable than a sword piercing my heart.
So real...was it really just a dream?
Before she could think carefully, someone suddenly knocked on the door: "Is Master Jiang awake? A certain Du Yushi said he has something urgent to discuss with Master Jiang, and he has come barging into the Imperial Court."
Cong Ying responded, "Please ask him to wait a moment, I'll be there soon."
She simply changed her clothes and washed up, then hurried to the front hall. As soon as she turned around the corridor, she saw Du Rupan circling around the pillar. He was wearing official uniform and looked like he had just finished work. She didn't know what was so urgent that he didn't even have time to change his clothes.
"Brother Du." Cong Ying called him from afar.
Du Rupan, clutching a copy of a memorial, hurried towards her. He skipped the small talk and said straight to the point, "Xie Xuanlan is dead. Did you know that?"
The fireflies suddenly appeared as if struck by lightning.
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