Chapter 122 Chapter 122 "Your Majesty, please die immediately." ...
The deafening sounds of fighting seemed to become a vague noise. Prince An stared at the figure in front of the palace gate, which was walking closer and closer in the rain of blood.
His eyes were wide open, his pupils suddenly shrank, and his gaze was fixed on Xiao Heyin, as if he wanted to see through her.
"Haven't you already..."
"He's dead, right?" Xiao Heyin interrupted Prince An and raised his eyebrows slightly.
Prince An was as shocked as if he had seen a ghost. It was clear that there had been rumors since last year that she had been ambushed and died at Yumen Pass, and the emperor and empress in the palace were very secretive about it.
The batches of elite soldiers he sent out at the time could not have forced her into a desperate situation. How did she survive with pursuers from both sides?
Xiao Heyin looked at Prince An, taking in the horror on his face. He smiled faintly, "Lucky, he didn't die. I'm sure Uncle Eight must be very disappointed."
Prince An's teeth were clattering, veins bulged on his forehead, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
He didn't think that he lost to Xie Zhiyan, it was just that the world was unfair.
Xiao Heyin's thin phoenix eyes turned up slightly, and the smile on the corners of his lips became more relaxed: "Those who surrender immediately will be spared."
Xie Zhiyan immediately stepped forward, not giving Prince An any chance to breathe. He swung his sword-wielding hand into the air, leaving no room for doubt: "Capture all these traitors. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
After King An was surrounded, the sound of weapons falling to the ground could be heard one after another. Most of the rebels saw that the situation was hopeless and threw down their weapons and surrendered.
Prince An stood alone, his face drained of all color, his hands still trembling as he gripped the sword that had been with him for many years.
He raised his long sword high, his face twisted with despair.
Committing suicide to apologize is probably the most decent outcome at the moment.
But when the blade of the long knife on his neck came close to the fragile skin of his neck, he felt a chill, which aroused the deepest desire to survive in his bones.
His arms felt weak and he tried several times, but the knife seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and he couldn't bring himself to do it.
The fear of death eventually overwhelmed his remaining pride.
Xiao Heyin's eyes were filled with undisguised mockery. She slowly stepped forward, the blood on her armor dripping onto the ground with her steps, like a deadly Shura. "If Eighth Uncle can't bring himself to do this, your niece doesn't mind doing it for you."
This light sentence was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Prince An's body shook violently, and he could no longer hold the sword in his hand. With a clang, it fell to the cold and sticky brick floor.
"Royal brother!"
"Please spare my life, your servant... your servant does not want to die yet."
"I was just confused for a moment these years, and I was blinded by greed. It's all because of Xie Juyuan. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have reached this point."
"It was because of his instigation that I came to this point. My royal brother, can you please treat me as a ghost and forgive me this time for the sake of the Empress Dowager?"
Prince An no longer cared about his dignity. He burst into tears and begged in a hoarse voice towards the throne.
On the throne, the saint's old eyes moved, first falling on Prince An who was kowtowing like crazy, with only a cold scrutiny, then he looked at Xiao Xuan who was kneeling not far away with a deathly pale face, one of his arms having been neatly removed by the guards due to his struggle and resistance.
"Let you go?"
"Who can let me go?"
The man's pale face turned into a strange bluish-white due to his excitement.
He barely managed to maintain his upright posture. His voice was low, yet it carried a chill that penetrated his bones: "If you ask me to spare you, it's not impossible."
"If you kill Xiao Xuan, in front of me, with your own hands, I will spare your life."
The saint was smiling, his eyes looking straight at King An, full of malice.
Prince An felt as if he had been slapped in the face from afar, forgetting even to cry or beg. With his mouth open and his neck twisted stiffly, he looked at his silent son not far away. His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter the word "good" that he had thought of hundreds of times.
The man on the throne took in Prince An's ugly appearance. He spoke again, his hoarse voice tinged with sarcasm: "Why, you're so reluctant to let go?"
"Xiao Xuan'an is nothing but a bastard born from the affair between the princess and the groom. He is an evil creature who is trying to confuse the royal family's bloodline and usurp the throne. Kill him if you will."
"Eighth brother, what are you reluctant to give up?"
"Xuan is not him!" King An roared and refuted loudly, but even he himself felt that this rebuttal was extremely pale and powerless.
On the other side, Princess An had disheveled hair and looked crazy.
She struggled to throw herself at Xiao Xu'an, but Lu Zhoudu grabbed her arms tightly from behind: "Aunt, if you still want Xu'an to have a chance to live, then stop making trouble."
"Your Majesty is currently furious, and this will only backfire."
Lu Zhoudu was followed by people from the Dali Temple. The entire Chang'an City had been controlled by the Black Armor Army from the East Suburb Camp. When he entered the hall, he saw that his aunt looked like she was going crazy.
Fortunately, Princess An still had a trace of rationality. She stopped struggling, as if all her strength had been drained away. She collapsed to the ground, muttering to herself, "It's a sin, it's all a sin."
"I should have gone with the Lu clan from the beginning. Why did I have to live to this day and endure such humiliation?"
"I gave birth to Xu'an just to take revenge on him and see his hopes dashed. But I didn't expect people have feelings. The more I hated Prince An, the more I cared about Xu'an, but in the end..."
Princess An could no longer speak and covered her face and cried bitterly.
Prince An's ears were buzzing, his eyes were empty and unable to focus, and a sense of hopelessness and emptiness instantly flooded his senses like a tide.
Born in a peaceful time, he was appreciated by the late emperor and raised by the empress dowager since childhood. The empress dowager had no children of her own, which destined him to be competitive and busy throughout his life.
But in the end, the late emperor doted on him but did not make him the crown prince. Instead, he gave him chances again and again and treated him as a whetstone again and again. Once a person is blinded by power, he will naturally not be willing to accept it.
So in this life, he killed his wife's mother's family, forced his brother King Ning to death, and even King Ning's only daughter was exiled to the border because of her involvement.
Even on the day he killed the prince, he found a flawless excuse for himself. To put it nicely, he brainwashed the clan members in the name of the Xiao family's eternal prosperity, saying that they must have a healthy offspring. To put it bluntly, it was just his own selfish and dirty interests.
Thinking of this, Prince An pulled out a smile that was uglier than crying.
Does he have no chance? No... he may still have a chance, although it is slim, but as long as Princess Duanyang can succeed, as long as he can continue to delay time.
However, the remaining hope in Prince An's heart was destined to be completely dashed.
Outside the palace, the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed.
The damp night wind carried thick water vapor, mixed with the lingering smell of blood and the stench of soil soaked by rain, creating a disgusting suffocation.
The palace walls were tall, and the sound of dripping water could be heard. A group of people, holding dim lanterns, walked silently across the floor tiles covered with blood and water, heading towards the Hanyuan Hall.
Princess Duanyang walked in front. Her luxurious palace dress was splattered with dark red blood, which had dried and turned black.
She walked slowly, her lips pursed in a half-smile, and the dim light of the lantern reflected on her blood-stained cheek, making her look particularly strange.
The moment Prince An saw Princess Duanyang, a strong vitality appeared in his eyes.
But unfortunately, when he looked past Princess Duanyang and saw the person following behind her, the expression on Prince An's face froze.
Where is the pheasant slave!
Even if Princess Duanyang couldn't bring herself to do it, there was still Chi Nu.
"Duan Yang, you..." Prince An pointed at her, his throat felt like it was being strangled.
Princess Duanyang grinned and spoke cheerfully, as if she were telling a funny story: "Myna, I killed Zhinu. Do you think I'm particularly remarkable?"
"Things didn't go well. I must have disappointed my brother."
"But it doesn't matter. I'll just kill you later."
Prince An could no longer hold on. His eyeballs moved with difficulty a few times in his sunken eye sockets, his cracked lips trembled uncontrollably, and his body, so thin that his bones were visible, looked like a dried corpse from a distance, as if he could die at any time.
It's all over.
After years of hard work, it was all in vain.
What else can he do?
Prince An didn't know what he could do. In despair, he raised his head with difficulty and looked straight at the man on the throne who held the power of life and death.
As for why he said such words, King An had no idea. It seemed like it was instinct, or maybe it was because he had raised a pet for a long time and had developed some feelings for it.
He lowered his body and banged his forehead hard on the cold floor tiles.
"Brother Emperor, I know you will never forgive me."
"I beg you, my royal brother, to spare Xu'an's life for the sake of our past friendship. This is all my fault."
The saint laughed briefly, his eyes filled with mockery and long-pent-up hatred.
"Spar him?"
"When you and your son colluded with foreign enemies and set up this vicious plan, did you ever think of sparing my crown prince?"
He suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with undisguised murderous intent: "Zhi Yan! Kill him!"
The saint raised his finger and pointed at Xiao Xuan. Without waiting for anyone to react, he fixed his eyes on Xie Zhiyan and promised, "If you kill Xiao Xuan now, I will immediately issue a decree and pass on the vast territory of Great Yan to you!"
When these words were spoken, everyone in the hall was shocked.
Xie Zhiyan raised his eyebrows and slowly wiped the blood off the sword with a blood-stained white handkerchief. He seemed to have heard it, but also seemed not to have heard it, and did not react at all.
"Father."
Xiao Heyin calmly looked at the man on the throne who had never looked her in the eye. Her red lips curled as she stepped forward and said in a clear voice, "Father, whoever you want to kill, I will do it for you."
She changed the subject, her phoenix eyes revealing undisguised ambition: "As for the throne, I think it would be more appropriate for me to sit on it."
"Sanlang can't do it."
"He is the son of Aunt Shoukang and the eldest grandson of the Xie family. What's more, my cousin is already married and has a happy family."
"With your suspicious nature, how could you tolerate the Queen of Dayan having such a prominent family? Furthermore, deep affection between husband and wife is a sin for those in power. In your eyes, all of this is probably a hidden danger that needs to be eradicated."
"So why not let my son come?"
"When I grow old, I will pass the throne to Qingnv."
"Princess Heyin, what you said is simply treasonous." Before the saint could speak, an elder from the Xiao clan jumped out to refute him.
Xiao Heyin raised his eyes and said to Lu Zhoudu calmly, "Mr. Lu, please take action and make him shut up."
Blood flew out and heads fell to the ground, so fast that it was just a blink of an eye.
Xiao Heyin tutted softly, looked around with a smile and said, "Whoever talks too much will be killed together."
"He Yin."
The Saint was not angry at Xiao Heyin's unscrupulous behavior, but laughed out loud: "What a pity that my Ah Yin is a girl."
He stopped laughing, his eyes complicated: "If you were a man, I wouldn't have to go to so much trouble to plan."
Xiao Heyin snorted coldly. The man in front of him, who possessed supreme power, couldn't even say a good word.
He simply stopped talking, picked up the blood-stained halberd, and walked towards Xiao Xuan step by step.
Princess An saw this and wanted to rush over to stop him, but she was held back and could only stretch out her hands in vain: "No, Princess, please don't..."
"Are you going to avenge the prince?" Xiao Xuan looked at Xiao Heyin calmly.
Xiao Heyin didn't say anything, but his eyes became even colder.
"I guess so, but you should thank me for what you have today." Xiao Xu'an laughed at himself and slowly turned to look at Princess An. He said softly, "Mother, I only now understand that I should have listened to you and lived a quiet life."
"It's a pity that there is no regret medicine in this world."
"I used to think you didn't love me and that you were restricting me, so I desperately tried to prove that I was no worse than anyone else. In the end, I discovered that you were the one who loved me the most in this world."
"It's a pity that you used the wrong method."
After Xiao Xuan finished speaking, he didn't know where he got the strength from, he took out a short blade from his sleeve and slashed it towards his neck resolutely.
Blood gushed out and splashed.
Xiao Heyin paused and did not move forward.
She had long seen through Xiao Xuan's final intention, and committing suicide was the last dignity she left for him.
This tragedy finally came to an end in the most tragic way with the death of Xiao Xuan.
Inside the Hanyuan Hall, the corpses and body parts had been cleared away, leaving only water marks on the ground and dark red blood stains that could not be easily wiped off.
Outside the palace, the rain, which had stopped originally, began to fall again, hitting the green tiles and red roofs of the palace, as if to wash away the bloodshed of that night.
The sky was faintly showing a pale sky, and the long and bloody night was about to pass.
Sheng Puzhu stood quietly at one side of the hall and sighed inaudibly.
Her eyes were as calm as water, slowly sweeping across everyone's face. The road to imperial power was thorny and thorny, with only bones and blood underfoot, and no one could escape.
The imperial physician was waiting at the back of the side hall. The saint had experienced several episodes of great sorrow and anger that night, and his body could no longer bear it. The palace servants carefully carried him to the warm room on the side to rest for a while.
All those who conspired with Prince An, regardless of their official rank, were taken to the Tianlao for imprisonment.
When Xie Juyuan was arrested, although his official robe was disheveled and he looked very embarrassed, he still tried his best to maintain his usual elegant demeanor. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, his slightly hunched back still revealed his inner despair.
The entire palace is still under high alert.
In the warm room, Xie Zhiyan stood quietly in front of the dragon couch, holding a blank bright yellow imperial edict in his hand.
"uncle."
"It's time to draft a will."
The man lying on the dragon couch with his eyes closed had a sallow complexion and a weak breath.
"Where's He Yin? Why isn't she coming?"
The saint finally opened his eyes. Every time he spoke, his chest twitched violently. His cloudy eyes stared at Xie Zhiyan, still unable to understand.
"Why?"
"Tell me, why is this happening?"
"This world, the land of Great Yan, the Xiao family for generations, countless brothers and sisters who even killed each other, how could you just throw it away so easily?"
Xie Zhiyan did not answer, but slowly bent his knees and performed the etiquette of a subject.
His back remained straight as a pine tree, his eyes calm: "No reason, sir, I just don't want to."
"In this world, some people love flowers, some people admire the moon, and some people gain and lose."
The night was like a silent mountain. Even though the dawn was about to fill the sky, it still couldn't hide the palaces that were about to be shrouded in shadows and rot. Xie Zhiyan raised his eyes and looked directly into the saint's eyes that were full of life.
His voice was very soft, and his tone was filled with a kind of almost cruel clarity: "What's more, I am not your child. You know this better than anyone else in the world."
"Mother might have been able to deceive you back then, and the Empress might have helped her to cover up the lie in order to stabilize the Empress's position, but you can't deceive your own heart."
"Just like the side hall next to the Purple Palace where I stayed temporarily, that window you personally ordered nailed shut. Are you afraid of seeing me, or are you afraid of seeing through me the truth you don't want to face?"
"In your eyes, I have always been just an illusion that the prince does not have."
"Nianxiang?"
"How can it be a thought?"
The saint stretched his hand in the air, then dropped it down helplessly. He felt a fishy and sweet taste rising from the depths of his throat. He sighed tiredly, as if it was going to choke out his soul, carrying with it an endless desolation.
"But I don't want to die yet."
"Even if I miss you, you are still the one I raised myself, Sanlang."
Xie Zhiyan's eyes grew sharp, like a blunt knife that only hurt without bleeding: "I don't want to be a pawn, and my wife can't stand the confinement of the palace walls."
"Your Majesty, even if you don't want to die, I think... it's better for you to die."
The saint gazed at the almost flawless face before him, and felt a chill run down his spine.
"You are the one in this world who most wants me to die immediately." "Am I right?"
"Hahahahahahaha! I was wondering why Master Yundeng suddenly left the palace. Was this also secretly arranged by you?"
"You knew I would be in this situation, and you also knew I couldn't hold on for much longer."
Xie Zhiyan remained silent, and silence itself was the best answer.
The sage laughed heartily, and the sound of his laughter stirred his lungs, turning into a violent cough. He gasped and said incoherently: "He who loves his wife does not love the country."
"You're afraid I'll harm her, you're afraid it'll all end badly, so you're just going to take action."
"Hahahaha, Xie Zhiyan, you really played a big game."
"Prince An probably won't know until his death that you are the one who forced him to this point today."
Xie Zhiyan smiled slightly but still said nothing.
More blood gushed out of the Saint's mouth and nose. He forced himself to hold on to his last bit of consciousness, and tried to look outside with blurry vision: "What about He Yin? Do you believe her?"
Xie Zhiyan had deep eyebrows and eyes, and even when he lowered his eyes calmly, it seemed as if all his thoughts were visible in his eyes.
He spoke in a calm and slow voice: "I only believe in myself."
"You only trust yourself." The man, who could no longer open his eyes, nodded in vain and trance, and asked with his last bit of strength, "So, as a subject to your king, is there anything else you want to say to me, Sanlang?"
Xie Zhiyan raised his head, thought about it seriously, and even smiled lightly, his eyes slightly narrowed, and it was unclear what was in them.
He stood up and said the most outrageous words with the attitude of a victor.
"Your Majesty, thank you Zhiyan——"
"Your Majesty, please die immediately to bring peace to the world and stabilize the country."
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