Chapter 102: It seems like a lifetime ago, but it’s still the same as in my memory
Kunyi's words lingered in his ears, and Jiang Cichen had already stepped out of the bedroom.
Seeing him come out, the guards immediately closed the palace door and sealed everything completely.
A loud bang came from the hall. It was the sound of beams breaking and falling, accompanied by the noise of falling rubble, and the fire burned more and more fiercely.
Xie Yan stepped forward: "Is it over?"
"It's over." Jiang Cichen said calmly, "She admitted that she was responsible for the extermination of the Xie family. Do you want to go and see your enemy? But by now, she should have been burned beyond recognition."
Xie Yan scoffed and turned away, "What's so good about a vicious heart and an ugly face?"
Back then, Xie Yan's father was entrusted by Jiang Shu to bring the infant Jiang Cichen back to the capital. If not for this, the Xie family would not have suffered all this, and Xie Yan would not have become an orphan.
But Xie Yan never blamed anyone in the Jiang family. He knew clearly who the culprit was. After the Xie family was wiped out, the Jiang family protected him in his childhood. He was very grateful to General Jiang for raising him.
Xie Yan has always been a person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment.
Chen Nanyuan finished dealing with the remaining evildoers in the Princess's Mansion and walked over quickly: "Sir, what are the next steps?"
Xie Yan twirled the jade pendant around his wrist and said, "Chasing Bei Yeji? He shouldn't have gotten far."
"Chen Beizhe has already taken his men there." Jiang Cichen raised an eyebrow. "We have done something so disrespectful to our ancestors, shouldn't we go back and apologize first?"
"That's right." Xie Yan sighed softly, "I'm actually a little afraid to face my father's tablet."
The fire that burned the Princess's mansion to the ground was another crime Jiang Cichen had committed in the eyes of the people of the Northern Kingdom. But for him, one or two more crimes wouldn't make a difference; he already had a deep and infamous reputation.
The traitors colluded with the enemy and committed treason, beheaded the loyal officials of the north, and burned to death the elders who had shown great kindness.
The long street was firmly controlled by the Yun army, the people were stopped on both sides, and the chattering sound was endless.
Every word and sentence was a curse for his early death and a call for his treachery.
The soldiers pulled out a few troublemakers, cut off their tongues, and showed them to the people kneeling on both sides. The crowd suddenly fell silent.
Jiang Cichen glanced at it indifferently and suddenly remembered an old story.
It was a severe winter with snow flying all over the sky, completely different from the scorching summer today.
…
When the Jiang residence was ransacked, all valuables were looted. The red door was sealed, and no one entered again. Even the eaves were covered with cobwebs.
Jiang Cichen tore off the seal that had turned white from weathering and pushed open the heavy red door. A gust of cold wind carrying the scent of decayed wood blew in his face, lifting the young man's clothes.
On a sunny day in midsummer, the flowers and trees in the palace are still in full bloom. The crabapple trees have not been trimmed, and their branches are growing wildly, with pink and white petals falling all over the ground.
The water in the backyard pond had turned green and smelly due to years of cleaning. The goldfish and lotus in the pond had all died, and were replaced by wild and overgrown aquatic plants.
Jiang Cichen walked through the deserted courtyard and pushed open the door of his old room.
The house was still in a mess, retaining the same appearance as when it was raided.
The ground was littered with fragments of jade cups and scrolls of calligraphy and paintings. The valuable ones had already been confiscated, and the remaining items were mostly worthless.
He leaned over and picked up a half-unfolded scroll.
The girl in the painting has a youthful and pretty face, her eyebrows are like distant mountains, and her almond eyes are as clear as stars, just the same as in my memory.
A line of small words in the lower left corner: Chi Wanwan, daughter of Chi Jingan.
This was the portrait that Yanyun Pavilion sent him when he first suspected the identity of "Chi Wanwan" and ordered Yanyun Pavilion to investigate.
Jiang Cichen's fingertips stroked the yellowed paper, his eyes as calm as water, but at a certain moment he lost focus.
It really feels like a lifetime ago.
The edges of the scroll were a little moldy and damaged. He rolled it up carefully, turned around and handed it to Chen Nanyuan who was waiting outside the door.
Chen Nanyuan took it with both hands, a little puzzled: "Sir, this is..."
As he said this, he opened it, took a look, and then slammed it shut again.
"Find someone to repair it. If you dare to break it..." Jiang Cichen paused and threatened, "You will have to run around the capital city thirty times."
Chen Nanyuan's right eyelid twitched slightly: "I understand."
The ancestral hall of the Jiang family is a separate courtyard with no doors or window frames.
Jiang Cichen stopped outside the ancestral hall.
Chen Nanyuan asked in a low voice: "Sir, would you like to take a shower and change clothes first?"
Normally, one should bathe and burn incense before worshipping ancestors to show respect for them.
But Jiang Cichen had already done something a thousand times more disrespectful to his ancestors, so how could such trivial etiquette as bathing and changing clothes make up for it?
"No need." Jiang Cichen said, "Just go in."
In the courtyard, an ancient cypress tree with twisted branches casts a huge shade, casting mottled light and shadows on the layers of tablets below.
The tablet was covered with a thick layer of dust and dirt, rainwater accumulated in the incense burner, and the ash had long been hardened.
Glory is only a thing of the past.
Chen Nanyuan put down the wooden box in his hand and quietly left.
Jiang Cichen wiped the tablets clean one by one. He actually had no feelings for these ancestors. They were too ethereal and insubstantial.
The memory of listening to admonitions in the ancestral hall when I was young has long been blurred.
Once, because of his fallacy of "treason", the whole family was implicated and suffered, but now, he has really betrayed the country.
I wonder if our ancestors knew about this. Would they blame him for handing over the vast mountains and rivers that the Jiang family had guarded for generations, or would they be pleased that he finally avenged the entire clan?
The young man bent his knees and half-knelt, then opened the wooden box. The tablets of Jiang's descendants were neatly arranged inside. He placed the tablets solemnly and then lit the candles on both sides.
The entire ancestral hall was lit up again, and the candlelight made every name clearly visible.
Jiang Cichen took a few steps back and did not kneel on the soft cushion. Instead, he lowered his knees and knelt directly on the cold and hard bluestone slab.
*
When we arrived outside the capital, it was already dark.
The Yun Kingdom's army has occupied the capital, and the streets are heavily guarded, and outsiders are prohibited from wandering around.
The once prosperous and flourishing city in the world had completely changed its appearance in just a few days.
Luo Wan said to go directly to Jiang Mansion.
"Jiang Mansion?" Ah Qing was puzzled. "It was sealed off when the entire Jiang family was executed. It must have been in ruins by now."
Luo Wan was speechless: "I'm not here to see the architecture."
"You want to see Jiang Cichen?" Ah Qing reacted, "But he's in Yanmen trying to shoot Master Shen to death with an arrow, and you still want to see him?"
Luo Wan said calmly: "If he really wanted to shoot Shen Zhiyan to death, we wouldn't save him so easily."
"Does the host trust him so much?"
"That's how much I trust him." Luo Wan said.
The Yanmen defenders were completely wiped out, and it goes without saying who set the fire on Yanmen City.
The people from Yanyun Pavilion came and went. Their target was not Shen Zhiyan at all. They just wanted to make sure Luo Wan could save Shen Zhiyan.
Including Shen Zhiyan and her actions of climbing up the city wall, Yanyun Pavilion must have noticed and informed him.
That rain of arrows was just to create the illusion that Shen Zhiyan was dead. The rain of arrows was real, but the murderous intent was fake.
After they left, they burned all the bodies, leaving them unrecognizable and no evidence left.
Without a single word of negotiation, they cooperated so perfectly.
In the past when he was in the capital, Luo Wan had never set foot in the Jiang Mansion. He had no idea what the scene was like in the past, but now it was just broken tiles and dilapidated eaves.
It seems that houses that are not occupied always fall into disrepair faster.
Luo Wan didn't let Aqing continue to follow. The guards around Jiang Mansion were more dense than anywhere else. Aqing's lightness skills were average, so in order to avoid causing unnecessary disturbance, Luo Wan asked him to wait outside.
The Jiang Mansion was very large. Luo Wan carefully avoided the guards and walked around for a while before finding the location of the ancestral hall.
She wasn't sure if he was there, but she subconsciously felt that he would be there.
Above the night sky, stars are twinkling, moonlight is pouring down generously, and the shadows of the trees are hazy.
Luo Wan hid behind the eaves. The branches that had not been trimmed for many years grew wildly and covered her well.
From here, you can see the figure clearly.
The young man's robe was stained with blood, and he knelt outside the ancestral hall with his back straight. He was no longer wearing the silver mask.
That day, they looked at each other from a distance on the city wall. He was wearing a mask, so Luo Wan couldn't see his face clearly.
At this angle, Luo Wan could only see his profile. The candlelight from the lanterns under the eaves outlined his straight nose and sharp jawline.
After living a new life, Luo Wan always considers things from an objective perspective and no longer puts love between men and women first. She also doesn't want feelings to hinder her original plan.
She considered Jiang Cichen from the same perspective. Revenge was his top priority and he had to give in to everything for it, so she first gave up the friendship between them for him, but never asked Jiang Cichen what he thought.
In fact, as long as they don't separate, Jiang Cichen is willing to bear any cost.
For example, now, Jiang Cichen led his cavalry to flatten the capital in order to avenge the extermination of his family, and he was willing to kneel outside the ancestral hall and bear the accusations of his ancestors.
The wind blew his inky hair, and his silent figure looked so lonely in the dark night.
Luo Wan always felt that someone should be with him at this time.
But she didn't stay long and left soon.
Aqing was still waiting there. When he saw her come back, he immediately went to greet her with an anxious look on his face.
Luo Wan frowned: "What happened?"
Ah Qing said, "Just now, an urgent message came from the secret agent. Lei Yuanjie has issued a declaration of war against you."
What is meant to come will come.
But the timing is just too coincidental.
She was just about to attack Miao territory.
There has always been an unwritten rule in the underworld: when the leader of one side issues a challenge to the leader of another side, the leader must accept the challenge in an upright manner.
If they don't fight, it would be equivalent to admitting defeat, and their sect would always be inferior to others.
Lei Yuanjie's move is not only about personal grudges, but also concerns the status of Tingyu Tower and Wanlei Sect in the world.
After Luo Wan killed Sha Yan, he would eventually have to fight a life-and-death battle with Lei Yuanjie; it was only a matter of time.
In his previous life, Lei Yuanjie did not hesitate to violate the rules of the martial arts world and secretly used poison during the fight, which shows his determination to avenge Sha Yan.
If she doesn't fight with Lei Yuanjie and completely eliminate this hidden danger, she will have to live under the shadow of "Jue Ya" for the rest of her life.
Luo Wan asked: "Have you set a time?"
"Tomorrow at noon, twenty miles west of the capital." Ah Qing paused, "He said... you are the only one allowed."
Lei Yuanjie is definitely not alone. It is said that Bei Yeji escaped from the Northern Kingdom Palace, which means that the alliance between the two has not been broken yet.
If it was just Lei Yuanjie, the battle would be no different from the previous life, but now there is the uncertain factor of Bei Ye Ji, so we have to be careful in this battle.
Ah Qing added, "After receiving the declaration of war, the secret agents began to monitor Lei Yuanjie's whereabouts. He was accompanied by a woman."
Luo Wan asked, "Woman?"
Ah Qing said, "I heard that it seems that she is the princess sent by Xiliang to marry."
-----------------------
A transitional chapter
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com