Chapter 475: It was I, Xiao Beicheng, who was stupid and raised a tiger to cause trouble!
Regent's Palace, inside the ancestral hall.
The smoke of sandalwood stagnated between the beams, carrying a dull and oppressive feeling.
Xiao Beicheng sat blankly on the cold mat, his skinny fingers tightly gripping the hem of his robe. There was nothing there, only wrinkles left - below the knees, he had long lost all feeling and substance.
He looked at Su Xianrou's spirit tablet on the altar, his chest heaving violently, his throat making hoarse sounds, like a trapped beast in a cage.
How can I accept this?
He was once a powerful general who protected the country, and he was also a regent who had great power in the court and the country. A single word could decide life and death.
Once upon a time, his martial arts and political strategy were unparalleled in the world. How many people in the world could match him?
But now, he has become a disabled man with both legs lost. Those legs were chopped off by Xiao Nanyue, the child he raised, with a sword!
In the past ten days, Xiao Nanyan threw him into this ancestral hall and asked him to confess in front of Su Xianrou's spirit tablet.
There was no human voice, no sunlight. The only thing that accompanied him day and night was the cold wooden sign and the lingering sandalwood that almost drowned him.
The smoke penetrated into his lungs, choking him and making him want to cough, but he didn't even have the strength to straighten his back. He felt as if his chest was being pressed down by a huge rock, and waves of suffocation came over him.
More than once he pounded the ground with his hands and banged his head against the altar like a madman, but his empty trouser legs only swayed with his movements, as if silently mocking his embarrassment.
Did he lose just his legs?
It is the spirit of riding a horse and waving a whip, the ambition of ruling the country, the throne of the emperor that is within reach, and the submission of all the civil and military officials in the court...
The power and glory that he once considered to be within his grasp have now become like flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water, so shattered that he cannot even catch their shadows.
"Huh...huh..." He gasped for breath, and a scarlet light flashed in his turbid eyes.
He, Xiao Beicheng, a once-powerful hero, had ended up in such a state? He was even worse than a struggling commoner!
Could it be that there was no chance for him to rise again in this life? Was their Xiao family destined to be crushed to the ground by the Helian family, with no chance of rising again?
Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and a vicious light flashed in his eyes:
No, the Xiao family has not fallen. There are still people who can help the Xiao family make a comeback and continue to thrive!
The sandalwood burned thicker and thicker, and the words on the memorial tablet flickered in the smoke, like Su Xianrou's tearful eyes, staring at him day and night, torturing him.
Finally, in another dead silent night, he suddenly fell off the mat, and his forehead hit the blue bricks with a dull sound.
He didn't care and roared with all his might, his voice as hoarse as a broken gong:
"Xiao Nanyan! I want to see Xiao Nanyan——!"
The shouts hit the beams and pillars of the ancestral hall, echoing layer by layer and causing the candlelight to shake violently.
After an unknown amount of time, the heavy wooden door of the ancestral hall was pushed open from the outside. A cold wind carrying moonlight rushed in, splitting the smoke in the room.
Xiao Nanyue was wearing a black brocade robe and standing at the door. His figure was as straight as a pine tree and his eyes were as cold as ice.
Behind him were Han Xiao and Mo Ren, who stood expressionlessly by the door, blocking all the light behind him, leaving him alone, like a judge walking out of the shadows.
"Are you looking for me?"
He spoke, his voice devoid of any warmth, shocking Xiao Beicheng so much that he trembled all over.
The sandalwood incense in the ancestral hall was still curling up, making the air between the two people even heavier.
Xiao Beicheng raised his head and stared at Xiao Nanyue's face, which was as cold as ice. The little boy in his memory who would affectionately call him "Father" and whose eyes were full of admiration and worship was no longer the same as the man in front of him.
His chest heaved violently, hatred growing like poison ivy. He glared at Xiao Nanyan fiercely, gritting his teeth.
"Xiao Nanyan, you cut off my legs, but left me with a worthless life, just to humiliate me! You're so despicable! You're so vicious!"
He gasped, his skinny fingers clenched until they turned white, and cursed with a venomous voice:
"It was I, Xiao Beicheng, who was foolish enough to raise a tiger and end up causing trouble! I never thought that useless man Helian Cong could actually give birth to such a capable son like you! I was so blind! I should have strangled you to death in your cradle back then!"
Xiao Nanyan stood condescendingly, his eyes fixed on the man whom he once regarded as his own father. Looking at his hideous face, there was not a single ripple in his heart.
The shock, disappointment, sadness and resentment he once felt had long been ground into dust by countless sleepless nights, leaving only terrifying coldness and calmness in his eyes.
"Xiao Beicheng," he said, his voice as steady as the surface of a frozen lake:
"I once respected you so much, treating you like my own father. I even went so far as to cause chaos in the universe just to 'avenge' you. But it wasn't until that day in Yunqiu that I realized how ridiculous I was."
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes sharp as a knife:
"You meticulously planned to have the Xiao family usurp power and usurp the Tianqi throne. If you had openly challenged Helian Cong, perhaps I would have respected your heroic spirit. But you chose to exploit my mother, exploited innocent children, and used the most ruthless means to pave your path to power. My mother and I once respected and loved you so much, but you destroyed it all with your own hands.
Over the years, in order to seize power, you have not hesitated to instigate wars and slaughter countless innocent people. Every single one of these actions is completely unscrupulous and inhumane.
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