Chapter 44: Quick Guide to the Soldier King (Part 2)
"Are you awake?" Bi Yuntao's clear voice interrupted my thoughts, and I realized that I was sleeping soundly on his arm.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry I hurt you." I struggled to sit up, but I felt a sharp pain in my leg.
"Don't move. You've injured your muscles and bones. You need to rest well."
He held my shoulders, his tone gentle but unyielding. I had no choice but to lie down obediently, but my heart was filled with mixed feelings, I couldn't tell what it felt like.
Bi Yuntao went out for a while and came back with a bowl of steaming hot porridge. I took it and drank it in small sips, but in my heart I was thinking about Eunuch Li's conspiracy.
"Those men in black don't look like ordinary thugs to me. They look more like...well-trained killers." Bi Yuntao suddenly spoke with a serious tone.
"You mean..." I raised my head suddenly, my heart skipping a beat. Could it be that there is a bigger force behind Eunuch Li?
"I'm afraid this matter is not that simple." He pondered for a moment and continued, "I need to investigate."
"I'll go with you!" I blurted out, but he rejected me outright.
"Just focus on your recovery, I'll take care of this myself." He said firmly, leaving no room for doubt. I knew he was doing this for my own good, but I didn't want to be a burden to him.
At this moment, there was a slight sound from outside the door. Bi Yuntao immediately became alert, signaled me not to make a sound, and then he walked to the door quietly and opened it suddenly!
"Who?!" he shouted.
"Master, it's me." The person standing outside the door was Zhang Bo, the housekeeper beside my father! How did he find this place? Could it be...
My heart suddenly rose to my throat. Did my father already know that he had been abandoned by the family and that I was in danger?
Uncle Zhang's arrival surprised Bi Yuntao and I. I anxiously asked my father if he knew about my situation, but Uncle Zhang just shook his head and motioned for me to follow him out. Bi Yuntao wanted to follow me, but I held him back, motioned him to rest assured, and followed Uncle Zhang out of the room.
"Young Master, my master asked me to give this to you." Zhang Bo-lin handed me a heavy bag. "My master said, you can do it with confidence. Your family will always be your backer."
I took the bundle and opened it. It turned out to be a thick stack of letters and some account books. I looked through them and found that these letters were all correspondence between Eunuch Li and some officials. The contents were mostly about power-for-money transactions, corruption and abuse of power. And those account books recorded all kinds of evidence of Eunuch Li's corruption and bribery over the years!
"These..." I looked up in surprise and looked at Uncle Zhang, "How did my father get these things?"
"Young Master, you don't need to ask too much. You just need to know that I love you sincerely." Uncle Zhang said, sighing, "I had no choice but to..."
"I see."
I interrupted him, feeling mixed emotions. It turned out that my father was not really heartless, he was just bound by the interests of the family and had to make that choice.
I took the evidence back to the room and told Bi Yuntao everything. He carefully looked through the letters and account books, his brows furrowed more and more.
"What a bold and arrogant Eunuch Li is!" He slammed the account book shut, a cold light flashing in his eyes, "These evidences are enough to bring him down!"
"But what should we do?" I asked, "Eunuch Li is in a high position and has great power. We can't defeat him at all."
"Don't worry, I have a way." A gleam of confidence flashed in Bi Yuntao's eyes, "I will make him pay for what he did!"
In the next few days, Bi Yuntao began to deploy his plan. He went out to gather information during the day, and came back at night to study the evidence with me to find a breakthrough. Although I couldn't help much, I did my best to do the logistics work, washing his clothes, cooking for him, and taking care of his daily life.
One night, Bi Yuntao came back with injuries on his body. I saw the wound on his arm and immediately became nervous. I quickly found some medicine and bandaged it for him.
"How did you get hurt?" I asked with concern while cleaning his wound.
"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious." He smiled and comforted me, "I ran into some trouble, but it's been resolved."
I didn't ask any more questions, but just bandaged his wound silently. I knew he didn't want me to worry, so he said it was okay. But seeing his tired expression, I felt even more distressed.
Perhaps because he was too tired, Bi Yuntao's wound became inflamed and he had a high fever. I took care of him all night without taking off my clothes, applying cold towels to him, feeding him water and medicine.
In a daze, he held my hand and said intermittently: "Zi'ang, don't leave me..."
My heart trembled, I held his hand tightly, and whispered: "I will never leave you, never..."
At that moment, I felt that the distance between us seemed to be closer... It was just dawn, and the fever of Biyuntao subsided. He opened his eyes and saw me sleeping beside his bed, his eyes full of tenderness. I was awakened by his slight movement, rubbed my sleepy eyes, and was relieved to see that he was fine.
"How do you feel? Are you feeling better?" I asked concernedly.
"Much better. Sorry to have worried you." He shook his head gently, his eyes full of apology.
"I'm glad you're okay. Have a good rest. I'll make you some porridge." I said, and got up to leave.
"Zi'ang," he held my hand, his tone hesitant, "My identity..."
I was stunned for a moment, looked up at him, and waited for his next words. However, at this moment, there was a sudden and urgent knock on the door, interrupting our conversation.
"Young Master, something bad has happened. The old master is here!" Uncle Zhang's voice came from outside the door, with a hint of panic.
I was startled and quickly got up to open the door. I saw Zhang Bo standing outside the door in a panic, and behind him stood my gloomy father and my usually arrogant brother Feng Dayu.
"Father, why are you here?" I asked calmly, but my heart was in turmoil.
My father didn't say anything, he just looked at me coldly and walked straight into the room. Feng Dayu behind him had a gloating expression on his face, looking back and forth between me and Bi Yuntao, with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"You rebellious son, why don't you tell me what's going on?" My father glared at me and slammed a letter on the table.
I picked up the letter, opened it, and turned pale. It was a letter of denunciation, which detailed all the crimes of Eunuch Li and pointed out by name that all the evidence was provided by me!
"Father, this..." I opened my mouth, but didn't know how to explain.
"What else do you have to say?!" The father was furious. "Do you know how much disaster you will bring to the family by doing this?!"
"Master, please calm down. Young Master was also confused for a moment..." Uncle Zhang stepped forward quickly to plead for me.
"Shut up!" The father shouted angrily, interrupting Zhang Bo's words, "I will handle this matter myself, you don't need to meddle in other people's business!"
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. "Father, didn't you ask Uncle Zhang to give me the evidence? Besides, I haven't even written the first report letter yet. This letter is fake. Someone is deliberately framing me!"
"Framed?" Feng Dayu suddenly sneered and walked forward, "I think you will not give up until you reach the Yellow River! Come on, capture this pretty boy next to you first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several servants rushed in from outside the door and surrounded the defenseless Bi Yuntao. I thought that what was waiting for me was my father's wrath, but he just sighed, and his tone was a bit tired and helpless. "Son, you are too impulsive. Eunuch Li has a lot of ties behind him. If you act rashly like this, you will only die in vain."
I was stunned for a moment. My father's reaction was beyond my expectation. He didn't blame me like before. Instead, there was a hint of worry in his tone. "Father, do you believe me?"
"You are my son, how could I not trust you." My father patted my hands, his eyes full of love, "But the affairs of the court are far more complicated than you think. You must never act so impulsively in the future."
My nose was sore and tears almost burst out. My father still cared about me after all. I secretly swore that I would never let him worry about me again.
At this moment, Bi Yuntao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. "Uncle, this is my fault. I have implicated Ziang."
The father turned to look at Bi Yuntao, with a look of scrutiny in his eyes. "Who are you?"
"I..." Bi Yuntao was about to speak, but suddenly stopped, as if hesitating about something.
"Uncle, he is..." I was about to explain for him, but he pulled me back.
"Uncle, to be honest, I am a spy sent by the court to investigate Eunuch Li." Bi Yuntao took a deep breath and finally revealed his true identity.
The room suddenly fell silent. I covered my mouth in surprise and looked at him in disbelief. It turned out that he had been deceiving me all along. He approached me just to use me?
My father's expression also turned serious. He looked Bi Yuntao up and down, as if trying to determine the truth in his words.
"The reason why I concealed my identity was to get closer to Eunuch Li and collect evidence of his crimes." Bi Yuntao took out a token from his pocket and handed it to his father. "This token can prove my identity."
My father took the token and examined it carefully for a moment, then his expression gradually softened. "So you are the Jinyiwei of the imperial court. I am so sorry for your disrespect."
I looked at Bi Yuntao in surprise. He was actually a member of the Imperial Guard? They were the emperor's personal guards, responsible for investigating and handling all kinds of confidential cases!
"Eunuch Li's case has been concluded, and it's time for me to return to the capital to report." Bi Yuntao took back the token, turned to look at me, his eyes filled with complex emotions, "Zi'ang, I'm sorry, I..."
I interrupted him before he finished speaking. "Go away and don't show up again." My voice was cold and emotionless.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He just looked at me deeply, turned around and left the room.
My heart felt like it was cut by a knife, the pain was unbearable. It turned out that all the kindness he had shown me during this period was fake, he had been deceiving me from the beginning to the end!
"Son, you are still young. Don't let your emotions blind you." My father's voice pulled me back from my sorrow. "The work of the Golden Guard is full of dangers. It is not suitable for you."
I know my father did it for my own good, but I just couldn't control my emotions. I don't know why I fell in love with him. Even though he was a liar, I couldn't let go easily.
Fate has so strangely intertwined the two of us!
Bi Yuntao's departure left a huge hole in my heart that I don't know how to fill.
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