Chapter 57 Duke Li is Dead
He suddenly waved the bronze bell in his hand, and the Tantric disciples around the altar rushed forward like madmen. Their pupils were all red, clearly controlled by the soul-capturing bell.
"Watch out!" Pei Zhi pulled her away from one of the attackers, but was still slashed on the arm by another. Ye Wanning looked at the mindless disciples and felt a pang of sadness—they might have been forced into this situation, becoming pawns of Duke Li.
"Pei Zhi, lead them to the bushes on the east side!" Ye Wanning shouted.
Pei Zhi immediately understood her meaning and retreated eastward, brandishing his sword. Ye Wanning quickly plucked a Dragon's Roar Grass from beside her, chewed it up, and sprinkled it on the Tantric disciples. Upon smelling the Dragon's Roar Grass, the disciples indeed screamed and clutched their heads, their movements becoming much slower.
"Damn it!" Duke Li cursed angrily, brandishing his sword and charging forward. His martial arts were far superior to those disciples', each strike deadly. Even Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi, working together, could only barely parry.
As the fight progressed, Ye Wanning suddenly noticed that the black pillar in the center of the altar had the same pattern as the tiger tally.
“Pei Zhi, hit that pillar!” she shouted.
Pei Zhi immediately understood and swung his sword. The pillar clanged with a metallic sound. Duke Li's expression changed instantly: "Stop!" He tried to stop him, but Ye Wanning held him back.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Pei Zhi swung his sword again, striking the pillar. This time, a crack appeared in the pillar, from which flowed a foul-smelling black liquid. The possessed Tantric disciples, upon smelling the stench, suddenly regained their senses, looking around blankly: "How did I get here?"
"It's Duke Li! He's the one who's taken control of us!" someone recognized Duke Li and shouted angrily.
Seeing this, Duke Li knew the situation was hopeless. Suddenly, he pulled a torch from his robes, about to throw it at the cultivation technique: "What I can't have, you can't have either!"
"Don't even think about it!" Ye Wanning pounced over and snatched the cultivation manual.
Enraged, Duke Li slashed at her back with his sword.
"Wan Ning!" Pei Zhi shouted and rushed over to block her.
The blade struck Pei Zhi heavily in the back, instantly staining his black clothes crimson with blood. Yet, as if unharmed, he swung his sword back and plunged it into the heart of Duke Li.
Duke Li stared in disbelief at the sword before him, then collapsed and closed his eyes. He must have died in agony.
Ye Wanning held Pei Zhi beside her, tears streaming down her face: "Pei Zhi! Pei Zhi, wake up!"
Pei Zhi smiled weakly, "Give...give this cultivation technique to...my mother..."
"I know, I know!" Ye Wanning cried, "Hang in there, we'll get out of here soon!"
She carried Pei Zhi on her back and slowly walked down the altar. No one stopped them. Perhaps the people of the Tantric sect should have realized by now that, after experiencing this disaster, it was time to wake up.
Stepping out of the altar, Ye Wanning saw that it was already dawn, and sunlight filtered through the branches of the crabapple tree, warmly bathing her. Looking at the unconscious Pei Zhi in her arms, she silently vowed to save him.
Unbeknownst to her, shortly after she left, the black pillar in the center of the altar suddenly cracked open, and a small wooden box fell out, with the character "Li" carved on it.
When Ye Wanning carried Pei Zhi back to Ci'an Hall, the old manager was startled. He quickly had Pei Zhi placed in the cleanest room and found the best doctor in the city.
"Luckily, he was brought in early; any later and he wouldn't have survived." The doctor finished bandaging Pei Zhi's wound and wiped away his sweat. "But the knife wound is too deep; he'll probably need a month or two to get out of bed."
Ye Wanning still had things on her mind and stayed by Pei Zhi's bedside all night without sleeping. The next morning, Pei Zhi woke up and, seeing the dark circles under her eyes, asked with concern, "Silly girl, aren't you going to sleep?"
"I'm not sleepy." Ye Wanning smiled and handed him a glass of water. "How are you?"
"Much better." Pei Zhi drank some water and continued, "With Duke Li dead, the matter of the Secret Sect should be settled."
"Yes." Ye Wanning nodded. "Those Tantric disciples who have awakened all said they are willing to hand over all their branch sects and never participate in any Jianghu affairs again."
She paused, then added, "Oh, by the way, I found a wooden box on the altar. See what's inside."
Ye Wanning took out a palm-sized wooden box from her bosom. The character "Li" was engraved on it, just like the mark in the Duke of Li's mansion.
Pei Zhi took the wooden box and examined it carefully: "This is the Li family's private seal box, used to store important letters."
He tried to open it, but found the box was locked, and the keyhole was shaped like a plum blossom, which was very unique.
"This lock..."
Ye Wanning suddenly remembered something and pulled a plum blossom hairpin from her hair: "Try this."
This hairpin was left to her by her mother, who said it was a token of the Li family, given to her by Empress Dowager Li when her maternal grandmother got married. Ye Wanning had never paid much attention to it, but she never expected it to come in handy. Sure enough, the plum blossom hairpin fit perfectly into the keyhole.
With a "click," the box opened. Inside were several letters and a yellowed piece of paper that looked like a contract of servitude.
Ye Wanning picked up the indenture, and the name on it made her freeze—it read "Su Wanqing," and the buyer was "Duke Li."
"No...it's impossible!" Ye Wanning's voice trembled. "How could my mother be a slave of the Li family?!"
Pei Zhi picked up the letters, his expression turning grave. The letters were all written by Duke Li to Empress Dowager Li, stating that Su Wanqing was actually Empress Dowager Li's illegitimate daughter, sent to be raised in the Su family to avoid discovery. Later, Su Wanqing discovered the conspiracy between the Li family and the Secret Sect, leading Empress Dowager Li to order Duke Li to kill her.
"So that's why..." Ye Wanning's tears fell. "No wonder Mother always said her background was tragic, no wonder Empress Dowager Li always targeted me..."
She suddenly understood that her mother's death was not only because the secret was discovered, but also because of her background—Empress Dowager Li was afraid that she would be recognized as a member of the family and steal her limelight.
"Don't be sad." Pei Zhi took her hand. "Your mother is a good person. She has protected you in her own way for so many years."
Ye Wanning nodded, wiping away her tears: "I won't let her die in vain. These letters are the evidence to completely bring down Empress Dowager Li."
Just then, Chuntao rushed in, panting, "Miss, someone from the palace has arrived. They say Empress Dowager Li is ill and wants you to go see her."
Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi exchanged a glance, both seeing wariness in each other's eyes. Empress Dowager Li hadn't fallen ill earlier or later, but now of all times; she certainly didn't have good intentions.
"I'll go." Ye Wanning stood up and carefully put away the contents of the wooden box. "Perfect timing, I should go see her too."
The air inside the Cining Palace was oppressively heavy. As Ye Wanning entered the palace, she was greeted by a strong smell of medicine, mixed with a faint scent of sandalwood, which was quite unpleasant to smell.
Empress Dowager Li lay on the bed, her face deathly pale, as if she were very ill. When she saw Ye Wanning, she tried with difficulty to sit up, but the palace maid beside her held her down.
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