Chapter 1519 (1518): The Grand Finale (Twenty-One) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
The deep mountains are quiet and secluded, with the mist lingering.
The moss on the bluestone casts a blurry black shadow under the night fog.
The stone steps meander, with pavilions and towers faintly visible among them.
Zhai Le was stopped by guards as soon as he reached the foot of the mountain. The two guards looked troubled and were about to speak when Zhai Le pushed them away with a palm strike. He lifted his robes and knelt heavily on the stone slab with a thud, his voice carrying an unusual choked sob and pleading tone.
"Father—"
"Mother!"
"You should go see your son."
With just two sentences, tears began to stream down my face uncontrollably.
Just then, a light drizzle began to fall, making him appear even more disheveled and helpless. The two guards on the mountain exchanged glances, not daring to let Zhai Le kneel there any longer, and hurriedly turned back to report up the mountain. The other guard stepped forward and advised, "My lord, look at the time; the master and mistress have already retired for the night. Would you like to come back tomorrow?"
Since he was transferred here to protect the noble people who live in seclusion in the mountains, he has run into Zhai Le and been turned away at the door more than twice.
Rumors circulated widely that Zhai Le's rise to power was illegitimate.
If the First Emperor truly passed the throne to Zhai Le, why did Zhai Le's uncle and parents refuse to see him? This suggests that there were other hidden circumstances surrounding the palace coup that year.
The guard was initially feeling uneasy.
But one day, they witnessed their master and mistress standing halfway up the mountain watching the king leave in despair and disappointment. The two elders secretly wiped away their tears and sighed, their resolve wavering. Furthermore, he was just an insignificant nobody; whether Zhai Le's ascension to the throne was legitimate or not was none of his concern.
Zhai Le pursed her lips, stubbornly refusing to get up.
The guard realized that today was different from the past.
What big thing has happened outside?
A short while later, the guard who had gone to inform them returned, and the answer was as expected: the two elders still refused to see Zhai Le, and also told him that the mountain road was difficult to travel at night and that he should be careful on his way back. Zhai Le bit his lip until it bled: "Tell the two elders that if they don't see him today, they should just pretend... just pretend they never had a son named Zhai Xiaofang."
As soon as he finished speaking, something flew out of the forest and hit the stone slab where he was kneeling.
"Zhai Xiaofang, what nonsense are you spouting?"
The shout came from behind a tree not far away.
Following him out was a middle-aged man with graying temples, a long beard, and dressed in a scholar's robe; it was his father, whom he hadn't seen for many years.
Zhai Le's father never imagined that his son would be so disheveled and disappointed.
His anger subsided slightly: "Keep up."
Zhai Le followed closely up the mountain, and by the moonlight, he noticed a worried look on his father's face. His father's clothes didn't seem to have been put on after he was woken up; it looked like he hadn't taken them off at all. His father was very health-conscious and rarely stayed up late, as he remembered. His father also noticed the occasional glances Zhai Le gave him and sighed, "The weather has been bad lately, and your mother is seriously ill. It's very worrying."
At this critical juncture, Zhai Le even came over and used a loudspeaker to call for help.
I woke her up with my own noise.
Perhaps it was the bond between mother and son, but she insisted that Zhai Le must have been wronged and something had happened, and that he needed to come down and see what was going on to put her mind at ease. As soon as he arrived, he heard Zhai Le's words, which made his vision go black, and in a moment of loss of control, he chose to shout at him.
Is Zhai Xiaofang trying to tear out the hearts of those two old men?
Zhai Le's mind went blank for a moment, and he almost went on strike.
"Is Mother ill?"
"Perhaps it's because I'm getting old."
Zhai Le's heart skipped a beat.
His mother was an ordinary person, born frail, and giving birth to him early had damaged her health. Separated from her son for years, she harbored deep resentment, and her health naturally deteriorated. At the age of fifty, which might be considered a long life for an ordinary person, it felt far too short for Zhai Le. If anything were to happen to his mother… He shivered in the night wind, unable to bear the thought any longer.
The father and son tacitly avoided mentioning the purpose of Zhai Le's trip.
Zhai Le's mother, wearing a cloak, stood lost in thought under the eaves.
When two figures appeared in the darkness, her eyes flashed with astonishment, surprise, and excitement. She seemed unable to believe that Zhai Le could climb the mountain, and she almost staggered as she ran towards him, calling out, "My son—"
"Mother."
“My son must have been wronged.”
Zhai Le bit her lower lip, filled with regret.
"Mother, it is your unfilial son's fault..."
I regret that I missed so much time.
His parents refused to see him because they felt guilty towards his uncle. Their son, Zhai Le, had shown no respect to his cousins, treating them merely as tools for procreation and subjecting them to countless humiliations. Anyone with a temper would have preferred suicide to such disgrace. His parents couldn't persuade their son to let his unfortunate political enemies go, nor could they persuade him to give them a quick death.
The only thing they could do was avoid seeing Zhai Le.
Sigh, I don't know how the next generation got to this point.
They were twin brothers in the previous generation, so close they were practically one person, but they were caught in a dilemma due to the struggle between their respective offspring.
Just as the family of three was about to break down in tears, Zhai Le sensed his uncle's presence outside the courtyard. The two looked at each other across the gate. After a while, he strode forward, lifted his robe, and knelt down, as if to beg for forgiveness. This action startled the three elders present, and an ominous thought simultaneously arose in their minds—had Xiao Fang finally given up on his cousins and killed them?
Uncle Zhai Le swayed slightly, but he was still able to hold on.
"It's all about timing and fate; you—don't need to do this."
He knew perfectly well what kind of people his sons were.
Their deaths are not Zhai Le's fault. Allowing them to leave behind a single bloodline is enough; we cannot ask for more.
"The legacy left by my elder brother..."
Zhai Le lowered his head in distress, clenching his fists and tears welling in his eyes.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint my elder brother..."
The two sentences were beyond everyone's expectations.
"Not your cousins?"
Zhai Le: "What does this have to do with them?"
Was the matter of those good-for-nothings really worth him rushing over to see his elders overnight? Zhai Le quickly realized what they were misunderstanding and explained it clearly in a few words. What remained was the part he found most difficult to say: "It's not that I'm afraid of death, but..."
But he was truly driven to a dead end.
His uncle asked him, "If we were to fight, are you absolutely certain of victory?"
Zhai Le's lips were deathly pale: "Nephew... is incompetent..."
He thought of Lin Feng's saying, "Scattering beans to create soldiers."
With Kang State holding the reins of supplies, who in the world wouldn't fight for Kang State? Even the people of Qu State might defect. Zhai Le truly didn't know where his chances of victory lay. He asked himself honestly, and he was unwilling to accept defeat, nor would he surrender. But if war were to break out, could he truly disregard innocent civilians, sacrifice his own family, and make them the offerings for this battle? If he were the kind of ruthless hero whose only ambition lay in his ambition, then of course he could.
Go all out, and if you lose, face death with equanimity.
However, Zhai Le was not a ruthless leader.
His weaknesses and vulnerabilities have always been very obvious.
However, the thought of handing over his brother's hard work so readily filled him with anguish, as if he had been torn in two.
Zhai Le knelt on his uncle's lap, blaming himself repeatedly.
His uncle stroked his hair: "Your brother has been gone for many years. The person he worried about most before he died was you, and he only hoped that you would live a long and healthy life. Between Qu Kingdom and you, you are more important. Xiaofang, this Qu Kingdom is Yuewen's life's work, but it is even more so yours. Did Yuewen entrust the Qu Kingdom to you really do it for the sake of the Qu Kingdom? It was purely because if the Qu Kingdom were in your hands, you and those cousins could live. No matter how much you torment them, you would never kill them all at once, and you have tolerated their lives all these years. But if the Qu Kingdom falls into the hands of one of them, given their narrow-mindedness, you will have no way to survive."
For Zhai Huan, Qu Guo was important, but not that important.
Zhai Le has no need to blame himself for failing to defend the Qu Kingdom.
At this point, his uncle broke out in a cold sweat.
He knew that Zhai Le had come here tonight because he was still undecided. If Zhai Le was forced to accept the challenge, it would be fine if he won, but if he lost, there would be no way to save him, and his whole family would be on their way to the underworld.
If Yuewen could see this, she would be heartbroken.
How will he explain this to his twin brother?
"Things have come to this, Xiaofang, listen to your own heart." He had never approved of Zhai Huan establishing a country back then. What good is a royal family in a chaotic world? That little bit of power causes brothers to fight each other and the family to fall apart.
Zhai Le should make decisions for himself, not for Zhai Huan.
Zhai Le closed his eyes and sobbed silently, "Yes."
Why should a living person be trapped by a dead one?
This night was destined to be anything but peaceful.
Zhai Le wasn't the only one who stayed up all night; Lin Feng did too.
Luo Sha dealt with several groups of "uninvited guests" in succession.
He returned covered in blood, and when he looked up, he saw Lin Feng pull out a dagger, his fingers fiddling with the blade.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Luo Sha's shout also drew Lin Feng's attention.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "There are also night visitors?"
This time, Luo Sha didn't cripple the man or throw him away. Instead, he stood in front of Lin Feng to prevent any unforeseen events. Unexpectedly, the person in the darkness said, "This general is protecting the wrong person, isn't he? You shouldn't be on guard against me now, but rather on guarding against your colleagues behind you harming themselves."
Lin Feng chuckled: "Prime Minister Yu's words make no sense."
Yu Hai stepped out from the shadows: "How can it not make sense?"
Why would I harm myself for no reason?
"Naturally, it was to frame someone and pin the blame on them."
"Whom are you framing? Whom are you trying to pin the blame on?"
Yu Hai said, "They're framing my master."
If Lin Feng were to commit self-harm or fake his death on Qu Kingdom's territory, Zhai Le would have no choice but to accept the challenge. Yu Hai wasn't initially worried about this, but the more he thought about it after returning, the more uneasy he felt. Upon arriving, he discovered that Lin Feng indeed harbored ill intentions, even malicious intent.
Lin Feng: "What am I after?"
Yu Hai pretended to casually probe.
"Shen Jun, are you alright these days?"
Lin Feng was shocked, but his face remained expressionless.
Yu Hai: "Even if Lord Shen were to die young, and all the elders were to do their utmost to assist the young ruler, they probably still wouldn't be able to suppress the restless demons and monsters. Lady Lin, do you really think that it's right for Kang to complete the unification? With a weak ruler and strong ministers, how long can this balance last?"
Yu Hai thought to himself.
This is probably the main reason why Lin Feng wanted to force Zhai Le to his death.
Neither country currently possesses its national seal. Kang Kingdom lacks Shen Youli, having only a young ruler and a disunited court. Qu Kingdom's greatest advantage lies in Zhai Le's prime of life and its long-standing presence in the southeastern continent. If the two countries were to truly clash, Qu Kingdom might not necessarily lose.
"His Majesty is in his prime, in excellent health. If you don't believe me, you can go and see for yourself to verify the truth." Lin Feng put away the dagger, secretly regretting his decision to assassinate Zhai Le. "Qu Kingdom is not weak, but it is still far from being able to unify the world."
The only country capable of unifying the world is Kang.
Yu Hai, however, did not believe it.
His eyes darted around, and he came up with a plan.
(へ╬)
I don't know why, but one or two bugs that look like bedbugs keep popping up in my study every now and then _(:з」∠)_ The windows are always closed, and the seventh floor isn't low, so where do these bugs come from?
(End of this chapter)
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