Chapter 396: The Ten Crows' Calamity (Part Six) [Requesting Leave]
The boy certainly didn't understand.
Even someone like him knew about Yan An's deeds—for the sake of that shallow brotherhood from back then, he defied the heavens and devoted himself wholeheartedly to Zheng Qiao…
To the boy, he was just a pushover.
He pondered for a moment, then pouted and complained, "But what did that person do that made the king so displeased?"
Even if he secretly favored Yan An, he couldn't say it aloud, because he knew very well what Zheng Qiao valued in him—
Aside from that similar face, he always went along with Zheng Qiao, regardless of right or wrong, good or evil, and only said what the other person wanted to hear.
Zheng Qiao said, "His very existence displeases me."
"Then—let's kill him." The boy's heart skipped a beat, but a haughty and obsequious smile appeared on his lips.
Zheng Qiao rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought for a moment.
He neither agreed nor disagreed with the boy's suggestion.
He simply raised his hand, and the boy understood immediately.
He lay obediently on his lap, his eyes slightly closed, seemingly lost in thought—rumored to be Zheng Qiao's beloved male concubine, but in reality, Zheng Qiao had never overstepped her bounds. Rather than treating him as a male concubine and indulging him, was it more accurate to say she treated him as a son, a substitute for Zheng Qiao's past?
She was pampered and cherished.
This discovery greatly surprised the boy.
He was originally the son of a butcher in a remote county in Ganzhou. He learned the trade from his deceased father when he was very young, working as a butcher and running a meat shop. By chance, he was discovered by a trusted general of Zheng Qiao and sent to Zheng Qiao as a novelty.
From that moment on, my life was turned upside down.
In order to live comfortably under this tyrant, he racked his brains to study the ways of the world, and only now has he begun to understand a little bit of the tricks of the trade. For example, outsiders all thought he was a male concubine, but he couldn't put himself in that position.
Did Zheng Qiao hate the word "male concubine" the most?
He sees himself as a "filial son".
He's still a "filial son" who's blindly devoted to his parents!
Even if—
He's actually not much younger than Zheng Qiao; it's just that his family was poor and he didn't eat well, so he didn't grow tall and looks younger.
After a long while, Zheng Qiao sighed softly from above: "This senior brother of mine cannot be killed easily."
juvenile:"……"
What a contradiction!
He couldn't understand Zheng Qiao's thoughts.
I simply ignored it.
The young man dozed off for about fifteen minutes, only rubbing his sleepy eyes when someone approached. He gave a somewhat clumsy bow and withdrew. Stepping out of the palace gates, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although he could obtain wealth and honor without hard work, sharing a room with an unpredictable tyrant was still very stressful.
He jogged with his head down, and unsurprisingly bumped into someone.
"Hey—why aren't you watching where you're going?"
The boy felt as if he had bumped into a skinny skeleton; his head throbbed with pain. He took two steps back before looking up, ready to unleash his anger.
I wonder who the tyrant is in charge of this territory?
The remaining anger vanished abruptly upon contact with that face; he straightened his sleeves and bowed.
The visitor was none other than Yan An.
The boy had seen it once from afar.
Two winters ago, a blizzard lasted for half a month, causing countless homes to collapse and many people to freeze or starve to death. It is said that this person argued vehemently and used precious grain to provide relief to the victims, and recruited homeless people to repair their houses.
The boy was lucky enough to survive.
It is said that this kind-hearted man is the last vestige of conscience in the country and deserves to be treated with respect.
"Be more careful next time." Yan An was about to ask the clumsy palace servant, but when he saw the boy's attire and face clearly, he was momentarily stunned. He softened his tone, "Did you bump into anything?"
The boy quickly shook his head: "No, no."
He made up an excuse and hurriedly ran away, as if he were being chased by a demon or a ferocious beast. At the same time, he had to try his best to suppress the urge to tell Yan An that Zheng Qiao had murderous intentions towards him, and he kept telling himself—doing this was also to save his own life, and he shouldn't meddle in things that weren't his business.
Yan An stared at his retreating figure for a long time.
Until they disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
He had also heard the news that his junior brother was keeping a "male lover".
She also knew that this "male concubine" looked very much like Zheng Qiao when he was young.
But I never expected them to be so similar.
Yan An withdrew his gaze and looked in the opposite direction.
His gaze was now completely devoid of its previous gentleness, instead revealing a fleeting chill. In recent months, palace security had become much tighter; would his junior brother be afraid?
He chuckled inwardly twice.
Upon seeing Zheng Qiao, the latter immediately asked, "Have you seen anyone?"
Yan An: "You mean that young man?"
Zheng Qiao said, "Outsiders all say he looks like me."
Yan An, quite frankly, said, "It doesn't seem like it."
Zheng Qiao grew up in the royal court of Xin Kingdom. Scheming and scheming were instincts ingrained in his bones, and it was also instinctive to use obedience and restraint to conceal his ambition. Even in his most innocent years, he could not do anything as reckless and arrogant as a teenager.
Zheng Qiao carefully examined this senior brother.
In just over two years, the other party had aged more than twenty years, his temples were almost completely white, and he looked more and more like Yan An's father and Zheng Qiao's mentor. He was visibly old and frail, as if he wouldn't live much longer. Therefore, Zheng Qiao wanted to know even more—how long could the other party endure before drawing his blade!
When will we aim this sharp blade at his throat?
Yes, Yan An wants to kill Zheng Qiao.
Zheng Qiao already knew this.
Should Yan An descend the mountain to assist him?
This was absolutely the biggest joke he had ever heard!
Zheng Qiao sighed, "Indeed, they are similar in form but not in spirit."
Yan An's eyes darted around slightly, his disdainful look clearly saying—it's a good thing that she looks so much like Zheng Qiao?
Zheng Qiao alone has incurred the wrath of both heaven and man.
If an ordinary tyrant had done these things, he would have been overthrown long ago, his body disemboweled and burned alive. Zheng Qiao has been courting death peacefully for years and is still alive, so he must have some skill. If there were two of them, how could they possibly live like this?
Zheng Qiao noticed his gaze and immediately felt bored.
"Does Senior Brother know that Shen Youli has gone to Longwu County?"
He changed the subject.
Yan An said, "I know."
Zheng Qiao chuckled: "This Shen Youli is no simple woman. Her temperament and manner remind me of my senior brother. If you two get to know each other, you will surely become close friends. It's just that Longwu County is remote and troublesome, and Shen Tang doesn't have enough manpower around her. It's a pity about this person... I wonder how much longer she can survive?"
Yan An: "...It's no pity."
Does Shen Tang need anyone around him...?
He understood it better than Zheng Qiao.
Knowing that there is someone who understands you brings a sense of spiritual fulfillment and satisfaction. Even if you were to die the next moment, it would be a "happy funeral" that you should only celebrate with a toast. Zheng Qiao would never understand.
Zheng Qiao asked, "Senior brother, you're not willing?"
When I came to my senses, I heard these words.
Zheng Qiao wanted to give him a higher official position.
Yan An coughed twice and said weakly, "I am grateful for the king's trust, but I have been bedridden recently and am no longer able to share your burdens. I have come here to resign and return to my hometown to recuperate..."
Zheng Qiao was surprised. Countless possibilities flashed through his mind, but none of them were about resigning from his post in peace: "My senior brother is in the prime of his life. It's just a minor illness. He can recover after a while. Why should he resign and return home? Without my senior brother, who in the entire court will share my burden?"
This time, Yan An's attitude was resolute.
Zheng Qiao was worried that there was a trap, so she still refused and finally told him to go home and recuperate before coming back.
He was worried that Yan An would leave right under his nose.
Just as Yan An understood himself, he also understood Yan An—his senior brother had indeed come out of seclusion to try to bring him back to the right path, but after Yan An refused to cooperate and even took Yan An's family hostage, Yan An was disheartened and developed murderous intent.
only--
How to kill?
When to kill?
There's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
If we're talking about being a ruler, Zheng Qiao is certainly not up to par. But if we're just talking about his identity as the "owner of the national seal," no one can handle it better than him. This is a major reason why Zheng Qiao has been courting disaster for so many years, yet his head is still firmly connected to his body.
Zheng Qiao is confident about this.
When Yan An realized that his resignation was impossible, he stopped insisting on it.
He did indeed want to resign from his official post and return to his hometown with his wife and daughter to pay respects to his parents and spend his final days in peace. However, Zheng Qiao refused to let him go, so he had no choice but to give up. Upon returning home, his wife looked worried, and Yan An asked in a low voice what had happened.
Wife: "It was all that junior brother's doing."
Yan An: "What did he do now?"
His wife leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words.
Yan An's expression darkened.
Since he began planning and scheming, he had devised numerous ways to clean up the mess. Everyone else was easy to deal with, but Zheng Qiao kept a close eye on his wife and daughter. Several of his backup plans were inexplicably sabotaged or encountered unexpected events, as if someone was silently warning him.
Even more embarrassingly, in order to preserve as many promising talents as possible, Yan An used every means to send them away...
By not keeping trusted confidants, Yan An found himself in a predicament when he needed to settle his family members, with no one available to serve him.
His wife was talking about this very thing.
Upon hearing this, Yan An chuckled repeatedly.
His junior brother is talented but doesn't use his abilities properly...
The wife was still furious: "I'd rather fight him to the death."
"I have someone else in mind."
"Do you still have people you can use?"
“Yes, the person I met today… might be able to help.” The thing that the boy was least like Zheng Qiao was that he still had a “conscience.” “A naturally suspicious person will doubt everything in the world, but he will never doubt himself.”
This is also a risky move.
I don't want to use Yan'an unless absolutely necessary.
The wife barely suppressed her sorrow and sighed, "Actually, it doesn't matter if we don't have each other. There's nothing to be afraid of if we die together. Even if we die, we'll still curse Zheng Qiao."
Her only worry was her daughter.
But if we can't save them, it's better for the whole family to go together.
She doesn't want to come back to this wretched world in her next life.
From that day on, Yan'an finally had a rare moment of leisure.
Cherish every day of your life, for each day is one less you have left.
But it was clear to anyone with eyes that his body was rapidly weakening, as if something was greedily sucking away at his life force, and its appetite was growing larger and larger as time went on.
Yan An, however, did not care at all.
at the same time--
Villages on the border of Longwu County.
Half an hour ago.
A band of a hundred bandits appeared and surrounded the village. Before the villagers at the village entrance could even utter a sound in warning, they were beheaded with a single blow. Their bodies were then trampled underfoot by the horses' hooves, turning into a pile of minced meat. The houses at the village entrance were burned to ashes.
Blood was spilled, and corpses littered the field.
In one of the houses, a bandit grabbed a woman struggling violently from the stove, grabbed her hair, and dragged her out of the house.
Outside the house, bandits snatched the swaddled baby from the woman's arms and slammed it against the wall. The baby's cries, the woman's pleas for mercy and screams, and the dull thud of the heavy object hitting the wall created the most cruel "music" in the world.
Before long, other bandits emerged from other houses, each carrying their spoils.
Gold and silver, grain, or women...
_(:з」∠)_
I didn't expect it to be free for a limited time, hehe, and the thread is full.
I'll schedule the extra chapters three days after the free trial ends and starts again. I'll start accumulating chapters in the next two days.
(End of this chapter)
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