Chapter 56: A Battleground (A fight has broken out.)...
Xiao Che walked in step by step, his murderous aura growing stronger.
From the moment he entered the room, Yan Jiarou's gaze remained fixed on him. Every step he took felt like it was stepping on her heart. Her face turned pale, her lips trembled slightly, and she felt even breathing became difficult.
When Xiao Che finally stood by the bed, she tilted her head slightly, tentatively grasped the corner of his robe, and, still clinging to a sliver of hope, asked him, "Xiao...Xiao Che, when...did you arrive?"
Xiao Che glanced at her coldly, a mocking smile on his lips: "You've arrived at just the right time, just in time to hear your speech, my sister. Crossing the river and then discarding the bridge, using and then throwing away, my sister is truly decisive."
Yan Jiarou's face paled even more, a hint of panic and helplessness flashing in her eyes: "Xiao Wenqi, I..."
She wanted to explain, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't utter a single word.
Xiao Jue was still there; what could she say?
She simply held onto Xiao Che's clothes tightly, refusing to let go.
Xiao Che shifted his gaze expressionlessly, turned to look at Xiao Jue, and scoffed, "It seems improper for the Crown Prince to sit on his own sister's couch."
Xiao Jue stared intently at him from the moment he entered the room.
He hadn't failed to notice that ever since Xiao Che entered, Yan Jiarou's gaze had never left him. Xiao Che's attitude towards her was cold, and she looked like she was about to cry.
Even now that Xiao Che wasn't looking at her anymore, she couldn't bear to let go of a corner of his robe and still looked up at him pitifully.
And what about him? After Xiao Che came in, did she even notice him? Did she even glance at him once?
Thinking of this, Xiao Jue felt his anger intensify.
He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his fists, and finally stood up from the couch. However, his gaze toward Xiao Che was filled with resentment and venom. When he spoke, he retorted mercilessly: "Speaking of following the rules, Third Brother left the banquet halfway through yesterday's birthday party and lured my younger sister to the artificial hill to engage in lewd behavior. He kissed her so intimately and acted so frivolously. What kind of rules are those?"
"What's wrong with kissing her?" Xiao Che casually curled the corner of his lips and scoffed, "I'll sleep with her later."
"you!"
Xiao Jue's expression changed drastically. He grabbed his collar, pressed himself against him, and glared at him with a distorted expression.
Xiao Che raised an eyebrow, casually loosening the collar that he had been holding tightly: "What, does the Crown Prince want to fight?"
He scoffed, lazily lifted his eyelids, leaned closer to him, and said in a mocking tone, "Do you still think your position as crown prince is too secure?"
Xiao Jue's expression changed drastically.
He was never favored by the emperor, but now Emperor Yuan of Wei is infatuated with Xiao Yan. Not only is his achievement being widely publicized, but this morning, upon hearing that he had suffered a leg ailment, the emperor specially granted him the privilege of riding in a sedan chair to court from now on. This is an unprecedented favor.
Not only that, he also issued an edict that he would live in Zhaoying Hall from now on.
What is Zhaoying Hall?
Zhaoying Hall is right next to the East Palace and closest to Emperor Yuan of Wei, making it convenient for him to summon him at any time. To put it bluntly, Emperor Yuan of Wei is addicted to elixirs and his health is deteriorating day by day. Whoever lives in Zhaoying Hall will have more opportunities to attend to him when he is ill.
Even when Emperor Wei Yuan was on his deathbed, it was more likely that the prince who was more attentive to his illness would be by his side.
Putting aside everything else, what the late emperor said before his death, and whether he left any edicts, all depend on the words of the person who stayed behind to attend to him.
Everyone knew that after Jiang Chenyu's death, Emperor Wei Yuan would not live much longer.
He was already obsessed with elixirs, and after the death of the imperial concubine, he continued to consume large amounts of elixirs in order to meet her in his dreams, completely disregarding his own health.
If things continue like this, dying from elixirs is only a matter of time.
Since learning about his origins, Xiao Che has both loved and hated Emperor Wei Yuan. Even so, he once advised him not to take a large amount of pills in a short period of time, lest it cause irreversible consequences.
At that time, Emperor Yuan of Wei was leaning on his couch. Upon hearing this, he opened his eyes and said, "Che'er, I know what I'm doing."
Later, he indeed toned it down considerably.
But everyone knew that his body was already weakened, and some things were bound to happen sooner or later.
Under such circumstances, allowing Xiao Yan to reside in Zhaoying Palace was undeniably a delicate matter.
Not to mention that not long ago, he also agreed to let Xiao Yan establish the Xiuwen Hall. With this title, Xiao Yan could recruit famous scholars from all over the country to serve him.
All signs indicate that Emperor Yuan of Wei's intention to change the heir apparent is now quite obvious.
Xiao Jue had obviously thought of this as well, and his expression was already quite unpleasant.
Do you still think your position as crown prince is too secure?
The implication was clear: his position as crown prince was already precarious. If a conflict were to break out here, word would spread that the two princes were fighting over their younger sister. Xiao Che had nothing to fear; in everyone's eyes, he had never been qualified to seize the throne from the very beginning.
But Xiao Jue is different.
The Crown Prince's lack of virtue is no small matter.
If the Censorate seizes the opportunity to make a big fuss about it, and then, with Emperor Yuan of Wei's approval, the entire court agrees, escalating the matter to a whole new level, it's not impossible for him to be deposed.
Xiao Jue thought bitterly, Xiao Che must be hoping for this. Although he has fallen from power, Xiao Che can't compete for the throne, but Xiao Yan can. His own brother, Xiao Yan, has always been self-degrading, willing to associate with the bastard from Lanling. He ruthlessly killed his own brother, but he was extremely affectionate towards that lowly bastard from Lanling.
Ah, he has always favored his third brother the most. Now that he has ascended the throne, Xiao Che will naturally follow suit. At that time, it will only be a matter of a word from Xiao Yan for him to want Yan Jiarou.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jue felt extreme hatred and resentment in his heart, but he tried his best to suppress it on the surface. He slowly released him and said with a forced smile, "Third brother, no matter what, I am the current crown prince, and if nothing unexpected happens, I will be the future emperor..."
"Is your arrogance due to your certainty that Xiao Yan will replace me in the future? If not, and I become the emperor, aren't you afraid of being purged later?"
"Whether or not there's a reckoning," Xiao Che smiled casually, his tone lazy, "it all depends on whether Second Brother can actually sit in that position."
"you!"
Xiao Jue's eyes were bloodshot, and he could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. He was about to throw a punch at the man's face when he caught a glimpse of the smile on the man's lips.
His usual nonchalance now carried a hint of mockery and provocation.
Xiao Jue was taken aback, and his mind, which had been clouded by anger, gradually regained some rationality.
Xiao Che was clearly provoking him on purpose.
He wanted him to make the first move so that he could retaliate without restraint.
Even if the matter were taken to Emperor Yuan of Wei, he would be in the more wrong.
If the Crown Prince were to strike a prince first, it would be a clear breach of morality.
With Yan Jiarou, since he was the one who made the first move, Xiao Che was able to pretend to be innocent and make her feel sorry for him.
Unfortunately, he won't let him have his way.
Thinking of this, he slowly lowered his fist, looked at him, and suddenly smiled mysteriously. He stepped forward, leaned close to his ear, and called out to him in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Xiao Che."
He said slowly, "You—bastard."
After he finished speaking, he noticed that Xiao Che's body stiffened, and he couldn't help but feel a twisted pleasure. He continued, "Jia Rou only sees you as a medicine. Medicine is only used to cure diseases, and the dregs should be thrown away completely, leaving nothing behind—that's all the value you have."
"Even if I am occasionally infatuated with you, it is only because of your face, not because I truly like you. You know, those women who admire you are only blinded by your appearance. In fact, they despise you deep down. No one will truly like a lowly bastard."
"You should be glad you were born into the royal family of the Wei Dynasty and that you are a man. Otherwise, you would be a whore ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand. Oh, but men aren't much better off. I forgot that at the beginning of the Wei Dynasty, a large number of people from Lanling were captured. The fate of the women is self-evident. As for the men, weren't it fashionable for noble ladies in the capital to keep men from Lanling as male concubines?"
"A grown man, yet he's allowed to be pleasured and played with by women in bed. Hahaha, he's worse than a prostitute."
"Speaking of which, our late aunt once kept two male concubines from Lanling. In fact, those two men from Lanling were related to you. Tsk tsk, how despicable."
"Xiao Che, this is your background, your bloodline. Your Lanling clan, regardless of gender, is a lineage of scourges to the country and the people, inherently lewd, only capable of using your appearance to seduce and tempt people. You are the most despicable of all. You are like that, and so is your mother! You, a Lanling bastard, dare to be with me, a woman?"
"Xiao Che, remember this: you are a bastard. In this lifetime, no woman will ever truly love you."
"Your bloodline dictates that you are utterly unworthy of true love, you lowly bastard!"
After he finished speaking, he took half a step back to observe Xiao Che's reaction.
His usual nonchalant expression, as if he didn't care about anything around him, finally cracked at this moment.
His originally light brown eyes gradually developed dark lines, like bewitching patterns blooming deep within his pupils—a sign of intense emotional turmoil in Lanling.
He looked at him, slowly clenched his fist, and with each breath, a surge of malevolent energy erupted from him.
Xiao Jue curled his lips into a smile, looking quite interested.
He knew he had touched a nerve.
The nightmares he experienced in his childhood will eventually become a cage that shackles him for the rest of his life.
He knew all too well what Xiao Che had gone through as a child. Because he had half Lanling blood, he was regarded as a jinx and an omen of disaster for the country, and he suffered a lot of cold looks and bullying.
In those shady corners, even surrounded and shoved by eunuchs and maids, they vented the anger they suffered at the hands of the nobles in the palace on him.
He must have been seven or eight years old then.
They were powerless to retaliate.
They were forced to endure the malicious insults.
Although Xiao Jue could no longer remember exactly what they had said, he knew from thinking about it that the two words that appeared most frequently were nothing more than those two.
Despicable.
Hybrid.
He knew that these two words would become a shadow that Xiao Che would never be able to escape for the rest of his life.
Everything one experiences in childhood often sets the tone for one's future life; those two words, that dark and hopeless period, are hard to erase from memory.
It's like a brand etched deep into the soul.
Although Consort Gui's favor only increased as Xiao Che grew older, and Xiao Che himself became increasingly favored, the mother and son's positions in the palace became more and more stable. From the age of fourteen, Xiao Che began to show the characteristics of a Lanling person: excellent skills, superb riding and archery, a taller stature than the Wei people, and a handsome appearance that left others in the dust.
No one dared to treat him like he did when he was a child, and he was no longer the child who could only be bullied.
The shameful mark left from his childhood can never be erased; it is his inner demon.
The reason he liked Yan Jiarou was probably largely because she was his only salvation during that dark period of his life.
Lowly, bastard.
These two words brought him countless nightmares when he was young. He was ignorant and didn't understand what he had done wrong or why they treated him like this. He subconsciously thought it was because of these two words: despicable and bastard. But... what did they mean? Why did they say that to him?
At the time, fourteen-year-old Xiao Jue smiled and explained to him: It's because your bloodline is impure, half of it is Lanling blood. Lanling people are the most despicable, so you are also generally despicable, a despicable bastard.
He remembered that his face was pale and he could barely stand. It was as if countless taunts and insults filled the surroundings again. Those vile words and vicious curses assaulted his eardrums again and again. He looked pained, covered his ears, and staggered back to the palace, hiding in the cabinet and trembling.
Jiang Chenyu was almost driven mad by her search for him. She searched the entire palace for three days and three nights before finally finding the nearly lifeless Xiao Che in a cabinet.
Later, as he grew up and became more sensible, he realized that he didn't need to pay attention to the slander of those ignorant people, and gradually became indifferent.
But those childhood memories, those two words, remain a haunting nightmare in his life.
It also etched his inferiority complex and aversion to his bloodline into his very bones.
His current nonchalant and carefree demeanor is simply something he has sealed away deep in his memory, something he deliberately avoids thinking about.
But some people insist on bringing up the past, tearing up that cruel and hopeless memory in a bloody and gruesome way.
Those two words.
In his entire life, he hated these two words the most.
He knew that those were all slanders from the Wei people, how foolish and ridiculous they were, and he shouldn't take them to heart. But as a child, he was far less insightful and open-minded than he is now. He only knew that others disliked him so much because of his lowly bloodline, which made him feel inferior and disgusted to the core.
He hated himself, loathed himself for being like this, but he hated even more when someone mentioned those two words in front of him; they were his Achilles' heel.
So when Xiao Jue uttered the word "bastard" for the third time, he finally got his wish and clenched his fist, smashing it hard into his face.
Thus, for the first time in his life, Xiao Jue felt the suppression of bloodline.
The lowly bloodline he despised the most, besides having extraordinary skills, also possessed overwhelming strength.
He felt a sharp pain on his face, his head spun, and the next moment, he collapsed heavily onto the bed.
When I touched the corner of my lips, I saw blood.
Xiao Che, however, was blinded by rage and clearly had no intention of stopping there.
Just as he bent down to lift him off the bed and punch him a few more times, Yan Jiarou suddenly opened her arms and blocked his way: "Xiao Che, calm down!"
She glanced back at Xiao Jue, whose face was bruised and swollen, her small face filled with heartache. When she turned back to Xiao Che, her tone inevitably carried a hint of reproach: "Xiao Che, are you crazy? He is the Crown Prince, your elder brother. How dare you disrespect him and beat him like this!"
"You knew perfectly well that your elder brother, the Crown Prince, was always weak and far less skilled than you, yet you still struck him so hard, showing no regard for brotherly affection whatsoever. How could you have become like this!"
"Never mind, Jiarou," Xiao Jue sat up in bed, stroking his swollen wound, and said softly, "Third Brother only acted impulsively because he saw you with me..."
"But you can't hit me like that... I... I can explain..."
She held Xiao Jue tightly behind her, tilted her head back, closed her eyes with trembling hands, and said with a look of resignation: "If you want to hit him, kill me first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding sounds seemed to vanish instantly, and for a moment you could hear a pin drop in the room.
The lines deep in Xiao Che's pupils gradually faded.
He trembled his eyelashes very slowly.
A fragile emptiness gradually appeared in his eyes.
He looked at Yan Jiarou, who was watching him warily, protecting another man behind her, and was even willing to risk her own life to protect him. He smiled silently.
For a moment, he suddenly felt that it was all utterly meaningless.
Why bother?
He always knew that Yan Jiarou liked Xiao Jue.
He never bothered to force anything.
She suddenly contracted some strange illness, and he recklessly provoked her, leading him to become increasingly addicted.
She said she liked him, but when she turned around to defend another man, she could so easily say the word "use".
These two simple words completely erased everything they had done during this period.
So what is he?
Is it a medicine for her when she has an attack, or a pastime for her when she's bored?
He was nothing at all from beginning to end.
He scoffed coldly, his light-colored pupils regaining their former indifference, and his gaze towards her was devoid of any emotion.
He glanced at her one last time, then turned and left.
She was so indifferent, as if... she were just an insignificant person.
That one glance sent a chill down Yan Jiarou's spine.
She seemed to suddenly turn pale, her bare feet barely touching the ground, and she got up and chased after him without a second thought.
"Xiao Che... don't go... wait for me..."
She lifted the hem of her nightgown and ran all the way, finally catching up with Xiao Che at the entrance of the outer hall.
She grabbed Xiao Che's sleeve from behind, panting heavily, her chest heaving, yet she still managed to speak, calling his name again and again: "Xiao... Xiao Wenqi..."
Xiao Che finally stopped and turned to look at her, his gaze as cold as ice. He didn't say anything, just stared at her coldly.
With just one glance, Yan Jiarou's eyes instantly reddened, and she said tremblingly, "Are you... are you still angry with me?"
What do you think?
"Please...please don't be angry anymore."
Xiao Che looked at her, expressionless, and pulled back the sleeve that she was tightly holding.
Yan Jiarou's lips trembled, and she finally couldn't hold back anymore, tears streaming down her face: "What do I have to do... for you... for you to forgive me?"
Xiao Che lowered his eyelids indifferently, leaned close to her ear, and said only one word: "Get lost."
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