Chapter 327 The dead are gone, but the living can still live on.
Slaughter the entire city of Songzhou!
The moment those words were uttered, it was like a thunderclap exploding above Fan Chengen's head. In an instant, he froze on the spot, his face turned deathly pale, and his body swayed.
After a long pause, he looked at Yuwen Ye with red eyes and gritted his teeth, saying, "Are you crazy?! The people here are innocent!"
Yuwen Ye said indifferently, without a trace of warmth, "My wife is innocent too."
"..."
"You want to exterminate her entire family, but they are all innocent."
At this point, his eyes flickered, and he chuckled softly, saying, "I believe you are also familiar with her relatives, Lord Fan. Shen Shiyan, the former Director of Ceremonies, was dismissed and exiled for advising His Majesty to stop the attack on Liaodong. I suppose he and you, Lord Fan, were quite colleagues."
"...!"
Fan Chengen's breathing became erratic.
How could he not know Shen Shiyan? Although he was first sent to Songzhou and the two of them served as ministers in the same court for a short time, he later heard that Shen Shiyan and Pei Xu had also offended the emperor by remonstrating against his will to stop him from conquering Liaodong, and were directly dismissed from their posts and exiled, in a miserable situation. He had felt very sad for them.
Shang Ruyi deserves to die for murdering the emperor, but if his entire family is to be implicated, Shen Shiyan and others will also be implicated. How innocent is he?
Thinking of this, even Fan Chengen's heart, which was as hard as iron, trembled.
At this moment, Yuwen Ye coldly said, "If you insist on harming my wife, then I, Yuwen Ye, will have no choice but to sacrifice the lives of all the innocent people in this city to pay for our deaths!"
"you--!"
Fan Chengen was so anxious that he panicked. He clenched his fists, took a few steps to the left and right, then turned back to look at Yuwen Ye and said urgently, "You can kill me, kill my whole family! But the people of this city have nothing to do with this!"
Yuwen Ye said expressionlessly, "It's no use saying anything, because the message has already been sent."
"..."
"Now the only one who can make a choice is you, Lord Fan, and you only have two choices—one is to insist on killing me and my wife, and then have the entire population of Songzhou City die with you."
"..."
"The second option is to let us leave, so that you and the people of this city can continue to live."
"..."
"You choose."
His words not only shocked Fan Chengen, but also frightened the soldiers around him.
The hands of those people holding swords and knives began to tremble.
It should be noted that these people were almost all locals of Songzhou. Not only were they born in the city, but their families and relatives were also here. In the chaos of the times, they had nowhere to go, and only under Fan Chengen's rule could they have a few days of peace. If the Duke of Sheng really wanted to massacre the city, their actions today would be nothing more than a knife raised to their own necks tomorrow.
Thinking about it this way, these people became frightened.
You see, they might not care much about what others said, but Yuwen Ye was Duke Sheng's most capable son. If he really died here, Yuwen Yuan would definitely not let it go. And now he—
Thinking of this, no one dared to think any further.
Several of those closest to Fan Chengen whispered, "My lord, please reconsider!"
"Yes, sir, the people in this city are all innocent."
“My lord, the matter of His Majesty’s assassination is all in the past, and besides, there are still some things to do now—” Before he could finish speaking, Fan Chengen glared at him with red eyes, and he swallowed the rest of his words in fright. He trembled for a moment before changing his words again: “My lord, we still want to live.”
"Yes, we want to survive..."
The faces of these people were filled with pleading and earnestness, and Fan Chengen felt his heart breaking at the sight.
Is it really necessary to sacrifice the lives of the people of this city to pave the way for avenging the emperor?
Throughout his life, he was an honest and upright official, loyal to the emperor and devoted to the country. After learning that the emperor had been assassinated, he was determined to avenge the emperor he served. However, he also loved the people like his own children. Compared to loyalty to the emperor, the lives of the people in this city were something he could not give up.
At this moment, he felt as if he were standing in the middle of a scale; whichever way he went, he would be wrong.
At this moment, even though he had swords in hand and troops by his side, Fan Chengen was covered in sweat, as if he had been forced into a desperate situation. Yuwen Ye, standing alone in the clinic, seemed like an unshakable mountain. No matter what he tried, he could not get past this man, nor could he avenge the emperor he served.
Fan Chengen gritted his teeth and said, "You, you kill innocent people like this, aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"
Yuwen Ye said, "I'm not afraid."
"you--"
If he had said a few more words, Fan Chengen might have been able to argue with him, but the word "not afraid" was simple and concise, yet it also perfectly demonstrated his ruthlessness and decisiveness.
At this moment, the most timid and cowardly soldier panicked and dropped his knife, kneeling down at Fan Chengen's feet, pleading, "Lord Fan, you mustn't abandon us! My whole family is innocent!"
When he knelt down, the people around him also put down their swords and knelt down.
For a time, cries of pleas could be heard incessantly.
Amidst the pleas of those kneeling on the ground, Fan Chengen stood motionless—but he wasn't truly still; he was simply standing there stiffly, unable to move. Yet, his hands, hanging at his sides, were clenched tightly, veins bulging on the backs of his hands, making him appear like a bowstring stretched to its limit, about to break.
At that moment, a deep voice sounded in my ear, saying calmly, "The dead are gone, but the living can still be brought back."
Upon hearing this, Fan Chengen trembled violently, as if a taut string had snapped at that moment. He slumped down, as if all his strength had been drained away. When he looked up at Yuwen Ye again, his face was pale and his eyes had become dull.
He said, "You can go now."
Yuwen Ye glanced at him.
Fan Chengen's face was ashen, radiating a sense of utter despair, as if his very soul had been ripped from his body. The armor he wore seemed to weigh him down even more. He lowered his head and said weakly, "Even if I had killed the regicide today, it would have been too late. I did this only to repay His Majesty's kindness one last time. I just never expected—"
He gave a self-deprecating laugh as he said this.
He laughed while shaking his head helplessly, and slowly turned and walked into the crowd. The other soldiers all breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had just escaped death. They slowly stood up, some wanting to say something to Fan Chengen, but not knowing how to begin.
Everyone could only watch him slowly leave.
But just then, Yuwen Ye suddenly said, "Lord Fan, I have something I'd like to ask you."
Fan Chengen paused, but did not turn around. He simply turned his back to him and said, "What else do you want to say?"
Yuwen Ye asked, "When did you receive the news that my wife had 'murdered the emperor'?"
The words "regicide" were like a knife, stabbing him in the heart from behind. Fan Chengen swayed, then raised his head, took a deep breath, and said, "Today."
"today?"
Yuwen Ye's eyes flickered for a moment, then he said, "Then I have something I want to tell Lord Fan."
Fan Chengen slowly turned around and looked at him without any emotion: "You speak."
Yuwen Ye said, "My wife is a woman. If she really had assassinated His Majesty, it would have been impossible for her to escape unscathed."
"..."
"His Majesty was assassinated. Why didn't Wang Shaoji and his Imperial Guards, who were His Majesty's personal guards, avenge His Majesty like you have? Moreover, the news of their announcement to the world has already reached here, yet they are still in Jiangdu. Why?"
"...!?"
Fan Chengen was startled and stared at him with wide eyes.
You mean—
“I didn’t say anything,”
Yuwen Ye said calmly, "The world is in chaos, and all sorts of people are mixed up. Lord Fan's people-oriented approach is a blessing to the people of this city. However, you also need to be able to distinguish right from wrong and choose wisely, so that you can protect yourself and the people of this city in this chaotic world."
"..."
That's all I have to say.
After saying that, he politely bowed to Fan Chengen again.
Seeing Yuwen Ye's composed demeanor, Fan Chengen seemed somewhat dazed. He remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "General..."
Yuwen Ye looked up at him.
Originally, Fan Chengen was about to say something, but after calling out the title "General," he paused, as if the title in the play was somewhat amusing. He smiled faintly and changed his address to "Second Young Master."
"..."
Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, as if he had sensed something.
But he only asked, "What advice does Lord Fan have?"
Fan Chengen looked at him for a while before slowly saying, "Second Young Master is indeed a dragon among men. I, Fan Chengen, admire you."
"..."
“I can withdraw my troops immediately. I also ask that you, Second Young Master, retract your message and refrain from inciting your father to massacre the people of Songzhou City, after all, he is currently—”
At this point, he paused,
Yuwen Ye asked, "What?"
Fan Chengen hesitated for a moment, then suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh, shook his head, and said, "It's nothing."
As if she didn't care about anything anymore, she turned around and waved her hand dismissively at him, saying, "You can leave. I... I won't do anything to you again."
His dejected figure slowly disappeared into the crowd.
The other soldiers didn't linger any longer. They picked up the swords and knives they had just thrown aside and silently turned to leave.
Yuwen Ye stood there, frowning as he watched the departing figures of these people, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.
seem……
However, he quickly dismissed his thoughts.
Moreover, when faced with something that one cannot be certain of, the best course of action is not to speculate, but to immediately seek the truth. This is the most direct and effective solution.
So he turned and walked into the inner room, and as soon as he reached out and lifted the curtain, he was stunned.
Shang Ruyi stood at the doorway of the inner room, looking up at him.
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