Chapter 360 He Finally Waited
It's getting late.
Even the longest day will come to an end.
The sun and the moon are immortal, and the end of each day is fixed.
Unfortunately, life is full of unexpected changes and sufferings, and people often don’t know when or where their end will come.
The moment He Tingfang saw Pei Lingyun, he knew in his heart that he had reached the end of his life.
He is always prepared for what he does.
Many of the situations he calmly dealt with had actually been rehearsed many times in his mind.
While he was waiting alone in the house, he thought of many excuses and many ways to persuade Murong Di.
He anticipated every reaction of Murong Di and how he should respond.
But he never thought that the master behind the army was not Murong Di, but——
Pei Lingyun.
Pei Lingyun, who he thought had been dead for more than ten years.
"You're not dead—"
He Tingfang squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.
But after he finished speaking, he suddenly laughed:
"Hao Ren? What a Hao Ren! Hahahaha..."
He knew that if Pei Dingli were still alive, the person standing in front of him today would definitely not be Pei Lingyun, and would definitely not be Hao Ren who changed his name and kowtowed in front of Murong Yu.
Since Pei Lingyun was standing in front of him, Pei Dingli was really dead.
He Tingfang was smiling.
Hao Ren was also laughing.
Hao Ren's smile was cold, so cold that it seemed as if countless icy spikes were lying across his chest.
The scene of my family being torn apart and my family dying many years ago flashed before my eyes, and even breathing felt painful.
"He Tingfang, you assisted the tiger and harmed my Pei family back then. Have you ever thought about what will happen today?"
Have you ever thought that there will be a day when your family will be broken up and you will have no control over your life and death?
"Thinking about today?"
He Tingfang was still smiling, but what he saw in his eyes was different from Hao Ren's.
"If I could have foreseen that the talented Pei would become what he is today, I might have eaten a bowl of rice last night."
He knew that he couldn't get out today no matter what.
There was no sadness, no pleading.
He Tingfang looked at Hao Ren's face. Although his facial features had not changed, his appearance was much more mature than many years ago.
He has a handsome appearance and is not very similar to Pei Dingli.
But He Tingfang still saw some of Pei Dingli's shadow in this face.
"I'd like to see what your father would think if he saw you like this."
He Tingfang had been in a state of exhaustion for a long time. He looked haggard, his face and body were very thin, and his entire face was sunken.
But at this moment, his eyes were shining brightly, and his tone became excited:
“Your father, Pei Dingli, always had a condescending look and spoke of benevolence, righteousness, and morality.
He looked down on my methods and said I was ungentlemanly, but he didn't understand the frustration of climbing up from the bottom!
He Tingfang's eyes passed through Pei Lingyun, as if he was looking at Pei Dingli from many years ago:
"Pei Dingli, you were born into a life of luxury, never experiencing the suffering of ordinary people. You only talk about the ways of a gentleman. I want to see you fall from the sky into the mire, to see how you climb back up, to see how you betray the great benevolence and righteousness you speak of."
"But you're dead, hahahahahaha... You don't even have a chance to climb back up. But look at your son... Your son climbed up step by step, just as humble, just as unscrupulous, and just as ruthless as I was back then!"
He Tingfang laughed crazily, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"You lose..."
"Pei Dingli, you lost in the end, and I won, hahahaha..."
Squeak——
He was halfway laughing when a dagger suddenly pierced his shoulder.
He Tingfang was very old and thin, so the tip of the knife could penetrate his body without much effort.
Hao Ren held the dagger in his slender hand and turned it forcefully inward.
The sound of the blade scraping against flesh and bone was chilling.
"Ah--" He Tingfang screamed, took two steps back, and slid down the wall.
Hao Ren's hand tightly twisted the hilt of the dagger, his eyes filled with frost:
"Since you know I'm ruthless, why don't you guess how many blows you can withstand?"
Hao Ren pulled out the dagger, and blood splattered on his sleeves, covering his body in blood.
Beneath the cold voice, a tide surged:
"My father came from a distinguished family and was taught by great scholars from a young age. He studied not only the classics, history, and literature, but also the ways to be a king like Yao and Shun, the strategies to save the world and bring peace to the people, and the methods to advise wise rulers."
"Although my father was not from a poor family, he was sympathetic to the suffering of the people and always lived a gentlemanly life, benefiting the people."
"He assisted the emperor for several years, redressed dozens of injustices, helped poor students, and eradicated cheating in the imperial examinations!"
As soon as Hao Ren pulled out the dagger in his hand, he stabbed it into He Tingfang's other shoulder.
There was another sound of flesh being cut.
"If my father hadn't advocated for fairness in the imperial examinations and broken the monopoly of the aristocratic families, do you think you would have had a chance to become the top scholar and enter the court with your background?"
"If it weren't for the gentlemanly principles my father upheld, if it weren't for someone like my father who, selflessly paved the way for impoverished students in the court, could you have defeated the obstruction of a century-old aristocratic family with your meager skills? And could you have risen from the mire?!"
Hao Ren's hands were covered in blood, which was dripping down.
The knife in his hand cut through He Tingfang's limbs along with his words:
"No...no..." He Tingfang's eyes suddenly widened and he gasped rapidly.
That's not the case.
He climbed up by himself, how could it be because of Pei Dingli... No...
Pei Dingli was just born into a good family, Pei Dingli was not as good as him...
Squeak——
Hao Ren pulled out the dagger, thrust it three inches down, and stabbed it into He Tingfang's right chest again.
"He Tingfang, how dare you insult my father? How dare you, an ungrateful person like you, criticize the integrity of a gentleman!"
“It’s absolutely ridiculous!”
When Hao Ren spoke the last part, his voice was stern and his hand holding the dagger was shaking.
Tears filled my eyes and my heart was filled with sadness and hatred.
Hao Ren knew that his father never regretted it until his death.
Even if he had the chance to do it all over again, my father would still insist on fairness in the imperial examinations, paving the way for poor students all over the world, and allowing people like He Tingfang, who came from humble backgrounds but were talented, to enter the court.
He said that the court should appoint people based on their merits, regardless of their family background.
He truly worked for the country and the people, and sought world peace.
"Ah——" He Tingfang had a knife stuck in his right chest, and his whole body was twitching and convulsing.
"No... not... him..."
The light in his eyes had disappeared, they were bloodshot and cloudy.
The corners of his eyes were so red that they seemed to be bleeding.
Blood gushed from the corner of his mouth and his words were slurred.
He fell to the cold ground, his body covered in blood, his face as pale as an old beggar.
Hao Ren looked down at He Tingfang, who was about to die. He did not draw his knife again, but stepped on He Tingfang's abdomen with his foot:
"My father died unjustly. There is no wise ruler in the court. The Murong clan is immoral. And with treacherous ministers like you, Dayu deserves death."
"I want to see you die without a burial place, and I want Dayu to change the dynasty to comfort the spirits of my ancestors in heaven."
The soles of Hao Ren's shoes were covered in blood.
He Tingfang moved his hand with difficulty and grabbed Hao Ren's shoe:
"Hey... Yan Qing... is he... in your hands...? He... he has nothing... He always... remembers you..."
Hao Ren had no expression on his face and only said:
"There is no more He San in the world."
He Tingfang's hand suddenly loosened, his pupils dilated, and only a faint breath remained.
A few snowflakes drifted in through the crack in the door.
Hao Ren retracted his foot and looked at He Tingfang's painful expression, watching his last bit of life slip away bit by bit.
"You are such a wicked person, you deserve to die, but you died earlier than I expected."
"You could have tried to get Jiang Gan and Jia Kun to lead their troops to rescue you, and escape during the chaos. But I heard that you joined forces with Murong Qi and used your limited manpower to kill Helian Shuchi and his son.
Murong Qi may have some skills, but he has no military power. You won't be able to accomplish anything by cooperating with him. You should understand this."
Hao Ren's voice returned to calm. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off his fingers one by one.
The movements are still so gentle and graceful.
"Why did you insist on killing Helian Shuchi? You should have anticipated that she would kill Murong Ming. You wouldn't change your plans just for a useless grandson."
"You act very carefully, but this time you were impulsive. This surprised me."
He Tingfang curled up on the ground, his hands and feet were stiff, and even his lips could hardly move:
“…She…was wrong…”
The voice was very low and small, as if he was talking to himself.
Hao Ren didn't understand.
Something is wrong.
He Tingfang opened and closed his lips, but he couldn't utter a word.
The snowflakes that drifted in through the crack in the door fell into his eyes.
Everything in front of him seemed to be covered by heavy snow.
Hao Ren was right, he was impulsive this time.
He would not change his entire plan for Murong Ming, and Murong Ming's death did not surprise him.
There was only one thing that Helian Shuchi did wrong.
She shouldn't have killed Ming'er on a snowy day.
His body should not have been left in the snow.
She did something wrong, she deserves to die...
The door opened and more snow poured in.
The dense snow covered the area, so heavy that it made it hard to breathe.
He Tingfang seemed to be curled up in the darkness, unable to see anything.
As he had seen in countless dreams, he returned to that winter night long ago.
I don’t know how much time passed during the night.
A flash of light appeared before his eyes.
The sky in the east was turning pale.
Someone pushed him and woke him up.
He hugged his almost frozen body and saw himself sitting at the back door of the banker's house.
The door opened.
This time, my parents came out from the door.
His parents held his sister's hands, and his sister smiled at him.
In the morning light, my parents' faces were rosy and without a trace of scar.
Mother took his hand and said to him, "Dog, let's go home."
The dog stood up blankly and said, "Okay."
He smiled.
He finally waited for it.
The family of four walked back.
It was cold and the snow was thick.
Four sets of footprints stretched very long in the snow, with no end in sight.
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