Chapter 135
The jailer was overjoyed at the prospect of easy money, so he readily accepted the gold ingots and opened the cell door.
Qi Tingyun then realized that the person who came was Xi'er, the palace maid who had always been by her side.
Xi'er was her personal maid whom she brought from Qi Valley. She had been with her since childhood and was the only person she trusted here.
Seeing Xi'er enter, her eyes lit up. "Brother Wang, is there any news from over there?"
Xi'er nodded. "Your Highness plans to attack Nandu under the pretext of punishing the tyrannical emperor."
Hearing this, she couldn't help but get angry. "How could he be so reckless? Didn't we agree to let the Third Prince ascend the throne? We could have just sidelined him then. Why waste manpower and resources?"
Xi'er's expression was complicated. "Perhaps His Highness simply doesn't want to compromise anymore."
"You should have rescued me first!" Qi Tingyun said, her expression one of utter disappointment. "What do we do now?"
"His Highness says he needs your help with something. He needs a legitimate excuse, otherwise, if he attacks rashly, he fears that history will record him as a traitor."
Hearing this, she was even more speechless. "I'm locked up right now, how can I help him?"
“It’s precisely because Your Highness is imprisoned that you can help, isn’t it?” Xi’er’s eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of murderous intent, as she pulled the hairpin from her hair.
Qi Tingyun instantly sensed danger, touched the edge of the cell door, and was ready to escape at any moment. "What are you going to do?"
Xi'er saw through her plan at a glance, pulled her back, and without any hesitation, plunged the hairpin into her heart. She whispered in her ear, "Your Majesty, Qi Gu has given you honor, and now it is time for you to repay him."
The dark gold robe was stained with blood, but the bright red color was no longer visible; it was only damp.
The exhausted woman opened her mouth, "You..."
She had so much to say and so many questions to ask, but she didn't know what to say and eventually lost all her strength.
Her brother had promised her a lifetime of wealth and honor, and she had regarded her maid as her best sister.
She never imagined that one day she would be killed by the two people closest to her.
Before her consciousness faded, she stared at the dimly lit cell door and reached out her hand, but no one came to take her.
Xi'er grasped her hand, but instead of using it, she used it to pull out a hairpin from her hair and replace it with her own.
Throughout her proud life, she refused to bow to anyone, believing she could control everything, yet it seemed no one saw through her, leaving her to die in such a filthy place.
She stopped struggling, whether she gave up or simply lacked the strength, she closed her eyes and waited for her consciousness to completely fade away.
Xi'er calmly disheveled her clothes and hair, feigning pain, and cried out, "Her Majesty has committed suicide!"
Suddenly, a shrill female voice echoed throughout the cell.
Qi Tingyun also heard the fake crying, and wanted to show her usual cold smile, but she could no longer move her lips.
Brother Wang, everything has gone as you wished...
When the Southern Emperor rushed over, all he saw was Xi'er crying uncontrollably and a corpse lying on the ground, its blood already dried.
He was stunned for only a moment before he realized what was happening.
The King of Qi set him up again!
He has become a complete tyrant whom everyone can condemn.
Enraged, the Southern Emperor grabbed Xi'er by the collar, "You really are good at scheming!"
A sinister smile appeared on Xi'er's tear-streaked face. "Your Majesty, soon everyone will know what you have done!"
As he spoke, he picked up his hairpin and plunged it into his neck. Blood splattered out, splashing onto his face and freezing his anger.
It's over, everything is over.
Everything he had painstakingly built was utterly shattered by the King of Qi.
——
Snow was falling heavily, the sky was cloudless, yet it was gloomy and dark.
A snowflake drifted down from the sky, landing precariously on the tip of the silver spear, where it was split in two.
It was only when it fell to the ground that it realized the ground was even darker than the sky.
The dark military flags stood in formation, and the soldiers in the first row, carrying shields half their height, marched forward with great spirit.
Behind them were cavalrymen armed with bows and arrows, each horse strong and powerful, each man menacing, staring intently at the city gate ahead.
Above the city gate, the general looked up and saw the iron cavalry sweeping forward in a sandstorm. The column stretched as far as the eye could see.
"Thump, thump, thump."
The sound of war drums was like the heartbeat of a ferocious beast, shaking the ground.
The archer standing beside him had his palms sweating profusely; he wanted to escape but couldn't.
"Release the arrows!"
At Feng Jiang's command, the arrow in his hand flew from the bow, and even he himself did not know where it would be shot.
A volley of arrows was fired, and a few people in the ranks seemed to fall, but it was far from enough.
No one in the face of the iron-blooded army retreated; on the contrary, they advanced even faster, as if they had wheels under their feet, and soon they arrived at the city gate.
The soldier's hands were blistered and bleeding from constantly shooting arrows, but he dared not stop.
With a "whoosh".
That was the sound of a giant log striking the city gate, which also meant that this place was about to fall.
He thought of his parents, and of the girl next door, Aunt Li. He wanted to go home, but all he could do was shoot arrows downwards with trembling hands.
Feng ordered him to go down and join the others in holding the city gate. He was already in a daze, unaware of what he was doing, and simply obeyed orders, running to the city gate to join the others in blocking the gate with a huge log.
The sound grew louder, more terrifying than war drums, each blast seeming to strike his heart, making him tremble.
"one two three……"
"one two three……"
"Bang!"
Their attempts to stop him were futile; the giant tree nearly crushed him. He hurriedly ran away, hiding in a corner, and shakily raised his eyes to see a black horse, clad in armor.
The man's armor and gun were stained with blood, making him look like a demon from hell.
He had seen the man before, back when the man attended the Lantern Festival banquet, and he helped him take the long sword he was carrying.
It's the King of Qin!
The Qin army has already reached Jinwu City!
No, that's not all!
He looked back and saw another military flag next to the Qin army's flag, which read "Qi".
He heard a general dressed in Qi military style next to Zhou Yanqing shout: "Punish the tyrannical emperor!"
Behind them, a chorus of voices echoed: "Down with the tyrant! Down with the tyrant!"
The sound was deafening, and before he could react, a large number of people swarmed in.
All he could see were figures flashing by and shouts of "Punish the tyrannical ruler!"
The city gates had been breached, and the Qi and Qin armies quickly arrived at the palace gates.
Although the guards at the gate were all elite, they were helpless in the face of the huge crowd.
Before long, the palace gates were breached.
Yu Siguan stumbled and scrambled into the main hall, shouting, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! They...they've arrived!"
Upon hearing his words, the Southern Emperor was not overly shocked; his eyes had already lost their luster. He simply stood up, walked to the statue of Emperor Gu outside the hall, and lit an incense stick.
Yu Siguan was shocked by his composure. "Your Majesty, stop bowing and run!"
He seemed to snap out of a daze when he heard that, "Right... run!"
He picked up the longsword beside him in a daze and stumbled toward the secret passage behind the main hall.
"As long as I live, I will remain the Southern Emperor!"
Yu Siguan, accompanied by a team of officials, escorted him toward the secret passage.
Bypassing the palace road and garden, a secret passage disguised as an artificial hill is just a stone's throw away.
However, a sickly-looking body carrying a long sword blocked the entrance to the secret passage.
"Father..."
Upon seeing Zhou Junsong, the Southern Emperor's eyes flashed with surprise. "Junsong, quickly, escort Father out."
Zhou Junsong mocked his naiveté, "Does Father think... you can still escape now?"
"You... what are you going to do?" Only then did the Southern Emperor notice the long sword in his hand, and he panicked. "This is rebellion! I am your father!"
"Father, you only remember you're my father now? What were you thinking when you sent people to kill me? Haven't I already obeyed you?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sinister and terrifying quality.
The Southern Emperor's voice trembled slightly, "Jun Song, aren't you alright? Here's what we'll do: escort me out, and I will definitely make you the Crown Prince! From now on, the position of Southern Emperor will be yours! Killing me won't do you any good! They won't let you off the hook either!"
"Is that so?" An old and hoarse voice came from behind the secret passage.
A figure emerged from the darkness, and the Southern Emperor gradually came into view of his outline, "Qi Rongyu..."
He nearly collapsed to the ground, but then braced himself, saying, "You're leading troops in rebellion; aren't you afraid of being condemned by future generations?"
Qi Rongyu responded as if he had heard a hilarious joke, "Your Majesty, it is clearly you who are utterly incompetent, framing a loyal minister and murdering your wife. I am merely doing this to rid the people of a scourge!"
"You...you all..." The Southern Emperor was furious. He turned to look at Yu Siguan and the others, "What are you all standing there for? Attack!"
The officer behind him trembled with fear, but upon hearing his order, he still drew his sword and charged, but...
Since Qi Rongyu had come, how could he have come alone? A large number of soldiers poured out of the secret passage behind him in an instant. In just a few moments, the area in front of the artificial hill was flooded, leaving only a disoriented Southern Emperor slumped on the ground.
"Guards, escort His Majesty to the Heavenly Prison." Qi Rongyu waved his hand, and two men immediately grabbed the Southern Emperor and threw him into the Heavenly Prison.
With Zhou Yanqing leading troops to attack from the front and Qi Rongyu capturing the Southern Emperor through a secret passage from the rear, the entire Southern Emperor's Palace quickly fell.
Qi Rongyu, Zhou Yanqing, and Zhou Junsong stood before the enormous statue of Emperor Gu.
The dim sky, with sunlight filtering through, shone on the Emperor's statue, making it appear golden.
Qi Rongyu looked on, greed gleaming in his eyes, but said aloud, "No wonder he's a tyrant..."
Zhou Yanqing caught a glimpse of his expression out of the corner of her eye and felt nothing but irony.
He secretly moved closer to Zhou Junsong and whispered, "Yun'er is fine."
Zhou Junsong was visibly taken aback for a moment, then nodded slightly, "Thank you."
Qi Rongyu took a stick of incense from the side, kowtowed three times and offered incense, as if he had already won.
"Please, gentlemen."
The three of them went to the main hall and sat down, waiting for the soldiers outside to clean up the mess.
He asked in a pretentious manner, "According to past practice, we should send a letter to Sak and Lanyu to re-select the Southern Emperor. What do you two think?"
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