Looking at the Sword by Lamplight (Twenty-three)
The good-for-nothing who was forced to stay by Wen Chaohua was so frightened by the sky-falling situation that he peed his pants, but he still managed to straighten his back with a straight expression - his eyes were rolling around, and it was obvious that he was thinking about how to surrender to the enemy on the battlefield.
The sky was brilliant but gradually darkened.
In the final sunset of her life, Wen Chaohua thought she saw hope. She saw the signal arrow she had agreed upon with the King of Jingxi released into the sky—as expected, the prince had already fled to the ferry. She turned her eyes, nearly blinded by the sunset glow, toward the enemy who had crept over the city wall, her gaze filled with resentment and anger.
Because of her enemies and a trick she had used, the sky had been filled with signal smoke from morning till now, keeping her on edge, alternately despairing and delighted. She wanted to let these enemies and the treacherous people around her experience the "luck" of being suddenly dragged into a vortex just before victory was in sight.
Wen Chaohua was the first to release the letter, detonating the explosives hidden outside Chunxiangzhou.
The King of Jingxi had escaped to safety, and she could use this little trick, better than nothing, to buy him some time. But the entire Zuodan Eighteen Continents was silent. Behind the dense green mountains, the boats of the old people from Minghunzhou, coming to collect debts, lined up in front of the ferry. Unaware, Wen Chaohua only understood that the King of Jingxi's escape was still slower than the enemy's disruption.
She looked around and didn't see her nagging brother or her ex-husband who had died a miserable death.
So she sneered cruelly, and her long hair, which had been loose for two days, was blown all over the place by the wind, making her look like a crazy woman.
As the Western Border Army pressed on step by step, she retreated towards the palace with the remaining soldiers in the city.
The enemy did not see any swords or blood, but the remaining soldiers were retreating in smaller and smaller numbers, throwing away their weapons and armor.
Wen Chaohua retreated to the gate of the palace. Regardless of whether there were supporters in front of her or those who were still hesitating to defect, she made a gesture to the female official beside her.
The female official retreated in tears.
A quarter of an hour later, Chunxiangzhou's busiest street in front of the palace was bombed to the ground. The soldiers who hadn't left the long road before them passed away in a daze. The Western Frontier Army refused to advance further after the devastation and flames. Then, atop the palace walls, Wen Jiyun and Fang Duan, long absent, reappeared.
It was a very sharp howl, meant to attract everyone's attention.
Wen Jiyun grabbed a handful of files from the Eighteen Continents of Zuo Dan, and pulled out the escaped King Jingxi, wanting to negotiate terms with the court, repeatedly saying that he would atone for his sins with his own body; Fang Duan held his father's head, and beside him was his brother, who had become a puddle of mud.
The Western Border Army remained silent, as if moved by their sincere words of regret.
Song Jingyan, who had just arrived at Chunxiangzhou, was standing at the back, unmoved. Everyone around could hear her calm voice: "Hengbo, shoot him down."
Hengbo subconsciously drew the bow and hesitated between Wen Jiyun and Fang Duan.
Song Jingyan stretched out her slender hand, gently pushed her bent elbow, and instructed him word by word: "Shoot him down, aim at the neck." She knew that the other party had no bargaining chips in his hand. It didn't matter whether the King of Jingxi was dead or alive, and it didn't matter whether there was anyone to help the court deal with the people's livelihood and government affairs of the Eighteen Continents more quickly.
This is the last land that will return to Dayu.
It seems that only by capturing a rebel without bloodshed or sending him to the guillotine in broad daylight can one be more dramatically portrayed in history books and be remembered forever.
But compared to a successful outcome, no one would care whether any of the rebels in the city, even the King of Jingxi himself, were beheaded after tonight. So, were the two men on the city wall bluffing? Were there traps within the palace, or were they eager to rekindle some hidden past?
Song Jingyan didn't know, but the choice was in her hands.
Hengbo was in a dilemma, but he slowly pulled the bow into a full moon and flew away.
On top of the high wall, Fang Duan was holding the insane Fang Changjun and was collapsing.
Wen Jiyun read a paragraph as if going through the motions, then leaned against the wall to admire the impotent rage of his fellow wanderers.
He knew this day would come ever since his father died.
His father was devoted to his country and his reign. Even when Emperor Lingdi's regime was in jeopardy, with rebels even attacking the Taiji Hall, his father risked his life to save the tyrant. Emperor Lingdi, mercifully forgetting that Prime Minister Wen had challenged him and displeased him, rewarded him with a slew of seemingly useless burial objects. Wen Jiyun's several memorials, written in accordance with his father's wishes, to reduce taxes and promote talented individuals, were all rejected with the simple question, "How high is your official rank?"
Wen Jiyun glanced lightly towards the high wall, but could not see his sister who had gone insane.
With the pressure of the Celestial Empire bearing down on him, Wen Jiyun suddenly thought, hadn't he actually gone mad decades ago? Decades ago, at his father's funeral, before he could marry his fiancée, he had rarely revealed the warmth he usually couldn't grasp. He hugged his father before his coffin and said he planned to sever ties with the Prince of Liang's mansion, giving up the mansion he'd borrowed money from the prince to buy. She would do his father's unfinished business, and provide the people with hopes they couldn't see.
She only asked Wen Jiyun for one thing, that he should not be impulsive. From now on, she would shoulder all the burdens together, and asked him not to just focus on the hatred in his heart and mess things up.
Perhaps he said this because he saw his own stubborn temper, just like his father.
This is really a great sacrifice.
But Wen Jiyun didn't listen.
He threw his father's true wishes to the back of his mind, and fed himself with the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, as well as the relationship between Heaven, Earth, the Sovereign and his subjects. He then pretended to be quiet for two years. When the Crown Prince went on a secret visit to quell public grievances, he followed the Crown Prince to cause trouble and even harmed the King of Jingxi - he had expected this day to come, and this was not a face-saving excuse in the face of failure.
After Emperor Ling ascended the throne, this prince, who was often looked down upon in Emperor Wu's harem, was granted the title of prince. Emperor Ling gave him power generously, and he accepted it generously. On the one hand, he openly practiced the cultivation of immortals, which he loved and did not attract attention, while on the other hand, he secretly raised soldiers and horses and prepared firearms.
King Jingxi did so much not because he was jealous of the chair under Emperor Ling.
To consolidate power, Emperor Wu persecuted a large number of innocent concubines and their children. These concubines, dependent on the princes and princesses for survival, had no say in anything. One after another, they inexplicably died by hanging, their white silk silks hanging on the ground, due to the turmoil of the previous dynasty. Emperor Ling, chosen by Emperor Wu as his successor, was the most unlucky of them all, and King Jingxi had no envy for him at all.
But he harbors a deeper love and hate in his heart.
To resolve his deep love and hatred, he sought the advice of an immortal, and finally learned from a master the time of his beloved's reincarnation. He firmly believed that the nonsense on the maxim was true, and that as long as he returned to Tongyunhai Palace one day in thirty-five years, he would be able to renew his love.
So, the two of them shook hands and worked together just to cause trouble, turning Dayu upside down.
Wen Jiyun has no regrets.
When Emperor Lingdi passed away, he had not yet defected from the capital with the King of Jingxi. When the tyrant emperor's end was approaching, he heard with satisfaction: "If only the Minister of Literature were still here..."
This sentence almost made him think that he was better than anyone else at the time.
In this world, people take revenge for their grievances and revenge for their enemies. Many people may shout at the top of their lungs but still not hear the enemy's sincere repentance, but he did it anyway.
Although he got his "great revenge", his chance of turning back was also cut off forever.
Wen Jiyun gazed blankly at the Western Border Army. Perhaps, he wondered, he had influenced Song Jingyan, otherwise how could the students from several regions have marched to the capital at the beginning of Emperor Xue's reign? He had once been immensely proud of it. He had, still ignorant of his own limitations, gone to Shangyang alone. His lingering longing was real, but more importantly, his hatred had subsided, and he no longer wanted to continue this aimless, vain, and hopeless relationship with the Western King.
However, Song Jingyan shot him with an arrow.
He wandered back to the Western Territory despite his injury. He was in a daze for several years because of the arrow. When he regained consciousness, Emperor Xue, who was far away in the capital, had successfully spread a net all over Dayu that he could not see or break. The King of the Western Territory had not yet fulfilled his wish. He worked hard for three days and rested for two days. His most focused thing was to make elixirs, so he was powerless and knew that his death would be after the court had recovered.
The last bright line on the horizon, Wen Jiyun saw a sharp light getting closer and closer.
Fang Duan, who was still angry at his brother, was attracted by the unusual sound of the wind. He looked back in horror, and the arrow accurately pierced Wen Jiyun's neck.
Wen Jiyun's throat ached as he thought back to the day he'd gone with his father to the Liang Palace to exchange the engagement letter. It had been a beautiful day, the breeze carrying a uniquely spring-like scent. As the eldest son, his father had allowed him to find a powerful wife to support the family. He had met her many times in the Taiji Hall, a woman he'd never dared to express his feelings for. She stood quietly behind the Liang Prince, then, after receiving the engagement letter, looked up and smiled at him, pursing her lips as she smiled, then continued to smile.
well……
His last sigh disappeared into the night wind as his body fell, and he calmly faced his own end.
The sound of the high walls collapsing suddenly struck the hearts of everyone who retreated into the palace.
Wen Chaohua sneered again, expressionless. Her brother, even on the verge of death, still felt guilty about having roped Fang Duan into his group, yet wasted his final moments playing the clown in the battle between the two armies. He wondered who was being gambled on. She saw Prince Liang and Xi Zhongting, who had already surrounded the entire palace, galloping towards her horse amidst the billowing smoke.
She pondered for a moment, then abandoned Bian Hongqiu, who had no leverage over her. With a sincere smile on her face, she greeted Xi Zhongting, "General Xi, long time no see."
Xi Zhongting had other plans in mind. Even if the escaped King Jingxi was trapped, he didn't want to waste any more time here. So he stretched out one arm, wanting to tell Bian Hongqiu to flatten the place with a single command. He said coldly, "Have we met before?"
Bian Hongqiu, however, had a feeling that Wen Chaohua's words wouldn't be so simple. Xi Zhongting had detailed the ferry crossing plan. If the King of Jingxi was trapped there and heard the voices in the city weren't so desperate, then even if his elite troops were warlike, they wouldn't burn their boats if they had a possible retreat.
Not wanting to fail at the last moment, Bian Hongqiu "generously" pushed Xi Zhongting to the front of the battle to suffer.
Wen Chaohua pushed away the people around her who wanted to protect her and faced Xi Zhongting with a swagger.
"Then I remembered it wrongly. When I fled to Ming Hunzhou with the prince, I met Xiao Chen, who was General Xinxu."
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