Chapter 595: Some Rejoice, Some Grieve
Qian Fu still shook his head. "Third Prince, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t want to get you involved. This is a matter concerning our own child. If the Emperor won’t give us justice, we will get it ourselves, even if we have to fight to the death and take them down with us."
"I’ve had no children my whole life—only this one disciple," Dean Chen said, his eyes bloodshot, his stance one of grim determination. "She died a horrible death, and now they’re dragging her name through the mud. As her master, I am bound to clear her name and make those who harmed her pay the price."
Sang Yan was at a loss for words. ’What in the world has bewitched Father?’
’Ye Qianning has her hands in many things, but even taking Eighth Brother out of the palace isn’t a capital offense. Why is he being so draconian about this?’
"Let’s go. Back to the Capital City," Qian Fu said to Zhan Yi.
Zhan Yi looked down at the figure with her eyes closed. ’How will my wife ever accept this? How can she possibly accept it?’
Sang Yan said to the soldier beside him, "Colonel, take your troops and return to camp."
"Yes, sir." The Colonel accepted the order, turned to his men, and shouted, "Withdraw! Return to camp!"
Sang Yan watched Zhan Yi’s party board the carriage before mounting his own horse. ’It looks like the Capital City is in for another bloodbath.’
In the crowd, Feng Xiuyi’s strikingly handsome face was grim. ’So this is the Beili Emperor. A muddle-headed ruler who twists right and wrong. How can anyone still be willing to die for a man like this?’
’Ever since I first saw that young girl, riding her horse and fighting a vicious tiger with her life on the line to protect that boy... and now she ends up dead at the hands of Beili’s own people. What an absolute joke. How utterly absurd.’
"Master, it’s getting late. Shall we enter the city?" a sharply dressed guard asked.
"We’re going in. I want to see for myself just how this Beili Emperor can twist right and wrong."
"What about the negotiations with the Beili royal family...?"
"They’re off. An emperor like that has no credibility whatsoever. He can dream on if he thinks he’s getting what he wants from me."
The sharply dressed guard rubbed his nose. ’I knew this trip to Beili wouldn’t go smoothly.’
"Let’s go. Into the city."
The sharply dressed guard hurried to keep up.
As the crowd dispersed, in a carriage not far from Four-direction Mountain...
Xiliu Yuan clenched his fists. ’A moment’s delay, and now she is gone forever.’
That day, they had intended to follow, but they discovered a strange place beneath the Second Broken Peak. Upon entering, they realized it was a Zhen trigram formation. By the time they managed to get out, Four-direction Mountain was already engulfed in a sea of flames.
He didn’t know how they had survived the inferno, but for the girl to escape death in the fire and at the hands of the people from East Shu, only to be killed by Beili’s own royal army... it was truly ironic.
’What a waste of such a clever person.’ "Let’s go," Xiliu Yuan said softly.
The guard turned the carriage around and departed.
—
「Inside the Capital City.」
Within half a day, news of the death of the Xiang family’s young lady had spread like wildfire throughout the city. The incident was a great shock, bringing joy to some and sorrow to others.
The Changyang Prince Mansion and the Helian Royal Mansion immediately had carriages prepared and rushed to the General’s Mansion.
When Prime Minister Gao heard the news, he was shocked at first, then overjoyed. ’So evil is repaid with evil,’ he thought. ’It’s not that retribution is lacking, but that its time had not yet come.’
Upon hearing the news, Lady Zhan fainted several times on her way to the General’s Mansion.
When the Gu family heard, everyone was indifferent, with the other two branches of the family even mocking the situation and enjoying the drama—everyone, that is, except for the families of Gu Zhifeng and Gu Mingqiu.
But no one was happier than Gao Yunyue. ’The thorn in my side has finally been removed,’ she thought with relief. ’At last, I can breathe again.’
Zhan Yi brought Ye Qianning’s body back to the General’s Mansion. The estate was empty. The soldiers who had come to make the arrests had also plundered the mansion, leaving it bleak and desolate.
Qian Fu sent a messenger to the Qian family to summon all their servants. Before long, the entire estate was adorned with white silk mourning lanterns.