☆、022
Wu Liuyin was in a hurry to leave because she had just seen Lian Cheng, the third young master of the Lian family, riding by on horseback. She didn't know where he was going. Now she was paying close attention to the whereabouts of everyone in the Lian family, so she had no heart to deal with what had just happened. Since there were people who could be used, why not use them?
Liancheng rode on horseback, with a guard following him.
Wu Liuyin followed Liancheng all the way to the Wang family mansion, and only after Liancheng entered the mansion did she narrow her eyes, leap into the Wang family compound.
As soon as Liancheng entered, a servant led him into the family hall.
“It is truly a shortcoming of me not to have greeted the Third Young Master when he came to visit,” said Wang Ken, the head of the Wang family, as he immediately stepped forward to greet him respectfully.
"Clan Chief Wang, you are mistaken. Liancheng is a junior, how can I be welcomed by Clan Chief Wang? I have something to discuss with you today. I wonder if it would be convenient for you to do so?" Liancheng said with a smile, glancing around at the surroundings.
Wang Ken, a seasoned veteran, certainly knew what Liancheng meant.
"You may all leave. No one is to enter without my permission," Wang Ken ordered before leading Liancheng into the inner room. Seeing that no one was around, Wu Liuyin followed and hid in the shadows.
"Clan Chief Wang, Emperor Su Feng is now old and needs a successor. However, he has been reluctant to appoint an heir, which has caused great concern among the major families. The eldest prince has neither the will nor the ability to vie for the throne. Among the princes, the fourth and fifth princes are too weak in spiritual power and are mediocre in character, making them unsuitable for this great responsibility. The sixth prince is still young and will not establish a power base in court, let alone participate in the struggle for the throne. Only the second and third princes are capable. However, a country cannot have two rulers. When two tigers meet, there will inevitably be a struggle. Currently, the third prince has the Wu and Liu families as his assistants, while our Lian family..." The Ming family has always favored the Second Prince and would not help the Third Prince. The Second Prince is calm and composed, understands common sense, is meticulous, and his spiritual power is no less than that of the Third Prince. Moreover, he already has two sons. I believe the Second Prince is capable of becoming emperor. The Third Prince, on the other hand, has been fighting on the battlefield for many years and has never cared about politics. He is also aloof and has not even been able to get married. He is not suitable to be a benevolent ruler. Therefore, Liancheng has come today hoping that the Wang family will follow the Second Prince and ensure that he can sit firmly on the throne.” Liancheng is an upright person and speaks his mind, so he does not shy away from the topic and is straightforward.
After listening, Wang Ken remained silent. In fact, he was also thinking that what Lian Cheng said was not without reason. Several major families knew that Su Feng doted on the Third Prince, Su Xijue, which was why he had been reluctant to establish him as emperor. One reason was that the Third Prince had no intention of becoming emperor, and Su Feng wanted to train him further. Another reason was that Su Xijue had no children. There was a rule that a new emperor must have children upon ascending the throne. Otherwise, if the emperor was impotent and had no children after ascending the throne, how would the throne be passed on? This was also a rule of the Su family.
"Very well, the Wang family will definitely follow the Second Prince to the death."
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☆、023
Wang Ken had thought about it three times. For the sake of the future glory of the Wang family, he was willing to go all out. Anyway, it wouldn't cause any harm. At worst, if the third prince succeeded to the throne, the Wang family would only be able to live an ordinary life.
"Since Clan Chief Wang is so agreeable, Liancheng will not disturb you any longer and will return first." After saying this, Liancheng sighed with Wang Ken and left with his servants.
Mai Ryune was somewhat disappointed, not hearing the news she wanted to know, and returned dejected.
Little did he know that after he left, four figures followed suit and departed one after another.
It was this struggle between the emperor and the royal family that made her realize how difficult it was to be in the royal family, and that Su Xijue was also a pitiful person!
Meanwhile, Su Xijue and his four personal guards had arrived at their first stop on the way to the Trial Valley—Yangcheng.
Five people rode swiftly on horseback as the sun set, casting long shadows of themselves.
"Master, we have arrived in Yangcheng," one of them said, having traveled for almost a day and finally completed the journey that should have taken three days.
"Well, let's find an inn to rest once we get into the city," Su Xijue said, and rode into the city first, with the other four following closely behind.
After settling in, Su Xijue stood with his back to the window, his eyes fixed on the west.
That direction is towards the main city of Fandu.
Is she alright? This was the only thought on Su Xijue's mind, a man who had always been detached from worldly desires.
"Chi, have you received any news from the four of you—Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning?" Su Xijue, dressed in black, asked in a cold voice.
"Reporting to Master, Lei Feige has sent a message. We just received it. This is the letter," Chi said.
He stepped forward and handed Su Xijue a small note.
The eight people are Chimei Wangliang, Fengyu Leidian, and Chimei Wangliang. They are the eight people closest to Su Xijue. The reason they are called by this name is because Su Xijue is too lazy to think. All eight of them survived in piles of dead people and were selected from a hundred people. Su Feng gave Su Xijue a hundred elites to choose from, but Su Xijue did not choose.
He used the cruelest method: the strong live, the weak die. One hundred people were locked in a secret room, given only the food and water of eight people a day. At first, the first hundred were okay, and he took care of the others.
Three days later, Su Xijue appeared and explained that the next hour would be the time to decide on his guards. Only those who defeated everyone could become his guards, otherwise they would die in the secret room. He did not mention the number of guards.
Everyone else already understood that if they didn't take action, they would die, even if their opponent was their best friend.
After a fierce battle, when only eight people remained, the door to the secret chamber opened again, less than an hour later.
Su Xijue already knew how many guards he had.
Demons and monsters, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. Legend has it that the Three Sovereigns protected them, and they never returned defeated.
Su Xijue glanced at the letter, and after a long while, he tucked it into his pocket.
"Step back," she uttered, her lips barely moving. Only three words escaped her lips. After the demon departed, Su Xijue's unchanging expression revealed a deep longing.
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☆、024
When Wu Liuyin returned to the Wu residence, she saw Wu Bailing.
"You've decided to marry Ni Chang?" Wu Bailing looked at Wu Liuyin with an arrogant expression that Wu Liuyin found very annoying.
Wu Bailing was dressed in white, her skin as white as snow, and her eyes were cold and aloof. She was a proud person with her willow-leaf eyebrows raised and her temperament was like that of someone who did not eat the food of this world. She was only twenty years old, but her spiritual power had already reached the blue color. She was a genius. The Wu family really does produce top-notch people.
"You want to seek justice from her?"
Wu Liuyin raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Of course, there's also the fact that the Wu family only has one genius." Wu Bailing stared at Wu Liuyin with resentment. The more Wu Liuyin acted this way, the more she hated her, because she hated anyone who was better than her, in the eyes of the Wu family.
Wu Liuyin wore a light purple dress, her black hair tied up in a ponytail as black as ink, and her blue eyes were sharp. Although her face was covered with a light veil, it could not hide the absolute beauty of Wu Liuyin's appearance. Wu Bailing thought to herself, if it weren't for her pockmarked face, she would have to give up the title of the most beautiful woman in Fandu.
The next moment, Wu Bailing made up her mind: Wu Liuyin could not be allowed to stay.
Dark room.
"Please, wake up! Don't fall into a deep sleep!" the woman pleaded. The person on the ice bed still showed no signs of life.
Nalan Die'er's eyes had long been blinded by crying. Every day, she repeated the same thing: constantly calling out to her sleeping husband, Wu Qiyuan. For fifteen years, she had done this every day. Although she was blind, Nalan Die'er, with her exceptionally good hearing, had lived in this dark room for fifteen years, controlling everything she and Wu Qiyuan had created.
"Master, Lianmei begs to see me?" a woman said from outside the curtain.
"Step down," Nalan Die'er slowly stood up, wiped the tears from her face, and walked out.
The road was already familiar to me, and I could walk to the outer hall where Lian Meiyang was to be received without even seeing it.
Nalan Die'er sat upright on the stone chair and asked softly, "How is it outside? Has it made any noise?"
"Reporting to Master, Liuyin is engaged to the Third Prince, Su Xijue. They were supposed to get married, but for some reason, it has been postponed. The struggle for the throne in the Su family is about to begin. The Lian family and the Ming family have already made plans and are determined to help the Second Prince ascend the throne. The Wu family and the Liu family are definitely helping the Third Prince. There has been no movement from them," Lian Meiyang said respectfully.
It seems that he is subconsciously particularly afraid of Nalan Die'er.
“Liuyin is already of marriageable age. I wonder if she has discovered her secret. The time is approaching, and I'm afraid she can't hide it for much longer. Remember to keep using that medicine without stopping. I'll leave the outside affairs to you.” Nalan Die’er sighed. How she longed to secretly see Wu Liuyin, after all, it was them and their child. But she was trapped by circumstances and had no choice but to hide in the Lian residence. As long as Wu Qiyuan didn't wake up, she couldn't do anything rash.
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☆、025
There is another "it" lurking behind the scenes. If it weren't for "it", how could the Nalan family have been wiped out, and how could Wu Qiyuan have ended up like this? Even if she uses the thousand-year-old ice to suppress the poison, given enough time, Wu Qiyuan will surely die.
"Master has entrusted me with this great task, and I, Lian Meiyang, will certainly complete it." At this moment, Lian Meiyang seemed to have become a different person. In his eyes, Nalan Die'er and Wu Qiyuan were the incarnations of gods.
"It's almost time, go upstairs, don't arouse suspicion." After saying that, Nalan Die'er groped her way back to the back room. Her life was very monotonous: sleeping, eating, accompanying Wu Qiyuan, and listening to Lian Meiyang talk about the commotion outside every day.
With his master speaking, Lian Meiyang wisely left. Reaching the stone gate, he twisted the lion's eyes, flipped over, and ascended to a higher stone chamber. This higher chamber was filled with gold, silver, jade, and jewels, seemingly a large treasure vault, or perhaps a deception.
Lian Meiyang glanced around, hurriedly walked to the calligraphy and painting, pulled out the scroll, a stone door opened, and she went out. There lay the only room in the courtyard, a study of moderate size.
As he left the villa, he gave the guards at the gate another reminder to guard the important Lian family property before hurriedly departing.
The night was as dark as ink, and tonight the moonlight was veiled by a thin layer of clouds, which were dense and drifting aimlessly.
Inside the main courtyard of the Wu family, Wu Bailing and Wu Liuyin stood facing each other, neither of them making the first move, and it seemed that they had been locked in a stalemate for almost an hour.
Wu Liuyin was certain of victory. She didn't want to fight Wu Bailing because Wu Bailing couldn't beat her, so she hesitated to make a move. Her rule was simple: I won't offend others unless they offend me. Also, there was the matter of Wu Bailing's mother, Wang Qing. In this life, Wu Liuyin had asked her to take good care of the First Madam, Wu Bailing's mother. Presumably, the First Madam had taken good care of her in the past, which was why she said that. Therefore, no matter what, she wouldn't hurt Wu Bailing.
Wu Bailing had heard about the famous battle between Wu Liuyin and Su Xijue, and with Wu Nishang's words, she, who was always cautious, would not act rashly, because she was not entirely confident that she could defeat Wu Liuyin. She could only wait and see when Wu Liuyin showed a weakness, and then kill her in one fell swoop.
Among the servants passing by, some might have wanted to step forward and interrupt, but no one dared to, after all, they were the eldest and third young ladies of the Wu family. It was never the servants' place to interrupt.
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☆、026