Eternal Night - Chapter 106
The Imperial Guards' arrows were deflected by them, tearing a gap in the wall. Just as they were about to escape the palace, two sharp sword flashes abruptly separated Li Yannian and Tianrui.
"Li Tianyou! You traitor who killed your brother and seized the throne!" Tianrui recognized one of them as Tianyou. Ignoring Li Yannian, all the resentment in his heart suddenly erupted, and he rushed towards Tianyou.
A father beating his son? The sound boomed in his ears like thunder. He refused to accept this fact. His father was recuperating in the Dragon Soaring Palace, his mother in the Phoenix Palace—this was his home. Li Tianrui would rather die.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Imperial Guards rushed forward. Seeing that the distance between them and Tianrui was getting further and further away, Li Yannian stomped his feet in anger. How could he have such an impulsive son who was courting death!
As Feng Yangxi's sword flashed, an assassin met it with a strike, his hand burning as the sword nearly slipped from his grasp. Another assassin followed up with a thrust, but was wounded by the sword light deflected by Feng Yangxi and staggered backward.
"Go!" One of them threw down a sleeping powder, which was quickly washed away in the heavy rain, but the three of them still managed to protect Li Yannian and rush out of the palace.
Feng Yangxi glanced back at the Crown Prince, who was still fighting like a madman trapped in a cage, and laughed loudly: "Your Highness, I'm leaving!" With a light step, he ignored the affairs of the palace and chased after Li Yannian and the three assassins.
This is the only clue if we want to find her.
Mountain stone house
Of the three assassins from Youli Valley, one was hit by an arrow, another had a sword slash in the chest by Feng Yangxi, and Yingyu was the least injured. Although the capital city was under martial law, it wouldn't be difficult for the four of them to find a secluded section of the city wall and scale it.
Once outside Kyoto, Yingyu said in a deep voice, "The Valley Master has decreed that from this moment on, Steward Li is no longer a member of the Wandering Valley. I hope you will take heed of this."
"It's already an exception that the Valley Master didn't kill me." Li Yannian's expression was indifferent, cold, like the rain and mist that were passing by at this moment.
"The Valley Master said that your wife is deeply in love with you and will have children in the future. He hopes you will give up your obsession and live a good life from now on." Unable to see his expression, Ying Yu thought about how his revenge plan of more than 20 years had come to an end, and his son too. A trace of sympathy flashed in his eyes, and he lowered his head sadly.
Li Yannian's gaze remained fixed on the dim red glow on the horizon—the spot where the Eastern Palace had caught fire. In the darkness, the color appeared particularly eerie, like hell itself. Yes, that place was hell, yet the fire burned within his own heart. Who said one had to descend into hell to endure the torment of purgatory? Li Yannian sighed indifferently, "So be it. Everyone has their own path to walk. If we had known Li Gu would suddenly launch an attack today, perhaps we should have acted yesterday to eliminate Emperor Yujia. Success or failure is but a fleeting moment; the world is unpredictable, and the line between victory and defeat is thin."
The three watched him silently. Li Yannian, who had fought his way out of the valley tower and was once high and mighty, had now been abandoned by Youli Valley, and he himself had grown from a child into a first-class assassin.
The scene of standing trembling in front of Li Yannian back then seemed like yesterday, and the three of them were speechless with sadness.
Yingyu forced a smile and said, "Steward, the Valley Master ordered us to take Xinghun back!"
Is she that important? Li Yannian glanced at them with a questioning look, then said calmly, "Xinghun is in Yishan. What use is he to the Valley Master?"
“That’s not something you should be asking,” Eagle Feather replied simply. He was just following orders; he didn’t know anything else.
Li Yannian said nothing and headed towards Yishan.
The dark mountain forest was eerily quiet. When they reached the stream, Li Yannian stopped and said, "The two of them are injured. Let them drink some water and rest before continuing. We'll arrive at dawn."
The three sat down, and Yingyu noticed that they looked tired, so he took the water bag and went to the stream to fetch water.
In that instant, Li Yannian's hand trembled, and he unleashed a cloud of smoke mixed with a few glints of cold light towards the three of them.
The attack was sudden; no one expected him to dare to strike. The two assassins, already wounded, were instantly struck in vital areas. Only Ying Yu, instinctively flipped backward, already hit by several hidden weapons in his back. He did not engage in a prolonged fight with Li Yannian, but instead leaped into the stream and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After the smoke cleared, Li Yannian looked at the two corpses and sneered. Youligu dared to abandon him, and he would definitely avenge this. He gritted his teeth and thought that if Youligu hadn't withdrawn at the last minute, even if Prince Duan Li Gu had suddenly decided to stage a palace coup, he wouldn't have been caught off guard, leaving the Empress and the Crown Prince no time to react.
"Youli Valley, you have betrayed me!" After planning for so many years, today, it all ended in utter defeat. He didn't even have time to glance at his own son.
Two lines of tears slid down Li Yannian's face.
The rain had long since become a steady drizzle. Unbeknownst to him, his robes were soaked through, and the chill seeped into his bones, yet it only fueled the fire in his heart. Li Yannian laughed heartily, looking up at the sky.
The laughter stopped abruptly after a moment. He kicked the corpse and sneered, "Anguo will not let Youligu go. You think you can get away with this?"
Every assassin killed reduces the number of available assassins. While Youli Valley has many, training even one is extremely difficult. Li Yannian's hidden weapons are poisonous; he's not worried about Ying Yu's longevity. Even if Youli Valley knows he killed them, so what? They won't find him. Anguo will always deal with them. Prince Duan, Li Gu, will never let this go unpunished.
He thought viciously. He couldn't even take care of his son, so what else did he have to worry about? He needed time to catch his breath, time to think about what to do with Li Yongye.
---------------- ...
Yongye lay motionless in bed. She gazed calmly out the window.
She knew the mountain nights all too well. In a little while, the pale blue dawn would break on the horizon, and the valley would slowly be illuminated by the sun. Perhaps, dying here wouldn't be a bad thing. She remembered that when she was reincarnated and came to this world, the first thing she saw upon waking was the scenery of this valley.
We come from somewhere and return there; life and death are a cycle, nothing more than that.
The aroma of porridge wafted from the room. She seemed to see Yuepo's busy figure in the kitchen again. Ten days—how short, yet how blissful. She regretted not staying a few more days. If the emotions in Yuepo's eyes hadn't grown so intense, so overwhelming that they frightened her, if she hadn't slept so soundly every night without any guard, she might have truly stayed.
"You're awake, young master?" Lan Cui's eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying.
"Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet," Yongye said calmly.
When Li Yannian brought her here, she saw Lan Cui's evasive eyes.
She wasn't surprised by Lan Cui's appearance. In the State of Chen, the Master of Beauty had said that the only mistake Prince Duan made was trusting women too much.
However, Yihong and Commandant Lin did not betray her. She knew they had either fallen into the hands of the Chen Kingdom or encountered an accident. Otherwise, why would they not have returned after she had been back in An Kingdom for so long?
Lan Cui sat in front of her, not daring to look at her.
"How did we find such a beautiful place?"
Lan Cui whispered, "My husband found this place many years ago. He thought it was secluded, so he built houses here long ago. I arrived three days ago."
Three days ago? "Didn't the people at Prince Duan's residence notice you were missing?"
A hint of shame flashed in Lan Cui's eyes as she whispered, "Your Highness doesn't know me..."
Yes, Father thought she was an orphan he had picked up after the Battle of Sanyu Pass, and raised her in the royal palace, which is why he felt comfortable placing her by Li Yannian's side. There really is no such thing as being able to calculate everything in this world.
Yongye casually instructed, "Put up my pillow a little higher. My neck is sore from lying down and looking out the window."
Lan Cui didn't move, and whispered with her head down, "Husband... he said he can't get close to you, and you have to wait for him to come back for anything you want. Before he comes back, you can't listen to anything you say."
"What if he doesn't come back? Does that mean I won't be allowed to drink water, eat, or relieve myself?!" Yongye roared angrily. "My father saved you and raised you, and you've raised a thing that's worse than a dog! Even a dog knows to be loyal and protect its master, what has eaten your conscience?! How has the royal palace treated you? Although you're called a maid, you're pampered and treated like a young lady. Lancui, how could you treat your master like this!"