Eternal Night - Chapter 107
Lan Cui was startled by her shout and instinctively stood up to help her, but she pulled her hand back as soon as she reached out, lowered her head even further, and her voice choked with sobs: "Young Master, oh, Miss... I'm sorry! My husband has gone to the capital and will be back in a day."
She didn't even have the courage to look at Yongye, and rushed out of the room, covering her face.
Yongye couldn't help but smile bitterly. A woman so devoted to a man! No matter how gentle or reprimanding she was, she dared not cross the line. Women are weapons; used properly, they are invincible, but misused, they harm oneself. If her father hadn't been so certain of Lan Cui's loyalty, why would he have let her run away beforehand? Even if he followed her, he could still find himself.
If only she could still move. Not only was she poisoned with muscle-relaxing powder, but her clothes had also been completely changed. Without a doubt, Lan Cui did this while she was unconscious.
At this moment, Yongye felt no hatred for Feng Yangxi. Although she had been knocked unconscious by him, which led to her being poisoned by the Soft Bone Powder and falling into Li Yannian's hands, hadn't she also stabbed him in the back? They were even. Yongye thought to herself, feeling that her gratitude and resentment were clearly defined.
As an assassin, Yongye still has one last trick up her sleeve. While both Master Qingyi and her final move were underhanded, Yongye's current ultimate weapon is a steel wire hidden in her hair. That wire is as soft and thin as a strand of hair, yet incredibly strong. If used with internal energy, it would be as sharp as a needle or a knife.
Li Yannian found a pair of shackles and locked her feet, the other end of the chain to a stone mast. He laughed and said, "You'll have to blow up this mountainside if you want to break free." But he was still worried, so before leaving, he gave her some muscle relaxant.
Yongye had to admire Li Yannian. She was his student; without any hidden weapons, she was immobilized and tied to the wall, making escape difficult.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and circulated her inner energy. Her limbs seemed to no longer belong to her; she only had sensation in her head and neck. She knew that the only benefit of the Heavenly Meridian Inner Scripture was that it allowed her to recover faster than ordinary people.
Perhaps she can counteract the effects of the cartilage-reducing powder sooner. As long as she can move around, that's fine.
How advanced could medicine be in this era? Based on her understanding, Yongye believed that drugs that cause weakness all had one characteristic: paralyzing nerve tissue, thus causing muscles to lose sensation. If she kept stimulating her nerves to maintain pain sensation, she could break the cartilage powder.
Li Yannian wouldn't stay in the valley forever; he would inevitably go out again to gather information. This was her chance.
battle of wits
When Li Yannian appeared at the wooden house in the valley at the foot of Yishan Mountain, the sky was already showing a faint blue dawn.
The wooden cabin, hidden deep in the jungle of the valley, has been under construction for many years and is difficult to spot without getting close. Years of painstaking work have resulted in dense vines that completely envelop it, making the cabin blend seamlessly into the surrounding forest from a distance.
The room was brightly lit, and every piece of furniture was not only exquisite but also expensive.
The wine glasses were definitely not bamboo tubes or wooden bowls, but rather fine porcelain. His favorite wine was Qingzhou Red.
Li Yannian was a person who enjoyed life. The hardships he endured in his youth and his status as a prince made him decide never to suffer again.
This place was completely deserted; Li Yannian had turned it into his palace. The supplies he had prepared were enough for him to stay here for one or two years.
He never imagined that someone had once built a bamboo hut in a valley just across the mountain. If Yongye were to compare, she would say that the simple bamboo hut was her paradise compared to this place.
As she pushed open the door, Lan Cui greeted her: "Husband, you're back!"
He sat down wearily. Lan Cui quickly wrung out a scalding hot handkerchief and handed it to him.
The scalding heat dispelled his weariness. Li Yannian glanced at Yongye's room, stood up, and went inside.
Yongye lay motionless on the bed. He lowered his head, squinting to carefully discern the marks he had left behind before leaving, and cautiously picked up a strand of hair. If Yongye moved even slightly, the position of this strand of hair would change. He was very satisfied that Lancui had been obedient and had not moved Yongye, and he was also satisfied with the effects of the bone-softening powder.
Yongye looked at him calmly, her heart pounding again. If Lancui had helped her put the pillow under her head earlier, Li Yannian would have noticed something was wrong. He was not only ruthless, but also incredibly meticulous.
Li Yannian sat on the edge of the bed and said, "Your father is very powerful. I thought he would make some unusual moves before launching an attack. Unexpectedly, he showed no signs of prior preparation. He just issued a decree, and the capital changed."
“If he weren’t so powerful, you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to kill him.”
Li Yannian shook his head: "I'm not in a hurry to kill him. But it's true that Youli Valley is determined to kill him. I just want to have a substitute infiltrate the mansion and slowly take his place. After all, if I kill him, other powerful ministers will emerge. The best plan is to take his power without bloodshed."
"Didn't expect you to misjudge him, did you? It would have been better to kill him." Yongye laughed leisurely.
"Husband, would you like some porridge?" Lan Cui asked, holding a bowl of porridge at the door.
Li Yannian got up, took the porridge, and said gently, "You've been watching over her all night. Go get some sleep first. I'll take care of things here."
His thoughtfulness warmed Lan Cui's heart. She nodded obediently, her gaze quickly sweeping over Yong Ye, then took a few steps and turned back: "Young...Miss wants to raise the pillow a little, I, I didn't..."
"Okay, go to sleep."
Undeniably, if Li Yannian hadn't revealed his ruthless side, he would have been a rather charming and elegant man. Even though time has etched its marks on his face, he remains a handsome man.
Yongye looked at him and suddenly sighed, "Actually, your demeanor is no less impressive than my father's. When I first saw you in the valley, I thought you must be a noble young master from a prominent family. I never imagined you were just a steward in the royal palace."
Li Yannian lifted Yongye's body, letting her lean against the wall, and fed her the porridge from the bowl. His movements were very careful and meticulous, each spoonful just the right amount. "Do I resemble your father?"
"They don't look alike, yet they resemble each other in some ways." The hot porridge warmed his stomach, and a feeling of hunger arose. Yongye then realized he hadn't eaten for a day and a night. He hated Feng Yangxi again; that bastard, it was all his fault.
Li Yannian only fed her three spoonfuls before stopping. He smiled and said, "Not feeding you and letting you go hungry is more painful than letting you eat a couple of bites and then stopping. I will repay Li Cheng and Li Gu for their revenge on me. He killed my son, and I will kill you too, but I won't let you die too quickly."
Yongye was stunned. He killed his son? Li Yannian's son, after a moment's thought, blurted out, "Li Tianrui?!"
Everything has come together, except for the part about why Youli Valley still allowed Yuepo to enter Prince You's mansion, and why he told me early on that he was helping Li Tianyou.
Li Yannian saw through her thoughts and smiled calmly: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle. I only let you and Yuepo get close to Li Tianyou to find out his movements. Tianrui has lost. He is no match for Li Tianyou in terms of martial arts or cunning. They will not let him go, they will not... let what happened decades ago happen again. Yongye, you should call me uncle."
A trace of sadness and hatred flickered across his once handsome face. Li Yannian stood up; sunlight was already softly streaming through the window. Birdsong filled the air, and the fragrance of flowers wafted in. Gazing at the woods outside the window, he finally began to recount the past.
"It's a very old story. The Holy Ancestor fell in love with my mother during his travels. Li Cheng and Li Gu's mother, the former Empress, was jealous and caused an accident before the Holy Ancestor sent people to fetch my mother. My mother escaped the disaster and gave birth to me. Naturally, after learning martial arts, I wanted to return to my ancestral home and take revenge. But the Holy Ancestor died, and Li Cheng inherited the throne."
He turned to look at Eternal Night. "What would you do?"
Yongye thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. Everyone's experiences and encounters are different."
Li Yannian laughed: "When you said that dying under the peony flower would be romantic even as a ghost, I knew you were different from others. Your thinking back then wasn't like a child's. It wasn't like a girl's at all."
"Perhaps it's the result of the training in Youli Valley, being raised as a boy from a young age," Yongye said casually. She simply retained strong memories of her past life back then. Unlike now, after eighteen, only fragments of her past remain. She has fully accepted and adapted to her identity as a woman. Even when Lancui calls her "Miss," she feels it's only natural.
“I could have entered the palace, perhaps like Li Tianyou, becoming the Emperor’s favored successor because of my mother’s favor. By the time I mastered martial arts, the Emperor was already dead. I don’t even know what he looks like, and he doesn’t know I exist. Every time I look at the Forbidden City, I feel hatred. Perhaps I wasn’t just a wanderer without a home; I could have been the Emperor, enjoying all the riches and honors. Tell me, how could I not want revenge?”
Yongye had figured everything out and laughed, "But Master, you're really ruthless. You couldn't find an opportunity to kill the Emperor, but you set your sights on the Empress. She's beautiful, but also lonely. The concubines in the palace are probably all the same. Women fighting over a man is never a good thing."
Soft sunlight streamed in. Li Yannian showed no trace of sadness on his face: "She was a mad woman. I showed her the only seal that could prove my identity, and she didn't feel wronged by submitting to me; instead, she painted a beautiful dream. You know, sometimes women are particularly prone to dreaming. Since that encounter, I haven't seen her even once, yet she can't forget me. As long as I get revenge, even if I can't be emperor, my son will suffice. Besides, once Tianrui becomes emperor, the power of Anguo will be firmly in my hands."