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Wan Yuyuedan's chest heaved even more violently, showing no signs of slowing down. Shengxiang slowly said, "You have your own priorities… I can't force you to believe me… Seeing you tonight was my mistake… I'm sorry…" The wounds on his ribs and back had gradually stopped bleeding, but he gripped his clothes tightly at his chest. Pushing aside the chair he had been supporting, he turned around, and the chair crashed to the ground with a thud. Wan Yuyuedan shuddered. Wenren Nuan remained stiff as a board throughout. Everyone saw the heavily injured Shengxiang walk straight out; he hadn't fainted or stumbled, but walked out step by step.

The sight of that figure under the moonlight was shocking, not because he was walking alone, but because he was covered in blood, covered in blood...

Kill Li Lingyan, seek to dominate the martial world and rule the world, and leave room for Biluo Palace.

If Li Lingyan is spared, his friend will be spared, his injustice will be cleared, innocent lives will be saved, Luoyang will be safe and sound, and even the country will be at peace.

Li Ling's banquet was one where he should be killed, but not necessarily defeated.

Li Lingyan could only be defeated, not killed.

Biluo Palace has its own grand strategy, but everyone felt a pang of sorrow as they watched Shengxiang leave. If Wanyu Yuedan couldn't help him defeat Li Lingyan first, how could he save Liu Ji and Yu Cuiwei, whom he wanted to save, without killing Li Lingyan, quell the rebellion, resolve the "holding hands until old age" issue, and quell the chaos in Luoyang?

Bleeding solves nothing, crying solves nothing, and dying solves nothing.

Chapter Thirty-One, Twelfth Chapter: The Jade Pavilion is Empty and Still Empty

Yu Cuiwei returned to the inn. He had been gone for a while and hadn't witnessed the subsequent upheaval, nor did he know that Shengxiang had bled and been injured that night, and that her plea for help had been refused. After returning to his room, he first heated up a pot of wine, drank two cups with relish, took out the antidote Li Lingyan had given him, glanced at it, and then took a small bottle from his pocket and put it away.

After he took a bath and changed his clothes, he read half of "The Fallen Flower Scroll" before hearing someone return outside. As soon as he returned, a horrified scream erupted outside. The innkeeper was so frightened he nearly fainted. "Who are you? Get out... This is not a place for you..."

Yu Cuiwei heard the footsteps and smelled a strong stench of blood. He raised an eyebrow, opened the door, and went out. He saw a blood-soaked figure dressed in tattered clothes being pushed out the door by the innkeeper. "Hmm?"

The innkeeper had just chased the half-dead beggar out when a gentle breeze swept past him. Suddenly, the wealthy guest inside had already retrieved the beggar from the snow outside, carried him inside, and loudly proclaimed that he would pay a hundred taels of silver for a doctor, the sooner the better. Before the innkeeper could even grasp the meaning of "a hundred taels of silver," a gleaming throwing knife suddenly flashed out from inside, embedding itself more than three inches into the ground by the doorway. The guest inside didn't utter a word, but the innkeeper was terrified and immediately rushed out to personally fetch the most famous doctor in Banzhu, Ou Yunliang.

Shengxiang was covered in blood, almost half frozen and half dried, his beggar's clothes clinging to his body and impossible to tear off. Yu Cuiwei showed no mercy, throwing him into a warm bath. It took half a day for the frozen, dried blood to thaw. By the time he was cleaned, dressed, and put on the bed, four basins of bloody water had already been emptied. The wounds on Shengxiang's ribs and back were pale and clearly visible. Yu Cuiwei applied a thin layer of ointment, but he seemed oblivious to the pain of his two severe injuries. His fingers gripped his clothes tightly, he gasped for breath, and his delicate face was covered in cold sweat.

This situation was much more serious than when he fell ill at Pear Blossom Creek last time. Although Yu Cuiwei had seen many storms and was already numb to life and death, he frowned at this moment.

"Da Yu... listen to me..." Sheng Xiang only opened her eyes slightly after he had finished tending to her wounds. He hadn't actually fainted at all. Now, she propped herself up and grabbed Yu Cuiwei's sleeve. "Listen to me... can you go... protect Li Lingyan..."

Yu Cuiwei smiled. "My gentle brother-in-law is determined to kill someone?" Although he didn't know how Shengxiang had ended up in such a sorry state, he recognized the sword wound on her ribs as a direct descendant of the Biluo Palace's sword technique.

“I couldn’t stop him from killing…” Shengxiang’s face was pale, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, as if in a smile. “But Li Lingyan cannot die, he absolutely cannot die… I want him to commit suicide rather than die… Da Yu, go… protect Li Lingyan… wait…” He suddenly took a breath, “Go… wait… when Li Lingyan’s people appear, tell them that Biluo Palace’s hideout is in Jiajing Garden…”

Yu Cuiwei's mind raced. Could it be that Shengxiang, having failed to persuade Wanyu Yuedan not to kill Li Lingyan, had actually turned around and framed Biluo Palace? He chuckled dismissively. These were Yu Cuiwei's thoughts, not Shengxiang's. "What do you want?"

“I need to wait for Rongrong to send troops…” Shengxiang said softly, “I need to wait for Rongrong to send troops to ambush… Jiajing Garden… If Li Lingyan has an ambush, he will definitely counterattack Jiajing Garden… That’s the only time… when we can confront his army directly…” He was covered in cold sweat and his face was deathly pale. “I need to wait for Rongrong to ambush first, and then wait for Li Lingyan to lead his troops into the ambush—before that, Li Lingyan absolutely cannot die, and Awan absolutely cannot know that I used him as bait…” He took several breaths before continuing, “I can’t persuade him not to kill Li Lingyan, so you… you must keep him alive… I don’t care how much you hate him…”

"What if your Rongrong is already dead in Jingxi Prefecture?" Yu Cuiwei asked softly. "What if he couldn't send out more than ten thousand men, and the plot was exposed and he's been dead for a long time?"

Shengxiang bit his lip so hard that even biting it didn't bring any blood to his lips. "Then—then...I can't save you...I'll harm Ze Ning...You'll see Li Lingyan die, see A Wan dominate the martial world...see him follow Li Lingyan's old path for the sake of Biluo Palace...see the turmoil in Luoyang...and...and...those so-called 'righteous paths' of the martial world will always be there..." His fingers and palms were icy cold as he slowly loosened his grip on Yu Cuiwei's sleeve. "However, I believe it won't happen."

This child still longs to see the things that bring him joy... bad people being punished, lies being exposed, the truth being revealed, good deeds being praised... He still doesn't believe in the harshness of life, doesn't believe in dead ends, and doesn't believe that he can actually do nothing or change anything.

"I can guarantee Li Lingyan's survival. If there's still no news of Rongrong after seven days, I'll take you back to Bingzhu Temple," Yu Cuiwei said softly. "Okay?"

Shengxiang smiled faintly, "If Rongrong hadn't returned, I would truly... truly..." He didn't finish his sentence, but laughed silently. If Rongyin hadn't returned, and if Shengxiang couldn't win this battle, he would be surrounded by enemies on all sides—driven out of his home by his father and brothers, ostracized by the court, a formidable rival to Li Lingyan, and parted ways with Biluo Palace, despised by the righteous path... How could the once luxurious and splendid young master of the Prime Minister have fallen to this state?

Was it for his jade-like beauty?

no.

Shengxiang always seemed to be driven by some trivial reason... To avoid the Emperor's suspicion of the Zhao family, he left home; to prove his momentary good, he dared to oppose the "righteous path of the martial world"; to achieve a bloodless victory, he parted ways with Wanyu Yuedan... It always gave the impression that in this drifting world, he was always trying to grasp something, prove something, or find something that would make him feel that the world was beautiful...

Shengxiang's face turned ashen, as if only now did the pain from the two wounds on his body begin to affect him. Lying on his side on the bed, his eyes were slightly closed, his newly changed undergarments slightly stained with blood, but without any sign of life. He didn't cry out in pain, just lay there quietly. Yu Cuiwei suddenly felt an eeriness in the silence. "Where does it hurt?" he asked softly.

Shengxiang opened her eyes slightly, glanced weakly out the window, and murmured, "You...go to Li Lingyan...there..."

"I will go. I will go as soon as the doctor arrives."

The doctor came and went.

The next day at noon.

Shengxiang had just woken up from his deep sleep when he found that Yu Cuiwei was really not there. The room was empty, and he was all alone.

Gazing silently at the rooftop, for a fleeting moment he felt as if he were at home. He imagined that if he called out "Xiao Yun," a pretty maid would come in to serve him tea and water; if he were happy to change into new clothes and go out, there would be rabbits to play with in the yard, and Taibo would dote on him. It was as if… he was still afraid of Zhao Pu passing by the door, angrily scolding him for not studying and being lazy; it was as if the wind sweeping through the room wasn't cold, but the gentle breeze of a warm April day. "Father… I have a headache, a backache, a sore back… I feel like I'm going to die…" Shengxiang murmured to the empty room, "Where's Qiyang… I don't feel well… I'm going to die, I'm going to die…"

She cried out in distress, but when she finished, she realized that no one answered. Shengxiang coughed and suddenly became somewhat awake, but for a moment she still didn't know why she was there.

It took him a long time to realize... that no one cared about him anymore... His biological parents didn't want him, his father blamed him for always causing trouble, and his older brothers hated him... Of his few good friends, some got married and some moved away. Now, he wanted to find someone to talk to, but he didn't know who was available.

It took him a long while to remember that he had been kicked out of the capital, the emperor wanted to kill him, and he could no longer stay at home... And why did everyone in the martial world want to part ways with him and go their separate ways, even becoming his enemies? Now he was still confused... Perhaps he was really too reckless and disobedient, unable to conform to the crowd, unwilling to believe in the same principles and follow the same path as everyone else, insisting on saving strange people and doing strange things, so... so that's why things turned out this way? It took him a long time to remember that Yu Xiu was sent by Rong Yin to find Qi Yang, but Rong Yin sent him to borrow the Imperial Guards, and finally Yu Cuiwei also sent him to protect Li Lingyan. One by one, the people who accompanied him were "sent away" by him, so he was left all alone.

Thinking about how he had "dispatched" people away one by one, a smile almost crept onto his lips. If it weren't for the excruciating pain from his wound, he might have burst out laughing. He paused, then stared quietly at the rooftop with clear eyes. Now that things had come to this... now that things had come to this... it would be a lie to say he hadn't considered the possibility of losing or dying. In his half-conscious state, he even hoped that Yu Xiu would never find Qi Yang and never return, that Rong Yin would be dragged away by Gu She and unable to borrow troops, and that Yu Cuiwei would escape... He hoped that A Wan would simply kill Li Lingyan, thereby establishing her power in the martial world and securing peace for his Biluo Palace; he also hoped that the expected Northern Han army would collapse halfway and disappear without a trace... He hoped that his father would live a long and safe life and have a successful campaign; he hoped that the emperor would diligently manage state affairs and treat the people kindly; he hoped that his eldest and second brothers would forget about him, their third brother, and would be brave, healthy, and often come home; he hoped that Taibo and Lao Hu would live to be a hundred years old; he hoped that Xiao Yun would marry the silly boy she liked who painted on Quyuan Street; he hoped that Xiao Hui would grow fatter and fatter; he hoped that Rong Rong and Gu She would have a son who looked like Rong Rong; he hoped that Liu Yin and Huang Juan would have a daughter who looked like Liu Yin... The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to laugh. If everyone were as he hoped, what would be wrong with him not actually existing in this world?

With a creak, the door opened, releasing a faint, sweet fragrance. Shengxiang turned her eyes and saw Wenren Nuan, wearing a padded jacket and carrying a basket, push open the door and enter. Behind her was a pretty young girl. Seeing her come in, Shengxiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Ah, Awan actually sent someone to follow me."

Wenren Nuan's eyes were slightly red, but her face was warmly smiling. "Although Yue Dan doesn't listen to you, she cares about you. Does your wound hurt?" She came in and carefully closed the doors and windows, leaving only the window facing the wind half open. She placed the bamboo basket on the table, and the little girl who had been curiously looking at Shengxiang had already brought out a table full of soups and broths.

"Are you the beggar who broke into our house last night?" He Xiaoqiu looked at Shengxiang curiously. The person on the bed had a delicate and exquisite face, and her eyes moved slightly with a touch of elegance. She didn't look like the blood-soaked beggar from yesterday at all.

"This is the son of the current Prime Minister, Young Master Shengxiang." Wenren Nuan smiled. "Xiaoqiu, you have no manners. Aren't you afraid Shengxiang will laugh at you?"

Before He Xiaoqiu could answer, Shengxiang glared and said, "Now that I am no longer the son of the current prime minister, and my father is no longer the prime minister, does that mean you can tolerate your fellow disciples being disrespectful to me?"

Wenren Nuan chuckled, "Yes, yes, it will definitely affect you in some ways, alright?" As she spoke, she picked up a medicine bottle from the table, took his pulse with her right hand, and examined the wound. "The injury isn't too serious, it's just that you bled a lot. Brother Bi always controls his sword strikes perfectly, luckily your back injury isn't too bad."

Saint Tun was turned over by her, and a little cold sweat seeped out on his forehead. He muttered, "Ah Wan doesn't listen to me. She only sends a beautiful female doctor to deceive my feelings."

Wenren Nuan smiled slightly, "He originally wanted to send a male doctor to deceive your feelings, but I took his place."

Shengxiang was startled. "A male doctor? Amitabha, this young master doesn't have Da Yu's kind of hobby..."