newbobooks Chapter 434 National Mourning Like Snow Covers the Sky, A New Emperor Will Be Ascended Amidst Underc
Chapter 434 National Mourning Like Snow Covers the Sky, A New Emperor Will Be Ascended Amidst Underc
The news reached Juzhou five days later.
Baili Luochen stood in front of the Zhenfeng silver mine, which he had just captured, listening to the scouts' reports, remaining silent for a long time.
Deputy General Sheng Yanwei probed, "My lord, with Xiao Chongjing dead, the Northern Li court will surely be in chaos. This is a golden opportunity. Should our army seize this chance to march north immediately and capture Ezhou first?"
"No rush." Baili Luochen waved his hand. "Pass on my military order: Under my command, the entire army shall wear mourning clothes for three days and shall not drink alcohol or make merry."
Sheng Yanwei was taken aback: "This... Lord Marquis, are you doing this for Xiao Chongjing's sake?"
"No, it's for an old friend."
Baili Luochen turned and looked north, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Although he betrayed me and caused Ye Yu's death... I still remember the look on his face when he swore an oath to the heavens when my brother and I swore a blood oath—'I will never betray my brother in this life.'"
That night, Baili Luochen set up an incense table in the military camp and burned three sticks of incense.
As he placed the first incense stick in the ground, he gazed northward and whispered, "Brother Ye Yu, the one who harmed you has gone to the Yellow Springs. Your nephew Ding is in my camp, so you need not worry! From today onward, you and your sister-in-law can rest in peace in the afterlife."
The second incense stick was placed on the table. Baili Luochen held the sandalwood incense and bowed to the north: "Xiao Chongjing, we were brothers, but we've come to this point because of the path you chose. If we meet again in the next life... I hope it won't be between ruler and subject!"
Holding the third incense stick in his hand, Baili Luochen looked around for a long time before slowly inserting it into the incense burner:
"This third stick of incense is offered to this chaotic world. It is offered to all those who have lost their way in the struggle for power and profit, and who have sacrificed themselves for ambition...the deceased."
As the incense burned out, the last trace of pity in Baili Luochen's eyes vanished completely.
He immediately summoned his generals, his voice ringing out:
"Sheng Yanwei, you will lead 2,500 Pofeng Army soldiers to garrison Juzhou and guard the silver mine. The rest of the troops will return to the Snow Moon City camp with me first thing tomorrow morning."
Over the next six months, we have three things to do: recruit soldiers, gather provisions and refine silver, and forge weapons. When autumn is high and the horses are fat—”
He suddenly drew his sword, pointed it north, and shouted, "Northern Expedition against Tianqi!"
……
Snow Moon City.
Ye Dingzhi stood in front of the newly erected stone tablet, which was inscribed with "The spirit tablets of my late father Ye Yu and my late mother Ye Chu".
As he burned the last stack of paper money, he suddenly looked up at the sky and laughed loudly.
The laughter was maniacal, so loud that tears even streamed down their faces.
Baili Dongjun silently walked behind him and handed him a pot of wine.
Ye Dingzhi took the bottle, tilted his head back and gulped down half of it, wiped his face and asked:
"Dongjun, tell me, after a person takes revenge... what should they do in their life?"
Baili Dongjun thought for a moment and said, "Master Gu Chen once said that life is like wine, with all its flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. Revenge is bitter wine, but once we've drunk it, we should brew sweet wine."
"Sweet wine?" Ye Dingzhi shook his head. "I'm afraid I won't be able to taste its sweetness. Xiao Chongjing is indeed dead, but my parents won't come back to life, and neither will the entire Ye family. This revenge... won't be satisfying."
After saying that, he stroked the stone tablet, his voice growing cold: "But at least, I let the person sitting on the dragon throne know before he died—that the Ye family still has descendants, and that the wronged spirits of the Ye family have been watching him all along."
“Brother Yun, please accept my condolences. Your great revenge has been achieved, and Xiao Chongjing’s death is directly related to us! If we hadn’t gone to save Senior Xin Baicao, he probably would have lived for many more years! It’s time for you to let go. What’s next? You can’t live with hatred forever…” Baili Dongjun asked.
"What's next?" Ye Dingzhi's eyes blazed with fire. "If Marquis Baili wants to launch a northern expedition, I will go with him. I want the whole world to know that the Xiao imperial family owes the Ye family the entire Northern Li kingdom!"
The two brothers drank together until late into the night. When the wine was finished, Ye Dingzhi suddenly said:
“Dongjun, you are different from me. Your heart is filled with the martial world, wine, and sword. That’s good… In this chaotic world, someone should remember what the martial world was originally like.”
Baili Dongjun smiled wryly: "Brother Yun, but I'm worried about you. I'm in Snow Moon City, my cousin is preparing to return to Lingnan, and my junior brother Xiao Ruofeng is still in the court. He might soon become the new emperor of Beili!"
And you're preparing to go to the battlefield... Our group of brothers has finally scattered.
"We won't break up." Ye Dingzhi patted his shoulder. "One day when the world is at peace, you'll treat me to the best wine, and I'll take you to the northern grasslands to eat the freshest roasted meat!"
Upon hearing this, a smile finally appeared on Baili Dongjun's dejected face. He tilted his head back and drank the wine in the gourd, then tightly grasped Ye Dingzhi's hand:
"Brother Yun, remember what you said today, it's a deal!"
Ye Dingzhi nodded emphatically: "It's a deal!"
……
Medicine King Valley, the night is as still as water.
Sikong Changfeng sat cross-legged in the medicinal pool outside the thatched hut, his upper body bare. The pool water was emerald green and had a strong medicinal fragrance.
Xin Baicao crushed the last piece of "Huai Xi Huai Jin" and sprinkled it into the pool, causing the water to boil instantly.
"Hold it!"
Xin Baicao picked up a golden needle and pierced a major acupoint on Sikong Changfeng's back: "This medicine must be applied to the damaged area of your heart meridian in order to rebuild your meridians. The process... um... is very painful, like scraping bone and removing flesh, but once you get through it... you will be a whole person."
Sikong Changfeng gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
He could feel a fiery medicinal power surging through his body's meridians into his heart, where the congenitally damaged heart meridian felt like it was being pierced repeatedly by countless fine needles.
Three hours later, the medicinal pool finally returned to calm, and the originally clear, emerald-green liquid had become murky.
When Sikong Changfeng opened his eyes, his first thought was—the world had changed!
The sound of the wind was clearer, the moonlight was brighter, and the flow of internal energy was no longer sluggish.
He tried circulating his inner energy, and a pale golden aura spontaneously protected his body, showing faint signs of breaking through to the Soaring Realm!
"Master!" He leaped out of the medicinal pool, naked, and kowtowed three times to Xin Baicao. "I will never forget your kindness in saving me!"
Xin Baicao was speechless for a moment, then turned away and said, "Don't thank me yet, go find some clothes to put on first... What kind of talk is it to be naked..."
Sikong Changfeng was so excited that he momentarily forgot he was soaking naked in the medicinal pool, and his face immediately turned as red as a monkey's bottom in the mountains.
He hastily dressed, tied his hair with a straw rope, and rushed to Xin Baicao to kowtow again in gratitude.
"Thank you, Master, for saving my life twice. It was thanks to the Azure Dragon's Guide that we were able to get there in time. Otherwise, you would have suffered so much injustice in Tianqi City..."
"I will never leave Medicine King Valley again. I will stay by your side as a medicine apprentice, so that there won't be any outsiders eyeing your medical skills..."
As he spoke, Sikong Changfeng choked up a little. Since he could remember, there were very few people who had been truly kind to him.
Xin Baicao had saved his life twice and taught him medicine; no one could remain unmoved by such kindness. Seeing tears in Sikong Changfeng's eyes, Xin Baicao quickly helped him up, her eyes filled with relief.
“Your heart meridians are now complete, and there will be no further obstacles to your cultivation. However…” he paused, “your ambitions lie elsewhere!”
"You are a wandering swordsman who comes and goes in a hurry, destined to belong to the martial world! Medicine King Valley cannot keep you, and I do not want to force you to stay... Go, when you are fully recovered and return to Snow Moon City, I heard that you are already the third city lord. Baili Dongjun is not the material to be a city lord, but you... you do have a talent!"
“But…” Sikong Changfeng was somewhat reluctant.
"Don't be afraid. I can write a letter to Wen Hujiu later and ask his nephew Wen Yanzhao to come again and set up poisonous fog at all the passes inside and outside the valley, so that no one can get in..."
Xin Baicao spoke casually, then looked at his disciple with loving eyes: "Changfeng, your ambition lies in the martial world. If one day you miss your master, you can come back to see me anytime. What do you think?"
Sikong Changfeng wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and nodded emphatically, saying, "This disciple has remembered."
……
On the night the national mourning ended in Tianqi City, Xiao Ruofeng walked alone on Zhuque Street.
The streets were deserted, and white banners fluttered in the night wind. As he walked, he suddenly felt a hand pat his shoulder from behind.
Xiao Ruofeng turned around and saw Lei Mengsha, who was looking at him with a smile.
"Seventh Brother, I knew you'd be here!" Lei Mengsha said, carrying two jars of wine. "At Diaolou Xiaozhu, I heard Master Xie has brewed a new wine called 'Forget-Worries.' Want to come and try it with me?"
“Okay!” Xiao Ruofeng readily agreed.
On the top floor of the watchtower, the two sat facing each other. After several rounds of drinks, Xiao Ruofeng suddenly asked:
"Third Senior Brother, if I were to lead an army to conquer the southwest...would you be willing to be the vanguard?"
Lei Mengsha's hand, which was holding a glass, paused in mid-air. He remembered what Li Xinyue had said to him when she applied medicine to his wound the night he left home: "Hanyi and I are waiting for you to come home."
Then I remembered my daughter Hanyi hiding behind the door, cautiously peeking out.
Loyalty and righteousness are hard to reconcile, and betraying brothers is even harder.
"Go." Lei Mengsha pondered for a long time before finally making up his mind!
He tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass, grinning, "You are my junior brother, and even more so, my brother. I'll go through fire and water with you."
Xiao Ruofeng's eyes welled up with tears, and she patted his shoulder heavily: "Thank you."
That night, the brothers drank until dawn.
Xiao Ruofeng spoke at length—his resistance to the throne, his yearning for the martial world, his guilt over his father's death, and his worries about the war in the southwest…
Lei Mengsha listened silently, occasionally interjecting with a "drink," "drink some more"... He knew that there were some things Xiao Ruofeng could only say to him.
……
On the same night, the Jingyu Prince's Mansion was in complete chaos.
Princess Hu Cuoyang suddenly went into labor, and her shrill screams echoed throughout the backyard.
Xiao Ruojin paced anxiously outside the delivery room, her palms damp with sweat, glancing into the room every now and then.
Having already had five sons, Xiao Ruojin was very much looking forward to the upcoming birth of her sixth child.
The marriage between Princess Hu Cuoyang and Xiao Ruojin was arranged by the late emperor. The two could be considered childhood sweethearts and had a deep affection for each other.
Although Xiao Ruojin was once hopelessly infatuated with Yi Wenjun's beauty, Hu Cuoyang was always the principal wife, and Xiao Ruojin never mistreated her.
"Wow...wow..."
A clear cry of a newborn baby echoed through the delivery room, startling Xiao Ruojin, who was anxiously waiting at the door.
He had never heard such a loud baby cry before, and although he was surprised, his heart finally settled down.
Just then, the midwife came out carrying the swaddled baby and exclaimed joyfully, "Congratulations, Your Highness! The Princess has given birth to a big, healthy boy!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ruojin was startled. He took the baby, whose little face was wrinkled but unusually strong. The baby cried loudly like a bell, and its eyes were wide open, staring at him fearlessly.
"This child... his cries are really quite shrill, but he looks extremely healthy..." Xiao Ruojin murmured. After looking at the child, she carefully handed him over to the wet nurse and then quickly went to the delivery bed.
Hu Cuoyang's face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat from her recent childbirth still clung to her forehead.
"Your Majesty..."
Hu Cuoyang's voice was weak, and Xiao Ruojin grasped her hand tenderly and said, "You've worked hard. It's a boy, and he looks a lot like me."
Hu Cuoyang laughed, as if struggling to sit up, but Xiao Ruojin immediately stopped her:
"Don't move. You need to rest and recuperate during this period. I'll take care of everything."
During the tender moment between Prince Jingyu and his princess, a close eunuch from the prince's residence whispered a reminder:
"Your Highness, it's time to name it!"
Xiao Ruojin then let go of Hu Cuoyang's hand and looked at the child in the wet nurse's arms.
Just as he was pondering this, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open, and Xiao Ruofeng walked in, reeking of alcohol.
Upon hearing that his sister-in-law was about to give birth, he immediately rushed back from the watchtower.
"Brother, let me see my nephew, is it a boy or a girl!"
"It's a boy, and he has a beautiful voice that can be heard even outside the Prince's mansion!"
Xiao Ruojin smiled and handed the child over. Strangely enough, as soon as the baby was in Xiao Ruofeng's arms, the crying stopped immediately, and the baby grinned at Xiao Ruofeng with its toothless little mouth.
Xiao Ruofeng examined the boy closely, growing more and more astonished: "Brother, this boy has an extraordinary face; he is destined for great things!"
Xiao Ruojin was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Really? In that case, why don't you give him a name?"
Xiao Ruofeng pondered for a moment, then a thought struck him: "The Chu Ci says, 'You do not go, yet you hesitate; who will stay on the central isle?' Why not name him... Chu He, let's call him Xiao Chu He!"
……