Chapter 813: The Emperor’s Wrath
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"Long Yi! Long Yi!"
Little Jing Kong was carried on Long Yi's back as they dashed across roofs, leaping between eaves with agility. The night wind howled past them, making him feel incredibly cool and heroic.
Not only was he unafraid, but he was also so exhilarated that he couldn't help but shout with excitement!
Long Yi wore a mask that concealed his expression, but Gu Jiao could sense the relaxation in his heart.
He was happy too.
In his days as an assassin, there had been nothing but endless killing. Though he had now forgotten his past, this kind of life had its own pure and simple beauty.
Gu Jiao watched the pair, one large and one small, leaping through the night, and she sighed with emotion. "They really are carefree."
Gu Chengfeng had been listening for so long that his ears were practically standing up like a donkey's. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "They may be carefree now, but have you ever thought about this? Liao Chen’s father is dead, and there is a very high possibility that Liao Chen himself is the third Lord of the Shadows. He became a monk, never married, and left no heirs, which means Jing Kong could very well become the fourth. If Long Yi’s mission is to kill the Lord of the Shadows, then once he regains his memory, he might target both of them!"
He paused, then turned to look at Xiao Heng with a trace of sympathy in his gaze. "And don’t think you’re safe either. You have Xuanyuan Family blood running through your veins. Who's to say he won’t come for you too? If you ask me, you guys should just forget about helping Long Yi regain his memory. He’s fine just the way he is."
Xiao Heng and Gu Jiao both turned to look at Long Yi, who was carrying Little Jing Kong through the night.
Perhaps it was just their imagination, but at that moment, he seemed to be shrouded in an overwhelming loneliness.
A man who didn’t know who he was, where he came from, or where he was going, let alone what mission and purpose he carried. He was like someone completely cast out from the world.
When he had believed himself to be a Dragon Shadow Guard, he had not felt such confusion.
But now, he knew he was not a Dragon Shadow Guard.
Xiao Heng stared at Long Yi’s tall, solitary figure and said, "He has the right to know who he is."
Gu Chengfeng shook his head in disbelief. "You’re insane. You’re absolutely insane. Do you have any idea who he really is? He’s Shi Tian! The top assassin across six states, the only one capable of defeating An Hun! He became a terrifying, legendary assassin at the age of thirteen! If he regains his memories, all of you are dead!"
He turned to Gu Jiao. "Say something to him! You’ve seen Long Yi fight. When that guy gets serious, no one survives!"
Gu Jiao held Xiao Heng’s warm hand in one of hers while rubbing her delicate chin with the other. "How about… we start by teaching Long Yi how to talk?"
Gu Chengfeng: "…"
The Crown Prince was brought back to Duke An Estate.
Gu Chengfeng didn’t bother with any politeness. He simply dumped a basin of cold water over him, jolting the Crown Prince awake. He shuddered and was just about to roar in anger when he caught sight of Gu Jiao’s raised foot.
He wisely swallowed his words.
Inside the room, only Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng were present. The Crown Prince had never seen Gu Chengfeng’s face before, but he had seen Gu Jiao.
His expression instantly turned cold as he barked in a stern voice, "Xiao Liulang! You’ve got some nerve! How dare you kidnap the Crown Prince of Great Yan!"
Gu Jiao ignored him and merely shot Gu Chengfeng a glance.
Take him away. Annoying.
Gu Chengfeng promptly dragged the Crown Prince off to the adjacent room.
By now, it was deep into the night, and the entire courtyard had fallen silent. Everyone had retired to rest. Even Little Jing Kong had fallen asleep on Long Yi’s back on the way home.
But the Emperor was still awake.
After shoving the Crown Prince into the room, Gu Chengfeng immediately turned to leave. "You two have a nice father-son chat. I’m out!"
He promptly slipped back into his own room, where he and Gu Jiao pressed their ears against the wall.
The dim oil lamp cast a yellow glow inside the room, filling the air with a faint scent of medicinal liquor and jinchuang medicine.
The Emperor sat in a grand chair by the window, his face partially obscured by the shadows cast by the flickering oil lamp. He wore a wide-brimmed hat, but his sharp, piercing eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
At first, the Crown Prince didn’t recognize him. He straightened his back arrogantly and demanded, "Who are you? Why have you captured this prince?"
With a thunderous slap against the table, the Emperor unleashed his full imperial aura. "Insolent child!"
The Crown Prince was so startled by the familiar reprimand that his legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees. "I-imperial father?!"
Now that he was looking from a different angle, he finally caught a clear glimpse of the face beneath the hat.
There was no mistake.
It was his imperial father.
The Crown Prince cautiously asked, “Imperial father, was it you who ordered Xiao Liulang to capture me? Where is this place? Why did you bring me here?”
The Emperor took in every trace of doubt on the Crown Prince’s face, instantly grasping the situation. It seemed he truly was unaware of the matter regarding the real and fake Emperor.
This confirmed that he had not been involved in the scheme.
This realization, at the very least, brought some relief to the Emperor’s heart.
The Emperor spoke indifferently, “There is no need for you to concern yourself with where we are. You only need to remember what Zhen is about to tell you.”
The Crown Prince respectfully replied, “Please speak, imperial father.”
The Emperor’s expression grew solemn as he said, “Your mother, Han shi, has been conspiring to rebel. Zhen has suffered under her machinations, and as of last night, I was no longer in the imperial palace.”
Just three short sentences, each one striking like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, leaving the Crown Prince utterly dazed.
He looked up in disbelief, staring at the Emperor as he stammered, “Imperial father… what are you saying? I don’t understand… Imperial noble consort mother plotting against you… Are you referring to the curse ritual? Imperial father, please see clearly—my mother is innocent! She was framed by villains! She has never harbored any thoughts of disloyalty towards you…”
The Emperor cast a cold glance at him and asked in a deep, steady voice, “Then tell me, how do you think Zhen left the imperial palace?”
The Crown Prince froze, unable to immediately grasp the implication behind his imperial father’s words.
That’s right.
His imperial father had just said that he had not been in the imperial palace since last night.
But that couldn’t be right; his imperial father had gone to court this morning and even issued a decree reinstating him as the Crown Prince.
The Emperor gave him a long, penetrating look before stating, “The Emperor in the imperial palace is a fake.”
The Crown Prince felt as if his chest had been struck by a hammer yet again. “The one in the imperial palace… is fake… then…”
Then the decree reinstating him as Crown Prince was also fake?
So that explained it. How could he have regained his status so easily?
His father never intended to reinstate him, nor to investigate the Imperial Advisor’s Hall and Shangguan Yan. It was all part of his mother’s scheme——
“No, no… that’s not it… I don’t believe it!”
He staggered to his feet, his gaze toward the Emperor filled with an unfamiliar wariness. “My imperial noble consort mother would never betray you, imperial father…”
The Emperor fixed his gaze on him and asked, “Then how do you explain the presence of another Emperor in the imperial palace? Do you truly think that, at this very moment, Zhen sneaked out of the palace just to stage a ridiculous act of two Emperors to deceive you?”
If the Emperor truly wanted to deal with the Crown Prince and Han shi, he wouldn’t have needed to go through such trouble.
The Crown Prince was instantly rendered speechless.
But he still couldn’t accept the fact that he had been reinstated by a false decree.
He had fought so hard to soar back to the heavens—he refused to fall again!
Clenching his fists tightly, he gritted his teeth and declared, “No… that’s not right… My imperial father is not a fake… If there are truly two Emperors, then the imposter… must be you! My imperial father despises Xiao Liulang the most! Xiao Liulang is arrogant, defiant of imperial authority, and never kneels before my imperial father. He even colluded with Duke An—someone my father loathes! Furthermore, he is from a lower nation; how could he possibly surpass so many noble sons from an upper state and seize command of the Black Wind Cavalry? Every single one of these things is something my imperial father could never tolerate!”
“If you are truly my imperial father, as you claim, and you were forced out of the imperial palace, then the first person you would have sought out would be Wang Xu, the one my father trusts the most—not Xiao Liulang!”
“You’ve slipped up, haven’t you? I don’t know what trick Xiao Liulang used to find someone who looks and sounds so much like my imperial father, but a fake is still a fake! I advise you not to aid and abet this fraud, or else, with my imperial father’s methods, you will suffer a fate worse than death!”
The Emperor listened to the Crown Prince’s impassioned speech, but instead of refuting him immediately, he simply fell into silence.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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Description:
In the suspenseful supernatural novel “Records of Mortals,” Jiang Baiyan, once a solitary and impoverished youth, finds refuge in the Shi family of Chang’an due to his extraordinary bloodline. With his clear and captivating peach blossom eyes, this seemingly innocent young man conceals a fanatical and malevolent lunatic within. Destined to succumb to darkness amidst hardship and degradation, he becomes a harbinger of chaos.
When Shi Dai suddenly transmigrates, she takes on the role of the Shi family’s young lady, the one who subjects him to countless trials, eventually leading to her demise.
The twist? She never got to finish reading the novel.
From what she knew of the plot, Jiang Baiyan was just a silent, timid, and often bullied pitiable character.
***
Jiang Baiyan had never encountered someone like Shi Dai.
After he had slaughtered all the evil creatures in the garden, the blood-stained young man, exuding a murderous aura, approached her step by step, his lips curling into a malicious smile, "Scared?"
Shi Dai responded, “You’re really amazing! I applaud you until I spin like a spiral and fly around the moon three hundred times! And also——you have dimples when you smile!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
After seeing her at a lantern festival with another man, Jiang Baiyan lowered his eyes, his fingers twirling her hair. He said in a mocking and sinister tone, "The mansion in the western suburbs...if I hide you there, no one will find you, right?"
Shi Dai replied, "Does it come with meals and lodging? Can I sleep in everyday? Oh, and your cooking is the best!"
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
—
Jiang Baiyan was supposed to dislike her, even hate her, but as their separation drew near, his eyes turned red and he grabbed her sleeve, pleading, "Don't abandon me, alri—”
Shi Dai responded, "Alright, alright, I’ll only have you. Mwah."
Jiang Baiyan: ...?
He hasn't finished his lines yet though…