The night was dark, and the palace lantern in the corner made a "peeling" sound. The little palace attendant who was on duty suddenly woke up and hurriedly got up and cut off the burnt candle wick.
Everything around is completely silent. In such a night, it is inevitable for people to think of some strange stories about gods and gods, as if even the shadows are hiding something unspeakable and weird.
The little palace lady looked around, seeing shadows everywhere, and felt a chill on the back of her neck.
Is everything going to be okay? It's so scary in the middle of the night...
She turned her gaze to the room, and there happened to be a cough coming from inside. While her mind calmed down a little, she couldn't help but feel a trace of sympathy.
The Duke of Zhao is an unparalleled hero. Because he brought peace to the world, today's peaceful days are possible. Unfortunately, good people suffer many hardships. She was transferred to the museum only to find out that the Duke of Zhao had a hidden illness. Once he got sick, he would have unbearable headaches and be in extreme pain.
In fact, the Duke of Guo is really a good master. He does not kill people randomly or lose his temper. Even if he makes one or two mistakes, as long as he has a correct attitude, he will give him a chance. The little palace people sincerely hope that the Duke of Guo can cure his illness and regain his health.
,but……
Suddenly a figure appeared on the wall, and the little palace man was so frightened that he almost screamed.
A cold voice sounded in time: "Is the Duke in there?"
The young palace man then looked up and saw a face he hadn't seen for a long time.
It's the Second Young Master! She hasn't seen him for several months. She heard rumors before that the Second Young Master intended to be unfaithful to the Duke and the Crown Prince and was expelled from the capital. But she knew this was false and the Duke was separated from him.
I have to ask about the whereabouts of the second young master in a few days. How can I not look forward to his return?
——But aren’t there guards outside? Why didn’t anyone tell the second young master when he came in?
The little palace man didn't have time to think about it, so he just nodded hastily, and saw a few people following behind him, guarding the door.
"Young master, go ahead." She recognized the person who spoke, the distinguished General Xue. He looked solemn and spoke loudly, "We will stay here. If you don't say anything, no one can come in!"
What is this for? Why does something seem wrong? Then the young man in the palace saw the second young master ducking into the inner room. Just as he was about to shout, he was already held down by General Xue.
"Little girl, as long as you are obedient and don't make any noise, you will be fine."
…
Yan Ling entered the inner room and looked at her father quietly on the bed.
In fact, it had been a long time since he had been alone with his father like this. Looking back, all these changes began six years ago. His father was seriously injured on the battlefield, and news came from home that his mother had been infected with the plague and died. He rushed home,
It was discovered that there was something behind the death of his mother, and then he found out the mystery of his eldest brother's life experience.
But at that time, the eldest brother had already taken the decision in the Zhaoguo Duke's palace. He could only endure it, slowly enrich his wings, and wait to one day show his mother Zhaoxue.
This wait has been until today.
After all, Duke Zhao Guo was a master. He woke up soon. When he saw it was him, he looked surprised: "Xiao Er, are you back?"
There was no smile on Yan Ling's face. Soon, Duke Zhao noticed something strange on his body. His cuffs seemed to be stained with something, and even his hands were stained a little.
A faint fishy smell came over, and Duke Zhao quickly understood that it was blood!
"Xiaoer, what have you done? Where did the blood come from?" Zhao Guogong sat up and asked.
Yan Ling suddenly laughed and replied, "It's brother's blood."
Duke Zhao's face froze and he looked at him steadily: "What did you do?"
"As you can see!" Yan Ling said, throwing the blood-stained crown of the crown on the ground, and said calmly, "Big brother is gone."
Duke Zhao Guo looked at his second son in shock: "You..." and then became angry, "How could you do such a thing? I know that you brothers have been at odds over the years. The boss did make mistakes, but he also
It's not like... Aling, brothers are like brothers, why do you have to do this! You originally had a deep friendship, how could you turn against each other just for the sake of power?"
"Power?" Yan Ling sneered, "Does my father still pretend to be an idiot to this day? I don't want to pretend anymore! What do you, father and son, think of my mother and me? Let my mother take care of you when you need it.
Internal affairs, let me conquer the world for Yan Cheng. When I succeeded, I was poisoned to death with a bowl of medicine. First it was my mother, and now it’s my turn! Unfortunately, the people he sent out were too useless and couldn’t kill me."
Duke Zhao frowned: "He sent someone to kill you?"
"Why, are you pretending not to know, father?" Yan Ling's voice became even colder, "It's not just this time. Ever since I conquered Jiangbei, there have been twenty or thirty assassinations with poisons and assassinations in the back. Why don't you?
Ask me why I don’t want a wife and I don’t even want a girl, because I’m afraid that if I want a girl, I have to guard against the pillow knife!”
It took Duke Zhao a long time to come back to his senses and murmured: "It turns out that you brothers have reached this point..."
Seeing him like this, Yan Ling mocked: "What are you doing with that expression? Don't say you don't know anything."
Duke Zhao Guo was speechless and thought of his previous words: "What did you say about your mother? What do you mean it's your mother first? What's going on?"
When this matter was mentioned, Yan Ling's anger was really ignited: "What did you do, do you think I don't know? You committed adultery with the palace concubine, gave birth to an adulterous son, and then deceived my mother and used the adulterous son as the eldest son. I
What mistake did my mother make? She worked so hard to raise her adulterous son, only to have him killed, and yet you only indulged him and protected him. What do you think my mother is? What do you think of our mother and son?!"
Every word was like a sharp arrow piercing into Duke Zhao's heart. He was shocked beyond measure.
"What did you say? Your mother didn't die of illness? She..."
"What is the reason for the illness?" Yan Ling sneered, "My mother has always been in good health, and there is no shortage of doctors and medicines at home. He said he was infected with the plague, and you actually believed it? Yes, not only did you believe it, you also gave him the authority to let him
He has a chance to erase the clues!"
Duke Zhao was like thunder. He recalled that year, he was ambushed on the battlefield and narrowly escaped death. He returned to Tongyang with his life, but he heard that his wife contracted the plague while settling the victims, and the treatment failed and died unfortunately. He was greatly affected.
The injury recurred due to the blow. In a hurry, he temporarily handed over the seal to the eldest son and asked him to investigate...
"Impossible, how is this possible?!" Zhao Guogong came back to his senses after a while, "A Cheng knows his life experience? How did he know? That's not the case, he..."
"You still have to pretend!" Yan Ling was furious, "He colluded with Concubine Liu Xian, poisoned my mother, and marginalized me everywhere. If it weren't for your acquiescence, how could he have done so many things?"
Yan Ling took a deep breath, calmed down her emotions, and still looked at him coldly: "Well, my mother has been gone for so many years, what's the point of saying this? Brother has paid the price for what he has done, and now it's your turn
Yes, father."
"Aling!" Duke Zhao grabbed him and asked, "Tell me clearly, what happened to your mother? She, she..."
"Are you still denying it?" Yan Ling sneered, and with the intention of making him understand, she turned to the outside and said, "Bring the things in."
"Yes, sir." It was Yan Ji who came in. He was holding a big box in his hand, which contained various documents, documents and sundries.
He knelt in front of Duke Zhao and took out the things one by one: "Mr. Duke, this is Aunt Zhuang's testimony, this is the account book of the drugstore, and this is the record of Daming Temple..."
Duke Zhao Guo picked up these things with trembling hands, tears falling unconsciously: "Ayi..."
He was heartbroken and said to his second son: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Your eldest brother is indeed not your mother's biological child, but things are not what you think! If I had known earlier..."
It's a pity that Yan Ling was unmoved: "Do you think I will believe you in this way? I also wanted to ask my father for details, but when I returned to Tongyang, what did I see? The entire Duke's Mansion fell to him.
In his hands, without your permission, can Yan Cheng do it?!"
Duke Zhao was stunned. He wanted to say that this was not the case. At that time, his injury recurred and he had to temporarily transfer the authority. However, when he thought that he had never doubted Yan Cheng, this gave him the opportunity to erase the traces, so what did he say?
I can't even say it.
Forget it, the big mistake has been made, and those who don't deserve to die are all dead. What else can he say to argue?
It was his oversight, his failure to fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and father, and his wrong decision that led to today's bitter consequences.
Fortunately, he thought that the quarrel between the two sons was due to the blindness of power, but it turned out that there was so much inside story.
Every mistake is his fault.
In grief, his head felt dizzy and he felt pain in waves.
"Can't tell? In that case, shouldn't you go to my mother to apologize?" He said this and took a step forward.
At this point, Duke Zhao's secret guards had to appear and shouted: "Second Young Master, stop!"
Hearing the noise, Xuan Tiewei also rushed in: "Who dares to attack the young master?!"
The guards outside found out and quickly started a confrontation with Xue Yi and others.
The leader of the secret guard was very anxious and asked: "Second Young Master, are you trying to disrespect your father because of your stiff wings? The world has just been peaceful, are you sure you want father and son to turn against each other and let outsiders benefit?"
Yan Ling was unmoved. What did he care about now? In this world, everyone he cared about was dead. It didn't matter whether he lived or not.
Seeing that he could not be persuaded, the leader could only shout to Xue Yi: "General Xue, do you really want to watch the second young master make a big mistake? Even if he wins today, he will be infamy in the history books!"
Xue Yi calmly replied: "General Lu, I will do whatever the young master says. I don't care if you call him names, so of course I won't care."
Seeing that it was about to break out, a voice suddenly came from outside: "Everyone, please wait for a moment!"
Yan Ling frowned, hearing the sound of intensive fighting outside, and soon a slovenly old Taoist stepped in under the escort of Qingxuan.
"Why are you here?" he asked Qingxuan.
After burying Xu Yin, he also asked her what the three people around her planned. Lao Yu and Chai Qi said that they would guard the tomb for the third lady and stay in Liangchuan from now on. Qingxuan said that he still had a master to support, since
If the third lady is gone, then he will go back to the master.
"This is your master?"
Qingxuan responded: "Second Young Master Yan, in fact, I stayed with Third Miss because of Master's order."
These words sounded quite mysterious, and Yan Ling looked at the old Taoist.
The veteran didn't seem to see so many swords and weapons, and walked directly to Duke Zhao. The secret guard wanted to stop him, but he didn't know how he did it, so he just brushed his sleeves away.
The old Taoist stretched out his hand to press Duke Zhao's forehead, and a trace of mist emerged from his palm. After a while, Duke Zhao took a breath and finally recovered.
He looked at the old Taoist in a daze: "Taoist Master..."
The old Taoist chuckled: "The Duke still recognizes the old Taoist? It's not easy, it's been eight years."
Duke Zhao looked gloomy. Eight years ago, Emperor You issued an order to march south to Dongjiang, and the Yan family's army was also mobilized. On the way back, he saw that the Xu sisters were pitiful, so he took care of them.
This old man appeared at that time. He was slovenly and begged for food. No one else gave him anything, but the Xu sisters gave him a share. Because of this incident, he had a good impression of the Xu sisters. Who would have thought that the old man would eat?
Afterwards, I came to him and told him that he had told him a fortune telling that the Yan family would bring trouble to Xiao Qiang, and that the turning point was the Xu sisters.
At that time, his family was in harmony, how could he believe this. Later, the two sons became more and more hostile. Every time he thought of Lao Dao's words, he regretted why he didn't ask more questions.
"The Taoist Master is really not a mortal. The imperial city is heavily guarded, but you feel like you are in a deserted place."
The old Taoist smiled and said: "Oh, don't think too much about this. The old Taoist can enter the imperial city because of my disciple. He has the token given by your son..."
Duke Zhao: "..."
He cheered up: "Then why did the Taoist priest come here today?"
"Of course it's to resolve disputes."
Duke Zhao Guo smiled bitterly: "The big mistake has been made, so what's the point of resolving it? The dead will not come back, and those sins will not disappear."
"That's not necessarily the case." The old Taoist smiled, "Maybe the dead can be resurrected, and those who made mistakes can also have a chance to do it again."
Duke Zhao was puzzled: "Is the Taoist joking?"
The old Taoist looked at Yan Ling: "Second Young Master Yan, if you really have a chance to come back, what price can you pay?"
Yan Ling said coldly: "Taoist Master is Qingxuan's elder. I don't care about what happened today. Don't talk nonsense anymore!"
The old man sighed: "You young man, you are so stubborn. Since you don't even want your own life, what nonsense do you care about? Don't you want Miss Xu San to survive?"
Yan Ling did not speak, but Duke Zhao showed a trace of confusion: "Miss Xu San? Who?"
"To be honest, I came today not for you, but for Miss Xu San. There was a mystery in her body, and her fate should not have been like this. Now that she died young, the law of heaven has also been messed up. I had to accept her in the first place.
I am grateful for my kindness, so I came to look for a glimmer of hope, just in time to sort out the way of heaven."
A favor from a meal... Duke Zhaoguo immediately thought of the Xu sisters and couldn't help being surprised.
"She... the waiter?"
Yan Ling's expression was dull. He was so heartbroken that he couldn't listen to these words at all.
Qingxuan was anxious: "Second Young Master Yan, even if you don't believe in my master, you should believe in me for once! After the third lady passed away, my master calculated that the world would be in chaos for decades, so he came up with such a method. Don't you not want to
Are you alive? Don’t you want to give it a try?”
Duke Zhao Guo asked for him: "Taoist Priest, what is the method?"
The old Taoist said: "Use the merits of your father and son to save the world in exchange for the chance of Heaven's return."
I'm thinking about whether there is anything else I need to write. If not, I'll just write a postscript.