"Does father beware of Jingyu?" Yan Bao had learned to be docile and realized that he had to follow his father"s words if he wanted to return to the capital. Although Yan Bao was not reconciled to the arrangement, he could do nothing because his father had the power that could subvert the whole kingdom.After supper, Yan Shen wrote a letter and asked Yan Bao to return to the border as soon as possible, and cautioned against any stop along the way. Yan Bao must give the letter to Madam Yu in person. Therefore, Yan Bao and his servants hastened to the destination day and night and kept his father"s warning in mind. Yan Bao did not dare to sleep in the inn, instead, they slept in the mountain forest. With Di Qing"s order, Leng Cang led strong soldiers to chase them hurriedly. As early as Yan Bao had returned to the Yan residence, the spy of the border had sent the message back to the palace. So, Di Qing ordered Leng Cang to take trusted subordinates and intercept Yan Bao on the halfway. But out of the expectation, Yan Bao did not sleep in the inn at night, and Leng Cang had no chance to block him.
"Climb over the mountain and we will arrive at the Yanting Pa.s.s. Let"s stay here tonight." Yan Bao got off the horse and found a clean place.
"Young Master, let me find some jerky to go with wine."
"Don"t bother to do that. Just get over tonight."
Yan Bao"s a.s.sistant called Yan Shen took the luggage from the horseback and took out a wine bag from the pack as a protection against the cold. Yan Shen knew that his Young Master was craving for wine again, and he searched for a while and found some smoked beef jerky. Yan Bao took the jerky and drank the wine forthrightly. And Yan Shen also robbed the beef jerky from a tall guy and took gulps of wine. They all ate and drank to repletion. Leng Cang rushed out with a mask on the face. Yan Bao threw the wine bag away and got ready for the fight because the thing in his arms was closely related to Yan family. His father had repeatedly warned him. So, the letter was of great significance. Leng Cang held a sharp sword in his hand and chopped at Yan Bao. At that moment, Yan Shen also held a sword and dashed from the crowd. Yan Bao leaped and dodged Leng Cang"s attack. Ordered by Di Qing, Leng Cang would not have any mercy for Yan Bao and raised his sword to leave a cut on Yan Bao"s face. A stabbing pain spread from Yan Bao"s face. "How dare the person was to be ruthless to me!" Yan Bao thought and cleaved at Leng Cang with the sword in his hand. Leng Cang turned over and attacked him from the back. Then, the sword pierced through Yan Bao"s skin and flesh. It was too late to duck. Yan Bao felt his back was being torn off.
"Young Master."
Yan Shen rushed up, not expecting that the bandits were so vicious, and pressed hard on Yan Bao"s wound, hoping that Young Master could survive to the Yanting Pa.s.s. However, Leng Cang was bloodthirsty for killing. He totally ignored everything but just chopped toward them again. Yan Shen blocked the Sword Qi, thinking that he would not survive if the Young Master would die. Leng Cang thrust many chops, and Yan Shen blocked for the Young Master with his back. Yan Bao was not Leng Cang"s match and could not fight back any more within several movements. Leng Cang raised his sword and attacked again. Seeing things going worse, Yan Shen pushed his Young Master away. Yan Bao could do nothing but witness Yan Shen was thrown away by Leng Cang, so Yan Bao rushed up to save Yan Shen. Unexpectedly, Leng Cang gave one more chop. Then, Yan Bao fell to the ground straightforward. Leng Cang was in a cold sweat by his own accidental drop, because Di Qing had repeatedly warned him that Yan Bao"s life should be left before leaving the palace. Looking at the blood on the sword, Leng Cang felt it was too late to regret, so he gave one more chop to Yan Bao, whatever the consequences would be. Noticing the Young Master was killed by the masked person, Yan Shen ran away immediately. Leng Cang chopped toward Yan Shen to leave no living creature. Witnessing the Young Master was dead, Yan"s servants were in a panic. Leng Cang just raised his sword and killed them all. Those servants did not know why they would die till their death. Some gang leaders came up to rummage Yan Bao"s clothes and found the letter with great joy, and then, Leng Cang threw Yan Bao"s body into the bottom of the valley. Yan Shen covered his mouth in the distance and witnessed helplessly that the Young Master was flung down. However, Leng Cang did not care about too much, because he just acted on the King"s order.
"To put well the evidence of Yan Shen"s scheme," Leng Cang said. And the gang leader hurried to put well the letter. When the bandits faded away, Yan Shen walked along the mountain road to the bottom of the valley, and decided not to let Young Master"s corpse abandoned in the wild. He became sadder at the thought of Yan Bao"s care. When reaching the bottom, Yan Shen had been exhausted, since he was also injured badly by Leng Cang. The blood kept flowing from the wounds, which made Yan Shen dazed. He would die without a doubt if the thing went on like it. Thus, he went to find some hemostatic herbs. The deep valley was covered with thorns, and his legs were torn several cuts. The old wounds had been cured, but new wounds were added. Yan Shen had no way but to clench his teeth to find Yan Bao. Not until it was at dawn that he finally found Yan Bao.
"Has the Lord slept?"
Yan Shen could not speak for his sobbing. And the gatekeeper was drawn attention by the cries, wondering why he was crying at night, so came up to uncovered the clothes. After looking at it, the gatekeeper fell on the ground with great shock, because it was Yan Bao on his back. Judging from the livor mortis, Yan Bao had been dead for several days. The gatekeeper woke up the chamberlain. The chamberlain was named Zhang Biao. When seeing Yan Bao"s corpse, Zhang Biao had no time to be sad, instead, he arranged people to clean and change clothes for the corpse, and Yan Shen was taken away to heal the wound. Zhang Biao asked the gatekeeper to keep anyone away from the corpse. It was a great matter, and Zhang Biao himself did not dare to make any decision. So, he ran to report it to the Lord in a hurry. Zhang Biao walked to the main room. Those little servants who were keeping watch at night all lowered their heads down.
"When did the Lord sleep?"
"A while ago."
"Lord, the person of the border comes back."
Zhang Biao stood outside, trying to control his trembling voice, but he still sobbed. Inside the room, Yan Shen got fl.u.s.tered at the words of the border. Yan Bao had just gone for several days. Even if he would come back, he could not reach so fast. The more Yan Shen thought, the more frightened he got. Had an accident happened? Yan Shen got up from the bed and searched for the shoes. His hands were quivering to heavily to pick his shoes up. The little servant outside the room came to serve him in a hurry. Yan Shen took several deep breaths to pacify his vital force. It was not the time to get fl.u.s.tered. Zhang Biao walked slowly.
"Lord."
Zhang Biao"s voice was brimmed with sadness. Yan Shen sank on the side of the bed, his hands clenching so tightly the side that the blue veins bulged on his hands. Yan Shen repressed his sadness. Even though Zhang Biao did not tell directly, Yan Shen had guessed that his son had died. But guessing was totally another matter. When faced with the truth, Yan Shen could not control himself, tears dropping. Who could know the sadness of a white-haired man? His son died with an everlasting grievance who had been chopped everywhere, even bones on the arms and cheeks exposed. The murder wanted nothing but Yan family became defunct. Yan Shen arranged his son"s clothes well. When his mood calmed down, Yan Shen held his hands behind, then Zhang Biao saw a more ruthless master.
"Who sent Bao"er back? I want to see him."
Zhang Biao led the Senior Master in. When seeing the Lord, Yan Shen attempted to stand up immediately. But Yan Shen stopped him and signed him not to move.
"Lord."
Yan Shen could not hold back his tears.
"Tell me what happened. How did Bao"er die?"
Yan Shen forced back his sorrow and would not permit his son to die in vain. Yan Shen was bound to take this revenge.
"Lord, Yan Shen is useless and made Young Master suffer the deadly tribulation. When we nearly approached Yanting Pa.s.s, we encountered robbery and killing. The robbers wore masks and came for the letters."
"Lord, how about Young Master"s funeral affairs?"
"Chamberlain Zhang, I will make a high-profile funeral for my son to let the whole Qi Kingdom know that Yan family had no offsprings. And spread words that the King of the Qi Kingdom colludes with the monsters, which will bring disasters to the hundred-year foundation of the Qi Kingdom. Yan Shen, take care of yourself."
Yan Shen walked out of the room and headed to the study room, followed closely Zhang Biao. Yan Shen entered the study room, prepared the paper and ink, and rewrote the letter. This time, Yan Shen used Madam Yu"s spiritual thing to seal up the envelope. It was the first time for Zhang Biao to see such a precious spiritual thing. He stared openmouthed. When the spiritual thing stretched out the wings and dashed out of the roof, the roof was broken into debris.
Yan Shen sank on the soft couch, trying to stand up, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not. Zhang Biao came forward to offer a hand, but was stopped by Yan Shen. Yan Shen let out a deep sigh. Sadness flooded in. The Lord pretended to be strong.
"Send a message to the palace that Madam Ou is ill again."
Jingyu certainly knew Yan Shen"s purpose. To put it simply, Yan Shen blamed Ou Jingyu"s incompetence, because she failed to meet Yan Shen"s demand. These days, Ou Jingyu always wore a frown. She had secretly made several requests to serve the King at bedtime, but was turned down by the Specialized Management Agency. Ou Jingyu was burning with anxiety. After some secret inquiries, she knew that the Majesty had been sleeping in the imperial study. Did something serious happen in the palace?
That night, Ou Jingyu had hidden herself in the room before, but out of her expectation, she had been waiting there for four hours but still could not see Di Qing. Ou Jingyu ran out of her patience, and was about to leave but the footsteps ringing outside scared her to hide behind the screen again. Through the thin window, Leng Cang followed Di Qing closely. Ou Jingyu had seen Leng Cang before and known that he was Di Qing"s p.a.w.n. It was Leng Cang who had created difficulties in selecting the Commander in Chief, and then Yan Shen forced Ou Jingyu to enter the palace. It was late and the two came to the imperial study. Apparently, they were plotting something evil. Ou Jingyu hid herself behind the screen and fixed her eyes on the entrance hall. Di Qing opened the letter slowly. Ou Jingyu extended her neck and widened her eyes, trying to see something, but just some ink marks. Di Qing narrowed his eyes into a slit. Ou Jingyu knew that he was about to burst into a fury. Ou Jingyu covered her eyes and closed her eyes. As expected, the entrance hall suffered, including chairs and tables. Leng Cang did not expect it, because he came there for taking credit for what he had done, but stirred up Di Qing"s thundering rage. Not knowing what to do, Leng Cang felt his legs weak and fell on the ground with his two knees. Ou Jingyu was most fed up with this kind of man. He even abandoned the fine quality of a true man. Ou Jingyu looked down upon him behind the screen. When catching clear sight of the letter, Leng Cang was very depressed. Yan Shen was too sly. It was a fake letter. Di Qing"s plan turned into nothing. The thing that Leng Cang had taken great pains to grab was just Yan Shen"s dirty trick.
"Really terrific."
"Your Majesty?" Leng Cang sensed his scalp numb.
"Stand up first. You are not his match."
"Your Majesty, could you please make it clear?" Leng Cang was not convinced, but had to. How did such a father exist in the world who took his own son as bait? No one could believe it.
"Yan Shen, this fellow had predicted our action, so he asked his son to take with the fake letter to the Yanting Pa.s.s. But you killed his son and took time and energy to get the false evidence."
"Your Majesty, what can I do now? The old fox will destroy me. No one could expect that he would take his son"s life as a stake."
Leng Cang was on a tenterhook because he knew Yan Shen would not spare him, and the only person who was able to help him was the Majesty. Leng Cang knelt on the ground truthfully and wished nothing but Di Qing directed a bright road to him. Ou Jingyu behind the screen understood that Yan Shen used his son as stakes to attract Di Qing out. A vicious tiger would not eat its curbs, and Yan Shen was even worse than a beast. Thinking of herself, Ou Yujing was overwhelmed by the feeling of sorrow, because she was also an insignificant n.o.body, and perhaps one day, she would be flung away as well. What if she would be abandoned by Yan Shen? What could her mother do at that time? The more Ou Jingyu thought, the sadder she became, and she could not hold back her tears. Then, the two in the entrance hall heard the sound and walked to the screen. Ou Jingyu thought it was too bad, so afraid of being spotted, she climbed up to the roof in a hurry.