His son"s death was a devastating blow. Yan Shen stayed in the mourning hall. Night wind flickered the light. Yan Shen squatted down to shield the altar lamp. Tears coursed down this old man"s cheeks, and he just wished his son would enjoy a bright life in the next life.
"Lord, it has been midnight. Please take a rest..." Zhang Biao let out a long sigh and fully understood Lord"s grief. Several years ago, Zhang Biao had the same sorrow as Lord when Zhang Biao"s son pa.s.sed away. So he stood outside the mourning hall, accompanying the Lord silently. Under the light, the lord stood there with a scoop.
"My son! I am the murderer..." Yan Shen touched the coffin shakily, his fingers moving little by little. Zhang Biao came up to help him, but Yan Shen stopped him. Yan Shen thought it was he who did something wrong to his son. To stir up trouble, Yan Shen sent his son to the road of death. Yan Shen regretted what he had done—to have his son killed for his own desire.
"Lord, the palace sends the funeral couplet."
"The fox mourns the death of the hare... I would like to see what trick Di Qing wants to play."
Yan Shen was rather arrogant. The little palace servant took reward money and entered the mourning hall cautiously. In the dim candlelight, the coffin looked scary. The little palace servant thought it was really a tough job—the King sent him there, but he had to care about his life all the time. When blue light appeared from the paper money, the little palace servant ran away with fright. Yan Shen looked at the coffin in surprise. In the floating light, blood came from Yan Bao"s seven apertures. The more the little servant looked, the more scared he became. So he ran out of the mourning hall in a hurry. However, the floating light chased him tightly, which frightened the little palace servants to fall on the ground with weak legs. He thought he had to die here tonight. When the floating light came closer, the little palace servant foamed at the mouth and fainted. Yan Shen followed it closely and stretched his hands out into the floating light. To his surprise, it was Yan Shen, his son"s servant, in the image.
"Why you?"
"Lord, it is the people of the palace who kill the young master. I will take revenge for the young master."
Looking at the palace servant pa.s.s out, Yan Shen came up and gave a kick. Then, the palace servant was thrown out by Yan"s servants. When he woke up, he was startled, because a flock of stray dogs were looking at him fiercely. The palace servant thought Yan Shen, the old thing, did want to rebel. So when the palace servant came back to the palace, he told what he had suffered to Di Qing. Di Qing was in a fine rage, but did not know how to relieve it. He discussed with Leng Cang about the countermeasures. But Leng Cang was absolutely terrified about the palace servant"s words, fearing that Yan Bao would come to take Leng Cang"s life away because he had killed Yan Bao.
Di Qing hated those with big mouths. The king of the Qi Kingdom had strong evil spirit, and the underground palace where blood souls were fostered was full of Yin Qi. And the common people were always suspicious of Di Qing. So this time when the palace servant mentioned the ghost in Yan residence, Di Qing resented so much that his spiritual fingers swept lightly and threw the little palace servant out. The palace servant who seemed not to grow eyes did court death. Di Qing would get rid of anyone who dared to sway people"s minds. Leng Cang felt uneasy, and he did not fear the underground palace because he had nothing to do with the Blood Pool, but it was he who was to blame for Yan Bao"s death.
"Yan Shen colludes with other tribes. Why not remove him? And still allow him to make more trouble?"
"I am not afraid. But before having the certainty to win, we should not take reckless action. When I get the Heavenly Book, no one will dare to look down upon the Qi Kingdom."
"But currently, Yan Shen was harder to handle. Your Majesty, we should think of some ways to deal with him."
"Yes. Using his son as bait and making trouble. And then, he will want to overturn my world. It"s not so easy! The things that Madam Yu wants? I will give them to her. I would like to see what Yan Shen can do, then."
Madam Yu Jin put the spiritual thing well. In Yan Shen"s letter, he asked Madam Yu to direct her army to the south on the 6th day this month, because it was the day for the grand ceremony for the Kunlun"s Sect Master when Di Qing would follow Chidi to rob the Heavenly Book. Madam Yu Jin calculated in her heart that she was afraid that Yan Shen won the world and all were in vain at that time. However, she would not allow herself to work for nothing. So she decided that she"d better go to Yan residence to make an agreement with Yan Shen in person. When Madam Yan arrived at Yan residence, Yan Bao had been laid to rest. She heard that Yan Bao had been killed by Di Qing. In the hall, Yan Shen leaned against the soft couch, holding a heater in his arms. March was coming, but the old man still feared chill. Did Yan Bao"s death destroy Yan Shen"s ambition? Madam Yu did not like this kind of Yan Shen.
"The little girl was picked up by others!"
"Madam Yu... why didn"t you watch her carefully..."
Yan Shen stressed his voice. He had planned to use the little girl to threaten Lin Xiaosa, but unexpectedly, the useless woman ruined it. Yan Shen threw a cold glance at her. However, Madam Yu was rather tough, thinking that the old man did not figure out what was going on now—Yan Shen could rest on n.o.body but her, so how could he dare to make a show of authority? Yan Shen did not fear that the woman would turn hostile, because if Yu Jin did not help him, there was still one person on his side. But the person remained mysterious. Yan Shen did not know him, let alone the common people could not know about the person"s origin.
In Yan Shen"s secret room, people were plotting rebellion. All the influential officials gathered there. And it was more like a dynasty here. Yan Shen sat up high in a leading position, a group of ministers stood around and worshipped him. Madam Yu rested her wavering heart at peace at the sight of the scene. As a matter of fact, before coming there, she had received the letter from Di Qing to make alliance, and Di Qing even provided more benefits to her. Therefore, Madam Yu was a bit wavering. But when Yan Shen opened the secret room, Madam Yu was in a trance because Yan Shen was more like a King. All of the Qi"s important officials in superior grade gathered there. Madam Yu could not help but have a high opinion of Yan Shen. All of these people were in a high position, but were willing to take Yan Shen"s order. It seemed that Yan Shen did have some means. Madam Yu looked at the important ministers in the hall and found few of them familiar to her. These people received wages from Di Qing but worked for Yan Shen. Di Qing was sure to vomit blood as long as he knew it.
"This is Madam Yu..."
The influential officers greeted her with nods. Yan Shen had a couch placed in the hall. Madam Yu did not lose her momentum, and she flung her sleeves and sat down. Then, the hall was silent.
"a.s.sistant Prime Minister is helping common people under heaven get rid of the evil."
A man dressed delicately came up and talked with eloquence first, followed by a group of people fawning on Yan Shen. Madam Yu observed Yan Shen, finding that the old man did not reveal his happiness and any other emotion on the face. His ambition was hidden in the surging surface. Madam Yu thought Yan Shen was more foresighted compared with Di Qing. Therefore, she was inclined to Yan Shen. And Di Qing had not expected that his officials would transfer their allegiance to Yan Shen.
"Di Qing killed my son and the Emperor of the last dynasty. He even colluded with the demon and fostered blood souls in the underground palace. Such a king will lead the Qi Kingdom to the road of no return."
"Your Lordship, you"re right. We are angry but dare not speak. With your order, we will take the Demon Emperor down and support you as the king."
The crowd was enormously enthusiastic in the hall, each of them full of fighting will. Yan Shen was excited inwardly. Although he had lost his son, he could win so many followers. The outcome was valuable for the effort. He believed that he had taken the right movement. Only by causing the important ministers" grudge for Di Qing could Yan Shen had the confidence to win. In fact, Yan Shen had a number of disciples and always behaved in low profile. So he could arouse more sympathy. Then, they set the uprising time as the 6th day of this month, that was to say, it was the date when the Kunlun"s Sect Master ascended the position. Di Qing was plotting how to get the Heavenly Book while Yan Shen was provoking Di Qing"s ministers to go against him. In the previous years, Di Qing submitted to Chidi, killed all the ministers and killed Xu Linghe just for the throne. If Yan Shen had not got the evidence that Di Qing had fostered demons, Yan Shen might have been killed as well. But just as the saying went, "Man proposes, Heaven disposes," it was Di Qing"s turn now. When all the ministers left there, Madam Yu told Yan Shen that Di Qing wanted to draw her to his own side. In fact, Yan Shen had foreseen that Di Qing would do that, so he arranged today"s play to Madam Yu. As early as Di Qing had written the letter to Madam Yu, Jingyu had told it to Yan Shen. Moreover, some spies had been arranged around Madam Yu by the person. It seemed that the person knew the three realms like the palm of his hand. But Yan Shen did not see the true look of the person. Every time things happened, the superior person would inform Yan Shen through dreams.
Xu Linghe held Xiao Mi"er and hurried to the Qi Kingdom directly. Along the way, he tried to look for Xiao Douya, but was in vain. Wuyou felt more anxious because Xiao Douya never left her before. When they arrived at Princess" mansion, Wuyou hid her worry because she thought she could not let her mother worry about her. Overjoyed, Xiao Mi"er ran all the way to look for her mother. Seeing her, Wuyou could not help but think Xiao Douya. It would be great if Xiao Douya were there! Xu Linghe, though heartbroken as well, hid his sadness because he did not want to put pressure on the little woman.
"Mom, I am back."
Xiao Mi"er entered the courtyard with her small and thick legs and called her mother. But the courtyard was quiet.
"Linghe." Xu Linghe was also surprised. Why was there no person in the early morning? Even if Lin Xiaosa had entered the palace, he should have come back now. And why did the mother-in-law and Xiaoyou disappear as well? Wuyou hunted through the whole courtyard, even the steward had disappeared. Wuyou was. .h.i.t by a foreboding thought whether her mother and younger sister had been taken away.
"I looked at the yard and found no fighting trace. Lin Xiaosa"s sorcery is not so weak, so it is not so easy to take them away."
Wuyou calmed herself down, hoping that her mother would be fine. Xiao Mi"er kept crying for not seeing her mother. Wuyou held the kid to the arms and comforted her. Xu Linghe looked around and found a pool of blood in the corner. Seeing the woman playing with the kid, Xu Linghe traced the blood secretly and found the blood disappeared in the cellar of the backyard. The cellar was a place to store things. Xu Linghe squatted to hear any sound. A dim breathing sound came from it. Xu Linghe wanted to lift up the cover. But to his surprise, it was sealed by spells. Xu Linghe took a close look and found the inkling. The way of casting the spells was the same as the way of Kunlun"s conjuring. Xu Linghe tried to use the sorcery. With rumbling, the cellar was lifted up where woman"s sobbing sounds came. Xu Linghe flew up and found that the servants were imprisoned in the cellar.
"Master Xu." The steward ran up when seeing his life-saver.
"Master, it was masked men who took Madam Houqing and Miss Chiyou away."
The steward told what had happened in details, including the masked man"s height. Upon hearing it, Xu Linghe felt his heart fell. Because in Kunlun, only Ye Juechen was high and knew Kunlun"s conjuring while Zhou Yi was medium height. It turned out that Ye Juechen had been keeping an eye on Xu Linghe. Xu Linghe was seized with regret. His Xiao Douya was taken away because of his carelessness. And even the mother-in-law also disappeared. Xu Linghe demonstrated spirit power and sent the people in the cellar up to the ground. When coming out of the cellar, Xu Linghe saw his little woman standing in the trance not far away. Xu Linghe came up and hugged her tightly.
"If they want the Heavenly Book, just take it... Why does my Xiao Douya to bear the sufferings? Why takes my mother and Chiyou away?"
"Little woman, you can cry if you want. You still have me."
Wuyou seemed loaded down with the moods these days. She hugged Xu Linghe tightly. And the sound of horses" hooves dragged them into reality. Xiao Mi"er threw herself into the arms and called for her mother. Lin Xiaosa held his daughter up, and their laughter filled the whole courtyard. Di Li just cried. As for the joy of being lost and found, only the people who had experienced it would know. Wuyou could not help but shed tears as well and firmly believed that she was bound to find her family members. And Lin Xiaosa did not forget the proper task and told Xu Linghe that it was Di Qing who had taken Xiao Douya away. The two came into the room. Looking at their figures before the window, Wuyou knew that her man was more anxious than her. For Xiao Douya, she had to be strong.
"Yesterday, when I was about to enter the palace, I found Di Qing was going to leave the palace. So I followed him. Later, he stopped in a peasant"s yard on the outskirt. I was afraid that Xiaoli would become suspicious, so I set a defensive cover. Then, I slipped into the yard secretly and found that Di Qing seemed to be waiting for someone, but the person did not show up. Di Qing even mentioned child and said Zhou Yi broke his words. Linghe, why did Di Qing take Xiao Douya away?"
"He wants to be the king of the three realms." An icy look took on Xu Linghe"s eyes. If Di Qing stood before him, Xu Linghe would tear him to shred for sure.