The two men started fighting in the imperial study without a word, and everyone present knew this was a matter between them, so no one stepped in to help. It was clear that only through this fight could everything from the past be settled once and for all.
However, ChengSangKing was no match for Lin Yuan. After a dozen exchanges, Lin Yuan struck him with a powerful blow, sending him crashing into the wall and then onto the floor, his sword clattering away.
Lin Yuan picked up the fallen sword and slowly walked towards ChengSangKing, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"No, Lin Yuan, Yuan-di, don't kill me. I was wrong. I will announce the truth to the world and clear your name and that of the Chi Lin cavalry," ChengSangKing pleaded.
"How did you feel watching me die back then? Today, I will repay you in kind," Lin Yuan said, raising the sword high, ready to strike.
"Thud."
A dull sound echoed as Lin Yuan looked down in disbelief at the spear tip protruding from his chest. Slowly, he turned to see LinMuchuan behind him.
"For the state, not for the self," LinMuchuan said, his eyes resolute.
He had chosen loyalty to the state over familial bonds. Rather than letting the Lin family bear the infamy of treason, he preferred to keep the memory of his father as a heroic general who fell on the battlefield years ago. He resented ChengSangKing's betrayal but hated more the madness Lin Yuan had fallen into because of a woman. Without all this, LinHuaichu would not have died, and he would not have to face his father's transformation from a loyal warrior to a crazed traitor.
Watching Lin Yuan collapse, LinMuchuan also fell to his knees, exhausted. Everything seemed to end at that moment.
"JY?"
Just as everyone began to relax, ShangGuanCY noticed ChengSangJY was missing.
"The Crown Prince's residence is on fire!" the eunuchs' voices shouted outside.
The gates of the Crown Prince's residence were tightly shut, flames rising around the house with a pungent smell filling the air. Standing at the gate, Chief Steward Duo was anxiously directing eunuchs and palace maids to extinguish the fire, his voice breaking with tears, "Put out the fire, hurry! The Crown Prince is still inside!"
Everyone rushed to the scene, finding the gates locked from the inside. Even the side gates of the east courtyard were sealed.
"Chief Duo, what's going on?" LiLuoning asked.
Chief Duo, upon seeing the newcomers, knelt down, kowtowing and pleading, "Li Taifu, Prince Yun Qing, please save the Crown Prince. He drove us all out and then set the fire. He's lost hope! Please, save the Crown Prince. I beg you, I'm willing to trade my life for his."
"JY is inside!" ShangGuanCY exclaimed, ready to rush in, but LiLuoning held him back.
"Li Taifu, what are you doing? JY is inside. I have to save him," ShangGuanCY said urgently.
"This isn't an ordinary fire," LiLuoning said, then addressed the palace maids and eunuchs, "Stop pouring water. Water will only make the fire worse."
"What do you mean it's not an ordinary fire? If we don't use water, JY will burn alive in there!" ShangGuanCY struggled against LiLuoning's hold.
"This is Night Bane. It ignites upon contact with water. We can only use soil to extinguish it," LiLuoning explained. "Thankfully, it burns slower than regular fire. I'll go in and find him. You all work on putting out the fire." With that, he leaped over the burning wall.
"Chief Duo, you heard him. Start digging for soil, quickly!" ShangGuanCY commanded, then asked, "Night Bane?"
MuJinling explained, "It's a refined substance that ignites on contact with water. Years ago, the Luo Sha Kingdom used it to mine rocks, and later it was used on battlefields. But it's extremely sensitive to moisture and prone to self-ignition, so it fell out of use over time."
"A refined substance? Where did he get it?" ShangGuanCY wondered.
MuJinling found it strange too, pondering before realizing, "Salt! Do you remember the shipment of poisoned salt we investigated?"
"I remember. It was because Li Taifu neutralized that poison that my father brought him into the palace. Wasn't that salt sold by your people?" ShangGuanCY asked.
MuJinling shook his head. He had taken advantage of that incident for his own purposes, but the poison itself had not been his doing. Who had orchestrated it? He recalled Cui Yi's suspicious appearance and connections to the Luo Sha people. Only someone with such ties would know about refining Night Bane.
LiLuoning hurried to the study, pushing open the half-closed door to see ChengSangJY sitting at LinHuaichu's desk, fiddling with a carving knife. Several teacups were laid out on one side.
"Sir, this carving knife was a gift from Brother CY. He told me I could do anything I wanted when I grew up," ChengSangJY said, his voice flat, his eyes devoid of light.
"JY, come with me," LiLuoning urged, stepping forward to reach for him.
Suddenly, ChengSangJY raised his other hand, holding a piece of Night Bane above a teacup.
Seeing this, LiLuoning halted, asking, "Are you mad? What are you doing?"
"Father is not my father, mother is not my mother, brother is not my brother. Did you know my true identity from the beginning?" ChengSangJY questioned.
LiLuoning, hoping to calm him, admitted, "Yes."
ChengSangJY had suspected as much, but hearing the confirmation still made him feel foolish. "When I believed Empress Xiao's letter, thinking I was the son of a prostitute, you knew I was wrong, didn't you?"
LiLuoning remained silent. He had wanted to tell JY the truth but never found the right moment, and now it was too late.
ChengSangJY set down the carving knife and picked up a small wooden horse. "I carved this myself, intending to give it to Brother Mo. He didn't like it and threw it into the lotus pond. I searched the pond all night, feeling nothing because I was numb."
"JY, the MoLan prince's rebellion was inevitable. He is of Northern Desert blood and seeks to restore his homeland," LiLuoning explained.
"Bloodline, does it really matter? I'm not of royal blood, yet I've been the Crown Prince, living in luxury and receiving worship," ChengSangJY said, placing the wooden horse down and picking up the carving knife again.
"They all promised to protect me, to give me the life I wanted, but they were all lying!" With that, ChengSangJY slammed the knife into the wooden horse.
Realizing JY's mental state was deteriorating, LiLuoning began to devise a plan.
"You all lied to me, telling me I could do what I wanted, telling me that following your teachings would make me a beloved crown prince, lying that seizing power was for the stability of the kingdom, deceiving me that affection was destined. What good did all these lies do for you?" ChengSangJY's emotions were volatile as he smashed the Night Bane onto the desk.
LiLuoning's heart skipped a beat, falling along with ChengSangJY's hand. "JY, calm down. This is not something to play with. Put it down."
ChengSangJY switched the Night Bane to his other hand and then picked up a cup of tea, splashing it against the wall. "I'm tired of being lied to by everyone. Sometimes I can't tell if you were trying to protect me or just using me. Do you all really see me as a fool so easily deceived?" As he spoke, he splashed the remaining cups of tea around him.
"JY, we never meant to deceive you. We wanted to protect you. Many things just didn't have the right moment to be said. Put it down, and we can talk. Let's clear everything up," LiLuoning softly reassured, inching closer to ChengSangJY.
"Talk? About what? To give you another chance to spin me around like a fool? Sir, thanks to your teachings, I've learned to be smart now." ChengSangJY slowly lifted his gaze, his eyes reflecting a chilling smile. With a sneer, he threw all the Night Bane on the table into the air.
With several loud explosions, the study of the Crown Prince's residence was engulfed in roaring flames.
In the year 167 of the ChengSang Dynasty, the emperor's eldest son, ChengSangMo, was banished for treason and forbidden to set foot in the capital for life. Crown Prince ChengSangJY perished in a fire, leaving the ChengSang royal family without heirs. Emperor ChengSangKing, overcome with grief, fell gravely ill and passed away within days. On his deathbed, he transferred the throne to his nephew, ShangGuanCY, who changed the dynastic title to Cangyang. LinMuchuan, the second son of the Lin family, was posthumously honored as a loyal and righteous young general for his service.
Three years later, in a bamboo grove,
The dense hibiscus trees shielded the afternoon sunlight, with birds chirping melodiously from above. Occasionally, a gentle breeze stirred the leaves, creating a soft rustling sound.
"How is it that Your Majesty has time to visit my bamboo grove today?" MuJinling asked.
"I've told you many times, when it's just the two of us, don't call me 'Your Majesty.' And this is my bamboo grove. When did it become yours?" ShangGuanCY replied impatiently.
MuJinling's eyes curved into a smile as he conceded, "Alright, Brother CY." He deliberately made his voice sound excessively sweet.
"Ugh, stop that. It's disgusting," ShangGuanCY said, raising his hand to stop him.
MuJinling laughed and then asked, "It's been three years. Does MuChuan still refuse to come out?"
After the rebellion was quelled, LinMuchuan, feeling guilty for killing his father, imprisoned himself and hadn't stepped out of his cell in three years.
ShangGuanCY sighed and nodded. "I went to see him before coming here. He's still the same, silent and lifeless, sitting in his cell."
"Let him be. We know MuChuan's temperament. Huaichu's death, his heroic father turned traitor, and then killing him with his own hands. Anyone would struggle to move past such events," MuJinling said understandingly.
ShangGuanCY looked at a distant figure and asked, "How has he been lately?"
"My master gave him Forgetfulness Water, and he regularly checks on his health. Now, he is just my younger brother with a doting elder brother and a cousin who visits often," MuJinling replied with a smile.
"Now, he finally has a carefree life. He should forget those old memories," ShangGuanCY remarked, catching the boy's gaze. He waved and smiled fondly.
"Yunxi, come and greet our guest," MuJinling called out to the boy.
The boy ran lightly over to them, bowed politely, and said, "Yunxi greets Cousin."
Then he turned to MuJinling and said, "Brother, the steward said some fine jade from the Northern Desert has arrived and is in the front hall. Can I go have a look?"
"Go ahead," MuJinling replied with a smile, nodding towards the front hall.
"Cousin, how long will you stay this time?" MuJin Yunxi asked.
ShangGuanCY raised an eyebrow and asked, "What? Already tired of me and want to get rid of me?"
"No, no, it's just that... I was hoping to have some of your homemade peach blossom pastries," MuJin Yunxi said shyly, scratching his head.
"Alright, I'll make some for you later," ShangGuanCY said, gently blinking and nodding.
"Great! Cousin, you're the best!" Yunxi exclaimed, jumping up with joy.
"Ahem," MuJinling cleared his throat, feigning jealousy.
Yunxi quickly tugged on MuJinling's sleeve, smiling apologetically. "Of course, my brother is also the best. Brother, Zhiyue is coming to take me to the temple fair tomorrow. Could you...?" He made a gesture of asking for money.
MuJinling, with a doting expression, pouted and said jealously, "Some people only remember me when they need money."
"Oh, brother, I can't let the girl pay, right?" Yunxi said playfully, tugging on MuJinling's sleeve like a kitten.
"Ugh, stop being so clingy, it's gross," MuJinling said, pretending to be annoyed.
"Don't mind your brother. Here, take this," ShangGuanCY said, pulling out a money pouch and tossing it to Yunxi.
Catching the pouch, Yunxi weighed it in his hands and smiled contentedly, "Cousin is always the most generous, unlike my brother, who always gives me so little."
"Hey, you little money-grubber! When have I ever shortchanged you?" MuJinling said, feigning to raise his hand.
Yunxi quickly jumped aside and teased, "You can't catch me, can't catch me, nah nah nah." Then he turned and ran off.
"You rascal, always looking to annoy me," MuJinling said, shaking his head with a helpless smile.
Yunxi ran a few more steps but didn't forget to look back and mock his brother. However, as he stepped out of the courtyard, his playful smile slowly faded, leaving a cold expression.
(The End)