Chapter 671: 【Accumulated Resentment】 (Part 1)

Not long after, Feng Bao brought up a plate of hot beef and a cold vegetable platter, and opened a jar of stored June Spring wine.

Huo Shengnan said, "Two people can't eat that much."

Feng Bao said, "Later I'll make you two dishes I'm best at—wind-sand chicken and dragon-gate fish."

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "Thank you, Elder Brother Feng!"

Feng Bao gave a hehe smile, casually draping the white towel over his shoulder: "You two chat, I'm going to the kitchen to work."

Huo Shengnan watched Feng Bao's retreating back, her eyes filled with warmth.

Hu Xiaotian said, "He used to be your subordinate, right?"

Huo Shengnan nodded: "He was once a brave and skilled commander, always charging ahead in battle, wounded countless times; in the fight to retake the seven northern cities he lost an arm and took more than ten arrows, barely surviving by luck."

Hu Xiaotian said, "The Black Hu Fourth Prince has come to discuss peace; it seems Da Yong and Black Hu won't have so many wars in the future."

Huo Shengnan fell silent at his words; seeing her not speak, Hu Xiaotian lifted his wine bowl and clinked it with hers, and they both drank it down. Huo Shengnan said, "I've fought many battles against the Black Hu people; I know their nature—Black Hu harbors wolfish ambitions, never ceasing their southern invasion designs; peace is merely their stalling tactic, and once they recuperate they will surely sharpen their weapons and march south again."

Hu Xiaotian set down his wine bowl, lifted the wine jug, refilled the empty bowl, and said softly, "General Huo, do you not want peace?"

Huo Shengnan sipped her lips, after a while whispered, "My whole family died at the hands of the Black Hu people."

Hu Xiaotian nodded, finally understanding why Huo Shengnan despised the Black Hu so much, and why she faced the Black Hu Fourth Prince Wanyan Chixiong with a cold face at the princess's banquet tonight—originally Huo Shengnan bears both national and family grudges against the Black Hu! Hu Xiaotian said, "Everyone has their own misfortune, but one must look forward while living in this world."

Huo Shengnan laughed: "You don't need to console me; it's been so many years. I've long let go; even if I'm sad, it's useless." She lifted the wine bowl: "As a Da Yong general, I must still obey the state's interests; although I am a military officer, I do not crave war."

"When fighting breaks out, it's always the common people who suffer!" Hu Xiaotian shook his head.

Huo Shengnan saw the worry in Hu Xiaotian's brows, accustomed to his carefree demeanor, rarely seeing him like this; she said softly, "Do you have something on your mind?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Do I look like I have something on my mind?"

"You do!" Huo Shengnan laughed: "Could it really be as Jian Ping said, that you feel uneasy because you offended the Black Hu Fourth Prince?"

Hu Xiaotian chuckled: "How do you write the word 'fear'?" He lifted his wine bowl: "Wine bolsters heroic courage; since you think I'll be afraid, let's have another cup to steady my heart."

Huo Shengnan drank another bowl with him.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Fear isn't the issue, but deep down I still feel a bit unsettled."

Huo Shengnan said, "You needn't worry; this is Da Yong's territory. Even if the Black Hu people are arrogant, they dare not cause trouble on our soil."

Hu Xiaotian said, "What I'm actually worried about isn't the Black Hu people."

Huo Shengnan raised her delicate brows, seeming to grasp Hu Xiaotian's meaning—could he be worried about Da Yong? She herself wasn't clear about the current Emperor's intentions; this side is allied with Dakang through marriage, yet turning back they are making peace with their age-old enemy Black Hu. One thing she knows: the Emperor has always harbored the grand ambition to unify the Central Plains; could his true purpose in making peace with Black Hu be to secure the rear? Temporarily stabilizing Black Hu as a rear threat would free enough energy to deal with Dakang?

Dakang's decline is already common knowledge; Huo Shengnan also firmly believes that Da Yong and Dakang will eventually go to war.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Worldly sentiments shift; people are like that, and so are states."

Huo Shengnan said, "How could such feelings arise?"

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "Nothing much; I don't know why, but tonight I suddenly feel homesick."

Huo Shengnan blinked her beautiful eyes: "After Princess Anping's grand wedding, you will have completed your mission."

Hu Xiaotian nodded: "March sixteenth. It sounds not so far away."

"The dishes are here!" A rather sturdy woman brought up the steaming wind-sand chicken.

Long Ting Sheng gazed at his third brother kneeling at his feet, feeling a surge of satisfaction from deep within; Long Tingzhen had long been a shadow in his heart, watching this third brother gain their father's favor and the officials' support, step by step devouring the power and glory that should have been his; before this, Long Ting Sheng had even felt despair, thinking he might lose the crown prince struggle. Fortunately, before he sank into despair, such a turn appeared.

The Third Prince Long Tingzhen's face could no longer find its former vigor; kneeling on the ground, his whole body trembled as if sifted, his disheveled hair covering most of his face.

Long Ting Sheng sighed: "Third brother, I never imagined you would plot rebellion."

Long Tingzhen shook his head desperately: "Don't kill me… don't kill me…"

Long Ting Sheng stepped forward: "Lift your head, let me see you clearly."

Long Tingzhen tremblingly lifted his head; Long Ting Sheng saw his face, his eyes suddenly bulging: "You're not him! You're not him!" He suddenly raised his foot and kicked the person hard to the ground; the person's messy hair scattered, revealing the true face—though resembling Long Tingzhen somewhat, it was certainly not him.

Long Ting Sheng drew his waist sword, pressed it to the throat, and roared: "Speak! Where did he go? Where did he go?"

"Third Prince… he… he fled upon hearing the news…"

Long Ting Sheng, unable to contain his fury, thrust his waist sword violently into the man's throat.

Ji Feihua gently placed a white stone on the board, smiling at Zhou Ruiyuan opposite: "Chancellor, please!"

Zhou Ruiyuan stared at the board, shook his head: "I lost, skill inferior! I admire you, I admire you!"

Ji Feihua smiled faintly: "Chancellor's mind is elsewhere; you never regarded Feihua as an opponent."

Zhou Ruiyuan asked: "Is His Majesty still alive?"

Ji Feihua nodded, then said: "Actually, his life or death no longer matters."

Zhou Ruiyuan asked: "If Dakang falls, what good is it for you?"

Ji Feihua's gaze returned to the board; she reached out and flipped the board: "Looking from another angle perhaps there is still a way out."

Zhou Ruiyuan said: "What exactly do you want?"

Ji Feihua said: "Actually each person only needs to do their own duty well; most people just aren't law-abiding. If the Emperor could stay within his bounds and fulfill his role as emperor, he would forever be Dakang's emperor; in my heart, the ruler is ruler, the subject is subject, each has their own responsibility, each has their own duty, so I never meddle in the Chancellor's affairs."

Zhou Ruiyuan said: "Do I still have a chance to leave now?"

Ji Feihua shook her head, eyes still on the board, she twisted a black stone and placed it on the board, smiling: "I said there would be a turn; remember when the Emperor first ascended the throne, he once asked me about the Chancellor, I said Zhou Chancellor is truly a great talent. The world has many talented people, but true great talents are rare. What is great talent? To govern the heavens and the earth, to define the state and secure the nation! The Emperor, however, does not understand the Chancellor's true worth, nor does he know how to treat great talents; if he cannot use me, he might as well kill me!" He lifted his eyes: "Chancellor worries for the state and the people; why not stay at ease and do your duty well, do more for Dakang's people?"

Zhou Ruiyuan's lips showed a hint of a bitter smile: "You think Dakang still has a chance for revival?"

Ji Feihua said: "The fall of the Long clan does not mean the fall of Dakang; when this land began, it did not bear the Long surname, and on this land there has never been only one state called Dakang; I have always believed that loyalty is owed to the land and its people, not to a dynasty or a sovereign!"

Zhou Ruiyuan was secretly startled; Ji Feihua's ambition is clear—he intends to seize the Long clan's realm and replace it; could this eunuch want me to become emperor?

Ji Feihua said: "I came to see the Chancellor to tell him that besides the Emperor going mad and the Third Prince's whereabouts unknown, everything else remains unchanged."

Zhou Ruiyuan said: "From ancient times to now, dynastic changes have never occurred without bloodshed."

Ji Feihua said: "What is a dynastic change? At least now Dakang is still the Long clan's Dakang, you and I are still Dakang's subjects; as long as the Emperor stays within his bounds, we subjects will surely be loyal and diligent; could the Chancellor bear to watch this dying gasp of a person just… perish?"

Zhou Ruiyuan sighed: "The illness is beyond cure; I have no heavenly power."

Ji Feihua said: "Dakang's secret treasury is certainly not baseless; the Retired Emperor surely knows this secret."

Zhou Ruiyuan gazed at Ji Feihua: "Even if we find the treasury, what then?"

Ji Feihua said: "If we find the secret treasury, the Zajia can take charge and hand over control to the Prime Minister; saving the myriad people from water and fire isn't that exactly the Prime Minister's wish?"

Zhou Ruiyuan's eyes lit up.

Ji Feihua knew he had already been persuaded by her, lowered her voice and said: "All the Prime Minister needs to do is revive Dakang, manage domestic affairs; as for other troubles and infamy, Feihua will take them upon herself."

Empress Jian looked at her son's grim face, instantly guessed things were not going well, stepped forward: "How is it?"

Long Tingsheng sighed: "He has long since fled; the one in the mansion merely looks like him, and is not him at all."

Empress Jian furrowed her brows: "How could Ji Feihua be so careless? She actually let the Third Prince escape from layer upon layer of encirclement!"

Long Tingsheng said: "Mother, that eunuch villain simply harbors ill intent."

Empress Jian, frightened, hastily covered his mouth: "Tingsheng, you must never speak nonsense; if word gets out, we both fear for our lives..." She was terrified of Ji Feihua, dreading that misfortune would come from her mouth; if she provoked Ji Feihua, she feared all her previous efforts would come to nothing.

Monthly Ticket is dismal, please support! (To be continued~^~)