Chapter 358: Father-in-law, commit suicide (First update, seeking monthly votes!)

Pfft, pfft...

In the room, one could hear a pin drop; only the corpse of Hua Tianquan, still retaining some warmth, continued to twitch, each time spurting more fresh blood from his neck, staining his torso and a large patch of floorboards beneath his feet.

Yet as the creator of this gruesome scene, Li Yiyi remained unusually calm, letting the spreading blood flow onto the soles of his shoes.

He did not speak, just quietly watching Shi Enguang, who had become his father-in-law less than five minutes ago, across from him.

Shi Enguang, being stared at, felt uncomfortable all over, his body twisting unnaturally.

In just a few short breaths, a multitude of thoughts flashed through Shi Enguang's mind.

Kill him, then escape before anyone finds out!

No!

The death of a prince is a major event; it will surely alert others, and by then, there will be no way to run.

Then control him, use him as a hostage, and force the others not to act rashly!

No!

There are Heaven Realm cultivators in Wentian City; the hostage method is useless too.

Wound him, then escape?

Coercion?

Bribery?

Tsk!!!

What on earth should I do!?

Shi Enguang thought of countless ways, but in the end, they all vanished.

There is no way.

This is Wentian City, the capital of the Northern Qian Dynasty, and the person in front of him is no insignificant character, but a prince.

He didn't even need to think about what the consequences of using force would be.

Not to mention, the Shi residence was likely already surrounded by a large force at this moment.

"..."

Gulp.

"What is my worthy nephew saying? You... why didn't I understand your meaning?" Shi Enguang swallowed hard, forcing an ugly smile onto his face, "What is it you want me to do?"

"Can't guess? You can guess it." Li Yiyi's expression was calm as he said indifferently: "Commit suicide; don't make the scene look ugly."

Commit suicide.

Chewing on this ruthless command, Shi Enguang asked hoarsely: "... Why?"

"You ask me why?"

"You know better than anyone what you have done and what you have tacitly allowed." Li Yiyi stared at his father-in-law as if staring at a piece of rotten wood, "You know better than anyone what collusion there is between the Shi Family and the Hua Family in the dark."

"I..."

Shi Enguang was about to quibble when he suddenly heard movement outside the house; it seemed as if countless figures had entered the Shi residence at once.

But soon, in just a few breaths, all the sounds vanished completely.

What remained were only faint sounds of breathing and the chattering of teeth from trembling.

The entire Shi residence had been completely brought under control!

There was already no way to retreat.

Shi Enguang closed his eyes as if resigning himself to fate, took a deep breath, and suppressed all his current emotions.

Then, he snapped his eyes open, his eyeballs bloodshot, and glared at Li Yiyi:

"Li Yiyi!!!"

"Have you ever thought about one thing? You killed me today, how will you face Xiao Xiao in the future!!!"

"Your hands are stained with my blood! The blood of her biological father!"

"You! What qualifications do you still have to be with her!!?"

Shi Enguang roared madly, trying to make his voice reach outside the house, to let more people hear what had happened in this room.

But facing his father-in-law's madness, Li Yiyi was terrifyingly calm, sitting motionless on the chair, quietly admiring his performance with cold eyes.

Not until Shi Enguang stopped and gasped for air with effort did Li Yiyi slowly pull a piece of red paper from his sleeve.

"Why am I not qualified to marry her?"

Seeing that red paper, Shi Enguang's complexion became even uglier.

That was the Marriage Certificate.

And it was the Marriage Certificate that Shi Enguang had taken the initiative to have written in advance just now in order to win over Li Yiyi!

Li Yiyi carefully put away the Marriage Certificate and said indifferently:

"Properly betrothed, red paper with gold lettering; no one will criticize it, and no one is qualified to gossip."

"Even if someone really dares to wag their tongue... just cut off their head."

A flash of killing intent crossed the youth's face, then quickly faded, and he continued calmly: "Besides, it is not I who killed you, but you who killed yourself."

"Hahaha!"

Shi Enguang laughed out of extreme anger, pointing at Li Yiyi and shouting: "You want me to commit suicide? Do you think the people of the world can accept this reason!?"

"I don't care what the people of the world think; I don't care, as long as she accepts it." Only when mentioning Shi Xiaoxiao did Li Yiyi's eyes show a hint of humanity, but it vanished the moment he looked at Shi Enguang again.

"Father-in-law, there are only two paths before you now."

"One path: the Shi Family has long harbored rebellious intentions, colluding with the Eastern Wasteland, intending to rebel and plot against Northern Qian."

"The clan daughter Shi Xiaoxiao discovered the clues by coincidence and decided to uphold righteousness over family, reporting this matter to the dynasty."

"She was ultimately spared, even receiving a reward, being granted the Li surname, and being enfeoffed as a County Princess."

"As for the others of the Shi family, regardless of age, all were exterminated, and their three clans were wiped out."

Clang.

Shi Enguang's wrist went limp, the Long Sword he was holding dropped to the ground, and he cried out uncharacteristically: "No! You cannot do this!"

"My Shi family has also performed military service for Beigan in the past!"

"You cannot treat us like this!"

"By what right do you say my Shi family rebelled!? This is slander!"

"You cannot deceive the people of the Earthly Realm!"

Everyone has a weak spot.

Shi Enguang was no exception; his weak spot was nothing else but the family they had struggled for generations to build.

For a noble family like his, the sense of honor and belonging to the family far exceeds their loyalty to the imperial dynasty.

To them, dynasties can change, but a noble family cannot be destroyed, and the inheritance of bloodlines cannot be severed!

And this blade of Li Yiyi's had struck exactly at Shi Enguang's greatest vital point.

Extermination of the clan.

He would rather die than accept this result!

"Slander?" Li Yiyi smiled instead, asking in return: "Do you think I have no evidence? Do you think I am joking?"

"You don't think the trouble the Hua Family got into was really just because a few disciples offended a certain prince of the Li Family at a local brothel, do you?"

He pointed at the corpse that had already gone completely stiff and hummed lightly: "The Hua Family has already been executed in full, and the Hua Tianquan who just died was the last descendant of the Hua Family."

"Just now, the noble Hua Family has been erased from the Earthly Realm."

Every word from Li Yiyi's mouth made Shi Enguang's heart feel as if it were being struck by a heavy hammer; his fists clenched several times, but in the end, they fell limp.

Refute? Struggle?

It was useless.

Shi Enguang had long sensed that something was wrong with the Hua Family's situation, but previously, unable to even protect himself, he had not delved deeper and had simply cast Hua Tianquan aside as a discarded pawn.

He thought Li Yiyi would not discover the truth, and even if he did, he would not take things to such an extreme.

But he had not expected that, in the end, he still could not escape it.

Shi Enguang's knees went weak, and he slumped to the floor with his head hanging low.

The room remained quiet for a long time; finally, Shi Enguang raised his head and said in an extremely hoarse voice:

"Then... what about the other path?"

Li Yiyi stood up, looking down at the Shi Family Patriarch who seemed to have aged several decades, and said:

"The other path: Shi Family Patriarch Shi Enguang awakens to the truth at the final moment, personally executes the remaining Hua Family member Hua Tianquan, and atones for his crimes."

"But knowing his merits cannot offset his faults and unwilling to live on and implicate his clansmen, he commits suicide after leaving a Last Will."

"His Imperial Majesty is furious upon learning of this, but the ringleader is dead, the Hua Family is destroyed, and the Shi Family has redeemed themselves through service, so there is no need to exterminate the clan."

"However, while the death penalty may be avoided, the living penalty is inescapable; the Shi Family will be exiled to the bitterly cold lands of the far north to guard the border for a hundred years."

"Only after guarding the border for a full hundred years may they return."

Shi Enguang was silent for a moment before slowly speaking:

"In other words... as long as I commit suicide, all my clansmen except for me can survive?"

"Only the innocent who did not participate in this matter can." Li Yiyi shook his head, not deceiving him, "All who participated in the rebellion shall be killed."

The Shi Family Patriarch frowned and pondered for a while, as if weighing and calculating exactly how many people could remain.

"... Fine, this is also fine." Finally, he let out a long breath and nodded: "I will commit suicide."

Once decided, he no longer hesitated; he stood up from the ground, took out the paper and brush he had just put away, and sat at the table stained red with blood: "What should I write in the Last Will?"

Li Yiyi stood by his side and said without hesitation: "Pass the position of Patriarch to Xiao Xiao."

"The position of Patriarch?" Shi Enguang turned his head to look at him strangely, frowning: "Do you think she would want it?"

"Of course I don't think so."

Li Yiyi thought of Shi Xiaoxiao's appearance and shook his head: "Whether she wants this position is her business, but the next Patriarch must be her; as for who she wants to pass it to, that has nothing to do with you."

"... Fine."

Under Li Yiyi's gaze, Shi Enguang wrote the Last Will in a few strokes, then took off the seal symbolizing the position of Patriarch from his waist, dipped it in the blood on the table, and carefully stamped it onto the paper.

Leaving the Last Will on the table, he turned and picked up Li Yiyi's Long Sword, placing it against his own neck.

Before acting, he looked at Li Yiyi and confirmed: "Only by this path can the Shi Family still exist."

"That is correct; I keep my word."

"Fine, I believe you." Shi Enguang looked at Li Yiyi, thinking of what he looked like when he was a child.

A boy who had been reticent since he was young, yet possessed a kind heart.

And this child he had watched grow up was now forcing him to his death?

He suddenly felt it was ridiculous and laughed bitterly: "My good son-in-law, can you let me say one last thing?"

"Go ahead."

Shi Enguang took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and shouted angrily at the sky: "You Li family members are all like this!"

"I'm done serving you!!!"

Then, as if venting, Shi Enguang channeled his Dharma Power and directly severed his own head!

Thump!

His head landed heavily, rolled twice on the ground, and finally stared straight at Li Yiyi, his lips moving continuously as he silently spoke his final words.

He said:

"Li Yiyi, you... bloodless, tearless monster!"

Monster?

Li Yiyi chewed over the final evaluation his father-in-law had given him, pondered for a moment, and shook his head.

"Compared to a fellow like you who treats his daughter as a bargaining chip and intends to commit treason, I can hardly be counted as a monster."

"You are the monsters."