Chapter 109 Jingnan King Residence

Jingnan King Residence,

The Crown Prince's carriage slowly drove in.

Before the Jingnan King entered the capital, the Imperial Household Department had already assigned a sufficient number of well-trained maids and servants to the residence. However, on the first day the Jingnan King moved in, they were all sent back.

Within the residence, only some personal guards lived; they were responsible for cleaning.

Therefore,

When the Crown Prince got out of the carriage,

Even

Not a single manager came forward to lead the way.

The lingering smell of blood on the stone lions in front of the old Marquis's residence in Li Tian City told people that the Jingnan King's residence had always lacked warmth.

Perhaps,

There was only one exception: the Marquis of Pingxi.

Outsiders might find it hard to understand why the Marquis of Pingxi, as an outsider, always received preferential treatment here, especially among the personal guards.

Because the personal guards could see the smile on their king's face when he was with the Marquis of Pingxi.

When the Qian army's military preparations were at their weakest, even the most ruthless warlords who exploited their soldiers would not forget to provide their exclusive household troops with sufficient rations and high pensions.

This was the basic instinct of a general, no, even the lowest-ranking general possessed this ability. Even a child knew to give candy to their close friends in the neighborhood.

And a true commander, a peerless marshal, could achieve this: when his banner was raised,

Behind him,

Thousands,

Tens of thousands,

Hundreds of thousands,

Hundreds of thousands,

Were willing to die for him!

The Blind Man once said that in this era, a truly powerful army was a religion in itself. Then, he added that using religion to describe a truly excellent army was actually a blasphemy. More accurately, it should be… faith.

Faith, centered on the commander.

And from Cuiliu Fort, Shengle City, Xuehai Pass, and now Fengxin City, all the way along, while the Demon Kings were helping their lord create his persona, they had always had a very clear point of reference: the Jingnan Army.

In the last campaign against Chu, not only the main force of the Jingnan Army participated, but also the Zhenbei Army, the Jin region army, the Forbidden Army, and local troops. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers gathered, making the composition extremely complex.

However, the Jingnan King's military orders were the most sacred iron law within the army.

When it was necessary to mobilize an elite force and hand it over to Zheng Fan to carry out a rear-encircling and deep-penetration operation without affecting the unit designation and without being detected by the Chu, not a single warlord dared to fake it. They all handed over the most capable and elite soldiers under their command.

This was influence, this was faith.

And the personal guards who followed the king were the epitome of this faith.

The king was their heaven, so they had no need to bow and scrape to any visiting dignitaries.

After waiting for a long time, an old soldier with a broom walked over.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince, may Your Highness be blessed with good health."

The Crown Prince asked gently:

"Where is my uncle?"

"Your Highness, the King is in the rear residence."

"Mm."

The Crown Prince nodded.

The old soldier got up, picked up his broom, and left.

Yes,

He left.

Beside the Crown Prince, Li Yinglian stared at the old soldier's back, his face full of disbelief. He wanted to scold the uncouth soldier for having no manners, but he only opened his mouth, not daring to utter a word.

He was the chief steward of the Eastern Palace, but here, he dared not act rashly.

The prestige of the Southern King of Yan not only suppressed enemy countries but also cast a terrifying shadow within Yan itself.

The Crown Prince walked towards the rear residence himself.

Li Yinglian, carrying the food box, followed behind, while waving his hand to signal the other attendants to stay put.

In that instant, the attendants almost simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

Just entering the gates of the residence had already made them feel very suppressed.

The Imperial Household Department of Yan had always been an office that bullied the weak and feared the strong, but in terms of the renovation of the residence, it was believed that the Jingnan King would not allow anyone to offer bribes or pull strings. However, the Imperial Household Department still did not dare to be negligent in the slightest and could be described as being wholeheartedly devoted. Some of the responsible adults in the Imperial Household Department might not have put as much effort into renovating their own mothers' houses as they had now.

But no matter how good the garden was, when it lacked human warmth, it would still give people a sense of desolation.

For the Crown Prince,

Walking here

Was like visiting the Fengzheng Palace from time to time.

"Uncle."

Having arrived at the rear residence, the Crown Prince called out.

At this moment,

He saw a figure wearing a white python robe walking out of the room.

The relationship between an uncle and a nephew should be relatively close.

In fact, it was true. Ji Cheng Lang still remembered when he was a child, his uncle had taken him to shoot arrows and ride horses. At dusk, his uncle would take him back to the palace, and he would be scolded by his mother:

"You, you just like taking him out to run wild!"

At that time, his mother often had a smile on her lips when she said these words, and his uncle's face was the same.

He didn't know when,

Those days suddenly disappeared.

Not from the day when the Jingnan Marquis annihilated his family, in fact, it was earlier, much earlier.

Ji Cheng Lang looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face standing in front of him,

His memory

Was suddenly pulled back many years.

That day,

He was feeling down.

Because his father had examined the homework of the princes and asked about several national policies, the performance of the Sixth Prince could be described as perfect.

His father was overjoyed, hugged the Sixth Prince and placed him on his lap, saying that:

"Hahahaha, Chengjue is exactly like me when I was young."

At that time,

He and the eldest, third, fourth, and fifth brothers were all kneeling below.

Ji Cheng Lang admitted that

At that moment,

He was jealous.

He was jealous of his sixth brother, who had shown amazing intelligence since childhood.

He was resentful of himself, why, even though he was so much older, he was still not as good as his sixth brother.

Why, why,

Why couldn't his father praise him?

He,

Was also working very hard.

His mother had never said to him, "You are the eldest son of Yan."

His mother's personality was indifferent yet strong, but she had always been gentle with him.

She had never told him to strive for his father's happiness and love, to fight for the position of Crown Prince, so that he could one day rule the world like his father.

She had never said that, not since the day he could remember.

But he himself had always known.

He,

Ji Cheng Lang,

Was the eldest son, according to etiquette, the Eastern Palace would be his, and the Dragon Throne would be his one day!

His uncle,

Was the Jingnan Marquis of Yan, in command of 50,000 regular Jingnan troops and 50,000 reserve troops!

His maternal grandfather was the head of the Tian family, one of the top families in Yan!

His mother was the Empress, the mother of Yan!

But why

Was he still not as good as his sixth brother,

Why!

That night,

When he went to sleep, he wet his pillow with tears. He was young and frivolous but had to act politely. He had been consciously maintaining the dignity of being the eldest son.

So, he could only secretly cry alone in the dead of night.

That night,

He even punched the pillow and cursed his sixth brother, why didn't he die young? Didn't they say that heaven was jealous of talent and that it was easy to die young? Why couldn't his sixth brother,

Just die!

One hour before dawn,

He sat up,

Dismissed the attendant and maid who were accompanying him below,

And sat alone on the edge of the bed;

He felt very scared, scared of his hysterical thoughts earlier.

He felt very ashamed,

Because

He was still an older brother.

He just sat there, sitting until dawn. He kept feeling remorseful and frustrated for his viciousness the night before.

It shouldn't be like this,

He,

Shouldn't be like this.

This wasn't about whether it was dignified or not, whether it was guilty or not, or whether it was hate or not,

An older brother,

Couldn't be like this.

"This is... wrong..."

He kept repeating this sentence while crying.

Until Li Yinglian urged him several times that the teacher was almost here and he had to go to class.

He got up, used the towel that Li Yinglian handed him to wipe his face hard, not to wipe away the fatigue of a sleepless night, but to wipe away the him from last night.

Then,

That day,

The Sixth Brother didn't come to class.

He was curious but didn't think much about it.

When he went to greet his mother,

He saw his uncle standing at the gate of Fengzheng Palace.

His uncle stood at the palace gate, wearing the gilded armor that he had always envied and thought was extremely heroic, with the Kunwu sword bestowed by his father hanging at his waist.

He ran towards his uncle as usual. He wanted to ask his uncle if he was going to take him out to play again. He wanted to ride his uncle's Pixiu and have his uncle take him to shoot arrows, and he wanted his uncle to take him to see the soldiers' exercises.

However,

When he was about to run up to his uncle,

He heard his mother's sharp scream from Fengzheng Palace:

"Why, why, Wujing, why are you like this? Why are you like this? He tells you to do it and you do it? He tells you to do anything and you do it!

Brother,

Brother,

How could you become like this,

Brother,

How could you……"

Ji Cheng Lang stopped in his tracks,

At this moment,

His uncle seemed to sense his arrival and turned to look at him.

His uncle was smiling at him,

But he suddenly felt extremely fearful,

Because the armor in front of his uncle was covered in blood.

Those bloodstains seemed to be layered on top of each other, already hanging on it.

He hadn't noticed it before, but after seeing the blood, he seemed to smell a strong bloody smell.

Ji Cheng Lang squatted on the ground and began to vomit.

"How can you let her live, how can you let her live? How can you let her live!

You and him, why are you so cruel, why are you so cruel, why, why!"

Ji Cheng Lang didn't know why his mother was so agitated. He knelt on the ground and saw his mother inside through the palace gate, also kneeling on the ground and crying, with the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs trying to help her up, but she pushed them all away.

At this time,

His uncle spoke.

"Wujing, acting on imperial decree."

"Annihilating the maternal clan of a prince, Wujing, throughout history, have those who did this ever had a good ending?"

His uncle didn't answer,

He just nodded to his mother,

Then

Turned around.

His mother screamed:

"Brother, don't become like him, don't become like him……"

His uncle didn't turn around, nor did he respond.

When he walked to his side,

He lowered his head

And looked at him again.

His uncle reached out his hand to him, wanting to pull him up;

But Ji Cheng Lang at that time was so frightened that he shrank back.

His uncle retracted his hand and walked out of the palace.

Then,

Ji Cheng Lang learned something,

Last night,

His uncle led three thousand Jingnan Army knights to annihilate the entire Min family.

No one was left alive, not even the dogs or chickens.

It was done

On the orders of his father.

The bloodstains on his uncle's armor had congealed, it was the blood of the Sixth Brother's maternal relatives, splashed on it again and again;

Why wasn't there any on his back?

Because his uncle held the sword,

And kept killing forward.

"Ah, ah, ah……"

Ji Cheng Lang got up. His mind was blank, he only remembered to go find his Sixth Brother.

He found the Sixth Brother,

Who was curled up in a corner of his bedroom,

Hugging his knees

Sobbing there.

When he ran over, the Sixth Brother looked up at him, his face covered in tears.

He had never seen the Sixth Brother like this before. It seemed that only when he was very young and had fallen down, would the Sixth Brother cry to him like this:

"Second Brother, it hurts..."

After that, the Sixth Brother showed extraordinary intelligence, learning everything quickly and seeing everything clearly.

But at this moment,

The Sixth Brother cried to him again:

"Second Brother... my mother... my mother... is gone..."

Consort Min,

After learning what happened last night,

Had hanged herself.

That woman was gone.

Ji Cheng Lang didn't hate that woman, and he knew that his mother didn't hate her either. To be precise, few people in the former royal residence, the subsequent Crown Prince's residence, and the current harem disliked Consort Min.

After his father ascended the throne, he practiced frugality.

Consort Min used her family's money to provide food and supplies for the princes.

What the Sixth Brother had, the other brothers would definitely have.

His mother had advised her not to be so extravagant.

But she said with a smile:

"Sister, I have already married into the Ji family. As a woman of the Ji family, it is only right and proper to take some silver from my family to subsidize our own Ji family brothers, isn't it?

"His Majesty wants to cut spending, saving the silver in the national treasury, which is to show to the officials. When the officials see that the expenditure of the inner treasury is less, they will understand the meaning. Even if our own family is really eating chaff and vegetables, do they really believe it? Do the people really believe it?

"So, we might as well continue to eat well and drink well."

She was very forthright and knew how to deal with people. She never gave people a sense of hatred for the rich or for money, but rather made them feel like they were bathed in the spring breeze.

Whenever he received ornaments, fans, and pendants from her, Ji Cheng Lang would shyly and happily look up and say: "Thank you, Aunt."

Even after his father ascended the throne and they moved into the palace, the princes were unwilling to change their address to her.

She was the Sixth Brother's birth mother, and the aunt of all the princes.

Then,

She was gone.

Ji Cheng Lang knelt down and hugged the Sixth Brother.

"Second Brother... my mother is gone... gone..."

The Sixth Brother was still crying,

And Ji Cheng Lang's hands were trembling.

He was very scared, afraid that his curse last night had led to today's misfortune.

…

"Your Highness, Your Highness."

Li Yinglian's call interrupted Ji Cheng Lang's memory.

The man wearing the white python robe was still standing there, just looking at him calmly, without saying a word.

Li Yinglian urged him to take out the dim sum that his uncle liked, the food that his mother would prepare for him every time he came to Fengzheng Palace, from the food box.

He should also show his uncle the shoe patterns.

At this time,

The autumn wind

Blew,

It was already cold, and under the backdrop of this lifeless residence, it was somewhat...bone-chilling.

For a moment,

Ji Cheng Lang was a little dazed.

It was as if everything had returned to that day of that year.

He stood on the palace road leading to the gate of Fengzheng Palace,

His uncle was still standing there.

He seemed to hear his mother's cry again in the dark.

But this time,

It wasn't crying about Consort Min,

But...the Tian family.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, or it was like turning back a cycle.

That day, the Sixth Brother, who was crying in his arms, became more fond of smiling than before.

He was absurd,

He was unrestrained,

He kept many singing and dancing girls in the prince's residence and outside the house.

He would tell jokes, he would make his brothers happy, and when facing his father, he was more at ease than before.

It seemed that the relationship between father and son,

Because of the death of his mother,

Had become closer and stronger.

He could feel that the Sixth Brother had let go of some things, such as...his pride.

The Sixth Brother of that year was excellent and intelligent, but because he was still too young, he didn't know how to hide the pride deep in his eyes.

He compared himself to his father, and he was better than his brothers;

Being born in an ordinary family was called a chosen one;

Being born in an imperial family was called...

But in the following years, Ji Cheng Lang had never seen the word "pride" in the Sixth Brother's eyes again, not once.

Was it lost?

Ji Cheng Lang didn't believe it,

He was better at hiding it.

The Sixth Brother told him that he had met a very interesting captain at the gate of the Zhenbei Marquis's residence, surnamed Zheng.

It was that Zheng who had saved him from the hands of the barbarians.

That barbarian was very powerful, he was the Left Guli King of the barbarian royal court.

Later,

Ji Cheng Lang learned that the captain surnamed Zheng had been transferred through the Ministry of War to Yinlang County as a garrison commander.

Then,

He met him,

At the prince's residence.

To be precise,

He first met his uncle who hadn't been home for a long time.

His uncle was back.

After returning,

Right in the prince's residence, he had that Zheng ruin the Third Brother.

He was a little at a loss and a little unbelievable;

Then, his uncle went home, and his mother also returned home to visit her family.

…

The autumn wind rolled up the fallen leaves, creating a rustling sound on the ground.

Ji Cheng Lang took a deep breath,

He heard his mother's cry again, calling "Brother," calling "Wujing," repeatedly calling out: "Why," "Why," "Why."

So,

Why?

Ji Cheng Lang raised his head

And looked at his uncle.

The Jingnan King's gaze was still calm.

Li Yinglian beside him was a little anxious.

Ji Cheng Lang knew what he should do,

He should reminisce about the past,

Not be so direct,

But be sincere, be genuine, and show his emotions.

Mr. Zhu said that the Jingnan King was not a heartless demon, as could be seen from his hair turning white overnight, from his support and protection of the Marquis of Pingxi, and from his arrangement for his son.

Ji Cheng Lang wanted to say

I don't need you to see it for me,

I know better than you what kind of person my uncle is.

Ji Cheng Lang pursed his lips,

He started walking forward, towards the Jingnan King,

One step,

One step,

Another step;

The Jingnan King stood there, as if waiting for him to come, looking at his nephew, as if he would take the initiative to run towards him as he did when he was a child.

Ji Cheng Lang's boot heel crushed a fallen leaf.

Suddenly,

He felt a little heartache,

A ridiculous heartache.

He had almost possessed everything, everything that the Crown Princes of past dynasties had dreamed of and could not even imagine.

The God of the Yan Army was his own uncle;

Another pillar of Yan was his father-in-law;

He was also the eldest son;

Everything should have been a matter of course, shouldn't it?

But,

Why?

He stopped in his tracks,

Looking at Tian Wujing from a distance that wasn't so far away.

Why was he?

Then what about him?

What about his uncle?

The son of a prestigious family, the young master of the Tian family;

His sister was the current Empress, and his nephew was a candidate for the Crown Prince;

He himself was a peak martial artist who could defeat the Sword Saint, and he could also command thousands of troops to destroy countries and break cities!

But he,

Why did he choose such a path?

Suddenly,

Ji Cheng Lang couldn't say the "why" in his heart.

It wasn't because he couldn't find the answer from his uncle,

But because he knew that his uncle had the answer.

And he, Ji Cheng Lang, wasn't afraid of not finding the answer, he was afraid of...facing the answer.

In an instant,

Everything wasn't that it became dull and tasteless, but it was like the autumn wind that was blowing at this time, it became, not so important.

There was no vitality of spring, no heat of summer, and no bone-chilling cold of winter, just a little bit of cold, just a little bit of cold.

He wanted to say:

Uncle, I'm so tired.

But he still couldn't say it.

The person in front of him would only be more tired than him countless times.

He opened his mouth, took a few breaths, wanted to cry, but there were no tears.

This damned autumn, the dryness was tormenting.

Ji Cheng Lang turned around,

Without saying a word,

Under the Jingnan King's gaze,

He started walking back.

"Your Highness...Your Highness...This..."

Li Yinglian was confused.

This was the last chance, and also...the best chance.

Tomorrow's grand court meeting would be extremely dangerous!

But the Crown Prince had come like this and left again.

The dim sum in the food box hadn't been taken out at all.

The nephew was gone,

The uncle stood there all along, and didn't try to keep him.

The Crown Prince sat back in his carriage,

And said two words faintly:

"Return to the palace."

The carriage slowly drove out of the residence.

Li Yinglian knelt on the side, with a stomach full of doubts, but didn't dare to ask anything.

Inside the carriage, a charcoal brazier was burning, flickering on and off.

The Crown Prince took out two shoe patterns from his sleeve and placed them in front of him, looking at them carefully.

Then,

He tilted his head back slightly,

Took a deep breath,

The palace banquet tonight, the grand court meeting tomorrow, the offensive that was about to come from the Sixth Brother,

He didn't want to think about it or care about it right now.

Like a bird,

Heaven gave me wings,

But who broke them off one by one?

"Whirr!"

The shoe patterns were thrown into the brazier by the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness!"

Li Yinglian exclaimed.

"Hehehehe..."

The Crown Prince laughed,

Raised his hand to signal Li Yinglian not to save the shoe patterns,

And just quietly watched the shoe patterns burn to ashes in the brazier, emitting a puff of green smoke in the carriage;

At this moment,

He once again thought of the boy who was curled up in the corner of his bedroom, sobbing non-stop.

"Hehe, hahahaha...

The world is like a game of chess,

We are all pawns, so what is there to talk about winning or losing;

Life is like a play,

All beings are actors, so why be persistent?"

——————

I think this chapter is very well written and deserves a monthly ticket.