Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 265

Chapter 265: Death

The situation was urgent, and Cui Zi Xuan decided to set off that very night.

Daliang was only seven hundred li away. Cui Zi Xuan and his party traveled by day and night, taking five days to reach Daliang, finally arriving within seventy or eighty li. In fact, had he not been overcome by despair and vomited blood, they would have arrived half a day earlier.

Now it was night. Gazing at the distant Daliang shrouded in twilight, the longing for home he had felt each time he came here before was now replaced by fear.

Cui Zi Xuan reined in his horse, tilting his head back and staring blankly ahead. In just a few days, he had become terribly thin, though his posture remained upright. Anyone could sense the unspeakable despair emanating from him.

Just then, Cui Zi Xuan slightly turned his head and asked the guard beside him in a hoarse voice, “Did you hear anything?”

The guard stiffened and immediately listened intently, mimicking Cui Zi Xuan’s gesture. After a moment, he whispered, “It’s the ravine on the right; there’s movement there.”

“Go investigate.”

“Yes.”

A short while later, a faint weeping sound came from the ravine. In the blink of an eye, several guards rushed towards Cui Zi Xuan, reporting in trembling voices, “Lord, it’s the Old Madam. They’ve left the city. They heard our noise and hid in the ravine.”

Cui Zi Xuan’s face was expressionless. He said in a hoarse command, “Clear all traces. We are going into the ravine.”

“Yes.”

The ravine wasn’t large, but it was densely packed with people. As Cui Zi Xuan entered, he immediately saw his grandmother, Old Madam Lu, and other patriarchs of the aristocratic families.

In the dim moonlight, Cui Zi Xuan only needed a quick glance to realize that this small mountain hollow harbored over a thousand people.

—It seemed that all the direct descendants of the aristocratic families still in Daliang had fled here.

Cui Zi Xuan wanted to sneer, but in the end, his face remained icy as he strode towards Old Madam Cui.

At this moment, about a hundred patriarchs also noticed his arrival. Led by Old Madam Cui, some of the patriarchs hurriedly stood up, their eyes fixed on Cui Zi Xuan. Their cloudy eyes brightened for a moment, as if his arrival had brought them hope.

Never before had Cui Zi Xuan felt this way; at this moment, he felt only a profound disgust and exhaustion.

He strode to Old Madam Cui without even bowing. His face was expressionless as his gaze swept over the elders—those who looked at him with fear, despair, or hope—and after a moment, Cui Zi Xuan asked in a hoarse voice, “What happened in the city? Is Chai Rong dead?”

Old Madam Cui and Old Madam Lu froze simultaneously. After a moment, one of the elders nodded and whispered, “Yes. We left the city while it was in chaos.”

Old Madam Cui said urgently, “Xuan’er, this is no place to stay. We must leave quickly.”

Cui Zi Xuan asked, “Where to?”

Old Madam Cui replied hastily, “As far away from Daliang as possible!”

Cui Zi Xuan almost laughed. In fact, he didn’t realize how terrifyingly cold his expression was. A powerful mix of disgust and exhaustion wove together a breathtaking despair. He stared coldly at Old Madam Cui and asked in a hoarse voice, “Is there anywhere in this world we can go?”

Old Madam Cui was stunned, frozen. The elders behind her also froze.

Cui Zi Xuan looked at them coldly and said in a hoarse voice, “The family’s thousand-year foundation, its thousand-year reputation, and all its direct descendants—we’ve staked everything on Chai Rong. Now, Chai Rong has been poisoned by you. In this world, which State, which place, is willing to take us in?”

Old Madam Cui and Old Madam Lu turned deathly pale. Old Madam Cui slowly slumped to the ground. The old men of the clans, who had been filled with anticipation for Cui Zi Xuan, hoping he would once again turn the tide, now looked ashen-faced.

Cui Zi Xuan withdrew his gaze, looked at the 2,500 guards he had brought, and said in a hoarse voice, “Wake everyone up; we are preparing to depart.”

Madam Cui Wu called from behind, “Xuanlang, where are you planning to take everyone?”

Cui Zi Xuan didn’t turn his head, his thin figure cold and aloof. “Wherever we can escape to!”

…

In the Later Zhou’s military camp.

Li Zongnan and several scions of noble families were gathered around Cui Zi Xuan’s tent. Although Cui Zi Xuan was gone, he remained the leader of the aristocratic families. His tent contained detailed maps of Later Shu and various secret documents he had left behind. Therefore, these aristocratic sons would gather here whenever they had free time to discuss their next strategy for conquering Shu.

Just as they were engrossed in their debate, hurried footsteps sounded outside. In the blink of an eye, a trusted guard of Cui Zi Xuan rushed into the tent. Upon seeing the group of young men, he collapsed to the ground with a thud. Struggling to his feet, he gasped and cried out to them, “Master, something terrible has happened…”

Li Zongnan quickly ordered his men to help him up.

The guard, who had served Cui Zi Xuan since childhood, was known for his composure. Once he caught his breath, he surveyed the tent and said, “This is an internal family matter; dismiss the outsiders.”

Li Zongnan quickly waved his hand, and the guards cleared away the surrounding people.

When only a few direct descendants of noble families remained in the tent, the guard, tears streaming down his face, trembled as he said, “Daliang…Daliang has met with disaster. At Chai Zongxun’s birthday banquet, Old Madam Cui and Old Madam Lu sent assassins to kill him, but they mistakenly stabbed His Majesty Chai Rong. The blade was coated with deadly poison. When Lord Cui sent me to inform you, Chai Rong was already bedridden. Lord Cui inquired, and there’s no antidote!”

Li Zongnan and the others instantly turned pale.

At this moment, the guard continued, “Furthermore, the assassins have already fallen into the Emperor’s hands. Fearing trouble, the elders moved some of the young lords out of Daliang. Due to the haste, they didn’t handle the matter thoroughly. According to the young lord’s guess, the matter of the noble families plotting against Chai Rong is probably already known to the civil and military officials of Daliang.”

At this point, the guard took out a letter and token hastily written by Cui Zi Xuan from his robes, choking back tears as he continued, “The young lord said that all the young lords should immediately assemble their troops and escape the camp before Zhao Kuangyin can react.”

Li Zongnan trembled as he opened the envelope. The letter contained only a few lines; it was indeed from Cui Zi Xuan. He ordered them to leave the camp immediately.

What did it feel like to fight a bloody battle in the darkness, only to fall back into an endless abyss of despair at the last moment before dawn? For a moment, Li Zongnan felt a dull pain in his heart, and his vision blurred… Forcing back the blood that rose to his throat, Li Zongnan said in a hoarse voice, “Quick, quickly go and call Cui Cen, Lu Gen, Zheng Xing, Wang Chao, and Li Yan here.”

“Yes!”

…

At this moment, Zheng Xing and Lu Gen were in Zhao Kuangyin’s tent, the three of them standing in front of a map of Later Shu, occasionally whispering to each other.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and a soldier called out from outside the tent, “General, Daliang has sent a message by carrier pigeon.”

Although it was sent by carrier pigeon, the message was made of two or three folded sheets of paper. Zhao Kuangyin walked over, took the carrier pigeon message, and casually opened it to read.

After only one glance, Zhao Kuangyin froze. He then continued reading as if nothing had happened. A moment later, he handed the letter to his deputy, Shi Shouxin.

Shi Shouxin, upon receiving the letter, also froze.

Zhao Kuangyin, hands behind his back, slowly walked to Lu Gen’s side. Together they looked at the map on the wall. After a moment, Zhao Kuangyin sighed softly, “This vast land of Later Shu… I wonder how long it’ll take before it falls into our hands?”

As he sighed, he casually drew his sword from the wall. With a whoosh, the longsword was drawn, and Zhao Kuangyin admired its sharpness in the sunlight streaming into the tent.

To one side, the handsome, melancholic, and perpetually affectionate-eyed Young Master Zheng Xing, the eldest son of the Zheng Clan of Xingyang, turned his head and glanced at Zhao Kuangyin.

Zheng Xing glanced at Zhao Kuangyin before looking away. Just then, a chill ran down his spine, and a sharp pain shot through him. Slowly, very slowly, Zheng Xing turned his head. He stared in astonishment at Zhao Kuangyin standing behind him. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Zheng Xing murmured, “Why…why?”

At the same time, Shi Shouxin, having finished reading the letter, waved his hand, and several swords were simultaneously placed against Lu Gen’s neck.

Facing the two bewildered noblemen, Zhao Kuangyin took the letter from Shi Shouxin’s hand. He waved the letter and said in a cold, stern voice, “The various powerful families of Daliang, led by Old Madam Lu and Old Madam Cui, attempted to assassinate Crown Prince Chai Zongxun with poisoned swords but failed and accidentally injured His Majesty Chai Rong. His Majesty is now bedridden, and the imperial physician diagnoses that His Majesty’s life hangs by a thread!” He glared coldly at the two noblemen and added icily, “I apologize to you both. I owe His Majesty a great favor! I must avenge him!”

“So that’s how it is…” Blood and foam continued to gush from Zheng Xing’s mouth. His eyes were already unfocused. With a swift movement, Zhao Kuangyin drew his sword, and he chuckled bitterly, “So that’s how it is… I should have known… I should have…” He didn’t finish his sentence. At this moment, his melancholy and affectionate eyes overflowed with endless regret, disgust, weariness, and relief until his body fell to the ground with a thud. Zheng Xing’s slightly parted thin lips and wide-open eyes seemed to still be saying, “I should have known!”

To the side, Lu Gen closed his eyes heavily. Under the glaring gazes of Shi Shouxin and Zhao Kuangyin, he slowly pushed away the sword at his neck and said elegantly and in a low voice, “Let me do it myself.” After saying that, he slowly walked to Zheng Xing’s body. He bent down and gently closed Zheng Xing’s eyes… Lu Gen extended his right hand to Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin handed Lu Gen the sword he had just used to kill Zheng Xing.

Lu Gen placed the blood-stained blade against his own neck. He closed his eyes, two streams of tears flowing down his cheeks. With a low, hoarse voice, a mixture of crying and laughter, Lu Gen said, “We should have known long ago. As long as they have even the slightest bit of power, they are more trouble than they are worth!” With that, Lu Gen tightened the sword, and as blood gushed out, his tall, elegant body collapsed to the ground with a thud.