Chapter 159 Turbulent Night
Inside the quiet General’s Manor, a black-clothed man was shouting himself hoarse.
Ye Que didn’t think he would be ambushed on his first official return to the manor or that the assassins would be survivors of the Ye Army.
These people must have mistaken him for being a Devil Seed after he used his Sword Qi to bind them. Perhaps the battle in You Prefecture left too deep a trauma in them that they would mistake anyone with supernatural powers as a cultivator, a devil, and the culprit behind their brothers’ massacre.
“Did all of you run from the city of You Prefecture?” Ye Que had released the bind his Sword Qi placed on them.
The group of men remained deeply wary of him even after they were freed. However, they refused to let Ye Que distort the truth out of principle. “I’ll repeat this again. We didn’t flee from the battle. We broke out of the siege under Chief Wu’s orders. We didn’t run.”
The person repeated himself. “There are no deserters in the Ye Army. Please watch your words.”
Ye Que waved his hand. “Fine. I’ll take your word for it that you’re not deserters. Then why did you call me a devil and even came here to assassinate me? Do you know me?”
The black-clothed man lying on the ground sneered at Ye Que. “I don’t know you. Neither do I need to. We’ll encounter only three types of people in this place: devils and demons from You Prefecture, scums of the General’s Manor, or bugs from the court. Whichever you are, death is too lenient a punishment for you.”
The man’s eyes were filled with derision as if Ye Que was a wicked man beyond redemption.
There was resentment there as well. His hatred for Ye Que was so intense despite having never met him.
Ye Que looked helplessly at the man lying on the ground. He felt like he was being wronged and yet had no room to voice it out. “Devils and demons from the You Prefecture? Scums of the General’s Manor? Bugs from the court? You must be kidding me!”
“Explain yourself. I understand devils and demons. What’s up with the so-called scums of the General’s Manor and bugs from the court?” Ye Que asked.
“Why ask when you know the answer?!”
“Did you think we’re idiots?!”
The black-clothed man’s hatred was obvious. “Didn’t you ask us why did we come to your manor? Since this is your manor, that means you’re from the Ye family! Since you’re surnamed Ye, that means you’re scum and a bastard! Do you feel bad that I’m calling you all these?”
“Aren’t you related to Xiao Huating and Ye Yunhai?”
“Those assholes entrapped 200,000 of my brothers in the Ye Army and turned You Prefecture into a city of grieving ghosts! How do you sleep at night? Aren’t you afraid that their ghosts will return to demand for your life?”
Even though Ye Que had retrieved his Sword Qi, the group of men didn’t leave. They didn’t know what mysterious trick he had pulled off to let go of them, but they knew that he could very well do it again.
The five of them glowered at Ye Que with their head high and chest out.
One of them suddenly spat at him.
Of course, an intangible force stopped that spittle midair and sent it flying in another direction.
“You wanna die?” Instead of Ye Que, it was Red Bean who yelled at that man in an icy voice.
She was free to bully Ye Que, but she couldn’t stand someone else doing it, much less cursing and humiliating him. What she received were the men’s rebellious glances. They seemed to be mocking her. “Kill us if you dare. No one in the Ye Army is afraid of death. It’s our loss if we dodge your attack.”
The one standing at the forefront was especially provocative. Judging from his looks, he ought to be a youngster that was at most twenty. His lips moved as if he was gathering spit in his mouth.
Ye Que stood there in silence as he listened to these men’s grievances. Finally, he said, “That’s the reason for this assassination?”
He pointed to himself and continued, “First of all, I’m not a Devil Seed. Not only that, I’ve even killed Devil Seeds. I’m not Xiao Huating and Ye Yunhai’s subordinate either. My name is Ye Que; I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of me. If you have, you should know very well that the two of them hated me to the core.”
“The death of the 200,000 soldiers of the Ye Army has nothing to do with me.”
The five black-clothed men fell into momentary silence. “You’re Ye Que?”
Ye Que nodded.
“Hmph.”
The men sneered. “You’re the Old General Ye’s illegitimate son? Do you want to escape responsibility with just a few words? Do you take us for fools?”
“If you have nothing to do with You Prefecture, why would you be here now?” One of the black-clothed men looked at Ye Que like he was looking at an idiot. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re from the court. More accurately, you’re either someone from the former Emperor, the Second Prince, or the Crown Prince.”
“If you’re not with the royalty, how could you be here today?”
The man looked at him in derision. “The General’s Manor has been repossessed. Besides the missing Xiao Huating and Ye Yunhai, everyone has been imprisoned. If you’re Ye Que, the Old General Ye’s son, how did you avoid that fate?”
“It’s no secret in Luoyang that Old General Ye has an illegitimate son returning to reclaim his heritage. Ye Yunhai had spread this news far and wide. There’s no way that the Court of Judicial Review doesn’t know about this. The only explanation is if you’re in cahoots with the court all along.”
Ye Que was beginning to feel amazed by their reasoning capabilities. They were sure imaginative to cook up such a story and yet make it sound so logical. Had he not experienced it himself, he would have thought this to be the truth. He was so bewildered that he wanted to laugh. He pointed to himself and said, “What benefit do I get from doing all these?”
The man replied without even a second thought, “The Old General’s death means that the General’s Manor becomes a master-less territory. The Ye Army has become the thorn in the court’s eyes. Since they can’t control us, they’ll have to destroy us. The grassland barbarians moving south was both a coincidence and an opportunity. They would waste us in the battle without anyone knowing any better.”
“If my assumption is correct, this was the previous Emperor’s idea. The Second Prince was the executor.”
Ye Que smiled after hearing his answer. “Then what role do I play in all of these? Since the Ye Army has been destroyed, wouldn’t an illegitimate child like me become even more useless?”
Ye Que was rather curious what these men thought of him, the illegitimate child of the General’s Manor.
The five black-clothed men exchanged glances and glared at him at the same time. They pointed to him in unison and said, “Don’t ask when you already know the answer.”
“You’re here to bait us!”
“Who told you the 200,000 soldiers of the Ye Army are wiped out?”
“No matter how dangerous it was in You Prefecture, no matter how many mowing men there were, there would surely be people who managed to break out of the siege.”
“Those of us who succeeded in breaking out of the siege are specters. We’re specters haunting murderers like you. You can forget about a peaceful life as long as one of us lives.”
They pointed to the General’s Manor. “This is the Old General’s manor. An unfilial son like you has no right to stay here.”
“Don’t you feel ashamed?!”
“Bah!”
One of them once again spat at Ye Que.
Like the last time, a force sent it flying. Ye Que finally lost his calm expression as he was left impatient and speechless. Why should he feel ashamed when he had done nothing of the sort?
“Baiting them to show up?”
“I’m a Formless Realm cultivator.”
“Who has ever seen such high-quality bait?”
Ye Que opened his mouth, wanting to explain. But judging by these men’s expressions, he lost all will to explain. He picked up the broom and smacked all of them once. Then, he pointed to the door. “Scram.”
These men’s stubbornness killed whatever sympathy he had for the survivors of the Ye Army. He chose to drive them out as he couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.
His order for them to scram stupefied them instead.
“Isn’t he supposed to kill us? Or imprison us?”
“Isn’t Ye Que a bait that the court planted to lure us?”
“He’s letting his assassins go?”
“What kind of trap is this?”
Questions of all kind popped up in their minds. Unexpectedly, no one moved.
“Can’t you understand human language? He said to scram!” With widened eyes, Red Bean raised her hand and waved. A burst of wind shoved the men out of the manor, causing them to make several somersaults before crashing to the ground.
Ye Que might be merciful, but Red Bean faced no psychological barrier whatsoever.
She was still furious from Ye Que yelling at her earlier.
The frigid wind swept the streets and lanes of Luoyang. While Ye Que was expelling the black-clothed men from the manor, information was leaked out of the palace: “You Prefecture has declared itself a state. The Immemorial Copper Gates are open. The Cultivation World is in turmoil. Fire beacons are lit throughout eight thousand miles along the west border. The six states are about to invade. Tang State is compromised from all sides.”
“The court is preparing to reverse the verdict of the General’s Manor case.”
“200,000 soldiers of the Ye Army are heroes of the state.”
“A ceremony to commemorate the fallen soldiers will be held in three days.”
The information spread at a lightning-fast speed. In just four hours, it roused the folks throughout the city of Luoyang and dispelled all of their sleepiness.
How long had it been since Tang State fell into such distress?
Countless clans began gathering their members. People began to throng the streets, all of them scurrying along.
No one knew when a particular silhouette appeared in the tower above the palace gates. He was silent and still amidst the night wind. His robes swayed noisily in the wind, but he remained in place. Twenty feet away, Chief Councillor of the Grand Council Huang Shan lay in wait for him.
Li Chunzhi towered above the palace gates, looking upon the city of Luoyang. It was he who ordered the news of the state being compromised from all sides to be spread. The later part, too.
Luoyang, steeped in the darkness, was like a nip of cold air in the frigid winter water. Li Chunzhi didn’t seem to notice the cold. He stared at the ancient city buried in the night and heaved a deep sigh. They had finalized the battle plan to ambush Xia State. It shouldn’t be an issue to terrify the six states with this, but this didn’t buy him any consolation. Instead, he was ill at ease with a deep feeling of shame. He had yet to ascend the throne, but the country that his ancestors had established was becoming as shaky as the flame of a candle. He couldn’t help feeling sorrowful about this.