Chapter 391: Death!

The Zhang family residence was located in the West City. Although the explosion happened quite far away, everyone in the mansion still heard that sudden loud noise. In the warm pavilion of the upper room in the west courtyard, Du Wan had just finished listening to Amber’s words. She was deep in thought, finding the situation extremely tricky, when she was startled by the noise. Seeing her pale expression, Xiao Wu quickly brought her a cup of hot tea and went outside to find out what was going on. It took a long time before she returned.
“Miss, don’t worry. It’s not coming from our house; it’s probably from outside,” Xiao Wu said after pulling back the curtain. Seeing Du Wan nod slightly, she stepped forward to help Amber, who was kneeling on the ground. Then she scolded, “It’s all in the past. Sister Amber, there’s no need to be so nervous! Just look at how that guy hides his true identity and doesn’t even dare reveal his real surname. He only came to our house to ask about freeing you, rather than coming to find you in person. That shows he knows what’s right and wrong—he won’t drag other members of the Qiu family into this. In my opinion, he’s a troublemaker with worthless motives! If the Duke of Qi could bring glory to his entire family on his own, then descendants of the Qiu family can do the same if they’re talented. What’s the point of causing chaos like this?”
“Xiao Wu is right!” Hearing her words, Du Wan couldn’t help but smile. She pulled Amber over and sat her down beside herself, then gently took her hand. “Don’t worry too much now. He’s just one person and has nothing to do with the rest of the Qiu family. Besides, acting solely through schemes without any integrity will surely bring disaster upon him! Your contract of servitude is clean and has nothing to do with the Qiu family. He can’t drag you down. You belong to our family—this won’t change now, nor will it change in the future!”
She was always thoughtful and then added thoughtfully, “If I had to say, this man is utterly foolish. Since the Qiu family was exiled to Hainan, their members must be under government supervision. No one could just disappear without reason. He must have pretended to die and fled. If he’s dead, even if he achieved great things, how could he revive the Qiu family? Even if he became a hero, someone who hides in the shadows and doesn’t dare reveal his identity won’t only fail to save the entire Qiu family but will also bring disaster upon himself. Though I’m a woman, I know that shame in battle must be washed away through military achievements. If he really had such ambitions, he should have petitioned the emperor to join the army years ago. Even as a common soldier, he might have risen through merit. Why do such things?”

Xiao Wu had always looked up to Du Wan, and at this moment she couldn’t help but nod repeatedly. Even Amber, who usually kept her past a closely guarded secret, was stunned. Though she had always known Du Wan to be well-educated, reasonable, and generous, and that Zhang Da would share major matters with her aside from family affairs, she had rarely been present when the couple discussed things, so this was the first time she saw another side of him beyond his kindness.

“If he truly harbors resentment over what was done to the emperor, then he should remember that back then, four generals and a hundred thousand troops were buried with your grandfather in the grasslands! Family honor is important, but if one loses integrity by failing to distinguish right from wrong, even if the Qiu family regains its status as a noble house, they will still be ridiculed and unable to hold their heads high! Public opinion can be extremely powerful—can such dishonorable achievements truly ensure noble status for generations?”

After speaking so much in one go, Du Wan felt a bit lighter in her heart. Amber finally couldn’t sit still. She gently pulled her hand away from Du Wan’s, got down from the bed, and knelt again, silently kowtowing to Du Wan three times.

Just then, a thud came from the roof, followed by the sound of tiles shifting. Xiao Wu reacted quickly—she looked up, rushed out through the door curtain. Outside, she scanned the surroundings but saw nothing, leaving her puzzled. After standing there for a long time, stroking her chin, she concluded it must be rats and shook her head as she headed back, muttering, “Strange—why would rats leave their nests in such cold weather and wander around outside?”

Fifteen minutes later, in a dead end next to the Wuanhou Hutong, a dark figure suddenly stopped. Although there was only a two-person-high wall ahead, which he didn’t even consider a barrier, he didn’t rush to climb over it but stepped back instead. Sure enough, moments later, a figure lightly flipped over the wall with just one hand.

“Brother Yue moves fast—it took me quite some time to catch up to you and block you here.”

Despite the cold weather, Tang Sair wore only a thin green robe, clearly dressed like a scholar. Glancing at Yue Changtian in his gray clothes standing with his hands behind his back, she said coldly, “You must have heard what I said just now. Though I’m at odds with the authorities, I agree with Miss Du’s words. ‘Dishonorable achievements’ really suit you well! If it weren’t for the tile you crushed in your excitement, I might not have noticed you at all.”

Yue Changtian narrowed his eyes, gradually clenching his fists, and snorted heavily, “She’s not me. What does she know?”
“I’m not from a noble family, so I don’t know how prosperous your Qiu family once was, and thus I can’t understand the pain of suddenly falling from such heights. But I do know what it means for ordinary people when hundreds of thousands of soldiers die in the grasslands! Your grandfather may be dead, but what about the wives, children, and parents of those soldiers who died in vain? Shouldn’t your Qiu family take responsibility for them instead of continuing to enjoy their wealth and glory?”
Tang Sair grew angrier as she spoke, then reached for her waist, and a bright, cold light appeared in her hand. “Your grandfather committed such atrocities, and you’re the same kind of person! I’ve always regarded you as a brother, Qingshuang has always seen you as someone she could trust for life, and the brothers of the White Lotus Sect have always thought of you as a leader who truly cares for them. But what have you done? You only knew how to exploit us to please the royal family and nobles, and when things went wrong, you ran away alone. Where’s your conscience?”
His mind had already been shaken by Du Wan’s words, and now he was also harshly rebuked by Tang Sair. Even someone as resolute as Yue Changtian couldn’t argue back at this moment. Realizing he was no match for Tang Sair in combat due to his skill with the bow, he knew he would be at a disadvantage if he stayed silent, so he took a deep breath.
“Leader Tang, are you really someone who pities the suffering? Constantly talking about conscience—how ridiculous! You hate the government because of your husband’s death and incite your followers to rebel. But do you even care about their lives? If rebellion spreads to the various counties in Shandong and the government sends troops to suppress it, won’t there be even more deaths and displaced people? Don’t think that just because you practice medicine, you’re some kind of Buddha. You’re nothing but hypocritical!”
“Yue Changtian, you heartless beast! How dare you slander others at a time like this?”
Hearing a familiar sharp cry behind him, Yue Changtian was shocked, but quickly put on an indifferent smile. The two sisters were always together—where Tang Sair was, Tang Qingshuang would follow. With deeper grudges between them, it made no sense for Tang Qingshuang not to appear. He didn’t even turn around, just looked at Tang Sair in front of him and smiled indifferently.

“Tonight, the capital is in chaos. Does the Sect Leader truly intend to devote all his attention to someone as insignificant as me? The White Lotus Sect in Shandong has suffered a devastating defeat. Although I did make a few mistakes, compared to that teacher and student who led the purge, I’m at most just an accomplice. By focusing on trivial matters instead of the core issues, isn’t that allowing others to take advantage? As for me and Qing Shuang… I can honestly say that over the years, she’s been the only woman in my life. Aside from my background, I’ve never deceived her.”

As soon as the word “her” left his lips, he keenly sensed a disturbance behind him. He immediately stepped back several times and rushed straight toward where he perceived Tang Qing Shuang to be. Those who pursue great goals shouldn’t be constrained by trivialities—this had always been his principle. Tang Qing Shuang’s martial skills were rather ordinary. As long as he could capture her easily, he could not only escape the White Lotus Sect’s death order but also have plenty of options at his disposal.

Yet, just as he was making these plans, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from behind him. In an instant, he managed to dodge to the left by half his body length under seemingly impossible circumstances. Immediately afterward, he felt excruciating pain in his right arm as if it had broken, along with a powerful force that pushed him forward two steps. In the chaos, he still managed to see that an arrow from a crossbow was embedded deep in his arm. Ignoring his injury, he staggered aside a few times and barely managed to hide behind a wall. Just as he tried to climb over it, he felt a chill at the back of his neck.

“At a time like this, you still resort to such tricks. Should I say you’re stubbornly ignorant or self-righteous?” Although it was a soft sword, Tang Sair gently shook her wrist, keeping the blade straight. “You defected to the Prince of Han, telling him he could use the White Lotus Sect to achieve his goals. After failure, you became a traitor to the White Lotus Sect. Fearing the Prince of Han would kill you, you colluded with eunuch Huang Yan from the Imperial Secretariat. After deceiving Princess Yongping, you even revealed her secrets to the Prince of Zhao… With your fickle nature of shifting sides with every wind, do you really think Qing Shuang won’t see through you?”

Yue Changtian, sweating from the pain, struggled to turn around and saw Tang Qing Shuang approaching with a crossbow in hand. Only then did he truly realize that the plan on the side of the Prince of Zhao was almost certainly ruined, and he himself was now in a deadly situation. If he had known this earlier, he wouldn’t have gone to the Zhang family to kidnap the Gu family. He wouldn’t have gone to the western courtyard out of impulse, nor would he have fallen into Tang Sair’s hands. But Tang Sair was just an ordinary person—how could she know so much?

“I swear on my life—if I ever have any ulterior motives, may thunder strike me.”

“Who believes in such damned oaths? If you betrayed once, won’t you betray again?” Tang Sair snorted in derision, cutting him off, yet the tip of her sword didn’t waver at all. “If you could betray the White Lotus Sect and the Kings of Han and Zhao, you’ll surely betray me too. Why would I keep a poisonous snake that might turn on me at any moment? You, a scion of a noble family, probably haven’t read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Lu Bu there was also once a heroic general, but what ended up his reputation? He became a slave to three families. Even though Cao Cao valued talent, he still killed him. Moreover, since you’ve betrayed me before, do you think I’ll let you go?”
“Even if I betrayed the White Lotus Sect, I never killed any of its members!”
“But in reality, it was you who killed them! If it weren’t for you inciting those sect leaders, would they have become so arrogant? If it weren’t for you revealing the location of Xieshipeng Fort, how would they have dared to rebel at such a time? If it weren’t for your plan to take advantage of chaos in Qingzhou to let the King of Han recruit more refugees into his army, how many heads would have fallen in Qingzhou? Over the past year or so, Tang Qingshuang and I have even met the Prince of Han. Do you know? They offered ten thousand taels of silver to me to buy your head!”
Seeing Yue Changtian’s expression change drastically, Tang Sair couldn’t help but laugh coldly. “The White Lotus Sect is now in disarray. I don’t want to rebel anymore. If no one else wants to rebel, why should I try to stop them? So I’ll take the silver. I’ll also cure the Prince of Han’s illness. Of course, I’ll help with whatever he asks. The Ming Dynasty never belonged to them. Those who treat the common people like ants deserve to die!”
Despite having known Tang Sair for years, it was only then that Yue Changtian realized he had misjudged her all along. He kept glancing at Tang Qingshuang, who kept her head lowered and refused to look at him, making his heart sink even further. “Leader, think carefully. Even if you can kill me, you might not be able to save those people’s lives. No one else can help…”
Tang Sair thrust the tip of her sword forward sharply, silencing Yue Changtian’s last word. Seeing the man she once trusted as her confidant still staring at her in disbelief, she said coldly, “Killing you won’t bring back those people’s lives, but if I don’t kill you, I’ll never be at peace! Yue Changtian, you should be grateful to die at my hands. Otherwise, if you fall into the hands of the Imperial Guards or the Eastern Depot, with your nature, you’ll confess everything. Then the entire Qiu family will be ruined!”

Seeing Yue Changtian’s miserable state, Tang Qingshuang could no longer hold the crossbow steadily, but she still forced her stiff legs to take two steps forward and asked in a low voice, “Third sister, what should we do next?”
“Go to Front Gate Street and shoot those letters we wrote earlier—accusing King Zhao of colluding with King Han to stage a rebellion, and claiming that the Crown Prince and Grand Crown Prince are dead—into the palace walls! That dog emperor’s throne was stolen in the first place. He’s killed so many of us; I’ll make him suffer from being abandoned by everyone!”
“What about the Zhang and Du families…”
“Considering Du Wan’s kindness in helping our master, we’ll spare them for now.”
Yue Changtian, who was breathing heavily, heard these decisive words. He watched helplessly as Tang Sair snatched the crossbow from Tang Qingshuang’s hands, threw it on the ground, and dragged her out of the alley. He was filled with resentment—why did they cling so tightly to such a small act of kindness from others? Why did he have to die?