Ch.51: Truth or Deception; Difficult to Discern
Yet, when the other half of the mask fell and Qi Rong’s entire face was revealed, it
became obvious that he didn’t look that much like Xie Lian after all. Their noses and lips
were similar in shape, but their brows and eyes were quite different. Xie Lian’s eyes
were calm and peaceful. Qi Rong’s brows were high and sharp, his eyes were also
much more thin and slant. He was certainly still a good looking young man, but anyone
could see just from his face that he wasn’t one to be messed with. After having been
beaten to a bloody pulp, he could finally squint open a slit of his eyes, and blearily
noticed the one grabbing him had changed form, and dressed in red. Qi Rong had
never seen Hua Cheng’s real face, but the moment he saw the red robes he was
shocked and furious, “It’s you. IT’S YOU!”
Hua Cheng had changed back to this true form. “You haven’t answered my question.
How did Prince An Le die?”
Because of how frightening his eyes looked, Xie Lian rushed forward and cried, “San
Lang!”
Humans and ghosts alike had all already cleared the cave, and Xie Lian ran to his side,
“Are you alright? Don’t be angry, please don’t be angry, everything’s fine. Just calm
down, everything’s fine…”
He gently rubbed down Hua Cheng’s shoulders a few times, and his voice becoming
soothingly soft. When Xie Lian was younger, whenever he got angry or upset, his
parents would always stroke his back like this, and comfort him with their gentle voices,
and thus he used the same method on Hua Cheng. Turns out it was quite effective; Hua
Cheng’s eyes were turbulent before, but after being soothed, his lips quivered for a
second, and slowly but finally calmed, his eyes cleared once more.
Seeing this, Xie Lian let out a breath of relief. But suddenly, even before he finished
exhaling, Hua Cheng swiftly reached out a hand and gently patted his shoulder once.
This pat instantly froze Xie Lian’s body and rooted him to where he stood.
He hadn’t prepared for Hua Cheng to do anything to him, which was why this was done
so easily. He didn’t know what Hua Cheng was up to, but he wasn’t worried about
himself, but rather he was worried for Hua Cheng, afraid that he might lose control
again like earlier. He was about to open his mouth to ask, when he realized not only
could he not move, he couldn’t speak either, and felt he may have gotten into a rather
difficult situation.
That Qi Rong may be weak in fist fights, but his mouth was certainly tough, and started
cursing while still covered in blood, “You fucking crazy one-eyed snake! Did I fucking
piss you off while eating in my own fucking house?!”
Hua Cheng smiled, then smacked his head down onto the ground again before picking
it up, “How did Prince An Le die?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with you…” Qi Rong cried, and Hua Cheng bashed
him down again, “How did Prince An Le die?”
This went on repeat for a while, and Hua Cheng kept his cool smile, dribbling his head
like a ball, violently bashing it for over ten times. Although violent, Qi Rong couldn’t die,
and because he couldn’t die, it was insufferable. Even a skull made of steel couldn’t
stand this kind of torture, and Qi Rong finally changed his tune, “If you’re so free why
don’t you go read a fucking history book?”
Hua Cheng laughed coldly, “If history books recorded the truth, why would I come and
ask a useless trash like you?” He lifted his hand again, and Qi Rong yelled, “IT’S LANG
QIANQIU! HE WAS KILLED BY LANG QIANQIU!!!”
The daruma doll in Xie Lian’s arms jerked, and started shaking vigorously.
It was shaking too hard and Xie Lian couldn’t move to hold it down, so alas he watched
as the Lang Qianqiu daruma doll fall out and onto the ground, madly spinning back and
forth. Hua Cheng didn’t turn his head, but he undid the spell. A blast of red smoke and
Lang Qianqiu’s form leapt from within.
He was royalty, high and mighty, and had never been wronged like this his entire life. He
pointed at Qi Rong in rage, “How could you insult me like this and smear my name! An
Le and I were friends! Who did you say killed him?!”
Qi Rong was also shocked to see him jump out, “You’re Lang Qianqiu? Why the fuck
are you here too?!”
Lang Qianqiu himself didn’t understand why he was brought to this lair either, but was
simply enraged by Qi Rong’s accusations earlier, and felt compelled to clear things up,
“Prince An Le died of illness, so why would you accuse me of killing him out of the
blue?!”
Hua Cheng watched on coldly but stopped dribbling Qi Rong’s head, so Qi Rong got
pulled into the fight, “Died out of a fucking illness, only you would believe it. He died
soon after the Gilded Banquet, so he must’ve been assassinated by you lot! If not you,
then those old withering fucks in court.”
He was muddying the waters and spewing garbage; Lang Qianqiu’s face was growing
grimmer, “No wonder everyone says the Green Ghost Qi Rong is vulgar and crass. Now
that I’ve met you, you are indeed disgusting.”
His offhand comment stabbed Qi Rong exactly where it hurts. After becoming famous,
for so many centuries, all of heaven and hell taunted him for being boorish and crude
and he hated it. His face dropped immediately, “I may be vulgar but it’s still much better
than your ignorance. Friends this, friends that, what peaceful relationship. Xianle and
YongAn can be friends? Coexist in peace? You’re as fake as your shitty parents,
disgusting!”
Hearing him insult his parents, Lang Qianqiu was furious, “Shut up! My esteemed
parents were sincere and genuine, not fake! I won’t allow you to spit on their names!”
Qi Rong spat, “You’re all nothing more than the descendants of some rebels, who gave
you the fucking right! What sincerity? To donate titles and land to us, the people of
Xianle? Shameless! You robbed what was ours then handed it back out like it’s some
sort of a gift? Everything you owned had belonged to Xianle!”
Lang Qianqiu was not skilled in arguing, and actually froze and stuttered, “You! You—”
Qi Rong saw how he stammered and felt a rush of satisfaction, and resolved to
aggravate him even more. He laughed, “Even if you guys killed An Le, it was a
profitable death. Xianle lost but one man, but YongAn paid an entire Gilded Banquet.
Too bad we couldn’t kill you too, and have you all taste what it’s like to end an entire
bloodline!”
Hearing this, Lang Qianqiu was bewildered, “…What did you say?”
Xie Lian mentally cursed.
He so desperately wanted to bash Qi Rong back into the ground the same way Hua
Cheng did, and shut him up. But with this petrification spell, he couldn’t move a single
muscle.
“What do you mean you couldn’t kill me too?”
Qi Rong only wanted to avenge himself on the ‘vulgar’ comment, and boasted, “Truly
the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree; my lord’s stupidity spans hundreds of years, my
eyes are opened! Think, us Xianle are thoroughly disgusted with you YongAn; whoever
doesn’t hate you is unfit to be called a citizen of Xianle! Did you honestly think the royal
descendants of Xianle would be friendly with the royalties of YongAn? It was all to
infiltrate your guard, make it easy to plot, and wash your gilded birthday banquet with
blood!”
Xie Lian was struggling to break free, and Lang Qianqiu was frozen to his spot. After a
moment, he stammered, “…The Prince An Le, and the Guoshi, were, were on the same
side?”
Lang Qianqiu was filled with anguish, thinking that his beloved teacher and friend had
conspired against him together. However, contrarily, Qi Rong said, “Guoshi? That
wicked Guoshi Fang Xin? Who the hell is on the same side as him?”
Lang Qianqiu heard his question and was baffled “You… you awash the Gilded Banquet
with blood, but the one to do so was it not the Guoshi? Were you both not on the same
side? I…” He was thoroughly confused.
“Who the fuck knows where that evil cultivator came from,” Qi Rong replied, “It had
nothing to do with him! Listen up, Lang Qianqiu: the blood spilt at your YongAn Gilded
Banquet was all done by the people of Xianle! An Le had already planned to kill off
every single fucking rebel blood at the banquet, but that fucking weirdo Guoshi of yours
suddenly busted in. An Le had thought the plans failed and ran to me for help, asking
me what to do if he was discovered, but who knew that very night it was announced the
one who fucked everything was that Guoshi, and he became wanted in the entire
kingdom.”
It took Lang Qianqiu a while to process that information. “If that was the case, then why
didn’t you speak up??”
Qi Rong clicked his tongue, “Are you fucking dumb?? Why would I say anything? Was it
a bad thing to have someone take the blame? Can you level me up to a ‘Supreme’ with
this lie?” He was relishing this more and more the more he spoke, “Yoooo, I get it. You
couldn’t believe it, right? I heard you nailed your own teacher in the coffin,
HAHAHAhahahahah, what a fucking idiot! You killed the wrong person!”
Hearing that vile, hearty laughter, Xie Lian closed his eyes, and cursed again.
Lang Qianqiu was trembling with rage, “…YOU’RE WRONG!” He then whipped around
and shouted towards Xie Lian, “If that was true, even if he didn’t say anything, why
didn’t you?!”
Qi Rong spat out a broken tooth. “And who the fuck is that? What, are you all here to
have a fucking party in my cave???”
Everyone ignored him. Lang Qianqiu demanded, “If you didn’t do it, if you didn’t kill, then
why did you admit to guilt???”
Just then, Xie Lian’s body became loose.
Hua Cheng had undone the petrification spell. However, it might have been too late.
Lang Qianqiu was waiting for his response, and Xie Lian stood up slowly, working out
the kinks in his wrists and joints. After a pause, Xie Lian blurted the words, “Complete
nonsense.”
Lang Qianqiu had fully expected him to say “It’s true, just as he said”. Yet, the words Xie
Lian uttered completely revoked his own relief of guilt from Qi Rong’s recount.
Qi Rong was pissed. “Complete nonsense?! Says who?”
“Says I.” Xie Lian said.
He looked down on Qi Rong and said, “All this fibbing and empty words, what proof do
you have that the ones who spilt blood at the GIlded Banquet were the descendants of
Xianle?”
Qi Rong was amused, “All the killed are dead, so what proof? Besides, it’s been
hundreds of years. What proof is left?”
“Which is why I say this is all complete nonsense.” Xie Lian replied, “Xianle and YongAn
are dynasties of the past, long lost to time. Is there any point to you stirring up trouble
with nothing more than bits of history?”
The tone of his voice startled Qi Rong, and he looked as if he was remembering
something, narrowing his eyes. Xie Lian turned to Lang Qianqiu and said in a calming
manner, “I killed your father; you saw with your own eyes. This was during a time soon
after my second banishment. I was filled with frustration and caused a great wrong. This
is all my fault. There’s no need to drag anyone else down with me. This man is full of
deception; dragging the Prince An Le’s name through mud was only to avenge himself
of your comment on his vulgarity.”
If any bystander was to listen in on this conversation, they would find it hilarious. A fight
for the title to the true culprit of a murder case; one would think blood spilling at the
Gilded Banquet was some sort of glorious deed. Lang Qianqiu was in turmoil and
profoundly confused. He held his head and thought for a long while before speaking,
“That’s right… it was you, and no one else.”
He had seen with his own eyes. That night, he ran to the Gilded Palace excitedly, only
to see the black clad Guoshi pull out a thin, long sword from the chest of his father,
splattering blood everywhere. And at that moment, his father, the king of YongAn had
stretched out his hand towards him, still breathing. It was after he had rushed over that
that hand was dropped limply.
Just then, Qi Rong who was lying on the ground suddenly spoke up, “Cousin Crown
Prince, is that you?”
Ch.52: Truth or Deception; Difficult to Discern 2
Xie Lian’s gaze moved back to Qi Rong. After staring at him for a moment, Xie Lian
said, “Qi Rong, it looks like you’ve been living colourfully these past few years.”
Right after he finished his words Hua Cheng removed his fake skin. Qi Rong’s eyes
widened as each three of the intruders revealed themselves. Lang Qianqiu was
bewildered, “Cousin?”
Even if earlier when he heard Qi Rong say “Us Xianle” and could guess the identity of
the Green Ghost’s past life was one from the kingdom of Xianle, he hadn’t imagined that
he and Xie Lian were actually related on a personal level. Qi Rong stared at Xie Lian’s
face, and looked him up and down; it was a gaze hungry with curiosity and fascination.
When his eyes stopped at the sword Fang Xin on Xie Lian’s back, he suddenly burst out
laughing, “SO THAT’S IT! THAT’S IT! FANG XIN WAS YOU! YOU WERE FANG XIN!
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA!!!”
Although he couldn’t understand why he was laughing, Lang Qianqiu’s guts told him it
wasn’t anything appropriate, and demanded angrily, “What’s so funny?”
“I’m laughing at my good ol’ cousin, what’s it to you!” Qi Rong bit back in a fit. “Just now
I said my lord’s stupidity spanned hundreds of years. I’m sorry. I apologize. The best
way to learn is to learn from the best; look at your master, no wonder you’re so fucking
stupid!” He turned to Xie Lian, “You went to YongAn and became their Guoshi, and
ended up stabbed to death by your own disciple, is that not exciting? Is it not hilarious?
You deserved it; making a fool of yourself!”
The moment he uttered the word “fool” Hua Cheng smashed his head down again
violently. Qi Rong had always been tough skinned, and for some reason, seeing Xie
Lian made him ten times more excited than usual. Even with his face bashed into the
ground he yelled unceasingly, “A FOOL! A FOOL! A FOOL!”
Each time he said it, Hua Cheng would smash his head down again. It was a bloody
scene and Xie Lian stopped the hand that was about to strike again, “San Lang, let it
go!”
“Why should I?!” Hua Cheng said sharply.
“It’s nothing, don’t let any of it get to you.” Xie Lian said, “He has problems and is
extremely troublesome. I can take care of him. You just sit back and ignore him.”
He gently rubbed Hua Cheng’s shoulder, and it was a long time before Hua Cheng
finally replied in a low voice, “Fine.”
Qi Rong plucked his own head from the ground and rolled to the side with difficulties.
He spat, “Why play pretend false kindness? If you really didn’t want him to hit me, then
you should’ve stopped him from the beginning! Faking indifference and only telling him
to let it go now, no one’s gonna praise you for your generosity!”
“I stopped him because I don’t want him to dirty his hands, did you misunderstand
something?” Xie Lian said.
A trace of anger flashed through Qi Rong’s bloodied face, but then he started giggling,
“Yooo, cousin Crown Prince, you’re getting along pretty well with Hua Cheng. And here I
was just wondering why none of the underlings this little brother of yours sent to greet
you on ZhongYuan ever returned, so it was because they ran into Hua Cheng!”
Xie Lian had no idea that Qi Rong had actually sent any underlings to go find him. That
night of the ZhongYuan festival, it was a coincidence to have bumped into Hua Cheng,
and taking him back to Puqi Shrine wasn’t in the plans. It seemed that all of Qi Rong’s
underlings had been taken cared of by Hua Cheng. Xie Lian couldn’t help but steal a
glance at the person next to him.
Qi Rong continued, “Calling him ‘San Lang’, tsk tsk tsk, so familiar! Cousin, you’re a big
shot heavenly official, how can you hang out with ghosts and demons? Aren’t you
worried about your reputation? You’re so perfect after all, so pure and flawless, your
halo shines upon all on this earth, hahahahahahaha…”
Many in the Heavenly Court had more or less thought the way Mu Qing spoke was
sarcastic, but if they were to listen and compare, they will learn what is truly sarcastic.
Truly, they had wronged Mu Qing. Qi Rong didn’t just speak, he’d act too. He folded his
hands over his heart and exclaimed, “Cousin Crown Prince, this little brother had
constantly thought of you over the years. Look, I even meticulously carved this statue to
keep you by my side, so I can gaze upon your heroic form every waking moment of
every day. What do you think? It’s pretty well done, right? Do you like it? Don’t worry, if
you don’t like it then even better, I’ll carve more, hahahahaha…”
The moment he mentioned the statue, Hua Cheng’s face immediately darkened, and if it
wasn’t for Xie Lian holding him back, he would’ve stepped on Qi Rong’s face by now.
However, Xie Lian knew perfectly well the kind of person Qi Rong was; he’s a little mad
in the head, and the more extreme the reaction, the more excited he’d get, and the
more outrageous he’d become. Reverse psychology would be the most effective, so Xie
Lian only smiled faintly, “It’s only alright. Sorry, but the craftsmanship is kind of low
class.”
As expected, Qi Rong’s face immediately fell. He said coldly, “Enough. If it wasn’t for my
past affections and carved you a couple statues, who would even worship you? You
probably sniveled and whined at Jun Wu’s feet and hugged til your knees busted in
order to ascend this time. Go around the heavens and see for yourself, which official
isn’t more dignified than you? Even a two hundred year old ascendee can walk all over
you. You’re pretty much eight hundred years old but only got so far. What a failure.”
Xie Lian smiled, “I am quite the failure, not like cousin, already a ‘Savage’ after eight
hundred years.”
Xie Lian knew way too well how to put Qi Rong down. Next to him, Hua Cheng snorted,
and Qi Rong’s face darkened. He looked between all those present and suddenly said,
“This stance… did you beg Hua Cheng to fuck with me today to settle our differences?”
Xie Lian was taken aback, and thought about the current picture they painted, and
actually couldn’t argue back.
Qi Rong continued, “Look at you all. The moment I say anything bad about you, wow!
Look how mad he’d get. Was he blinded by that holy light from your halo? My fucking
god, I forgot! Wasn’t he already blind in one eye? HAHAhahaha…”
Before he could finish, his eyes went dark again, and his cheek exploded in agony,
spewing blood from his mouth – he got punched again! However, this punch wasn’t
from Hua Cheng but from Xie Lian.
Xie Lian’s fist was faster than the eye could see, and he said coldly, “Just because I’ve
never hit you before in the past, doesn’t mean I would never hit you.”
That punch was a solid one, and it was a long while before Qi Rong could make any
sounds. He laid on the ground like a mangy dog, clubbing the ground with his fists as he
cackled, “Cousin Crown Prince, you hit me! You actually hit me! Heavens, our noble,
kind, compassionate, charitable Crown Prince who’s scared of stepping on even a small
ant, actually got pissed, and swung a fist! HE’S HITTING PEOPLE! INCREDIBLE!
AMAZING!!!”
He was unbelievably excited, going insane with elation. Lang Qianqiu had never seen
anyone whose words and actions were so mad, and was shocked into bemusement
after witnessing this singular act. He mumbled, “Is… is he crazy?”
Xie Lian was used to seeing Qi Rong’s madness, and didn’t think much of it, “You’ve
heard it. He’s insane. His heart and mind are unbalanced, so nothing he said is
believable.”
Qi Rong’s laughter came to a sudden stop. He schooled his face and sneered, “Don’t be
so quick to tell people I’m psycho. Let me ask you, how did Prince An Le die!?”
This was the question Hua Cheng had posed to him, and now he asked it to Xie Lian
instead. Lang Qianqiu’s attention was suddenly focused on it again.
Xie Lian’s heart culled, and couldn’t immediately respond. Qi Rong on the other hand,
slowly pulled himself up, and sat while leaning on the kneeling statue, “After An Le died,
I cut open his corpse to inspect it, and all of his organs were pulverized by the vibrations
of an exceedingly powerful sword, which was why he didn’t have any external injuries
but couldn’t stop hacking up blood. This was something no regular swordsman could
do. At first I thought YongAn thugs had brought in some strange hitman so as to fake An
Le’s death as illness. But now that I think about it, there’s another person who can do
this, and it’s none other than my good ol’ cousin, defender of justice. After all, our
Flower-Crowned Martial God, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a holy, pure, one
and only, snow white lotus of the heavenly mountains…”
Hua Cheng stomped on him, and Qi Rong yelped miserably. Lang Qianqiu felt like his
head was going to explode; he held his head, his eyes laced with red, “Shut up! Just tell
me what you know! Who’s the real murderer? What happened at the Gilded Banquet?
And what happened to Prince An Le? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED???”
“Lang Qianqiu why are you still confused?” Qi Rong said, “Even I pretty much figured
out what happened. Looks like you really don’t understand the kind of person your
master is! Come, come, come, let me dissect my good ol’ cousin for you: this former
Crown Prince of Xianle went and became YongAn’s Guoshi, and taught you
swordsmanship for five years…”
He’d only spoken a few words, and Xie Lian reached for his sword, but before he could
charge forward, Lang Qianqiu’s longsword was blocked before him, “Let him finish!”
“You know he’s insane and yet you still listen to his mad conjecture!”
Fang Xin was swung, and even though it’s a slender blade, its shockwave almost made
Lang Qianqiu loosen his grip on his longsword. But just then, a silver curved blade
knocked Fang Xin, hooked it up and pulled it aside. Xie Lian was startled and cried,
“San Lang!”
Qi Rong saw how much Xie Lian didn’t want him to speak and how desperately he
didn’t want Lang Qianqiu to hear the story, so Qi Rong had to do the opposite, and
grabbed this chance, “Prince An Le was our good Xianle boy, very obedient! He heeded
my instructions to be false friends with you, but your master bumped into us cleaning
out the YongAn rat nest at the Gilded Banquet so An Le escaped. You got to the Gilded
Banquet, saw what happened, and the Guoshi Fang Xin became the most wanted man
in the kingdom. This was the previous story, not a word of lie…”
Xie Lian tried to charge forward to shut his mouth a few times, but each time Hua
Cheng stopped him. Xie Lian cried again, “San Lang!” However, Hua Cheng didn’t say a
single word and only continued to block Xie Lian.
The more Xie Lian wanted to charge over, the faster Qi Rong’s lips moved. “This saintly
cousin of mine, when he saw with his own eyes the people of Xianle committing murder,
he must’ve thought: How can this be? That’s not right! So he went to find Prince An Le
to educate him a little, but when he sought him out – my GOD what did he discover? An
Le’s major plot! It wasn’t only just assassinating some thugs! There’s no way cousin
could educate him, so he hardened his heart and killed the last blood of our royal house
with his own hands! – Afterwards you caught your master, and nailed him dead in that
coffin, and so ends my cousin’s magnificent life as Guoshi. Cousin, am I wrong?”
He spat a mouthful of blood next to the feet of the statue, “I know you too well. You love
doing shit like this. Ancestors above, look at what a good descendant you gave birth to!
Not only has the Xianle Xie clan lost everything, even the bloodline is cut! XIE LIAN!
YOU OMINOUS STAR, YOU GOD OF MISFORTUNE! YOUR EXISTENCE IS
XIANLE’S GREATEST TRAGEDY! WHY WON’T YOU DIE? HOW DO YOU EVEN
HAVE THE FACE TO KEEP LIVING???”
“But I saw with my own eyes he killed my father with his sword!” Lang Qianqiu said,
“How do you explain that?”
“If it’s not water getting into your fucking senior eyes and ruining your sight, then I can
only think of one reason.” Qi Rong replied, “Which is An Le for sure stabbed your old
man, but he didn’t die.”
“Did… did he drive the blow home?”
Qi Rong howled, “What are you saying! My good cousin is such a kind soul, how could
he drive any attacks home? When he arrived, he wouldn’t have attacked right away,
he’d have to do a little show of trying to save the poor guy first. But, heh, your old man
probably killed himself.”
“What do you mean he killed himself?” Lang Qianqiu demanded.
“What’s the first thing someone saved from the brink of murder will do?” Qi Rong asked,
“After seeing so many massacred at the Gilded Banquet, what’s your first reaction?”
Lang Qianqiu still hadn’t completely deduced it, “…Find the murderer.”
“WRONG!” Qi Rong cried, “After my good cousin saved your old man and he revived his
breath, he would’ve certainly said: ‘Quick! Guoshi! It was Prince An Le who’d done it!
Go and kill Prince An Le!’ No, no, no, not just that, he must’ve said something worse,
like: ‘Guoshi! Bring forth Qianqiu! Call upon everyone! I want the entire population of
Xianle wiped out! I want to bury them all with the dead!!!’”
His imitative tone of despair and fury was disturbing to listen to, and Lang Qianqiu was
growing paler by the minute. Qi Rong continued, “Even if he wasn’t killed on the spot,
your old hag had an entire nest of thug relatives that were all killed before him. He’d
have to open fire on the people of Xianle sooner or later. Your good master realized this,
considered his options, and decided, no, the old man couldn’t be saved, so PLORK and
the old man’s heart goes cold. That’s the kind of person my good cousin is, a saint who
can’t have sand in his eyes, always doing shit that harms others and hurts himself; he
wanted to please both sides but succeeded with neither, hehehehe,
hahaHAHAHAhahah…”
——
Ch.53: Truth or Deception; Difficult to Discern 3
Xie Lian shouted, “Qi Rong, you shut your mouth!”
Lang Qianqiu turned his head angrily, “Why does he have to shut up? Because what he
said is the truth?? In that Gilded Banquet, you and An Le both struck; one killed my
entire family, and the other finished the blow to my father. You’re all lying to me?!”
Xie Lian responded hurriedly, “Don’t listen to–” Qi Rong cut in, “OF COURSE IT’S ALL
A LIE! You’re so stupid, if not you, then who else do we deceive? If not for some rando
spoiling our plans, Xianle would’ve already taken your fucking life at the age of twelve,
instead of giving you the luxury to grow up and ascend!”
“Twelve?” Lang Qianqiu repeated. The biggest thing that happened when he was twelve
was that kidnapping, saved by Xie Lian. He demanded, “That year, the muggers who
intruded the palace to kidnap me was sent by the people of Xianle?”
“Duh!” Qi Rong clicked his tongue, “Did you think any ordinary assassins can just
kidnap the Crown Prince from hundreds of royal guards? Please. I was the one who
helped An Le on that.”
Lang Qianqiu nodded, “Helped? Good. I understand. So my friends are all fake. The
people of Xianle never cared for our amity. Your Prince An Le never possessed good
intentions, and instead came for our lives.”
He turned to Xie Lian, “So, everything you told me was false too.”
Qi Rong pretended to look surprised, “Come, come, come, hurry and let me hear what
my saintly cousin told you!”
Lang Qianqiu ignored him and continued to address Xie Lian, “You said YongAn and
Xianle were but one nation at their roots; whatever conflicts the royals had with each
other had nothing to do with civilians. Both sides used to be one family, and under our
generation’s rule, there could be changes for the better. As long as the people were
happy, it didn’t matter what the royal house was named, and both sides could let go of
their grudge and unite in time. All that was false. All nonsense, bullshit, lies!”
This was what Xie Lian didn’t want to hear the most. He cried immediately, “No! It’s not
false! Think: under your rule, weren’t there real changes?”
Lang Qianqiu closed his mouth, his breath held. Xie Lian continued, “Didn’t you do
really well? Didn’t the remnant citizens of Xianle integrate peacefully with the people of
YongAn? There were less and less conflicts and riots, so how could any of it be false?”
There was