Chapter 83 Daybreak

Chapter 83: Dawn

A summer night's breeze still stirred, but it seemed to have carried away the din of battle.

The air grew still, and the entire hall fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Only Chang Wenji's frantic heartbeat thundered.

Trembling, he turned around, pointing at the unmistakable bright yellow figure in the night, and spoke with disbelief.

"You... how are you here! Weren't you already dead!"

When the emperor's death was announced, he had been right beside Xiao Yan. He had personally watched Xiao Yan close his eyes and had personally confirmed that Xiao Yan's pulse had stopped!

Why! Why was Xiao Yan now standing perfectly fine before him!

"At that time, I was indeed 'dead,' but it was merely feigned death." Xiao Yan smiled. "I took a feigning-death pill, which allowed me to maintain a state of suspended animation for six hours. I imagine the Chancellor was taken in by this trick."

A feigning-death pill?

Chang Wenji's eyes turned bloodshot, his face contorted with rage. He should have stabbed Xiao Yan in the heart back then, ensuring he would never wake up again!

Though furious, Chang Wenji remained defiant.

"Even if you're alive, so what? Outside, thousands of troops are locked in fierce battle. Victory is still uncertain!"

"Oh? Chancellor, listen to that sound. Are you sure it's from your thousands of troops?"

"My lord!" Scarface's expression also changed abruptly, looking at Chang Wenji in panic. "Something's wrong with the sounds!"

He had brought fifty thousand men. The Imperial Guards in the city numbered at most thirty thousand. How could the battle still be so intense after all this time?

And Fang Fengshi—he clearly hadn't been dressed like this just now!

Earlier, he had been fully armed and completely covered up, with the Imperial Guard Commander's insignia prominently displayed at his waist. Why was he now dressed like an ordinary soldier!

Seeing that someone had finally noticed him, Fang Fengshi revealed a broad smile.

"My soldiers would never be so incompetent. If they hadn't deliberately held back, you might not have breached the city gates even after a day and night of assault."

He laughed arrogantly. "On the contrary, getting them to fake weakness was actually the tricky part."

Fang Fengshi recalled his deputy's miserable and reluctant expression and still found it amusing.

"Commander, it's not fitting for me to impersonate you. We don't look alike, and besides, I'm no good at acting."

"Our builds are similar—it's perfect! Just cover up tightly and hide your face. It's dark, and the distance is far; no one will be able to tell the difference!"

After much persuasion, Fang Fengshi finally convinced his deputy to put on his armor. Only then did he feel at ease, taking the tiger tally to the depths of Zhaoshan to rally his personal troops and wait in the forest outside the city.

He drew the sword at his waist, offering "kind" advice. "I advise you not to resist stubbornly. Surrender peacefully."

Unexpectedly, Chang Wenji let out a sinister laugh, as if filled with a resolve to perish together.

"You're allowed to scheme, but who says I can't have a backup plan?"

As soon as he finished speaking, several explosions sounded from outside. Then, illuminated by the firelight, they saw thick black smoke rising from various locations.

"Chang Wenji, what are you doing!"

Some of the black smoke was inside the palace, some outside, but without exception, all were near the central thoroughfare of Zhaojing.

"If I can't have it, then let's all be destroyed together!" Chang Wenji laughed maniacally. "I had people bury charges of gunpowder throughout Zhaojing long ago. If I haven't sent them a signal by the Hour of the Ox, they will light all the fuses! Xiao Yan, I wonder how many of your soldiers are left! Hahahahaha!"

Chang Wenji's mad laughter echoed incessantly in the air, while deafening explosions continued to sound in the distance.

Xiao Yan and Fang Fengshi exchanged a silent, wordless glance. Neither had expected Chang Wenji to be so utterly depraved, even willing to make the whole city his pyre.

Xiao Yan's fingertips twitched slightly, and a pebble struck the hollow of Chang Wenji's knee, causing the latter to stagger and kneel.

Fang Fengshi seized the opportunity to restrain Scarface, while Xiao Yan pressed a dagger against Chang Wenji's neck.

"Speak! What method do you use to communicate? Tell them to stop immediately!"

Chang Wenji, who had been so desperate to save his own skin moments ago, now seemed to have gone mad. He paid no heed to the sharp blade at his neck, caring only for the spiteful pleasure of his words.

"Hahahaha, now you're anxious? Too late! Hahahaha! How could I possibly lose? How could I lose to a brat like you who's still wet behind the ears! Hahahaha!"

Xiao Yan increased the pressure on the dagger, and blood instantly appeared on Chang Wenji's neck. Yet, as if feeling no pain, he continued to sneer.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan simply withdrew his dagger. He hadn't wanted to involve innocent people.

"Chancellor, aren't you curious about where Chang Ying is now? She is your most beloved daughter, after all."

"You!..." Indeed, at the mention of Chang Ying, Chang Wenji seemed to regain his senses and quieted down. "What have you done to my daughter!"

"I have done nothing to her, of course. I merely invited her to a place for some tea." Xiao Yan took out a pink sachet and threw it to Chang Wenji. "Chancellor, see if this is the one your daughter wore."

"Parents who love their children plan deeply for their future. The Chancellor has truly gone to great lengths, sending his daughter out of Zhaojing five days ago, fearing she would be caught in the crossfire of war." Xiao Yan forced Chang Wenji's face to look outside. "But what about the other families in this war? Don't they have children too? Should they die in your explosions?"

"Tell me how to stop this gunpowder. I will spare your daughter's life and even allow you a chance to see her."

By this point, Xiao Yan had exhausted his patience, his tone as cold as ice.

"I..."

But Chang Wenji still hesitated. He had come this far; the gunpowder planted outside was his final bargaining chip.

As long as the explosions continued, he still had a chance to win.

As for his daughter... He had doted on her for twenty years, given her everything she wanted, and even sent her away early. If she was captured now, she had only fate to blame.

Still, she was his own flesh and blood. Abandoning her like this did not sit well with him.

Yet, just as Chang Wenji's inner conflict raged on, the explosions outside gradually ceased.

But these were far fewer explosions than the amount of gunpowder he had planted.

At that moment, several screams came from the courtyard gate of Cangwu Hall. The rebel soldiers standing guard at the entrance were all sent flying inside, crashing to the ground and moaning in agony.

Then, a great warhorse appeared in the courtyard. The rider in silver-gray armor instantly drew all eyes.

"Father!"

"Fang Zhenbo!"

Fang Fengshi and Chang Wenji spoke simultaneously, one with 'joy,' the other with 'shock.'

Old General Fang ignored both of them, first kneeling before Xiao Yan.

"Forgive my late arrival to Your Majesty's aid. The situation outside is under control, and we are searching for the hidden gunpowder caches."

"Nonsense," Xiao Yan took Fang Zhenbo by both hands and helped him up. "Old General Fang arrived just in time."

"You! What are you doing here?! You should be in the north—"

When he heard the cannon fire stop and saw the man who shouldn't be here, Chang Wenji abruptly cut himself off.

"Good, good, good," his breathing grew ragged, and the muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably. "There was never any war at the Beixiang border. This was all a ploy to lull me into a false sense of security, to make me think I could win!"

"Hahaha... hahahaha!" Chang Wenji doubled over laughing and fell to his knees, his voice sharp and piercing, growing increasingly hysterical. "So, the flood in Lingnan must have been under control long ago too. That letter from Jiang Wang about the severe floods... he was lying to me! Hahahaha, lying to me, everyone's lying to me!"

"Hahahaha, all these years, you've all been acting! Playing the fool, playing the Foolish Emperor, all to blind me!" Between bursts of laughter, Chang Wenji gasped for breath, tears spilling from his eyes. "All those who deceived me deserve to die! Jiang Wang must die, the Fang father and son must die, and you, Xiao Yan, must die too!"

Mustering strength from somewhere, Chang Wenji grabbed a knife from the ground and lunged at Xiao Yan. His eyes were venomous, and he kept muttering, "Deserve to die, deserve to die."

But he was old, his reactions slow. Before he could steady himself, Xiao Yan knocked the dagger from his hand with a stone.

"Chang Wenji. *You* are the one who deserves to die."

"You harbored treacherous intentions, colluded with foreign enemies, controlled the court, and even poisoned my elder brother. Did you think I knew nothing? Did you think I've been plotting all these years for fun?"

Xiao Yan threw the soul-dispersing powder and the black jade in front of Chang Wenji.

"Familiar? For killing my brother alone, you deserve to die a thousand deaths! Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Chang Wenji's eyes widened, and a shattered, dry, inhuman sound squeezed from his throat.

"How is this possible..."

How could Xiao Yan have these things? He thought he had covered his tracks perfectly...

No wonder Xiao Yan's feigned illness was so accurate, as if it were real. He never doubted it—it turned out Xiao Yan had known about the soul-dispersing powder all along...

Seeing Chang Wenji in this despondent state, Xiao Yan found it laughable.

"You are the cancer of the Great Jing Dynasty. It's just that now I have finally excised you. What do you have to be unwilling about?"

The private soldiers who attacked the city had been subdued, his trump cards had been exposed, and his daughter was in someone else's hands. He was completely at a disadvantage.

A disadvantage from which he could never recover.

With ironclad evidence piled before him like a mountain, Chang Wenji trembled all over and slumped to the ground in despair.

He had lost.

Lost completely.

With Chang Wenji's silent admission, the heavy burden in Xiao Yan's heart was lifted. Finally, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

He had caught the murderer of his elder brother. He had done it.

All these years, he had hardly relaxed for a single day, nor had he been able to be himself for a single day.

The obsession in his heart was finally completely released at this moment.

The deepest darkness before dawn began to loosen, gradually swallowed by the sliver of white at the horizon.

Daybreak.

Chang Wenji had confessed and awaited punishment. The soldiers were spontaneously cleaning up the wreckage from last night's chaos.

But Xiao Yan felt no joy at all. He felt that something was amiss.

Suddenly, he caught sight of the carriage outside the courtyard gate and asked, "Whose is this?"

"Chang Wenji's. Why?" Fang Fengshi happened to be getting down from the carriage. "We searched it; there's nothing useful inside."

"Wrong," Xiao Yan abruptly grabbed Fang Fengshi's hand. "Chang Wenji is here, but where is the driver?"

"It seems... Chang Tong!" Fang Fengshi also realized. "Chang Tong brought him here, but now he's gone!"

The Chang family was finished. Where could Chang Tong go...

Chang Wenji's insane words echoed in Xiao Yan's mind again: "Jiang Wang must die, the Fang father and son must die, and you, Xiao Yan, must die too."

Except for Jiang Wang, everyone else was here.

Oh no.

Jiang Wang is in danger!

Without even changing his clothes, Xiao Yan rushed onto a horse and galloped away without looking back.

"Hey! Where are you going?! Aren't you going to handle the aftermath?!"

Fang Fengshi tried to stop him but failed. With the capital in such a state, Xiao Yan needed to give an account to the officials and the people.

But Xiao Yan only left behind the words "You handle it," and was already gone on horseback, disappearing without a trace.

The most important thing for him now was to find Jiang Wang.

Author's Note:

"The love of parents for their children means planning for their long-term future." is from "Strategies of the Warring States."