Chapter 186: Clarifying the Truth (2)

Chapter 186: Unraveling the Truth (2)

Li Nanli casually tossed the flimsy scrap of fabric back onto Xie Ji'an to cover him, then said with a determined look:

"That beast once said to me when he was drunk and took advantage of me that the Second Prince had him paint four imitation portraits of the Crown Prince. Those paintings, when joined together, formed a sentence—one that could help him ascend to the imperial throne."

Li Nanli let out a mocking laugh as she spoke. "Xie Chengyi probably died never knowing that the dog he thought most loyal had been planning to bite him to death from the start."

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Hard to say if it was rage or what, but Shen Fuqing was laughing uproariously right now, tears even leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"Xie Ji'an, where's the other painting now?" Shen Fuqing's laughter ceased abruptly as he thundered.

"At Jingguan Pass."

With all his facades exposed by Li Nanli, Xie Ji'an had given up all resistance. His voice was flat and defeated. "I gave the painting to Wu Tuyin a while back. He said he'd put the last one at Jingguan Pass, but as for where exactly, I don't know the spot either."

"What's on that painting?" Xie Nai's voice deepened.

"It's a sword pavilion at Jingguan Pass, named the Pavilion of Overthrow."

"The Pavilion of Overthrow, the Main Bridge, the Xie Clan, the Fengwu River..." Countless loose ends tugged back and forth in Qin Jiao's mind. After several attempts at breaking apart and reassembling the characters, he finally pieced together that sentence:

—"The Xie Clan shall fall; Fengwu shall reign."

As he slowly recited this, a chill went down Qin Jiao's spine. The four imitation paintings Xie Ji'an had created, when combined, formed a declaration that could topple the world!

"Your Highness, I've brought some sachets!"

Just then, Luo Bei, who had gone to look for sachets earlier, returned. He was hauling a big bundle on his back, all stuffed with snake-repelling sachets of every sort.

Without even waiting for Xiao Baiyu to check them, Luo Bei held his sword to Guan Jiu's neck as a mild threat, and Guan Jiu immediately confessed that the snake-repelling sachets distributed to the people of Xiaoxiang Prefecture by the government had indeed been tampered with.

According to Guan Jiu, the sachets had been laced with snakebed herb—a plant that attracts snakes. In a crowd, whoever wore one of those sachets would be the first target for the sharp-crested snakes.

"How utterly despicable!"

He Zhao listened nearby, fuming with rage. "So the snakes in the snake den outside the city earlier—were those hauled off by you too?"

"Yes..." Guan Jiu knelt on the ground, shaking like a leaf as he answered. "Earlier, when the Sovereign learned that the Prince of Lingnan had arrived in Xiaoxiang Prefecture, he sent word to me, instructing me to release all the sharp-crested snakes from the den into the city first, so the Prince wouldn't find out about the snake-breeding setup here."

Guan Jiu kept kowtowing as he spoke. "Your Highness! I was just following orders. I'm willing to confess everything I know—please spare my life!"

"You have the nerve to beg for mercy?" He Zhao looked at Guan Jiu in disbelief. "A hanged ghost wearing rouge—you're dead shameless!"

"Pah!" Wuna spat on Guan Jiu from the side. "You cowardly wretch! The Divine Lord Jiayi will punish traitors sooner or later."

"It still feels like something's off..." Even with Xie Ji'an's confession and Guan Jiu's story about the snakes and sachets, Qin Jiao still felt something didn't add up.

The young lord unconsciously rubbed the Fengxue Bracelet on his wrist, his eyes boring into Guan Jiu and Wuna. "No! You handed out those sachets to the people, then deliberately released the snakes into the crowded city, poisoning who knows how many.

You even knew the Prince of Lingnan was currently in Xiaoxiang Prefecture—that the frequent poisonings would inevitably alert him—yet you still chose to release the snakes to attack the city... Why would you take such a crazy gamble?"

The more Qin Jiao thought, the more it didn't add up. Behind the sharp-crested snake infestation in Xiaoxiang Prefecture, there was probably a huge conspiracy hiding.

"Because they're using the whole of Xiaoxiang as a test site."

Just as Qin Jiao was pondering, Xie Nai's words solved the puzzle for him.

"A test site?"

Xie Nai cast a cold look at the pile of pretty sachets. "If I'm not mistaken, Wu Tuyin's alliance with Xie Chengyi to poison the late Crown Prince three years ago was only the beginning. His plan has always been to slowly gnaw away at and then swallow the Tianyuan Dynasty whole."

"Swallow whole, release snakes to attack the city, use the people as poison testers..." Qin Jiao murmured these phrases repeatedly. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him!

"I understand now!"

With Xie Nai's hint, Qin Jiao immediately grasped the full picture: "Wu Tuyin is truly sinister! He breeds sharp-crested snakes in Xiaoxiang Prefecture and uses the locals as guinea pigs for poison. If there's no cure for this poison, Wu Tuyin's next step would be to release the sharp-crested snakes throughout all of Tianyuan—then Lingbei, the capital, Nanzhou, and everywhere else would all be overrun with snakes!

Then, amid the chaos, when the late Crown Prince's four imitation paintings come out, the people would believe that 'The Xie Clan shall fall; Fengwu shall reign' is a prophecy for the realm from the late Crown Prince. With the Crown Prince prophesying Tianyuan's fall, the people would be thrown into turmoil—and at that moment, Mengqin could take advantage of the chaos to attack Tianyuan and easily take the capital!"

As Qin Jiao laid it out following Xie Nai's thread, everyone present suddenly got it—it all clicked!

"Despicable! Who'd have thought those Mengqin barbarians had such vicious plans all along!"

Li Nanli was furious, and when her peripheral vision caught Xie Ji'an—who'd conspired with Wu Tuyin and Xie Chengyi—she couldn't help but kick him several more times:

"Xie Ji'an, you're worse than an animal! The Crown Prince treated you so well, and you go and commit treason by colluding with the enemy!"

"Treated me well? How so?"

Stung by Li Nanli's words, Xie Ji'an roared through the pain, "On the surface, he was all sweetness and light, but in reality? He only bothered to teach Xie Nai. For the rest of us brothers, it was all just for show!

Since it's all fake anyway, why should the realm go to Xie Xuanran just because Xie Nai says so? What's so wrong with me taking that dragon throne?"

"For an impossible fantasy, you were willing to make a deal with the devil." Xie Nai's gaze swept over Xie Ji'an, his eyes full of mockery and disdain. "What a fool."

"So what if I'm a fool? You, Xie Nai, were born on high, and Xie Shu and Xie Chengyi were fawned over and kowtowed to by everyone. But what about me?"

It was near midnight, and the bamboo grove was eerily quiet. Xie Ji'an pointed at the gruesome burn scar on his face and laughed bitterly:

"The palace maid assigned to look after me was careless, and I fell into a charcoal brazier, disfiguring me for life. Later, even a lowly procurement eunuch could squash me and my mother like flies. While you were out there setting up your own household and winning the people's praise, I was still wagging my tail like a dog under Xie Chengyi!"

"Xie Nai, not everyone is as lucky as you. What we want, we have to fight for ourselves!"

At some point, the moon had been hidden by dark clouds. Xie Ji'an stared at the pitch-black sky above and said with a bitter laugh: "But now... I lost the fight, and ended up in such a sorry state."

Forget winning power and becoming lord of the realm—now, even a single rag to cover himself was a luxury.

He had lost. Lost badly.

And since ancient times, the winner lives, and the loser... dies.

"Xie Nai." When Xie Ji'an spoke again, his voice was already faint and hollow. "Remember what you promised me—this must not drag my mother into it."

The wind whipped loudly, bamboo leaves falling in droves. Xie Ji'an's words were too mournful, like he was saying his last words. Qin Jiao's face went pale as he listened!

"Wait!—"

"Bang—!"

The next second, Qin Jiao's horrified cry and the sickening thud of Xie Ji'an's head hitting the stone bench sounded at the same time.

Under the vast sky, the silent night was without light...

Blood spilled everywhere. No sign of life.

Xie Ji'an had killed himself.

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