The gate of the Qi capital was completely breached by the Sui army, and the streets were filled with scattered nobles and civilians fleeing.
Qi Ziqi woke up in the bumpy carriage and suddenly realized something by listening to the noise outside. He quickly got up and shouted, “Ah Weng!”
The old servant sat in the carriage and hurriedly said, “Don’t be afraid, Young Master. The old servant is here.”
Qi Ziqi asked, “Where are we going?”
The old servant endured his grief and said, “There has been some upheaval in the Qi capital. The Marquis asked the old servant to take the Young Master to the countryside for refuge first. When the turmoil is over, the Marquis will come to find the Young Master.”
Despite saying that, the old servant’s eyes couldn’t help but turn red.
Although Qi Ziqi was innocent and naive, but he was not foolish. Watching the old servant react strangely and the chaotic situation outside, an unprecedented panic suddenly surged into the heart of this carefree aristocratic young master who had lived a carefree life since childhood.
Qi Ziqi tightly grasped the old servant’s hands and said, “Ah Weng, be honest with me, is something wrong with Father?”
The old servant shook his head and said, “No, the Marquis… is good. Don’t think too much, Young Master. Follow the Marquis’s arrangements. Only when the Young Master is well can Marquis rest assured.”
“No, you’re lying to me. If Father is fine, why don’t you dare to look into my eyes?”
“Where did Father go? Where did Father go exactly?”
Qi Ziqi was still young and had never experienced such a thing before. His eyes immediately turned red, and he looked at the trembling shoulders of the old servant in confusion, pleading, “Ah Weng, can you tell me? I want to go to my father, I don’t want to go to the countryside.”
The old servant said in a hoarse voice, “Young Master, be obedient and don’t ask.”
Qi Ziqi refused, he pushed open the carriage door and loudly ordered Duan Qi to stop.
Upon receiving the order from Marquis Duan, Duan Qi naturally refused, and Qi Ziqi was about to jump out of the carriage. The Young Master was young and strong, and the old man was holding him by his waist but still couldn’t stop him. Duan Qi and the old man were both frightened and had to pause and get off the carriage.
There are also secret guards from Marquis Duan’s mansion following on both sides of the carriage.
Qi Ziqi quickly climbed off the carriage and stood on the street, watching the bustling capital of Qi, where the flames of war were raging and the sound of killing was deafening. He also watched the familiar bustling streets and buildings collapse in chaos. He looked at the common people running around with their families and fleeing in all directions, his eyes blank and dazed.
He has grown up in a joyful and fulfilling life since childhood. He had never seen the cruelty of war, nor had he seen the wandering of chaotic times. He never imagined that one day he would witness the fragmentation of mountains and rivers and the downfall of his country and family.
The Qi capital is already like this, how can Father be good?
Qi Ziqi looked around in confusion and suddenly wanted to burst into tears, but for the first time, he realized that even if he cried to the heavens and the earth, his father could not return to his side.
Father.
He couldn’t just be separated from his father.
Even if the country is truly destroyed, he still wants to die with his father.
Qi Ziqi suddenly pushed away the private guards and ran wildly in the direction he came from.
Duan Qi was shocked and quickly ran after him. The old servant also stomped his feet and said urgently, “Go protect the Young Master!”
Qi Ziqi ran against the flow of people, the cold wind pouring into his lungs, and his tears were also turned into ice by the piercing cold wind. The huge sadness filled his entire chest. He quickly ran out of strength and fell to the ground.
After falling, he ignored the pain and got up, continuing to run forward.
Looking at the fierce and rampaging Sui soldiers on the street, he felt sad and fearful in his heart. His legs were soft, and he ran a few steps before falling to the ground again.
Everyone was busy running for their lives, even though the Sui soldiers who entered the city did not harm any people’s lives. But the Qinglang Battalion is so infamous that no one dares to stay in the city with peace of mind. No one would care about a noble young master who fell on the roadside.
Qi Ziqi gritted his teeth and was about to get up again when suddenly a fair, jade-like, very slender, and beautiful hand reached out in mid air.
The hand was as beautiful as his father’s hands.
Qi Ziqi looked up in amazement and saw a young gentleman with a green robe and jade belt standing quietly on the chaotic street, looking at him and extending his hand to him.
Qi Ziqi couldn’t believe it.
“Chu-Chu Yan?!”
He suppressed his tears for a long time, causing them to burst down and asking, “How can you be here?”
Jiang Yun helped him up and looked at the layer of oil on his hand. He took out a bandage from his sleeve and helped him wrap it up. He said, “It’s so messy outside. You should stay in the mansion or follow his arrangements. You shouldn’t run around on the street.”
The familiar tone and words once again made Qi Ziqi’s nose sour.
Since Qi Ziqi first met Jiang Yun in the capital of Sui, he had an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this unfamiliar young master. Upon hearing these words, he couldn’t help but pounce and tightly embrace Jiang Yun.
Jiang Yun was taken aback.
Even if they have the most natural and intimate relationship in the world, he is not very accustomed to being so intimate with someone like this.
Qi Ziqi started crying like a child.
“Father, Father asked Ah Weng to take me to the countryside. I know he deliberately pushed me away. He must have had an accident. Chu Yan, what should I do?” He said in tears.
The cold wind was filled with the helpless cries of the young master.
Duan Qi and the secret guards of Marquis Duan’s mansion caught up first. They looked at the scene in front of them in surprise, watching the young master hold a stranger and crying loudly.
The old man then arrived and saw Jiang Yun. He was taken aback and showed great surprise, then lowered his head in shame.
Jiang Yun let go of Qi Ziqi and said, “He’s doing this for your own good. Even if you’re not satisfied with his arrangements, you shouldn’t impulsively leave the guards and run around on the street alone.”
Jiang Yun looked at the crowd behind him and said, “Take your Young Master back. If he doesn’t want to go to the countryside, take him back to Marquis Duan’s mansion and let him rest well for a while.”
“The Sui army will not harm civilians or innocent people.”
Qi Ziqi couldn’t listen to the words of others, but Jiang Yun’s words made Qi Ziqi inexplicably feel the power of comfort.
After speaking, Jiang Yun turned around and headed in the direction of the influx of people.
Since they got to know each other, Jiang Yun seems to have always been so isolated and solitary.
Qi Ziqi caught up and urgently asked, “Aren’t you with us? With the chaos of war, where are you going?”
Jiang Yun paused for a moment, turned his head, smiled slightly at him, and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not alone. I have a very powerful helper.”
The wind of the cold night brushed over the elegant face of the young gentleman and his green robe. Duan Qi was slightly taken aback and suddenly felt an indescribable familiarity with the young man in front of him.
Jiang Yun walked like the wind, and in the blink of an eye, he had already disappeared into the crowd.
Duan Qi withdrew his gaze and said to Qi Ziqi, “Young Master, let’s go back to the mansion.”
Since the young master insists on going back, they are willing to accompany him and wait for the news from the Marquis. As for the future, they will just do their best and obey fate.
Fan Qi searched every corner of the King of Qi’s Palace with his troops and horses but could not find the whereabouts of the King of Qi.
A group of palace attendants were arrested and asked, and they trembled and said they had not seen the King of Qi.
Xu Qiao, Yang Shuo, and other generals had already led troops to join forces with Sui Heng. Xu Qiao said, “It was said that the King of Qi was cunning. In order to prevent assassins from killing him, he usually prepared many secret rooms and passages for himself. It seems that this old fox has mostly escaped through the secret passage.”
Sui Heng was determined to kill the King of Qi. He ordered people to imprison all the officials of Qi, led by Prime Minister Tian Que, in a palace. He first took out the list in his arms, named a few names, and had Fan Qi lead his troops to drag them out. He then cut off all of his heads with a single blow and began to pressure the remaining officials to inquire about the whereabouts of the King of Qi.
All palace attendants were also confined together.
However, half an hour passed, and no one could say where the King of Qi had gone. There was only one palace maid crying uncontrollably and saying that she saw the king change into an inner attendant robe and enter a palace in the southeast.
Sui Heng ordered people to check the palace next to him and indeed discovered a secret passage in one of the palaces. However, there was only one inner attendant robe left in the secret passage, there was no trace of the King of Qi.
The King of Qi seemed to evaporate out of thin air.
“This old fox.”
Fan Qi picked up the robe and cursed loudly.
Sui Heng suddenly said, “There’s no need to look anymore.”
The other generals all looked at him.
Sui Heng said, “Go to Qingque Terrace.”
Qingque Terrace is located in the southeast direction of the King of Qi’s Palace, with a height of ten zhang. It is a place where the King of Qi indulges in debauchery and indulgence. It is a world-renowned gold-selling cave, facing the Phoenix Terrace in the north of the city.
On the high platform, towers and palaces are stacked, all made of gold and jade, stretching for miles and extravagant to the extreme. Between the palaces, warning wind chimes are hung, threaded with specially made silver wires.
Looking from the outside alone, the fairyland in the sky and the Moon Palace in the Yaochi Lake are probably nothing compared to that.
However, it is such a high platform, built like a fairyland on earth, hiding the deepest and dirtiest sins in the world. In the depths of those magnificent palaces, they are not fairylands, but purgatory. It is said that in the late night, one can often hear the mournful cries of teenagers on the high platform, and the people privately refer to this place as the Ghost Terrace.
All defenses of the Qi capital have been dismantled, and all troops and horses have gathered in front of Qingque Terrace.
Sui Heng raised his eyebrows, with heavy eaves casting a deep gloom over his eyes. He looked at the magnificent palace that seemed endless, as if he had seen the helpless and frail figure that had been sealed deep in the palace many years ago. Suddenly, he clenched the handle of his sword, a cloud like killing intent rolled in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth clenched into a thin line. His heart couldn’t control itself again, and spasming fiercely.
The King of Qi fled in a panic, his whereabouts were unknown, and there were only a few remaining soldiers in front of Qingque Terrace. Sui Heng effortlessly cleared them up. Fan Qi and Yang Shuo climbed up the high platform together and searched for all the palaces, but they did not find the whereabouts of the King of Qi. Instead, they pulled out many young Kunjun. These teenagers were all wearing snow-white single robe, trembling and kneeling in a row, looking at the suddenly large and powerful Sui soldiers in front of them.
Fan Qi presses for the whereabouts of the King of Qi, but the teenagers all say they don’t know.
Xu Qiao frowned. “Could it be that the King of Qi has already fled the Qi capital?”
However, it seems unlikely with such a short period of time.
The people in the Qi capital heard that the Sui army had attacked Qingque Terrace, and some bold people also came to watch. Although they lived in the Qi Kingdom, but they also had their own children who were abducted into the Qingque during their childhood. The King of Qi was extremely cruel, and the people dared not speak up. When they heard that the Crown Prince of Sui was about to overthrow Qingque Terrace, even if they risked being slaughtered by Sui soldiers, they still came and took a look.
The musician wore a black veil and also hid in the crowd, quietly gazing at the tall platform standing in the darkness. Under the black veil, his lips tightened and his face turned pale.
“Your Highness.”
A personal soldier suddenly approached Sui Heng and reported, “There are two people who claim to be the guards of Marquis Duan’s mansion asking to see Your Highness.”
“Marqius Duan?”
Sui Heng unexpectedly said, “That Duan Xiyue?”
His personal soldier said yes.
Xu Qiao was slightly surprised as he listened and said, “This Marquis Duan doesn’t seem to have much interaction with Your Highness. It is said that he is deeply trusted by the King of Qi and loved by the people of Qi. It is strange that he hasn’t been seen even after we captured the palace of Qi. What is the reason why his guards are looking for Your Highness at this moment?”
Sui Heng directly asked those two people to come over.
Not long after, two young men in black suits came in front of Sui Heng, and they saluted without being overbearing, saying, “Our Marquis commanded before his departure that there was someone to be returned to the disposal of Your Highness.”
A man turned around and dragged someone down from behind on a horse. The person’s hands and feet were tied up, and with a cloth strip in his mouth, it turned out to be Chen Qi.
Sui Heng felt even more surprised.
Why did Marquis Duan take the initiative to exchange Chen Qi with him?
Sui Heng glanced and asked, “Does your Marquis have any other orders?”
The guard said there was nothing, so they bowed and withdrew.
Xu Qiao said, “This Marquis Duan is really strange. If he wants to please Your Highness, how could he only give someone away without any expression?”
Fan Qi led his troops to search on the stage again, but still couldn’t find any trace of the King of Qi. However, Sui Heng was determined to capture him alive. His intuition told him that the King of Qi was likely hidden within, but no one knew exactly where he was hiding.
Sui Heng’s gaze sank, staring at those palaces inch by inch.
Suddenly, he thought of something and asked Fan Qi and Yang Shuo, “Just now you lead someone to search on the platform, did you encounter the assassins of Qingque?”
The two shook their heads and said no.
This is strange. The assassins of Qingque Terrace are highly skilled in martial arts, skilled in assassination, and famous worldwide. In this vast Qingque Terrace, how could there only be ordinary Kunjun without those assassins?
Xu Qiao quickly understood, “Your Highness means that there are also unknown secret rooms and the like in Qingque Terrace?”
However, this exquisitely constructed platform, specifically designed to cultivate assassins, has numerous towers and rooms. It is not easy to find its core and most secretive location. It is said that a group of the most skilled martial arts warriors from various countries attempted to break into the Qingque Terrace and explore its secrets, but were all injured by the machine gates in the tower and were unsuccessful.
It would be extremely difficult for outsiders to find the secret room.
Xu Qiao said, “Now that this place has been besieged by Your Highness, in the subordinate opinion, it would be better to directly set fire to it. No matter how powerful his mechanism or secret hiding place is, it will be burned to ashes.”
“Burning is burning.”
“But Gu must catch the King of Qi alive.”
Sui Heng said without hesitation.
Although Xu Qiao did not know why Sui Heng had this obsession; however, since His Highness has already captured the capital of Qi, it is only natural that he would want to capture the King of Qi and dispose of him in public or have him beheaded.
The sound of horses’ hooves came again from the rear.
Xu Qiao looked and it turned out to be Fan Zhou, Yun Huai, and a team of the Jiang Empire’s light cavalry.
Xu Qiao knew the news of Jiang Yun’s troop display outside of Yongcheng, and he unexpectedly said, “Why did you two come over personally?”
Fan Zhou and Yun Huai killed three horses with their running and didn’t even take a sip of water. They rushed all the way, and after seeing each other, Fan Zhou asked, “Has General Xu seen our Majesty?”
Xu Qiao froze.
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes, after His Majesty woke up and left the jade seal for His Highness, he disappeared. Someone saw that His Majesty was heading towards the Qi Kingdom with a team of Silver Clothes Guards.”
“The Silver Clothes Guards travel thousands of miles every day, and we are afraid they have already entered the city. We can’t rest assured, so we specially rushed over.”
Sui Heng frowned upon hearing this and was about to ask when Yang Shuo suddenly pointed up and said, “Your Highness, look.”
Not only Sui Heng, but everyone looked up and saw a sudden flame in the palace on the dark, high platform.
At first, it was just a scene, and in a blink of an eye, the flames quickly spread to the entire Qingque Terrace.
The King of Qi held a wine cup and sat on a soft couch, with two young men in snow robes kneeling beside him. Even though he was surrounded by heavy troops outside, he still indulged in his own nest and pleasure.
The secret gate was pushed open, and a black garment embroidered with silver thread brushed over the jade steps, brushed over the ground, and walked step by step through the heavy veil to the deepest couch.
The King of Qi looked at the newcomer and drove them out. He patted the soft couch and said, “Shun Ying, come and sit down. Guaren knows that you are the only one in this world who can find Guaren.”
“Guaren has never had any secrets in front of you, Guaren even let you know this most secretive hiding place.”
Duan Xiyue sat on one side of the jade steps, put down the wine in his hand, and said, “I have brought the King’s favorite wine.”
The King of Qi stumbled up and sat on the jade steps, looking at the wine. He said, “Yes, we haven’t had a drink for a long time. Today, let’s have a good drink and get drunk.”
Duan Xiyue took out two wine cups and filled them with wine.
The King of Qi picked up a cup, sniffed the taste, and smiled. “That’s right, it’s Guaren’s favorite, Du Kang.”
The King of Qi drank the wine in one gulp and smashed it twice, saying, “Shun Ying, when Guaren first saw you, Guaren thought that Guaren had to get you. But Guaren was hesitant, and in the end, Guaren didn’t dare to take action. Guaren knows you are talented and ambitious, and if you want to do something, Guaren will help you. You are the first one whom Guaren is willing to curb, suppressing Guaren’s selfishness to hold and honor.”
“In order to please you, Guaren can let Ziqi take the surname of the country and even willingly give you half of the country. But in the end, you still betrayed Guaren.”
“Guaren really doesn’t understand where Guaren can’t get along with you.”
Duan Xiyue said, “Eight years ago.”
“Eight years ago, you kidnapped an eleven-year-old child and brought him to the Qingque Terrace.”
The King of Qi was taken aback.
Following that, he averted his eyes.
“This is Guaren’s fault. Guaren promised you at the time that Guaren wouldn’t play with children that are too young, but that one really looks too similar to you, and Guaren couldn’t resist…”
Duan Xiyue gave a sorrowful smile.
“Three years.”
“For a full three years.”
“He has been tormented by you for three whole years under my nose.”
“You have shown me great kindness, but you have also given me the most profound and heart-wrenching pain.”
The King of Qi looked at Marquis Duan in confusion.
“Shun Ying, what-what do you mean?”
Suddenly, a flame lit up outside the palace, shocking the King of Qi. He stumbled and was about to get up. His chest suddenly hurt, and he vomited black blood. He felt his legs and entire body rapidly numb, staring in disbelief.
Marquis Duan stood up and said calmly, “Today, let the sins we have committed be burned together in this great fire.”
The flames quickly spread and engulfed the entire Qingque Terrace.
Emperor Jiang, dressed in a white robe, hid in the crowd. Watching the blazing fire, he suddenly stepped out of the crowd and walked towards the towering platform in the face of the flames.
This situation was too sudden, and a group of Silver Clothes Guards were forced back several meters by him. When they discovered the situation, they quickly rushed forward, but Emperor Jiang’s figure had disappeared into the flames.
The Sui army did not expect Emperor Jiang to suddenly make such a crazy move. Fan Zhou and Yun Huai were both shocked. Sui Heng flew up and tried to stop him. Suddenly, a silver thread flew from midair and quickly caught Emperor Jiang’s body.
Jiang Yun flew down and pulled Emperor Jiang out. He knocked him unconscious with one palm and said, “You have no right to see him again, nor do you have the right to disturb him anymore.”
He handed the person over to the Silver Clothes Guards who came later.
Jiang Yun turned his head and smiled at Sui Heng, saying, “Wait for me a bit.”
Afterwards, looking up at the fierce flames, he leaped towards the high platform.
