BVAHEDLA[W Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Ancient Era 39 “Royal Uncle… don’t blame me.”…

“Would… would you like to return? This place still has subordinates, you can rest assured.”

Lin Su stood before the sand table, cautiously raising his eyes to look at the man in the dominant position.

It was as if even time was especially kind to him, as handsome and gentle as he had been five years ago. Only those amber peach blossom eyes seemed to be able to steal people’s hearts, making one unable to help but drown in them with just a single glance.

He was like a cold deity, yet he possessed the most alluring eyes in the world. The sun and moon revolved within his eyes, mountains and rivers crumbled for him, making mortals unable to resist following him one after another, just to seek a glimpse from him, even just a little…

That little bit of tenderness he casually sprinkled between his fingers was the mercy of a god.

One couldn’t ask for more.

Only then did Lin Su realize that he had been inadvertently staring at Chu Li-fei’s face for quite a while, and he hurriedly apologized.

Chu Li-fei told Lin Su to rise, but his gaze remained fixed on the sand table in front of him.

He didn’t seem to have clearly heard Lin Su’s previous question, only the smile hidden at the corner of his mouth could prove that his mood wasn’t exactly pleasant. The slightly lowered gaze occasionally revealed a hint of murderous intent.

Seeing that Chu Li-fei wasn’t angry, Lin Su mustered the courage to look at him again.

In the five years since, Chu Li-fei seemed to have undergone no changes compared to before. But if one were to speak of it in detail, it wasn’t entirely true. The most obvious difference was probably the increasingly steady and murderous aura around him, making people unable to resist wanting to kneel and submit.

It was as if he was a natural emperor. Only he was qualified to ascend to that supreme position, to become the ruler of the world, and to be admired and worshipped by all.

Lin Su had once asked Chu Li-fei why he hadn’t declared himself king.

To be honest, even he himself was taken aback by his own bold and treasonous thought, and he began to regret it as soon as he asked, feeling a wave of fear in his heart.

But Chu Li-fei just smiled upon hearing this: “My ambition isn’t here. Besides, once it’s completed… I should leave.”

Lin Su didn’t hear the words in the middle clearly, but he didn’t have the courage to ask again this time.

His thoughts returned to reality, and Lin Su asked again the question he had asked just now.

Return? Or stay?

Returning here naturally referred to returning to the capital.

The emperor was critically ill. Logically speaking, it was legitimate for Chu Li-fei, as a prince, to return to the capital. Moreover, there was an even more important matter—

That was the struggle for the throne.

Lu Mo-chen and Lu Mo-lin, only one of them could survive.

This was a fact that everyone in the court tacitly understood.

Although Chu Li-fei hadn’t been in the capital for the past few years, he hadn’t severed contact with Lu Mo-chen. The two often corresponded with each other through letters.

As Chu Li-fei’s deputy, Lin Su could naturally see some of the unusualness between the two. But compared to Lu Mo-chen’s straightforwardness, Chu Li-fei’s thoughts were a bit difficult for Lin Su to guess.

If you said he was interested in Lu Mo-chen, he didn’t show it at all on ordinary days; if you said he wasn’t interested, Chu Li-fei insisted on maintaining contact with Lu Mo-chen, constantly caring for him, and even picking out some beautiful things he seized on the battlefield to send back to Lu Mo-chen in the capital.

But there was one thing Lin Su was sure of, and that was regarding the struggle for the throne—

Chu Li-fei must be on Lu Mo-chen’s side.

Now, the situation in the capital had entered a white-hot stage. Although Lu Mo-chen had many courtiers and aristocratic families supporting him besides Chu Li-fei, he was still somewhat weaker than the Crown Prince’s faction, which had its power base in the Jinling area.

Distant water couldn’t quench a fire right in front of you. The most reliable approach was naturally for Chu Li-fei to personally return to the capital to take charge of the overall situation.

This was the reason why Lin Su had asked Chu Li-fei that question earlier.

But recently, border wars had been constant, and the Chu Kingdom was eyeing the Yan Kingdom covetously. The two countries had been frequently engaged in battles recently. Coincidentally, there had also been a heavy rain recently, which had collapsed a mountain in the north. That area was originally an important battlefield where their Great Yan army deployed its forces. It was located on high ground and was their first barrier, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

But now that this barrier was gone, not only did they need to move the defense line back, but scouting enemy movements wasn’t as convenient and easy as before.

There was also one more thing, and that was that Lin Su had heard that the newly enthroned emperor of the Ji Kingdom also had quite a bit of intention to join the war.

He just didn’t know which side he wanted to help? Or, did the Ji Kingdom want to swallow this area for itself?

It was truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly. Lin Su felt very worried.

For Chu Li-fei, the affairs in the capital needed to be worried about, and the border was constantly in turmoil due to wars. This was truly a dilemma.

If he chose to return to the capital, Lu Mo-chen would definitely be able to ascend the throne smoothly, but if the border was lost, then Chu Li-fei would be a sinner for all time. His name would be engraved on the pillar of shame and scorned by people. Because his actions wouldn’t be worthy of the title and honor of a general, and he wouldn’t even be considered a warrior.

But if he stayed to guard the border, then Chu Li-fei would find it difficult to control the overall situation in the capital’s succession struggle. If the Crown Prince eventually ascended the throne, then Lu Mo-chen would definitely die, and Chu Li-fei wouldn’t necessarily have a good end either…

From this perspective, no matter which choice was made, the final outcome wouldn’t necessarily be good…

But these were all worst-case scenarios.

Lin Su recalled the gloomy sky he had seen before entering the military tent. The dense, dark clouds were heavy and oppressive, giving people a strong sense of pressure. Lin Su only felt that his heart was as tense as the weather outside.

“Your Highness?” Lin Su couldn’t help but ask again.

Time was pressing, and a decision had to be made now.

Lin Su was actually very worried about the war situation in his heart. The Ji Kingdom’s involvement would bring more variables to the war. His selfish desire was actually that Chu Li-fei could stay.

This time, Chu Li-fei didn’t remain silent.

His gaze fixed on the small flag representing the Ji Kingdom, and he grabbed it and pulled it out—

Then he casually threw it aside.

“This Prince will stay here.”

After hearing Chu Li-fei’s reply, the stone in Lin Su’s heart finally landed. He continued to probe: “Then the Seventh Prince’s side… do we need to continue arranging manpower?”

Lin Su had originally wanted to report the names of the people who could be arranged to Chu Li-fei one by one, but he didn’t expect the other party to chuckle: “No need, let that little brat solve it himself.”

“…Yes.” Lin Su was respectful on the surface, but in reality, he secretly slandered in his heart.

Only Chu Li-fei still dared to call Lu Mo-chen a “little brat.”

The current Lu Mo-chen was no longer the powerless and defenseless Seventh Prince he had been years ago.

In the past five years, all those who had tried to oppose him had already witnessed his thunderous methods. No, it should be said that the people who had witnessed his methods were all dead, and even their corpses couldn’t be pieced together.

Lu Mo-chen wasn’t some little white rabbit. He was a wolf, and only when he was by Chu Li-fei’s side could he put away his sharp claws and be obedient.

“Your Highness, are you there?”

A gentle shout came from outside the curtain of the military tent, and at the same time, it pulled Lin Su’s thoughts back.

It was Liu Shuo-yu. Lin Su dredged up the owner of this voice from his memory.

Lin Su hadn’t had much contact with Liu Shuo-yu. In his memory, Liu Shuo-yu was always dressed in white, so he stood out among the rough men in the military camp who were covered in mud, which was why Lin Su had some impression of him.

However, since Liu Shuo-yu had been brought to the border by Chu Li-fei, no one said much about his existence.

The outside world was spreading rumors that Liu Shuo-yu was a male concubine raised by Chu Li-fei, and even the incident at the Enchanting Moon Pavilion back then had been dug up. However, the two parties involved didn’t seem to care about this.

But Lin Su felt that Chu Li-fei was probably completely unaware of this, since no one would dare to say these things in front of him. In the past few years, he had seen clearly what kind of feelings Chu Li-fei had for Liu Shuo-yu. Not only had the two never engaged in any intimate acts, but they hadn’t even had close contact. Liu Shuo-yu always took the initiative to seek out Chu Li-fei, otherwise Lin Su estimated that Chu Li-fei would have forgotten that there was such a person.

He could understand Liu Shuo-yu’s behavior. After all, he was from such a place of pleasure, and he had finally redeemed himself, so he had to firmly grasp Chu Li-fei, the prince with a noble status and great power.

And now, he was here again.

Lin Su stroked his chin: Let him guess, what was he sending this time?

He looked at Chu Li-fei and received an affirmative nod from the other party, then pulled open the curtain and let Liu Shuo-yu in.

The moment the curtain was pulled open, Liu Shuo-yu hurriedly put on a harmless expression, his eyes full of only Chu Li-fei.

Therefore, naturally no one noticed the thick, almost substantial darkness that flashed in his eyes, and they couldn’t see the almost insane paranoia and possessiveness beneath that harmless exterior.

Lu Mo-chen, who was in the capital, yawned and stretched his stiff body before continuing to deal with the remaining affairs.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Immediately afterward, a servant brought in a thick stack of letters and placed them on Lu Mo-chen’s desk before bowing and taking his leave.

After the servant left, Lu Mo-chen quickly moved the letters to himself and began to rummage through them, his movements urgent, as if there was something extremely urgent inside.

Lu Mo-chen flipped through them one by one, and finally, when he found the one with Chu Li-fei’s signature on it, his eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly tore it open, but then visibly wilted.

“Royal Uncle isn’t coming back?” He muttered to himself, his voice becoming lighter and lighter, but with a strange upward inflection, “It doesn’t matter, I can handle it myself.”

Lu Mo-chen quickly coaxed himself, but the next moment he remembered the scout’s report that there was someone who had been following Chu Li-fei.

That was—

Liu Shuo-yu.

Lu Mo-chen repeatedly recited this name between his teeth, his eyes becoming increasingly red and filled with bloodshot veins, venting endless madness in the empty room.

Why could this person stay by Royal Uncle’s side!

Why, why, why!!!

There only needed to be one person by Royal Uncle’s side.

And that person could only be himself.

The rest, just kill them all.

Anyway, the revenge from the previous life hadn’t been taken yet.

“Royal Uncle, don’t let me wait too long.”

“I miss you so much.”

A figure quietly stood outside the window. His eyes rolled in their sockets, and then he looked around nervously. Seeing that no one was passing by, he lowered his head and hurried away.

A few days later.

Lu Mo-chen and Lu Mo-lin stood together before Lu Yuanjing’s bed.

Warm sunlight streamed in from the window, shining on Lu Yuanjing’s face, but it made his complexion look even paler.

Inside the palace, besides Lu Mo-chen and Lu Mo-lin, there was only his personal attendant, Eunuch Li, two imperial physicians, and the three old ministers whom Lu Yuanjing had relied on most during his lifetime. There was no one else.

This was the rhythm of entrusting affairs for the future.

The window frame divided the scattered sunlight into two, casting a long shadow on Lu Yuanjing’s face, looking like a deep ravine.

At this moment, his eyelashes began to tremble slightly, and then he opened his slightly turbid but still world-overlooking eyes.

His gaze wandered back and forth between Lu Mo-chen and Lu Mo-lin, and the three old ministers naturally knew what was going on, and they pricked up their ears.

The footsteps of death had already caught up, and Lu Yuanjing only felt that the memories of the first half of his life were playing in his mind like a revolving lantern.

In the end, he looked at the child who had always been ignored by him—

“Prince Jin, Lu Mo-chen… shall succeed me and ascend the throne, succeeding to the position of emperor.”

The depths of Lu Mo-lin’s eyes flashed with a scarlet light, and he clenched his fists tightly, tearing a gap in the thick carpet.

After Lu Yuanjing finished speaking, he seemed extremely tired. He turned his head and closed his eyes deeply.

In his mind, at the last moment before death, a familiar face appeared.

The imperial physician, seeing that something was wrong, wanted to go forward to see if there was any way to save the person, but he was gently waved away by Lu Yuanjing, who had noticed.

Lu Yuanjing paused, and reopened his pale lips—

“Confer Prince Qin, Chu Li-fei… as Regent…”

He wanted to say something more afterward, but he no longer had the strength.

The imperial physician went forward to take his pulse and found that Lu Yuanjing had completely stopped breathing.

He lowered his eyes and silently shook his head at the few remaining people in the hall, his eyes filled with sorrow.

“The Emperor has passed away—” Eunuch Li’s sharp voice lingered in the palace for a long time.

The imperial physicians and ministers quickly followed Lu Mo-chen and Lu Mo-lin and knelt down. For a time, only the low sobbing of a few people could be heard.

The trajectory of the story miraculously overlapped again. Chu Li-fei was still conferred as Regent.

Generally speaking, a Regent would only be appointed when the new emperor was young or incompetent in order to assist the new emperor and stabilize the country.

But Lu Mo-chen didn’t fall into either of these categories.

So what was the meaning of Lu Yuanjing specially conferring Chu Li-fei as Regent before his death?

Was he not afraid that Chu Li-fei would seize his Lu family’s empire? With the power and prestige in Chu Li-fei’s hands, it wasn’t impossible.

Moreover, almost all the regents of the past dynasties had no good ending.

Lu Yuanjing gave Chu Li-fei the power and influence to be on par with the new emperor, but he personally plunged him into an irrecoverable situation. What was the intention behind this?

But perhaps only Lu Yuanjing himself knew the answer.

At least, his expression was peaceful when he died, and he didn’t seem to have any regrets. Only the corner of the eye closest to the wall seemed to have a hint of moisture.

Lu Mo-chen took the lead in standing up from before Lu Yuanjing’s bed. Five years had really changed him a lot. At least, the aura of an emperor on his body was already exactly the same as that on Lu Yuanjing’s body.

Now, he was the emperor.

Everyone who saw him would have to perform the grand ceremony of three bows and nine prostrations.

Lu Mo-chen’s indifferent gaze calmly swept around the room.

The remaining people looked at each other in trepidation. One person took the lead, and the rest followed and bowed down.

“Long live the Emperor, long live, long long live—”

Several neat voices rang out in the palace in an instant.

There were only two exceptions—

Lu Mo-lin and an old minister who supported him.

“Imperial Brother doesn’t seem to be convinced by me.” It was clearly a question, but Lu Mo-chen stated it in a declarative manner.

And Lu Mo-chen’s act of calling himself “I” (Zhen, Imperial “I”) clearly stimulated Lu Mo-lin greatly. His expression instantly became ferocious, and his knuckles turned white: “Ridiculous! I am the Emperor! I am!”

Then, he quickly exchanged a look with the old minister, looking like he was prepared.

“Father Emperor passed the throne to me before his death! I am the Son of Heaven!”

“Pass down my decree, the Seventh Prince, Lu Mo-chen, murdered Father Emperor, which is extremely treasonous, intending to usurp the throne!”

“Men, quickly take him down!”

Then, his gaze turned cold and swept towards the two kneeling ministers, his eyes surging with murderous intent like a demon: “As for you two, I’ll give you another chance. What exactly did the late Emperor say before his death? Who is the new Emperor?”

“I advise you to think carefully about the heads on your necks…”

Hearing the threat, and Lu Mo-lin was clearly prepared, one of the ministers couldn’t hold on any longer and hurriedly begged for mercy: “This… the late Emperor of course passed the throne to His Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, you are the rightful heir! Inheriting the throne is only right and proper!”

And the other minister maintained his previous posture, looking like he wasn’t afraid of the threats implied in Lu Mo-lin’s words at all.

Lu Mo-lin snorted coldly: “I’ll give Minister Chen some more time. Now, there’s no rush.”

Afterward, he turned his gaze back to Lu Mo-chen: “You agree, right, Imperial Brother?”

At the same time, Lu Mo-chen heard neat footsteps coming from outside the palace. This must be Lu Mo-lin’s arrangement.

It would be best if he could ascend the throne legitimately.

If that wasn’t possible… then…

——Force the palace!

Lu Mo-lin: “Now all the people inside and outside this palace are mine.”

He paced leisurely: “Lu Mo-chen, you’ve heard it all. If you kowtow to me and beg for mercy, I might be able to let you live, how about it?”

The corners of Lu Mo-chen’s mouth curled into a slightly mocking smile, completely different from his usual sunny and cheerful appearance: “Imperial Brother, be careful with your words. Besides, don’t you think it’s ridiculous when Imperial Brother says these words?”

“You!” Lu Mo-lin was choked by Lu Mo-chen’s words, and he sneered. But then, as if he thought of something interesting, he laughed wantonly: “You’re still waiting for your good Royal Uncle, aren’t you? I’m telling you, he died at the border and won’t be back! Hahahaha!”

“What do you mean!” Hearing the news about Chu Li-fei, Lu Mo-chen always couldn’t control his emotions, especially when it was related to “death”.

Because he had really witnessed Chu Li-fei’s death once.

And Lu Mo-chen’s out-of-control appearance greatly satisfied Lu Mo-lin’s dark thoughts: “Tsk tsk tsk. Let me think… his corpse was gone, so pitiful~”

“Come and see, what is this?”

Lu Mo-lin took out an object from his sleeve, then spread his fingers and let it hang down, swaying slightly in the air.

It was a jade pendant, and Lu Mo-chen naturally recognized it at a glance. It was Chu Li-fei’s personal item.

He looked at the red rope on the jade pendant in disbelief, only to see it swaying, very rhythmically.

Lu Mo-chen subconsciously took a step back because he was distracted. His expression became slightly dull, his eyes full of fierce light, like a young beast forced to the end of its road: “How… is that possible… you’re lying to me!”

“Why would I need to lie to you? Because—” Lu Mo-lin smiled evilly. He walked closer to Lu Mo-chen and raised his hand to lift his chin. The two slightly similar faces had completely different expressions, “That was planned by me and the Chu Kingdom together.”

“You dare to collude with the enemy and betray the country! Lu Mo-lin, how dare you!”

“How could you…”

Seeing the light in Lu Mo-chen’s eyes dim in an instant, Lu Mo-lin clapped his hands arrogantly, signaling the guards outside the palace to come in.

But his originally arrogant expression disappeared in an instant after seeing the guards’ attire clearly.

Those weren’t his people! The guards’ attire was clearly the soldiers of the Qi family army!

But how was this possible! Qi Lu, he was clearly far away at the garrison!

He turned his head and glared at Lu Mo-chen: “It’s you! It was all you! You had planned it all!”

Seeing this, Lu Mo-chen only tilted his head. In his round eyes was the deepest hatred and madness.

He smiled innocently, but in Lu Mo-lin’s eyes, it was like a primeval beast that only knew how to kill: “Imperial Brother only knows now? But I still have to thank Imperial Brother for staging such a clown show for me.”

“However, I originally wanted to leave Imperial Brother a complete corpse, but now…”

“Why doesn’t Imperial Brother choose which way to die he likes best~”

The scene that Chu Li-fei saw when he came in was this.

Lu Mo-chen was strangling Lu Mo-lin’s neck tightly, the veins on his arms bulging, enough to see how much strength he had used. His eyes were red, and his expression was demonic as if he was possessed.

“You…?”

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Li-fei met Lu Mo-chen’s eyes, who had suddenly turned his head. The fierce light that hadn’t faded away was still revealed in the other party’s eyes, and they were covered with bloodshot veins, and his state didn’t seem too good.

“Royal… Uncle?”

Seeing the familiar figure, Lu Mo-chen, who had come back to his senses, instantly released Lu Mo-lin, who was lying on the ground and was no different from a dying fish. He staggered towards Chu Li-fei, only to confirm whether everything in front of him was real.

It wasn’t until he felt the warmth of the body under the embrace, and under the thin layer of muscles, there was a strong heartbeat that was “thumping, thumping” in his ear.

Only then did Lu Mo-chen breathe a sigh of relief.

He almost lost Royal Uncle again.

Lu Mo-chen maintained the state of holding onto Chu Li-fei and refusing to let go, as if only in this way could he feel at ease.

He ordered people to drag Lu Mo-lin down, but his gaze was always fixed on Chu Li-fei.

Soon, the palace regained its quietness.

And Chu Li-fei felt that everything that happened in front of him had a kind of absurd strangeness.

He had hurriedly rushed back from the border, but he was still worried about Lu Mo-chen.

Although they had a plan, it was so smooth that he felt unreal.

Lu Mo-chen’s cheek was still pressed against his arm, but a familiar inorganic sound came from Chu Li-fei’s mind.

[Task completed——]

[About to leave the world, please prepare the host.]

Only then did Chu Li-fei realize what he had forgotten!

But had he really completed the task?

He remembered that the task issued by the system at the beginning was clearly [Kill the Emperor, Live Freely in the Jianghu].

Although the first half was not killed by him, the Emperor was dead after all, and it was excusable for the system to determine that he had completed it.

But the second half of the task… He hadn’t started living freely yet?

How could he have completed it for no reason?

Could it be…?

He subconsciously turned his head to look at Lu Mo-chen, but he unexpectedly collided with the other party’s eyes.

For a moment, Chu Li-fei felt like he was being targeted like prey.

[Warning!]

[Warning!]

[System error——]

[Unable to leave, please stay in this world for a while——]

For a time, these complicated electronic sounds appeared in Chu Li-fei’s mind again, roaring in Chu Li-fei’s mind, making his head ache.

And Lu Mo-chen, who was next to him, seemed to sense something. His eyes, like night, seemed to be able to devour everything, and his tone became deep: “Royal Uncle, are you going to leave me?”

Before Chu Li-fei could answer, he only felt a dizziness in his head, and then he fell into the embrace beside him.

Before his consciousness had completely disappeared, a soft murmur came to his ears.

“Royal Uncle… don’t blame me.”