Cheng Yuan did not expect to see his elder brother under such circumstances.
Cheng Xun knelt beside a charred corpse as if he had lost his soul. The surrounding wooden buildings were burnt to a crisp.
"Eldest brother …"
Cheng Yuan called out tentatively, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
Because of the large age gap between the two brothers, Cheng Yuan's deepest impression of his elder brother was the figure of him studying hard under the window. Words like playful and lazy would never have anything to do with Cheng Xun. After Cheng Xun got married, he took his wife to another place to be an official. Cheng Yuan followed his father, so the two brothers did not have much contact. Even so, the two were closer than ordinary brothers of the gentry. Cheng Yuan also respected and admired his elder brother.
After so many years, Cheng Yuan still wanted his elder brother to see how he had grown. The two brothers sat down to reminisce and chat about their daily lives.
Unfortunately, the world made fools of people. Cheng Xun became an official to Xu Bei, and Cheng Yuan worked for Jiang Pengji. The two brothers were enemies.
When two tigers fought, one would definitely be injured. Xu Bei had failed, and Cheng Xun was about to become a prisoner.
Cheng Yuan was afraid that the soldiers would hurt Cheng Xun, so he hurried over.
Perhaps he was luckier, Cheng Yuan did not take many detours before he found Cheng Xun.
He ordered the soldiers to retreat and went straight forward to stand beside Cheng Xun.
The air was filled with the strange smell of burnt flesh, along with the nauseating smell of blood and iron.
Cheng Yuan's gaze shifted to the charred corpse. A bold idea crept into his heart.
Eldest brother looked like this. Could this charred corpse be Xu Bei?
Before he could come up with an answer, Cheng Xun moved his stiff neck. His eyes were bloodshot.
"Gong Liao, I didn't expect you to come."
Cheng Xun was still unwilling to accept reality, but Cheng Yuan's appearance caused his last line of defense to collapse.
Cheng Yuan saw that his elder brother was in a bad mood and did not dare to speak, lest he triggered Cheng Xun's sensitive and fragile nerves.
Without waiting for Cheng Yuan to speak, Cheng Xun laughed coldly and asked, "You want to bring people to capture me?"
"I was afraid that the soldiers would be careless and offend you. That's why I hurried over. Even if I capture you, I won't allow them to hurt or humiliate you. You can rest assured about this. " Cheng Yuan said honestly, "Come to think of it, Eldest Brother has been away from home for ten years. Father and Mother miss Eldest Brother very much. The two elders are getting on in years, why don't you go back and visit them? "
Cheng Yuan subconsciously brought up his old parents.
At the mention of his parents, Cheng Xun's numb gaze became a little more rippling, like the surface of a lake that was wrinkled by the breeze, but it quickly disappeared.
"It's my fault for not being able to serve my parents. I'll have to trouble Gong Liao in the future. "
Cheng Yuan's heart skipped a beat. An ominous premonition crept into his heart and he could not get rid of it no matter what.
"What do you mean by that, Eldest Brother?" Cheng Yuan asked. "It is the responsibility of a son to serve his parents. You are still the eldest son of the family!"
He had a premonition that if he didn't wake Cheng Xun up, he might do something crazy.
"Our Lord was defeated and forced to burn himself. With such a deep hatred, Gong Liao, as an official, don't you think I should avenge our Lord?"
Cheng Xun raised his hand to shake off Cheng Yuan's hand and struggled to stand up.
He had been kneeling for too long. His legs were numb and swollen. If he hadn't used his willpower to support himself, he would have collapsed a long time ago.
Cheng Yuan's face paled. If Cheng Xun was seeking revenge, wouldn't that mean …
He shuddered. Cheng Yuan was certain that his elder brother wanted to stir up trouble, or that the other party's emotions weren't right.
"Our Lord has given me a new lease on life," Cheng Xun said.
Cheng Yuan gritted his teeth. He wished he could shake his elder brother's shoulder to wake him up. What kind of bewitching potion did Xu Bei feed him? "Duke Xin Zhao has already been defeated! The winner is king and the loser is the bandit. Since ancient times, it has been this cruel. If the person who was defeated today wasn't Duke Xin Zhao but our Lord, do you think Xin Zhao would be magnanimous enough to let her off? It was Duke Xin Zhao's own choice to burn himself and wasn't forced. What hatred is there? "
It was true that a scholar would die for a bosom friend. Cheng Yuan also admired those famous scholars of unquestionable integrity.
However, when these words were used on his own family, Cheng Yuan couldn't accept it no matter what.
Eldest Brother Cheng Xun had parents, children, and a virtuous wife who married him.
What right did Cheng Xun have to abandon everything and follow his former master without a second thought?
Chaos had begun to appear in the five countries. There were 40 to 50 feudal lords of various sizes in Dongqing alone.
Most of them didn't even cause a stir before they were swallowed up by the neighboring feudal lords. Xu Bei was merely following their old path.
His elder brother had only been serving under Xu Bei for three to four years. Cheng Yuan didn't think much of Xu Bei. Why did his elder brother become so stubborn?
Cheng Xun laughed coldly, his words powerful and resonant.
"I swear to die before surrendering to Liu Xi, and I won't associate myself with such a despicable person."
No matter how well Jiang Pengji did, in Cheng Xun's eyes, she wasn't orthodox. She was born into an aristocratic family, yet she did despicable things. She was friendly to the poor but alienated the aristocratic families. All these years, she had done everything under the banner of serving the people. She was but a sanctimonious hypocrite.
To put it bluntly, she was just carrying the banner of righteousness and plotting for herself. She was a rebel who didn't respect the orthodoxy.
Apart from Xu Bei's self-immolation, Cheng Xun similarly couldn't accept working with a group of people who couldn't be seen in public after he surrendered.
Cheng Yuan was anxious and angry. How could his lord allow others to casually slander her?
Even if this person was his elder brother, he couldn't.
"Our lord is a wise ruler who truly has the ambition to pacify the four seas. Even father agrees and affirms her. Why is elder brother so stubborn?"
Cheng Yuan regretted his words as soon as he said them. He didn't regret retorting, but he regretted speaking too harshly.
Cheng Xun snorted in contempt.
"How can a boorish and lowly man accomplish anything?"
Cheng Yuan didn't want to argue with him, lest the two brothers get angry.
"Elder brother, why don't you calm down and think about your parents, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews at home? Is Xu Bei really worth your trust? He was born into an aristocratic family, but he's definitely not the wise ruler you're looking for. Even if it's not the lord, he'll be defeated by someone else, "Cheng Yuan said." Elder brother, you despise the lord and are unwilling to submit and become an official. It's good to be idle at home. When the world is at peace, it's not impossible for you to become an official and show your ambitions. "
Cheng Xun laughed coldly. "People who walk different paths can't make plans together!"
He and Liu Xi would never walk the same path.
He would rather die if he had to work for this person or rely on his whims!
Cheng Yuan was helpless. He could only harden his heart and summon someone to temporarily detain Cheng Xun. This was to prevent Cheng Xun from doing anything irrational in the heat of the moment.
Xu Bei had just died. Moreover, he had set himself on fire. Such a death was a huge blow to Cheng Xun's spirit.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Xun drew his sword to defend himself. Due to his status, the soldiers didn't dare to be ruthless. Instead, they stabbed him several times.
Cheng Xun laughed coldly, his expression crazed. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the stone wall in the courtyard and a trace of hatred flashed across his heart.
"No …"
Cheng Yuan's arm was injured by Cheng Xun while he was trying to stop him. Before he could regain his senses, he saw Cheng Xun crash into the wall.
A muffled thud sounded in the air.
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