The sea breeze whimpered and the lights flickered. On the dim platform, two figures suddenly rushed over a distance of more than ten feet and hit the railing at the edge of the platform.
Qin Hui made a muffled sound as he continued to push forward. His eyes were bloodshot and wide open. Zhou Pei's frail figure was about to be pushed down. Her long hair fluttered in the night wind. The hairpin in her hair had pierced Qin Hui's face all the way through his mouth. Half of the hairpin was sticking out of his left cheek and the other half was sticking out of his right cheek. The smell of blood gradually filled the air, making him look particularly strange.
Just as Qin Hui charged at her, Zhou Pei turned around, pulled out the metal hairpin from her hair, and stabbed it into Qin Hui's head with all her might. The hairpin pierced through Qin Hui's face. The old man must have been horrified, but he didn't stop or even scream. He slammed Zhou Pei against the railing and grabbed Zhou Pei's neck with both hands.
Zhou Pei struggled with all her might. She kicked Qin Hui twice, grabbed the railing with one hand, and began to pry the hands from her neck with the other. Half of the hairpin was sticking out of Qin Hui's tangerine-like face, and his originally upright face looked particularly strange in the light. He groaned in pain.
In front of the dragon boat, the brightly lit banquet was still going on. The sound of stringed instruments could be faintly heard. Behind them, half of the moon's face gradually disappeared in the sea breeze. It seemed to be grieving for what had happened here. Dark clouds hung over the sea.
Her long hair fluttered in the wind. Zhou Pei's strength gradually weakened. She stretched out both hands and grabbed Qin Hui's hands, but her eyes gradually rolled up. The old man's eyes were bloodshot and his face was bleeding. Although he was old, his hands were still firm around Zhou Pei's neck — this was his last chance.
All these years, all of his schemes and schemes had been based on the Emperor's authority. If Jun Wu and Zhou Pei could recognize his value and take him as their teacher, he would not have settled for the next best thing, Zhou Yong.
If Zhou Yong had been a powerful Emperor and adopted many of his opinions, the Wu dynasty would not have fallen to this state today.
Were it not for the fact that the Wu dynasty had fallen to its current state, he would not have proposed to Zhou Yong to cut off his own arm and draw the Jin and the Black Flag into a war of attrition.
He had already proposed such a plan. The Wu dynasty needed time and patience to wait quietly for the outcome of the battle between the two tigers to appear. No matter how weak they were, no matter how much suffering they had to endure, they had to endure and wait.
But Zhou Yong was going to die!
This was an outcome that he had never anticipated. With Zhou Yong's death, the short-sighted Princess and Crown Prince would definitely hate him to death and would begin to settle accounts. His own death wasn't to be regretted, but his plans for the Wu dynasty, his plans for the future revitalization of the Wu dynasty, would all fall through like this — the hope that the millions and millions of people of the Wu dynasty were waiting for couldn't just fall through like this!
"Hehehehehe …"
In the intense pain, the blood in the old man's mouth mixed with saliva and flew out of his hideous mouth. He forcefully grabbed Zhou Pei by the throat and pushed her out of the platform into the sea!
Fortunately, the Princess had once committed suicide by jumping into the sea. As long as she did so again before Zhou Yong passed away, regardless of whether the Crown Prince of Jiangning lived or died, the righteousness of the Imperial Court would ultimately be on his side.
Zhou Pei's consciousness gradually blurred. Suddenly, she seemed to hear a sound.
The door outside the small platform was opened, and someone ran in. After a moment of surprise, she rushed over. It was a relatively thin figure. She came over, grabbed Qin Hui's hand, and tried to pry it away. "What are you doing …" It was Zhao Xiaosong.
Before she could finish her sentence, Qin Hui turned his face around. Zhao Xiaosong saw a hideous face with a hairpin and blood foam in it in the light. She was startled, but her hands didn't stop. She grabbed Zhou Pei's waist and pulled her back. Qin Hui used one hand to slap Zhao Xiaosong's face and then kicked her. Zhao Xiaosong staggered twice, but she didn't let go.
As soon as Qin Hui's hand left her neck, Zhou Pei gradually regained consciousness. She grabbed Qin Hui's hand and struggled to lean back. Zhao Xiaosong held her waist and gave her strength. When her strength gradually returned, she bit down on Qin Hui's hand. Qin Hui shrank back in pain. Zhou Pei clutched her neck and staggered away from the railing. Qin Hui tried to grab her, but Zhao Xiaosong rushed over and hugged his waist tightly. She kept shouting, "Princess, run! Princess, run …"
Qin Hui grabbed her hair and slapped it hard on her head, casting a strange silhouette on the edge of the dim platform. Zhou Pei's hair was a mess. She straightened up and walked inside without looking back. She walked towards the shelves in the small room, trying to open and rummage through the boxes and trunks on them.
A low growl like that of a ferocious beast came from behind. The ferocious old man suddenly pulled out the hairpin from his face and stabbed it into Zhao Xiaosong's back. "Ah!" Zhao Xiaosong screamed and fell to the ground.
The lower half of Qin Hui's face was covered with blood. His eyes were bloodshot as he walked towards Zhou Pei. His hands trembled as he searched his waist. He took out a dagger and staggered towards Zhou Pei. Zhou Pei opened the wooden boxes and found that they were filled with useless paper and pens.
"… For … the world … You … Ignorant …"
His eyes were bloodshot and he was making strange noises. Zhou Pei grabbed an inkstone from a box, turned around, and smashed it on his head.
Qin Hui staggered two steps and fell to the ground. His forehead was bleeding and his head was buzzing. He rolled over and tried to get up.
"Help … Help …"
At this time, Zhao Xiaosong was crying on the ground. Zhou Pei carried the inkstone and walked to Qin Hui's side. Her long hair was disheveled and her eyes were as cold as ice. She smashed the inkstone on Qin Hui's arm, which was still subconsciously holding the dagger.
She had been physically and mentally exhausted for the past few days. Her body was weak and she did not have much strength left. Qin Hui let go of the dagger, but his arm did not break. Zhou Pei hit his head with the dagger again. In the dim light, the young girl cried. Zhou Pei's tears fell from her eyes as she smashed the inkstone on the old man's head again and again. Qin Hui was still crawling on the ground, but before long, his head was covered with blood.
When the guards heard the commotion, they rushed over and were shocked by the bloody and bizarre scene. Qin Hui was lying on the ground, his face contorted and twitching. Zhou Pei took the inkstone and smashed it on his head and face. Seeing the guards come in, she threw away the inkstone, walked straight over, and pulled out the long knife from his waist.
She turned back with the long knife. Qin Hui was lying on the ground, completely motionless, and there was a five-foot-long blood stain on the floor. Zhou Pei's eyes were cold, but her tears were flowing again. On the other side of the balcony, Zhao Xiaosong kept sobbing.
Zhou Pei was stunned for a while. Then she lowered the knife and said, "Save him."
The song and dance in front of the dragon boat were still going on. After a while, someone came to report what had happened in the rear. Zhou Pei came over after cleaning up her injuries. She had lost her fingernails when she was waving the inkstone, so she was also bleeding. The bruises on her neck were still there. She told Zhou Yong the whole thing. At this time, the only witness was her maid, Zhao Xiaosong, and she couldn't prove many things. After listening to her, Zhou Yong just nodded in relief. "My daughter is fine. My daughter is fine …"
— From the beginning to the end, he had never thought about his responsibilities as an emperor.
…
The truth of Zhou Pei's killing of Qin Hui might be hard to tell in the future, but Zhou Pei's murder and Qin Hui's tragic death had great symbolic significance in the small court on the dragon boats.
On August 16th, Yu Zihua, the commander of the imperial guards, and Li Wei, the admiral of the navy, who was in charge of the dragon boat fleet, expressed their loyalty to Zhou Pei at Zhou Yong's signal. As the news was confirmed and spread, on August 17th, Zhou Yong held a court meeting and confirmed the decision to pass on the throne to Jun Wu.
How could she not know that she needed to pass on the throne as soon as possible? At the very least, she needed to give her younger brother, who was fighting hard in Jiangning, a proper title. However, she was abducted to the ship like this. There was no one around her that she could use, and the ministers on the ship were not willing to lose their rightful title. After the betrayal, Zhou Pei didn't speak recklessly. It wasn't until she killed Qin Hui and got the support of the military that the matter was settled.
Since the Taihu fleet had already entered the sea, the decree could only be sent to the shore by small boats. The dragon boat fleet continued to drift south, looking for a safe opportunity to land.
After the decree was issued, Zhou Yong's health deteriorated. He almost couldn't eat anymore. Sometimes, he was muddle-headed, but only a few times he was clear-headed. Life on the boat couldn't be seen in autumn. He occasionally mentioned to Zhou Pei that the autumn in Jiangning was beautiful. Zhou Pei asked if they should go ashore, but Zhou Yong shook his head and refused.
Drifting like this, on the morning of the 28th of August, Zhou Yong's spirit became better. Everyone understood that this was the final radiance of the setting sun. A group of concubines gathered, but Zhou Yong didn't say anything to them. He called his daughter to his bedside and told her about his experiences in Jiangning. He had no ambitions since he was a child, and his family had raised him as a hedonistic prince. He had married a wife and a concubine, but they didn't think much of it. He spent his days fooling around outside. When Zhou Pei and Junwu were young, Zhou Yong couldn't be considered a good father. In fact, he only started to care for his children after their first search of the mountains and seas.
"I'm not a good father, not a good lord, not a good emperor …"
When he talked about himself like this, he thought of Zhou Xuan and Kang Xian, who had passed away a long time ago.
"… When I was young, I was very afraid of Aunt Zhou Xuan, and I couldn't talk to Kang Xian. I was very envious of them … I don't know when, but I wanted to be like Aunt Zhou Xuan and be a good lord, but I couldn't do it well. Your father, I … robbed other people's shops, and not long after, they were gone again. I was tired of it, but … for a short period of time, I also wanted to be a good lord … but I couldn't …"
His eyes gradually blurred.
"They … let me inherit the throne because … I have a pair of good children. I really do have a pair of good children, but … I lost the country. Xiao Pei … Xiao Pei … "
He called his daughter's name, and Zhou Pei reached out to him. He grabbed Zhou Pei's hand.
"So many people … so many people … died. I saw … so many people died. When I was at sea, your grandmother Zhou Xuan and grandfather Kang Xian were killed in Jiangning. I've let them down … and Master Qin, he did so much for this country. Zhou Zhe killed him, but he didn't complain … The Wu dynasty and the Zhou family … have been around for more than two hundred years. Father … didn't want it to end in my hands. I've done wrong …"
He grabbed Zhou Pei with his claw-like hands. "I don't have the face to see them. I don't have the face to go ashore. After I die, throw me into the sea to atone for my sins … I'm dead, I'm dead … I shouldn't be afraid anymore … Help Junwu, Xiao Pei … help Junwu … pass on the Zhou family to the next generation … Ah?"
He repeated this a few times, and Zhou Pei nodded through her tears. Zhou Yong didn't notice it, but he looked at her expectantly. "… Ah?"
"… Yes! Father … Yes. "
Zhou Pei cried.
"… Ah … Ha."
Zhou Yong nodded, and the expression on his face gradually smoothed out. "Do you think … it's cold at sea …" He then said, "You and Junwu … want to see me …"
After a while, he said softly, "Xiao Pei … You and Ning Yi …" There was a long pause between these two sentences, and his eyes gradually froze. His words also stopped there.
At the moment of his death, Zhou Yong was only left with twenty-five kilograms of skin and bones. He was the incompetent emperor who caused the people of the Wu dynasty to fall into hell, and an ordinary person who had his blood and bones sucked dry by the title of emperor. He was fifty-one when he died.
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