The royal study quieted down again. From the darkest moment before dawn to the rising sun leaping out of the earth, to the warm morning light being covered by dark clouds and the patter of autumn rain falling like cotton, the sounds in the royal study were like the weather. Sometimes it was loud and sometimes it was soft. Sometimes it was violent and sometimes it was as quiet as an iceberg. The atmosphere was even more so. Sometimes it was tense and harsh. Sometimes it was silent and iron-blooded. Sometimes it was confused as one remembered the past. Sometimes it was cold as one talked about the past.
The Qing Emperor and Chen Pingping had never been a normal ruler and official. The battle between the two of them was very different from a normal battle. Until now, Chen Pingping was only using words. Perhaps it was only the intentions that his words represented. He held up the straw and stabbed it, hoping to prick a bit of blood out of the other party's bare and tender heart and create a fresh wound.
An unhealthy paleness lingered for a long time under the Qing Emperor's face and refused to disperse. His eyes were empty. No, it should be said that they were empty. His slightly thin face, paired with his current expression and gaze, appeared particularly cold.
No one knew what kind of waves of shock the Qing Emperor was experiencing in his heart. He only looked calmly at Chen Pingping. After a long silence, he slowly said, "What right do you have to monitor me?"
He coldly said, "I gave up everything in the world. Do you understand what I am searching for?"
This was a kind of disdain an Emperor had for the old dog. Chen Pingping's hands rested naturally on the arms of the black wheelchair. He looked at him lightly. There was only coldness and disdain in his eyes. The coldness and disdain the ruler and official had for each other permeated the entire royal study.
"No matter how powerful you are, no matter how powerful the Qing Kingdom is, you still cannot change one reality, the one you are most unwilling to admit." Chen Pingping lowered his eyes slightly and said, "In the end, the power of the Qing Kingdom still relies on her legacy. If she had not left behind the palace treasury to endlessly send blood to the court, if she had not left behind the Overwatch Council to help the Emperor control the balance in the court, how could you have allowed the Qing Kingdom to last until now when the Qing Kingdom has fought for years?"
"You want to prove that without her, you can still do your best, even better than when she was alive." Chen Pingping slowly raised his head and said in a hoarse voice, "You want to lift the sky above your head, but in fact, you only proved that you have to rely on her."
"You are not as good as her." Chen Pingping's calm and natural words pierced the deepest part of the Emperor's heart.
The Emperor suddenly thought of that stormy night three years ago. In Guangxin Palace not far behind, he had once personally gripped Li Yunrui's throat and said to his most beautiful sister, "No matter what, you cannot compare to Ye Qingmei."
His heart slightly moved and his face slightly paled. His thin and emotionless lips were tightly pressed together as he coldly said, "History is ultimately written by living people. I am alive and she is dead. This is enough."
"So, Your Majesty, why bother explaining? You just need to admit that you are cold-blooded, heartless, hypocritical, and inferior … "A smile appeared on Chen Pingping's face." That's enough. "
"Is she really a fairy? Untainted by the smoke and fire of the world? Merciful and merciful? " The Emperor suddenly opened his mouth and said with slight mockery, "Or is it that in your heart, you only allow yourself to imagine her as such? No, not only you, but also Fan Jian, that useless King Jing, and perhaps An Zhi as well. All of you think I am cold and heartless, yet you impudently used your imaginations to paint too many golden borders on her body. "
"She is not a person, nor is she a fairy, nor is she a god who has come to save the world." The Emperor faintly sighed. His brows gradually furrowed tightly. Slowly, he said, "She is only you people, no, including me in the past. She is only our imaginations. I often wonder if this woman has never appeared. Did we just allow our imaginations to gather together and form this kind of person?"
Chen Pingping coldly shook his head. "You know that is not the truth."
"But it is still an imagination!" The Emperor's expression became cold. The corners of his lips curled up slightly as he looked at Chen Pingping. "You pieces of trash have put all of the beautiful imaginations of the world into her. Thus, she is incomparably bright in your hearts. You can't even find a trace of darkness."
"Exceptionally intelligent, but not scheming. Bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate of mankind, but not a childish woman who doesn't understand the affairs of the world. She is a doer with practical methods." The Emperor's eyes were cold as he continued. "What kind of person is she? A person without any flaws or flaws. Is such a person still human? "
He suddenly laughed, a sorrowful and vicious laugh. "Unfortunately, there has never been such a person in the world. She is also a mortal, a normal person who has joy, anger, glory, darkness, schemes, and schemes. When all is said and done, what difference is there between her and me? "
"Your Majesty." Chen Pingping slowly shook his head. "If she really was the kind of person you think she is, how could she have died to your hands?"
"Is that so?" The Emperor's pupils constricted slightly. He laughed strangely. "Hahahaha … everyone becomes their own king? What an arrogant thought. So, the Overwatch Council is monitoring me. Only now do I know that you, old dog, were left behind by her to monitor me! If she didn't suspect me back then, if she didn't guard against me, how could she have left behind such words? "
"Wrong, Your Majesty," Chen Pingping said with a wooden expression. Chen Pingping's expression was wooden as he said, "Regardless of who sits on the throne, the Overwatch Council will monitor them. This is not evidence that she was wary of you from the beginning and wanted to deal with you."
"Then what about the Tyrannical martial method?" For some reason, the Emperor's tone suddenly became very dark and deep. Although his voice was slightly higher, it did not make one feel any warmth. His voice was like a sword that had been soaked in the water of the underworld for millions of years, piercing directly into the surroundings of the royal study.
The Emperor's face did not twist. However, a glimmer of coldness flashed through his empty eyes. Enunciating each word, he said, "When she passed on the Tyrannical martial method to me, I had thought that she had made such a decision because Northern Qi and Dongyi each had a Great Grandmaster. I was deeply grateful. With this Tyrannical martial method, I led you, Ye Zhong, and Wang Zhikun through the battlefields and swept through everything. It was rare for me to be defeated. Who would have thought that behind this so-called supreme martial method, there was an unparalleled evil intent hidden?"
After the Emperor's voice left his anger, it became unusually cold. "When I first went on the Northern expedition, I sensed that the Tyrannical zhenqi in my body was restless and restless. However, it had to be done. I led the army forward and fought a series of battles with Zhan Qingfeng in the Northern mountains. However, it was at this time that the hidden danger exploded. In my body, all the meridians were broken!"
Chen Pingping was silent. He was one of the people who knew this period of history the best. The Northern expedition had been difficult. Zhan Qingfeng had been extremely experienced in using troops. The Wei Kingdom's military was particularly strong. The Qing Kingdom had taken the risk of sending tens of thousands of troops to the North. It was truly a choice of death. However, the Wei Kingdom was already rotten. The people had no way of making a living. If they wanted to change the situation and create a new situation and possibility for the future, the Qing Kingdom had to send out troops.
At that time, the Qing Emperor, who was the Crown Prince, led the army on the Northern expedition. Chen Pingping remained in the newly established Overwatch Council. For one, he had to ensure Jingdou's safety. For another, he had to maintain a distance from the battlefield and ensure that he could make decisions calmly.
Coincidentally, the battle was at its most intense. When Zhan Qingfeng led the army to surround the Qing army on the outskirts of Xiao Mountain, the Commander of the Qing army, the Crown Prince, was suddenly heavily injured. All the meridians in his body were broken. He lay motionless in the military camp.
Although Ye Zhong, who was a deputy at the time, and Wang Zhikun, the young officer of the personal soldiers, stood out at the most critical moment, the Qing Kingdom was already at a disadvantage on the battlefield. The Commander was suddenly unable to look at the situation. In a flash, Zhan Qingfeng's army advanced. The Qing army was torn apart. The Crown Prince was also trapped in the mountains.
It was at that time that Chen Pingping led the Overwatch Council's Black Knights to complete their shocking first thousand-li advance. They forcefully tore a large hole in the net the Wei Kingdom's army had woven. Braving endless risks, they rescued the Crown Prince, who was now the Qing Emperor.
There was no need to mention the hardships along the way. The Black Knights were almost completely wiped out before they managed to rescue the Emperor. At that time, Chen Pingping had a question in his heart. Just what kind of strange injury had the Emperor suffered? There were no major wounds on the surface, but the meridians inside were all broken. He had become a cripple.
During these years, Chen Pingping had guessed some things. Fan Xian had also once faced the danger of almost having his meridians all broken. He knew where the Emperor's strange and terrifying injury came from.
Presumably, it was the dangerous juncture that would inevitably appear once the Tyrannical martial method reached a certain realm.
…
…
"My body could not move. My eyes could not see. My mouth could not speak. It was as if there were countless sharp little knives inside my body endlessly cutting at my organs, bones, and flesh," the Emperor's gaze was empty. Coldly, he said, "That kind of pain, hopelessness, loneliness, and darkness is not something you can imagine. My will has always been strong. At that time, I couldn't help but think of suicide. However, I couldn't even move a finger. I wanted to die, but I couldn't. "
The corners of the Emperor's lips twitched slightly. He smiled self-mockingly. "What a tragic and wretched end." He glanced at Chen Pingping lightly. "That day, if you hadn't risked everything to save me, perhaps I would have died then."
Chen Pingping was silent. He did not mock or respond.
The Emperor's nose twitched slightly. Coldly, he took a deep breath. "However, the heavens did not abandon me. After many months of such pain and suffering, I finally woke up. Not only did I wake up, but I also finally broke through the juncture of the Tyrannical martial method."
The Emperor's voice trembled slightly. Decades had passed. When he thought of that terrifying and inhuman torment, his strong heart still couldn't stop shaking.
He lowered his head and looked at Chen Pingping with slight mockery. "What exactly did she want to do with this fatal martial method?"
"I asked her how to break through the juncture. She said she didn't know." The Emperor suddenly laughed. His eyes narrowed slightly. Coldness seeped out from the cracks. "She didn't know! She created Ku He, Sigu Jian, and me. She actually said she didn't know! "
"She wanted to use me as a weakness to make me listen to her and agree to her for the rest of my life." The corners of the Emperor's lips twitched strangely. Mockingly, he said, "But, how could I be such a person? After I passed this juncture of life and death, I have seen everything in this world lightly. I have also finally understood that this dazzling woman in your eyes actually has her cruelest side. Since the heavens do not abandon me, how could I abandon myself? "
…
…
After hearing the Qing Emperor's words, Chen Pingping smiled slightly. After letting out a sigh, he continued to display his restrained smile to its fullest extent. Shaking his head, he laughed hoarsely and said, "Overly suspicious, overly suspicious. Your Majesty, you will probably never be able to escape this in your life."
Chen Pingping's laughter was very ancient and sorrowful. He looked calmly at the Emperor and said, "Excuses will forever be excuses. Perhaps you thought so back then. However, Fan Xian has also practiced it. If it weren't for Haitang helping him, he would probably also have fallen into that hell-like juncture."
"She has always had the Heart of Tianyi Dao in her hands." The Emperor slowly closed his eyes.
"But, that could forever remain in the ninth-level realm," Chen Pingping said with slight mockery. "Are you willing?"
Without waiting for the Emperor's reply, he gently waved his hand and sighed. "There is no need to bring up the things of the past. Since you can even doubt her, you can doubt everyone in the world. However, this kind of doubt is a bit too laughable."
Since it was laughable, he had to laugh. Chen Pingping laughed. He rocked back and forth in his black wheelchair. Murky tears almost squeezed out from between his old eyes.
…
…
"I just want you to know before you die that what you remember is just an illusory illusion." The Emperor opened his eyes and shook off his memories. Looking at Chen Pingping coldly, he said, "You are my dog, yet you are asking me on her behalf. I want you to know that the mistress you loyally protect is not a pure and untainted fairy."
Chen Pingping stopped smiling. His shoulders sank slightly. After a moment of silence, he replied, "I am not a saint who regards the world as my responsibility, nor do I have the right to be a saint. When I criticized you earlier, it was not for the common people in the world, nor was it because I felt any pity for them. It was just that this was her dying wish. Yes, Your Majesty, we have met today not for the common people. It is only a personal grudge. "
He raised his head and looked calmly at the Emperor. "You killed her, so I will avenge her. This is a personal grudge, not some dogsh * t righteousness. This is a very simple matter and does not need to carry any other meaning. I don't care at all what kind of person she was. Whether she was a fairy that fell to the mortal world or a little demon girl with other schemes inside, what does that matter? "
"She is called Ye Qingmei. That is enough," Chen Pingping said slowly as he looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor looked at his old comrade in the wheelchair. After a long time, he sighed gently. The glimmer of a smile rose to his face. However, this smile represented a deeper meaning. In his eyes, this old dog was already dead.
"This is a strange and chaotic emotion," the Emperor said coldly. "Overseeing the ruler of a country, a eunuch who can't forget a woman. So, you have already gone crazy many years ago."
"Of course, I must admit that I have been deceived by you for many years. The Overwatch Council is indeed troublesome in your old dog's hands. The entire Overwatch Council only knows of Chen Pingping and does not know of me, the Emperor. This is my indulgence of you, but it is also your ability. However, I do not understand. What right do you have to raise the knife of vengeance against me? What ability do you have? "
The Emperor looked at Chen Pingping with faint disdain. He picked up the cup of cold tea he had not drunk in a long time and slowly took a sip.
Chen Pingping also picked up the still-warm cup of tea from the front of the armrest of the wheelchair and moistened his dry lips. A moment later, he quietly replied, "Presumably, Yan Bingyun is already organizing the Overwatch Council on Your Majesty's behalf."
The Emperor's gaze looked at the clear yellow tea in the cup. He froze slightly and then returned to normal.
"Since I have returned to the capital alone, I do not want the entire Qing Kingdom to sink into turmoil because of my vengeance," Chen Pingping said. "Thus, I will not pay attention to Yan Bingyun."
"You have come to meet your death just to scold me a bit?" A difficult to grasp smile rose to the corners of the Emperor's lips.
"Your Majesty understands me, which is why you have chatted with me for so long when I am destined to die," Chen Pingping said with a slight smile. Chen Pingping smiled and said, "Because you don't know what my final move is, so you must accompany me until I finish saying what I want to say."
"I have already said what I want to say. I want to see what cards you have yet to reveal," the Emperor smiled warmly. He had long shaken off the earlier wavering of his state of mind and the emotions brought about by the past. He had recovered the appearance of a calm and powerful Emperor.
Chen Pingping did not reply. He only looked meaningfully at the Emperor and suddenly asked another question. "During these 20 years, I have already done so many things. Do you still not understand, Your Majesty?"
The Emperor's finger slowly turned his head toward the celadon teacup, but his gaze slowly landed on the ground. On the ground by the feet of the black wheelchair lay a few files. Recorded on them were how Chen Pingping had, step by step, driven all of the Emperor's family to stand against him during these years.
"The fire in Huichun Hall was set by the Council. The imperial doctor was killed by someone I sent. The imperial relative also met the same end. As for the medicine the Crown Prince used, it was Fei Jie who personally made it. Of course, Fei Jie has long left this land. Even if Your Majesty wanted to sentence him to death, presumably, you would not be able to. " Chen Pingping looked coldly and emotionlessly at the Emperor and said each word clearly. "The matter of the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince having an affair was something I watched coldly from the side and helped slightly. Then, I did everything I could to let Your Majesty know."
The Emperor's finger that was turning the teacup stopped.
"That night, there was a thunderstorm. Your Majesty must have lost your composure in Guangxin Palace. Although I did not see it with my own eyes, just thinking about it makes me feel comforted." The wrinkles on Chen Pingping's face melted. He appeared very comforted. "Your Majesty, why are you so angry about the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince having an affair? Did you always feel that this sister should belong to you? However, due to your self-torturing thoughts of a wise ruler, you could only suppress it? "
"Who knew that the Crown Prince would do it?" Chen Pingping laughed in a low and sharp voice. "What you could not do, what you could not do, was done by the Crown Prince. How could you not be angry? How could they not die? "
"The Crown Prince is dead, the Eldest Princess is dead, the empress is dead, the empress dowager is dead, and the Second Prince is also dead." Chen Pingping stared at the Emperor with a sharp gaze. "All of the family by your side died at your hands. You are the most selfish and vicious ruler in the world. I will have your family die because of your selfishness."
The Emperor's fingers holding the teacup trembled slightly. Gently hitting the teacup made a crisp sound.
Chen Pingping's voice was crisper, colder, and more piercing. "I don't have any trump cards. I just came back to the Palace to tell you. Back then, you coldly let her die alone, so I can let you also smell that kind of loneliness, and then die in this kind of torture … Perhaps I can't kill you, but isn't letting you live like this the most beautiful and complicated method? "
"I still have a few good sons," the Emperor slowly said. "You even want to kill the Third Prince, that brat. I can't help but sigh at the coldness and hatred in your heart."
Chen Pingping coldly said, "As long as it is someone with the surname Li in the Palace, they all deserve to die."
"What about An Zhi?" The Emperor's fingers tapping on the porcelain teacup suddenly stopped. He furrowed his brows and said with slight mockery, "He is my and Qingmei's son. You are so loyal to her, so how could you repeatedly want to kill him? I'm afraid that even today, An Zhi still thinks that you are the elder who loves him the most. He has no idea that the attack in the valley, the aftermath of the Hanging Temple incident, and the fact that he almost died to a dagger, were all single-handedly arranged by you. "
Chen Pingping was silent for a moment. He then said in a low and ruthless voice, "Fan Xian is only a bastard. What right do you have to be the father of her son? For her, Fan Xian's existence is a brand of humiliation. Just looking at him hurts my eyes. "
The Emperor laughed. His laughter was full of resentment. "Very good. You are indeed a perverted eunuch. If I just kill you like this, wouldn't that be too much to your liking?"
"How I die has never been a problem." Chen Pingping looked mockingly at the Emperor. "I only know that my revenge has been successful. That is enough."
The Emperor's hand holding the teacup hovered in midair. A moment later, he faintly said, "I still have three sons …"
"But, since I have returned to the capital, I'm afraid none of your three sons will be your sons again." Chen Pingping's pupils gradually constricted. With a glimmer of icy pleasure, he laughed sharply and said, "If I die to Your Majesty's hands, how will Fan Xian think of you? How will the eldest son think of you? How will you explain it to Fan Xian? Will he say that I was avenging his mother? Then, how will you explain what happened back then to him? "
The coldness in Chen Pingping's slightly constricted pupils flared. His face gradually paled, perhaps because of excitement or some other emotion. He stared at the Emperor and said, word by word, "Your Majesty, you will be deserted by everyone. In your loneliness, you will look at the land under heaven and have nothing."
To look at the land under heaven and have nothing. What kind of vicious curse and hatred was this? The Emperor's body shook slightly. His face gradually paled again. He looked at Chen Pingping with a threatening gaze and said in a cold voice, "How dare you!"
When the Emperor said these two words, it meant that he already knew of Chen Pingping's 20 years of complications. In the end, he had gradually stepped onto an irreversible path of success. Regardless of whether it was Fan Xian or the Great Prince, they were both very close to Chen Pingping. If the Qing Emperor wanted to explain anything to these two sons, he would have to touch on the story from many years ago. It was impossible for him to open his mouth.
Could it be that the most powerful monarch in the world could only gradually age and die under the furious and hateful gazes of his sons?
The Qing Emperor's face was pale. He felt boundless coldness and anger in his heart. He looked at Chen Pingping's similarly pale face and knew that he had already calculated everything that would happen next. He was using his death to launch a final and darkest attack on the Royal Palace.
The royal study sank into a deathly silence. Outside, the autumn rain continued to fall slowly, wetting the originally dry ground in the Royal Palace and the cracks in the stone slabs. The royal study was filled with glass windows produced by the palace treasury. The carvings on the windows were like human faces looking at the final conversation between the ruler and official of the Qing Kingdom.
"You seek death, but I do not want you to die easily." The Emperor's face was pale, and his eyes were empty. Like a god forcefully suppressing his anger, he coldly and calmly said, "I am going to escort you to the Meridian Gate. I am going to have you stand naked in front of all the people. I am going to let everyone in the world know that you, an old black dog, are a castrated person without a * *, a deformed thing that shames your ancestors and ancestors. I am going to have countless people stare between your thighs and see how you, a hateful castrated thief, used the rotten flesh between your legs to weave such an evil plot."
The Qing Emperor's words were very light, but they contained boundless hatred, endless humiliation, and endless anger. Coldly, he said, "I am going to hack you into pieces and die from a thousand cuts. I am going to have all the people of the Qing Kingdom tear off the flesh from your body, bite by bite, and then bury your skull by the side of the three large workshops. I am going to have you watch with your own eyes how I first kill her, then kill you, and then use what she left behind to slaughter the country, unite the world, and create an everlasting legacy."
"I am going to have you and all of you know that I can kill you. I am going to have you watch all of this without being able to do anything. I am going to have you cry, struggle, and regret in the underworld."
The Emperor's face became paler and paler, but his voice became calmer and calmer. His eyes became more and more empty. He was becoming less and less like a living person.
Sitting in the black wheelchair, Chen Pingping's face was also very pale. He knew that the genes of a madman ran in the Emperor's blood. He also knew what kind of tragic end he would face under the Emperor's crazed anger.
Ruler and official used each other's words to slice apart each other's hearts. They cut each other until they were both bloody. There was not a place on their bodies that was unharmed. They were like two pale ghosts devouring each other's souls.
Chen Pingping slowly and with great difficulty bent his body and placed the teacup on the ground. Then, he gripped the front of the armrests of the wheelchair with both hands. With his elbows as the axis, his two forearms rested calmly and comfortingly on the black and smooth armrests. He didn't think of anything. He only repeated the habitual action he had repeated countless times over the years.
His gaze once again swept past the Emperor's pale face and thin and powerful shoulders. He stared straight at the wall behind the royal study. It was as if he could see through the wall and directly into the little building in the rear palace. He saw the painting of the yellow-clothed woman's back incomparably desolate and lonely. She looked at the scene of tens of thousands of people repairing the river at the foot of the mountain. He was speechless for a long time.
Chen Pingping was speechless for a long time. He thought to himself that this was good, this was good.
"Xiao Yezi?" A strange smile rose to the corners of his lips. It was as if he could see the image of that little girl floating in the air behind the royal study.
That little girl looked at him with distress and asked, "Are you really a eunuch? Then, are we going to call each other sisters or what? "
…
…
The Emperor heard Chen Pingping say these three words. Xiao Yezi. This name had been hidden in his heart for many years. This name was like a curse that he could not free himself from. Although he could not think of it for a long time, once he realized that he had not forgotten, that face and that person would appear out of nowhere and look at him with a glimmer of confusion, sorrow, and disdain.
He unconsciously followed Chen Pingping's gaze and turned his head slightly. He then heard a loud sound.
There was a loud bang! A wild wind blew in the royal study. Two violent gusts of gunpowder, iron sand, and steel balls blasted violently toward the Qing Emperor's body.
…
…
The Qing Emperor was a scholar. He would not die so easily. Sister Pingping was a stubborn person. His revenge had actually already accomplished much in the past. He had done his best within the limits of his abilities. Furthermore, the direction of his revenge was correct. As for what he said was only to help Fan Xian in the end, presumably everyone knew.
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