Yang Cheng Dong's nervous expression immediately calmed down. The anxiety was because there was still hope. Only when one was in despair would one be so calm.
He had thought that before his father had agreed to Wang Shiqi's request to send him to Chongqing as a hostage, he had already sent spies to pave the way and investigate the surrounding situation. He had already made the first move to gain the upper hand. He had not thought that as early as seven or eight years ago, when the Yang family had built this mansion in Chongqing, the court had already begun to monitor them.
That tower, now that he thought about it, was clearly built to monitor the Yang family. Since it was so, his escape tonight had long been within Wang Shiqi's grasp. Could he still escape? The reason Wang Shiqi had waited outside and did not rush into the mansion to capture him was to wait for him to expose his whereabouts and give others something to use against him!
"Go back!"
Wang Shiqi showed a pitiful expression and tactfully advised this eighteen or nineteen year old young man. The one who had gone to Songkan to negotiate with Yang Yinglong was him. Because of this, he had dispelled Yang Yinglong's determination to immediately rebel. This was for the court and for the common people. He had nothing to feel guilty about.
But because of this, his killing intent had weakened. He hoped that this young man would obediently surrender. If he was willing to cooperate, then in the future, even if Yang Yinglong rebelled, he would not lose his life and would be able to leave a bloodline for the Yang family.
But Yang Cheng Dong did not have any plans to surrender. His life, his fate, and his future were tightly tied to the Yang family. If he lost everything, even if he was still alive, what difference was there from being dead?
Charge, there was still a sliver of hope!
There must be!
A glimmer of light gradually appeared in Yang Cheng Dong's eyes. He slowly raised the sword in his hand and roared, "Brothers, charge with me!"
Yang Cheng Dong's legs kicked the stirrups and his body bent over the horse's back. His eyes were like a wolf's as he stared at Wang Shiqi. The four hooves of the fine horse stamped and its speed became faster and faster, like an arrow leaving the bow. His guards immediately followed closely behind, launching a desperate charge.
Wang Shiqi sighed and retreated step by step. Every time he took a step back, two large shields would come together in front of him, forming an iron wall with sharp spears sticking out from the cracks in the wall. Soon after, it was as if thousands of bees had suddenly swarmed out of their hives, emitting a terrifying buzzing sound in the air. The black mass of feathered arrows was like a heavy downpour, pouring down on Yang Chengdong and the others.
Inside the Yang Mansion, Yang Chengdong's two concubines stood in the pitch-black attic, overlooking the streets with a gloomy expression.
They had accompanied Yang Chengdong to Chongqing Prefecture to serve as a cover. If Yang Chengdong wanted to escape back to Bozhou, he would not bring them along as a burden. However, they could not complain. This was their fate. To be able to become the concubines of a chieftain's second young master like Yang Chengdong was already an extremely good ending for them.
Now that they saw Yang Chengdong being turned into a hornet's nest by the arrows, they didn't feel too sad. Instead, they felt endless hesitation. They were still young, fifteen or sixteen years old. They were at the same age as flowers, and they were as beautiful as flowers. Whose family would they fall to next?
… …
Yang Yinglong had never thought that the phrase "family separation" could be used on him. However, his current situation could be described as having his family torn apart. It was the most appropriate way to describe it.
Tian Xiufeng had been captured by Crouching Ox Ridge, captured on the spot! Ye Xiao 'an, who had always acted like a yes-man and acted like an idiot before him, was actually Ye Xiaotian himself. To think that he had always been troubled over the fact that Ye Xiaotian's Ye Xiaotian did not resemble Ye Xiaotian at all.
The news from Zuo Yixuan stunned Yang Yinglong. He sent people to investigate in a hurry, and he vaguely heard that Tian Xiufeng and Ye Xiaotian seemed to have a rather ambiguous relationship. It was said that Tian Miaowen, Xia Yingying, and Zhan Ning 'er all agreed that Tian Xiufeng, who had repeatedly brought danger to Crouching Ox Ridge, should be executed. It was not like the Crouching Ox Ridge had completely fallen out with Bozhou, so there was no need for them to hold back. However, Ye Xiaotian had actually only placed her under house arrest.
Yang Yinglong, who had always liked to cheat on others but was deeply fearful of himself, was infuriated by this. He did not understand how Ye Xiaotian had managed to see through Tian Xiufeng's meticulous plan in the past and beat her at her own game.
As a result, after hearing these rumors, he even began to suspect that Tian Xiufeng had always been in cahoots with Ye Xiaotian. Everything had been an act in front of him. The so-called house arrest now was only an act for outsiders to see. It was actually to hide a mistress.
As for the fact that Ye Xiaotian was unable to give her any status, that was not enough to rely on. Madam Qin was the Palm Seal Madam of the Ma family of the stone pillar. Hadn't she abandoned her husband and son for him, risking her life to follow him? However, if Tian Xiufeng really had betrayed him, it would not make sense.
Tian Xiufeng currently possessed great power, and her two elder brothers held important positions under him. If she really had followed Ye Xiaotian, even if she did not use this power to viciously screw him over, she would take away her clan, her family, and the power that belonged to her at the very least. She would submit to the Crouching Bull Ridge, just like madam Qin had done. The current situation would not have happened.
As a result, after calming down, Yang Yinglong did not believe the murderous words of Chen Xiao, Zhao Wenyuan, and the others at all. Right when he was considering sending a group of sacrificial soldiers into Tongren to see if he could save his wife, another piece of news arrived from the Chongqing government. His son, Yang Chengdong, had died!
Yang Chengdong's death could not be hidden. In the middle of the night, a massacre had occurred on the street. All the commoners on the street knew about it. By the next morning, the news would have spread through the entire city through the mouths of these people. Not to mention that Wang Shiqi knew he could kill Yang Chengdong, but it was impossible for him to kill all the spies on the outskirts of the Yang estate. These people definitely paid attention to the Yang estate's movements every day, and they had their own secret code to communicate with the estate.
By the time they sensed something was wrong the next day, they would still be unable to hide the news. As a result, Wang Shiqi did not plan on hiding it at all. Borbai was already dead anyway, and the Japanese were asking for peace. Although the imperial court wanted to take a breather, if Yang Yinglong really wanted to cause trouble, they did not have to fear him now.
However, Wang Shiqi would never admit to killing Yang Chengdong. He wrote an essay of ten thousand words at great length. The wording was beautifully embellished, as serious as when he had taken the imperial examination. Afterwards, he stamped the official seal of the Chongqing government and sent someone to Bozhou to inform Yang Yinglong of his death. It was such a long letter, but the core content was only one sentence, "Your young master has fallen ill and passed away!"
His son had fallen ill and passed away? How could Yang Yinglong believe it? Soon after, the spies he had sent in the Chongqing government delivered the news. Although the information gathered on the streets was slightly exaggerated, the main content was accurate. As a formidable and ambitious person, Yang Yinglong would not lose his mind because of his son's death. However, he knew very well what this meant.
He had been trying to hide his intention to rebel and feigned civility with the imperial court. He thought he had already deceived the imperial court, but that Ye Xiao 'an was actually Ye Xiaotian! Ye Xiaotian had been by his side for so long that he knew his plan very well. How could Ye Xiaotian not report this to the imperial court?
Although Ye Xiaotian did not have any evidence, and it was only his side of the story, the imperial court would not take things lightly. It was necessary to take precautions. Moreover, before this, the imperial court had long been wary of him. Coupled with his son's death, if Yang Yinglong still made a mistake to rebel, then he would really be stupid.
"Heavenly King! You're rebelling! "Great Shepherd Chen Xiao was very spirited.
"You're rebelling! Heavenly King! "Zhao Wenyuan rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Tian Feipeng's face reddened from excitement as well. "Heavenly King, the imperial court has gone too far. Let's rebel now! I'm willing to be the vanguard and go straight to the Chongqing government. I'll chop off Wang Shiqi's head and avenge the second young master! "
Tian Yipeng also clasped his fist and said sternly, "I'm willing to lead a group to the Crouching Bull Ridge and capture Ye Xiaotian alive for the heavenly king to punish!"
Tian Yipeng and Tian Feipeng had no other choice. They clearly knew that Chen Xiao, Zhao Wenyuan, and the others were encouraging Yang Yinglong to rebel immediately because they wanted to cut off Tian Xiufeng's path of retreat. However, in order to express the White Ni Tian Clan's loyalty to the Yang family, they had to express their stance.
As a treacherous hero, Yang Yinglong had always been rather suspicious. The difference between success and failure in a rebellion was just too great, so he had become even more sensitive and suspicious before he knew it. Those who had not gone through the same thing might have felt that his personality had changed drastically, but it was actually just the tremendous mental pressure that had magnified a certain aspect of his personality.
The third madam he doted on the most and relied on the most was imprisoned in the Crouching Bull Ridge, while his son, Yang Kedong, had died a horrible death in the Chongqing government. Yang Yinglong could only vaguely sense that the situation was gradually deteriorating, but he did not know that the flames of war in the northwest, east, and west had already been extinguished. He gradually clenched his fists.
His fists crackled as Yang Yinglong's face darkened. He squeezed out two words from between his teeth, "Rebel!"
… …
Normally, the wedding of a chieftain would last for a month. The newly-wed chieftains would have to work hard during the day and at night. They would have to work hard both mentally and physically. After a month, they would either die or lose a layer of skin.
However, due to the delicate situation in the southwest, the guests would not stay for too long, so Ye Xiaotian did not try to make them stay. His wedding only lasted for around seven days before it ended. However, during those seven days, his reputation and status among the guests had reached an unprecedented height due to the emperor and the two chieftains of Shui Xi and Shui Dong.
Now, his reputation was no longer below the traditional eight chieftains of the Guardian Deities. It might even have surpassed them. The Zhan family and the Cao family of the original eight guardian deities had actually fallen to his hands long ago, but this did not mean other people acknowledged him as possessing the strength of one of the eight guardian deities.
After thousands of years of inheritance, guardian deities and heavenly kings had already become the standard by which people measured the strength of the chieftains. As for those chieftains who had inherited the prestige of their ancestors, if their strength was no longer as great as before, although people would still mention their surnames when mentioning the eight guardian deities, this did not mean that they still had the strength. The two were separate.
For example, when people mentioned the four chieftain clans, they would inevitably refer to An Song and Tian Yang. However, the Tian Clan's strength had long since declined. They did not even possess the strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with the eight guardian deities. However, the Tian Clan still held the title of one of the four heavenly kings. This was an honor, but also a heavy burden.
Ye Xiaotian was sending off group after group of guests in the front mountain. In the garden of the rear residence, Xia Yingying and Zhan Ning'er were chatting about their private affairs. The two newly married women were chatting in their private rooms. Only the blooming flowers by their sides and the dancing bees in the air could hear their quiet conversation …
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