Chapter 174: Life Feather Pill

In an unnoticed corner of the Liu family's large residence, over ten black-clothed guards, torches in their left hands and waist knives in their right, hurried through winding and complex narrow alleys.

Amidst the dim high walls and gray tiles, only the flickering orange-yellow light of the torches retained some warmth. Outside the world illuminated by the torches, everything was black and white, and cold.

From a distance came the sounds of roaring and shouting. It seemed as though houses were collapsing one by one and lives were perishing one by one within the Liu family's large residence.

The black-clothed guards did not know what was happening, nor did they care.

They arrived at a courtyard door. Two black-clothed guards responsible for imprisoning Jing Wang drew their knives to block them, asking, "What brings you here?"

The torch-holding black-clothed guards did not stop. The leader raised a waist badge and declared, "By the master's order, execute Jing Wang and his relatives. Make way!"

The black-clothed guards directly rushed into the courtyard, only to find the small siheyuan empty. The doors of the east and west wing rooms were wide open, but only the door of the north main room was tightly shut.

One black-clothed guard stepped forward and lifted his foot to kick the door but discovered it had already been propped up from the inside with a heavy object. He drew out his waist knife and shouted angrily, "Chop the door down!"

With one chop, the wooden door, pasted with white paper, split open with a huge crack. Through the crack, the black-clothed guard saw Jing Wang, Shizi, and Junzhu inside the room, each holding a chair!

"Useless!"

Just as the black-clothed guard was about to bring down the second chop, he heard the sound of cracking tiles from the side. He suddenly turned his head to look, asking, "Who?"

He saw an armored soldier wearing a face mask, holding a long knife, charging towards them from a distant roof. Along the way, with every step the armored soldier took, tiles cracked inch by inch.

The next moment, the distant sunrise finally penetrated the layers of dark clouds. A touch of white quickly tore through the sky's mechanism. The armored soldier reached the roof of the east wing house and leaped vertically.

The rearmost black-clothed guard hastily raised his knife to block, but the momentum of the knife chopping down from the sky was like a thousand jun, actually first chopping off the black-clothed guard's knife, then chopping off his head.

The remaining black-clothed guards exchanged glances. The leader said in a low voice, "Xing Guan. All of you block him. I'll go kill Jing Wang. Jing Wang cannot live!"

Saying so, he continued to chop at the wooden door. Over ten black-clothed guards swung their knives towards the armored soldier to block him. But this armored soldier ignored them and continued rushing towards the front of the main room door. He reached the wall of knives but abruptly twisted his body, taking the knife edges directly on his body armor. Four knife edges slashed across the cast iron armor pieces, producing brilliant sparks, like bolts of silk. All the knife edges were blocked by the armor pieces; not a single one could injure the body beneath the heavy armor.

In an instant, the armored soldier crashed through the wall of knives and the black-clothed guards with his shoulders. He came up behind the black-clothed guard who was chopping the door and thrust his knife out.

Clang!

The black-clothed guard's body suddenly stiffened, and his neck lifted high. The knife edge had stabbed in from the back of his waist and out through the inside of the wooden door, startling both Bai Li and Shizi inside the room.

The armored soldier, like a wolf, turned his head to stare at the black-clothed guards behind him, his face mask grimly terrifying. He slowly pulled out the knife edge, then shook it, shaking off the bloodstains from the blade and creating a handful of blood mist.

The faces of the black-clothed guards turned serious. They surrounded and attacked him together.

Inside the room, Bai Li and Shizi simultaneously looked towards Jing Wang, asking, "Father, is it the Qian Sui Army?"

Jing Wang shook his head. "The Qian Sui Army cannot kill their way here yet. I had other arrangements for aid earlier, but this person is not the one I arranged." All three were somewhat doubtful about who would suddenly extend a hand of aid in the deep residence of the Liu family.

Bai Li suddenly exclaimed, "Chen Ji!"

Shizi hesitated slightly. "How would Chen Ji appear here? It shouldn't be him."

Bai Li also hesitated. She looked out through the crack in the door, only to see the armored soldier, surrounded by over ten black-clothed guards, gradually struggling. The armored soldier guarded the door, not letting a single black-clothed guard kill their way in.

Shizi was surprised and doubtful. "Dad, should we go out to help him?"

Jing Wang thought for a moment. "Yun Xi, pull the table away, and I'll go out to pick up a fallen knife and support him a bit!"

However, just as the two were pulling up the table blocking the door, a muffled voice came from under the face mask outside the door. "Don't come out!"

Bai Li exclaimed, "It really is Chen Ji!"

Shizi turned his head to look at her. "You can even hear that?"

At this time, Chen Ji was heavily panting under his face mask. Over ten new knife marks had been added to his armor. If not for this body of heavy armor, he would likely be full of injuries already.

Chen Ji's palm gripped the knife handle tightly. He lifted his knife and advanced instead of retreating. However, just at this moment, one black-clothed guard in the crowd coldly eyed him and suddenly drew a cold knife to chop out.

The knife edge was extremely fast. Chen Ji hard stopped his feet to retreat backward. The knife edge chopped across his face, cutting open the helmet's white tassel and the face mask beneath the helmet together.

Clang! Two sounds. The face mask split into two and fell to the ground, exposing Chen Ji's face beneath. The white tassel lightly floated to the ground and was then blown away by the wind.

The black-clothed guards surrounded Chen Ji in a fan shape in the courtyard. One of them said coldly, "You are already exhausted. Abandon your knife now, and we will treat it as if you never came."

Chen Ji lifted his knife. "Speak of exhaustion then!" Behind him came the sound of the table being pulled away. Jing Wang, Shizi, and Bai Li pulled open the room door and rushed out, each holding a chair and standing beside him.

"All of you!"

Chen Ji's words had not yet fallen when a tall and burly figure flew down from the roof, like lightning and thunder, pressing a palm on the chest of each black-clothed guard. The world seemed to pause for an instant. After an instant, bone-cracking sounds crackled. The remaining seven black-clothed guards simultaneously flew backward, smashed against the wall, bounced off, and fell to the ground, breathless.

"Feng Da Ban!" Bai Li exclaimed.

Chen Ji let out a long, turbid breath, propping himself up with his knife. Feng Da Ban turned his body, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Wang Ye, forgive me, this official is late."

Bai Li hurriedly pulled Chen Ji's arm armor, turning it left and right, asking, "Injured?"

Chen Ji smiled. "Fortunately, Feng Da Ban arrived in time. No injury."

Shizi and Bai Li relaxed. "How did you get mixed in with the Liu family's armored soldiers?"

Chen Ji explained, "By chance coincidence!"

Jing Wang looked towards Feng Da Ban. "What's the situation?"

Feng Da Ban answered in a soft voice, "All six zodiacs of the Secret Spy Division have arrived. Jie Fan Wei and the Qian Sui Army have already killed their way into the Liu family's large residence. Xiang Jia Camp was too late to rush aid. Hu Jia Iron Cavalry, led by Mister Feng, were ambushed by the Northern Wan Sui Army. Wang Ye, rest assured, Bai Long adult calculates without omission. Absolute safety can be ensured."

Jing Wang showed no signs of victory joy, only a long sigh. "So many years, finally the dust settles!" Feng Da Ban asked, "Wang Ye, will you rest here for a moment?"

Jing Wang shook his head. "No rest. Go send Ge Lao on his last journey. He should be waiting for me!"

In front of the ancestral temple, a long blood road spread outside the large residence, like a scarlet twisted carpet, woven with flesh and blood. Liu Shi Ye, missing an arm, sat leaning against the ancestral temple door, breathing roughly.

Bai Long strolled over, his white boots already stained red. His clean white clothes were also splashed with bloodstains. He came to the front of the ancestral temple door, not looking at Liu Shi Ye beside his feet, only looking at Liu Ge Lao wiping the backs of the spirit tablets one by one. Liu Ge Lao placed his own father's spirit tablet back into the main niche, then took down another spirit tablet and used his sleeve to wipe away the dust. The slaughter and wails behind him seemed to have no connection to him.

Bai Long said lightly, "Ge Lao, the overthrow of the Liu family is not your fault. There's no need to reproach yourself!"

Liu Ge Lao, while wiping the spirit tablets, smiled and said, "Winner is king, loser is bandit. There's nothing to reproach myself for. Thirty-one years ago, my Liu family's fields spanned three provinces. Ten years ago, we could only shrink to one place in Yu state, barely lingering. Ten years ago, I knew this day would come sooner or later. I just didn't expect it would be in such a窝囊 (wonang - humiliating) way. That Poison Prime Minister adult, ah. He actually wouldn't even give the Liu family a grand and magnificent facade."

Bai Long thought for a moment and said, "This year, the Jing Dynasty is preparing for war. The foundations of the Liu family are still of great use and cannot be wasted. Later, I may still need to borrow your head and the heads of the Liu family clan to persuade the Hu Jia big camp and the Yu state troops to surrender."

Liu Ge Lao lightly laughed. "You persuade my Liu family's troops to surrender? Aren't you afraid of burying hidden troubles?"

Bai Long's dragon-pattern mask had no expression. One could not discern joy, anger, or sorrow. "That is a matter for the Inner Prime Minister adult to consider, unrelated to me, the vanguard."

Liu Ge Lao placed the spirit tablet in his hand back into the main niche and looked around the ancestral temple. "What a pity!"

At this time, Jin Zhu's voice came from outside the door. "Wang Ye!" Liu Ge Lao turned his head to look, only to see Jie Fan Wei making way for a path, allowing Jing Wang to walk into the Liu family ancestral temple.

He looked at Jing Wang in silence for a long time. "You and I, father-in-law and son-in-law, will play another game of chess!"

"Good!"

"Liu Shi Ye, fetch a set of chess." Liu Ge Lao instructed.

Liu Shi Ye, missing an arm, barely propped himself up, limped through the crowd, and carried a chessboard back from a side room. There was no suitable table inside the ancestral temple, so he could only place the chessboard on a stool. Blood dripped from his arm onto the chessboard. He used his other hand to wipe, but the more he wiped, the dirtier it became.

Liu Shi Ye said troubled, "Master, I..."

Liu Ge Lao smiled warmly. "It doesn't matter. Sit beside and rest a bit!"

Liu Shi Ye said "ah," and retreated to the side of the door, leaning against the threshold to sit down.

Jing Wang picked up a chess piece and placed it on the blood-stained chessboard, sighing, "I didn't expect my last game of chess with Yue Zhang would be played in this kind of environment."

Liu Ge Lao laughed and scolded, dropping a chess piece, "Don't pretend. If not for you, my Liu family wouldn't have fallen to this state today."

Jing Wang's eyes were on the chessboard. Without lifting his head, he asked, "Yue Zhang, was A Yi killed by the Liu family?"

Liu Ge Lao was startled. "Yes! After A Yi married you, the Empress Dowager wanted her to alienate you and His Majesty. Who knew she was wholeheartedly devoted to you and fundamentally unwilling to intervene in these rights and wrongs."

Jing Wang calmly said, "The Empress Dowager, for her own private gain, left Yun Xi without a mother. So later, the Liu family again arranged for A Jing to marry me, also with the intention of alienating me and His Majesty?"

Liu Ge Lao slowly said, "No, A Jing herself wanted to marry you. She begged me for seven days and seven nights, and then I agreed."

Jing Wang held the chess piece, hesitating to drop it. "You didn't agree initially?"

Liu Ge Lao laughed. "I feared my vicious sister would kill her too. Wang Ye, you shouldn't be trying to condemn my Liu family to eternal damnation because of A Yi, should you?"

Jing Wang was silent for a long time. "No! These years, three-tenths of our dynasty's tax revenue in silver, money, and grain goes into the state treasury, and seven-tenths goes into powerful families. If we don't cure these accumulated abuses, this empire's last breath will also be gone."

Liu Ge Lao looked outside the ancestral temple, only to see countless heads crowding, waiting for them to finish the chess game. For a moment, he sighed, "Wang Ye, I thought others might backstab the Liu family, but I didn't think of you. Do you know why?"

Jing Wang said, "I don't know!"

Liu Ge Lao smiled. "Because I thought you were a smart person, who understood the principle of lips dead, teeth cold. What kind of person is the one in Ren Shou Palace? You know better than me. The Liu family is gone, next is you. Just look at those people outside. They are not coming for me, but for you, ah."

Jing Wang was unmoved. "I and His Majesty are as close as brothers."

Liu Ge Lao laughed loudly, as if he had heard the biggest joke. "Does the emperor need brothers? Forget it, forget it. What meaning is there in playing chess with a bad chess player?"

Saying so, he waved off the chess pieces on the chessboard and stood up to walk to the door. Liu Ge Lao tiptoed to pull down the mourning banner from the door lintel, then pulled the mourning banner back and stepped onto the blood-stained chessboard. He stood on the high place, threw the white mourning banner over the house beam, and tied a dead knot. Then, he lowered his head to look at Jing Wang and said with a smile, "Wang Ye, you stay in this world to see if what I said is right or not. I am waiting for you on Yellow Spring Road."

As his words fell, Liu Ge Lao put the mourning banner around his neck and kicked over the chessboard and stool. Liu Shi Ye, at the side of the threshold, propped himself up with one hand. Without a word, he looked towards Liu Ge Lao, kowtowed three loud kowtows, then slapped his own forehead with one palm, directly shattering his skull.

Just at this time, a shrill wail sounded, "Father!"

Jing Wang turned his head to look. On the blood road outside, Jing Fei stumbled and rushed towards them. She passed through the crowd and hugged Liu Ge Lao's leg, wanting to pull him down from the beam. Alas, her strength was too small; she fundamentally could not hold on. Jing Fei's eyes were red from crying. She turned her head to look at Jing Wang and patted his chest one by one, "Wang Ye, why to this extent, ah? Why to this extent, ah?"

Jing Wang said lowly, "The Liu family's sins are accumulated and inexhaustible. Just look at those women buried with your brother. What sins did they have? What wrongs did the people of this Yu state, whose fields were seized by the Liu family, have?"

Jing Fei sobbed incoherently. "But what did I do wrong? They asked me to deceive you and steal firearms. I refused, and then they killed the fetus in my abdomen. I admire you. I wanted to be with you lifelong, like an older sister. Yet you used my mouth to induce the Liu family to rebel. These are you men's matters. I only wanted to give birth and raise children, manage my husband, and teach my son. What wrong do I have?"

Jing Wang remained silent. Instead, Jin Zhu outside the door suddenly said, "Jing Fei Madam, you have beaten to death no less than eighty maidservants these years!"

Jing Fei glared angrily. "What right do you eunuch party have to say such words? Haven't you killed enough people yourselves?"

Jin Zhu shrank his neck and said no more.

Jing Fei loosened Jing Wang's clothes and staggered towards the door. She took out a wooden box from her sleeve and threw it to the ground outside. "Wang Ye, I have retrieved the Sheng Yu Dan for you. Hereafter, take care!"

Saying so, Jing Fei suddenly headed towards the ancestral temple pillar and crookedly fell down. Outside the door, the wooden box smashed on the ground and broke into two halves. A round white pill rolled out, stained with blood.