Chapter 58: Each to Their Own End
Chu Weide was tied up tightly and brought to a wilderness.
A group of archers surrounded him completely.
“Spare me! Please spare me!” Chu Weide already had a premonition of what was about to happen and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.
Chu Lianmo stood among the archers with a cold sneer. “Did you ever think of sparing Ah Jun back then? Even though Heaven protected him and let him live again, he did indeed die once at your hands! Zhen swears to collect this blood debt! Fire!”
Dense arrows instantly pierced every part of Chu Weide’s body.
Chu Weide was in pain worse than death; he only wanted to breathe his last immediately.
But as luck would have it, despite being tortured by bone-deep pain all over, he remained conscious for a long time.
Until he felt himself suddenly fall somewhere. Opening his eyes, he found himself in a dark cell. The pain in his body seemed to vanish instantly.
“Awake?” Chu Lianmo, sitting by his stone bed, curled his lips into a smile. “Was the nightmare pleasant?”
Only then did Chu Weide realize it was just a dream, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
But what Chu Lianmo said next instantly plunged him into a deeper hell.
Chu Lianmo pointed to a stranger beside him. “This is a Dream Weaver Zhen hired at a high price specifically for you. From now on, we can try a different ‘sweet dream’ every day. For instance, today was ten thousand arrows piercing the heart; tomorrow, death by a thousand cuts; the day after, torn apart by five horses…”
“Chu Lianmo!” Chu Weide spat a mouthful of blood on the ground in hatred. “You insane devil!”
“Zhen is insane?” Chu Lianmo smiled coldly. “Zhen feels I was too soft-hearted to leave you with this dog life. Thank your eldest son; he was the one who kept kneeling before Zhen, begging bitterly for me to spare your life.”
“…You… You mean Xuan’er?”
Only then did Chu Weide suddenly realize that Chu Yunxuan, whom he had treated cruelly, was such a kind and filial person.
He couldn’t help but regret his past actions in that instant, slapping himself hard across the face as he trembled, “I shouldn’t have treated him like that back then… I was wrong! Your Majesty, I beg you, let me see him one more time, let me apologize to him personally!”
“Zhen will convey the message. As for whether he is willing to see you, that is his own business.”
After saying this, Chu Lianmo stood up and left.
The new Emperor had just ascended the throne and had many things to attend to; he didn’t have time to keep wasting on Chu Weide.
And now, Chu Weide had nothing left to do.
He could only endure his long remaining life in that empty dark prison. The only people he saw every day were the ones delivering three meals, and those people wouldn’t say a single word to him.
Finally, one day, someone came and told him, “Get ready, your son says he wants to see you.”
“Xuan’er is finally coming to see me!” Chu Weide was instantly overjoyed.
Although there wasn’t really anything to prepare, he still tried hard to tidy his hair and clothes.
Under his eager gaze, the person he waited for was not Chu Yunxuan, but Chu Tianlin.
“What are you doing, Dad?” Chu Tianlin noticed the visible disappointment in Chu Weide’s eyes and pouted. “Am I not welcome?”
“…No, Lin’er. How is your brother? Did Chu Lianmo not tell him I wanted to see him?”
“He told him; he told him long ago. But Brother said he is no longer your son and there is no need to meet again.”
“…” Chu Weide’s heart felt as if it had been lashed by a whip.
“Brother also asked me to tell you that he has done his utmost for you and repaid the debt of birth. From now on, you two owe each other nothing and have no relationship.”
“…” Indeed, there is no medicine for regret in this world.
“Dad, don’t be sad. You still have me.” Chu Tianlin’s eyes reddened too. “I’m sorry, Dad. I stole Uncle’s ledger… I just felt it was wrong for you guys to kill so many people, and I wanted to stop such things from continuing. I didn’t intend to harm you like this.”
“Dad doesn’t blame you.” Through the iron bars, Chu Weide reached out and gently wiped the tears from his youngest son’s eyes. “Actually, I had a premonition before. Big Brother had lost his momentum long ago… Lin’er, I only worry every day whether you have been implicated by me… Are you doing okay now?”
“I’m doing quite well. Fourth Imperial Uncle treats me very well and even granted me a separate residence. I brought Mom over too.”
In fact, Chu Tianlin was considered a meritorious subject to Chu Lianmo.
Chu Lianmo greatly rewarded all meritorious subjects, including Jiang Yingnan.
He specially bestowed upon Jiang Yingnan the position of Second Rank Vice Minister and similarly granted him a large mansion.
Thus, Jiang Yingnan no longer had to live in Prince Rui’s manor nor return to the General’s estate; he had his own residence.
As for Chu Ziqian, Chu Lianmo demoted him to a commoner. He didn’t specify where he should go, only telling Jiang Yingnan that he could dispose of him.
Jiang Yingnan took Chu Ziqian back to his own mansion and put him under house arrest in a guest room.
Actually, calling it house arrest was unnecessary, as there was no need to lock him up specifically. The current Chu Ziqian was like a walking corpse, sitting there all day without speaking, moving, or even eating or drinking. It had been several days in a row.
Finally, Jiang Yingnan couldn’t bear it anymore and walked in.
“Eat.” Jiang Yingnan slammed the rice bowl heavily onto the table.
“…” Curled up in the corner, Chu Ziqian lifted his unshaven face to glance at Jiang Yingnan, then quickly lowered his head again. His eyes were lifeless and his face desolate; he had completely lost his former spirit.
“You have a chair and a bed, yet you sit on the floor. Are you sick?” Jiang Yingnan unceremoniously hauled Chu Ziqian up and threw him onto the edge of the bed.
Now stripped of his martial arts and physically weak, Chu Ziqian was no match for his strength.
“Eat!” Jiang Yingnan repeated the word. “I am not asking you; I am ordering you. Don’t forget, your mother’s life is still in the Emperor’s hands.”
“What have you done to the Empress Mother?!” Chu Ziqian’s dead-water eyes finally rippled.
Jiang Yingnan sneered, “Your mother brought it on herself.”
“The Emperor has been lenient enough. He didn’t pursue any of your former subordinates who were willing to surrender. That Li Hui refused to serve him to the death, so he merely expelled him from the capital. As for your mother, originally the Emperor didn’t have evidence of any major crimes against her for the time being, so he could only honor her properly as the Empress Dowager…
“But yesterday, I heard the Emperor mention that many Dowager Consorts went to him to accuse her of her past crimes—beating this one’s child out of her, causing that one to be infertile… They only held back before due to her power as Empress.”
Chu Ziqian said angrily, “Truly, everyone pushes a falling wall! They are just jealous of Mother and making things up!”
“Some old matters are indeed hard to verify. The Emperor is currently having a headache over whether to send her to the Cold Palace or simply grant her a white silk cord [to hang herself]? Look, he even came specifically to ask for my opinion.”
“I’ll eat, I’ll eat.” Chu Ziqian immediately picked up the bowl and shoveled the rice down cleanly. “Is that enough? Tell the Emperor for me, don’t touch Mother!”
“That’s a good boy.” Jiang Yingnan’s lips curled up. “If you just died like this, how could I take my time getting revenge on you? I’ll tell the Emperor. Humans, after all, are meant to be tortured slowly every day for fun; how can we kill them off quickly?”
“Jiang Yingnan!” Chu Ziqian’s eyes were bloodshot. “If you have a problem, come at me directly! Don’t hurt my Mother!”
“Heh.” Jiang Yingnan sneered. “You really are a filial son. I know, you becoming Emperor wasn’t just your greatest wish, but also your Mother’s… To make your Mother happy, you could do anything, including sacrificing me, right?”
“…” This sentence truly struck Chu Ziqian’s heart.
Since childhood, Empress Chu had admonished him daily never to lose to Chu Lianmo.
He could lose the position of Crown Prince to anyone, but the one thing he couldn’t reconcile with was losing to Chu Lianmo.
Jiang Yingnan said nothing more. He silently packed up the bowls and chopsticks and walked out, dropping a sentence before leaving the door: “Next time, remember not to just eat plain rice.”
Afterward, Jiang Yingnan walked to the main gate of the mansion, preparing to leave, but ran straight into Jiang Ruobin.
“Ruobin? Sorry, I’m a bit busy right now; I probably can’t keep you company.”
“Ah Nan, where are you going?” Jiang Ruobin still wore that gentle and refined smile. “Is it convenient for me to go with you?”
Jiang Yingnan smiled bitterly. “Not very convenient. I have to go to the palace to beg the Emperor to spare the Empress Dowager’s life.”
“…” Jiang Ruobin’s smile stiffened slightly.
“You… don’t misunderstand. Since I promised him, it wouldn’t be good not to do it.”
“Then,” Jiang Ruobin took a deep breath and said, “I will go beg for you, is that okay?”
“…What?” Jiang Yingnan was stunned for a moment.
Jiang Ruobin said softly, “I know doing this will be painful for you. I don’t want you to be in pain.”
Jiang Yingnan’s heart instantly soured. Jiang Ruobin was indeed the most understanding person.
He hated Chu Ziqian, yet he had to humble himself to beg for him; wasn’t this a great pain?
However, if he let Jiang Ruobin go beg for Chu Ziqian’s sake, the one in pain would be Ruobin.
Jiang Ruobin would rather be the one in pain. He truly deserved to be called the gentlest person in the world.
“Ruobin… it is I who am unworthy of you…” Jiang Yingnan’s voice choked up.
Jiang Ruobin gave him a gentle smile. “You are worthy of the best of everything in this world.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yingnan was filled with mixed emotions and didn’t know how to react. He could only lean on Jiang Ruobin’s shoulder and sob softly, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”
After comforting him, Jiang Ruobin eventually went into the palace in his stead.
Hearing this request, Chu Lianmo did not give an answer on the spot.
Because he was also somewhat conflicted about this matter.
That night, holding Qi Xiaojun who was sleeping beside him, he asked, “Ah Jun, do you think Zhen should kill Wen Yingying?”
“Actually, I’ve already thought about this for you.” Qi Xiaojun smiled. “I think you should spare her life.”
Chu Lianmo clicked his tongue. “Zhen knew you were the kindest.”
“Heh, my saying to spare her life has nothing to do with kindness.”
“Then why?”
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