C226

"Uncle Ran is dead, Hao. At least there's me, and Qingfeng. However, with the death of Qingfeng, Stardust would not have a single family member left in this world. "

Zhao Qingyan propped up her body and knelt on the ground. She looked at them quietly with her dark eyes, but it was hard to tell what was in them. "Does it feel so good to have a broken family and all those who have perished?"

Duke Huan opened his mouth, but closed it soundlessly. As for Ren Zong, he simply looked away and became even more silent.

Zhao Qing understood and lowered his eyes. "I have said too much." He pulled out the piece of wood that was embedded in his palm and looked at the blood that spurted out from it. His actions faltered slightly and he became absent-minded for a moment.

"Does it hurt?" He looked at the blood on his sleeve, and the bright red on the green was exceptionally dazzling.

Zhao Qingyan was slightly taken aback. When she saw his gaze, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She seemed to be smiling but also crying. "It doesn't hurt." Finally, he added, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Ren Zong nodded and asked again, "Do you hate it?"

Zhao Qingyan shook his head. "I have no right to hate him."

Ren Zong and Duke Huan looked at each other, and Prince Huan slowly said, "Mo'er, you get up first. The ground is cold."

Zhao Qingyan whispered, "I can't feel it anyway."

Duke Huan was speechless.

"Royal Uncle." Zhao Qingyan was silent for a moment before she spoke again. Her expression had returned to its usual tranquility. "May I ask you a question?"

The Ren Sect naturally could not refuse, and nodded, "Go ahead and ask. If there is anything you want to ask, just ask."

Zhao Qingyan's finger slowly curled up under his sleeve as he pressed it against the wound, "Qingfeng is a smart person, he would never tell Hao Yun and Xing Chen about the matter of killing. I won't let them know how Uncle Ran and Qingfeng died either. Let go of the Light Wind Palace... "Can I?"

Ren Zong didn't spend too much time thinking before making a promise, "As long as they don't have any ill intentions, I won't make a move against them."

Zhao Qingyan seemed to have let out a sigh of relief. A layer of fog that could not be seen covered her dark eyes. He slowly bent over and said in a low voice, "Thank you Uncle Huang, your nephew … I can't thank you enough. "

Ren Zong felt a twinge of pain in his heart when he saw that Han Li was still unwilling to get up. "You, don't you have anything else to ask?"

"..." "Yes." Zhao Qingyan propped herself up with her hands against the ground, her usually straight back slightly bent as she said, "But I already have the answer in my mind. I don't need to ask anymore."

Ren Zong pursed his lips, "Perhaps your answer is not the one I want to give you."

Zhao Qingyan covered her mouth and coughed a few times. On her bloody palm, it was hard to tell whether he had coughed up blood again. After the cough calmed down, he only used an extremely soft voice to reply, "If my plea is useful, I will always kneel here and beg Royal Uncle to let Lu Lei cry, to let go of the Light Wind Palace, to let go of Qing Han, and to let go of … Those who had already lost their homes and could no longer afford to lose their loved ones. But I do not want to make things difficult for the Emperor, nor do I want to plead for these impossible matters. "

Ren Zong frowned slightly, "Is that your answer?"

Zhao Qingyan shook his head. "No."

The Ren Sect was puzzled as they made conjectures in their hearts that they did not want to ponder deeply, "Then, what is your answer?"

Zhao Qingyan's eyes drooped. After a long while, he said, "If they didn't hurt the heart of the imperial government, I hope that Imperial Uncle can make way for them. At the very least, they can protect their broken home and live on. If they want to avenge their elders... "I won't forget the blood that's running down my body.

After a very long time, he could only say, "I'm very sorry."

Zhao Qingyan was stunned. She gritted her teeth as the anger on her face was nothing compared to the pain she was feeling. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out. This was because he didn't have the qualifications to blame or resent the sect.

"Mo'er." Prince Huan got up and walked over to Zhao Qingyan's side. He bent over and grabbed Zhao Qingyan's arm to help him up. "Sit down first. There's one thing I haven't told you yet."

Zhao Qingyan no longer had the strength to think, allowing Duke Huai to help him sit down. He didn't know if he heard what Duke Huai said.

Prince Huan moved a chair next to him and sat down next to him. He took his hand and pulled out the tiny wooden spike from the wound. The palm was soft and boneless, but it was as cold as a piece of cold jade. The blood was warm, but his palm was still cold and did not tremble at all.

He silently picked out the last thorn and Duke Huan looked at the side of his nephew's face that didn't change at all, and sighed in his heart. Perhaps, when he said "no pain", it was really no pain, it was really "no more pain".

"Do you have a handkerchief?" Duke Huan looked at his palm that was covered in blood and held back his sigh as he asked with a voice as calm as possible.

After a brief moment of silence, Zhao Qingyan took out a handkerchief with her other hand and handed it to Thirteenth Uncle before continuing to remain silent.

Prince Huan carefully bandaged his hand. Looking at his fingertip that was stained red with blood, he could not help but remind him, "Don't clench your fist anymore. It's bleeding profusely."

When Zhao Qingyan heard this, he shot a glance at his palm before turning his gaze away, "Yes."

Duke Huan knew that he didn't hear it at all, but he could only shake his head silently and let go of his hand.

Ren Zong took up a scroll from the side and looked at Duke Huai. "Let him have a look at this." Extremely obvious exhaustion appeared on his face, as if he had suddenly aged ten years.

Duke Huan was startled. Looking at the two who had remained silent, he finally could not hold back and sighed, "Why so bitter?"

Why did they have to tell him the truth? Why did one more person have to bear such torture?

Even if it was a mistake to hide it. However, how could he be right to tell the truth? How difficult was it to choose between right and wrong?

Both of them were people who were willing to add the blame on themselves. And Duke Huai was just standing there, knowing everything and watching everything from the start to the end as if he was someone who had nothing to do with everything.

This feeling was truly unbearable.

"Yeah, why so?" When Ren Zong heard this, he was slightly startled before he smiled bitterly.

Prince Huan knew that he had to keep talking. He stood up and took the scroll from the man's hands, then turned around and handed it to Zhao Qingyan. "Mo'er, open it and take a look."

Zhao Qingyan slowly raised his head and looked at the scroll. He squinted his eyes to see the bright yellow light and asked in a low voice, "What is this?"

"The imperial edict." Prince Huan maintained his posture of handing over the imperial edict to him and did not urge him on. "This is not an imperial edict for you, but this is your royal brother's reward for you."

The corners of Zhao Qingyan's lips curled up into an ugly smile. He was feeling both self-deprecating and exhausted. Just when the two of them thought that he was about to say something, he swallowed his complaints and slowly spread out his hands to receive the imperial edict.

Duke Huan was slightly surprised as he turned his head to look at his imperial brother. When Ren Zong saw his gaze, he nodded his head slightly, the worry in his eyes dissipating by a few degrees.

Zhao Qingyan stared at the familiar words written on the imperial edict. It was a bit shaky and difficult to read. He used all of his strength to close his eyes and wait for the dizziness to pass. Then, he opened his eyes once again and focused all of his attention on the edict in his hand, reading it word by word.

The waiting Ren Zong and Duke Huan saw the astonishment on his face. The usually emotionless Zhao Qingyan only saw a small portion of the imperial edict before his expression changed.

Zhao Qingyan suddenly stood up and staggered before falling onto the table at the side. After a short pause, he used his arms to prop himself up, his left hand to place the imperial edict on the table, and hurriedly read the words behind it. Every word was deeply engraved into his eyes, bringing with it joy and anger.

"I, I …" Zhao Qingyan was lying on the table like she was drained of energy. She was lying on the imperial edict. Her voice was a little out of tune, so she couldn't say a complete sentence.

Prince Huan extended a hand to support him. "Mo'er, please …"

Zhao Qingyan took a step back and struggled to free his hand. Before the two of them could regain their senses, he suddenly kneeled down straight and kowtowed. "Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your guidance, thank you for your guidance, thank you for …" "Help uncle Ran wash away his grievances."

His voice changed and became choked with sobs. His forehead hit the ground with a dull thud.

Ren Zong didn't expect that he would have such a huge reaction and stood up subconsciously, "Get up quickly, I've made you suffer so much for nothing, how can I let you thank me?"

Zhao Qingyan was lying on the ground as his shoulders shook. It took a lot of effort before he managed to force out a few trembling words, "Nephew, I'm really grateful to Imperial Uncle. Really, really grateful …"

Ren Zong walked up to him and extended a hand to help him up, "Quickly get up. If you have something to say, get up and speak. Get up and talk, will you? "

Zhao Qingyan slowly straightened herself up according to his strength. The moment he raised his face, both Duke Huai and Ren Zong were stunned. He cried.

For many years, no one had seen his face full of tears.

It seemed that ever since Ran Shu Tong died and returned from the Light Wind Palace, he no longer loved to cry. He was no longer the porcelain doll that would cry in a low voice if it was wronged. Whether he was injured, sick, or wronged, he would repress his tears with reddened eyes.

Someone had asked him why he no longer loved to cry. He had promised the teacher that he would never cry again, because his tears were not cheap.

His tears did not come the day that gargle's body was salvaged. But this love, this hatred, he could remember in his heart for four whole years and never forget.

On the day of the news of the death of the Ran Tong Pavilion, he had vomited blood for three days without eating. He had a high fever, and only in a month did he come down to the sickbed. In the end, however, he did not shed a single tear.

In the past twelve years, over four thousand days and nights, there had been no more tears on his face.

His tears burst at this moment.

Injustice, burial.

These four simple words broke all of Zhao Qingyan's disguises.

He sobbed silently.

He remembered that he was only eight years old, the age when he knew nothing about the affairs of the world. He did not know how cold the human heart was, nor did he know how cold the world was. All he knew was that his teacher would never smile again.

The teacher's heart and the smiling man were buried together in the ice-cold soil.

His teacher knelt on the ground and dug inch by inch into the hard soil with his fingers until his fingers were badly mutilated. The mud was mixed with his blood. His gaze clearly lost his soul, his hope, and his ability to feel pain.

"Enough! Don't torture yourself like that anymore! " After standing there quietly for a long time, his fingers began to contract and loosen up a few times. Finally, with an unbearable sound, he bent down and grabbed the hand that was riddled with wounds.

The Ran Tong Pavilion let him hold them. After a while, they raised their heads and looked at him. Their eyes were frighteningly cold: "What does it have to do with you that I tortured myself?"

Bai Yan Tang frowned and said in a low voice, "You are also flesh and blood, you will also feel pain! If you do this, how do you think you will feel after hearing the word 'Nine Springs'? "

Ran Tong Xuan smiled; his smile was astonishingly beautiful. In the short span of three days, he had lost all of his weight. However, the outline of his handsome appearance was still the same as before. He was smiling, and every bit of his smile was drenched in blood. "I can't cut out this heart for him to see. What would he think?"

The hand holding his wrist could not help but tremble. "You're crazy!"

Ran Tong Xuan gently struggled, and then pulled his hand away. He lowered his head and continued to dig: "You know I'm crazy, so take your child away. Don't scare them."

"Are you crazy? Then I'll go crazy with you! " He knelt beside him, rolled up his sleeves, and went to dig. He frowned as he forced the finger down. His unprotected fingers stabbed into the ground with brute force, causing a heart-wrenching pain.

The fingernails of the Ran Tong Xuan were broken, and their flesh was badly mangled. If they continued this way, they might grind their flesh and reveal their white bones. But he didn't feel anything. Bai Yutang looked at his hand and gave it an extremely short silence. The fingers of his left hand fiercely stabbed into the ground, grabbing a handful of dirt and tossing it to the side. His right hand once again forcefully dug up the dirt.

In the late autumn, the ground was very hard, and also very cold.

Zhao Qingyan tried to dig at the dirt in front of her, but the pain from her finger bone piercing was so excruciating that even a handful of dirt could not be dug out.

The fingers of a child were naturally young and tender. However, Ran Tong Xuan's and Bai Yan Tang's hands were also made of flesh and blood, and would also feel pain.

He did not understand why teachers and scholars did not feel pain. He was even more unable to understand why the Grand Scholar would continue to persevere despite clearly feeling pain. What was the point of persevering like this?

Other than his white clothes being stained by the mud, what else could he mean by digging blood into his palms?

Time seemed to come to a standstill as the two of them dug at the earth with all their might.

All the way, all the way to the point where the tears silently trickled down his face and dripped into the dirt.

"You can cry too." The Ran Tong Pavilion seemed to be stunned for a moment, and after a moment, their cold face melted, "I have never seen you cry."

Bai Shaotan clenched his fist fiercely. Blood mixed with mud, wrapping around his fingertip and then forming a fist on his palm. He fiercely pounded the ground, but he did not hear any sound.

"In this lifetime, I might be too carefree. I might even think that I can laugh if the sky falls. "However, I had never thought that such a simple method would cause the heavens and earth to crumble."

The Ran Tong Xuan fell silent, then slowly replied, "The sky collapsed and the earth caved in. He was your heaven, was he your land?"

"No." "But my tears are not as cheap as yours." The white face was covered in mud and tears, and the eyes were filled with a pain that could not be described with words.

Ran Tong Xuan pursed his lips and did not retort: "I know."

Bai Yan Tang opened his mouth to speak, but after a long moment of silence, he buried his head back into the ground.

"Sorry."

Ran Tong Xuan apologized and was stunned.

The voices of the two people overlapped, clearly indifferent, but it was so sorrowful.

"Heh, heh." "Haha …" Bai Yutang laughed twice, his voice coming from the ground. "It's better not to apologize …" "No matter what, I will hate myself for the rest of my life."

The Ran Tong Pavilion knew why he apologized, and they also knew why he apologized. However, he still insisted on saying, "I shouldn't have let you go crazy with me."

After a moment of silence, Bai Yan Tang laughed again: "The one who is crazy is you, and the one who is crazy is me. I am incompetent, how can I blame you? "

"Yes." He had no intention to persuade her, and was powerless to do so. There was no need to persuade her either.

Their hatred and pain were the same.

"Tong Xuan." After an unknown amount of time, he stood up and slowly wiped the dirt off his face with his sleeve. He looked at him, pausing after each word, "We, will live for the living."

The Ran Tong Pavilion looked at the pit in front of them, and asked softly, "Are you sure you want to live well, lest you die and not even have a body retrieved?"

Bai Yutang was slightly startled, but the corners of his mouth twitched. In the end, he smiled. "That's right. When they grow up, at least there will be someone behind them who can retrieve their corpse."