Chapter 175: What Do People Fear When They Sleep?
Xiao YuAn was stunned for a moment, as he was immediately dragged into the cave. When the bearded man released him, he knelt down on one knee in front of him: “Your Majesty, I’m General Li Wuding’s Deputy General. You may not know me, but don’t worry, I know how to get out of here. Weichen will escort you out.”
“I-… I’m not….” Xiao YuAn’s voice was trembling slightly as he reached out to pull up the bearded man. “Don’t kneel down to me. Get up.”
The bearded man was unwilling to get up, and insisted on kneeling: “Your Majesty, you have to believe that Weichen will take you out of here. Weichen has already prepared this place and an escape route for a long time. Your Majesty, you’ve suffered enough. Imprisoned in the enemy’s country, enduring the humiliation and being bullied by others….”
“No, I’m here on my own free will.” Xiao YuAn suddenly interrupted him.
The bearded man’s voice stopped abruptly, like a broken string of the Guqin, leaving behind a heartbreaking trembling sound. As he raised his head to blankly stare at Xiao YuAn, his shoulders dropped abruptly. When he looked at Xiao YuAn, his gaze was filled with incomprehension: “You, you’re voluntarily staying here? How can you… how can you stay here voluntarily?”
Xiao YuAn reached out to help him get up, and said: “I’m just… just living here, the same as you.”
At the top of the cliff, someone began to shout Xiao YuAn’s name, which could be heard vaguely down in the cave.
The bearded man knelt down once again, this time with both knees on the ground: “Your Majesty, I’ve spent half of my life fighting for the Northern Kingdom, and I never had second thoughts during that time. I had many Xiongdi, but all of them died on the battlefield. I was the only one who decided to live, and ever since then, my conscience has been tormenting me every day. I dreamt about those dead Xiongdi countless times. In those dreams, they would poke me in the back, asking me why I was still alive. Your Majesty, can you tell me why am I still alive?!”
Xiao YuAn couldn’t stand to see the bearded man bowing his head and kneeling, so he simply knelt down as well, and said: “I’m not the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom….”
The bearded man interrupted him: “Your Majesty! Even if our country was conquered, you’re still our Emperor. The Monarch of the Northern Kingdom, this title is engraved in your bones, and it will follow you for the rest of your life. Even if you change your name. Even if you deny it. It’s all useless in the end. Your Majesty, let’s leave this place; maybe, we can still rise again and take back the Northern Kingdom!!”
The words said by the bearded man was like an iron whip with thorns. Every sentence he said was a huge slap to Xiao YuAn’s heart, until the flesh and bones under his skin became blurred, to the point where it was no longer possible to distinguish Xiao YuAn’s appearance. Like this, Xiao YuAn could no longer say anything in his defense.
The bearded man suddenly pulled out a dagger from his waist: “Your Majesty, are you really unwilling to leave this place?”
However, Xiao YuAn didn’t make a sound for a long time.
“Alright…. then forgive Weichen for being rude. I will leave first. Weichen had such an intention for a long time, but I wasn’t able to make up my mind. Today, when I saw His Majesty, I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe the meaning of my life was to take His Majesty and escape from the Southern Yan Kingdom. However, I didn’t expect that His Majesty would be unwilling to leave. That he would be willing to be a prisoner…. What am I talking about? Who am I to blame His Majesty? When I also betrayed my Xiongdi, and surrendered to the enemy….”
Suddenly, the bearded man threw back his head and laughed out loud, until he was out of breath, as if he had lost his mind. Xiao YuAn thought that he meant that he’ll leave first, but who would’ve thought that the bearded man would suddenly raise a dagger, which looked very sharp, and cold.
Xiao YuAn immediately shouted as he rushed forward: “NO!”
Unfortunately, it was too late. The bearded man cut his own throat, and the warm blood immediately spattered on Xiao YuAn’s face. The bloody smell was extremely heavy.
All of a sudden, Xiao YuAn was taken back to the time when he worked hard every day, painstakingly trying to save the Northern Kingdom. But in the end, Xiao YuAn once again felt powerless and feared the will of the Heavens, dragging him into the abyss again and again.
Xiao YuAn’s body trembled uncontrollably, as his ears roared with the repeated sound of someone calling ‘Your Majesty’. Those voices blended together, were like thousands of ghosts crying and howling in distress.
Xiao YuAn suddenly raised his hand, and slapped himself hard on the face. Then he held his head with both hands.
When an Imperial Bodyguard climbed down the cliff to find Xiao YuAn, he found that the bearded man had already lost his breath. Xiao YuAn was curled on the ground, covered with the splattered blood. The Imperial Bodyguard hurriedly came forward, and said: “Xiao-gongzi, are you all right? I’ll take you up, and then we’ll go to report to His Majesty-…..”
Xiao YuAn abruptly raised his hand, grabbed the Imperial Bodyguard’s arm, raised his head, and said: “Don’t tell your Emperor. Don’t say anything.”
The two of them had agreed that Yan HeQing would be responsible for ruling the country and the state, so Xiao YuAn should take care of these things.
At this time, Yan HeQing was reading the official documents, when he suddenly heard an Imperial Bodyguard report: “Your Majesty, General Xue said that he has something important to report.”
Yan HeQing raised his head from the memorials, frowned slightly, and said: “Let him in.”
After a short while, Xue Yan stepped in, clasped his fist, and knelt: “Your Majesty.”
“General Xue, you may rise.” Although Yan HeQing was courteous, his attitude was in fact neither cold nor warm. He didn’t even call Xue Yan ‘Uncle’ like he did in the past.
Xue Yan stood up, and said: “Your Majesty, there were some soldiers in the army who had plotted a rebellion. They were discovered in time and have been dealt with.”
Yan HeQing: “Hmm, General Xue worked hard.”
Xue Yan: “Your Majesty, the reason for this rebellion was because some Deputy Generals in the army heard that you’re protecting the former Emperor of the North-….”
Yan HeQing interrupted him with a heavy voice: “General Xue, is there anything else you want to report? If not, then you may go back, and take a rest.”
Xue Yan was dumbfounded. After hesitating for a moment, he cupped his fist, and retreated. However, once he turned around, he suddenly said: “HeQing, tell me. Do you want love, or do you want your family and country? Do you want to stay together with him, or do you want to conquer the world?”
Yan HeQing didn’t take his eyes away from the memorials in his hands. At the same time he finished writing the last sentence, he said indifferently: “Uncle, I want both.”
The thing that Yan HeQing wasn’t afraid of, was to fight with all of his strength.
What’s the point of telling him to choose between the two, when it’s clear that he hasn’t put his life in danger?
In this world, the hardest thing to obtain is when the person you like, likes you back.
At this moment, Xiao YuAn is standing with him, and he no longer wants to leave. Even if there were thousands of soldiers against him, and even if thousands of people were pointing at him, what does Yan HeQing have to be afraid of?
Another tortured soul because of the war (◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ) and XYA always has to bear that weight on his shoulders ???
The angst is here ??? （┬┬＿┬┬）
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