Chapter 236: Sacrifice
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“He Yan is the real Flying Phoenix General!”
If the evidence presented by Xiao Jue just now was considered circumstantial, arousing some suspicion, the woman coming forward to confirm it herself makes it a done deal.
He Yan stared at Second Madam He in astonishment. She has never seen Second Madam He so fervent before, and she never expected to hear the words confirming her as Second Madam He’s daughter. At this moment, Second Madam He was just like any ordinary mother, desperately pleading for justice for her flesh and blood.
But how did she end up here?
Xiao Jue also looked at Second Madam He, his brows furrowed. He had promised to make a deal with Second Madam He to protect He Xinying, but he didn’t know what Second Madam He wanted to do, as she hadn’t informed Cuiluo. Xiao Jue didn’t know how Second Madam He came here or what she intended to do, but when he saw Second Madam He’s pale face, an ominous premonition crept into his heart.
“Don’t listen to this wretched woman’s nonsense, Your Majesty!” He Rufei urgently spoke, “She’s already so sick in the head; she’s just spouting nonsense!”
“Your humble subject is not lying!” Second Madam He suddenly started coughing violently, and a trace of dark blood gradually oozed from the corners of her mouth.
He Yan’s heart tightened, and she felt a chilling sensation throughout her body. She wanted to step forward, but Second Madam He seemed not to have noticed her, ignoring the blood on her lips and shouting, “Your humble subject is not lying! The He family feared that your humble subject would reveal the truth, so they poisoned your humble subject every day. Your humble subject knows her time is short and doesn’t want to bury the truth of her daughter’s innocent death. Your Majesty!” Her voice is tragic, like the mournful cry of a dying beast, “As one faces death, words are sincere. Every word your humble subject speaks is true. If there is deceit, let the heavens strike me down, condemning me to the eighteen levels of h*ll, never to be reborn!”
The oath was both venomous and fierce, and what’s more shocking was her desperate expression. Second Madam He’s lips were now covered in more and more blood, almost uncontrollable. Lin Shuanghe wanted to rush out to check, but Lin Mu beside him pulled him back and shook his head gently.
“There’s no saving her.”
Second Madam He shouted again, “Please, Your Majesty, intercede for your humble subject’s daughter. Please, Your Majesty, intercede for Flying Phoenix General!” After saying this, she seemed to finally be unable to hold on any longer, and her entire body collapsed. Xiao Jue stood not far from her and instinctively supported her body.
Second Madam He looks at Xiao Jue.
This young man before her was the dream man of countless daughters in Great Wei, General Fengyun. She once saw this man at the Yuhua Temple, walking side by side with his fiancée. The world said that the cold and arrogant Second Young Master Xiao was surprisingly gentle when facing the girl beside him, an unbelievable tenderness in his eyes.
He was different from Xu Zhiheng, different from He Rufei, and different from all those men who deceived their bed partners. If He Yan was entrusted to him, she should be able to feel at ease.
Her daughter… He Yan.
Second Madam He’s eyes were filled with emotion as she knew He Yan was standing at a distance, watching her. She was her daughter. Even though He Yan had completely transformed into a different person, even though the blood in He Yan’s veins was no longer her own, even though they, mother and daughter, had scant opportunities to interact in their past lives, like strangers, when He Yan stood before her, nodded with a smile, and politely addressed her as “Second Madam He,” she could recognize her daughter at a glance.
He Yan had a sweet tooth. When eating, she always held the chopsticks in the upper half. If she disliked something, she would push it to the edge of the bowl, but eventually, she would obediently eat it. When Second Madam He saw the girl who ate at Yuhua Temple, she instantly understood.
Between mother and daughter, there seemed to be some kind of connection.
“Commander Xiao…” She struggled to catch her breath, looking at the young man in front of her with hopeful eyes. “Is she… is she…”
“She is He Yan,” Xiao Jue whispered.
In an instant, Second Madam He’s heart was filled with immense satisfaction. She said, “Good… good…”
Perhaps the heavens pitied her daughter’s pitiful fate—growing up alone, deceived, poisoned, killed, with no one left and used to fulfill the deep and meaningful relationship between the He family and the Xu family.
She hated it so much, she felt so powerless. Many nights, she looked at the white silk hanging from the beam, just one step away from liberation, to atone in h*ll. But every time, when thinking of He Xinying, she hesitated.
What could she do?
Just go on living like a walking corpse.
But perhaps even the heavens pitied her. They allowed her to see He Yan again in her lifetime. When she saw He Yan for the first time, and when she understood that He Yan wanted revenge, wanted to bring down He Rufei, Second Madam He decided that even if it meant sacrificing her own life, she would help He Yan achieve her goal.
She knew her own body very well. Since He Yan’s death, she had been barely holding on to her last breath. She knew Cuiluo was sent by Xiao Jue, and she knew Xiao Jue might know many truths. She was willing to use her own life as the final nail. She took the poison and crawled out through the dog hole that He Yan had secretly dug since childhood. He Yan probably would never know that every morning when she crawled out through the dog hole, Second Madam He saw it all.
He Yan thought Second Madam He didn’t care about her, but in reality, all these years, she had been watching her daughter from the shadows. She saw her daughter playing alone in the yard wearing a mask, saw her gloomy after being scolded by Madam He, saw her gaze change from admiration and expectation to calm, saw her give up her true self to play another role.
Countless times, Second Madam He tossed and turned at night. If she had been a bit kinder to He Yan from the beginning, if she had shown a bit more warmth, let He Yan feel a moment of tenderness, perhaps when He Yan was at the pinnacle, recalling her life, there would be at least a moment of nostalgia and warmth. Instead of dying in the cold pool, a sacrifice for a conspiracy throughout her life.
“Don’t… tell her… that I know… who she is…” She struggled to speak, blood pouring from her lips.
“Why?” Xiao Jue stared at the woman in front of him, feeling as if he had returned to the day when Madam Xiao left, the heart-wrenching pain. Those who had experienced it would never wish to go through it again, and now, unexpectedly, He Yan was about to experience the same.
How cruel.
“Just let her hate me…” Second Madam He’s eyes filled with a smile, mixed with tears. “I haven’t done anything… just let her hate me…”
In front of Cuiluo, she never mentioned He Yan, frequently bringing up He Xinying. Even in dealings with Xiao Jue, she only cared about He Xinying’s life. She knew Xiao Jue would see and hear all of this. She knew Xiao Jue valued emotions and righteousness. Perhaps he was the only person in the world sincerely treating He Yan well. The more biased she was, the more Xiao Jue would feel sorry for He Yan. The valiant and invincible Commander on the battlefield had no understanding of the intricacies and emotions of women in the inner chambers. She intended to manipulate Xiao Jue with this trick, to make him go all out to treat He Yan well.
This was the last thing she could do for He Yan.
Xiao Jue’s gaze fixed on the woman in front of him. After a moment’s pause, he couldn’t help but speak. He said, “She has never hated you.”
Second Madam He was stunned.
In an instant, everything fell silent, and only the man’s words echoed in her ears. Her body had no strength left; even turning her head was difficult. She could only move her eyes slightly, glancing at the figure she had always wanted to see but dared not look at—the most regrettable figure in her life.
But her eyes had already blurred, unable to see the person clearly. She could only see a vague figure standing on the square, upright, heroic, beautiful like a painting.
Suddenly, she remembered the days when she had just found out about her pregnancy. At that time, He Yuanliang was very happy and invited a person to take a look. The person looked at her abdomen and said mysteriously, “A star will rise, destined for success. If it’s a male, he will rise to prominence. If it’s a female… the family will not be at peace.”
He Yuanliang had many clothes made for a little boy, but Second Madam He inexplicably felt that it must be a girl in her belly.
Fate played its tricks, and although He Yan was a girl, she had lived as a man for so many years.
In Yuhua Temple, when the mother and daughter met again, they seemed like strangers. She endured the raging waves in her heart and asked the girl in front of her, “Miss He… why do you call yourself He Yan?”
The girl, indifferent, smiled and casually replied, “Who knows? Ordinary girls don’t choose the character ‘Yan.’ Clear rivers and tranquil seas, perhaps my parents knew from the moment I was born that I was destined to go to the battlefield to protect the people and ensure peace.”
Second Madam He’s tears finally fell.
Murmuring to herself, she said, “To be elegant and free like the quiet and clear waters, yet unable to be carried away by the vast ocean…”
She had never thought of letting He Yan go to the battlefield, achieve meritorious deeds. A mother’s initial wish was simply for her to be a beautiful, carefree girl.
But this initial wish had unknowingly deviated into absurdity.
The tear marks on her face had not yet dried, and her tightly clenched fist had already loosened. The last breath of the woman dispersed, and her life ended just like that.
Xiao Jue’s heart trembled violently. Subconsciously, he turned to find that figure. He Yan stood in a daze beside He Rufei, her gaze falling on Second Madam He in Xiao Jue’s arms.
She didn’t know what Second Madam He had said to Xiao Jue. Their voices were too soft, and the wind was too strong. She could only see that in the end, Second Madam He seemed to have looked in her direction.
What was she looking at? Was she looking at Marquis Wuan He Yan, or was she looking at Second Miss He Yan?
Qinglang had returned to her hands, but at this moment, He Yan’s heart held no joy. She stared fixedly at the woman in Xiao Jue’s arms, wishing to rush over right now, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t take a step forward; in front of everyone, she would be suspected. Right now, she was Marquis Wuan He Yan, with no connection to the military family of the He clan. If she stepped forward at this moment, she didn’t know what consequences it might bring to the situation.
Xiao Jue turned around, gently placing the woman’s body back on the ground, looking at Emperor Wenxuan. “Your Majesty, Second Madam He has confirmed He Rufei’s crime with her life. He Rufei falsely claimed military merits, and the He family deceived the emperor. Such a traitor should be executed. I implore Your Majesty to punish the guilty without mercy.”
“Your Majesty!” He Rufei said anxiously, “This Minister is wronged!”
“Your Majesty,” Xu Zhiheng also pleaded loudly, “This Minister was forced. It was He Rufei who did all these things, and this Minister has no connection at all. This Minister is also a victim who knows nothing!”
Emperor Wenxuan frowned, his head throbbing severely. He spoke in a deep voice, “Take He Rufei and Xu Zhiheng away. Investigate the He and Xu families.”
This was settling the accounts. The fourth prince, Guangshuo, had a thought in his mind. He stepped forward and said, “Father, what about Prime Minister Xu…”
He hadn’t forgotten about Prime Minister Xu. Both Xu Zhiheng and He Rufei were not as important as Xu Jingfu. Xiao Jue had finally created this opportunity. If he couldn’t use it to shake Xu Jingfu’s position, it would be very difficult to have such favorable conditions in the future.
Xu Jingfu’s face turned extremely ugly. At this point, He Rufei couldn’t be saved anymore. If Second Madam He hadn’t come forward, he could have slowly manipulated the situation later. But with Second Madam He coming forward and confirming it with her life, he knew Emperor Wenxuan too well. Emperor Wenxuan’s compassion for Second Madam He would catalyze anger toward the He and Xu families.
Even he would suffer.
“Your Majesty, this old minister is devoted to Your Majesty. Please see through this, Your Majesty!” Xu Jingfu looked at Emperor Wenxuan with clear eyes. If it were in the past, Emperor Wenxuan might have felt somewhat pressured, but now, just thinking about the three letters presented by Xiao Huaijin and looking at Xu Jingfu’s demeanor, he felt disgusted.
He said expressionlessly, “Lock them up and investigate.”
“Yes.” The fourth prince was overjoyed.
The crown prince looked a bit panicked. Of course, he didn’t want this to happen, but looking at the current situation, it was clear that Xiao Huaijin had come prepared. No one, including Xu Jingfu himself, expected how much evidence Xiao Jue had in his hands. One after another, perhaps Xiao Jue had been preparing for this day for a long time. In that case, it might be better to observe quietly, wait until Xiao Huaijin has exhausted all his cards, and then find a way to deal with the aftermath.
Guangyan didn’t say anything. He Rufei and Xu Zhiheng had been taken away, and Xu Jingfu couldn’t let himself be as miserable as the two of them. He adjusted his collar and said indifferently, “This old minister will go on my own.”
Passing not far from Chu Zhao, Xu Jingfu glanced at Chu Zhao. Chu Zhao lowered his eyes, standing among the civil officials. He subtly nodded at him, and Xu Jingfu felt a bit relieved. He couldn’t rely on that fool Guangyan to take action outside. Fortunately, there was still Chu Zhao. Chu Zhao was meticulous and had followed him for so many years. With him outside, the situation wasn’t too bad.
However, he didn’t expect that Xiao Huaijin would actually use He Rufei to deal with him. In this game, he had underestimated Xiao Jue.
“As for the envoys sent by Wutuo…” Xiao Jue glanced at them and said, “Today’s incident at Tianxing Terrace was sudden. In the next few days, the envoys can stay peacefully in Shuojing City. After this matter settles, we can make plans for the future.” He turned to Emperor Wenxuan. “What does Your Majesty think?”
Emperor Wenxuan’s mind was exceptionally confused and exhausted at this moment. He waved his hand and said, “Let’s just do as you say.”
Maningbu’s face changed, realizing that they couldn’t leave this time. Xiao Huaijin was formidable, and everyone knew he had a grudge against Xu Jingfu. However, he precisely targeted He Rufei. After today, not only would the He and Xu families be in trouble, but it was also uncertain how Xu Jingfu would fare in the future. In the game between opponents, it often came down to the struggle between one or two chess pieces. Xu Jingfu might be fine, but the agreement between He Rufei and their Huayuan battle regarding the establishment of the market might be leaked. Forget about opening the market; there might be complications even in seeking peace. In this way, the advantages Wutuo gained with difficulty could vanish, and there was no guarantee they wouldn’t suffer setbacks in the future.
But when under someone else’s roof, one has to lower their head. This wasn’t the right time for a direct confrontation. So, Maningbu smiled and said, “Of course.”
“Your Majesty,” Xiao Jue took a step forward, lowering his voice, “Although Second Madam He is also a member of the He family, today, she voluntarily exposed the He family’s deception, risking her life to confirm it. Balancing merits and demerits, considering the genuine Flying Phoenix General who once cut through thorns and bathed in blood on behalf of Great Wei, I request Your Majesty’s permission to bury Second Madam He’s body and let her rest in peace.”
“Commander Xiao, isn’t this a bit inappropriate?” The crown prince frowned. “Why, she was informed, and she also committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. How can you plead for a criminal?”
“She is the birth mother of the Flying Phoenix General.” Xiao Jue looked at him with a stern gaze. “Grant mercy where mercy is due, Your Highness.”
The crown prince coughed lightly and didn’t say anything.
Emperor Wenxuan, supported by a eunuch, had already stood up. Upon hearing this, he glanced at the lifeless woman on the ground, feeling a touch of sympathy. A mother sought justice for her deceased daughter, sacrificing her own life. It was somewhat pitiful. Moreover… the person was already dead, so he couldn’t be bothered with such matters anymore.
He said, “Granted.”
Xiao Jue breathed a sigh of relief.
Today’s Tianxing Terrace banquet was not a joyous occasion. Those who died, died, those who were caught, were caught, and it allowed people to see through a major injustice that happened several years ago. Who could have expected that the Flying Phoenix General, who wore a mask on the battlefield, was not the same person as the later well-loved Flying Phoenix General in the same court. And that legendary woman died so tragically. Compared to her experiences, it was particularly ironic.
The ground was scattered with sporadic bloodstains and weapons in disarray. The emperor and the nobles left, leaving a mess on the Tianxing Terrace. The wind seemed to whimper, making people’s eyes sore. Xiao Jue turned around and saw He Yan slowly, step by step, walking towards Second Madam He’s lifeless body.
She walked extremely slowly, as if every step required a great deal of effort. Her face lacked any trace of color, resembling a lost traveler unable to find her way home, on the verge of being lost in the desert.
Xiao Jue called out to her in a soft voice, “He Yan.”
He Yan remained unaware, her gaze fixed on the woman lying on the ground. When she reached Second Madam He, she trembled slightly, reaching out as if to touch her hand. As her hand extended, she recoiled.
The woman’s eyes were closed, but her lips were faintly curved, as if smiling, yet with a hint of bitterness. This was the first time He Yan had seen her mother at such close proximity. In the past years, she could only watch from a distance, not for too long, lest Madam He discovered and scolded her.
She wanted to call her mother, but she also knew that even if she called, there would be no response.
Suddenly, a sharp pain struck her heart, almost suffocating her. He Yan abruptly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Xiao Jue exclaimed, “He Yan!”
She collapsed softly.
On the other side, Lin Shuanghe noticed the commotion and hurried over. Seeing the blood at the corner of He Yan’s lips, he was startled. “What happened to Little Sister He? Did she suffer internal injuries just now when she fought with He Rufei? What should we do?”
Xiao Jue, sweeping He Yan off the ground, said to him, “Come with me.” He then instructed his subordinates, “Carefully handle Second Madam He’s body. We’ll discuss it when I return.”
Concerned about He Yan’s injuries, Lin Shuanghe didn’t say much and followed Xiao Jue onto the carriage. The commotion on their side caught the attention of others. Chu Zhao, slightly surprised, tried to follow but heard a voice in his ear, “Minister Xu is in trouble now, Fourth Young Master, we need to figure out a way to save him.”
In an instant, Chu Zhao’s emotions were collected. When he looked at the person in front of him again, his voice carried a hint of worry, “Indeed, we should.”
The colleague beside him nudged Yan He’s arm and asked, “Yan He, why are you standing there in a daze?”
After a long time, Yan He returned to his senses, shaking his head. “Nothing.” He looked around, not seeing Xiao Jue’s figure, and asked, “Where’s Xiao Huaijin? Where did he go?”
“Just now, Marquis Wuan spat blood, probably injured during the sword fight with He Rufei,” the man replied honestly. “Commander Xiao took Marquis Wuan away, and Young Master Lin also went. They probably went to treat the injuries. But… I thought that the Flying Phoenix General was not as impressive as rumored. Even a young girl who just started out could defeat him. It turns out he wasn’t the real Flying Phoenix General. Tsk!”
“What about the girl?” Yan He looked into the distance, his voice slightly heavy. “The Flying Phoenix General herself was originally a girl.”
The colleague was speechless for a moment, then said, “You’re right, this extraordinary girl, if she were still alive. Unfortunately, beautiful women have tragic fates. I’ve never seen what the former madam of Lord Xu looked like. If I had, I could still talk about it. What I saw was the Flying Phoenix General. By the way, Nanguang,” he remembered something, asking Yan He, “when you were studying at Xianchang Academy, weren’t you classmates with the Flying Phoenix General? At that time, you should have been the real Flying Phoenix General. What kind of person was she? Even though she was a girl, didn’t you notice anything wrong when she wore a mask?”
“No.” Yan He replied.
“What?”
He recalled the young boy who secretly practiced swordsmanship in the bamboo forest in the middle of the night, enduring hardships but persistently stubborn. Originally, he thought it was just useless effort, but now he realized he had been short-sighted. None of them, including him, had discovered Young Master He’s identity, not because they were careless but because she had abandoned everything belonging to a woman.
“She did better than men.” Yan He answered.
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