Chapter 287 Perish Together
Taking a look at the energetic parent insect and the dying subsidiary one, Qin Yunuan explained, “Your Majesty, this so-called Heavenly Master Lin who keeps the parent insect with him attempts to implant the subsidiary insect into your body through the sachet. He wants to feed the subsidiary insect with drugs and make it grow big enough, until he can control your mind and behavior through the parent insect. Then, you will become a puppet under his control.”
“How dare you!” Jing Donghua glared at Heavenly Master Lin. He couldn’t vent his anger unless the latter was beheaded. “You’re a distinguished guest the Crown Prince invited, so I treated you hospitably. But you, bearing evil tricks, lied to him and me.”
Jing Donghua naturally put all the blame on Heavenly Master Lin, not mentioning any bit of Jing Yuanxiao’s fault. Obviously, he thought highly of and was partial to Jing Yuanxiao, which dissatisfied Jing Yuanchu. Right after he raised eyebrows, a middle-aged official stood up and said, “Your Majesty, it’s rather impetuous to convict Heavenly Master Lin simply based on what this woman said. The Crown Prince who invited him must know well about him. He definitely wouldn’t recommend a usurper to treat you.” The official implied that Heavenly Master Lin might be innocent. If he were not, the Crown Prince should be responsible for this.
A young official stood up at once and argued, “Your opinion is biased. First of all, the horrible insects which everyone saw just now can kill people. If Heavenly Master Lin is innocent, do you mean that he is treated unjustly? Second, the Crown Prince said clearly that it was Prince Yuanchu who recommended Heavenly Master Lin to him. So, it’s not clear who should take the responsibility yet.”
“Young man, you know nothing.” Having been a senior official for years, Minister Song was always blunt. Because of this, he offended many people, but he was not aware of it. Now, he just thought that the emperor was too partial to the Crown Prince, which was unfair and would bring about dissension.
“Ho, if he is labeled as young man, what’s your label?” An official who served three emperors stood up and said. 24 years older than Minister Song, he could be hailed as a Country Guarding official. “We should all listen to His Majesty on this.”
Qin Yunuan also looked at Jing Donghua. They two planned this before. Heavenly Master Lin wore his sachet everyday so they could hardly take it away from him to find any evidence of his wrongdoing. Therefore, Jing Donghua deceived Heavenly Master Lin into believing that the subsidiary insect had been implanted by offering him a reward. When Heavenly Master Lin let his guard down, Jing Donghua could snatch his sachet and exposed his trick.
Jing Donghua looked back at Qin Yunuan. Just as he hesitated, Heavenly Master Lin suddenly propped himself up with the help of his arm strength and twirled like a gyroscope with his arm as the axis. All at once, he approached to Jing Yuanchu and aimed a silver needle hid in his sleeve at Jing Yuanchu’s neck. He was so fast that no one was able to make any reaction. The silver needle was less than one centimeter close to Jing Donghua’s throat. Once he breathed deeply, the poisoned needle would kill him immediately.
“What are you doing?” Jing Yuanchu tried to keep calm and bargained with Heavenly Master Lin, although he was already in a cold sweat.
“Now that I can’t leave here alive, neither can you.” Heavenly Master Lin looked at Jing Yuanchu with a smile, a dreadful and creepy smile.
Officials all became flustered. Guards got ready for fight by besieging Heavenly Master Lin in his front. Having no legs, Heavenly Master Lin just hung on to Jing Yuanchu with one hand and tightly grasped the needle with another. He tilted his head to threaten guards ahead, “Once you step forward, I will kill him.”
“You finally show your true intentions.” Jing Donghua didn’t look at Jing Yuanchu but stared at Heavenly Master Lin. “I’m the owner of West Xia. So you use such a despicable trick to control me and pocket my country. I can’t vent my anger if I don’t cut you into pieces.”
“I don’t want your country,” Heavenly Master Lin disdained what Jing Donghua said, “But your life. I want you to be under my control and experience the living death.”
How much hatred did this take one person to plan such a huge but despicable trick?
Heavenly Master Lin got more and more excited. The thin needle already touched Jing Yuanchu’s skin, leaving a light dent. With just a tiny push, it would penetrate his skin, sending the poison to his vein and killing him immediately.
Jing Yuanchu deliberately lowered his voice to prevent others except for Heavenly Master Lin from hearing him. “Don’t be insatiable. Stop here.”
“Your Royal Highness, look at the situation. Do you think I should stop?” Heavenly Master Lin suddenly wore a quirky smile. “Now that I’m doomed, I want you to go down with me, which is fair enough for me. But you…”
All at once, Heavenly Master Lin’s quirky smile froze. He couldn’t help shaking due to the pain from his arm. The wrist he used to hold the needle was penetrated by a black arrow feather. His blood tinted the feather and dripped from it.
On the opposite stood Leng Changxi who held a bow which was still slightly swinging because of the flying arrow. Time seemed to stand still. The reason why Heavenly Master Lin hung on to Jing Yuanchu and meticulously put his arm around Jing Yuanchu’s neck was to prevent any attack. But unexpectedly, Leng Changxi was so skilled at archery that he should be able to precisely shoot Heavenly Master Lin’s wrist, on the condition that the latter was so close to Jing Yuanchu.
Looking up at Leng Changxi, Heavenly Master Lin suddenly put on a coltish smile.
Leng Changxi put away the bow and said with a glance at Heavenly Master Lin’s distorted face, “Chen Jingrui, the game between us is finally over.”
Heavenly Master Lin’s pupils were dilated, and he seemed extremely surprised. He didn’t expect that Leng Changxi should see him through. Suddenly, he felt acute pain from his chest. Looking down, he found that Jing Yuanchu hurt himself to break free.
Jing Yuanchu held a long sword in his hand. Heavenly Master Lin stuck close to him so he could find no chance to break free. However, he should directly stab the long sword at his shoulder and also Heavenly Master Lin’s chest. It could be said that he did this at the risk of his own life and was ready to perish together with Heavenly Master Lin.
“You…” Heavenly Master Lin didn’t expect that Jing Yuanchu was so determined. He couldn’t say more words, from which Jing Yuanchu knew Heavenly Master Lin, or Chen Jingrui, was close to death.
“He can’t die.” Leng Changxi was a bit worried and rushed to Jing Yuanchu. Qin Yunuan followed. Leng Changxi gave Jing Yuanchu a meaningful glance. At the same time, Chen Jingrui already closed his eyes. Qin Yunuan put her index finger and middle finger on Chen Jingrui’s carotid artery and then shook her head. “He’s dead. The sword pierced his heart.”
“Your Royal Highness, you are indeed good at using your sword,” Leng Changxi sneered. Then, Jing Yuanchu seemed to come to his sense. He didn’t say anything but just covered his injured shoulder in pain.
Of course, Jing Donghua could not ignore injured Jing Yuanchu, so he asked imperial doctors to treat him immediately. Leng Changxi pulled the sword out of Chen Jingrui and tore off a delicate human-skin mask from a seam near his ear. Behind this wrinkled human-skin mask was a face covered with scars. That belonged to Chen Jingrui, the ruler and king in the Yeren Valley.
True, Chen Jingrui was alive, and so was Wanyan Su. This made sense. Chen Wan, a great master, surely could place several life-saving tricks or build confined spaces in core areas where he worked. Chen Jingrui, who worked in the arsenal for long, might know something about these tricks. Besides, Chen Wan was his uncle and might have told him something.
Thus, it was reasonable for Chen Jingrui to find an exit to escape from the half-collapsed mountain and also save Wanyan Su, who later went back to North Di. When Wanyan Ba, the Crown Prince of North Di, was imprisoned, Chen Jingrui sneaked into West Xia and colluded with Prince Yuanchu. It seemed that they two had reached an agreement on something and were planning a bigger plot.
But Chen Jingrui didn’t reveal anything about this even when he was close to death. He only claimed that he wanted to kill Jing Donghua, so he used the venomous insect on him. But Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan didn’t believe in what he said.
Imperial doctors flooded in to treat Jing Yuanchu. The leading one reported, “Your Majesty, the gash on Prince Yuanchu’s shoulder is huge and causes his excessive loss of blood, but the sword didn’t hurt his veins or meridians. Prince Yuanchu can recover after resting for several months.”
Jing Donghua frowned and still worried about Jing Yuanchu. He walked to Jing Yuanchu and repetitively asked him to take care. But he still blamed him, “In such a life-and-death situation, why are you so impetuous and even putting your life at risk?”
Jing Yuanchu opened his eyes a bit. Losing much blood, he looked pale. He explained, “I was so angry. Such a villain should play dirty tricks. He lied to me, tricked Yuanxiao and even hurt father… If I don’t kill him, I can’t vent my anger.”
He sounded so sincere and secretly minimized his fault by attributing it to not being discerning. Moreover, Jing Yuanchu was heavily injured, so no one wanted to blame him. Jing Donghua looked down and said, “Good boy. Save your energy and go have a rest first.”
Jing Yuanchu was carried down. Imperial Concubine Lian, who was tied tightly, was still there. She kept her eyes open and seemed to just come to her sense. Jing Donghua looked at Imperial Concubine Lian, who he used to dote on, and ordered, “Throw her in the water dungeon. I’ll interrogate her later.”