Chapter 145
As soon as the words fell, the eunuch’s panic-filled shrieks came from outside the curtain, “Your Majesty! Han wang shizi is here!”
Li De froze, only to see the beaded curtain shaking violently as a figure staggered into the great hall and fell to the ground, shaking all over, loudly wailing.
A strong smell of blood assaulted his nose.
Li De looked down. Han wang shizi was his cousin’s nephew. Shizi’s father fought with him in wars on all sides and was enthroned as Han wang for his military merits.
Han wang shizi knelt by his feet, hair disheveled, shuddering violently, tears streaming, and nose running. The robe on his body was messy, emitting a wave of stench. Blood ran along the hem of his robe’s sleeve and fell with a drip drip drip all over the ground, leaving a long trail of blood on the gold brick floor.
Li De looked at Li Xuanzhen, “What have you done?”
Without waiting for Li Xuanzhen to open his mouth, Han wang shizi first let out a cry and wept even louder. Bringing his head to the ground, his forehead slammed against the ground with a bang.
“Your Majesty! The Crown Prince has gone mad! The Crown Prince killed my Aye! Killed my Third Uncle, killed my Fourth Uncle… Six people! Six living adults! They all died under the Crown Prince’s sword! All of the palace’s guests saw it happening before their eyes! The Crown Prince must be mad! He killed his own relatives, even his own uncles!
“Your Majesty! My Aye has served with His Majesty in expeditions, at your beck and call, loyal and devoted. He had served our country well, and he had reached the age where he should rest and recuperate. He never imagined he would die under the Crown Prince’s sword. How wronged!
“The Crown Prince is crazy and tyrannical, cruel and vicious. He killed his uncles. This kind of terrible murderer, how is he worthy of being the Crown Prince?! As a son, this nephew cannot just sit back and watch my innocent father suffer a tragic death. If Your Majesty doesn’t give this nephew and the other Li clansmen an explanation, this nephew will fight for justice for my father even if I have to exchange it with my life!”
Silence reigned in the hall. No one made a sound. Only Han wang shizi’s loud cries echoed from all corners of the inner hall.
From his disjointed narration, everyone understood what happened.
Today, the Hang wangfu held a grand feast, and all present were Li clansmen. During this drunken and merry time, Li Xuanzhen suddenly appeared. Everyone was surprised and happy and wanted to ask him about the war on the front line when he suddenly drew his sword and killed Han wang with a slash of his blade.
Immediately, chaos ensued, becoming a complete mess.
The wangfu’s guards immediately drew their swords to meet him, but they were no match for Li Xuanzhen, who, one man and one sword, killed six members of the Li clan from the hall all the way to the inner courtyard with his own hands. He was soaked in blood, eyes bloodshot, like a devil risen from below.
The wangfu was currently immersed in cries. The shizi’s mother had fainted thrice from crying.
Li De’s aged face twitched a bit several times as he looked at Li Xuanzhen, tremors wracking his body. After a long moment of silence, he suddenly let out a muffled grunt and fell back.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your sagacious Majesty!”
The eunuchs swarmed around to support Li De.
Li De pushed the eunuchs away, and with a cry, he vomited a mouthful of blood, finger pointing straight at Li Xuanzhen: “Evil thing! Evil thing!”
He had publicly killed his clansmen. This matter must have already spread all over Chang’an. How could he suppress this?
Li Xuanzhen’s narrow phoenix eyes slightly raised. Sweeping a glance at the crying Han wang shizi, a fierce hostility swept across the bottom of his eyes.
King Han’s son had witnessed six of his relatives’ murder and had long been scared out of his wits by Li Xuanzhen. Seeing him with the same ferocious demeanor in front of Li De, he suddenly felt his blood run cold, and turned on his heel to scurry away: “The Crown Prince is going to kill to silence me!”
Li Xuanzhen ignored him, and while everyone’s attention was on Han wang shizi, his figure suddenly sprang up and leaped towards the imperial table. With a clang, he drew out the sword on the side of the imperial case. The tip of the sword pointed straight at Li De.
Everyone was shocked and rushed forward in a panic to stop him.
Li Xuanzhen’s hand sent the eunuchs pouncing on him flying, and the tip of the sword stabbed inch by inch into Li De’s right shoulder.
Li De did not evade.
Everyone’s legs trembled: they could have shot Li Zhongqian without hesitation, but now the assassin was the Crown Prince. Without Li De’s word, who dared to really kill Li Xuanzhen?
Li Xuanzhen clasped Li De’s shoulders and continued to exert force in his hands, “Father, do you know why I want to kill the Li clansmen?”
Li De flew into a rage and swung at him with a palm strike, the wind whistling.
Li Xuanzhen released the sword in his hand and he continued to lunge forward without a care for his life.
Li De was shocked. Afraid of hurting his son, he gritted his teeth to retract his palm, and flipped his wrist so the back of his hand made contact with Li Xuanzhen. Li Xuanzhen crumpled to the ground in front of the imperial table.
A trembling eunuch came forward to treat Li De’s wounds. Li De pushed the eunuch away and pulled the sword out of his shoulder.
The beaded curtain swayed as the Jin Wu Wei rushed in.
Li De snapped, “All stand down!”
The Jin Wu Wei looked at each other and retreated outside the screen with bitter smiles.
Li De threw the sword, “Why did you kill your uncle?”
Li Xuanzhen looked at him and smiled coldly, “That year, the chaotic army forced entry into Wei County… Everyone else escaped, but only my Aniang and I were trapped inside the city. Do you think this was a coincidence?”
Li De’s pupils suddenly rounded.
Li Xuanzhen climbed to his feet and continued, “They purposefully released the chaotic army into the city, simply because they wanted to put me and my Aniang to death. At that time, weren’t you already starting to negotiate with the influential families for marriage?”
Li De’s face sank.
Li Xuanzhen coldly looked at his father, “You were the Great General. Everyone said that you would become an overlord in the future, so Aniang wasn’t good enough for you. They wanted a matriarch that could lend the Li family a helping hand. Han wang was leading the troops defending Wei County at that time. He definitely knew that Aniang and I were trapped, and he intentionally saw we were going to die but did not save us, delaying the troops from rescuing…”
He closed his eyes.
“That night, they locked the gate from the outside and set a fire, trying to burn us mother and son to death. Aniang and I escaped. There were messy soldiers everywhere, and I was scared to tears. My Aniang comforted me, saying that Aye was a great hero and that if we found Aye, no one would dare bully us.”
He opened his eyes, his phoenix eyes desolate.
“Li De, there are mutinying soldiers everywhere. My Aniang is just a weak, defenseless woman with a child in tow. Can you imagine what she has suffered?”