After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 152

The rain was still falling as Bai Yuhang stood under the eaves, his mind completely blank.

 

He watched basin after basin of crimson water being carried out. Inside the house lay the unconscious Lu Xiandao, with Princess Fukang, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, wiping her tears.

 

Old Lu stood beside the princess, gently patting her back. Bai Yuhang stood there, as though he were an outsider. After a long time, he saw Zhang Lingsu emerge. Bai opened his mouth, but the small thief who was usually fearless couldn’t utter a single word at this moment.

 

He was too afraid of asking and hearing bad news.

 

“Master Lu is fine. He’s injured… he might wake up in a little while,” Zhang Lingsu said.

 

Bai Yuhang filtered out all the details about the injury. He only heard that Lu Xiandao was about to wake up, and without a second thought, he rushed inside.

 

Princess Fukang and Old Lu, who had been tending to Lu at his bedside, stepped out when they saw Bai Yuhang coming in.

 

Bai Yuhang stood beside the bed, staring blankly at him.

 

On the bed lay the handsome young man. His usually tied-up long hair was now loose, and he no longer wore his deep red official robes, instead clad in simple white innerwear, which still bore the bloodstains from his wounds. His face was alarmingly pale, and his slender hand that lay outside the quilt was also deathly white. He looked fragile and vulnerable, as if on the brink of death.

 

Yet, those pitch-black eyes still stared at the ceiling, filled with anger, despair, and hatred.

 

Bai Yuhang tried to speak to him, but Lu didn’t respond.

 

“Yang San is dead,” Bai finally heard Lu Xiandao’s voice after a long silence. “For so many years, I always saw him as my elder brother.”

 

Yang San was a seasoned veteran of the Crimson Guard. Many years ago, when Lu Xiandao had just joined the guard, Yang had often looked out for him.

 

“He was just one year away from retiring… but now he’s dead.” Bai heard the grinding of Lu Xiandao’s teeth. “It was Qin Liang—it was Qin Liang who killed him…”

 

“Your wound has reopened!” Seeing Lu struggle as if to sit up, Bai Yuhang barked and forced him back onto the bed. “What are you trying to do?”

 

“Capture him. Kill him…” Lu Xiandao’s eyes were vacant.

 

After much persuasion, Bai finally managed to coax Lu back to sleep. He had never been so patient with anyone before. He even noticed that when Lu Xiandao was asleep, he didn’t have his usual aloof and imposing demeanor. Instead, with his furrowed brows, he looked like a child lacking any sense of security.

 

“Revenge… I must have revenge…” Even in his sleep, Lu’s lips moved, muttering as if in a dream.

 

When Bai Yuhang left the room, he heard low sobbing from the corridor outside. It was Princess Fukang crying softly.

 

“If only I had let go of it earlier, and not shown him Qin Liang’s portrait… When he was young, he always thought that it was because I and Old Lu couldn’t avenge ourselves against Qin Liang that we were cold and distant. Later, he decided to join the Crimson Guard. I never expected this matter to become his lifelong obsession. And now, it has caused him…”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Old Lu said, holding her to comfort her. “I knew you didn’t love me from the beginning when we got married.”

 

“I know this child is deeply sentimental. Yang San was like a mentor to him back then. Now, of course… I know him. He’s so stubborn…”

 

Bai Yuhang left the princess’s residence. As he walked down the street, his mind was empty, yet it was filled with images of the injured Lu Xiandao and the tears of Princess Fukang.

 

He thought of Lu Xiandao’s pale face. In the past, the first time he had seen him, he had only thought of him as someone high and mighty. But at this moment, he found himself wishing that Lu would forever remain that high and mighty figure. Just the thought of him lying in bed, so weak and far from his usual spirited self, made Bai’s heart ache.

 

In his mind, Lu Xiandao should always be the cold-faced, crimson-clad youth.

 

…

 

News of Lu Xiandao’s assassination attempt soon reached Zhou Xun and the Emperor.

 

The incident was a twist of fate. Qin Liang, realizing his travel permit had been tampered with and that he couldn’t leave the Jing Kingdom, returned to seek out Lin Yan. Believing Lin Yan intended to assassinate the Emperor, he joined her entourage but ran into Lu Xiandao instead.

 

Though Qin Liang managed to escape with the help of the guards, he left behind a trail of destruction. The encounter not only severely injured Lu Xiandao but also resulted in the death of Yang San, who had come to find Lu.

 

Zhou Xun immediately ordered a kingdom-wide manhunt for Qin Liang, vowing to bring him to justice. After arranging everything, Zhou visited Youhuang Alley.

 

Since Lin Yan’s death, Old Shen had moved back to his bookshop in Youhuang Alley. When Zhou pushed aside the curtain, he saw Old Shen sitting inside, smiling faintly at him.

 

It was Old Shen who seemed a bit uneasy, lightly clearing his throat before leading Zhou to the courtyard for tea.

 

“Your mother…”

 

“Her remains have been buried in Jiangzhou,” Zhou Xun said. “She didn’t want the Wei army to reach Jiangzhou in her lifetime, and she should find peace in her homeland in death. Once everything is over, I’ll visit Yunzhou to see if the old guard is still alive and relocate the Lin family’s graves to Jiangzhou together.”

 

Old Shen was silent for a long time before finally saying, “You… are a very good child.”

 

“I used to think my life was tragic. But not anymore.” Zhou Xun’s voice lightened, and suddenly, he smiled.

 

When he smiled, his eyes curved, as if basking in the sunlight of an entire world. “I have a name now—a very good name.”

 

Old Shen was momentarily stunned. Then, he smiled too.

 

“Master, you intended to die there, didn’t you?” Zhou Xun said softly. “You’ve known for a long time that I’m Lin Yan’s son, haven’t you?”

 

“Yes,” Old Shen eventually said quietly. “I wronged the Lin family. Back then, I left in such a hurry, not knowing the full truth or the horrors they faced in the end.”

 

“I’ve lived long enough. Those I care about have found their peace—that’s enough. Although there are things I may never learn, it’s already enough.” Old Shen smiled. “To live this long has been worth it.”

 

“Is it really enough?”

 

“What?”

 

“Do you really think that’s enough? To die now, knowing nothing at all?” Zhou Xun said softly. “Today, I want to take you somewhere. Consider it…”

 

“A small token of thanks for your sacrifice.”

 

Though puzzled, Old Shen followed him. To his astonishment, Zhou Xun led him to the Li family’s tomb at the Duke Protectorate.

 

As he looked ahead, he saw a small, secluded grave.

 

The gravestone bore no name, but everyone knew who it belonged to.

 

He saw the Duke Protector standing under a tree nearby. The Duke slowly walked toward him as Zhou placed a scroll of documents in Old Shen’s trembling hands, saying, “I obtained this from the Emperor.”

 

Old Shen’s hands began to shake violently.

 

And then, he heard a story.

 

A complete story.

 

A story about a spy.

 

There were two disciples who, upon entering the court, were constantly compared to each other. One was astonishingly talented; the other was mediocre but diligent. During the war between Jing and Wei, the Emperor took note of these two and appointed a master to train them.

 

Unlike his brilliant senior, the junior disciple always felt like an imposter, yet he worked harder because of it. The senior was proud and radiant, often teasing the junior as though looking down on him. The junior silently chased after him, knowing the gap between a commoner and a genius was insurmountable.

 

The senior would always learn things first, then laugh as he watched the junior struggle. The junior thought his senior looked down on him.

 

But so what? His senior was nobility, but even as a wild dog, he was a proud one!

 

Eventually, the time came. Everything was ready. A certain plan was presented to the master.

 

A “spy plan.”

 

The plan was simple: feign defection to Wei, deliver false intelligence, and use one’s death to solidify the credibility of the information.

 

At that moment, Old Shen felt as if he had returned to decades ago, to when he was the stubborn yet young Shen Xiaoliu.

 

He felt a wave of nausea. After all these years, he felt like the groom who had gone to the capital to seek justice after General Shen’s death.

 

But…

 

“Actually, back then, the Emperor’s original choice for the mission was you, not Li Zhiwei.”

 

It was as if a bucket of cold water was poured over Old Shen.

 

“What did you say?”

 

“Li Zhiwei convinced your master, convinced the emperor, to switch the person to himself because it would be more credible for him to carry out this task. Moreover, he never looked down on you.

 

His life was incomplete. He was the noble scion of the Duke Protector’s household, but his mother was a lowly courtesan from the red-light district, a commoner. Everyone told him that commoners were unworthy of being buried in the Duke Protector’s ancestral grave. They were born lowly and never belonged to the same class as him.

 

But half of his blood still came from his mother, and the discrimination he faced made him angry, lonely, and confused.

 

Until he met his junior brother—a somewhat foolish yet stubborn young man from the bottom rungs of society. He made no effort to hide his humble origins or his coarse manners. Though he was an utterly ordinary person with nothing to his name, he resolutely declared that he would seek justice for the legendary General Shen.

 

How could a person of mud and a cloud be connected?

 

Many thought this was laughable, believing him to be overreaching. But no one knew how Li Zhiwei felt at that moment.

 

He felt as though he had been redeemed. He saw himself again, as a young boy pressing a sword to his own neck, threatening his life in order to have his courtesan mother buried in the Duke Protector’s ancestral grave. At that time, everyone surrounding him looked at him with pity and ridicule, as though watching a naïve child.

 

No one believed that a courtesan deserved to be the mother of the Duke Protector’s young lord. No one believed that the son of a stablehand could become the savior who would restore General Shen’s honor.

 

But he was willing to believe. He was willing to give this stubborn young man the time to achieve a miracle.

 

If they had had more time, they might have become great brothers. The young lady Fukang would still have chased after him, and his junior brother would still have fought tooth and nail with him for her favor. And he would still have poured himself a cup of wine, pinned the two quarrelsome fools to the table, and joked with them.

 

But time was too short. They didn’t have enough of it. Sacrificing one to save the many was a choice anyone would make.

 

After the Duke Protector left, Old Shen continued to sit in front of the nameless gravestone. He used his sleeve to wipe the stone and then wiped it again, softly muttering, “Old Li, do you look down on me? Hmm? Think I’m not as clever as you, that I didn’t do as well as you?”

 

“He didn’t. He never did. He was always proud to have you as his junior brother,” Zhou Xun said from behind him.

 

“I know,” Old Shen murmured softly.

 

“I discussed it with the emperor and decided to record this matter in the annals of history, along with General Shen’s story. In the future, someone will read it, and these events will be brought to light. People will remember his deeds.”

 

“Isn’t this nonsense? Did the emperor agree to this? You two are just kids.” Old Shen’s voice was low. “Wouldn’t it tarnish Emperor Gaozong’s reputation?”

 

“But their names will not disappear. As for Emperor Gaozong, future generations will judge him fairly. He used many means to secure peace and prosperity for the nation, and his achievements, as well as the lives of the people who survived because of him, will not be forgotten. The emperor said he wants to leave behind a truthful history. However, things are still unstable now, so perhaps it will only be many centuries later that people secure and happy enough will get to read it.” Zhou Xun’s voice softened. “Every person who has ever sacrificed for this world deserves to be remembered.”

 

“You little thing with no sense of the bigger picture.”

 

“What is the bigger picture? Respecting the dignity of every individual is the bigger picture. No one has the right to arbitrarily decide who should be sacrificed for the so-called greater good or bury anyone’s sacrifices,” Zhou Xun said. “Perhaps the emperor will change his mind in a few years, but Master, you were young once, too.”

 

Old Shen did not look back or smile. He just furiously wiped the gravestone with his sleeve, even though there was no dust on it, as if he were wiping away invisible tears.

 

After a long time, he whispered, “You three… and the emperor, he is truly fortunate to have you.”

 

He had once thought to end his life under Lin Yan’s arrow, believing he had nothing left to live for. Fukang was happy, Zhou Xun had grown up, and General Shen’s name had been restored. All the stories of his life had reached their conclusions.

 

But now, he thought, after guarding his bookstore for so many years, perhaps it was time to write a book in the days he had left.

 

To record the things that had happened, to record a person.

 

—Even if this book might be hidden away for many years. One day, someone would read it. And whether they saw it as baseless folklore or something that had truly happened, it would no longer matter.

 

Three days later, news arrived from the border that General Li had been assassinated. A blade had pierced his heart, leaving him in a prolonged coma. The poison on the blade had left his legs paralyzed.

 

He had once sought to lead his cavalry to invade Jing Kingdom, but now he could no longer do so. Even in his coma, he never understood why the assassin struck him. The assassin, however, quickly took his own life.

 

He would never know that this blade was retribution for his drunken boast during a banquet, where he had casually declared his intent to massacre Jiangzhou City and seize its beauties.

 

From the next day, Northern Wei’s defeat became inevitable. More weapons appeared on the battlefield—besides cannons, there were smoke grenades and even explosives that emitted blinding flashes.

 

But what the Northern Wei people did not expect was that Jing Kingdom’s retribution had not yet ceased.

 

A cavalry unit, swift as the wind, plunged deep into Northern Wei’s territory.