The resolve that Xiao Jingcheng had firmly made was once again thrown into disarray by Li Zhao's words.
There was no point in continuing the conversation. After bidding farewell to Li Zhao, Xiao Jingcheng turned around and left with heavy steps.
Watching the door close right in front of him, Li Zhao leaned back and closed his eyes.
Li Bingjun...
It had been a long time since he last heard this name.
Xiao Jingcheng's words had stirred up those deliberately forgotten memories in his mind. Remembering the time when he used to stand in the court, full of vigor and expressing his opinions boldly, Li Zhao's face was filled with desolation.
What about being the youngest chief secretary in the history of the State of Chu, or the once - in - a - century genius of the Li family in Luozhou? In the face of absolute imperial power, what did they amount to?
The King of Chu was a complete lunatic. When a complete lunatic held supreme power, the world would be in great chaos.
When he became the chief secretary, there had been consecutive years of drought across the State of Chu, with no harvest at all. The people were living in dire straits.
However, in such an extremely harsh environment, the King of Chu still increased the taxes in various places, which led to serious banditry. The King of Chu had to send troops to suppress them, which further increased the expenditure on grain, grass, and troops.
If the King of Chu was not eliminated, the world would never be at peace.
— This was the common thought deep in the hearts of all the still - passionate ministers who wanted to stabilize the world at that time.
But while others only thought about it, he alone had started to plan to take the opportunity to get rid of the King of Chu and support someone else to the throne.
And his dear uncle, in order to get rid of him, had revealed this matter to the King of Chu.
His uncle had thought that the King of Chu would kill him after learning about this, but he didn't expect that crazy King of Chu to directly issue an order to massacre all the members of the Li family.
Even though he had great ambitions and intended to let the Chu court last for another century, he was no match for the back - stabbing of villains and the unjust and immoral ruler.
The Xiao family, not wanting to follow in the footsteps of the Li family, rose up in rebellion with their troops and prestige, overthrowing the Chu court.
This was the general trend and also the fate of the State of Chu.
The Li family in Luozhou was completely annihilated with the passage of time.
He was indeed a bit surprised that Xiao Jingcheng could recognize him as Li Bingjun. He had thought that after the Xiao family took control of the world, they would completely erase the name Li Bingjun from history.
After all, counting it up, he had only served as the chief secretary for nearly two years. Who would bother to remember him?
As for what Xiao Jingcheng said about stabilizing the country and bringing benefits to the people of the world...
Thinking of the solemn look on Xiao Jingcheng's face, Li Zhao couldn't help but burst out laughing.
He, Li Bingjun, was not a person worthy of praise.
For the entire Li family, he was an out - and - out sinner; for Yingniang, he had failed to take on the responsibility of a man, to protect her behind him and shield her and their child from the wind and rain.
When he woke up alone on that small boat, Li Bingjun of the Li family in Luozhou was already dead. He was just Li Zhao.
So, this time, he just needed to be an ordinary person, to reunite with his Yingniang and Mujin as soon as possible. That would be enough.
...
Back in his room, the depressed Xiao Jingcheng didn't light the lamp.
Sitting in the pitch - black room, looking at the faintly visible beams above his head and listening to the chaotic sounds coming from all directions, he couldn't calm down for a long time.
He knew exactly what he had to do at the moment.
— Find a suitable opportunity to "come back from the dead", expose Xiao Yixuan's schemes, make the imperial concubine and Xiao Yixuan pay the due price, and take back what was originally his.
But Li Zhao's words had suddenly cast a veil of mystery over the originally clear path.
Xiao Yixuan was indeed hateful, but if it weren't for the father - emperor's favor and secret instigation, how could the ambitions of Concubine Feng and Xiao Yixuan have swelled to such an extent?
If he "came back from the dead" and returned to the capital with troops, would his father - emperor cry with joy, hug him, feel sorry for his experiences during this period, and righteously get rid of Xiao Yixuan and Concubine Feng for him?
Xiao Jingcheng sneered in his heart.
He knew that his father - emperor wouldn't.
He was afraid that his father - emperor would even think that Xiao Yixuan was more strategic than him and simply ask him to yield the position of the crown prince to Xiao Yixuan.
This was the power of the emperor.
[Whether it was the King of Chu, your father - emperor Xiao Tianye, or you. As long as you ascend to that position and hold the power of life and death over everyone, you will all end up the same in the end.]
Li Zhao's words rang in his ears again.
Xiao Jingcheng's face tightened. Suddenly, he stood up, opened the door, and quietly climbed over the wall.
Not far away, Ye Wanmian's room was brightly lit. There were several blank rice papers spread on the table. Holding a writing brush in her hand, she was lying on the table, drawing the topographic map of Dongli Town seriously.
The ink left winding and complex patterns on the rice paper. From time to time, she made notes in neat and delicate small characters on the side.
Dongli Town was neither too big nor too small. Built along the water, there were rivers on the east side and mountains on the west side. There were only two exits, north and south. The north led to Tianyuan County, and the south led to Nanping Town.
Ye Wanmian had arrived in Dongli Town last winter. She had only lived here for a little over half a year. In order to gather information, she had walked through all the streets and alleys here.
She had an excellent memory. As long as she had walked a road once, she could remember it clearly. So she could draw the map of Dongli Town effortlessly.
This map was naturally drawn for Xiao Jingcheng.
The fact that he had the ability to get 360 taels of silver and use the stratagem of luring the tiger away from its mountain to divert Xiao Yixuan's attention meant that he had started to find a way to deal with the current predicament and wouldn't stay in Dongli Town for long.
She was fully concentrated and drawing very carefully. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Dahuang was lying under the table, slowly gnawing on a big bone. Its tail was wagging happily behind it.
Suddenly, it seemed to hear something. It put down the bone, pricked up its ears, and looked towards the door.
Its ear tips twitched. Dahuang jumped up from the ground, turned around, and ran to Ye Wanmian's side. It bit the corner of her clothes and tugged at it.
"Dahuang, don't be naughty. I'm busy. I don't have time to play with you today." Ye Wanmian didn't take her eyes off the scroll and continued to draw, casually perfunctory.
Dahuang whined a few times, turned around, and ran to the door. It scratched at the door with its paw.
The door wasn't closed tightly. As soon as Dahuang scratched at it, the door opened. It slipped out, lowered its head to sniff on the ground, circled around the yard, stopped at the wall root, and then ran back into the room.
Biting the corner of Ye Wanmian's clothes, Dahuang howled.
Ye Wanmian was distracted by Dahuang and drew a crooked line. She sighed helplessly, put down the brush in her hand, and squatted down to rub Dahuang's head.
"Okay, I'm really busy today. I've neglected you. How about we play the game of throwing the branch?"
In the past, when it heard her say this, Dahuang would have jumped up happily. But now, Dahuang just bit Ye Wanmian's sleeve and pulled her towards the door, all the way to Xiao Jingcheng's door.