Chapter 31 : Taking Revenge

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WARNING: Descriptions of blood and gore ahead. Proceed at your own risk.

The undercover guard acted very quickly and acquired the drug he’d sought within three days. Murong Heng stood in the middle of the room, holding a delicate celadon bottle in his hand and perusing it carefully.

“This medicine is called ‘Non-healing’, and it originates from far beyond the borders. As the name implies, it can prevent wounds from healing. In addition, this drug is colourless and odourless, and it subsequently cannot be traced. Even the best imperial doctors in the imperial palace wouldn’t be able to detect it.” The undercover guard explained seriously that the biggest advantage of this drug was that it could be mixed with incense and used. As long as the injured person inhales this, the hidden poison will permeate into the body, preventing the wound from healing.

Murong Heng nodded to show that he understood and then waved his hand, allowing the guard to withdraw. He opened the bottle cap and sniffed it. As expected, there was no scent. Murong Heng tucked the bottle into his lapels before striding out of the mansion.

After being announced, he arrived outside the palace hall, where Emperor Chongde was convalescing from his wounds. He walked past several screen dividers. Just when the attendants had not yet entered, Murong Heng took the opportunity to pour ‘Non-healing’ into the middle of the incense burner. Just then, he heard a sound coming from the direction of the bed, and his gaze altered slightly. He calmly made his way to a spot several steps away from bed, knelt down, and said seriously, “Er Chen wishes Imperial Father good health.”

Emperor Chongde was still recovering from his injuries, and his entire body was devoid of strength. He turned his head and saw Murong Heng, who was kneeling on the ground. His pallid face bore no expression. After a long while, he uttered in a hoarse voice, “This Emperor is very well. You may leave.”

“Yes. Recuperate well, Imperial Father. Er Chen will take my leave.” Concealing a smile, Murong Heng rose up and exited the hall. The poison had already been administered, and Emperor Chongde’s injury would not heal for some time. What comes next is a very important step!

It was nighttime. Murong Heng followed General Li Xian to patrol the city gates. The torches illuminated the faces of every soldier. Murong Heng ambled along expressionlessly, memorising all the passages at the city gate discreetly in his heart.

Once he was back in his mansion, Murong Heng told Lian Jin to prepare a brush and paper. He proceeded to write down everything he’d committed to memory earlier. To him, this topographical map of the city gate was extremely valuable.

“What are you doing?” Hearing the sounds of Murong Heng’s return, Shen Ci entered the study from the bedroom. He walked a few steps forward and arrived to stand before Murong Heng.

Murong Heng explained what he was doing, and after a while, he put down his brush. Satisfied, he spread out the paper and gave it a shake before placing it on the table. Then he turned his head to meet Shen Ci’s puzzled expression. He reached out and pulled him into his arms, making Shen Ci sit atop of him.

“You…” Shen Ci felt his centre of gravity tilt, and his whole body toppled onto Murong Heng’s. His nose detected a pleasant scent from him. He shifted his body, found a comfortable position, and sat down. Just as he was about to say something, his lips were suddenly covered directly by a moist and hot kiss.

Murong Heng hugged his arms around Shen Ci’s waist and lowered his head to plunder the warmth of his lips. A thin silver thread appeared at the edge of their lips, where they were both connected. After a long while, he reluctantly released the person in his arms and explained, “I’m drawing a map of the city gates. Preparation averts peril.”

“Has the poison already been administered?” Shen Ci asked in a low voice. After getting Murong Heng’s affirmative answer, he thought for a while and continued: “It won’t be long before they will definitely attack the city again. When the time comes, you can turn a blind eye and let them make their way in.”

Murong Heng naturally understood who “they” were. He also had this intention. He would allow the vassal kings to enter the city and cause chaos in the imperial palace, so he could take advantage of the tumult to act, right?

“I understand.” Murong Heng had this plan and had already made complete preparations. But by letting the vassal kings enter the capital, his mansion would become a dangerous place, so he had to take Shen Ci away.

“Murong, I can’t leave yet.” Shen Ci guessed what he was thinking and said it hastily. He promised him that he would take revenge on Emperor Chongde. He hadn’t exacted revenge yet; how could he leave just like that?

“I know.” Murong Heng nodded in response. He knew what his Ah Ci was worried about. He would allow him to take revenge before leaving. He initially wanted him to take refuge in the small village where he’d discovered the Iron Halberd Army. However, he suddenly came to his senses after that time he had a long talk with Shen Ci that had lasted throughout the night. His Ah Ci was someone who could stand together with him, unlike those delicate women. He could not underestimate him, so he decided to respect his opinions and have him remain by his side.

A few days later, those vassal kings joined forces to attack again. Since they had resided in the vassal territories for a long time and were not familiar with the capital, they also suffered many losses on the way leading up to the siege on the city.

Murong Heng followed Li Xian to face the enemies at the city gates. A few days ago, he had an overnight discussion with Shen Ci with regards to the matter of permitting the vassal kings into the city. When an opportune moment arose, Murong Heng intentionally feigned ignorance and allowed the vassal kings to discover that there was a vulnerability at his location.

It wasn’t long before the vassal kings discovered the vulnerability here. Two vassal kings concentrated their forces to break through the defences. Seeing that the vassal kings were storming over on their own, Murong Heng deliberately displayed a frightened appearance and watched helplessly as the two vassal kings slaughtered the guards around him. Taking advantage of the chaos, Murong Heng spurred his horse and charged into the city.

Seeing the vassal kings burst through the gates and lead troops into the city, Li Xian slashed and killed until his eyes turned bloodshot but could do nothing to stop it. The news soon spread to the imperial palace. Emperor Chongde, who was still recuperating, sat up from the bed with a shout. Ignoring the pain from the wound, he was adamant about personally leading the troops to meet the enemy. But just as he was about to get out of bed, he suddenly felt his hands and feet go limp, and he fell to the ground. The wound was instantly torn open, and blood gushed out.

There was a severe pain in his chest, and it was only then that Emperor Chongde discerned that he was still injured. When he thought of this, he couldn’t help but be a little confused. It had been so many days already, yet his injury still hadn’t healed?

After being supported by the palace attendants to get up off the ground, Emperor Chongde returned to the bed, still puzzled, despite pondering over it multiple times.

Once the vassal kings entered the city, their morale was greatly boosted. The people in the city were in frantic turmoil; one after another sought places to hide, but the slaughter was unavoidable. Murong Heng rushed to the imperial palace with soldiers in tow. Sure enough, it was also utter chaos inside.

Emperor Chongde heard that Li Xian couldn’t manage it and that the vassal kings were already besieging the city. Disregarding his injuries, he sat up from the bed, donned a dragon robe, and arrived at the main hall. The palace staff learned that the vassal kings were already attacking the palace, so they packed up their things in succession and fled for their lives. But he is the emperor; he cannot leave.

Empress Xu also wanted to abscond after hearing about this. Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongde wished to live and die together, so he sent soldiers to stand guard over her and prevent her from leaving. Only then did Xu begin to panic; she didn’t want to die!

Once the city gates were breached, all weaknesses would be infinitely magnified. Three hours later, the vassal kings once again attacked the strategic pass and charged into the imperial palace.

Throughout the passage, all those in their way fell victims to the massacre. It didn’t take long before a number of them led their troops to the main hall and met Emperor Chongde’s gaze. Yang Zhen let out a reckless laugh: “Murong De, you’ve reached the end of the line. Hurry up and hand over the throne!”

“Hmph, in your dreams!” Emperor Chongde refused to yield. He had exhausted all means to obtain this throne. No matter what, he couldn’t let these lowlifes off so easily. He feigned calmness and sat atop the dragon throne with a determined gaze.

“Then die!” Yang Zhen lifted his head as he let out a loud laugh. He raised his sabre and charged towards Emperor Chongde. Dozens of guards rushed out from all around, and Emperor Chongde signalled to them with a look. In an instant, the crowd of people started fighting together.

Seeing the pandemonium within the hall, Emperor Chongde drew a sword from the waist of the guard next to him and positioned it across his chest. Without warning, Yang Zhen broke through the barrier of the guards and rushed towards him. Emperor Chongde’s eyes widened as he raised his sword to meet his strike.

The injuries on his body hadn’t healed yet, and Emperor Chongde clearly sensed that his strength wasn’t able to endure. It had only been a short confrontation, but he was already out of breath. He was slashed on the arm the moment his attention lapsed.

He clutched his arm as he retreated to one side. Emperor Chongde took a look at the wound and continued to meet Yang Zhen’s attack, but his strength gradually depleted, and he was no match for his opponent’s powerful physique. Not long after, his leg suffered another bloody gash, and he instantly dropped to the ground in a half-kneel. Cold sweat covered his entire face.

“Murong De, it’s time for your death!” Seeing Emperor Chongde kneeling on the ground, Yang Zhen raised the sword in his hand with a sneer and slashed at the top of his head. However, before he could succeed, someone hauled Emperor Chongde away. He raised his eyebrows and saw that it was Murong Heng.

The guard beside Murong Heng faced Yang Zhen. Taking advantage of the chaos in the hall, Murong Heng brought Emperor Chongde to a secret passage. Once inside the secret passage, he released his grip and let Emperor Chongde collapse to the ground.

“I never expected that it’d be you.” Emperor Chongde thought that he was surely a goner, but he never thought that this most unfavored son of his would step forward to save his life at the critical moment. With this thought, he said in a low voice, “Say it, what do you want?”

When he heard the words, Murong Heng sneered. He knelt down until he was eye level with Emperor Chongde and said coldly, “What else do you think you can give me?”

“What do you mean?” Emperor Chongde perceived something was amiss and lowered his voice.

Ignoring his questioning, Murong Heng got up and walked to another part of the secret passage. He carefully supported Shen Ci to walk over; he put his arms around him and said softly, “Ah Ci, Murong De is at your feet.”

“Murong Heng, what do you think you’re doing?!” Emperor Chongde began to panic when he heard the words. Earlier, he clearly saw the bloodlust in Murong Heng’s eyes. He moved his gaze to the man in Murong Heng’s embrace. That person seemed like he was unable to see and was leaning against Murong Heng; his body was frozen motionless. His face appeared somewhat familiar.

“You are…” Emperor Chongde stared at the man’s face. His eyes widened all of a sudden, and he exclaimed, “You are Shen Mo Heng’s son!” Unexpectedly, there were still people from the Shen family who were still alive!

“Yes.” Shen Ci admitted it without any hesitation. He took a few deep breaths, forced himself to calm down, and then gently pushed Murong Heng behind him. He took a step forward and said in a chilly tone, “Back then, when you slaughtered my entire family, did you ever think that you would arrive at where you are today? Your life is now in my hands.”

Murong Heng’s heart ached as he looked at Shen Ci’s thorny appearance. He understood his anguish and was able to relate. Murong Heng released a soft sigh and glanced around. He realised that time was running out, so he took out a small bottle from his lapels. He walked over to Emperor Chongde, knelt down, and pried open his mouth before emptying the drug from the bottle inside.

“What are you feeding me?” Emperor Chongde struggled violently, but he’d lost a lot of blood and was unable to overcome the strength of Murong Heng’s grip. Many pills were poured into his mouth, and soon he felt a strange sensation surge within his body. Excruciating pain relentlessly scorched his eight meridians. It was as if someone was gouging out the flesh from his body with a knife, and the agony made his eyes bulge.

“How is it? Isn’t it terribly painful?” As Murong Heng stared at Emperor Chongde’s struggling figure, he felt invariably invigorated in his heart. It was a shame that Shen Ci couldn’t see him in this state and could only tune in with his ears: “Murong De, you believed that Xu woman’s slander, and that caused my concubine mother to commit suicide. If I don’t avenge this grudge, I don’t deserve to live!”

In the throes of pain, Emperor Chongde heard these words. He then recalled that gentle woman, but before he could think further, Murong Heng’s voice sounded again: “Murong De, there’s also Prime Minister Shen! There were so many lives in the Shen family that were all beheaded due to one word from you. Prime Minister Shen was loyal to the country, but because of your momentary anxiety and distrust, you had his entire family killed. This animosity is irreconcilable!”

The more Murong Heng spoke, the more worked up he became. He seemed to envision that day when he’d entered the palace and caught sight of his concubine mother’s lifeless body hanging in the hall and little Shen Ci’s helpless expression as he watched his whole family being beheaded. What Emperor Chongde owed wasn’t limited to just the two of them!

“Ah Ci, I’ve said before that I would let you kill the enemy with your own hands.” Drawing out the sword at his waist, Murong Heng took Shen Ci’s hand and held the sword with him. He then thrust it to the ground at Emperor Chongde!

There was a bursting sound, and blood spattered out. Emperor Chongde was already in severe pain, but now that he had suffered a stab, it felt like his tendons were being ripped out and his skin flayed. He writhed on the ground in pain, blood-curdling screams exploding from his mouth.

Shen Ci’s mind was filled with the scenes of the execution ground as he held onto the sword. His father’s exhortations, his mother’s tears, and everyone’s heartbreaking expressions. The rims of his eyes suddenly became heated, and he immediately grabbed the sword as if he had been possessed. He pierced scores of bloody wounds into Emperor Chongde’s body. He was completely unaware that the man on the ground was staring up at him and had gradually lost his strength to struggle; his breath had quietened.

“Ah Ci, Ah Ci!” Murong Heng reached out and enfolded Shen Ci into his arms, letting his head rest on his chest. After a while, he felt wetness on his clothes at his chest, and he patted Shen Ci’s back, silently comforting him.

The Emperor Chongde lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, having died filled with resentment. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would die at the hands of these two. As for Shen Ci, who was leaning in Murong Heng’s arms, he could no longer restrain his emotions and began sobbing softly. The hatred that had been hidden in his heart for many years was finally set free.

Father and mother, this child has avenged you!

Murong Heng was also extremely downcast in his heart. After hating for two lifetimes, he finally got his revenge! After comforting Shen Ci for a while, he extracted the sword from his hand and flung it onto the ground. As he looked on coldly at Emperor Chongde, who’d died tragically, Murong Heng held Shen Ci’s hand tightly and led him out of the secret passage.

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