Chapter 231 -

Chapter 231: Chapter

[Host, listen carefully,] Nine continued, dropping all sarcasm as the lore data streamed directly into Yueqing’s mind. [Years ago, the Empress was involved in a massive illegal salt smuggling operation from the West. The only route to move the goods safely was through Dan Village, a small, peaceful community where Li Mei’s father was the village chief.]

Yueqing kept her eyes fixed on Li Mei, whose tear-streaked face twisted with raw hatred.

[The Empress tried to bribe Li Mei’s father to look the other way,] Nine explained. [But the chief refused. He insisted that all goods passing through had to carry the official imperial seal. When threats didn’t work, he sent his eldest son.. Li Mei’s older brother to deliver a secret message to the Grand Chancellor, your father, exposing the illegal trade.]

Yueqing’s chest tightened. [My father?]’

[Yes! The letter reached your father, but the Empress caught wind of it immediately,] Nine said grimly. [To silence the village before your father could act, the Empress ordered Duke Xi to wipe Dan Village off the map. Duke Xi sent his army and slaughtered over seven hundred innocent people men, women, elderly, and newborn babies.]

Yueqing gasped, stepping back in absolute horror.

[Li Mei was only seven years old,] Nine added softly. [She hid under a pile of corpses and watched Duke Xi’s men butcher her entire family. She escaped with a few surviving kids and was later taken in by an assassin sect targeting the Empress. Her entire life’s mission became bringing down the Xi family. That is how this story started.]

The heavy silence in the room felt suffocating.

Yueqing looked at Li Mei, The anger in Yueqing’s heart vanished completely, replaced by a deep, sickening pit of guilt and sorrow.

"You..." Yueqing whispered, her voice trembling. "You’re from Dan Village."

Li Mei froze, her tear-filled eyes widening in absolute shock.

Li Mei’s eyes widened in pure shock, her breath catching as tears fell down her face. "How... how do you know about Dan Village?" she whispered.

Yueqing didn’t answer. She couldn’t explain systems or novel plots to her. Instead, she took a slow step forward, her eyes soft with pity.

"I understand your pain, Li Mei," Yueqing said gently. "Losing your family and your entire village is horrible. But trying to kill Wenzhe won’t fix anything. He was just a child back then! He knew nothing about what his father did! If you want revenge, your anger should be on the Duke, not him."

Li Mei stared at her, then let out a bitter, crazy laugh.

"The Duke?" Li Mei spat out, her eyes full of hatred. "Dying is too easy for him! Death is a reward! I want him to watch every single person he loves die one by one, just like he made me watch him murder everyone I loved!"

Li Mei’s bitter laugh cut off sharply, her eyes staring at Yueqing in stunned anger.

Yueqing looked back at her, her voice firm and clear. "If you do that, it doesn’t make you any different from the Duke. It makes you just like him."

Li Mei opened her mouth to snap back, but Yueqing spoke over her.

"Wenzhe is a general who has saved thousands of lives," Yueqing said. "Countless villages across this empire are peaceful today because he protects them. The empire is standing today because he is alive. No enemy dares to attack those innocent people because they fear the great General Xi."

Yueqing took another step closer, looking straight into Li Mei’s tear-filled eyes.

"If you kill him or bring him down, you are taking away that shield," Yueqing said quietly. "You will bring death to so many other innocent villages just like yours. Is that really what you want? To become the monster who creates more orphans?"

Li Mei stared at her, her lips trembling as Yueqing’s words hit her like a heavy blow.

Yueqing reached out, taking Li Mei’s trembling hands into her own.

"We will make the Empress pay for all the evil she has done," Yueqing said softly, her voice full of determination. "And Duke Xi will also pay for his sins. But why not punish them and still keep your hands clean? Why must you stain your hands with the blood of your enemies?"

Li Mei looked down at their joined hands, her body shaking as hot tears spilled over her cheeks. The burning anger in her eyes slowly gave way to years of built-up exhaustion and grief.

"How?" Li Mei choked out, her voice barely a whisper. "The Empress holds all the power in the court. The Duke commands soldiers. How can someone like me ever get justice without blood?"

"Because you are not alone anymore," Yueqing answered firmly, squeezing her hands gently. "We will expose their crimes to the entire world. The illegal salt trade, the massacre, the treason, we will bring it all to the light. They will lose their power, their honor, and their freedom. That is a far worse punishment than a quick death."

Before Li Mei could say another word, a light knock came from the heavy bedchamber doors, followed by a guard’s loud voice from outside.

"Young Madame! General Xi has sent the hot beef noodles to your room!"

Yueqing’s head snapped toward the door as her stomach let out a loud, awkward growl.

Li Mei wiped her face quickly, staring at Yueqing in confusion. "You... you really ordered noodles right now?"

"Hey, heavy emotional talk burns a lot of calories!" Yueqing whispered back, quickly untying the ropes around Li Mei’s wrists. "Now hide behind that screen before the guard comes in, or my husband is going to wonder why my ’open window’ looks like a tied-up assassin!"

Later that night, Dong Li slipped into Wenzhe’s private study, bowing low in the dim candlelight.

"General," Dong Li reported quietly. "Li Mei and Lady Su have been talking inside her room for a long time. It does not seem like Li Mei will pose any immediate danger now, but I still have guards watching every exit carefully."

Wenzhe nodded slowly, his expression calm. "Keep watching, but do not interfere."

Once Dong Li took his leave, Wenzhe stood up from his desk and made his way through the quiet, darkened corridors toward his mother’s quarters.

Duchess Xi had yet to go to bed. When her personal maids informed her that her son had arrived, she allowed him inside. She was tied comfortably in her silk sleeping robe, her dark hair let down past her shoulders.

"Did you hear what happened with your sister tonight?" Duchess Xi asked, gently organizing her jade hairpins on the vanity table.

Wenzhe nodded, his voice deep and steady. "Do not worry, Mother. I will make sure every single girl involved in that plot is severely punished."

Hearing his reassuring words, Duchess Xi let out a long breath and nodded. She closed the small wooden vanity drawer, turned around, and faced him directly.

"Is there something else you want to talk about, son?" she asked, noticing the heavy, serious look in his dark eyes.

Wenzhe hesitated for a moment, his voice dropping low and heavy. "Have you always known about father, Mother? You have been married to him for so many years... did you really never suspect any of the evil deeds he committed all these years?"

Hearing his question, the Duchess froze for a second. Slowly, she stood up from her vanity, walked over to her bed, and sat down on the edge.

"You know me well enough to know I am no fool," she said softly. "So even if I tried to act ignorant and say I never suspected a thing, you would never believe me."

Wenzhe stayed silent, his dark eyes fixed on her with heavy weight.

The Duchess let out a quiet sigh, looking off into the distance as memories returned to her. "I still remember the very first time I laid eyes on your father, Wenzhe. I saw him walk down the exact same street twice in my life, but as two completely different people."

She looked back up at her son. "The first time, I was standing among the crowds who had gathered to cheer on the young soldiers heading off to war. Your father was only sixteen years old, bright, lively, and full of color. He didn’t know who I was, but I noticed him immediately. He left for the front lines, and three years later, the war was won. I stood in that same crowd again to welcome the surviving warriors home. Some families wept with joy that their boys came back alive, and that was when I saw him again."

She paused, her voice turning soft and solemn. "He hadn’t changed much on the outside. He was covered in battle dirt and much thinner, but I recognized him instantly. Yet, the man walking down that street was not the same boy who left. He had lost his color, Wenzhe... all his color was gone. It was in that very moment I realized I was bound to him. I had loved him when he was full of life, and even when his soul was drained of all its brightness, I still yearned for him."

The Duchess looked straight into Wenzhe’s eyes. "When he returned, the court granted him a noble title for his grand contributions to the victory. He had no blood relation to the Empress back then, but she looked at him and saw the perfect pawn for her schemes. She bestowed an imperial title upon him and had him adopted into her own family clan. Overnight, she changed his status, his parents, and his whole lineage. She gave him power, immense power that he had bathed in blood to achieve."