Chapter 93 – So What

Gray sky, dreary palace, the east of the sunrise at the beginning of the first leap out of the horizon soon, has not yet had time to the warmth of the light sprinkled throughout the land of Qing, but has been that a do not know when to birth, where to come to the clouds swallowed up into the red light suddenly show clear diffuse dull, the sky is getting darker.

In the harem, the palace maid who woke up in the morning to wash and bathe began to boil water, and the eunuchs began to take the bamboo broom higher than their own people to clean the dust on the ground, and no one knew what was happening in the front hall of the imperial city, but just like the people in the civil society, they repeated their mission and life day after day. Those nobles were no exception, although the strange situation in Kyoto these days was vaguely rumored into their ears, yet that incident was only confined to a very limited number of people who knew about it in Qing Guo, so people were not clear about what was happening.

At the garden gate, those few big shots who were looking at the imperial study from afar were naturally one of the characters who were clear about this matter, yet their eye sockets were deeply sunken and their faces were solemn, as if they were wooden carvings carved from clay, they were generally mute and didn’t have the slightest reaction.

Elder Dean Chen had already entered the imperial study for a long time, yet nothing had appeared, and since the people were far apart, they did not hear that rare roar of anger from His Majesty. Among these people, Ye Chong and Eunuch Yao might have that kind of strength, yet they wouldn’t be foolish enough to gather their powers to eavesdrop on the sounds within the imperial study. Regarding those things, it would be better to hear less.

Chen Pingping wanted to hear, wanted to hear a reason, an explanation, so he returned to Kyoto, sitting indifferently in a black wheelchair, quietly looking at the master he had served for decades, His Majesty, the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, wanting to hear, from his mouth, what exactly was going on back then.

When a person was about to die, what they clung to was nothing more than those mysteries that were the angriest and most unsolvable in the course of their life.

However, Emperor Qing did not answer, he just looked at Chen Pingping quietly. Ever since he heard Chen Pingping’s words, he had maintained his standing posture, looking at the other party indifferently and slightly teasingly, and had been looking at him for a long, long time.

The sharp aura in the pupils of his eyes gradually transformed into a faint hint of mockery, as well as a multitude of great disbelief, and the corners of his eyes narrowed slightly, like a male lion, watching a wandering phantom passing above his kingdom, rattling the solid trees in vain, announcing something to himself.

Emperor Qing laughed strangely, slightly inclined his head, lips pursed extremely tightly, looked at Chen Pingping and said faintly, “Surprisingly …… surprisingly …… because of these, because of these!”

His Majesty the Emperor’s heart had great incomprehension, could not figure out, he looked at Chen Pingping, like looking at a monster, after a long time of silence, he shook his head and sighed speechlessly. Until this time, he finally understood that this old black dog that had followed him since his childhood, why would he betray himself, why would he come back to the capital to question himself even at the risk of dying.

When those partners for that woman’s love, Emperor Qing is very clear, however, how he thought, it is impossible to think, Chen Pingping will be because of a dead for many years of the woman, and born a strong desire for revenge, stood in his own antagonism. He sat back on top of the soft couch, silent for a long time, his hands resting on his knees.

Chen Pingping’s hands were on the armrests of the black wheelchair, looking at him in silence and indifference, not saying a word, just waiting for that answer.

Emperor Qing’s face color was a little slightly white, after a long time, he said softly, “For her …… you even betrayed …… me?”

The meaning contained in these words was frustrated, sad, and there was also a kind of anger and annoyance that came from the deepest part of his heart.

“I just want to know why.” Chen Pingping sighed and said, “In my entire life, I have never seen a woman like her again, no, it should be that I have never seen a person like her again. She landed in this mortal world like a fairy and tried her best to change what she should change and save what she thought she should save. She helped you, fought to save me, saved the Kingdom of Qing, and beautified the world …… while you, in turn, destroyed her alive.”

There was no exclamation point in the voice of these words, no anger, just a wave of vicissitude and sadness.

Emperor Qing was silent for a long time, his palms slowly rubbing at his knees, in this life no one had ever asked him this question to his face, more accurately, no one dared to ask him this question at all, and few people knew about this question, but anyone who knew about this question had now become a wisp of wandering soul in the yellow earth.

None of the few closest companions back then knew about it.

“I didn’t kill her.” Emperor Qing’s eyes narrowed as he turned to this old black dog in front of him, he didn’t need to explain anything, but for some unknown reason, in the deepest recesses of his heart, a hidden pain, a hidden pain that he had forcibly suppressed for more than twenty years, slowly seeped out and took over his body and mind, wanting this most powerful man in the world to explain something.

Maybe it was to explain to Chen Pingping, maybe it was to explain to the yellow shirted woman in the portrait in the small building in the harem, maybe …… His Majesty the Emperor just wanted to explain to himself.

“I didn’t kill her.” His Majesty the Emperor’s voice raised a bit, his tone a bit firmer, his tone a bit colder, repeating once again, narrowing his eyes at Chen Pingping.

“You did not kill her?” The wrinkles at the corners of Chen Pingping’s eyes were so deep that they were about to cover his eyes, and he raised his head somewhat wearily and looked at His Majesty the Emperor, asking with a laugh that was cold to the core, “Then how did she die?”

“Don’t say anything about not returning from the western expedition, don’t say anything about the rebellion of the princes and nobles, don’t say anything about the destiny of heaven, it happened that at that time, me, Fan Jian, Wu Zhu, Ye Chong …… all of them happened to be absent from Kyoto, and it happened that she had just given birth to a child, and it was in the time of the greatest weakness! ” Chen Pingping’s gaze was like two knives stabbing at the emperor’s face, chillingly said, “Your Majesty rules the world with filial piety, it’s best if you don’t put all of these sins on the Empress Dowager’s body, the Empress that fool as well as her family have already taken the blame for you for twenty years, do you want your own biological mother to take the blame next?”

“The western expedition to the grasslands was your decree! Fan Jian was only the treasurer of the Taishang Temple and a member of the Ministry of Revenue at the time, in charge of all military supplies, why was he also transferred to the King’s Tent by you to accompany the army?” Chen Pingping’s eyes narrowed extremely tightly, countless chills seeped outward from those sparse and old eyelashes, “Military logistics, according to our maneuver back then, it has always been handed over to Fan Jian to deal with all the necessary matters, when my Daqing Iron Cavalry went out to attack, he usually stayed in the capital to deal with all the matters, why that time did you have to let Fan Jian to follow you to join in the Western Expedition Army? ”

“What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that if Fan Jian stays in the capital, the tiger guards secretly trained under him will spoil Qin Ye’s big plans?”

A cold smile spread across the corners of Chen Pingping’s lips, “Yes, this old master of the Qin family was mentioned again. Who would have thought that this old man of the three dynasties, turned out to be the killing move that your majesty you left in Kyoto in the first place …… Ye Chong, who was the Kyoto guard division at that time, was also urgently summoned to Dingzhou, the whole of Kyoto, is under the control of the Qin family, even if the Empress wants to rebel and wants to attack the Taiping Buyeo, however, if Qin Ye doesn’t nod his head, who can do this? ”

“Three years ago when Kyoto plotted a rebellion and Qin Ye jumped out, weren’t you happy, Your Majesty, that you finally had the opportunity, the excuse, to get rid of the only person who knew about your role in the Taiping Farewell House bloodshed in the first place, to kill and exterminate him?” Chen Pingping turned to Emperor Qing and said coldly, “Of course, you don’t care to kill and silence anyone, even if the Qin Family said anything. However, Fan Xian has finally grown up, and you have to accept that you and her son are the most accomplished of all your children, and the longer you get along, the more you value Fan Xian, and the more you are unwilling to let him know that his real mother died at your hands, so how can Qin Ye …… not die if he doesn’t?”

Chen Pingping’s slightly sharp and slightly sandy voice kept ringing in the imperial study, Emperor Qing did not say anything, he just listened indifferently and calmly, listening to these words and phrases, his expression was slightly strange, there seemed to be a faint sadness, but there seemed to be a faint relief.

“Going back to the Taiping Bei Yuan twenty-two years ago.” Chen Pingping spoke a little too hastily, these words were probably the words and inferences that this old cripple had been holding back in secret for decades, and at this time he finally had the opportunity to spit them out in front of His Majesty the Emperor, and he coughed loudly, coughing so hard that two unhealthy blushes grew on his face.

Only after a long time did he calm down, sighing, he said: ”Let’s talk about me again, at that time, since you had already decided to make a move towards the Taiping Farewell House, of course you wouldn’t allow me to still stay in Kyoto, so the entire defense line in the north was suddenly in a state of emergency, from time to time there were winds of news coming from that kingdom in the north that it was about to attack the south at full force, and as the head of the Supervisory Academy, I was the first to plan for the military, and since Your Majesty, you were busy with your westward expedition, I had no choice but to hunt north on behalf of the Sacred Emperor, and go in person to wipe out the situation.”

“Now that I think about it, to be able to get the entire military system to cooperate with this performance, and even mobilize the forces of a foreign country, besides Your Majesty’s will, who else could do it?” Chen Pingping’s eyes narrowed as she said, “However, there has always been a question in my heart, to be able to make that early and newly established Northern Qi court back then cooperate with your majesty’s wishes, could it be that you have secretly colluded with that dead bald guy, Bitter Lotus?”

“Of course, Bitter Lotus is already dead, and I have nowhere to go to ask people to go.” Chen Pingping shook her head.

“I did not look for Bitter Lotus.” Chen Pingping’s accusation came to a head when Emperor Qing finally opened his mouth indifferently and uttered his first words, “I don’t need to look for anyone, nor have I looked for anyone.”

Chen Pingping looked at him with a pitying perplexed and disdainful gaze and said, “Lastly, speaking of Wuzhu, he was the least likely person to leave her side, and he left Kyoto at that time, without a doubt, this is the thing I have thought about the most over the years. As long as Five Bamboo is by her side, whoever it is in this world will only find it difficult to kill her.”

Emperor Qing’s eyebrows danced slightly, but he remained silent.

“Your Majesty, I have always been suspicious of you, I have even been suspicious of Fan Jian as well, I have never known who among these partners did this thing in the first place.” Chen Pingping’s lips drooped as she slowly said, “However, it wasn’t until many years later, when Five Bamboo told me that he had met someone in the alley outside of the Fan Mansion, and that he had killed that person, and that he himself had been seriously injured, that I figured out something.”

“There are too few people in this world who can injure the Five Bamboo, other than the four Grand Masters.” Chen Pingping said calmly, “That’s why I decided that another emissary from the divine temple had come to earth.”

“Since the people from the Divine Temple were able to come at that moment, then twenty-two years ago, they were also able to come people. You and I both know very well that only someone from the divine temple could make Five Bamboos so wary that they would even leave her side, making sure to keep the divine temple visitor from coming near her.”

“That assassination that the divine Temple visitor staged outside the Fan Mansion, targeting Fan Xian and hurting Wuzhu, was because you, Your Majesty, have always wanted to know where exactly Wuzhu is.” Chen Pingping said, “And the first time the divine temple visitor appeared, it was her that was targeted, yet it was still the Five Bamboos that were transferred.”

“The Five Bamboos seem to be a wall, a wall that only the Divine Temple can shake as well as mobilize.” Chen Pingping suddenly laughed and said, “Although there were only two times, both times were too coincidental, and both times appeared at times and seasons when you had motives, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty, I know that you have always been jealous of Old Five.” The pupils of Chen Pingping’s eyes appeared indifferent as she quietly looked at Emperor Qing and said, “Ever since Fan Xian entered the capital, you have always wanted to know the true whereabouts of the Five Bamboos. It’s a good thing that …… Fan Xian he has been hiding it even from me, so naturally, Your Majesty, you don’t know.”

“Why are you so jealous of Old Five?” Chen Pingping’s lips curled up in a mocking smile, “You’re afraid that Old Five will know about what happened back then and take that brazier and just come to the palace to kill you? As the Nine to Five, do you still still have someone to fear?”

His Majesty the Emperor suddenly laughed and shook his head, “No, it’s just that people like Old Five shouldn’t exist in this world, and return wherever they came from. You may not know, when Anzhi was in Tanyu, I asked Uncle Liuyun Shi to visit Old Five once, as long as Old Five hasn’t fully awakened, he is no threat to me, whatsoever.”

“This is what you have always believed, monsters like the Great Masters should not have existed in this world in the first place.” Chen Pingping said indifferently, “So I’m curious, then why are you still alive and not going to kill yourself and forget about it?”

These words were very vicious, yet the Emperor’s face did not tremble in the slightest, perhaps that emotion was brewing within him, yet at this time it still did not burst out.

Chen Pingping did not have the slightest bit of timidity, still said indifferently, “Back then, you transferred all of our people, and provoked the Empress that idiot to go crazy, and then let Qin Ye on the side to watch the manipulation of the bloodshed in Taiping courtyard, this looks simple, but in reality it is incomparably difficult, among the links as long as one of the problems, she… . may still not die.”

“A plot that is so simple and powerful that it has no flaws, only you, Your Majesty, are probably able to camp out in this world.”

Chen Pingping gently stroked the smooth armrests of the wheelchair and sighed, “Especially about the matter of the people coming from the temple, until now, I still haven’t figured out why, and why the temple would act according to your plan.”

“Perhaps it’s because you all had the same purpose originally, you all wanted to make her, a proud character, to be silently erased.” Chen Pingping looked at Emperor Qing with slight sarcasm.

Emperor Qing was silent for a long time and did not refute this inference, he just smiled gently and said, “You old dog, you have spent your whole life thinking about how to harm people, it is not difficult to think clearly about these things, I just never thought that you would be oblivious to this matter all the time.”

“Yet.” He aggravated his tone, “I …… did not kill her.”

“Yes, you didn’t kill her.” Chen Pingping laughed, laughed extremely strangely, “Our great Emperor, of course our great Emperor, would not personally kill that woman who had been a great benefactor to Qing Guo, of course you wouldn’t kill the great benefactor who helped the old Li family to sit on the dragon chair, of course you wouldn’t kill the woman that you adore most in your own heart, and of course you wouldn’t kill the real mother of your own son. ”

“Blood is very hard to wash away, of course you wouldn’t let blood flow onto your own hands.” Chen Pingping’s brow wrinkled extremely tightly, his voice forced out from the depths of his chest, chilling, “Your hands are still white, you will always be incomparably bright and correct, and those with blood on their hands are only those who are stupid or violent underneath the dragon chair ……”

“We avenged her and swept clean all the stubborn princes and nobles within Qing, how much blood was shed in Kyoto that night? On that night, all of the Empress and Empress Dowager’s relatives were killed off, did you laugh quickly?” Chen Pingping asked quietly, “All the light infused into your body, all the darkness and shamelessness attributed to your subjects and kinsmen, in the world, there is nothing more beautiful than this.”

“Of course you didn’t kill her.” Chen Pingping pursed her lips, coughed softly on one side, and said slowly, “Because you never moved a finger …… especially after the death of the old Qin family, there is no one in the world who knows everything in the darkness of that year anymore, and there is no one who has the evidence to say that it was you, Your Majesty, who personally manipulated the Taiping Buyeon bloodshed. ”

“However ……” this old cripple sitting in a black wheelchair shook his head slightly sarcastically, “you will never be able to convince yourself, nor will you be able to convince lackey me, nor will you be able to change this fact… . twenty-two years ago, you killed her with your own hands, killed a great …… no, a lonely woman who had just given birth to a son for you, at the weakest moment of her life.”

“There is nothing more despicable and shameless in the world than this.” After Chen Pingping finished this last sentence, her entire body looked exhausted, leaning back in her black wheelchair and slowly closing her eyes.

The emperor also slowly closed his eyes, his face which had been calm all along appeared a bit pale, he was silent for a long time before he softly said, “Not bad, it was me who killed her.”

Immediately, he opened his eyes, eyes a calm and solemn, said, “So what?”