The sound of footsteps in the mansion was accompanied by the flames of flames. Lines of soldiers holding long weapons slowly pushed forward to the mansion in front. Amid the sound of shaking armor leaves, behind the high courtyard wall, four scholars carrying bookshelves on their backs stumbled and ran through the corridor, shouting loudly and pushing open the door of a room in front.
"Duke Yue!!"
The door opened, and dim light flickered in the room, illuminating a neatly dressed old man who was sitting at a desk holding a book.
Hearing the four people's words, he raised his eyelids, saw that it was them, smiled, and pointed to the nearby tables and chairs, not as majestic as usual.
"Come and sit down."
The four of them propped themselves up on their knees to catch their breath. One of them pointed outside and said, "Duke, we won't sit down anymore. If we sit down again, we probably won't have a chance to sit down again. Outside... outside..."
Wang Feng pushed him and took over the conversation.
"Duke, there are many soldiers outside. They are probably here to arrest you."
On the other side, Yang Su just smiled and didn't answer. He closed the book, stood up, patted Wang Feng on the shoulder, glanced at the four people's faces, and pursed his lips.
"You have been my disciples for quite some time. Unfortunately, I have not given you a chance to make a name for yourself. I am really sorry for that. I am afraid that you will be implicated."
"I'm sorry."
Yang Su repeated it, walked to a bookshelf, and took out a heavy package from the small door of the compartment below. He could hear a rattling sound from inside.
"I can't promise you a future, but take this little money. You four will have enough food and clothing in the future, and it will be worth it for you to follow me."
The four of them looked at each other, slowly stretched out their hands to take the package, tears appeared in their eyes, flickering in the firelight. Wang Feng took a deep breath, his voice choked.
"Duke, my four brothers have come all the way from Chen Chao's Nanxiang to Chang'an. We have gone through so much hardship and pain, but in the end, we have achieved nothing. We never thought that we would be loved by the Duke... Today, I will not leave!"
The other three people, with red eyes, nodded in unison: "We're not leaving!"
"Let's go."
The old man looked at them, shook his head, and pushed the four people out the door: "Why are you four accompanying me? If you stay, it will only add four more heads."
Thinking of the bloody scene, the four scholars subconsciously touched their necks and shuddered almost at the same time. Ma Liu, Zhang Ti, and Zhao Tang pulled their brother over, hesitated for a moment, raised their hands with tears in their eyes, and bowed heavily.
"Duke, take care!"
"Let's go!"
The four of them looked back every four steps to see the old man who was still under the eaves, turned around and bowed again, stuffed the package into the bookshelf, walked quickly to the side door of the villa, pulled out the bolt, and just as they opened the door, a gun with a cold metallic glow stabbed out and hit the four of them in the face.
"No one in the mansion can leave!"
There was a loud shout, and a moment later, ten... a hundred soldiers crossed the threshold and rushed into the yard. Soon the whole mansion gradually became chaotic.
The old man in the study in the atrium heard the noise and walked out of the room again. Under the eaves with lanterns on, a group of dark soldiers were accompanying four figures towards them.
Ma Liu raised his hands above his head tremblingly and forced a smile.
"Duke, we didn't leave..."
"Yang Su, accept the imperial edict!"
The soldiers surrounding the courtyard crowded the corridors and eaves. Under the eaves of the corridor in the front yard, Yuwen Chengdu walked out from the crowd with an open imperial edict in his hand.
"The emperor issued an edict, saying, there is a man named Yang Su, who was a minor acquaintance of the previous emperor and made great contributions to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty. However, although he is a duke, he does not care about his country and patriotism. He has accumulated wealth and power, deceived the emperor, acted arbitrarily, and had private relations with military generals. He is suspected of treason. As a cultivator, he does not uphold justice and uses human corpses to make puppets, which angers the heavens and the people..."
"shut up!"
Yang Su shouted loudly and majestically, and the sound made the tiles of the surrounding houses clang, causing the vigilant soldiers around to subconsciously take a step back.
The old man under the eaves pursed his lips, his gray beard fluttering slightly in the wind. He closed his eyes, then opened them again: "You guys just follow my orders and do the work. I won't make it difficult for you. If you want to arrest me, let Yang Guang come."
"snort."
Yuwen Chengdu had some experience after all, and the shock just now soon subsided. He tapped the gilded hammer in his hand on the ground, took a step forward, and shouted: "Duke Yue, you have no chance!"
As the voice fell, the front row of soldiers with guns stepped back, and the soldiers behind them holding copper basins quickly stepped forward and rushed over to scoop up the dark red blood in the basins.
Ten water curtains poured into the air. However, at the moment of flying away, Yang Su simply flicked his wide sleeves, and the black dog blood that was rushing towards him instantly flew back and splashed on the faces of the soldiers, making them look miserable.
"How could you possibly know how powerful my Taoist cultivation is?"
Over there, Yuwen Chengdu was stunned for a moment, looking at the blood all over the ground, and turned his head slightly to whisper to a soldier under his command: "I will delay here, you quickly go find His Majesty and call the Imperial Master!"
The soldier nodded and quietly retreated. The vacant position was quickly filled by other soldiers. Yuwen Chengdu kicked the end of the pole, holding the long sword in his hand, and shouted with blood and courage: "In accordance with the order of your majesty, capture Yang Su!"
"kill!"
He kicked up his feet and rushed straight to the eaves of the study. The soldiers around him shouted and swarmed forward with long weapons in hand.
…
In the darkness of night, a knight was galloping wildly on the street and found a restaurant not far from the main street of the Officials' Residence. He jumped off his horse and ran upstairs, knocked on the door of one of the rooms, and whispered a few words to the eunuch who stuck his head out. The eunuch nodded and walked to his seat, and whispered the news from the Duke's Mansion.
"Your Majesty, the black dog blood doesn't work, and Yang Su is clamoring for Your Majesty to go in person..."
… Leaning on the railing and looking at the scholar in the window… When will I be nominated on the list of kings… Don’t forget the prostitute in the Red Dust Pavilion…
The flowing candlelight, the soft singing of a woman, and the fluttering of long sleeves were heard. After listening to the eunuch's words, Yang Guang, who was sitting in the seat, narrowed his eyes, stood up abruptly, and walked straight to the door with his hands behind his back. The anxious eunuchs and guards hurried to follow him.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, where are you going?"
"Meet Yang Su!"
Once upon a time, when he first ascended the throne, the originally amiable Duke of Yue became a different person, just like Cao Mengde of the Han Dynasty. He was oppressed to the point of suffocation and almost gave up on himself. Now, he is the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, who can destroy a country with a single wave of his hand. How can he be timid anymore
"If I don't dare to face this old dog, wouldn't it make me look like a coward!"
Surrounded by a large crowd, the emperor walked straight across a street, kicked up the hem of his robe and walked into the Duke's Mansion with great strides. Without waiting for the guards to come up, he pushed aside the soldier who was blocking his way, passed through the densely packed soldiers, and when he arrived at the courtyard, he saw a burly figure flying backwards from afar and knocking down a pillar under the eaves.
There was a loud bang, the pillars broke, and the entire roof collapsed. The guards around shouted one by one, and used their bodies to form a human wall to support the emperor.
Tiles fell to the ground with a crash and shattered into pieces. In a cloud of dust, Yang Guang didn't even look at the mess at his feet. He continued walking forward and looked at the old man in front of the study opposite.
"Duke Yue, I'm here!"
"Come on!" The old man threw a soldier who had been caught in mid-air and was about to launch a sneak attack to the ground, dusted off his hands, stepped out of the roof, and spoke slowly.
"I followed the late emperor to build the Sui Dynasty, risking my life, first destroying the Northern Qi Dynasty, then the Chen Dynasty. Your ascension to the throne is also due to my contribution. Having served two dynasties, how can I not deserve this honor? You are just a newcomer to the throne, and you look down on my achievements. Even if the late emperor were still alive, he would not speak to me like this!!"
"Don't mention my father. If he were still here, he would kill you first after seeing your arrogance!"
The wind blew through the courtyard, and the old man walking around grinned and nodded: "Okay, then come and kill me!"
"Your Majesty, be careful!"
Yuwen Chengdu pushed open the collapsed eaves and saw that the figure of the old man opposite suddenly became blurred. He threw the weapon in his hand out with a swish. There was a clang sound over there. The moment the long weapon bounced into the sky, he rushed close to the emperor and bumped into Yang Su who was rushing towards him. The surrounding soldiers also rushed over like crazy.
The moment a soldier rammed the old man and he bounced back, more figures came forward with guns, but their attacks were blocked in the air and they flew back in all directions.
Yuwen Chengdu, who was standing in the front, had bloodshot eyes and the floor tiles under his feet were crushed to pieces. The emperor who was protecting him behind him drew out the sword from his waist with a clang, let out an angry roar of "Ah--", and passed by Yuwen Chengdu's side and stabbed towards the old man who was blocked by soldiers.
puff-
At a certain moment, time seemed to slow down. The tip of the sword pierced the cloth, and the sharp sword body tore open the flesh and blood, squeezing out countless blood beads that poured out.
Warm blood splashed on Yang Guang's face. He looked at the hilt of the sword in his hand, which slowly extended to the sword body that penetrated the old man's chest. His eyes moved upward in disbelief and looked at Yang Su's face. Drops of blood flowed over the corners of his mouth and onto his white beard.
For some reason, I didn't feel happy at all.
"Duke Yue... you..."
"His Majesty."
Blood gushed out of the wound. Yang Su opened his lips, revealing his red teeth. He nodded with difficulty, a smile on his face.
"Your Majesty... The future of the Sui Dynasty will be handed over to you."
The old man looked at the emperor, his body staggered, he took two steps back, and his gaze gradually looked up at the night sky. In the distance, there was a bright light floating, as bright as a star, hanging in the sky.
Once upon a time, he was still in his prime, and he and his brother also traveled a long distance to Qi State under such a night. In a blink of an eye, the surrounding enemy countries were destroyed, the former enemies were gone, and the respected brother also left. He has gone from a prime age to a head of gray hair...
I can finally put down my burden, and the future of this country will be handed over to the next generation.
Looking at the bright light floating in the night sky, it seemed to guide him to fly over. He saw his brother as if he was meeting him for the first time. He was dressed in a robe and smiled at him gently.
"I am Yang Jian!"
"Yang Su!"
"Haha, I didn't expect you and I have the same surname. Why don't we call each other brothers and attack Northern Qi together!"
…
In the last sight, the old man fell heavily into a pool of blood. He looked at the flickering bright light and smiled slightly.
"I would like to go with my brother."
"Duke!"
The four scholars who were being guarded sat on the ground and cried out. While struggling to get over, they also cried out. An old woman with gray hair pushed aside the soldiers and threw herself on the motionless old man on the ground, wailing loudly. She was captured by the soldiers and dragged to the backyard.
Yang Guang took a breath and his eyes became moist for some reason. He was about to ask people to collect the body when a strong wind suddenly blew up behind him. The soldiers retreated one after another. Then he saw a scholar walking towards him. With every step he took, the red lanterns under the eaves turned white, and the festive paper-cuts of the Lantern Festival also turned pale.
"National Master!"
The emperor immediately dropped the sword in his hand and rushed forward, a smile on his face: "The Imperial Master is a step late, didn't you see how I killed..."
"Your Majesty, please let the soldiers go out."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the pool of blood, a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, and he walked expressionlessly past the emperor who was speaking excitedly and approached the old man on the ground.
The surrounding soldiers retreated, and even the four scholars on the ground were taken away. Yang Guang noticed the look on the Imperial Master's face and called out in a low voice: "Imperial Master?"
Snap—
Lu Liangsheng turned around, raised his hand and slapped Yang Guang in the face with a loud crisp sound.
"National Master?! You—"
Before the emperor could react, another slap came on the other side of his face. Yang Guang was completely stunned and stood there at a loss, watching the expressionless scholar pick up the old man's body and walk to the main hall in the atrium.
"His Majesty."
Lu Liangsheng paused under the eaves, then walked straight into the hall, put the old man in his arms on the table, closed the old man's empty eyes, and his voice spread outside.
"These two slaps are for the late emperor and Duke Yue."
Outside, the wind died down.