The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 482 The Emperor (Part 11)

At the foot of Yinshan Mountain, most of the antique soup shops have been reduced to ruins. In the valley, campfires gradually spread out. Because there were no tents, both prisoners and Qin King's followers rested in the open.

Fortunately, there were still a few rooms in the shop that were barely intact, so they naturally became temporary shelters. In one of the rooms, the dim firelight cast Xiao Yan's long shadow on the wall, swaying slightly.

Jiang Chen remained unconscious. She lay quietly on the leather rug, her long eyelashes tightly closed, her faint breathing almost imperceptible, but much more stable than before. Xiao Yan sat by the couch, completely enveloping Jiang Chen's cold hands in his warm palms, his gaze heavy, fixed on her pale, paper-like face.

That once radiant and stunningly beautiful face was now stained with dried blood and dust, like a beautiful jade covered in grime. In the past, it would have been unimaginable that she would care so little for her own appearance.

Xiao Yan held a damp piece of fine linen and gently wiped away the remaining dirt from her forehead and cheeks.

However, just as the cloth touched the last stain on the surrendered minister's cheek, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and paused for a moment. But he simply wiped the stain clean more carefully, then withdrew his hand, carefully washed and wrung out the stained cloth in the warm water basin beside the bed, before standing up.

He glanced at her again before turning around, silently pushing open the wooden door, and walking out.

Outside the door, the night wind howled. On the half-collapsed roof ridge, Ying Gou's small figure stood with her hands behind her back, gazing into the distance towards Yinshan Mountain.

Outside the shop, Hou Qing leaned against a tree trunk, leisurely playing with a bone flute. Seeing Xiao Yan come out, he straightened up and, from a distance of a few steps, clasped his hands in a gesture of greeting.

Xiao Yan nodded slightly in response, then also pressed his belt and looked towards the distant Yinshan Mountains.

Most of the snow on Yinshan Mountain had been swept away by the previous avalanche, leaving only scattered white patches dotting the mountainside. The aftershocks of the avalanche had long since subsided. Although it had alarmed many soldiers, the camp was relatively calm at the moment, except for the crackling of the campfire and the low groans of the wounded.

But immediately afterward, a very subtle yet terrifying tremor came from the depths of the earth, rushing up Xiao Yan's feet and straight to the top of his head.

“This is…” Hou Qing raised an eyebrow, his gaze shifting from Yinshan to the luminous hook on the roof ridge.

"It's none of my business." Ying turned her head without turning back, her face expressionless, her small hands crossed in front of her chest. Only her red eyes turned slightly, glancing at Xiao Yan below with an ambiguous meaning.

Xiao Yan gazed at the imposing scene atop Yin Mountain, but merely squinted and pondered for a long time without offering any comment.

Dokoho is known as the Holy One of the Northern Desert. There are countless filial sons and grandsons and shamans around her. Making a good use of her would be a good way to win over the hearts of the people of the grasslands. But why would Xiao Yan need a Dokoho who is deified and worshipped?

It was somewhat unexpected that Yuan Tiangang would personally handle this matter, and that he would choose this particular time.

Such power is unmatched in the world, except perhaps by Yuan Tiangang. When Xiao Yan left Yinshan with the surrendered officials, he knew who had subdued Duokuohuo.

Just then, a faint groan, accompanied by a breathy sound, sounded behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

Xiao Yan turned around almost instantly, his figure as swift as lightning, and strode back into the room in a few steps. The wooden door closed gently behind him, shutting out the cold wind and inquiring gazes from outside.

The surrendered minister's eyelashes trembled violently, and after several attempts, he finally managed to open his peach blossom eyes with difficulty.

Since leaving Bianjing, those eyes have lost not only their cunning and charm, but also a sense of bewilderment and indescribable weariness, fragile and empty.

Her gaze first swept vaguely across the roof, and then she finally caught sight of the familiar figure by the bed, a figure so familiar that it made her soul tremble.

He sat by the bed, the dim firelight outlining his serene profile, as reassuring as ever. Just as her gaze fell upon him, a large, calloused yet unusually warm hand, carrying the tender touch she had longed for countless times in her dreams, gently caressed her cheek.

Her pale lips twitched slightly, then she turned her head away, as if she had exhausted all her remaining strength, before speaking in a deliberately cold tone that sounded almost aggrieved.

"Who gave you permission to come..."

The hand paused slightly on her cheek. Xiao Yan chuckled. He gently cupped the face that the surrendered woman had deliberately turned away, his gaze lingering on her smooth forehead, as if considering whether he should wipe it again.

"It's because Li Cunxu is too strong, we can't beat him."

He spoke with a smile and gentle tone, "I can't go back to Bianliang, so I had no choice but to stay at your shop for a while and ask for a bowl of tea. Who would have thought that a dignified surrendered official and manager would not run the shop properly but instead practice some evil kung fu, leaving me, the customer, to clean up the mess. Oh well, consider it a favor."

With his cheek cupped in his warm palm, the surrendered minister was forced to turn to him. But his peach blossom eyes, still tinged with tired bloodshot veins, were now wide open in an effort.

"Who...who needs your help to clean up?"

Whether it was because she had regained some of her strength or because Xiao Yan was there, her voice unconsciously rose, and a hint of color even appeared on her pale cheeks. "It wasn't me... I sent you here. You couldn't beat them yourself, so you hid here and are now trying to blame me? What do you mean by 'repaying a favor'? Your Highness, the Prince of Qin, you're really something!"

The more she talked, the angrier she became, or rather, the less she knew how to hide her embarrassment and helplessness. She tried to pull her face away from his grasp, but compared to Xiao Yan, her strength was not much stronger than that of a newborn kitten; it was more like an awkward act of coquetry.

"There's no tea, and the shop's closed down too. Go wherever you want to get water, just don't get in my way!"

She turned her face away angrily, looking as if she wanted to sever all ties, but while she spoke harshly, her gaze involuntarily lingered on his face, as if to confirm whether he was truly no match for Li Cunxu.

Xiao Yan's smile almost overflowed. He released his hands from her cheeks, allowing her to turn her head away completely like a startled quail, leaving only a slightly undulating back view facing him, revealing a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

Then, Xiao Yan picked up a bowl of medicinal soup from the low table next to him, took a sip to test the temperature, warmed it up with his internal energy, and then walked to the other side of the bed.

"Since that's the case, I know I've ruined Miss Jiangchen's plans, so I'll just have to use this bowl of medicine I prepared myself to make up for the favor I owe her."

As he spoke, the medicine bowl was naturally brought to Jiang Chen's lips. The bitter smell of the medicine instantly rushed over, and Jiang Chen frowned at the taste. She subconsciously wanted to turn her face away, but Xiao Yan's hand had already firmly supported the back of her neck with an irresistible force, fixing her weak struggle.

Xiao Yan gently touched Jiang Chen's thin lips with the rim of the bowl.

"Open your mouth."

"Well……"

The surrendered minister let out a dissatisfied whimper and was forced to swallow a mouthful of extremely bitter and unpalatable medicine. Although she knew the ingredients as soon as it entered her mouth, her beautiful features still scrunched up.

She struggled to push away his wrist holding the bowl, but her strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree. She finally managed to swallow the medicine, panting, her peach blossom eyes filled with tears—half from the bitter taste of the medicine, half from anger, and a hint of resentment at being forced to take it.

"You think a bowl of lousy medicine can make up for a favor..."

After finally managing to get the medicine down her throat from Xiao Yan, who had a half-smile on his face, she caught her breath and then said angrily, "You, surnamed Xiao, owe me a lot. Ever since Luoyang... you've owed me your life several times over. And in Yuyang, in Guanzhong... wasn't I the one who cleaned up your messes every single time?"

The more she talked, the more convinced she became of herself. She raised her chin slightly, and although her complexion was still frighteningly bad, she maintained the perfect posture of a creditor.

"You think you can wipe out years of debt with just one bowl of medicine? So what if it was personally prepared by the King of Qin? Dream on!"

Xiao Yan casually placed the empty bowl back on the low table, then took a clean cloth and naturally wiped away the brown medicine stains remaining on her lips.

Although the surrendered minister was furious, the touch of the fingertips that brushed his lips through the cloth brought a tingling sensation, which also made his heart itch.

Then, Xiao Yan responded, listening to the lingering breaths of the surrendered official, and said matter-of-factly, "My life is indeed quite valuable. These debts sound like a messy affair, and it seems I can never pay them off."

He leaned slightly forward, casually resting his elbow on the edge of the couch, closing the distance between them. Jiang Chen snorted and tried to dodge, but Xiao Yan gently pulled her back. Then, looking at her slightly widened eyes, he chuckled teasingly.

"However, is Miss Jiangchen being so meticulous because she's afraid I'll run away without paying my debts? Don't worry, I've accumulated quite a bit of wealth, which should be enough to slowly repay all the debts you've incurred over the years. Of course, I'll have to repay them myself. I'm afraid you'll have to make do and stay by my side for a hundred or two hundred years."

The surrendered minister was speechless for a moment because of his almost shameless response. She subconsciously wanted to refute him and continue to accuse Xiao Yan of being shameless, but the words "one hundred and eighty years" seemed to have a strange magic power, hitting her heart directly, and even the momentum she had been holding up was greatly reduced.

She could only turn her face away again, leaving Xiao Yan with a soft hum with a thick nasal tone.

"Who cares?"

Both men were silent for a moment, and then, as if he had finally found some support, the surrendered minister's muffled voice came from his back.

"Stop with your sweet talk, I won't go with you." She paused, as if gathering her strength, or as if convincing herself, "I have my own way of stabilizing my cultivation technique, I don't need you to tell me what to do."

Xiao Yan straightened up, his tall figure casting a deeper shadow in the flickering firelight, enveloping the figure on the bed who had never appeared so vulnerable yet so stubborn. He did not refute or argue, but calmly stated a fact that he had just confirmed.

"Dokhoho is gone."

The surrendered minister trembled violently, and her slightly undulating back, which was turned away from Xiao Yan, instantly froze.

She whirled around abruptly, then paused, looking at him as if she weren't even looking at him. Her gaze pierced through Xiao Yan, landing on a vague, indistinct point. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Only in her eyes did something silently shatter and crumble. Xiao Yan sighed softly, but remained calm as he said, "The so-called Nine Gai, Ying Gou has already explained it to me in detail. You yourself understand that it's nothing more than a lie told by a prisoner unwilling to endure three hundred years of confinement, nothing more than a dream that has deceived you for two hundred years."

"What do you know?!" The surrendered minister struggled to his feet, tears streaming down his face. "That was Siyu Dan's last wish, my path, my way! Two hundred years... Xiao Yan, what right do you have? What right do you have to trample it into the mud with just a few words!"

Xiao Yan frowned, pressing one hand heavily on the violently heaving shoulder of the surrendered woman, forcibly pushing her back onto the bed. At the same time, he reached out with his other hand, cupping her cheeks and forcing her resentful, unfocused, and desperate eyes to focus on his face.

"I don't understand?" Xiao Yan's voice was low, as if carrying a fierce edge, almost like gnashing teeth. "All I see is you burning yourself out for a vague, intangible lie, almost turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating in the wind on Yin Mountain. I don't care who Si Yudan is. But she risked her life to send you out so that you would live, live well! Not so that you would die for her damned, invisible and intangible Jiu Gai!"

The surrendered minister had his face cupped in his hands, his gaze forcibly fixed. In those eyes, completely blurred by tears, surged the excruciating pain of having his faith utterly denied, the despair and resentment of having his illusions shattered.

"You don't care who Si Yudan is?! Of course you don't care! You are the high and mighty Prince Qin, how could you understand! She is... she is the one who pulled me out of a pile of corpses, the one who kept me alive, the only one who told me there was still hope..."

She gasped for breath, trying to gather her last strength to refute Xiao Yan's words, but when she stared intently into Xiao Yan's eyes, which were so close to hers, she realized that there was no familiar playfulness or gentleness in them, only a deep anger and a kind of fear that she had never seen before...
Seeing that look in his eyes, the surrendered minister opened his mouth, but all the sounds were stuck in his throat, and in the end, they only turned into a low sob that was choked up and intermittent.

"You, what gives you the right to decide for me..."

The anger and questioning in her voice disappeared, leaving only endless grievances and confusion. Tears silently streamed down her face, soaking Xiao Yan's hands that were cupping her cheeks.

The stubbornness that the surrendered minister had maintained for two hundred years finally crumbled completely at this moment, in front of the person before her, revealing her most vulnerable and helpless heart. She no longer tried to push him away, but simply let him hold her, like a rag doll whose strength had been drained, crying silently.

Xiao Yan held her tear-streaked face in his hands, his heart filled with a deep sigh and bitterness.

After years of entanglement, he finally truly entered this proud yet wounded heart. This arrogant, domineering, and even unreasonable older sister has always been strong, confident, and reassuring.

She could toy with his feelings, and she could also entangle him through actions that were either sincere or deceptive, making him gradually reluctant to let her go, just like right now.

But at this moment, she was simply so vulnerable in his arms.

He gently pulled her slender, trembling back into his arms, his hand stroking the back of her head, and pulled her completely into his embrace. He whispered, "So she kept you alive just so that you would turn yourself into this state today and be buried on this Yin Mountain?"

"I don't understand your Tao, nor do I understand your Nine Realms. But I do understand one thing: only by living can one repay debts."

He put his arm around her back and stroked her long hair. His touch wasn't gentle, but it carried an almost domineering sense of solidity, as if he wanted to support her entire collapsing world.

"Your life was given to you by Si Yudan. This is a debt you owe her, but only you can repay it. You must live, live well. Live longer than anyone else, live better than anyone else. This is the greatest repayment to her. If you bury yourself like this, you will truly crush her last thought into the mud."

He felt the body in his arms tremble slightly.

"As for Jiugai... I don't know what Jiugai looks like in Siyudan's words, nor do I care. But I do know that Bianjing and Luoyang are very large cities, the grasslands of the northern desert are vast, the mountains of Raojiang are very high, and the rice produced in the Central Plains can feed millions of people... These things are visible and tangible; they are right there."

He straightened the surrendered woman's body, gently wiped away the tears on her face, and then pointed to the slightly old wooden door at the entrance, as if the whole real world was outside the door.

"The path you seek, your way, is not found in a mere fabricated lie, nor in some vague fantasy. It is outside, in this land scorched by war, yet painstakingly reclaimed by us. It is in those flesh-and-blood people who can cry and laugh."

He withdrew his hand, his gaze returning to her stunned, tear-filled eyes.

"Come back with me. See for yourself if I can build something more tangible for you on this land that you can see and touch, something more real than that ethereal Jiugai."

The surrendered minister stared blankly at him, her beautiful eyes, washed by tears, still empty, but as if pricked by something, they contracted slightly.

“If you can’t make it,” Xiao Yan lowered his head, grabbed the surrendered minister’s hand, intertwined their fingers, and chuckled, “then you can kill both of us, take me to Si Yudan to complain that I’m incompetent. Perhaps it won’t be too late.”

The surrendered official's lips trembled violently; he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

These absurd yet strangely promising words surged into her heart like a torrent, leaving her teetering on the brink of collapse.

This torrent was not gratitude, nor dependence; it even surpassed those vague, previously ignored feelings of excitement.

is love.

A love that is thorough, irredeemable, and impossible to deceive oneself about.

She finally saw things clearly, and could no longer escape them.

The man before her, in her most vulnerable, desperate, and fragile moment, did not deceive her with false lies or empty promises. He shattered her illusions with calm clarity and then, with unwavering responsibility, provided her with a safe haven.

He saw through her vulnerability, yet never underestimated her; he suppressed her stubbornness, yet never gave up. He abandoned a direct confrontation with a powerful enemy, coming personally to bring her back from Yinshan, seeking only to keep her alive.

He was even willing to die with her, to complain to the being she regarded as a god!
"Woo..."

Unable to contain himself any longer, the surrendered official pressed his forehead against Xiao Yan's chest and wept bitterly.

She stopped struggling, no longer trying to maintain her pitiful pride. Her body seemed to have completely lost its strength, and she leaned heavily into his arms, her tears instantly soaking his robes.

She reached out a hand and gripped Xiao Yan's shirt tightly, as if it were the only thing she could hold onto that would never crumble. The force was immense, heavier than ever before.

"...You said it yourself..."

Amidst the sobs, the surrendered minister managed to squeeze out a few words, but still clung tightly to his clothes.

Xiao Yan didn't respond, yet it seemed as if he did respond, simply holding her firmly, as if bearing all her weight and all her tears.

"..."

On the roof ridge, Ying smiled faintly and lightly jumped off the roof.

"Give me some wine."

Hou Qing glanced at her strangely, then looked thoughtfully at the house in the distance that was emitting a faint firelight, and blinked.

Ying remained expressionless and ignored him.

Hou Qing turned around instantly and burst into a rare long laugh, the clear laughter echoing through the long night.

"Drought Demon, where did my sister bury that jar of Jiannan Shaochun last time?"

"Uh...why are you asking this?"

"Tonight, let's raise a toast!"

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P.S.: Xiao Yan is about to become emperor, and there are several options for the name of the country. I had already posted them in the book review section and group, but only eighty people participated so far, so many readers may have overlooked them. Therefore, I am posting them in the main text so that everyone can vote or discuss them together. To vote, simply leave a comment after your preferred name of the country, and the highest vote will be selected. You cannot vote for more than one country.

[Tang Dynasty]: Blood was offered at the Imperial Ancestral Temple to avenge the shame of Emperor Zhaozong. The old order was restored and a new chapter was opened, the imperial lineage was established to suppress the false emperor.

[Song]: He rose to prominence in Bozhou, Song Dynasty, and later served as the military governor of Guide. His royal enterprise began at the Bian River, and he was born in the year of the Fire element, replacing the Liang Dynasty.

[Ming Dynasty]: The sun and moon shine brightly again, and the mountains and rivers are rebuilt. The three-hundred-year-old system of regional military governors is broken, and a path for the poor to enter for ten thousand generations is opened.

【Ning】: To stop war is true martial prowess, and the people will find peace. This is not a continuation of the Li and Liang dynasties, but rather an adherence to the will of Heaven.

[Xia]: Yu's tripod shone brightly again, and he reformed and revitalized the country. He unified the nine regions in the central plains and pacified the four seas with the correct calendar.

[Yan]: The dragon rose from Youji, and the iron cavalry swallowed the barbarians. They swept across the vast desert into the royal domain, breaking down the gates of powerful families and opening the cold steps of the capital.

[Zhou]: Civil and military reforms were implemented, and the abdication was carried out in accordance with Heaven's will. Military power was centralized in the central government, and new policies were established to overthrow the old Tang dynasty.

(End of this chapter)