Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 257: Patricide and Usurpation
The palace was very quiet in the evening. Except for a few palace maids chatting in the courtyard, there was no guard to be seen, because the guards had all gone out with the army. Lu Meng walked steadily with his four followers, even a little excited, because tonight he was going to ascend the throne he had been waiting for for so long.

When they arrived at the door of Lü Jia's bedroom, the palace maid saluted and was about to turn around to report to the king, but Lü Meng stopped her and said, "No need, I will go in and report myself!" Upon hearing this, the palace maid lowered her head and retreated to both sides. Lu Meng was the future King of the South, and the palace maids all understood this.

Lu Meng entered the bedroom alone. Although there was a light in the bedroom, it still felt dim. This was Lu Jia's habit. He went to bed very early and always kept a single lamp burning beside his bed. His life at this moment was like that single lamp, dim and uncertain.

What Lu Meng didn't expect was that although Lu Jia was asleep, he was sleeping on a chair. Opposite him sat his younger brother Lu Zhe, and there was a chessboard on the table between them.

Seeing Lü Meng coming in, Lü Zhe whispered, "Brother, why are you here to see father so late at night? What's the important matter?"

Lü Meng said, "I haven't asked you yet, why are you staying with your father so late instead of going back to your palace?"

Lu Zhe said, "Father asked me to play chess with him tonight. Perhaps Father was too tired these days and fell asleep while playing. It would be unfilial to leave without Father's permission. It would also be unfilial to disturb Father's rest. So, I have no choice but to wait here for Father to wake up before leaving."

Lu Meng said: "You are really filial! Go back, I have something to report to my father."

Lu Zhe asked, "What is so important that you have to disturb my father's rest?"

Lu Meng said: "You don't need to listen to this matter. You can leave. I will tell my father when he wakes up."

Lü Zhe had no choice but to stand up. When he passed by Lü Meng, he seemed to have guessed something and said, "Father only has two princes, my brother and I are not born of the same mother, but we both have father's blood flowing in our bodies. I hope my brother knows that we are the closest people in the world at all times."

Lu Meng sighed and said, "You don't need to remind me of this, young man. Go down now!"

After Lu Zhe left, Lu Meng stood in front of his father and looked at him for a long time. He was hesitating, as anyone would have been able to do at this time. After all, this was his biological father who had raised him, and perhaps in a few years, this old man would pass away.

But he couldn't wait. Anyone who had been waiting for that position since birth would get bored. He had been waiting for more than 30 years, and he had almost nothing to do except waiting. Moreover, he had a younger brother who was very smart. As long as he couldn't sit in that position, he would feel that his younger brother was a threat.

Lu Meng finally asked tentatively: "Father?"

Lü Jia did not wake up, leaning on the chair and sleeping soundly. Lü Meng's hands began to tremble. At this moment, he felt that he was a beast, but beasts were not necessarily as cruel as him. He muttered in his heart: "Father, please don't blame me. I was forced to do this by you. You are old and confused. You should have given the throne to me long ago. In a few years, I will be old. Even if I sit on the throne, I can only sit on the throne for a few more years. So I can't wait any longer. This painful wait must end. If you want to hate, you should hate that position. There will never be family affection in that position!"

Lu Meng took out a red handkerchief with trembling hands. This was the handkerchief given to him by Yu Sisi. As long as you sniff it, you will stop breathing instantly, and no one will notice that you died of poisoning.

When Lu Meng was about to cover Lu Jia's mouth and nose with his handkerchief, he suddenly discovered that Lu Jia had opened his eyes and was staring at him with a cold light in his eyes. Lu Meng was so scared that he almost fell to the ground, but he had made up his mind. He could no longer retreat. He quickly pounced on him, pressed the handkerchief on Lu Jia's mouth and nose, and held his head with his other hand.

Although Lu Jia was old, his strength was amazing when he was struggling to death. The table was kicked over, and the chess pieces rolled all over the floor. Lu Meng's face was also scratched with a bloody mark. He held Lu Jia to the ground with tears in his eyes. Although it was only a few moments, it was more difficult than waiting for so many years. Until Lu Jia stared with his eyes wide open and stopped struggling, and had lost all his strength, he cried and said, "Father, just rest assured!" He slowly retracted his still trembling hands, stood up, and put away the handkerchief.

"Father!" A cry came from behind Lu Meng. Lu Zhe rushed back, knelt down in front of the corpse, shook the corpse and shouted, "Father, wake up, wake up!" Seeing no response, he suddenly raised his head, pointed at Lu Meng and said, "You killed my father!"

Lu Meng wiped away his tears and said in a deep voice: "My father had already passed away when I came here, but you were too young to notice it."

Lü Zhe cried, "The throne will be yours in the end, and I will not fight with you. Why do you have to kill my father and do such a treasonous thing?"

Lu Meng said: "You are just a child who is not even twenty years old. No one will believe what you say. If you want to live, shut up and guard your father's coffin properly!" After saying that, he let out a long sigh, walked out of the bedroom, and told his entourage the news of Lu Jia's death.

The bad news spread quickly. Within half an hour, all the ministers of Nanyue had rushed to the palace. Paying tribute was secondary, and supporting the new king was the main point. That night, Lu Meng successfully ascended the throne.

After a secret discussion among Lu Meng, Shi Zecheng and Fang Yu, he issued the first royal decree, blocking the news of the Southern King's death, ordering the soldiers on the expedition to stay where they were, and General Xu to return to Panyu as soon as possible.

……

On the second day, everyone in the palace wore white mourning clothes and there were endless cries of grief. Lü Meng and Lü Zhe stood in front of the coffin while the ministers paid tribute. He Qian cried the loudest, and while crying he sang praises of the merits of the King of the South during his lifetime. He cried until he was hoarse. The ministers had no choice but to kneel down and cry with him for a long time.

Just when He Qian was crying inconsolably, there was a "dong dong" sound from the coffin. The sound was very loud. Lu Meng was closest to the coffin and was so frightened that he fell backwards to the ground.

All the ministers exclaimed in surprise as well. They saw the coffin lid slowly move and land heavily on the ground with a thud. Two hands stretched out and grabbed the coffin boards on both sides. Lu Jia actually sat up in the coffin with his eyes wide open.

Even in broad daylight, seeing this kind of thing, everyone was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. Lu Meng pointed at Lu Jia and stammered, "Father, you..." He was sure that the handkerchief that Yu Sisi gave him was definitely not bad, and that she had killed his father with her own hands. He would never believe that the father in front of him was a human being. Lu Jia stared at Lu Meng with his glasses, and said in a trembling voice, "You are a traitorous beast, and you have caused me to die with my eyes open!"

Lu Meng trembled and said, "Father, I didn't hurt you. No, don't scare me..."

"If it wasn't you who did it, where did the bloodstain on your face come from?!"

Lu Che pointed at Lu Meng and said, "I can testify that he was indeed the one who killed my father. The bloodstains on his face were caused by my father's struggle!" The ministers were still in shock and heard another horrifying thing. For a moment, they were at a loss.

Lu Meng said: "It's not me, it's not me, they forced me to do it!" and suddenly pointed at Shi Zecheng.

Shi Zecheng was staring at the resurrected Lü Jia with narrowed eyes. Seeing Lü Meng putting the blame on him, he snorted coldly and said, "Useless thing!" He stood up, stared at Lü Jia, walked forward steadily, and said in a deep voice, "The late king has passed away. Stop playing tricks here and framing a loyal and good man. Tell me who you are and where did you hide the late king's body?"

Someone among the ministers shouted: "He is the former king, there is no doubt about it!"

Before Shi Zecheng found out who was talking, he heard Lu Jia say, "Shi Zecheng, I have treated you well. You couldn't kill me in one go, and you wanted to kill me again in front of all the ministers. You really have a wolfish ambition. Come on, take him down!"

Shi Zecheng smiled up to the sky and said, "You want to see someone? Fine, I'll let you see someone!" He drew his sword and shouted, "Someone come here!" As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a group of people with weapons in their hands filing in. In a blink of an eye, they surrounded the palace. There were more than a thousand people.

Shi Zecheng calmly turned to the ministers, pointed his sword at Lü Jia and asked, "Who still thinks he is the former king?"

Seeing so many soldiers, the ministers dared not say a word. It was obvious that they were trying to kill the king and usurp the throne. They were afraid that they would be beheaded before they could even stand up.

Lu Zhe said: "What a bunch of cowards, my father was threatened, but no one dared to speak out!"

Fang Yu stood up and said with a smile: "A man who knows the current situation is a hero. If these soldiers were all the Third Young Master's men, I'm afraid all the officials would stand up and speak for the Third Young Master."

Lu Jia said, "Fang Yu, this must have been arranged by you in secret, right?"

Fang Yu said proudly: "You have been sitting on the throne for too long, it is time for a virtuous person to replace you!"

Lu Jia asked, "Do you think this rebellious son is more virtuous than me?"

Fang Yu laughed loudly and said, "How can he be called virtuous when he dared to kill his own father? Look at me carefully, am I more virtuous than you?"

Upon hearing this, Lü Meng pointed at Fang Yu and cursed, "How dare you deceive me, you traitor! Kill him now, cousin!"

Shi Zecheng smiled and said, "Master Fang, no, you should call me the King. You are right. Do you think a rebellious son like you is still qualified to sit on the throne? You even dared to kill your own father. What else can you not do?"

Lu Meng was stunned. All his waiting turned into a dream in an instant, and all that was left was regret and despair.

Fang Yu said to Lu Jia in a deep voice: "If you voluntarily give up your position in front of all the ministers, I will spare your lives for the sake of our past kindness. If you refuse, then I will have no choice but to reunite your family!"

Lu Jia suddenly laughed and said, "Your conspiracy is too boring. I really can't stand it anymore. It's not easy to be a father, and it's not easy to be a king either. Forget it, I won't play with you anymore. Just wait to die!" After that, he jumped out of the coffin.

Yang Yingjie, who was disguised as an attendant beside Fang Yu, shouted, "He is Jin Xingzi, kill him quickly!"

With a "whoosh..." sound, Jin Xingzi spewed out a long flame, which pounced on Shi Zecheng and others. Shi Zecheng was shocked and dared not resist. He quickly lay on the ground to avoid it. However, because he was a step slow, his hair became hot and turned into ashes in an instant.

At this time, Jin Xingzi had picked up Lu Zhe, stepped on his bald head, jumped high, and shouted, "You think you can keep me here!" Then he sprayed a fire dragon towards the soldiers who were rushing over. The soldiers could only lie on the ground covering their heads. Jin Xingzi jumped several times and was on the roof, running towards the city gate.

Fang Yu shouted, "Chase him!" Yang Yingjie and the old man in black robe also jumped onto the roof and chased after Jin Xingzi. The soldiers didn't have such light skills, so they could only follow him around. In a blink of an eye, the person on the roof could no longer be seen.

Shi Zecheng's bald head was pressed into the ground by Jin Xingzi's kick. After a while, he sat up drowsily with stars in his eyes. If the ministers didn't run away now, when would they wait? But they all had a question in their minds: this king was a fake, so where was the real king?

(End of this chapter)