Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 248 is like a tragedy performed by a third-rate theatrical troupe that has gone awry, leaving the world with nothing but endless ridicule and fodder for gossip.
The cold rain began to fall again over Taihu Lake.

On the pier, Qian Qianyi stood in a disheveled state. His soaked Confucian robe clung tightly to his thin body, as if it were not clothing to cover his body, but a shroud soaked with shame.

The buzzing whispers and snickers around him were like countless annoying flies buzzing into his ears, but he had no time to pay attention to them at the moment.

"I was... I was acting under orders, I had no choice..."

Qian Qianyi wiped the water droplets from his face, which were indistinguishable between rainwater and lake water, and mumbled incoherently, as if speaking to the three people in front of him, or perhaps to himself.

He forced himself to stop looking at those faces filled with contempt and resentment, turned around, and walked back to the young scholar who had been temporarily spared because of his misstep, ready to continue his dirty deal.

However, just as Qian Qianyi staggered forward, preparing to extend that evil hand once again, a heart-wrenching roar, filled with utter despair and venom, suddenly rang out behind him like a thunderclap, instantly drowning out all the noise in the room!

"Qian Qianyi—! You shameless old scoundrel! We were blind to have considered you our teacher! Even in death, I will drag you down with me to the afterlife!!"

It's Wu Yingji!

This roar was devoid of any scholarly elegance, nor was it a heroic lament before death; rather, it was the most resolute curse squeezed from the deepest part of the soul by the betrayed!
The hatred contained in that voice seemed to make even the cold rain boil!

In an instant, all the snickers, all the whispers, all the commotion ceased with that roar.

All eyes turned in horror to the source of the sound—the young scholar with his hands tied behind his back, looking like a madman.

They saw that Wu Yingji's eyes were bloodshot, his face was covered in bulging veins, and his expression was twisted like that of a demon from hell. His chest heaved violently, as if he wanted to roar out his lungs.

In that instant, he was no longer a helpless scholar, but a lone wolf cornered in a corner, burning out all his life force just to launch a final, fatal blow.

Qian Qianyi trembled from the roar. He turned around in astonishment and met a pair of eyes burning with madness.

A chill that emanated from the depths of his heart was even colder than the lake water that had just soaked him, instantly spreading throughout his entire body.

The change happened in the blink of an eye!

Wu Yingji let out a roar that sounded inhuman, and he suddenly poured all his strength into his right shoulder, slamming it hard to the side!

The Imperial Guard captain escorting him was completely distracted by Qian Qianyi's comical antics and the surrounding chatter, never expecting that this seemingly weak scholar would launch such a violent attack at this moment.

Caught off guard, he was knocked back by the force of the impact, his feet slippery, and he stumbled back two steps, his hands empty.

It's that fleeting moment!

Wu Yingji was like a bull that had broken free of its shackles. He didn't even try to untie the ropes binding him, but instead gathered all his strength into his body.

He lowered his head, hunched his back, and pushed off the slippery wooden plank with all his might. He transformed into an arrow released from a bow and charged fiercely toward Qian Qianyi, who had just turned around and was looking on in astonishment!
Qian Qianyi's pupils dilated instantly, and the face distorted by fear and madness rapidly approached in his eyes.

He opened his mouth wide in terror, his throat making a hoarse sound, wanting to scream and try to dodge!

However, his aging body, weakened by wine and women and recently traumatized by falling into the water, was no longer under his control.

Qian Qianyi's legs felt as heavy as lead, limp and powerless. Apart from futilely moving half a step backward, he had no time to make any effective response.

The Imperial Guards around them were also stunned by this sudden and unexpected turn of events.

They were too close, and Wu Yingji's outburst was too swift and too sudden. From the moment he pushed aside his companion to the moment he rushed toward Qian Qianyi, the whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

They shouted angrily, trying to step forward to stop them, but it was too late!

"boom!"

A dull, thud, like the sound of rusted leather, rang out.

Wu Yingji's head and shoulders, carrying all the resentment and despair of his life, slammed solidly into Qian Qianyi's withered chest.

Qian Qianyi's frail body was as fragile as a rotten branch in the face of this overwhelming force that seemed to be heading towards death.

"what--!"

A short, piercing scream burst from Qian Qianyi's throat, only to be shattered by the wind and rain.

His body flew backward like a tattered sack, tracing a brief and awkward arc in the air.

Immediately afterwards, with a loud "plop," Qian Qianyi was slammed into the Taihu Lake, which he had just been so disgusted with, finding it "too cold," creating a large splash of murky water mixed with rain. After this earth-shattering impact, Wu Yingji himself was also thrown to the edge of the pier by the enormous inertia, almost falling into the lake as well.

But with a sudden push of his legs, he managed to steady himself on the slippery wooden board!

Wu Yingji stood at the end of the pier, his blood-red eyes fixed on Qian Qianyi, who was sinking and floating in the water, a maniacal and ferocious smile on his face.

He wanted to watch with his own eyes as this shameless old scoundrel was swallowed up by his own cowardice in this "too cold" water!

In the lake, Qian Qianyi was struck with such force that he felt as if his chest had been hit by a battering ram, his internal organs were dislocated, he couldn't catch his breath, and his whole body became numb and unable to move.

Lake water rushed into his mouth and nose, and he choked on it twice. A violent feeling of suffocation instantly gripped him.

Even worse, the water-soaked Confucian robe he was wearing now felt as heavy as iron armor, dragging his decaying body frantically toward the deeper, darker bottom of the lake.

At that moment, the intense will to survive overwhelmed all the pain.

He can't die! He doesn't want to die!
With tremendous effort, Qian Qianyi finally broke free from the suffocating dizziness, frantically waving his arms, trying to float to the surface and make a final cry for help.

"Help... help..."

He managed to peek out halfway and had just managed to utter a muffled syllable when a dark shadow loomed over his head!

It's Wu Yingji!

Standing on the edge of the pier, Wu Yingji saw Qian Qianyi still struggling and calling for help, and a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

With a roar, he suddenly leaped into the air amidst the horrified gazes of the crowd. Then, with his right foot in mid-air, he used all his strength to stomp down hard onto Qian Qianyi's face underwater, a face filled with terror and pleading!
"boom!"

This kick was like a mountain pressing down, landing precisely on Qian Qianyi's face!
Water splashed wildly across the lake.

People only saw Qian Qianyi's head, which had just poked out, sink back into the lake, his figure instantly disappearing into the murky water.

Finally, only a long string of fine bubbles remained, bubbling and rising from underwater, then bursting one after another into nothingness.

……

The pier was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden and extremely tragic scene.

From Wu Yingji's rise to Qian Qianyi's downfall, it was only a matter of a few breaths.

A meticulously planned public debate ended in such a dramatic way.

Li Ruolian, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stood on the pier the whole time, observing everything with a cold eye.

His face was expressionless, showing neither regret for Qian Qianyi's death nor surprise at Wu Yingji's bravery, as if he were simply watching a play that had nothing to do with him.

"Seize Wu Yingji." Li Ruolian's voice remained icy. "Take him back to await His Majesty's judgment."

Several Imperial Guards officers immediately stepped forward and dragged Wu Yingji, who had fallen into the lake due to exhaustion and inertia, out of the water and onto the cold, wet planks of the pier.

He was soaked to the bone, his face ashen, but he didn't resist. He just smiled foolishly, his gaze never leaving the spot where Qian Qianyi had sunk, muttering repeatedly, "Retribution...this is retribution..."

Li Ruolian shifted her gaze from the mad, demonic young man to the still calm Taihu Lake, which had just swallowed a life.

Raindrops fell on the lake, creating ripples that spread out as if nothing had happened.

Qian Qianyi is dead.

He eventually died in this Taihu Lake.

He died not for loyalty to the emperor, not for integrity, not for the moral principles he had talked about all his life, but because of his own cowardice and betrayal.

He refused to cross the lake to express his resolve because he was afraid that the water was too cold. In the end, he was thrown into Taihu Lake in the most undignified and humiliating way by a desperate scholar and drowned there!

His death was utterly undignified, even somewhat comical, like a third-rate theatrical troupe's disastrous performance, leaving the world with nothing but endless laughingstock and fodder for conversation!

(End of this chapter)