My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Shu Jingwei's fury froze, gradually replaced by a deeper, almost absurd, bewilderment.

Her fingers, gripping the car window, turned white at the knuckles from the force, and her body began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.

No...it can't be...

"Search again!" She abruptly turned her head and screamed hysterically out of the car, "Search every house! He must be hiding! Dig three feet into the ground and find him!"

More soldiers rushed out upon receiving the order, and the sounds of banging on doors, searching, and exclamations gradually echoed throughout the entire Zhuque Street.

Time passed little by little.

After an unknown amount of time, the commander of the personal guards stumbled back, his face completely drained of color, and knelt down in front of the carriage.

He raised his head, his lips trembling, and he couldn't utter a complete sound several times.

"Your Majesty..." His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his voice trembling like leaves falling in the autumn wind.

"The entire Zhuque Street... has been searched... except for the adults' residences, which we didn't enter, everything else... everything else is empty!"

He squeezed out the last four words through his teeth, almost exhausting all his strength.

"..."

Inside the carriage, there was a deathly silence.

The imperial physician, huddled in the corner, was so frightened that he was limp as a board, his back pressed tightly against the cold carriage wall, holding his breath.

A pair of terrified eyes darted around in the dim light inside the carriage, staring at the stiff figure.

Shu Jingwei sat upright, her back taut like a fully drawn bow.

Her eyes were wide open, but her pupils were dilated and empty, as if she couldn't understand what she was hearing.

Her lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.

Ran?

They all ran away?

"Heh...heh..." A low, strange laugh suddenly escaped from her throat, starting softly but growing louder and more manic.

"Hahaha...hahaha! They ran away? They all ran away? Good! Very good!"

Shu Jingwei suddenly kicked the car door open!

The ornate, heavy carved wooden door slammed against the car with a loud bang, groaning under the strain.

She practically stumbled off the carriage, taking several steps before regaining her balance.

Her hair, which had been simply tied up to apply medicine, came undone again, and she looked completely frantic.

She suddenly stretched out her finger, pointing straight at the empty street in front of her, and roared angrily.

"Run?! Let's see where you can run to! Under heaven, all land belongs to the emperor! You rebellious people! You lowly people! I will capture you all one by one! I will execute you by slow slicing! I will tear you apart by chariots! I will exterminate your entire clan! I will leave not a single one alive—!"

The mad roar rampaged through the empty street, crashing against the doors on both sides and bouncing back mercilessly, creating layers of empty and mocking echoes that lingered for a long time.

This only amplifies the desolation of the world, as if she were the only one left, going mad while guarding an empty city.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles to the south, in Qingzhou County.

This place is now a noisy ocean.

The county government's plaque was trampled to pieces, the granary gate was wide open, and people in tattered clothes, with long-lost rosy cheeks, were queuing up to receive brown rice.

A burly man with a scar on his face stood on the steps of the county government office, surrounded by people. He held a waist knife that he had taken from an official, and the tip of the knife was still dripping blood.

"Fellow villagers!" The scarred man's voice boomed, carrying a fierce determination.

"We've taken Qingzhou County! But taking it isn't enough! That damned emperor won't let us off the hook! And those imperial soldiers won't let us go either!"

He raised his blood-dripping knife, pointing it to the sky: "To live, we must band together with more brothers who can't go on living!"

"I'm putting it out there today: those who are willing to join other rebel armies and accomplish great things, follow me!"

"If you want to take the grain and go home to guard your little plot of land, I won't stop you! But let me make this clear beforehand: if you get killed when the soldiers come, don't blame me for not warning you!"

"We brothers will all follow our eldest brother!"

"Revolt! We have no way to survive if we don't rebel!"

……

Countless similar scenes unfolded throughout the Great Flame Kingdom.

Ye Fan's tragic death was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Disappointment with the court, hatred for the emperor and his treacherous officials, the pain of being oppressed by ever-increasing taxes, and the desire to survive...

All these things that had been suppressed for far too long were ignited and catalyzed at this moment, transforming into the driving force of resistance.

In the water towns of Jiangnan, the northwestern border regions, the mountainous areas of Southwest China... in countless corners, sparks have already been lit.

……

Modern, inside a villa in Sanya.

The call was answered after a few rings, and a gentle yet weary female voice came from the other end: "Hello? Hello?"

"Dean, it's me." Lin Ye's voice unconsciously softened.

"Xiao Ye?" Lü Hongmei's voice brightened instantly. "Oh, why did you suddenly think of calling me? How have you been lately? Have you eaten yet?"

A series of familiar yet urgent words of concern suddenly brought tears to Lin Ye's eyes.

He steadied himself: "I'm fine. Dean, I... I've found Ye Fan."

"Really!?" Lu Hongmei's surprise almost overflowed through the airwaves.

"We found Xiaofan? That's great! This kid, I suddenly lost contact with him, and I couldn't sleep a wink for nights on end... Where is he now? Is he doing well? Why didn't he send a message to the hospital for so long? That brat!"

Hearing the urgent and concerned questions from the other end of the phone, Lin Ye fell silent.

All that could be heard through the receiver was a faint static and his heavy breathing.

From that unusual silence, Lü Hongmei keenly sensed something.

Her cheerful tone suddenly dropped, turning into a cautious probing: "Xiao Ye? Xiao Fan... what happened to him? Did something happen?"

Lin Ye closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again, trying to keep his tone calm.

"Ye Fan... had an accident. He's... gone. He left behind a daughter, who's now registered in my name."

"What!?" A short exclamation came from the other end of the phone, followed by a long silence that was unsettling.

After a long while, the dean's broken sobs, which he tried to suppress, were heard.

Lin Ye continued, "In the end... he asked me to take him back to the courtyard. He said... he missed home, and he missed you too..."

In the end, Lin Ye's originally steady voice finally trembled uncontrollably, carrying a hint of undisguised sobs.

"Xiao Fan..." On the other end of the phone, the dean's suppressed sobs finally turned into a broken cry, his sobs filled with unbearable grief.

It lasted for a long time before gradually turning into suppressed sobs and the sound of blowing one's nose.

When she spoke again, her voice was terribly hoarse, yet it carried a firm resolve: "Bring him back... Xiao Ye, bring Xiao Fan home. People... always have to return to their roots."

"Yes." Lin Ye responded emphatically, "My flight to Haicheng is this afternoon."

"Okay, okay... I'll come pick you up." Lü Hongmei's voice was still choked with sobs and broken, but she tried to appear calm.

"Xiao Fan... every time he came home for vacation, he would always pester me to pick him up from the station... I'll pick him up, I'll definitely go..."

She couldn't continue, and another suppressed sob came through. Before the sob could get louder, the other end of the phone hung up.

Lin Ye spent 1000 shock points to have the system issue a death certificate and ordered the best golden nanmu coffin.

The coffin was delivered to their door quickly, and Xiao Douzi had just woken up. Lin Ye took her to lunch.

Then, they had Ye Fan's body carried, and Xiao Douzi was carried onto the private plane that had just been booked for the flight route.

Soon, the plane landed in Haicheng.

As soon as I got off the plane, Lü Hongmei came to greet me.

She looked much older than when we last met; the white hair at her temples was striking, and her eyes were red and swollen, clearly indicating that she had been crying for a long time.

Lu Hongmei's gaze moved from Lin Ye to the little bag in Lin Ye's arms, and finally landed directly on the dark coffin being carried behind them.

She walked over step by step, her steps somewhat unsteady.

Upon reaching the coffin, she stretched out her hands, marked by hardship, and tremblingly touched the cold coffin lid.

Tears welled up silently again, winding their way down her wrinkles, which seemed to have deepened in an instant.

She opened her mouth, making a hoarse sound in her throat, and after several seconds, she finally choked out a broken but tender whisper.

"You're back... Xiao Fan... It's good that you're back... Mom has come to take you home..."