BLHO Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Those Who Dwell on the Past Must Die

Candle tears congealed into bloody scabs in the lamp.

Gu Huan’s brush tip hovered over the imperial edict, the ink blotting the rice paper with a black stain the size of a broad bean.

Beneath the Grand Diviner’s black robe came the brittle sound of dislocated bones, his withered fingers twisting at a bizarre angle.

“What Imperial Sister did today, I can actually understand.” Gu Huan opened his eyelids, looking at Princess Meng Ning, and said with a sigh, “Your machinations are not entirely because you crave imperial power, but more because you resent that over the years, Empress Dowager loved me more than you.”

“Is that so?”

Princess Meng Ning remained silent.

“But do you know, in Empress Dowager’s heart, the one she truly loved was actually you.”

The candle was almost burned out, but he showed no anxiety, calmly putting down the brush in his hand, his deep gaze lost in memories.

“I still remember, the year Imperial Sister was thirteen, she contracted smallpox, and Empress Dowager stayed by your bedside all night, for a whole month, never leaving your side.” He lowered his eyes and smiled bitterly, “Who knew that at that time, I also contracted the disease along with Imperial Sister, a narrow escape from death. Before the gates of hell, only Li Yuliang, a eunuch, accompanied me. All the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital were busy diagnosing and treating Imperial Sister, and Empress Dowager didn’t even come to see me.”

Such distant events were long forgotten by Princess Meng Ning.

“If you have resentment, you should go complain to Empress Dowager. What’s the use of telling me?”

“I have no resentment.” Gu Huan put on a relieved attitude, “I’m just sad for Empress Dowager. Imperial Sister doesn’t know, in the days before Empress Dowager’s death, she leaned on the palace gate every day, counting the falling leaves, grieving and heartbroken for Imperial Sister’s passing, until her last breath, she still clutched Imperial Sister’s jade pendant in her hand, refusing to close her eyes, saying she was sorry to Imperial Sister… And Imperial Sister, since you are still alive in this world, you are unwilling to see Empress Dowager, even attend her state funeral, all for your own selfish desires. If Empress Dowager knew in the afterlife, how sad would she be…”

Princess Meng Ning showed not a single trace of emotion. “Don’t worry, after I find out the truth about Empress Dowager’s death in the future, I will settle accounts with you as well.” She moved closer to Gu Huan’s face. Though they were blood relatives, they only looked at each other with coldness. “As a daughter, it is right and proper for me to avenge her, but as for her ending, I only have two words: self-inflicted.”

Gu Huan looked at her in a dubious manner, “Imperial Sister, if you say that, Empress Dowager will really shed tears…”

He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on the Grand Diviner again.

The other party’s body was painfully twisted, and two lines of bright red, glaring blood tears fell silently.

Upon seeing his appearance clearly, everyone around was surprised.

Princess Meng Ning had agreed with the Grand Diviner to put on a show together, but at this moment, she was also at a loss as to what was happening and why things were playing out this way.

The next moment, the Grand Diviner was facing her direction, wanting to approach her, but with each step he took, it was as if his feet weighed a thousand pounds.

His blood-tear-filled eyes stared intently at her, and he opened his mouth to her in pain, wanting to call her name. Before he could speak, a pool of filthy blood spewed from his mouth, making for an extremely horrifying scene.

The shadow guards disguised as Taoists were shocked and drew their swords, preparing for battle, but hesitated because the Grand Diviner was one of their own, and also because the scene was too bizarre for them to know how to react.

“Meng Ning…” The Grand Diviner fell into the pool of filthy blood, breathing with difficulty, but still tried his best to call out her name.

Almost subconsciously, Princess Meng Ning silently called out, “Empress Dowager…”

At the moment when everyone was distracted, Gu Huan acted quickly, overturning the candlestick.

The moment the flames licked the scroll, the dragon-patterned desk suddenly flipped over, and a gust of wind, carrying the stench of decay, surged from the hidden passage. Gu Huan dove into the passage, and in an instant, the desk closed again, and Gu Huan disappeared without a trace.

Princess Meng Ning came back to her senses, no longer caring about the Grand Diviner’s oddity, and quickly searched for the mechanism to the hidden passage.

Everything happened too fast, and no one saw exactly where Gu Huan had moved.

“Seal off all exits of the Imperial Palace, don’t let him escape!” Princess Meng Ning ordered angrily. At this moment, the clanging of metal against metal suddenly came from outside the hall.

It was Shen Tan.

She reversed her short blade and cut open the throat of the Imperial Guard commander. Turning her head, she saw Li Yuliang’s scarlet python robe billowing like clouds at the palace gate, his embroidered spring blade splitting the night.

The moonlight reflected the bloodstains on the white jade steps. Behind Li Yuliang, five hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards formed a wild goose formation—these were all people who had been carefully selected by Shen Tan in the past.

Things had changed, and Shen Tan had betrayed her former benefactor, returning the embroidered spring blade he had given her, and also returning the power he had bestowed upon her.

“Shen Tan, you really are seeking death.”

The embroidered spring blade in Li Yuliang’s hand brushed past Shen Tan’s neck, sparking against the vermilion lacquered pillar.

The moonlight reflected on her profile, revealing the ferocity between her brows.

Li Yuliang remembered this look—when Bei Sheng and Pu Yu Kingdom were at war, Shen Tan was a hostage from Pu Yu Kingdom who was rescued by Bei Sheng soldiers. She had suffered all kinds of torture in Pu Yu, was covered in scars, and had been forcibly fed life-extending paste. This medicine was made from local plants and would become addictive after being taken three times in a row.

The hostages were held in one place and forced to withdraw from the drug, but the addiction flared up time and time again, causing unbearable pain. Most people eventually chose to end their own lives.

Shen Tan was the only one who survived. That day, Li Yuliang opened the door to dispose of the corpses. Among the pile of dead people, the little girl’s eyes were frighteningly bright. She was trembling all over, desperately seeking to live. She said to Li Yuliang, “Save me, let me live, and I’ll do anything you want me to do in the future.”

The sound of blades clashing together was deafening. Li Yuliang said in a sinister voice, “A dog that can’t be tamed.”

Shen Tan did not refute a single word. In the night, the light of the swords intertwined, and the two figures moved quickly in the moonlight. Every confrontation was a deadly force.

Shen Tan had no room for sentimentality. Li Yuliang had to die.

The swift short blade suddenly cut through the sound of the third watch, and stabbed straight towards Li Yuliang’s heart.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards beside him didn’t have time to rescue him and shouted in panic, “Chief Attendant, be careful!”

In another part of the Imperial Palace, in the secret passage.

Gu Huan was huddled in the corner of the stone wall, the stench mixed with the smell of decay assaulting his nostrils. Everything was pitch black in front of him, and he couldn’t see anything. What he heard was the vibration of the Fight on the ground, and every muffled sound was like crushing his body.

This secret passage was what he used to imprison criminals. Song Jiting had been tortured here by him, but at this moment, it had become a prison of his own making.

Li Yuliang had defected, and the Imperial Guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards might have also defected, so there were very few soldiers left to defend the city for him.

He could only hope now that he could hold out until Han Mao led his troops back to the court, before Princess Meng Ning found the mechanism.

“Click.”

The sound of the mechanism turning sounded in the darkness, startling him to tremble all over.

In another instant, as light and shadow split the darkness like a blade, the entrance to the secret passage was opened, and he saw a figure standing against the light.

In his mind, there were only two words: it’s over.

Then, the figure gradually became clear. In his despair, he seemed to see light again.

Li Yuliang’s python robe was red with blood. That familiar face was now appearing here, calmly watching him.

But Gu Huan dared not rejoice.

Had he come to save him, or to kill him?

He did not dare to act rashly. Li Yuliang reached out his hand to him, as if there had never been any estrangement between them.

“This subject has been late in protecting Your Majesty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Half an hour ago.

The gold thread on Li Yuliang’s python robe shone coldly under the moonlight. Shen Tan’s short blade had cut through his collar.

The embroidered spring blade spun in his palm, and he struggled to withstand her attack. “I should have let you die from the life-extending paste back then.”

Back then, Shen Tan had crawled out of the pile of hostages, and Li Yuliang had given her a way out, teaching her how to live by stepping on other people’s lives.

It was just a pity that he taught her how to kill, how to proceed step by step, but he never taught her what it meant to be mindful of the past, or what it meant to show gratitude.

Shen Tan allowed him to scold her, without a single word of refutation. Only her heart to kill him was extremely firm.

Not giving him a chance to breathe, Shen Tan’s blade pressed closer step by step.

Gurgling blood seeped out from Li Yuliang’s chest. His hand holding the blade struggled to muster strength. Seeing the cold blade gleaming with a cold light heading toward his body, Li Yuliang couldn’t dodge in time. At the critical moment, he no longer confronted her head-on, but was thinking of perishing together with Shen Tan.

At this moment, a sharp cry came from the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and Princess Meng Ning’s voice was like a poisoned silver needle, instantly piercing Shen Tan’s calm.

Her moves suddenly became chaotic, and Li Yuliang blocked her wrist with a wave of his blade.

Taking half a step back, she abandoned her killing move, sheathed her blade, turned around, and quickly rushed toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Bursting through the door, she saw the scene inside the hall—the Grand Diviner’s withered hand was strangling Princess Meng Ning’s neck, black blood seeping out from under his black robe, looking like he was alive and possessed by an evil spirit.

“Princess!”

Shen Tan was anxious to save her, and the short blade pierced into the Grand Diviner’s scapula. Thick black blood splattered on her eyelashes, and the Grand Diviner released Princess Meng Ning, his twisted face suddenly turning towards her.

Blood tears mixed with a bizarre smile: “My imperial son… my imperial son…”

This voice made Shen Tan feel chills all over. She didn’t know why the Grand Diviner was attacking the princess. She didn’t have time to question carefully, given the situation in front of her.

Raising another blade, she stabbed it towards the Grand Diviner’s eyebrows, but the other party caught her blade with his bare hands, and black blood flowed out along the palm of his hand, and he was actually incredibly strong.

How could this be?

Taking advantage of her daze, Li Yuliang led the Embroidered Uniform Guards like a black tide pouring into the main hall, and saw Princess Meng Ning lying on the side, the purple-red finger marks on her neck glaringly. He quickly captured her and held the embroidered spring blade against her neck.

“Princess!”

Shen Tan rushed forward anxiously, but Li Yuliang tightened the blade in his hand, threatening, “Withdraw your troops, or I’ll take her life immediately!”