After My Death, The Villain Blackened Again: Chapter 31

ARC 1: THE EMPEROR SCHEMES TO GRAB A MAN’S WIFE (28)

Although Eunuch Su was puzzled, he was clever enough not ask questions. He merely took note of this third daughter of Minister Luo.

After all, when it came to people His Majesty personally asked after, that Lady Yan of unknown origin was the first, and this miss was the second. It was too unusual. Eunuch Su could not help but pay more attention to it.

Nowadays, military intelligence was all being sent by Wucheng. It was likely that Chang Shijie, who had been suppressed by the Ming family throughout his life, desperately wanted to showcase his performance in this campaign. From his memorials, Emperor Yuan could sense just how much he rubbed fists and wiped palms¹ in anticipation of Ming Lan's death so he could then amaze the world with a brilliant feat².

As for the Ming family’s booklet, Emperor Yuan had not even seen a single letter.

In fact, he could guess that Chang Shijie intercepted them all.

Emperor Yuan understood things clearly and was only pretending to be muddleheaded. Sending Chang Shijie to Wuchang was his wish for the Ming family to have absolutely no form of retreat.

He not only had to regain political power, but also military power. The Ming Army acknowledged the Ming family as their master. Instead of sparing them only for them to start a rebellion in the future, it was better to eliminate them once and for all.

Although his mood has been good over the past few days, the dust had yet to settle. Emperor Yuan was somewhat apprehensive, and when he could not sleep late at night, he would sit on the chaise lounge and stare at the chessboard on the table.

Black and white chess pieces were neatly arranged on the board, but if one looked closely, they would see that a black piece was missing.

He had people rummage through the entire Zongzheng Hall, but the piece could not be found.

The same went for the dagger she gifted him. It could not be found anywhere at the mountain bandits’ den.

It was not known whether she would be sad when she enters the palace only to see that these items were gone.

After carefully putting the pieces into the chess box, Emperor Yuan’s eyes fell on the wishing lantern next to the board.

He had written ‘may the country be prosperous and the people at peace’ in his wishing lantern and was surprised to learn that Yan Ge wrote the same in hers.

Her handwriting was like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing³; every brush stroke was forceful and powerful. It did not at all look like the writing of a woman.

He looked at her words with a kind of joy and regret from finally meeting a kindred spirit.

If she were a man, he would certainly have supported her in Chaotang and worked together to make great achievements for the prosperity of the world.

Unfortunately, she was not.

She was just a woman. He could only grant her the favor of the harem.

There were sounds of hurried footsteps outside the door. Eunuch Su seemed to speak to someone before gently pushing the door open.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Yuan was not asleep. Although slightly surprised, Eunuch Su was quick to walk up to the chaise and say: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report.”

This late?

Emperor Yuan was inwardly shaken. Thinking it was about old dog Chang Shijie not only failing to accomplish the task but also losing Wucheng in the process, he schooled his expression: "Let them in."

Eunuch Su went to open the door to invite the person inside.

The man who entered was not a messenger, but a soldier. His entire body was covered in a mix of blood and mud which obscured his original appearance. He staggered as he walked, and the flesh between his legs was badly mangled.

When Emperor Yuan saw him in such a state, his heart dropped like a stone. If that old bastard couldn’t even keep Wucheng, he was going to execute his nine clans⁴.

Song Wei walked until he arrived at the chaise, then he could not hold on anymore. He tried to kneel in salutation but ended up falling at Emperor Yuan’s feet. His mouth was bloody, and not having consumed anything for three days and nights made his speech unclear at this moment. He could only mumble: "Your Majesty, the general has ordered this humble official. Even in death, this letter must be delivered to Your Majesty.”

His trembling hands pulled out a blood-soaked bundle from his chest. He really had no more strength, and could only lean his body on the ground as he repeatedly tried to unwrap the pack .

Eunuch Su extended a hand in a desire to help him, but the man who seemed to only have one breath left pushed the approaching eunuch until he stumbled to the ground.

---

1. Rubbing fists and wiping palms (摩拳擦掌— mó quán cā zhǎng)idiom that means being eager to start on a task↩︎
2. Amaze the world with a brilliant feat (一鸣惊人— yī míng jīng rén)idiom that means to become a celebrity overnight↩︎
3. Flying dragons and dancing phoenixes (龙飞凤舞—lóng fēi fèng wǔ)way of describing exquisite calligraphy that means the style is bold or flamboyant↩︎

   Previous    ||    ToC    ||    Next   

 

Song Wei must have ridden a lot of horses for hundreds of miles to end up like that...RIP dear steeds.