Chapter 442
Chapter 442: Who Can Resist?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The old man put the wooden trowel on a rock beside the vegetable bed, then, holding his back, slowly sat down . It appeared to take some effort .
It had just snowed . The weather was cold, and the vegetable garden was full of leftover snow and mud . How could there be vegetables growing, and what need was there to water them? However, tonight, he had unconsciously picked up the wooden trowel and used clean water to water the ground as if he wanted to wash something away .
The old man was very old . After Xiao En and Zhuang Mohan died, he became the only one left in the world who had personally witnessed the founding ceremony of Qing Kingdom . Fifty years had passed . The deep wrinkles and those more and more apparent yellow spots told a story of his history and the country's history .
An old official of three dynasties? More than that . How many Emperors had he served? The old man couldn't quite remember clearly anymore, however, when the previous Emperor took the throne, he had, without question, chose the correct path . Thus, he had obtained an irreplaceable position in the military for his clan .
The current Emperor, without question, was the one he admired the most out of all the rulers he had experienced through all these years . Three expeditions North, taking from the South and going on campaigns to the West…although he had long guarded Jingdou as a powerful military official, stabilizing the rear for the Emperor, the sons of the clan in the military followed the Emperor out . Some slept forever in foreign lands, and some returned home .
Qing Kingdom had been forged with spears, knives, bows, and on horseback . The old man had also spent his entire life among these weapons . He had killed countless people in his life and wiped out numerous clans all around Qing Kingdom . Tens of millions of people could die in front of him without his expression changing . This kind of history could not be washed clean with a few trowels of clean water .
In this long history, who knew how many good and famous generals, wise Emperors and Grandmasters gave off their own special light . However, the person that the old man had the deepest impression was actually a very young and beautiful woman .
Every time he thought of her, the old man's heart would begin to tremble . No matter how extraordinary a person, they could only try to change the direction of history . However, this woman, it seemed from the very beginning, was preparing to flip over Qing Kingdom's foundations and continue to turn the entire world upside down .
The old man never knew whether or not those attempts had a chance of success . He only acutely felt that if any of the situations at the time had developed further, the entire nobility class of Qing Kingdom would be wiped away by an unseen current . And, as everyone knew, the nobility class of Qing Kingdom provided the military with the most powerful human resources .
He was afraid of these disturbances . These disturbances looked as if it could make Qing Kingdom powerful but would change it to something unlike itself .
The old man was a military man, a military man loyal to Qing Kingdom . For him, extending Qing Kingdom's existence was an order from the highest power, so he had participated in some secrets and had kept this secret until now .
That woman…or perhaps it was better to say that beautiful demon woman died…
Is this very good? At least Qing Kingdom was still powerful and this Qing Kingdom was still the Qing Kingdom of the past without any changes . To exchange one person's death for the peace of an entire country, the old man had never felt regret for the choice back then .
The old man sat silently on the rock on the ground . Looking at the muddied water in the vegetable garden, he didn't say anything for a long time . He had already heard of the incident this afternoon in front of the Bureau of Military Affairs, 200 heads…
The Emperor had treated him well . He served 30 years as the head of the Bureau of Military Affairs, which was a rare honor never seen before in history .
However, this leading figure in the military was still the same as many years ago, seeing himself as a normal member of the military and considering the other men in the military to be his brothers . With his growing age, he began to see them as his descendants .
Although his face was cold, his heart was kind . This old man's might in the military was not something a normal person could compare to .
Those 200 good men were the old man's most trusted squad of his private army . He had long kept them in Xiao Mountain, secretly training them . Originally, they were for the purpose of attacking Northern Qi . However, now he had to use them ahead of time in a plot to kill an imperial envoy of the court .
The old man generally did not pay attention to the politics in the court, however, this time, he had to pay attention . Regardless of whether it was for the continued existence of his clan or for the future of Qing Kingdom he believed in, he had to kill that young man .
Unexpectedly, he did not kill him .
The old man coughed . He didn't know whether it was because the coldness of the rock beneath had seeped into his cotton coat or because a chill had welled up in his heart .
Two hundred people .
The old man's face appeared very old and had a faint additional glimmer of sorrow . Those were all his juniors . They should have been Qing Kingdom's wonderful future, but they had died just like this . And, they received no peace after death . Their names would never be recorded . They would be remembered in history books to be cursed by others . They had become the first rebel Qing Kingdom troops in dozens of years .
The old man's heart was sore and cold .
…
…
The Emperor was too fickle and made one's heart turn cold . Having the young man stay in Jingdou and giving him more power every day, this kind of trend had no end to it . Even if that young man couldn't be touched while the Emperor was alive, but what about in the future? After he and the Emperor had both died, would that young man not bring up old debts?
He had participated in the shocking murder case that killed Ye Qingmei, could he count on the fact that her son would not dig up this old debt?
Ever since a few years ago, when that young man in Danzhou was summoned to Jingdou by the Emperor, a glimmer of coldness had appeared in the old man's heart . Other than Chen Pingping and Fan Jian, no one knew that the old man had long known of Fan Xian's past .
However, the old man was silent, even more silent that he had been in the past . Thus, in the past few years, the Qin family had been strangely quiet in court .
Because that young man was of the Emperor's flesh and blood, it was impossible for the old man to act ahead of time . He only watched to see what arrangements the Emperor would make for him .
In the beginning, the old man was very at ease because that young man seemed to be a hedonistic child . He spent all day with King Jing's heir loitering in brothels, competing and being jealous, and wrestling at night . He didn't demonstrate anything special .
Following that, the old man became slightly worried because the young man was going to marry princess Chen and was preparing to take over the palace treasury . Furthermore, he made 300 poems in one night in front of the palace and shocked the world . However, he immediately relaxed again because how could the mere palace treasury be considered important in the eyes of a leading military figure? No matter how powerful wealth was, it still couldn't stand against knives and spears . No matter how shocking poetry was, it couldn't stop the thundering of horses' hooves .
However, gradually, the development of events made the old man watching coldly from the side become wary because of the spring examination incident . It was not until that moment did he know that the Emperor had actually secretly allowed the young man to have the Commissioner token of the Overwatch Council .
As the most powerful figure in the military, over these years, he had worked countless times with the Overwatch Council . Of course, he knew the terrifying power of Chen Pingping and the Overwatch Council, so he felt a glimmer of unease . Thus, he chose to show his attitude for the first time . He spoke to the Emperor and had Fan Xian go on a diplomatic trip to Northern Qi .
He knew that this diplomatic trip would not be as easy as it appeared on the surface because there was Xiao En and many other difficulties . After the old man spoke, he once again became silent . He secretly prayed that the young man would stay forever in Northern Qi . It would have been best if he never came back .
However, the development of matters disappointed him once again . Fan Xian returned fine to Qing Kingdom and had even more power and reputation .
…
…
The old man again fell into silence . He quietly and steadily watched that young man, watched as he fought joyfully in Jingdou against the Second Prince . He watched the Imperial College, the Hanging Temple, and the Palace . He found that this young man was, as he expected, ruthless, clever, relentless, and vengeful .
Powerful .
The old man felt a glimmer of fear . Although Fan Xian was still not enough to make him scared, every time he thought of that woman back then and of the fact that Fan Xian was her son—every time Fan Xian seemed to be walking exactly the same path as that woman using a very short amount of time to obtain a great deal of power and when he was even more ruthless and vicious than that woman—he felt a slight fear . Adding to the fact that he didn't know just what the Emperor was thinking, he began to try and find a moderate solution in his silence .
He was gambling on the fact that Fan Xian would never know of the Qin family's connection to what happened back then .
The old man chose to retreat, not asking and not acknowledging . When the Emperor became angry because of Fan Xian's matter and ordered the court beating of the Imperial Censorate, the old man directly decided to say he was ill and stopped going to court . He also stopped watching over matters in the Bureau of Military Affairs . He only stayed quietly at home, growing old .
As the Emperor supported Fan Xian, the old man retreated . He retreated to the very end to avoid that old matter from the past being dug out by someone .
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login