Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 7: Since ancient times, the yellow sand has buried loyal bones

After this battle, Wang Jian did not lead his troops to attack the city, and Li Mu did not go out to fight either. The two seemed to be confronting each other tacitly, but in fact they both knew that whoever went out to fight would fail.

On the other side in Handan, Guo Kai issued imperial edicts in the name of King Zhao Qian, ordering Li Mu to fight. Li Mu insisted on not fighting. Later, King Zhao issued an edict asking Li Mu to return to Handan to receive orders, but Li Mu also disobeyed the order. He was determined not to listen to any orders from Handan. In this way, the two sides spent nearly a year.

Li Mu had been away on a military expedition for a year and had not sent a single letter home. Na Lanxue worried about her husband day and night, and her son Li Zhan's illness required her to stay with him. Apart from accompanying her son, she spent most of her time praying silently, asking for the gods' blessing. Apart from that, what else could she do?

One day, Guo Kai brought people to the mansion and asked to see Na Lanxue. Na Lanxue felt that something was wrong and wanted to refuse to see him, but it was too late. Guo Kai had already brought people into the mansion. Na Lanxue said, "The general is not at home. It is inconvenient for the prime minister to come to the mansion. Please go back!"

Guo Kai said with a smile: "I came here to find a lady who had defeated the Xiongnu with wisdom, not to find Wu Anjun. Wu Anjun is at the front line, how can he take care of it?"

Na Lanxue said, "There is no lady who defeated the Xiongnu wisely here, only the wife of Wu'an Jun. Prime Minister, please go back!"

Guo Kai sneered, "Madam, you still won't admit it?" He clapped his hands, and Madam Wang and her unmarried daughter walked out of the bedroom and came to the Prime Minister. They said to Lan Xue, "Sister, just admit it. There's nothing to lose."

Na Lanxue looked at Madam Wang and said, "Sis, when did you ever speak for an outsider? You even falsely accuse me!"

Madam Wang said coldly, "Lan Xue, I have tolerated you for many years. Ever since my husband married you, have you ever treated me as your own family, taken me to heart, or even looked at his daughter?"

"That's because he's been fighting for years and has no time to take care of me. Isn't it the same for Zhan'er? Don't you understand this?"

"Of course I understand. He has always had me, his wife, in his heart. You gave birth to a useless evil creature for him, but not only did he not divorce you, he doted on you. You, a vixen, have taken everything from me, and today you have to pay it back. I advise you to admit it, so as to avoid suffering. I have already told the Prime Minister the truth."

Na Lanxue didn't expect that Madam Wang, who had always been easy-going and modest, would say such a thing. But she knew in her heart that "no one except Li Mu would know about the Yanmen Pass incident. They suspected that 'that person' was me, and they were just testing my words." She said to Guo Kai coldly, "Didn't the Prime Minister ask Wu Anjun to go to Yanmen Pass? He said that only Wu Anjun was enough. Wu Anjun did it with the Prime Minister's good words. Why are you asking me?"

Guo Kai said: "Wu'an Jun left Yanmen Pass without permission to help Sima Shang defeat the Qin army. I have already found out everything about it. Don't try to evade me with this. If you don't reveal who this person is, then you and your Zhan'er will have no choice but to follow me today!"

Na Lan Xue said, "How dare you? You are so rude in Wu'an Jun's mansion. Someone, come and show the guest away!" Seeing that no one, including the retainers and servants, came forward.

Madam Wang laughed sweetly and said, "Lan Xue, who do you think you are? Without Li Mu, you are nothing!"

Na Lanxue stared at Madam Wang and said, "What benefit did the Prime Minister give you? You actually had an affair with an outsider and harmed my mother and son. You even called your husband by his first name!"

Guo Kai said with a smile: "Benefits are what you lonely women want. If you tell the truth, I will give you everything you want. Haha, Madam, you don't know that Li Mu disobeyed the king's order and secretly communicated with the enemy country. If you tell me the truth, tell me seriously and I will save your reputation."

Lan Xue stared at Guo Kai coldly and said, "You are accusing my husband Ying Ming. Do you have any evidence?"

Guo Kai laughed and said, "Evidence, haha, evidence is easy to come by!"

Na Lan Xue looked back towards the direction of Li Zhan's bedroom, hoping that Li Zhan could take the opportunity to escape. She turned back and said fiercely: "Guo Kai, you despicable villain, my husband will cut you into pieces!" As she spoke, she suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve. This dagger was originally used to assassinate Li Mu. She had kept it with her for self-defense. She knew that she would not survive today, so how could she allow herself to be insulted and bring shame to Li Mu? When the dagger was about to be stabbed into her heart, a locust stone came flying and with a "clang" sound, knocked the dagger away. The one who made the move was the green-robed Taoist priest beside Guo Kai. The green-robed Taoist priest stepped forward and quickly pressed Na Lan Xue's acupoints, making Na Lan Xue unable to move.

Guo Kai said: "If you want to die, it's not that easy. You can't die before you kill the traitor Li Mu. Take her away!"

At this moment, a child's voice was heard, "Wait, I'll tell you." Lan Xue knew that Li Zhan couldn't escape, but she still cried, "Zhan'er, run!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Li Zhan, who was in his early teens, slowly walking out of the room. Guo Kai asked suspiciously, "Oh, what do you know? If what you said is right, I will let your mother go!"

Li Zhan said calmly: "What do you want to know?"

Guo Kai asked, "Who was the one who cleverly drove back the Xiongnu at Yanmen Pass?"

Li Zhan said firmly: "It's me."

"Are you kidding me? Do you know the consequences of lying?" "Do I look like I'm lying? Am I afraid of you?"

Guo Kai, Taoist Qingyang and others did not expect such a young child to be so courageous and calm. Guo Kai smiled and said, "You are very brave. Are you the evil son of Li Mu?"

"I am Li Mu's wicked son, but that is not something you can call me. You are not worthy of it. What else do you want to ask?"

Guo Kai pointed at Li Zhan and said, "You are so young and weak, how is it possible!"

"To defeat the Huns, you need to use your brains, not brute force. You should judge a person by his heart, not his age. I have told you the truth. If you don't understand, it's your own problem."

Guo Kai said angrily: "How dare you insult me!"

"Do you think you scared me into being brave? If you don't want to ask, just let my mother go."

Guo Kai said: "He is so ignorant, come here, cut off the tongue of this little boy!"

Li Zhan said coldly: "How dare you? Do you know that your life is now in the hands of my mother?"

Guo Kai laughed loudly: "Boy, you are not only bold, but also speak wildly. Haha, tell me, how can my life be in the hands of your mother?"

"What do you think about you and my father if Qin makes a choice?" Seeing that Guo Kai did not answer, he continued: "You are just a dog hired by Qin to harm my father. If my father sees that my mother and I were killed by you, why would he stay in Zhao? If he leads his troops to Qin, you, a dog, will be worthless, because you are a traitor, and my father is desperate and forced by treacherous people. Which is more important? What's more, you framed my father. If my father takes advantage of you, what will you do? If my father turns against us, Zhao will be destroyed in an instant. What's the point of keeping you? Isn't your life or death in the hands of my father and mother?"

Guo Kai broke out in a cold sweat. In his mind, Li Mu had always been a loyal and good man, and he had never thought about problems in this way. After pondering for a long time, he thought to himself, "How can I be threatened by you? But if he speaks too seriously, I will be desperate. It is better to put the mother and son under house arrest and wait and see. If Li Mu turns against me, I will protect the mother and son, and Li Mu will not be able to say anything. If Li Mu does not turn against me, I can also use the mother and son to threaten him." Thinking of this, Guo Kai smiled and said, "Wu'an Jun is fighting outside, and there are rumors in the city. There is no one to take care of his wife in the mansion. Please ask my wife and nephew to take shelter in our mansion for a few days!" After that, several people came forward, took Lan Xue and Li Zhan into the car, returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion, and put the mother and son under house arrest.

Taoist Qingyang was basically certain that 'that person' was the child, but seeing the child's expression, he knew that he had a terminal illness and would not live long, so he was not in a hurry to kill him, and besides, he had other uses for him.

It was absolutely impossible for Li Mu to defect. The reason why Li Zhan said this was, first, to intimidate Guo Kai, not to be presumptuous, and not to dare to bully Guo Kai and his mother. Second, Li Mu should put the country first, not care about his children's personal feelings, and not care about this "evil obstacle" whose life was in danger. As long as Li Mu didn't come back, Guo Kai and his mother would be safe, but Li Zhan's prediction was wrong.

……

At Jingxing Pass, inside the Zhao army's tent, Li Mu received a secret letter from Guo Kai, which read: "Your son and Madam Nalan are in my house, safe." After reading the secret letter, Li Mu slammed it on the table, gritting his teeth. Sima Shang walked over, picked up the secret letter, and cursed: "Guo Kai, you despicable and shameless villain who brought disaster to the country and the people, I will fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations!" He shouted to Li Mu: "General, let's lead the troops to kill him and skin him alive!"

Li Mu slightly closed his eyes, his face full of sorrow, as if he had lost his vitality in an instant, and aged a lot. He whispered: "Go out first, let me be quiet."

Sima Shang stared at Li Mu and shouted, "Why are you still hesitating? Are you still worried about the destruction of the city and the country? We have been defending here for a year. Is this country worthy of us, the bloody soldiers? How did they treat you? Didn't you hear the rumors that the whole Handan has turned against us? I think we should just open the city and surrender. Wang Jian admires you and will definitely treat you well."

Li Mu stood up suddenly, drew out his sword and pointed it at Sima Shang, saying: "No matter what the rumors are, I have not defected after all. Even if I die in battle, I will never turn my spear around and stab the land of Zhao. Why does Wang Jian respect me? If I open the city, will he still respect me? Am I still Li Mu, Sima Shang, don't mention this again, the morale of the army cannot be shaken!" After that, he thrust the sword hard on the table, holding the silver gun in his hand, and walked out of the military tent.

Climbing up the city wall and gazing at the Qin army camp in the distance, he gradually became stunned. He once had great ambitions, but now it has become difficult to move forward. The familiar battlefield has suddenly become strange. After living such a life, what has he gained? The world seems strange as well, as if he is the only one who is persisting.

The moon rose and set, and overnight, he sat alone on the top of the city wall like a statue. When the red sun rose slowly, Li Mu's hair turned into white snow. Li Mu stood up, stuck the silver gun into the top of the city wall, took off his armor and robe, hung them on it, walked down the city wall without looking back, and rode a war horse.

Sima Shang came over and asked, "What are you doing? Your hair?"

Li Mu said, "I will go back, and you must stay here. Zhao cannot perish at the hands of our soldiers."

Sima Shang shouted, "You will be in great danger if you go back. They are waiting to kill you. Let's go back with the troops and destroy them!"

Li Mu said, "No, I am going back for personal reasons. I feel guilty towards my wife. I want to save my son and fulfil my responsibility as a father. Even if he only has one day to live, I will not let anyone deprive him of it." He clasped his fists towards Sima Shang and said, "Take care!" He shook the reins and galloped away. Li Zhong jumped on the horse from behind, holding a spear, and followed closely behind him.

(End of this chapter)