Chapter 8: Screw You (Part 2)

  A conflict was settled, but a greater undercurrent surged and churned in the streets and alleys of Chang'an.

  Before the next day, all the citizens of the city knew what had happened at Fubo Village. General Yuwen Chengdu went to smash people's plates, but his men were beaten, although the situation between the two sides seemed evenly matched, when did General Yuwen ever match anyone?

  Then, the escorts from Tong Bao Bureau and their apprentices raised their eyebrows and breathed a sigh of relief, competing with each other to drag Li Yuanba out for dinner, as if they wanted to make him the number one foodie in Chang'an City.

  At first, Li Yuanba was enthusiastic and eager to please, but soon discovered that from dawn till midnight, there were constant meals: breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, and even midnight snacks. He found himself eating non-stop, with people knocking on his door in the middle of the night asking if he was hungry.

  In just a few days, the boss of Fubo City couldn't wait to post this month's latest celebrity list.

  Li Yuanba, an outsider, surprisingly rose 91 places overnight and ranked ninth. The one ahead of him was none other than Duke Yuwen Chengdu.

  Perhaps it was because of the saying "it's good to have a father in the court" or maybe it was because of the great victory at Fujian that made Li Yuanba's name rise and shock the emperor. This glutton, as soon as he entered the Imperial Guard, was appointed by Yang Guang as the Left Wei Zheng Tong General, a real and genuine fourth-rank official.

  Xiao Si gained a profound understanding from this incident that the Great Sui Dynasty has entered an era of relying on one's father, unfortunately, even the heavens may not be clear about who his own father is. On that day, he joined the army and obtained a sixth-grade official title, all thanks to taking the route through the imperial harem, relying on the aura of Princess Xiaoniangpi.

  One should never forget who dug the well when drinking water. On this day, Xiao Si brought the completed Breaking Formation Chart to the Imperial City to hand it over.

  He arrived at the south study of Princess Jincheng, where a small eunuch on duty bowed and said: "Xiao Gongzi, the princess has something to attend to, please wait for a moment in the study."

  Wait a bit, I haven't had a chance to carefully visit the princess's study yet, so this is a good opportunity to take a closer look. Xī Xiǎo Sì stepped into the room, and indeed there was no one inside. On the desk, a half-opened scroll was placed, seemingly a painting of a lady.

  Xiao Si glanced around and saw no one, walked up to the table and slowly unrolled the scroll, wanting to take a look at who the beauty in the painting was.

  As soon as he opened it, Xiao Si's whole body broke out in a cold sweat and his hairs stood on end, almost dropping the scroll to the ground.

  In that painting, there was a beautifully dressed woman who looked exactly like the female ghost he had met in the desolate tomb in Shu, who had chilled him to the bone!

  "Rain falls from the sky, water flows under the bridge; picking up a daughter's ribbon, tying two hearts together."

  He didn't even have time to see who wrote the sour poem when he heard someone outside the door say, "Do you know her?"

  Xiao Siyi was startled and turned her head back, only to see Yang Guang standing outside the study with his hands behind his back, accompanied by Princess Xiaoniangpi.

  In an instant, Xiao Si woke up and realized that she had fallen into Yang Guang's father-daughter trap. The princess having something to attend to and leaving was clearly intentional.

  But how did Yang Guang know he had seen this female ghost before?

  Xiao Si's mind was racing, his hands quickly rolled up the scroll and held it high above his head, shouting: "The commoner deserves to die!"

  Yang Guang walked into the study and said: "Don't be afraid, I pardon you for your innocence. Do you know who the woman in the painting is?"

  Xiao Si respectfully put the scroll back on the table and replied: "Could it be that this person is an old acquaintance of Your Majesty?"

  Yang Guang did not confirm or deny it and said: "She is Emperor Chen Shu of the Great Chen's beloved concubine, Zhang Lihua."

  Xiao Si's brain went "buzz" and he was really stunned, staring foolishly at Yang Guang, unable to speak.

  The Emperor is joking - I actually slept with Zhang Lihua, the concubine of Emperor Da Chen who was known as the number one beauty in the world twenty years ago?

  "He couldn't help but burst out with goosebumps: 'But... didn't she die early?'"

  Yang Guang gazed at Xiao Si, slowly saying: "She's not dead. The one Li Yuan executed that day was just a substitute for Zhang Lihua. All these years, I've been searching for her! Tell me, why did your face change drastically when you saw the person in the painting?"

  Xiao Si's palms began to sweat, and Zhang Lihua's stunning looks kept flashing in his mind - those eyebrows, that charm... Wait a minute, why did it seem a bit like the person in the mirror?

  His whole body's goosebumps burst out uncontrollably, remembering the last time he met Yang Guang, this old emperor stared at him up and down for a long time, finally saying two words: "True resemblance"!

  Xiao Si took a deep breath, and heaven can testify that he had nothing to do with this female ghost! But if he said it directly, judging from Yang Guang's expression, there was an 80% chance that he would be pushed out and killed directly.

  The old man once said: There is only one truth, so lies are needed.

  He steadied his nerves and said: "Your Majesty is indeed all-knowing, I have really seen her!"

  Yang Guang's eyes flashed with two clusters of inexplicable divine light, and he said in a deep voice: "Continue!"

  "What are you talking about? How dare you!" Xiang Xiao Si scolded Yang Guang, "Do I need to tell you that I've dug up her grave?"

  At that time, the absurd encounter was like a dream, not to mention Yang Guang, even if he himself felt like it was a dream, who would believe it if he told the truth? But what if Yang Guang believed him, and he had an affair with Zhang Lihua, then his own life...

  "Supporting the big-hearted and starving the small-hearted, I'm all out!"

  He fell silent for a moment, desperately brewing sorrow, his eyes reddened and tears flowed silently down his cheeks.

  It is said that a man has tears but does not easily shed them, only when his life is at stake.

  Xiao Si's voice was choked with emotion as he gazed deeply at the scroll on the desk, saying: "She... she is the mother of a humble commoner."

  Yang Guang did not speak, but Princess Jincheng said in a cold voice: "Dare you say that again!"

  Shut up! Xiao Si's heart was cursing, his face filled with infinite sorrow and pain: "She is my mother, but I never knew... My mother is actually the Princess of Da Chen."

  "Oh, my poor mother!..." He suddenly shouted and fell onto the table, his hands tightly grasping the scroll as tears poured down: "Why did you hide so much from me for all these years? Why didn't you tell me who my father is?" Thinking about how he had been an orphan since childhood, following a heartless old man, suffering hardships and being deceived, his sorrow grew and he cried even more bitterly.

  The princess's eyes softened slightly as she looked at Yang Guang and asked: "Father Emperor, is it all right?"

  Yang Guang's ten fingers gripped the armrest tightly, silently staring at Xiao Si who was crying as if her life depended on it. After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "You... don't know who your father is, do you even know your own birth eight characters?"

  Xiao Si's heart skipped a beat, as if sensing that something big was about to happen in his life. But how could such a coincidence occur? He hesitated for a moment before tearfully revealing his birthdate and time.

  "Sixteen years ago, October 21st..." Yang Guang slightly raised his face, his eyes half-closed as if carefully recalling something, and muttered to himself: "Going back another ten months, it was when Li Yuan and I risked stealing across the Yangtze River, infiltrating Chen to gather military intelligence. The two of us, under the meticulous arrangements of local operatives, changed our names and surnames and went to..."

  As he spoke, he suddenly stopped and found that Xiao Si had unknowingly stopped crying at some point and was secretly raising her eyes from his arm to stare at him.

  The eyes of the two met, and Xiǎo Sì immediately wiped his face and stood up, saying: "Your Majesty, I am a remnant of the previous dynasty. Whether to kill or to pardon is entirely up to your wise decision. I only ask that before I die, I be allowed to go to my mother's grave and burn a few more sheets of paper money for her, as a final act of filial piety!"

  Yang Guang's body shook violently, and the two armrests exploded with a loud crash. He growled: "Lihua is dead?!"

  Xiao Si's heart turned cold, and he didn't expect Yang Guang to lose his composure upon hearing this news. He said sorrowfully: "If it weren't for this, how would a humble commoner like me end up drifting away to a foreign land and falling into Chang'an?"

  Yang Guang took a deep breath and his face had calmed down, asking: "How long has it been?"

  Xiao Si replied: "Less than a year."

  Yang Guang's face sank and he said: "Since it has been less than a year, why didn't you observe the three-year mourning period?"

  "Xiao Si, you should know that deceiving the king is a capital offense." Princess Jincheng said slowly: "Think carefully before responding."

  Xiao Si hated that he couldn't immediately push this little girl out and behead her, his expression mournful as he said: "Your Majesty is unaware, but before Mother passed away, she repeatedly instructed me to bury her and not linger, nor erect a monument or tombstone, and to quickly head to Chang'an to make a living."

  Yang Guang was taken aback: "She didn't let you set up a monument?"

  Xiao Si nodded and said, "I dare not lie to Your Majesty. My mother's grave is just a small mound of earth, without even a marker. I didn't understand the reason at first, but now I realize my mother's kindness..."

  "Where is she buried?" asked Princess Jincheng.

  Xiao Si thought to himself, "Does this little girl think she can open the coffin and examine the corpse?" But since the female ghost in the coffin wasn't his real mother, even if he opened it, what business was it of his?

  He replied straightforwardly: "It's on a mound of tombs just outside Jiangzhou."

  Yang Guang thought for a moment and said: "Why did she want you to come to Chang'an?"

  Xiao Si shook his head and said: "I've asked the common people, but mother refused to say until her death."

  Yang Guang fell silent for a moment before slowly saying: "Perhaps I know."

  "Father..." Princess Jincheng's brow furrowed slightly as she spoke.

  Yang Guang waved his hand and said: "I am the Son of Heaven, I dare to act and I can bear the consequences!"

  He slowly and deliberately said: "If you are not surnamed Chen, you must be surnamed Yang, you are my son!"

  "Bang!" Xiao Si suddenly had a feeling of being hit on the head by a big pancake. Unfortunately, it seemed to be an iron plate rather than a pancake.

  Illegitimate son of tyrant Yang Guang?!

  Chang'an City, Fourth Master is deeply in love with you - it's only been a short while and there's already a mother and father, as well as a younger sister...

  Thinking of this, Xīao Sì couldn't help but look at Princess Jīn Chéng, only to see that the princess was also looking at him with a completely expressionless face.

  He shuddered at the time and secretly scolded: "Damn it, this biological sister is not as close as a dry sister."

  Sneak another glance at the beautiful face of Princess Jincheng, her cold and elegant appearance unmatched, her starry eyes half-closed, Xiao Si's heart couldn't help but secretly sigh in regret - such a peerless beauty like a flower made of jade, could she really be his own younger sister from a different mother? If so, then nothing can be done.

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