Chapter 25: Freedom, Perplexity

  A wrist-thick black snake emerged from the crack in the wall, spitting out venom that brushed past Xu Wuyan's body as he was knocked to the ground by Shao Qian, splashing onto the ground and turning everything it touched into a dark color.

  At dawn, the black-browed viper that attacked Shao Qian and Xu Wuyan was beheaded by Xu Moxuan with his sword, its body falling to the ground covered with cherry blossom petals; blood stained the blossoms, a bewitching beauty!

  "Shao Qian, Wu Yan, how are you?" It was hard to believe the sudden scene in front of him, Fang Zhuo Han came back to his senses and quickly checked if Xu Wu Yan and Shao Qian were safe.

  Xu Wuyan looked at Shao Qian, who was shielding himself with his body, and smiled excitedly; Shao Qian stood up and pulled Xu Wuyan to his feet. "We're fine!" he said, looking over at Fang Zhuohan.

  "Look!" Xu Moxuan said, staring at a two-foot square crystal cabinet protruding from the wall.

  Xu Wuyan walked into the crystal cabinet, where dozens of large and small black-headed cobras were coiled inside the transparent crystal cabinet. The blood-red eyes, open mouths with fangs, and the aura emanating from their bodies that made people feel extremely cold; this creature, which has been synonymous with poisonous and venomous words since ancient times, was now perfectly illustrating the meaning of these two words.

  The silver hairpin on the crystal cabinet was slowly being dyed by the venom of the black viper in the cabinet, and under the moonlight, it looked even more icy and chilling. Everyone present felt a chill run down their spine at this sight, and Ling Wenqing had actually used such a terrifying thing to maintain her enchanting beauty, that women in the world could do such unthinkable things for the sake of beauty...

  Xu Wuyan walked to the back of the crystal cabinet, only then did he understand why the crystal cabinet protruded from the wall. The entire crystal cabinet had no cracks except for the gap at the cherry blossom hairpin, and the black-bellied snake that bit Wang Shi to death probably crawled out from the cherry blossom hairpin when Ling Wencheng was not paying attention. This type of crystal cabinet is not something an ordinary person can own!

  Ling Wenqing said that the last difficult problem left to himself was dealing with these black-headed cobras. The black-headed cobra that attacked him should be guarding this crystal cabinet, so what about the remaining black-headed cobras?

  Xu Wuyan carefully examined the crystal cabinet made of top-grade materials, tracing every inch, trying to find the answer to the question left by Ling Wenqing.

  "Zhuo Han, have you ever seen this crystal cabinet in the southern border?" Xu Wuyan suddenly thought that Zhuo Han was familiar with the customs and habits of the southern border. After checking the crystal cabinet without success, he looked at Zhuo Han who was standing aside, also examining the crystal cabinet, and asked.

  "This crystal cabinet is a treasure of the Southern Holy Altar, I saw it once five years ago in the South, and left a deep impression on me. But this cherry blossom hairpin...I don't recall it!" Fang Zhuo Han said cautiously.

  Xu Wuyan looked at Xu Mo Xuan, "Big brother, lend me your sword for a moment!" He said, taking the sword from Xu Mo Xuan's hand and slashing it towards the spring-like thing connected to the back of the crystal cabinet and the wall.

  "Snap!" The spring broke with a loud noise, Xu Wuyan caught the crystal cabinet that fell from the wall, handed the sword back to Xu Mo Xuan, and looked at Fang Zhuo Han, "Zhuo Han, are you willing to help me send this back to the Southern Holy Altar?"

  Fang Zhuohan looked at Xu Wuyan, and in his eyes was a friend's entrustment. He knew he had no possibility of refusal. From that day on the street when Xu Wuyan gave him a 'stick' to drink, Fang Zhuohan knew that this life would be tied to this 'girl' with an unbreakable bond!

  "Hmm! Good!" Fang Zhuo Han took over the crystal cabinet from Xu Wu Yan's hand and replied briefly.

  Xu Wuyan smiled and turned around to look at Shao Qian, "You don't have to worry about harming others anymore! Uncle is also on his deathbed, the troubles of the Jun Guo Gong Fu will come to an end here!"

  Shao Qian didn't know what else to say, and had to admit that the years of water and fire with Xu Qing on the imperial court also made Shao Qian have the idea of eliminating Xu Qing and this kind of hypocritical and fame-seeking person; it turned out that Xu Wuyan knew all about these thoughts of his...

  "Hmm!" Shao Qian looked at Xu Wu Yan in front of him and lightly hummed, feeling a sense of shame for the first time in so many years, but not towards Xu Qing.

  Xu Wuyan smiled slightly, glanced at Xu Mo Xuan, tore off a large piece of fabric from the top of her Luo skirt, carefully wrapped up the remains of the black-browed viper that was lying on the cherry blossom petals, and slowly walked away from the Falling Cherry Garden...

  Mei Fangqian was still pale and frightened, sitting at the door of the study, her body trembling with fear. Xu Wuyan slowly walked into the study and placed the black snake next to Ling Wenqing's body. Xu Qinghe was already lying on a soft blanket, covered with a warm quilt. Xu Wuyan smiled wryly and walked over to Xu Qinghe's side, looking at this man who had a blood relationship with him, despite being wrong in every way...

  "Get up!" Xu Wuyan fell to the ground, and Mei Fangqian, who was pale and flustered, helped him up and said:

  Mei Fangqian looked at Xu Wuyan, seeming to have regained some of her composure. "I... I didn't mean to hurt you! It wasn't intentional!" Mei Fangqian repeated sentence by sentence, "You won't blame me, will you? Will you?"

  "Take heart! I won't blame you! Go back and rest!" Xu Wuyan never thought of himself as a particularly kind person, he just often chose to forgive. Looking at Mei Fangqian's slightly lonely figure, a wave of inexplicable sorrow surged in his heart.

  Leaving the brothel was a liberation for Mei Fangqian, but entering this Jun Guo Gong Fu was not a happy beginning for her! With Ling Wenqing and Mei Fangqian, plus Chu Jieyu who is nominally his wife, they have imprisoned their lives within these vermilion gates for the sake of status, stability, or what they consider to be love...

  Xu Wuyan, are you willing? Once entering the Hou's gate, it's like entering a deep sea. From now on, freedom is just for passersby, is there any other choice?

  As he watched Ling Wenqing and the black-headed snake's body turn to ashes in the flames, Xu Wuyan felt a surge of intense liberation and freedom in his heart. The Stockholm-style love that Ling Wenqing had was a kind of twisted and destructive force that ravaged human nature, no matter what era it was in!

  "Silent, the departure date for going to the southern border is set for the day after tomorrow." Fang Zhuohan looked at Xu Wuyan and said calmly about his own arrangements.

  Xu Wu Yan glanced at Fang Zhuo Han, his mouth slightly raised, "Thanks!" Then he looked at Shao Qian beside him, rarely attending Ling Wen Qing's funeral, "I'm going to go drink, how about you guys?"

  Sha Qian was taken aback for a moment, while Fang Zhuo Han agreed readily, "I'll go with you!"

  "Let's go!" Having reached a consensus, Xu Wuyan and Fang Zhuohan ignored Shao Qian as if he were air, and the two of them headed towards their drinking destination.

  Shao Qian couldn't help but gaze at the backs of Xu Wuyan and Fang Zhuohan, her heart stirring with emotions. This woman, who was so easily affected by others' feelings, had made such a calm decision - what kind of person was she?

  "Good wine! I want to drink, and I want the best!" Xǔ Wúyán sat down and demanded with a straight face.

  Ziyaqi looked at this 'girl' who had hardly met her a few times, seemingly never polite to herself, "What's the big idea? This isn't a place where just anyone is entertained!" Ziyaqi then gave a cold glance and sat down elegantly on a chair beside her.

  Ran to her own building for no reason, opened her mouth and wanted to drink good wine, thinking it was her own home! Really haven't seen such a familiar 'woman', truly the biggest joke in the world.

  Xu Wuyan walked up to Zi Yaqi and grabbed his collar, staring at him with a fierce gaze. "Are you going to give it or not?" he growled menacingly.

  Zi Yaqi looked at Xu Wuyan, who was supporting him as if he was about to be executed, without any threatening expression, and couldn't help but feel both angry and amused. "Doesn't this woman know what it means to be unreasonable?" "You won't give it to me? What can you do to me?" Zi Yaqi elegantly brushed away Xu Wuyan's hand, sipping the best Keemun red tea while responding to Xu Wuyan's words with indifference.

  Xu Wuyan hung his head and stopped talking, sitting across from Zi Yaqi by himself. In fact, Xu Wuyan didn't even understand himself why he had found an excuse to part ways with Fang Zhuohan halfway through and come alone to Zi Yaqi's place, a person he normally disliked, without even having the decency to ask if he wanted a drink. What was wrong with him?

  Zi Yaqi looked at the silent, cheek-supported, unfocused gaze of Xu Wuyan looking out the window, his expression carrying a hint of unease, like a stone thrown into a lake, rippling with subtle waves. "What's wrong?" Zi Yaqi asked subconsciously.

  "I want a drink!"

  Zi Ya compromised and beckoned someone to bring up the wine he had been treasuring, saying with complex emotions: "You drink it!"

  Xu Wuyan looked at the delicate black-glazed jar of Zhu Ye Qing on the table, and without hesitation, opened it and poured it into a wine cup to drink. He didn't say a word, nor did he ask Zi Yaqi to follow suit, but instead drank cup after cup by himself.

  Zi Yaqi felt an inexplicable palpitation in front of Xu Wuyan, probably because apart from herself, Zi Yaqi was the one who understood Xu Wuyan the most. Apart from those case files that had been screened and 'handed over' to Xu Wuyan, it was likely that only Zi Yaqi knew about the various things Xu Wuyan had experienced before.

  Xu Wuyan's rights as a child were like air, only thinking of getting drunk, only wanting to escape the fate of many "women" in this world. After drinking half a tank of wine, Xu Wuyan was so drunk that he didn't even have his last bit of consciousness left, leaving only mechanical "sexual" movements and chaotic thoughts.

  "I want to go home! Will you take me home?" Xu Wu Yan tightly grasped Zi Ya Qi's arm, spitting out fragmented words with a wandering consciousness.

  Zi Yaqi looked at Xu Wuyan's face, which was flushed from drinking, and her wandering, sparkling eyes that didn't seem to understand anything. For a moment, she was at a loss for what to do; out of kindness, she supported Xu Wuyan's swaying body, soothing the chaotic thoughts pouring out of her mouth.

  "I want to go home! I want to go home!" Xu Wu Yan repeated over and over, a tear that could shatter one's heart falling from the corner of his eye without him realizing it.

  "Good...good...good!" I'll send you back to the Jun Guo Gong Fu, okay? Zi Ya Qi really couldn't control the situation anymore. In order to maintain Xu Wu Yan's physical balance, Zi Ya Qi had no choice but to half-embrace Xu Wu Yan. Adding to that, Xu Wu Yan's unbridled hands and feet made Zi Ya Qi feel like he was about to go crazy...

  "No! My home is not here, not in heaven...!" Xu Wuyan waved his hands wildly, slapping and struggling, begging Xia Yiqi to take him back to the Jun Guo Gong Fu.

  "What did you say?" Zi Yaqi was somewhat incredulous, wondering if she had misheard. Xun Wuyan said that his home was not in Tianhe; could it be that Xun Wuyan truly despised the Xun family to such an extent? Was he so resentful that he refused to acknowledge himself as a member of the Tianhe imperial family, or was there another reason?

  "Freedom... I want freedom!" Xu whispered, muttering words that Zi Ya couldn't understand or comprehend. This woman, who had been fragmented for half her life, had experienced what, even the Tongshi Hall couldn't find any information about.

  Zi Yaqi looked at the woman sleeping in his arms, if that three-irksome man saw him looking like this, he really didn't know what would happen. "Sigh! Women are truly troublesome!" Zi Yaqi thought to himself, especially smart and sensitive women like Xu Wuyan who had a crush on someone, they were even more troublesome. Thinking of this, Zi Yaqi let out a self-pitying sigh and carried Xu Wuyan down from the loft...