si-mexico Chapter 429 Wei Liang
Chapter 429 Wei Liang
"You are such a Lu Wensheng!"
Wei Liang kicked over the sandalwood low table beside him violently. The gilded teacup shattered into pieces on the green bricks, and the splashing tea left a large dark stain on the dragon-patterned table.
He staggered and held onto the jade-inlaid screen, his fingertips digging deep into the cracks in the carvings. The beads on his wrist creaked from the pressure, and his face reflected in the bronze mirror looked hideous and horrible because of its distortion.
The palace servants lay on the ground, not daring to make a sound. Only the copper bells on the eaves swayed in the wind, and the tinkling sound penetrated his eardrums like a death warrant.
Wei Liang suddenly grabbed the memorial on the desk and tore it up fiercely. The snow-white rice paper turned into fluttering butterflies between his fingers, and in a trance it looked like the corpse floating on the turbid river that year.
He slumped over the dragon throne, his crown askew, revealing the newly grown white hair on his temples - he had nightmares every night these days, always dreaming that he was tied up with chains and dragged into the Zhuolang River, the Imperial Master stood in the clouds with his hands in his sleeves, and Lu Wensheng held up a bright candle to illuminate his festering soul.
His violent movements were not so much a sign of anger as an attempt to hide the overwhelming fear and intense uneasiness in his heart - those rumors that grew like weeds, those songs and stories that pointed directly to the truth of that year, were like countless cold needles that pierced his "stable" dream built with lies and forgetfulness.
Naturally, he was the first to learn about the contents of the innuendos that were quietly circulating in the palace.
Every insinuation was like a whip on his nerves.
He subconsciously wanted to order a strict investigation and ban, order the palace servants to keep silent, and even wanted to send out the imperial guards to hunt down those unruly people who dared to spread "evil words"!
But as soon as this thought came to mind, it was suppressed by a deeper fear - to stop it with such a big fanfare, wouldn't it show that he was furious and guilty? Wouldn't this just make things worse, indirectly confirming the truth of those rumors? He was the emperor, how could he do such a stupid thing that would undermine his dignity and expose his shortcomings?
This concern was like an invisible shackle that forced his anger to smolder, and eventually turned into venting his anger by smashing innocent objects.
He is not a person who has truly undergone a rigorous education in the mindset of an emperor and is well versed in the art of power.
The previous spreading of nursery rhymes that slandered Lu Wensheng and others was a last resort that was barely contrived.
Lu Wensheng's counterattack was so swift, precise, and overwhelming. The energy and means behind it were definitely not something that a few outsiders could accomplish independently! He knew very well that the Princess's Mansion must have been behind this!
That Liu Jiqian...When he thought of this name, Wei Liang's anger was involuntarily mixed with a deeper fear.
He knew his own worth. If Liu Jiqian gave him face, he might be able to barely maintain the surface of dignity and call him "Father". But if they really fell out, he, Wei Liang, would probably be worse than the dust on the ground in the eyes of this "princess".
How could he have the courage or standing to go to the princess's mansion to demand accountability and an explanation?
Wei Liang suddenly remembered the first time he met Lu Wensheng. The young man was standing in the hall, his figure was as straight as a pine tree, and his eyes were so clear that they made him feel afraid.
He grabbed the jade seal on the desk, and the cold touch gradually calmed him down - after all, he was just a pawn on the chessboard.
The national teacher needed him to be the executioner, that person needed him to maintain superficial peace, and he needed this ivory tower built of lies.
A heavy feeling of powerlessness and humiliation gripped him.
Whether it is the national teacher who controls everything behind the scenes, or Liu Jiqian with unfathomable strength, there seems to be a chasm between them, a true difference between immortals and mortals, a world of difference.
In their eyes, his so-called supreme position was nothing more than a useful or unuseful chess piece on the chessboard.
Even if you are an emperor, you can only bow down and submit to such power.
The humiliation brought about by this realization had long been smoothed out and become numb through his day-to-day "offerings".
What he really cared about was never the illusory imperial dignity, but the real power in his hands that made him live a life of luxury!
Be it the Imperial Master or Liu Jiqian, they seemed to have no interest in worldly power, which instead gave him breathing space, allowing him to sit on this false throne and enjoy the enormous wealth, beauties, and luxury at his will... If no one had set up this huge chess game, he, Wei Liang, would probably not even be able to taste this "a dream" in his lifetime!
It was this formation that gave him the opportunity to experience the ultimate enjoyment in the world!
Yes, he was reluctant to give up the fine wine in the Golden Palace, reluctant to give up the sweet words and tenderness of the three thousand beauties, and even more reluctant to give up the supreme power - after being used to being the superior person, who would be willing to go back to eating the steamed buns mixed with sand?
He didn't want to die! He had personally experienced the pain of drowning. The extreme despair of having the cold river water pour into his lungs and his consciousness swallowed by darkness was his deepest fear in his midnight dreams.
What made him even more unacceptable was that if the formation was broken, he would lose everything he had - the magnificent palace, the mellow and intoxicating wine, the charming concubines, the power of life and death... all would become nothing!
He would turn back into the ant struggling to survive in the turbid waves, or worse, his soul would be shattered! This fear of loss made him feel more powerless and suffocated than death itself.
Wei Liang felt that everyone has concerns and cannot go against the instinct of fear of death.
How harsh were the conditions for breaking the formation that Lu Wensheng and his team faced? They required the core of the formation to voluntarily sacrifice themselves and die in the Zhuolang River! Apart from Lin Zhuxuan, the stubborn and stubborn person, could the other two cores of the formation, Xiao Yan, the romantic marquis, leave his beautiful women in his gentle hometown? Could Li Qinghuan, the old scholar, give up his reputation and unfinished knowledge after studying for a lifetime and teaching many students?
They must be just like me, unwilling to sacrifice their lives to be such a stupid sacrifice!
Lu Wensheng launched such a massive public opinion counterattack. In the final analysis, it was just because of fear! He was afraid of being stigmatized, afraid of being used as a sacrifice to appease the "wrath of the river god" and sunk to the bottom of the river! He was struggling, trying to fight for a glimmer of hope for himself!
Thinking of this, Wei Liang's confused mind seemed to find a foothold, and the fear was temporarily suppressed by a "rational" analysis that was almost self-hypnotic.
He felt that he had seen through Lu Wensheng's "weakness".
However, he is ultimately a frog in a well trapped in the cage of his own desires.
He could not understand Lin Zhuxuan's pure "persistence" that was almost like a martyr, nor could he see through Xiao Yan's inner tearing and struggle beneath his romantic appearance, and he did not understand Li Qinghuan's tormented state of mind between the books of sages and the instinct for survival.
All he cared about was the imperial power and pleasure he held tightly, so he naturally believed that everyone in the world had the same idea.
He only cared about whether he could continue to sit safely in this position and enjoy this stolen glory.
He felt that he was forced into a dilemma, and even felt that he had some compassion in his heart - these outsiders were really ungrateful!
Especially that Lu Wensheng, too greedy! Too unsatisfied!
He won the first place in the imperial examination, became the emperor's consort, and became a favorite of the emperor. He could call the shots in this Xiangsheng city. How glorious is that? In the secular world, this is simply an incredible wealth that one could never achieve in several lifetimes!
Why are you still not satisfied? Why do you have to go against him? Why do you have to stir up trouble and try to uncover the bloody truth? Isn't it better to just enjoy everything peacefully?
In this Xiangsheng City, there are no demons, no natural disasters, no man-made disasters, power and fame are all there, and you can get whatever you want. Why do you want to leave?
Leaving here and going back to the real, cruel, and potentially precarious world is simply foolish!