Chapter 58: Brothers at Odds

The words on the blood-written letter were traced stroke by stroke, every single character weeping with blood.

They stabbed fiercely into Chen Huaian’s eyes.

And straight into his heart. Chen Huaian stood in silence, his expression filled with profound grief, looking as though he were about to shatter into a million pieces.

Ye Qingyan stood nearby, not even daring to breathe too heavily.

She watched with her own eyes as Chen Huaian’s complexion turned pale, inch by inch.

Then, that pallor shifted into a deathly, leaden cyan.

My guy, did you unlock some kind of underworld-exclusive character skin for your face?

The contents of the letter were simple, yet utterly shocking.

Ye Chengzong, Chen Yi.

They used to be sworn brothers who would gladly take a blade for each other.

Their two families had been old friends and close allies through generations.

The Chen family had never plotted any rebellion!

Holy crap!

This was the blockbuster gossip of the year! Completely verified.

Ye Qingyan’s gossip radar went off with a loud buzz, driving her mental processor to the brink of meltdown.

The unvarnished truth was that General Chen Yi had inadvertently discovered Ye Chengzong’s monstrous secret.

A secret that would warrant a million deaths.

In order to climb higher up the ranks, driven by his lust for military power, Ye Chengzong had actually colluded with the northern barbarians!

He had even handed over the defense map of a frontier city!

What the fuck!

This was pure treason!

A downright traitorous act!

In the modern age, this would get you dragged straight in front of a firing squad—and you'd probably have to pay for the bullets yourself!

When General Chen Yi obtained the evidence, out of lingering fraternal affection, he privately urged Ye Chengzong to turn back before it was too late.

And the result?

Ye Chengzong, that old schemer, not only intentionally withheld reinforcements from General Chen, but turned around and played the thief crying "stop, thief!"

He struck first with malicious accusations, directly pinning the filthy charge of treason onto Chen Yi.

Evidence?

The evidence he fabricated looked even more authentic than the real thing.

And so, down came an imperial edict from the Emperor.

Pitifully, the entire Chen family, renowned for their loyalty, had their clan wiped out and their estate confiscated in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Ye Chengzong stepped upon the corpses of his sworn brother’s entire family, soaring straight to the top from that day forward.

Grand General.

Imperial Merchant.

Strutting effortlessly through both military and commercial realms, he became the most formidable big shot in the Great Xia Dynasty.

At the very end of the letter, another matter was mentioned.

When Lady Chen was due to give birth, she had delivered twins.

At the very final moment when they were surrounded by Ye Chengzong’s troops, she fought desperately to entrust one of the infants to a loyal wet nurse, smuggling the child out through a secret tunnel.

That child was Chen Huaian’s twin younger brother.

"Plop." A single drop of blood fell to the ground.

It came from Chen Huaian’s hand.

He gripped the blood letter so hard that his knuckles were on the verge of cracking, the sharp edges of the paper slicing into his palm as crimson blood trickled down between his fingers.

Yet he remained entirely oblivious to the pain.

An overwhelming, monstrous hatred surged wildly from the depths of his being.

That was no act.

That terrifying resentment dropped the temperature of the entire room by several degrees.

Watching his face, twisted in agony, Ye Qingyan felt her own heart clench in sympathy.

Chen Huaian had mistaken his enemy for an uncle for twenty years, living right inside the Ye household—right beneath their noses.

Ye Qingyan’s father had destroyed Chen Huaian’s family, leaving her momentarily at a loss as to how to face him.

Even though Ye Qingyan’s mother had adopted him, it could never make up for the devastation the Ye family had inflicted upon the Chens.

In the end, it was a debt the Ye family owed the Chens—a towering blood debt.

She finally understood.

She understood completely.

Why the tyrant system always threw a massive fit, jumping around like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, every single time Chen Huaian was mentioned.

It was never any bullshit remorse from a tyrant toward a loyal official!

It was the sheer terror of lies about to be exposed!

It was fury born of embarrassment!

It was the frantic panic of realizing one had been a complete fool, used like a mindless tool, with the shameful truth about to be dragged into the light!

[Lies! Absolute nonsense!]

[This is slander! Total, unadulterated slander!]

The system’s shrill screech rang right on schedule inside Ye Qingyan’s head.

The voice was sharp and piercing, making her brain ache.

[Rebellious vassal and wicked subject! Facing death and still daring to slander Us as a昏君 (fatuous ruler)!]

[His Chen family deserved to die! We did nothing wrong!]

Had this happened previously, Ye Qingyan would have already launched into her soothing routine of "Baby is suffering inside, but Baby won't say a word."

But today.

She didn't want to.

For the very first time, she did not go along with the system.

Instead, she replied coldly in her mind.

"Your Majesty."

"I'm afraid the things you did back then weren't limited to just this one, right?"

"After all, history is always written by the victors."

"Oh, and by the way."

"Without your tacit approval and hints, even if you gave Ye Chengzong ten times his courage, could he ever have jumped around so audaciously?"

Ye Qingyan’s voice was as calm as still water, without a single ripple.

Yet every single word acted like a precise surgical scalpel, slicing away the tyrant system’s final shred of decency.

[Beep, beep, beep...]

The screaming in her head came to an abrupt halt.

The system was utterly choked by her retort.

Fallen into absolute silence.

Ye Qingyan could even feel the energy parasite residing inside her body instantly freeze solid.

But immediately afterward.

An energy a hundred times more terrifying than any before began to gather frantically.

A storm was gathering, and the wind was sweeping through the tower.

This damn system was probably brewing a catastrophic attack.

Chen Huaian slowly raised his head.

Those eyes, once so clear, now held nothing save for a chilling, blood-red hue and thick, suffocating murderous intent.

He looked right at Ye Qingyan, enunciating each word with chilling clarity.

"I am going to have my revenge."

His voice was hoarse, yet laden with a desperate resolve capable of reducing everything to ashes.

For his parents, who died unjustly.

For the more than one hundred souls of the Chen family perished in vain.

And for that twin brother she had never met, wandering somewhere in the wide world with an unknown fate.

This vengeance must be exacted!

Ye Qingyan opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

"Look out!"

Before the words could escape her lips, she felt the energy inside her mind instantly drain away.

That long-dormant system energy had finally erupted!

A golden token, condensed entirely from pure spiritual power and nearly manifesting into physical form, materialized out of thin air within the room!

Upon the token, a character meaning "Kill," written in sweeping, dragon-flying calligraphy, flashed with a blinding golden light.

A Decree of Execution!

The highest-level [Decree of Execution] issued by the Emperor System!

That flashing golden character of death was not aimed at Ye Qingyan.

Instead, it pointed straight, dead-center, at the space between Chen Huaian’s eyebrows!

This damn system was actually trying to terminate him on the spot!

Holy crap!

It was playing for keeps!

Had the wretched system been driven to such utter frustration by her verbal smackdown that it decided to flip the table and quit playing altogether?

Staring at that glittering Decree of Execution, complete with its own "I am the strongest in the universe" special effects, Ye Qingyan felt her scalp tingle.

That thing clearly wasn't mundane; it was definitely the most expensive skin from the system store—the kind that came with a custom kill animation!

And with its target locked on precisely, it was hurtling straight toward Chen Huaian’s forehead.

This was a physical passage to the afterlife!

In a fraction of a second, a flurry of thoughts raced through Ye Qingyan’s mind.

He couldn't be allowed to die!

If this guy kicked the bucket, who was going to expose the scoundrel deeds of Old Man Ye?

Was Ye Qingyan supposed to be bound to this accursed system for the rest of her life, listening to it host a concert inside her brain every single day?

The conviction of "My fate is up to me, not the heavens" ignited instantly!

Without a single second of hesitation, Ye Qingyan threw herself forward like a ravenous tiger lunging at its prey, hurling her body straight toward Chen Huaian.

"Big brother! Run!"

Her movement was swift; her posture was dashing.

It was just that her brain had turned a bit empty.

As a frail young woman with no strength to truss a chicken, what was she hoping to achieve by hurling herself forward—acting as a human flesh shield?

With this puny physique of hers, she'd likely end up pierced clean through like paper!

That was rather rash.