Don’t Be a Kept Man

ed over all of the opposing soldiers, and there were a few that even once belonged to a part of their military troops.
He sheathed his sword, expressing his attitude quite clearly, and retreated a few steps behind the Emperor.
He said with a solemn voice, 

“Those who surrender will not be killed–!”

“Don Tong” 

A light sound echoed out.
It was unknown whose blade first dropped on the floor, but it was like a signal.
Tightly following that sound were more and more of those who surrendered.
Sun Tong furiously looked back at them, eyes burning in rage, 

“Are you all crazy?! Pick all those weapons up for me right now! Pick them up! This old man is telling you to pick them all up! Their words cannot be trusted! They cannot be trusted!”

He was in a crazed state, kicking the soldiers around him who had surrendered.
It was as if he decided that that wasn’t enough to pacify his rage, and he even wanted to and moved to behead all of them. 

It was at this time that an arrow was shot, and all those around could only hear a thump before Sun Tong suddenly froze up.
He stumbled backwards a few steps before falling straight onto the floor.
His eyes were expanded wide and it could be seen that his throat was stabbed with an arrow, the end of it still vibrating.

Eyes followed to where the arrow originated from, and they could see Xie Yu Zhi pulling the bow taut once again, but this time, it was accurately aimed at those who had not surrendered.
They froze in shock once more, clearly feeling the murderous aura emitting from him, and they started to panic as they looked at each other.

One of Xie Yu Zhi’s fingers loosened, and the arrow glistened with a cold gleam, soundlessly striking fear into their hearts.
Finally another “Don Tong” and the rest of the rebels followed suit and threw down their weapons.
They were all afraid enough to kneel on the ground and start banging their heads towards the Emperor, 

“Your Majesty, please spare our lives! Your Majesty, please spare our lives!”

It was only declared that those who surrender will not be killed, not that they won’t be punished.
The Emperor waved his hand in the air as a signal, and there were people who quickly dragged them away. 

What waited for them was perhaps a hundred flogs or perhaps exile, being forced to walk no less than thousands of miles away.
No matter what, there would not be a good conclusion waiting for them.

Outside, Chen Miao Ping was smack in the middle of the troops, but from his position, he could still catch a glance of Xie Yu Zhi.
He stared from far away at him, and at long last, the corners of his mouth started to hook up, showing a smile that had become rare since everything that had happened. 

The tension that had been wound up so tight in him was finally relaxing.
He had been following Xie Yan Ping all the way here, following the troops as they slaughtered their way through their enemies.
The entire time he had hid left and right, but it was nonetheless still dangerous, and he was almost killed. 

But thankfully…

Thankfully he was able to make it here in time……

The two of them were still alive, and he still had the chance to call the other Second Master, could still make him angry, could still hear Xie Yu Zhi yell out again that he was a bastard.

Chen Miao Ping was very tired, and he felt that he didn’t even have the energy to keep standing anymore.
His hands and knees were burning in pain, and he leaned against the pillar behind him for support. 

He wanted to take a breath to rest, but a sudden noise from a horse rang out.
He subconsciously looked over and he was greeted with a long and strong shadow jumping onto a horse, viciously whipping it to make it run out the entrance of the Imperial Palace.

Although Chen Miao Ping could not see the other’s face clearly, he knew that man most likely had to be Xie Yu Zhi, because Chang Guo Gong was jumping in rage, to the point where he forgot his courtesies and was yelling, 

“Unfilial son! Rebelling now are you! You even dare to steal your father’s horse!!”

Chen Miao Ping was stunned enough to laugh out loud, but he suddenly realized what Xie Yu Zhi wanted to do.
And all thoughts of resting disappeared into thin air.
What if the other thought he ran out to marry a woman? What would he do then?

Outside the Imperial Palace, there were dead bodies every few steps.
There were bodies of maids, there were bodies of eunuchs, of soldiers and of commoners.
The cobblestone floors were being washed quite a few times, but there were still immovable dark red shadows.
Everyone was busy with their duties, and so no one cared about that fast fleeing horse running by.

Chang Guo Gong’s estate had been searched through and the highly skilled guards that had been left behind to protect it had all been slaughtered.
The structure of the buildings were still intact, the pavilions and the lakes, everything seemed as normal as they could be, but it was dead silent. 

No sign of human activity at all. 

After the night of bloody battles, Xie Yu Zhi was already out of energy.
He jumped off the horse and his legs wobbled, almost crashing onto the ground.
But he forced himself up, limping as he ran straight inside.

Qu Feng Courtyard was in a state of shambles, but Xie Yu Zhi didn’t care.
He opened the secret mechanism to head inside the underground chamber, and…

Of course, it was empty. 

The bricks under the bed had been covered well, but there were still some signs of scratches that signalled it had been opened.

His heart that had been hanging in fear suddenly dropped down to its normal state.
Chen Miao Ping must have left.

If he ran away, that was good……

If he ran away, that was good……

It meant that Chen Miao Ping had not been found by those people who came to raid the estate.
He was smart, so he should be able to find a safe place to hide.
When news of the revolt failed was spread, naturally he should be coming back.

But then Xie Yu Zhi thought about it.
The Liao Empire had not been completely eradicated, so he should bring some people with him to go find him instead.
It was much safer after all when Chen Miao Ping was under his eyes. 

He resealed the underground chamber and walked out, using the last bit of his energy.
He couldn’t have expected that as he crossed over the doorway, his eyes would catch a shadow crouching by a corner of the wall.
He paused in surprise.

The other man seemed to discover his footsteps and lifted his head to look at Xie Yu Zhi.
That man’s handsome face was covered in dirt and grime, but it did not hinder Xie Yu Zhi from recognizing him.

“Chen Miao Ping……”

Xie Yu Zhi used the door frame to hold himself up and stared at Chen Miao Ping with unmoving and intense eyes.
He forgot how long he had not called out those three words.
Perhaps it was one day, perhaps it was ten days, but it felt as if many years had passed since he had done so.

“I didn’t leave.”

Chen Miao Ping was so tired he couldn’t even stand up.
He braced himself on the wall and turned his head to look at Xie Yu Zhi.
Using a tone that hinted at a bit of pride, he repeated again, 

“I didn’t leave.”

The scaredy-cat, the one who was afraid of death, Chen Miao Ping, had not left.
He himself thought that it was a very unbelievable thing.

Xie Yu Zhi’s Adam’s apple moved but no words would come out.
In the end, Chen Miao Ping mustered some kind of energy to push himself up and came forward to wrap himself around Xie Yu Zhi. 

He smiled, and like so many nights ago, his hands slowly smoothed up and down Xie Yu Zhi’s back.

“Don’t worry.
We are both living and living fine.”

“I didn’t leave.
And I won’t marry a woman.
For this entire lifetime, I will only be with you.”

After a washing by yesterday’s rainstorm, the ground had built itself a covering of leaves.
The Chinese parasol tree in the middle of the courtyard lightly swayed its branches, dropping its last leaf down. 

It symbolized that winter was coming, but it also meant the advent of spring.