svetikya Chapter 381: A Father’s Farewell
Chapter 381: A Father’s Farewell
Officially, he claimed that he wished to learn how to handle state affairs.
In reality, he was keeping watch over him.
He would never give this man even the smallest chance to harm his family.
No matter what, he was still the prince of Dongyue.
He would protect his father and ensure that such a person could never hurt him again.
Day after day passed.
Yue Mingxuan’s preparations became increasingly thorough.
And at that time, Li Xunhuan finally returned.
When Li Xunhuan returned this time, his expression looked noticeably more haggard.
Yue Mingxuan had not seen him for quite some time.
Just as he was about to step forward and greet him, he saw Li Xunhuan smile.
It was the best smile Yue Mingxuan had ever seen on Li Xunhuan’s face.
Li Xunhuan’s body was covered in wounds and scars. He held something out and said,
"This is for you."
Yue Mingxuan did not know what it was.
When he accepted it, he discovered that it was a heavy jade pendant.
The style of the pendant was very similar to the one Shang Qinghua possessed earlier.
It looked as though the two pieces were a matching pair.
"Where did you find this?"
"On Keshun Sanfeng’s corpse."
Yue Mingxuan was dumbfounded.
He had never expected that the item would actually be on Keshun Sanfeng’s body.
Moreover, considering Li Xunhuan’s martial prowess, for him to be injured to such an extent.
Yue Mingxuan hardly dared imagine what had happened.
"How were you injured?"
"Keshun Sanfeng wasn’t completely dead."
That single sentence alone shocked Yue Mingxuan greatly.
It was obvious that the dumdum gun had not completely killed Keshun Sanfeng.
The man’s vitality was truly astonishingly tenacious.
"And now?"
"Now he should be completely dead."
Li Xunhuan folded his arms.
"I suffered a few minor injuries while taking the jade pendant back."
"How did you know this thing was on Keshun Sanfeng?"
Li Xunhuan did not answer.
Even without a reply, however, Yue Mingxuan could roughly guess the truth.
With Li Xunhuan’s personality, he was bound to suffer losses in matters like this.
His withdrawn nature and inability to communicate with others made Yue Mingxuan genuinely curious about how he had managed to obtain such information in the first place.
"You’ve really worked hard for this..."
"It was Zhuang Yifang who told me."
Li Xunhuan crossed his arms and said, "So you are The Black Archon’s Imperator Jin."
"I only learned about it recently myself..."
As soon as Yue Mingxuan finished speaking, he suddenly saw Xie Yunlan’s face.
He heard Xie Yunlan say, "I’m sorry... I still couldn’t do it."
"What happened?"
"Your father has already..."
Xie Yunlan stopped halfway through the sentence, unable to continue.
Yue Mingxuan did not need to hear the rest to understand what had happened.
Disbelief instantly filled his face.
"How is that possible?!"
"I’m sorry..."
"It isn’t your fault."
While comforting Xie Yunlan, Yue Mingxuan rushed outside.
Seeing this, Xie Yunlan hurriedly followed him.
His father’s expression was peaceful.
Beside him lay a suicide note that appeared to have been prepared long ago.
As Yue Mingxuan read the letter, tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
"The Nine Abyssal Gate is indeed a powerful organization. If you intend to oppose them, you must be extremely careful. What happened to your mother back then was my fault. Now, I can finally go and accompany her. Do not feel too saddened. I am merely going to find your mother. She has been alone all these years and must have felt terribly lonely. When I heard the news that you had died, I felt I had failed her once again. Only later did I learn that the news was false and that you were still alive. At last, I can give her an explanation.
In truth, my body could no longer endure much longer. When the people of the Nine Abyssal Gate took me away, they forced me to consume a poison. That poison is extremely difficult to detect. I have long known this and understood that my time was running out. After I am gone, everything in Dongyue will be entrusted to you. Your four brothers may not be particularly capable, but they are still your blood brothers. They will not fight you for the throne, and I hope you can spare them. After all, they are my sons as well. I can feel it. My time is nearly over. Mingxuan, take care of yourself."
By the time Yue Mingxuan finished reading the letter, he was already sobbing uncontrollably.
For the first time, he felt utterly useless.
His father had been poisoned, yet he had not noticed the slightest sign.
He was the Sect Master of Silver Needle Sect, yet he had never even heard the name of the poison mentioned in the letter.
"Father, I will avenge you!"
Yue Mingxuan spoke through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, Yue Juhua burst into the room.
"Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
For the first time, panic completely covered Yue Juhua’s face.
Yue Mingxuan wiped away his tears and asked, "What happened?"
When Yue Juhua saw Yue Mingxuan’s tear-stained face, the words she intended to say became lodged in her throat.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not force them out.
Yue Mingxuan had already suffered a tremendous shock.
If she revealed this piece of news now...
Yet if she remained silent, that did not seem appropriate either.
In the end, she felt that Yue Mingxuan deserved to know the truth, no matter how painful it might be.
"Whatever it is, just say it."
"The Nine Abyssal Gate... the Nine Abyssal Gate claims they have found the Imperator Jin!"
"What?" Yue Mingxuan was extremely shocked.
The fact that he was the Imperator Jin was known only to a very small number of people.
Yue Juhua should not have known about it.
"They found the Imperator Jin?"
"That’s right. They claim they found the Imperator Jin, although the identifying token was lost. I heard that this Imperator Jin looks remarkably similar to the previous Imperator Jin. However, this Imperator Jin is only in their teens."