Chapter 1129: Meeting in Speechlessness
Imprisoned together with Qin Wei in the firewood room were Chu Mao, Tu Long, Tu Hu and several golden sword captains, all of whom were Qin Wei's confidants.

Originally, they could rely on Qingfeng's power and visit Luoyang City as "guests of honor", with their food, clothing, housing and transportation all arranged by Wudang with the most respectful standards. They could also attend the Anti-Traitor Conference with an aloof attitude and watch the whole process from the sidelines.

With Qingfeng as his backer, even if Qin Wei's identity was exposed, who in the martial arts world would dare to speak out and make irresponsible remarks? In Qin Wei's eyes, this trip to Luoyang was not only risk-free, but he could even reap the benefits. He only needed to wait for Qingfeng to kill Liu Xunyi, and then return to Lin'an with Liu Xunyi's body as agreed, and he could easily pick up a huge credit for nothing.

Qin Wei has always been ambitious. Even though he is a third-rank official at a young age, he is still unwilling to accept it and is even more unwilling to be inferior to others. According to his wishful thinking, if this matter pleases the emperor, his career will definitely be able to move up a level, and he may even be on par with Lord Qian, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council.

However, Qin Wei, who thought he had a sure victory, was eventually defeated by fate, and his dream of a great career ended with the reality of the anti-traitor conference. When Qingfeng was doomed and died, Qin Wei, who was tied to him, was bound to suffer the same fate. In a blink of an eye, he went from being a "guest of honor" in the Xianwang Mansion to a "prisoner" in Danfeng Garden.

It seemed that Qin Wei, who knew that his hopes would be ruined if Qingfeng died, was no longer in danger. Instead, he changed from the panic he had during the anti-traitor meeting to a calmer one. Even though he was tortured by Qin's disciples, he never begged for mercy, or even said a word.

Selfishness is selfishness, meanness is meanness. At least, Qin Wei, who is imprisoned, still has his masculinity, and has not shown his cowardly, weak and timid side, and has not lost the reputation of "Marquis of Tianji".

"Xun Yi, Yuan Xiao and his son turned against you in the middle of a battle, and almost brought you to ruin." Qin Ku's tone was no longer joking, "The one who started it was this man. You once regarded him as a brother, but he was determined to kill you."

Silently listening to Qin Ku stating Qin Wei's crimes, Liu Xunyi just stared at Qin Wei quietly without saying a word for a long time.

Seeing this, Qin Ku couldn't help but sighed and said, "I know you value friendship and loyalty, and I also know that you have a close relationship with this person, so I didn't take the initiative to send him to the west. Tonight, no matter what decision you make, I will not object. I just want to remind you that it is difficult to change one's nature, and some things, once lost, can never be found again. A broken mirror... can never be put back together."

After saying that, Qin Ku patted Liu Xunyi's shoulder lightly, and then waved slightly at Qin Da and the others who were eyeing him covetously, signaling them to step back a few steps and not interfere with Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei's "reminiscing about the past".

"You've let him go once, but he's tried to kill you again and again. If you hadn't been lucky enough to meet Xunzhen, Granny Taohua, and Huang Yangming and his wife, you would have died." Tang Afu looked at Qin Wei with contempt, his tone was particularly disdainful, "In Lin'an, you two had already severed your friendship, and it's not against morality for you to take his life tonight. What's more, this despicable villain who forgets his principles for the sake of profit deserves to be put to death!"

Perhaps it was because of their different personalities, Tang Afu's words were far less reserved than Qin Ku's. When Liu Xunyi was silent and confused, he stated his position directly. Regarding the execution of Qin Wei, the ruthless swordsman was truly heartless and merciless, without a trace of mercy or hesitation.

At this moment, in the eyes of Qin Wei and others, Qin Ku and Tang Afu were undoubtedly instigating Liu Xunyi to kill them all. Sensing that their death was approaching, the mentality of those people changed accordingly.

"Liu Xunyi, you can't kill the Marquis, you can't kill us!" Compared to Qin Wei's calmness, Chu Mao, who was tied up in the corner of the woodshed, was the first to lose his temper. "We are all officials appointed by the court, and the Marquis is a third-rank official in the court, an important official of the East Palace appointed by the emperor. If you dare to hurt our lives, you are an enemy of the court! An enemy of the Song Dynasty!"

"Liu Xunyi, if you know what's best for you, let us go!" Tu Long echoed sternly, "Otherwise, the emperor will be enraged and the army will come to kill us without a single soul left alive!"

"That's right! Don't think you can rest easy after killing Qingfeng. You don't know that Qingfeng is just a dog working for the court and the Marquis." Tu Hu roared, "With the power of the Marquis and the court, it would be easy to foster ten or a hundred Qingfengs among you bandits. If you don't want to implicate your entire clan, it's not too late to stop now..."

"Bullshit!" Qin Da, who was far away, saw that Liu Xunyi was unmoved by the shouting of Chu Mao and others, and couldn't help but feel aggrieved for him. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore and cursed, "You dare to bark when you are about to die, how shameless! Liu Xunyi has long been identified as a traitor by the court, why would he care about killing a few more dog officials? You regard people in the rivers and lakes as bandits, but you don't know that your dog lives are in the hands of us bandits! I want to see whether the emperor and the court will erect a monument for you after you die..."

"You...you...you really dare to rebel?"

"So what if you rebel..."

"Shut up!" Qin Ku interrupted the verbal dispute between Qin's disciples and Chu Mao and others, and taught them a lesson, "At present, Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei have a personal grudge, don't talk nonsense and confuse the public! Since it is a personal grudge, it is not the turn of others to make irresponsible remarks!"

"My Lord, Liu Xunyi..."

"call!"

Just when Chu Mao placed his last hope on Qin Wei, Qin Wei, who had been as quiet as a wooden sculpture, suddenly exhaled a breath, and the gaze he gave Liu Xunyi was no longer dead, but gradually showed a complex meaning of helplessness, bitterness and even relief.

"Brother Liu, after all, man proposes, God disposes. I am destined to have a rough life... far worse than you. I worked hard... struggled desperately... in the end, I still lost miserably..." The two looked at each other, and Qin Wei was the first to break the silence. However, his tone was not as excited as others imagined, neither regretful nor ashamed, on the contrary, it was very calm, as if he was chatting with Liu Xunyi.

"It's hard to explain the right and wrong between us." Qin Wei laughed at himself intermittently, "From childhood to adulthood, I have always been suppressed by you... Even when I sat on the throne of Tianji Hou, I never felt stronger than you. When you returned to Lin'an, you made me feel a strong sense of crisis and endless pressure as soon as you appeared... Maybe it's because I'm used to the days when I'm not as good as you..."

Qin Wei talked to himself, and Liu Xunyi remained silent.

"Although I don't want to admit it in my heart, you are indeed far better than me..." Qin Wei moved his body with difficulty. The severe pain of the wound made his facial features twisted. "You are better than me in terms of social skills, literary talent and martial arts... I am jealous, but not resentful. Because... you have always treated me well. To be honest, if it weren't for you, even if I had ten lives, after all these years of ups and downs... I would probably have died early. You are good to me and treat me as a brother, and I am the same to you. If you hadn't insisted on your own way and refused to listen to my earnest advice, with the concerted efforts of you and me, we would have made a name for ourselves in the court. Why would we have come to this point today? I really can't understand. God has given you such good qualifications and opportunities, why do you not know what is good for you? If you are willing to face the reality and listen to the advice of the Marquis, why are you bound by Princess Xinde? If you are willing to be loyal to me, I swear to God... I wanted to follow in your footsteps all my life, rise to prominence with you, and enter the palace with you... I even imagined that decades later you could become a prime minister or privy envoy, a big man under one person and above ten thousand people, and I could also rely on my brother's status to become the deputy privy envoy or the secretary... Once upon a time, you were all my hope. Although I occasionally felt resentful in my heart, I never thought of murdering you or usurping your power... Brother Liu! Do you know that your willfulness and naive stubbornness not only ruined your own future, but also destroyed my hopes... Do you also know that when I learned that the court was determined to kill you, I felt like someone had taken away my three souls and seven spirits. The hard work I poured into you for more than 20 years was gone in an instant..."

Qin Wei seemed to have touched upon his own pain, and two lines of blood and tears burst out uncontrollably.

"You were my support, my only support... After losing you, I was not only lonely and worried, but also filled with fear." Qin Wei suppressed the waves in his heart, and continued to speak in a calm tone and almost trembling voice, "At that time, I was in a daze all day, with a blank mind... As your closest brother, I had to silently endure the doubts and provocations from all sides. They either looked at me coldly, or mocked me, or avoided me... The saddest thing is that I have no way to defend myself, and I don't know how to continue to gain a foothold in Dongfu... I admit that I am not as straightforward and free-spirited as you, and I can't bear to spend all these years in Dongfu. Tianji Pavilion works diligently, and everything is hard-won... I am unwilling to be implicated by you, and I am even more unwilling to be beaten back to my original state... Until the appearance of Master Qian from the West Mansion... I saw the dawn of hope again. That was my last straw. Rather than saying that I surrendered to the West Mansion, it is better to say that I surrendered to a new opportunity... Maybe you think I am a despicable villain who forgets his principles and sells out his master for fame. But you don’t know that I have always been loyal to myself and my future. There is a saying that "If you don’t work for yourself, you will be punished by heaven and earth." Whether it is the East Mansion or the West Mansion, in the end, they are all doing work for the court... I am not like you, at least I have never betrayed my determination to be loyal to the court..."

Having said this, Qin Wei shook his head and laughed, as if he was mocking himself for his efforts, but in the end he got nothing. He also seemed to be sneering at Liu Xunyi for not knowing what was good for him and missing out on such a great opportunity to become famous.

"The words said three times are as dull as water... I won't say anymore, I won't say anymore." Qin Wei, exhausted, leaned against the firewood pile, panting heavily, his words were already discouraged, "If you had listened to my advice, why would you do this? You and I are not the same kind of people at all. I don't understand your thoughts, and you don't understand my feelings. No matter what... I lose, I lose. Since ancient times, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Now that I'm in your hands, you don't have to worry about any feelings... In the past, I didn't show mercy to you. Today, you don't have to show mercy to me. You can kill me or cut me up, it's all up to you!"

"My Lord..." Qin Wei's calm attitude towards death shocked Chu Mao and others.

"Before I die, I want to say one last thing to you..." Qin Wei ignored the panic of Chu Mao and the others, stared at the melancholy Liu Xunyi, and unexpectedly showed a kind smile on the corner of his mouth, "Brother Liu, congratulations on finding your family... From now on, you are no longer alone in the world, and no longer an orphan like me... with a rough life. Today, I am afraid that I can no longer meet Yu'er, so please say 'congratulations' to her for me. You and your sister have suffered a lot, and today you finally get your wish come true, which is really cause for celebration..."

Qin Wei's heartfelt words were like a sharp sword piercing Liu Xunyi's heart, making it difficult for him to remain calm. His slightly pale lips could not stop trembling. The various scenes of the three of them from childhood sweethearts to relying on each other in the past appeared in his mind uncontrollably.

With tearful eyes, she took a deep look at Qin Wei, who was ready to die. Under the nervous and conflicted gazes of Qin Ku, Tang Afu and others, Liu Xunyi, who was determined in his thoughts, suddenly turned around and walked out of the yard without saying a word.

Seeing this, Tang Afu and Qin Ku, feeling lost, couldn't help but look at each other and sighed at the same time.

Tang Afu took a deep look at Qin Wei who was silently shedding tears, then left the villa and chased after Liu Xunyi.

"Master, what are they doing..." Seeing Liu Xunyi and Tang Afu leave one after another, Qin Da approached with a puzzled look on his face, "I don't quite understand, how should these dog officials be dealt with?"

"He left without saying a word. Isn't his meaning obvious enough?" Qin Ku looked at Liu Xunyi's receding back and curled his lips helplessly. "A traitor appears loyal, and a liar appears true. Qin Wei deserves to be able to make a name for himself in the court. He is indeed good at rhetoric and scheming. Liu Xunyi... after all, he can't let go of the friendship of more than 20 years."

"The Palace Master means..."

"Let them go! Let them go! Untie the ropes and make them get out!"

It seemed that he could no longer tolerate Qin Da's stupidity, and it seemed that he was angry at Qin Wei's eloquence. The more he thought about it, the angrier Qin Ku suddenly lost his temper and scolded the confused Qin Da, and then walked towards his room without looking back.

……

　"Three four eight five seven two five three one"

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(End of this chapter)