Chapter 838: I Want to Say Something
"hiss!"

Qiu Han's words made Liu Xunyi feel a tingling sensation on his scalp and a chill on his back.

What really made him uneasy was not those elusive masked men, but the increasingly confusing situation in Lin'an City.

It was only four months since Liu Xunyi went to see his bride off, but the changes that took place in Lin'an City were more than in the previous dozen years of his life.

First, someone outside the city used the code of the Xianwang Mansion to secretly contact, and then many unfamiliar faces appeared in the Tianji Pavilion. Then we learned the shocking news about Zhao Yuan, and then the owner of the East Mansion and the Tianji Pavilion changed. Today, Qiu Han and Ding Chou suddenly appeared and accused Liu Xunyi, their good brother. Now they said that they were ambushed outside the city and were helped by a group of mysterious people of unknown origin...

It has only been a few days since Liu Xunyi returned, but the people, things, and events in Lin'an City have changed again and again, as if everyone is good, everyone is evil, everyone is trying to win him over, and everyone is suspicious of him...

Is it "true love" or "false intention"? Is it "friend" or "enemy"? Is it "protection" or "house arrest"? Is it "help" or "exploitation"...

At this moment, Liu Xunyi was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. He didn't know who to trust or who to be wary of.
As if seeing Liu Xunyi's hesitation, Qiu Han's eyes suddenly showed a hint of anger, and he asked sharply: "Why? Don't you want to believe us?"

"I……"

"Do you think my injury is fake? Am I just pretending to be lying here? I am deliberately trying to sow discord between you and Brother Qin Wei... cough cough..."

Seeing Qiu Han's face becoming increasingly ugly as he was filled with righteous indignation, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but feel worried. He wanted to say something to comfort him, but he didn't know how to start.

"Brother Qiu, I..."

"I know my injuries best. In fact, I should have died a long time ago..." Qiu Han seemed to have exhausted all his strength and gasped intermittently, "But why am I holding on to my last breath? Because I am unwilling to accept it! I am unwilling to see the Marquis die unclearly, and I am even more unwilling to see myself die in confusion... I am holding on to my life because I want to see with my own eyes the day when Qin Wei gets his comeuppance..."

"Brother Qiu!" Liu Xunyi frowned and asked tentatively, "You are so sure that the culprit is Qin Wei, is it because those men in black... are Qin Wei's newly recruited men?"

"No!" Qiu Han said disappointedly, "Those people are all strangers. We... don't know any of them. I guess... Qin Wei had already anticipated the worst outcome, so he didn't leave any handle for himself."

Hearing this, the anxious Liu Xunyi couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and then said: "Brother Qiu, it's not that I'm stubborn, nor am I unwilling to believe you, but..." He was tangled in his eyes and hesitated, "In the absence of solid evidence, why do you insist that Qin Wei is the real murderer behind the scenes? I know that you may be resentful that he took over the position of Tianji Pavilion Master from the Marquis, but... this is the emperor's will, how can Qin Wei change it?"

"Liu Xunyi, you were deceived by Qin Wei..."

"Brother Qiu, please don't be angry. Just listen to me." Liu Xunyi made up his mind and spoke righteously, "Qin Wei and I have known each other since childhood. Although he has some minor flaws of being greedy and reckless, he is definitely not a petty person, and he will not do anything perverse to harm innocent people. Taking a step back, even if Qin Wei is dissatisfied with you, or even... wants to kill you to vent his anger, he can do it in Tianji Pavilion. Why should he give you money and send you out of the city? Isn't it unnecessary to go to such great lengths?"

"Stupid!" Qiu Hanqi's voice trembled. "He has just succeeded to the position of the head of Tianji Pavilion, so naturally he has to pretend to win people's hearts. If he kills all the old ministers of Tianji Pavilion as soon as he takes office, it will not only be difficult to explain to the emperor and the court, but it will also cause great obstacles to his future career. The most important thing is, if people know that he is ruthless and cruel, who will be willing to work for him in the future? Ahem..."

Due to his emotional excitement, Qiu Han coughed violently and blood came out of his mouth and nose. Frightened, Liu Xunyi and Ding Chou rushed forward to comfort him.

"I know what you're thinking..." Qiu Han's eyes widened as he stared at the dilemma-ridden Liu Xunyi, and said angrily, "You think that Qin Wei and I didn't get along in the past, so I deliberately targeted him and framed him. No! You underestimated me. I'm definitely not the kind of person who is jealous of talented people and has a narrow mind... I only have a public grudge against Qin Wei, no personal grudge..."

"This……"

Qiu Han's words contained a mystery, which made Liu Xunyi hesitate.

However, he still couldn't believe that his good brother, who had grown up with him, would be the two-faced and despicable person that Qiu Han said. Therefore, Liu Xunyi was unwilling to admit it in his heart, and was more willing to attribute the conflict to the old grudge between Qiu Han and Qin Wei, or even his dissatisfaction and jealousy of Qin Wei's success.

After all, in Liu Xunyi's heart, Qin Wei is far more important than Qiu Han and Ding Chou.

With this in mind, Liu Xunyi once again defended Qin Wei: "What's more, Qin Wei... has no need to kill you all. After all, you have left Tianji Pavilion and are no longer a thorn in his side. It is meaningless for him to kill you, and it will only cause more trouble..."

"The person he really wanted to get rid of wasn't me, but Ding Chou!" Qiu Han ignored Liu Xunyi's advice and said word by word, "He killed me because I was too close to Ding Chou during that period, which made Qin Wei worried."

"What do you mean?"

Qiu Han's answer sounded like absurdity to Liu Xunyi, who was stunned and confused. "Why did he kill Ding Chou?"

"What?" Seeing Liu Xunyi's bewildered expression, Qiu Han couldn't help but frown, and turned his suspicious eyes to the uneasy Ding Chou, questioning, "Until now, you haven't told him the truth?"

"The truth?" Liu Xunyi was stunned again. He looked at the two people with tangled eyes in astonishment and asked curiously, "What truth?"

"of course……"

"Lord Qiu!"

As soon as Qiu Han opened his mouth, Ding Chou's eyes suddenly changed, and he interrupted him: "Think about it carefully, it's better not to tell Lord Liu about this matter."

When Ding Chou said this, he didn't dare to look Qiu Han in the eye. His voice was as thin as a mosquito's silk, and he looked shy like a child who had done something wrong.

"What did you say?" Qiu Han was horrified, with a raging rage in his eyes. "Ding Chou, are you crazy or stupid? Do you know what you are saying? Liu Xunyi is the only hope for the Marquis to clear his name, and the only hope for you and me to return to Lin'an after all the hardships. We are starving in this dark place, looking forward to the stars and the moon all day long, just hoping that one day Liu Xunyi will come back. Now he is finally standing here, what nonsense are you talking about? Could it be that you are afraid and want to escape?"

"Yes!" Ding Chou said stubbornly, trying to hold back the tears that kept welling up in his eyes, "I'm scared! Enough! We finally got our lives back, why can't we cherish them? Why are we deliberately sending ourselves to die?"

"Asshole!" Qiu Han was so angry that he wanted his eyes to pop out. He shouted, "If a man can't live uprightly, what's the point of living a miserable life?"

"Aren't we just trying to survive now..."

"Of course not!" Qiu Han roared, "We are now enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens!"

"If you can take revenge, then you can bear the humiliation. If you can't take revenge... then you are just living in disgrace!"

This was the first time in Ding Chou's life that he contradicted Qiu Han, and he did so in a tough way without giving in. Not only did Qiu Han become speechless, but even Liu Xunyi was stunned.

"Xiao Dingzi, you...what's wrong with you?"

"Master Liu, please go!" Ding Chou turned his head away, as if he didn't want Liu Xunyi to see his cowardly appearance, and said disheartenedly, "I have thought it through very clearly just now. What Chu Mao said is right... You will soon be the deputy leader of Tianji Pavilion, and a bright future is waiting for you. We shouldn't 'spoil the people' with lies', and we shouldn't drag you down because of a hopeless thing, causing you to become a beggar like us..."

"This……"

“Ding Chou, are you willing to destroy your conscience just to save your life?” Qiu Han, who gradually came to his senses, was no longer as excited as before, and his tone was full of sadness, “I am going to die soon, and it is not a pity! But you are different... You still have a long way to go in the future. Once you betray your conscience, you will never have peace in this life..."

"It's not that I betray my conscience, but we simply can't compete with them." Ding Chou sobbed, "They are powerful and influential. Not to mention that they have deep roots in Lin'an, they are also big figures with connections in the Song Dynasty. They can get whatever they want. It's easier to kill us than to kill an ant. What can we use to fight them? How can we win? Even if we tell Brother Liu the truth, what will happen? Can Brother Liu win against them? Of course not. In the end, there will only be one more person in prison. It is meaningless and the outcome will not change. What's more, Qin Wei is Brother Liu's good brother. If we don't say anything, Qin Wei will not only not embarrass Brother Liu, but will help him get promoted and make money. But if we say something we shouldn't, Brother Liu will not only lose his bright future, but also have to endure great torment and pain. If so, we are not helping him, but harming him..."

"This……"

Ding Chou's words made Qiu Han fall into deep thought.

Although he scoffed at Ding Chou's "resignation to fate", he had to admit that what Ding Chou said made sense. Qiu Han might have adhered to his beliefs and acted independently in the past, but now he is paralyzed in bed and his time is coming to an end... His mood is naturally very different from before.

As the saying goes, "When a man is about to die, his words are kind; when a bird is about to die, its cry is sad."

Before today, Ding Chou and Qiu Han were blinded by anger and only wanted to use Liu Xunyi to deal with Qin Wei.

However, when Ding Chou saw Liu Xunyi repeatedly making excuses for Qin Wei, his mind suddenly became clear, and his judgment of the current situation became rational again, so his thoughts changed drastically in an instant.

However, it is not just Ding Chou and Qiu Han who have undergone tremendous changes in their thinking today.
……

(End of this chapter)