Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 432 The winner and the loser
Li Baizhou seemed extremely exhausted. He leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "The battle hasn't even started yet, how come you've already lost your morale?"

Qiao Yi said with shame, "It is my incompetence."

Li Baizhou's eyes betrayed his disappointment. He had initially thought Qiao Yi was quite talented in military affairs, but now it seemed he was just a theorist. Only someone like Pei Yan, who had truly fought his way up from the battlefield, could shoulder the heavy responsibility of commanding troops.

"I am the supreme ruler, how can I flee like a stray dog? Go to Xianju Palace and tie up Consort Jin, and take her and that traitor Si Buping to the front lines. If those rebels advance any further, cut off their heads."

Yan Ciwan was shocked: "Consort Jin is your woman. She has served you for so many years and even gave birth to a son for you. Even if she has no merit, she has worked hard. How can you treat her like this?!"

Li Baizhou said coldly, "She is indeed a good woman, but unfortunately, she has a traitorous father."

"But she's already married to you. Whatever Mr. Xiao did has nothing to do with her. She has never wronged you!"

Li Baizhou didn't argue with her, but raised his hand to signal Qiao Yi to hurry up and do it.

Qiao Yi summoned two Imperial Guards, who forcibly dragged Si Buping out.

Yan Ciwan was extremely anxious and wanted to step forward to stop her, but she was still seriously injured and staggered and fell to the ground after taking only two steps.

She could only watch helplessly as Si Buping was taken away.

Li Baizhou walked over to her and helped her up.

"Since we still have some time, let's make a bet. Let's bet on whether Xiao Wenyi will back down for the sake of his daughter?"

Yan Ciwan shook off his hand, staggered back two steps, and leaned her back against the pillar.

She said in a hoarse voice, panting, "Haven't you ever understood why we all prefer Crown Prince Renxian? Because he would never push his own family out to take the fall, and he would never be as despicable and shameless as you."

Normally, Li Baizhou would have been furious upon hearing this, but now he seemed to have given up on himself. Instead of being angry, he even smiled.

"So this is ah."

He summoned the palace eunuchs and ordered, "Bring all the best wines in the palace."

The eunuch said worriedly, "Your Majesty, those traitors are getting closer and closer to us. Should we...?"

Li Baizhou glanced at him coldly and said in a chilling voice, "What? Now even a lowly slave like you dares to teach me how to do things?"

"This servant wouldn't dare." The eunuch was so frightened that his heart trembled, and he dared not say another word. He quickly lowered his head and retreated.

Soon the eunuchs brought in many wine jars, which were neatly arranged inside the hall.

Li Baizhou dismissed the eunuchs, picked up the wine pot, poured two cups of wine, and handed one of them to Yan Ciwan. Yan Ciwan refused to take it, but Li Baizhou was not angry. He drank the wine in his cup by himself, then poured another cup. He drank four cups of wine in this way before stopping for the time being.

He carried the wine jug to the door, gazed at the distant palace complex, and said with a smile.

"I guess Xiao Wenyi would never give up his years of painstaking planning for the sake of his daughter. To be a loyal subject, one must make sacrifices."

Yan Ciwan looked around and found that there were windows on both sides.

The window on the left was closer to her, probably only a dozen steps away, but given her current weak state, even that was extremely difficult.

She looked down at the silver ring on her finger. The poison needle inside the ring had been used, but the blade was still there.

If she really can't escape, then she'll take a gamble.

Li Baizhou tossed aside his wine cup, took a large gulp of wine from the wine pot, and mumbled, "It's almost dawn."

At this moment, a faint hint of dawn appeared on the horizon, a sign that dawn was approaching.

Yan Ciwan lowered her right hand, concealing the ring with her sleeve, and said, "If you don't leave now, you really won't be able to leave." Li Baizhou turned to the side, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

In the dim light of dawn, her face looked even more like Ning Qingyang.

He couldn't help but call out.

“Ah Yang.”

Yan Ciwan emphasized, "I've already said it, I am Yan Ciwan!"

Li Baizhou put his index finger to his lips: "Shh, don't talk. You look just like A-Yang when you're quiet."

Yan Ciwan looked into his eyes and saw that his mental state was somewhat unstable, whether it was due to the effects of the alcohol or the turmoil in his emotions.

Instead of making sarcastic remarks as she had before, she asked calmly.

Do you remember your promise?

Li Baizhou asked blankly, "What promise?"

“You promised Crown Prince Renxian that you would always stay with him.”

Li Baizhou thought for a long time before a blurry image surfaced from the depths of his memory. At that time, Empress Liang had recently passed away, and Li Xuanhe, missing his mother, shed tears alone in front of her portrait in the middle of the night. When Li Baizhou discovered this, he comforted his elder brother and promised that he would always stay with him.

He chuckled self-deprecatingly: "It's been so long, I almost forgot. I did say something like that, but so what? People change."

“I can understand why you would stop at nothing to take revenge on Consort Xie, since she was the one who killed your mother. But Crown Prince Renxian has never wronged you, so why are you not even letting him go?”

“He was indeed good to me. I didn’t want to kill him. I gave him a chance. As long as he listened to me and left Chang’an, he could live. But he insisted on staying. I had no choice but to harden my heart and get rid of him.”

Li Baizhou then tilted his head back and took another big gulp of wine.

Yan Ciwan asked, "Over the years, have you ever had a moment of regret?"

“Regret what? Regret killing those people?” Li Baizhou smiled again. “My birth mother was born a slave. Back then, the Xie family was powerful, and Consort Xie repeatedly persecuted Empress Liang and the Crown Prince. My father favored my mother to distract Consort Xie. In my father’s eyes, my mother and I were no different from roadside stones. Even when my mother was dying, he never gave us a second glance. If I wanted to live with dignity, I had to try to save myself, so I have never regretted anything I did.”

"But all your scheming has come to nothing in the end."

Li Baizhou slowly closed the door and turned around.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain. I was too stupid. I didn't expect my father to have a trick up his sleeve. I even served him at his bedside for so long. When it comes to ruthlessness, I am no match for my father."

After saying that, he threw the wine pot on the ground, and the pot shattered, spilling wine all over the ground.

The rich aroma of the wine then spread throughout the room.

He then pushed over the wine jars one by one, causing all the wine inside to spill out.

Yan Ciwan had a bad feeling. Could this guy be planning to set a fire?

She suddenly said, "When my mother was still alive, she specially brewed two jars of Daughter's Red wine for me, saying that she would save them to drink when I got married. Unfortunately, I never got to drink it. Do you have any Daughter's Red wine here?"

Li Baizhou picked out a jar from among the many wine jars, walked up to her, and handed it to her.

"Take this and drink it."

Yan Ciwan took the wine jar, pretending to drink it, but the next moment she suddenly raised the wine jar and smashed it hard on Li Baizhou's head!