This F*cking Really Is Heaven Gone Mad!
That day, Hao Jiasheng didn’t leave. He stayed at Wangyue Manor. He no longer barged in to look for Rong Hua, but he often appeared silently at the entrance of the courtyard where Su Jingyang and the others were staying, staring inside without blinking.
Rong Hua stayed inside and didn’t come out at all. The one Hao Jiasheng was watching was Ah Xuan, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard. His gaze was focused, and very complicated.
After seeing this several times, Su Jingyang truly couldn’t help muttering to himself. What was Hao Jiasheng’s deal, exactly? First he got close to Wangyue Manor, then it was Rong Hua, then Ah Li, and now it was Ah Xuan again… Su Jingyang felt like everyone around him could somehow be linked to this man.
The way he had lost control in front of Ah Xuan that day was even more baffling, the kind of thing that made you rack your brain and still not understand.
He was truly a man of mysteries.
That day, when Ah Xuan practiced swordplay with Mu Jin and Rong Ci, Hao Jiasheng came again. He stood to the side at the moon gate, quietly watching Ah Xuan.
Ah Xuan turned his head and saw him. He seemed to think for a moment, then took his little wooden sword, waved away Song Hui who was about to follow, and ran over to him.
Hao Jiasheng apparently hadn’t expected him to come over so suddenly. His eyes widened slightly. Nervously, he took a step back and slightly bowed toward Ah Xuan, who was far shorter than him.
Ah Xuan raised his little face and blinked his big eyes as he asked curiously, “Why do you always look at me? Do you want to play together?”
Hearing Ah Xuan’s childish question, Hao Jiasheng’s cheeks suddenly flushed red. He looked a little uncomfortable. “I, I don’t, I just… I just wanted to look at you… I wanted to watch you practice swordplay. Did I disturb you?”
Ah Xuan sized him up, frowned his little brows, and said, “Not really, but why did you cry when you saw me that day?”
Hao Jiasheng’s throat tightened before he finally said with reddened eyes, “Because… I suddenly remembered the wrong things I did. I almost caused my clan to be destroyed, with no way to undo it. I feel terribly ashamed and uneasy, and I’m afraid my ancestors will blame me.”
Seeing how upset he looked, Ah Xuan stepped forward and patted his arm with his small hand, comforting him like a tiny adult. “Alright, alright, don’t be sad. You’re older than me, so why are you still crying like this?”
Hao Jiasheng lowered his eyes. His expression froze when he caught that gesture in the corner of his vision, then he revealed a bitter smile.
Ah Xuan turned his head to look at Rong Ci, who was beckoning to him, then said to Hao Jiasheng, “I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going back to practice swordplay.”
Ah Xuan turned and ran off with quick little steps. Hao Jiasheng lifted his hand as if he wanted to stop him, and he unconsciously followed forward two steps, but he quickly halted.
He stood there and watched for a while longer before finally turning to leave.
Under the corridor, Su Jingyang and Ah Li witnessed this scene. After exchanging a glance, both saw the same complete confusion and bewilderment in each other’s eyes.
They really couldn’t see through it. They truly couldn’t.
Su Jingyang had heard from Xu Mei that Hao Jiasheng took over the Liyang Commerce Guild in half a year, acting decisively and ruthlessly, with a sharp mind. Yet back then, Hao Jiasheng had clearly been an underachieving loser who couldn’t even focus on studying, and only knew how to eat, drink, mess around, and read dirty little books. How had dying once made him transform completely? This honestly shocked Su Jingyang, who had looked down on him back then.
Now Hao Jiasheng stood tall and handsome, dressed in brocade with a jade crown, his presence outstanding, entirely the image of an aristocratic young master. If he returned to their town, probably no one would dare recognize him.
Could it be that his Ren and Du meridians had opened and he’d finally “gotten it”?
After returning, Su Jingyang asked Rong Ci whether Ren and Du meridians truly existed. He was so jealous he ground his teeth. “I really want mine opened too. Then I’ll be smarter than you and better than you and no longer oppressed by you!”
Rong Ci simply patted his head, praising him gently, “Mm, not only are you beautiful in appearance, but your thoughts are also quite beautiful.”
“…………”
The next day, Liyang held its traditional lion dance festival. The participants were folk performers, and there were many of them. They would go to the streets together, performing with gongs and drums along the route. If their dance was exciting, they could receive a lot of reward money from passersby or shop owners.
Xu Mei suggested everyone go out and watch the bustle and also pull Rong Hua along to relax a little. Su Jingyang was even planning to bring the children, but Xu Mei made him drop the idea. “We hardly ever get time to relax. Why bring the children? When they grow up, they’ll go out and play on their own.”
Su Jingyang couldn’t refute that. After thinking about how crowded the streets would be, he admitted bringing children really would be inconvenient, so he left them at Wangyue Manor and had the wet nurses look after them.
They packed up early and set out. They walked in small groups of two or three, with the guards scattered around them.
Hao Jiasheng also silently followed them out of Wangyue Manor’s main gate. Seeing Rong Hua and Xu Mei walking together ahead, he truly couldn’t help catching up and calling Rong Hua’s name, his gaze pleading. “Rong Hua, can you please say a word to me?”
Rong Hua clenched the whip in his hand and turned around to lash him hard. Hao Jiasheng didn’t dodge. His body shuddered from the strike. The servant behind him stepped forward, about to scold Rong Hua, but Hao Jiasheng stopped him with a cold face.
Rong Hua pointed the whip at him and looked down at him. “One step, one lash. Try following me.”
Even away from Rongcheng, Rong Hua still wore women’s clothing. A red gauze outer dress drifted around him. In the black hair bun, a red ribbon fluttered with the wind and fell again, brushing his pale, icy cheek.
That coldly beautiful and vicious look overlapped with images in Hao Jiasheng’s memory, as if it scorched both his eyes and his heart. He stared at Rong Hua deeply. His eyes surged several times before he finally restrained himself and said, “Do you truly detest me this much? You won’t even speak a word to me?”
Rong Hua answered without hesitation, “Yes, my aversion to you is innate! Seeing you makes me want to kill you. Stop pestering me from now on, or don’t blame me for not being polite!”
Hao Jiasheng’s face went pale. His breath trembled as he closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Xu Mei hurriedly pulled Rong Hua away and shouted forward, “Jingyang, Ah Li, wait for us!”
Mu Jin walked over and patted Hao Jiasheng’s shoulder. He seemed not to know what to say either. Shaking his head, he quickened his steps to chase after Xu Mei.
No one knew why, but the streets were explosively crowded that day. The road had originally been separated by barriers, leaving a space in the middle for performances, yet now it was already packed to the point where there were no boundaries left. The lion dance troupe hadn’t even arrived, and the people there to watch, along with those just trying to take advantage and muddle through, were squeezed together into a single mass.
Even Mu Jin said in surprise, “It’s lively every year, but it’s never been like this.”
Su Jingyang even saw a little thief steal someone’s money pouch, but because it was too crowded, he couldn’t run far before he was caught and pinned to the ground for a brutal beating.
Su Jingyang hadn’t even seen the lion dance yet, and this kind of excitement had already entertained him. He was about to call Ah Li to watch together, but when he turned his head, he realized Ah Li, Xu Mei, Rong Hua, and Mu Jin had already been pushed ten or so steps away.
Ah Li only managed to shout, “Jingyang! Ah Xuan!” before he was swallowed by the crowd, shoved farther and farther away. In no time, Su Jingyang couldn’t even see the top of his head. Su Jingyang worried for a moment, but he had seen Song Hui staying close to Rong Hua just now, so nothing should happen.
Their group probably hadn’t been carried off with the central stream of people because they had been standing closer to the edge. Yun Qi and Hao Jiasheng’s servant, however, had both been squeezed until their figures vanished.
Su Jingyang looked around. The ones still together were him, Rong Ci, Ah Xuan, and Hao Jiasheng.
Ah Xuan sat on Rong Ci’s shoulders and looked around. He also noticed Ah Li was gone, so he hurriedly asked Su Jingyang, “Uncle, Uncle, where’s my papa?”
Before Su Jingyang could answer, Hao Jiasheng, who had been standing quietly to the side, comforted him warmly, “You got separated in the crowd, but don’t worry. Later, everyone will return to Wangyue Manor.”
Rong Ci cast Hao Jiasheng a cool, indifferent glance. Feeling that look, Hao Jiasheng gave Rong Ci a slight nod. “City Lord Rong.”
With the crowd roaring, Su Jingyang didn’t hear Hao Jiasheng’s deliberately lowered voice at all. He stayed on tiptoe, craning to look into the distance, thinking to himself that coming out like this wasn’t watching a lion dance at all. It was watching heads!
Rong Ci’s dark eyes tightened sharply. He stared at Hao Jiasheng and asked in a deep voice, “May I ask who you really are, and for what reason you’ve appeared here?”
Hao Jiasheng heard how he asked so obliquely, and he understood that Rong Ci had already sensed it. He couldn’t help sighing. “City Lord Rong is indeed City Lord Rong. No matter when, you’re always this extraordinary.”
Rong Ci narrowed his eyes slightly. “Then who exactly are you?”
Hao Jiasheng had already shifted his gaze elsewhere. He said softly, “This isn’t a place to talk. Another day, I’ll find you and speak in detail. I… also have something I want to trouble City Lord to help me with.”
Su Jingyang turned his head back, puzzled. “What are you two whispering about?”
Rong Ci withdrew his gaze, looked at him once, and shook his head. “Nothing.”
They stayed where they were for nearly a quarter of an hour more before lion dance troupes finally began appearing and passing through. The crowd, packed to the point of bursting heads, somehow still automatically opened a space for them. Everyone watched and cheered. Su Jingyang’s eyes spun from the spectacle. He copied the others and tossed a few copper coins over. The lion dance troupe even had people specifically assigned to pick up money.
After roughly twenty troupes passed, the crowd finally thinned out a lot. Many still hadn’t seen enough and followed the lion troupes away. People said there would be a stage set up somewhere later for a competition.
Su Jingyang had already seen enough novelty and didn’t want to squeeze in again. He told Rong Ci they should just head back first. Who knew that at this moment, a troupe that was far behind finally arrived, wearing lion costumes. With drumbeats and gongs that alternated between light and heavy, they shook their heads and swayed their tails as they came dancing and performing. The crowd that had already loosened gathered again.
This troupe was different. They weren’t in a hurry to pick up money. They interacted with the people around them, teasing and entertaining. Su Jingyang felt that this troupe’s lion dance seemed even more exciting than the earlier ones, every leap and movement crisp and agile.
“This one’s good, this one’s good.” Several lions in the troupe happened to crowd right up in front of him. Su Jingyang opened his money pouch and prepared to grab some money to toss to them.
Who would’ve thought that the moment he lowered his head, killing intent suddenly appeared!!!
The lion dancers abruptly threw off their lion costumes, drew long swords, and attacked straight toward them. The people on the street immediately screamed and scattered. Su Jingyang lifted his head and saw more than ten gleaming sword edges. He was caught completely off guard and went blank. Rong Ci’s expression turned icy as he lifted Ah Xuan down, shoved him into Su Jingyang’s arms, and drew his sword to meet them.
Su Jingyang held Ah Xuan and, together with Hao Jiasheng, they were forced into the circle. A wall was behind them, and there was no way to retreat.
“Uncle!” Ah Xuan looked a little lost, yet he didn’t cry. He only hugged Su Jingyang tightly.
Su Jingyang watched grimly for a moment and realized that the attackers repeatedly tried to break through Rong Ci’s defense to rush toward him.
Su Jingyang wasn’t stupid. He hadn’t offended anyone in this world enough to draw such murderous intent. The most likely reason was that the person they wanted to kill was Ah Xuan.
Because Ah Xuan was the new emperor’s offspring.
The moment Su Jingyang thought of that possibility, his heart turned cold. Everyone had still been acting like it was the same as before, never even considering this could happen, so they had been careless.
Ah Li, Ah Li could be in danger too…
Hao Jiasheng stepped in front of Su Jingyang and Ah Xuan. He coldly watched the fight for a moment, then he even drew a dagger and joined in to help Rong Ci.
Unfortunately, he only knew basic fist and foot techniques and didn’t have inner power. Before long, he was knocked to the ground, injured, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He struggled but couldn’t get up. He clenched his teeth, his face full of furious regret.
Rong Ci alone was already starting to strain against more than ten assassins with strong martial arts. From nowhere, several more masked men in black suddenly flew in. One seized an opening while Rong Ci wasn’t on guard and lunged straight toward Su Jingyang.
“Uncle, Uncle…”
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
Su Jingyang’s first reaction was to quickly set Ah Xuan down and shield him behind his own body. Sword light rushed toward him, reflected in his pupils. He sucked in a sharp breath and felt, once again, how important martial arts truly were!
Rong Ci swung his sword and ended up splattered in blood. When he turned his head and saw what was happening, his eyes split wide with fury. No longer minding what was behind him, he desperately flew forward, deflecting the long sword that had already reached Su Jingyang’s chest. The clash of swords let out a piercing sound that made Su Jingyang’s scalp go numb.
Rong Ci quickly dealt with that man. Su Jingyang spotted a sword striking from behind Rong Ci and screamed in alarm, “Behind you!”
Su Jingyang’s body moved. His instinct was to rush in front of Rong Ci to block it, but Rong Ci reacted quickly. He wrapped an arm around Su Jingyang and spun, dodging the strike. Because of that, Ah Xuan was left alone for a moment. Su Jingyang saw someone closing in on Ah Xuan, and his panic was so sharp it felt like his blood was dripping!
“Ah Xuan!!!”
Ah Xuan actually rolled nimbly, ducking and dodging, narrowly escaping several attacks. It seemed that his martial arts practice had indeed shown results. Yet he was still too young. Even though Rong Ci quickly broke through and rushed over to save him, Ah Xuan still couldn’t avoid being cut across the shoulder by sword energy. He fell to the ground, and blood quickly dyed his clothing red.
Su Jingyang broke free of Rong Ci at once, dropped to his knees, and gathered Ah Xuan’s small body into his arms. He was completely thrown into chaos. “Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan!!”
Ah Xuan’s lips turned pale. Leaning in Su Jingyang’s arms, he whispered, “I’m fine, I’m fine…”
Before the words even finished, his head tilted to the side, his eyes shut, and he fainted.
Hao Jiasheng practically dragged himself over on his arm. He collapsed in a mess in front of Su Jingyang. Seeing the red spread across Ah Xuan’s shoulder, seeing him unconscious, Hao Jiasheng’s temple veins bulged. With reddened eyes, he blurted out a low, urgent cry.
Several assassins still hadn’t been dealt with. Su Jingyang held Ah Xuan, frantic, worried Rong Ci would be hurt, and desperately thinking of a way to break out and carry Ah Xuan to a clinic. At that moment, he saw Mu Jin and Rong Hua and the others rushing over at speed. A flicker of relief rose on Su Jingyang’s face, but Hao Jiasheng’s low cry made his whole body jolt violently.
Su Jingyang’s expression changed instantly. His eyes flew wide open in shock. His body stiffened for a moment before he suddenly snapped his head around and stared at Hao Jiasheng in disbelief!
This… was definitely Hao Jiasheng’s face!!!
Yet he swore it. He hadn’t heard wrong. It absolutely wasn’t an illusion.
Even though the voice had been low and restrained, trembling as well, the two words Hao Jiasheng had shouted in panic were those two unbelievable words!
In an instant, Su Jingyang only felt his head buzzing. A numb, freezing sensation spread from his skull down to the soles of his feet. His entire body began trembling uncontrollably, and cold sweat burst out along his forehead and spine!
If it was real, then this f*cking truly was heaven gone mad!
Because the two words Hao Jiasheng had called Ah Xuan were actually, “Father-Emperor!!!”
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