A Different Method of Living

　　Once these words came out, Ji Ling Tian’s madam, Jiang shi, fainted in fear on the spot. A soldier stepped forward and checked her breathing then said: “She’s dead!”

　　Ji Ling Tian just felt a fishy-sweet taste surge up from his chest. Unable to hold it back, he opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood spewed out.

　　Jiang shi’s corpse was carried away and thrown to the side. Ji Ling Tian kneeled on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly toward Xuan Tian Ming: “I beg Your Highness to spare my life. I beg Your Highness the ninth prince to spare this life!”

　　Xuan Tian Ming shook his head: “To be a traitor for old eighth by aiding a fake Imperial Daughter Ji An, Ji Ling Tian, this is a crime worthy of exterminating the entire family. Do not rush. Take your time on this path through the realm of the dead. This prince will quickly send along the young and old of your families.”

　　Ji Ling Tian coughed up another mouthful of blood! At this time, he really wanted to be like his wife and just die from the fear, but for some reason, he was particularly resilient today. He had coughed up two mouthfuls of blood in a row, but he still did not die. He did not even faint. He suddenly wondered if this might be the heavens punishing him. It was to have him clearly face his own death. He would need to face the grand mistakes that he had made.

　　In the end, he felt unreconciled. Even if he was to die, he needed to find someone to drag down to cushion his fall, right? This sort of thing could not be left for only his family to bear. was there not someone else that had also participated? He opened his eyes and pointed at Feng Jin Yuan: “Him! There’s also him! He is also guilty. Your Highness the ninth prince, why is he not also being killed?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming did not speak, but Feng Jin Yuan met Ji Ling Tian’s gaze and said: “There’s no need to compete with me. Although I am Imperial Daughter Ji An’s father, that daughter of mine has never spoken up for me. Based on my understanding of her, when it comes to this matter, she definitely has her own plans. Lord Ji, you go on ahead. I will definitely go down and accompany you. It’s just a matter of sooner or later. You won’t be suffering a loss.”

　　Ji Ling Tian had nothing to say. Feng Jin Yuan was Feng Yu Heng’s father. Speaking of, he was also the ninth prince’s father-in-law. Since he had already said such a thing, what more could he do? His Ji family could not compete with the Feng family, thus he lowered his head and accepted it.

　　Xuan Tian Ming did not delay. Raising his hand, a soldier immediately stepped forward to move Ji Ling Tian and the officer that had been scared witless to the side of Yao shi’s coffin. The backs of their knees were then kicked to drop them to their knees. Following this, two people stepped forward with their blades raised. Without saying a word, they cut at the backs of their necks.

　　Feng Jin Yuan watched as Ji Ling Tian’s head fell to the ground. The officer’s head even rolled a couple times, reaching his feet. He kicked it around a bit as though he was kicking his own future. Thinking about it, it would not be long. His end would also be like this, right? The ninth prince had never been lenient when it came to something like killing.

　　He pulled back his thoughts and did not continue to think about what was and was not. That was how people were. Once they were afraid of death, they would do all that they could to find bargaining chips to try and continue living. Once death had been taken lightly, whether or not you lived or not, that would not be too much significance. He had carried out Yao shi’s funeral with the thought that he would definitely die. Watching Yao shi get lowered into the grave, watching the soldiers fill the grave and watching the tombstone get placed, he then stepped forward and scattered the rest of the joss paper next to the grave. He then kneeled and kowtowed three times, marking the end of this matter.

　　Xuan Tian Ming also bowed three times in front of the grave. Staring at the tombstone for a while, he did not say anything else. Turning around, he took his soldiers and left. He did not pay any mind to Feng Jin Yuan.

　　It was only after everyone had left the grave area, with even the feng shui master from Sha Ping City following Xuan Tian Ming’s group, that Feng Jin Yuan regained his composure in a fluster. It was only now that he realized that he was the only one remaining in front of Yao shi’s grave.

　　This was an excellent escape opportunity, but Feng Jin Yuan knew that he definitely could not escape. The reason that someone as cautious as Xuan Tian Ming could leave him alone in this area meant that he had already considered every possibility, including his escape. At present, this area belonged to Xuan Tian Ming, and Feng Jin Yuan knew that regardless of where he ran, he would quickly be captured. He also did not have any intention of fleeing. In the past, he had been someone who had only thought of preserving his own life. Now, he no longer clung to hopes of continuing to “live.”

　　He was very thankful that Xuan Tian Ming had given him this sort of opportunity and would leave him alone with Yao shi for a while. He did not know what he should say to Yao shi. He had already done everything that should and should not be done. Even saying ten thousand apologies would not be enough to make up for what he had done to the mother and her two children. Feng Jin Yuan just remembered Zi Rui with a bit of longing. That child had been so adorable and looked so good. He was also Imperial Tutor Ye Rong’s disciple. He should have carefully held him up and supported him; however, he instead tried to hurt him again and again. It even resulted in him losing a finger.

　　Feng Jin Yuan raised a hand and slapped himself across the face. Staying in front of Yao shi’s grave, he began to cry.

　　He sat in front of Yao shi’s grave for a full three days and three nights. During this time, he had gone to the oasis to drink some water, but he did not eat anything, nor did he sleep. It was as though he was a ghost. His eyes were sunken, and he looked a bit frightening.

　　On the fourth day, Feng Jin Yuan finally got up. After swaying a couple times, he was finally able to stabilize himself. He then began to walk away from Yao shi’s grave and headed in the direction of Sha Ping City.

　　When Xuan Tian Ming saw Feng Jin Yuan once more, it was inside the general’s tent to the South of Sha Ping City. Although he had prepared himself mentally, he never thought that this person would destroy himself to such a degree.

　　He wanted to laugh and ask Feng Jin Yuan why he did not flee. To make himself like this, was it to arouse feelings of sympathy? But in the end, he was no longer the ninth prince from his youth. The “recklessness” was still there, but the unruliness had died down a bit. In this sort of political climate during the past two or three years, he had thought about some more things. The whip in his hand was no longer used as casually. But this was not a result of his heart softening, nor was he becoming weak. Instead, he had learned how to be more thorough in considering the pros and cons of things. He had learned to think about a matter from multiple angles, and once His Highness Prince Yu took action, he would definitely be taking a life.

　　Just like now, when he faced Feng Jin Yuan. He was no longer only thinking about getting revenge for Feng Yu Heng. He just felt that the matters of the world were constantly changing. He could actually see the passage of time from this person.

　　He asked Feng Jin Yuan: “Won’t you say something to preserve your own life?”

　　Feng Jin Yuan thought for a bit then really thought of something, thus he said: “Back when Qian Zhou’s eldest princess, Kang Yi, married me, I had been completely dazed and did not think about too much. But later on, when I lost my position as the prime minister, I analyzed the situation from beginning to end. After some investigation, I finally understood that you were all looking for a portion of a map from Qian Zhou. You all believed that it had fallen into my hands, and even Qian Zhou’s imperial family believed that it was in my hands. That was why Kang Yi was sent over to get close to me. In truth, they had come to my Feng manor to search from one of Qian Zhou’s items… is this correct?*

　　He had taken the initiative to bring up this matter, and Xuan Tian Ming did not hide it, nodding and saying: “That’s right.” But he then sneered and continued: “But the ‘you all’ did not include this prince. This prince knows that you don’t have that item.”

　　Feng Jin Yuan was stunned: “How can Your Highness be so certain?”

　　Xuan Tian Ming curled his lips into a wicked smile: “Because this prince understands you too well. Based on who you are, if you really had such an important thing, you would have used it as a bargaining chip long ago. No matter what, you would not have fallen to such a degree.”

　　Feng Jin Yuan smiled bitterly and thought to himself that out of everyone, it was the most unruly ninth prince that had seen the situation clearly. Indeed, if he really had that thing, the Feng family would not have fallen to this point. At the very least, he would have taken it out to provide the Feng family with a lease on life.

　　“That’s right! I indeed do not have it. Your Highness did not kill me at the grave on that day. Would you please say something now!” Feng Jin Yuan kneeled, and an aura of death began to spread. He did not have any vitality left.

　　Xuan Tian Ming looked at him, and the purple lotus flower on his brow became even more beautiful. Feng Jin Yuan remained kneeling on the ground for a long time, and the words that came were: “This prince will not kill you. As for whether you live or die, it will be left to Heng Heng to decide!” After saying this, he stood and left, leaving Feng Jin Yuan to remain kneeling inside the tent, where he did not recover for a long time.

　　Feng Jin Yuan had survived; however, he was living completely differently from before. He also had no clue what strange nerve had been struck, as he began to change. While he lived in the military camp, he did not stay there for free. Each day, he would go inside Sha Ping City to help the soldiers fetch water then bring it back. He had never done this sort of work. In the beginning, for each bucket of water that he carried, half of it would be spilled, but this person’s ability to learn was quite good. After a few times, he had grasped the trick to using the carrying pole. There was no longer as much water being lost when he brought it back.

　　Aside from this, he also took the initiative to speak with the soldiers, teaching the young soldiers how to read and write. A large number of soldiers learned how to write their own names under his guidance.

　　The people that joined the army were rough and strong. Relying on their strength, they wanted to earn a military salary to help their families. For the most part, they had never gone to school, much less knew how to read. In the beginning, there were people that snorted at Feng Jin Yuan in contempt and were very prejudiced. But gradually, when they saw that the younger soldiers were all able to write their own names, they also felt an itch. They no longer rejected Feng Jin Yuan and took the initiative to seek him out to teach them how to write their names.

　　Feng Jin Yuan did not refuse any that came, and he happily taught. He even helped some of the soldiers that needed help with writing their last words. These soldiers understood that every time they stepped onto the battlefield, there was a possibility that it would be their last time. In that sort of battle, there would be death and injury. Fearing that their next battle would be their last, there happened to be Feng Jin Yuan, who could help them write their final words.

　　The soldiers decided amongst themselves that these letters would be kept on their person. Regardless of who died, as long as there was a comrade nearby that was capable, they would take out the letter and put it away. In the future, they would find a chance to send it to their families. It would be better than not leaving anything behind.

　　It was during this period of time when writing these final words that he became even more familiar with life. He had also become more optimistic about living. He felt that if there was a chance, he should also write his final words, but after thinking long and hard, he did not know who the letter could be left to. There were not many left in the Feng family. It could be said that everyone that was a bit closer with him had already died. If the letter was sent to Fen Dai, based on that child’s personality, would it not just be crumpled into a ball then thrown out?

　　Feng Jin Yuan smiled bitterly and repeatedly warned the strong soldiers: “Regardless of when, you must treat your family well. Do not be biased. You must be fair to all of your children.” He even told everyone about his experiences and told everyone that they must not be like him.

　　He Gan recounted what Feng Jin Yuan had been doing in recent days for Xuan Tian Ming. In the beginning, Xuan Tian Ming felt that this was quite fresh, but as he listened, he also let out a boundless sigh…