11-15

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Chapter 11: Xie Family's Ending

Shen Miao lowered her head, seeming bashful.

Xie Jing Xing died at the age of twenty six.

The Imperial family of Ming Qi became more muddle-headed and incompetent as time passed. They did not consider developing the country's strength, instead, only thinking about how to protect themselves against the vassal families who they viewed as threats. As per Fu Xiu Yi, the Shen family's objective was to live honestly whereas the Xie family ignored Imperial commands, so naturally they were a thorn in the Late Emperor's eyes, causing the Late Emperor to want to punish them.

When the Xiong Nu attacked, Xie Ding set off with the Xie family troops. Once on the battlefield, the presumptuous General Xie's troops were annihilated to the last man. While Xie Jing Xing waited for his father's return, in reality what he waited for was the return of a coffin.

Xie Ding's death was not the end. During the funeral, the people in the Ding capital sent Xie Ding off and the entire country was in mourning. To the Imperial family, this was a big taboo.

Thus, it did not take long for young Xie Jing Xing to be appointed to lead the military campaign on behalf of his father.

This was not Xie Jing Xing's first battle. Like the Xie family, his talent on the battlefield was enough to make the enemy terrified. But despite obviously knowing the queer nature of his father's death, Xie Jing Xing went into the battlefield and was defeated, the Imperial edict had pushed him onto the road of death.

Yet Xie Jing Xing still received the Imperial edict. That day he was exposed to the enemy and became the target, ending up with thousands of arrows through his heart. Not only that, for unknown reasons, the body was taken away and the Xiong Nu skinned it before hanging the body up in the tower to serve as a warning to others.

Another tragic outcome was played and Ming Qi went into national mourning.

Father and son made the battlefield their grave and the commoners could only see the Xiong Nu's brutality and the generals' heroism but they did not see that the undercurrent of this conspiracy.

At that time the late Emperor was already approaching his deathbed, so Fu Xiu Yi took over the affairs of the court. In order to express regret for the bitter outcome of the Xie family, he conferred titles to both the father and son. Even though the titles were useless for the deceased, it appeased the court while the concubine and the two Shu son's gained all the advantages.

Shen Miao still remember Shen Xin's look of pain when he came to know of Xie Jing Xing's death. She initially thought that the Xie and Shen family were like water and fire and when the Xie family fall into despair, her father would not be sad about it. Thinking about it now, it was most likely at that time when Shen Xin experienced the feeling of the fox grieving when the rabbit dies.

Since the balance was broken with the collapse of the Xie family, the next to fall would be the Shen family.

The ridiculous thing was that at that time she single-mindedly pushed the Shen family into the muddy waters of the fight of the throne.

Shen Miao did not have any feelings for the Xie family and in the beginning she only felt some regret towards the fate of this young man. Such an outstanding young man should be leaving a legacy in the country of Ming Qi, who would have expected such an ending. He knew that the Imperial edict was a seal of death but he still went.

Perhaps it was in order to preserve the dignity of the Xie family and to prove that to the very end that the Xie family was loyal to the country. But knowing that it cannot be avoided yet still proceeding showed that this unruly Xie Jing Xing was not ordinary.

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