Hua Cheng sneered. “If history books recorded the truth, why would I come and ask it of useless trash like you?”
He raised his hand again, and Qi Rong yelled, “IT’S LANG QIANQIU! HE WAS KILLED BY LANG QIANQIU!!”
The budaoweng doll in Xie Lian’s arms jerked and started shaking vigorously.
It was shaking so hard that Xie Lian couldn’t keep a hold on it; he could only watch helplessly as the Lang Qianqiu budaoweng doll fell out of his arms and onto the ground, spinning wildly back and forth. Hua Cheng didn’t spare it a look, but he undid the spell. There was a blast of red smoke, and Lang Qianqiu’s form leapt out from within.
Raised as royalty, high and mighty, he had never been wronged like this in his entire life. He pointed at Qi Rong in rage.
“How could you slander me so easily?! An Le and I were friends! Just who are you accusing of killing him?!”
Qi Rong was also shocked to see him jump out. “You’re Lang Qianqiu? Why the fuck are you here too?!”
Lang Qianqiu still didn’t understand why he had been brought to this lair. He was simply enraged by Qi Rong’s accusations and felt compelled to clear things up.
“Prince An Le died of illness, so why would you randomly accuse me of killing him?!”
Hua Cheng looked on coolly and stopped dribbling Qi Rong’s head, so Qi Rong got pulled into the argument.
“Died of an illness my ass, only you would believe that shit. He died soon after the Gilded Banquet, so he must’ve been assassinated by your lot! If not you, then those old withering Yong’an dogs in court.”
He was muddying the waters with the garbage he was spewing; Lang Qianqiu’s face was steely with anger.
“No wonder everyone says the Green Ghost Qi Rong is vulgar and crass. Now that I’ve met you, you are indeed disgusting.”
That comment stabbed Qi Rong exactly where it hurt, and his face dropped immediately. After achieving fame, he’d been mocked for his vulgarity by all manner of gods and ghosts for centuries, both behind his back and directly to his face. He truly hated it.
“I may be vulgar, but that’s much better than your ignorance. Friends this, friends that; what peaceful coexistence? Xianle and Yong’an can be friends? Can coexist in peace? You’re as fake as your parents—how revolting!”
Hearing him insult his parents, Lang Qianqiu was furious. “Shut up! My parents were sincere and genuine, not fake! I won’t let you spit on their names and humiliate them!”
Qi Rong spat. “You’re all nothing more than the descendants of some rebels, so who gave you any damned right?! What sincerity? Granting titles and land to us, the people of Xianle? So shameless, gifting them their own property that you stole! Everything you owned belonged to Xianle!”
Lang Qianqiu was never good at arguing. He stammered, stumped. “You! You—”
Qi Rong saw that he had been angered to stuttering and felt a rush of satisfaction, and he resolved to aggravate him even more. He laughed. “Even if you guys killed An Le, that child had a profitable death. Xianle lost one man, but Yong’an paid an entire Gilded Banquet. Too bad we didn’t kill you too, so you could all taste what it’s like when your entire bloodline is ended!”
Lang Qianqiu was bewildered by this. “…What did you say?”
Xie Lian groaned inwardly.
He so desperately wanted to smash Qi Rong into the ground to shut him up the same way Hua Cheng had. But with this petrification spell, he couldn’t move a single muscle no matter how he struggled.
“What do you mean, ‘you didn’t kill me too’？”
Qi Rong only cared about avenging himself for the “vulgar” comment, so he continued to boast. “The fruit really doesn’t fall far from the tree! Sir, your stupidity has spanned so many hundreds of years that it’s opened my eyes! Think about it: we Xianle are thoroughly disgusted with you Yong’an; whoever doesn’t hate you is unfit to be called a citizen of Xianle! Did you honestly think the royal descendants of Xianle would be friendly with the royalty of Yong’an? It was all to coax out information for future plots and to paint your gilded birthday banquet with blood!”
Xie Lian was still struggling to break free, while Lang Qianqiu was frozen where he stood. It took a moment before he stammered, “…Prince An Le and the State Preceptor were…were on the same side?”
Lang Qianqiu was filled with anguish, thinking that his beloved teacher and his beloved friend had conspired against him together.