Chapter 409: The Dam Breaks
What the Commandery Princess feared was her younger brother.
Of course, the word **fear** was not entirely accurate here.
If one insisted on explaining it more precisely, it was something capable of provoking an intense sense of unease deep inside her heart.
But regardless—
Zheng Fan had found the breach.
Now came the next step.
Amplification.
Through that amplification tear the crack wider.
Let the raging flood pour through.
Let it transform the heart itself into a drowned wasteland.
Perhaps it had simply been too long since Zheng Fan last enjoyed himself this freely.
Or perhaps inside an environment like this certain emotions naturally filled and swelled.
You could also call it inflation.
“God said—let there be light.”
Immediately daylight.
Blinding brightness flooded the surroundings.
The scene shifted from the earlier darkness into its complete opposite in an instant.
It was a crude and forceful transition.
But extremely effective.
The Commandery Princess instinctively covered her eyes.
A violent sting stabbed through them.
Then, as she gradually adapted to the brightness or perhaps as the light itself softened she raised her head.
And discovered herself standing somewhere extremely familiar.
Very familiar.
Painfully familiar.
Like home.
Because it was home.
Zheng Fan had been observing every change in the Commandery Princess’s expression.
He could stand extremely close to her without worrying about being discovered.
When the mind is suddenly transferred and the eyes enter an environment the consciousness recognizes confusion briefly occupies the heart.
Then, reason awakens.
The person begins thinking about the surroundings.
Instinctively judging whether they are real or false.
The firmer someone’s mind the faster reason returns.
So you must seize that exact instant.
Before the target has fully recovered drag their attention toward the next point.
Zheng Fan snapped his fingers.
From behind the corridor a voice came:
“Elder Sister...
“Elder Sister...
“Elder Sister...”
At this point, directly creating the image of the Young Marquis of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence would have produced the strongest effect.
The problem was Zheng Fan had never seen that legendary Young Marquis.
What exactly did he look like?
And even if Zheng Fan had seen him as an adult could he reproduce what the man looked like as a child?
Every object appearing inside an illusion just like everything appearing inside a dream was a projection drawn from the real world.
If you had never seen something in reality you simply could not accurately invent it inside the dream.
So rather than paint the snake and unnecessarily add feet—
Zheng Fan chose to let the **voice** appear first.
Sound was much easier to blur.
There was a reason people said:
*Hearing is false; seeing is believing.*
Sound was naturally less precise than sight.
Unless his luck was catastrophically bad and the legendary Young Marquis happened to possess some extremely distinctive voice as a child then imitating the voice of a boy that age would probably be enough to fool her.
Sure enough the Commandery Princess’s attention was immediately drawn toward the sound.
The familiar Marquis residence.
A voice calling her **Elder Sister**.
The suggestion had already become so rich it was practically overflowing.
The Commandery Princess’s expression began changing.
Nervousness.
Dread.
Then, Zheng Fan’s hands began pointing in different directions one after another.
The little “Young Marquis” calling for his elder sister began moving around as well.
Behind the corridor.
Behind a wall.
Behind a door.
Inside the mouth of a well.
Anywhere the sound could emerge from somewhere invisible at first glance.
This was the next layer of amplification.
Increase the Commandery Princess’s panic.
And this step had to be fast.
It had to happen while she had only just entered this scene and had not yet had time to think the situation through.
But even this was not the most important thing.
Because people became numb to repeated stimulation.
Only escalation could keep pressure effective.
Zheng Fan snapped his fingers again.
This time he made a bold decision.
He directly surrendered sole control over the dream.
In other words, he gave up being the only person able to manipulate the environment.
*I retreat.*
*You advance.*
The moment one person relinquishes control someone else inevitably receives it.
Which meant without even realizing it the Commandery Princess now also possessed the ability to alter and reshape the dream.
She simply had not noticed yet.
In Zheng Fan’s view the most terrifying thing in the world was often what a person’s own imagination supplied.
No matter how horrifying or frightening something might be the instant it took a concrete form it immediately became vulgar.
It was the same principle behind horror films.
The most terrifying scenes were often the stretches where someone was searching, cautiously escaping, and listening to the background music before the ghost actually appeared.
Once the ghost finally stood in front of you and started trying to kill you most of the terror had already evaporated.
Sometimes you even felt relieved.
*So that’s all it was.*
At this moment, letting the Commandery Princess fill in the blank herself was the most logical method.
Sure enough before long the voice drew closer and closer.
Zheng Fan stood beside the Commandery Princess.
He watched a little boy wearing a purple padded jacket run unsteadily toward them.
But Zheng Fan’s gaze darkened.
The boy’s face was a blur.
Remember even that silver chopstick had appeared with exquisite detail.
Yet the boy’s face could not be seen clearly at all.
This was not some flaw in the Commandery Princess’s dream.
It could only mean one thing.
The Commandery Princess herself had never seen this younger brother.
If she had never seen him in reality then naturally she could not dream his face.
But the moment the little boy appeared the Commandery Princess’s emotions finally began fluctuating violently.
“Go away!
“Go!
“Get away from me!
“Go!”
The Commandery Princess pointed at the child and shouted.
But the boy continued calling:
“Elder Sister...”
He kept running toward her.
Completely unaffected.
At first—
Zheng Fan had assumed the Commandery Princess feared this younger brother because she had harmed him when they were children.
Cases like that were not especially rare.
An elder sister feels neglected after the birth of a younger brother.
Resentment forms.
Perhaps she does something to hurt him.
Perfectly understandable.
But the problem was not that simple.
And so while the Commandery Princess ran through the courtyard avoiding the child—
Count Zheng stood where he was.
Thinking rapidly.
Trying to straighten out the logic.
Because as he had already reasoned only escalating stimulation could keep placing pressure on the Commandery Princess.
One repeated stimulus would eventually become numbness.
“The Commandery Princess has never seen her own younger brother.
“Maybe the boy was sent away by the Prince of Zhenbei while still very young and secretly settled elsewhere.
“Or—taking it to the extreme—perhaps this legendary Young Marquis does not exist at all.
“Perhaps there was never such a child.
“If it’s the first possibility—that isn’t difficult to understand.
“Tian Wujing was capable of exterminating his own household.
“Tian Wujing.
“The Emperor of Yan.
“Li Liangting.
“Those three men—for the rise of Great Yan—truly are capable of sacrificing anything.
“But the key issue isn’t whether this younger brother exists.
“His face is blank.
“That means the Commandery Princess’s fear and emotional reaction—do not come from the younger brother as an actual person.”
Zheng Fan’s gaze settled upon the little boy still chasing after his elder sister and begging to be held.
He continued speaking to himself:
“In other words—this so-called Young Marquis represents something emotional in the Commandery Princess’s mind.
“She fears him.
“Fears his appearance.
“If he appears—what would she lose?
“Family affection?
“Her parents paying less attention to her?”
Zheng Fan shook his head.
“No.
“People like them do not value family affection that highly.
“Even parental love—probably is not something the Commandery Princess, at her current age, still cares deeply enough about.
“Then—if one day the legendary Young Marquis truly appeared—what the Commandery Princess would lose is...”
Zheng Fan drew in a breath.
He remembered lying in bed with Siniang after reading Little Sixth’s letter.
They had discussed the matter.
Siniang had said the Commandery Princess truly could be counted as a heroine among women.
Her actions looked rash but she struck directly at the vital point.
If the Empress had not suddenly died then decisively killing Little Sixth would indeed have opened a completely different future for herself and her husband.
That ruthless decisiveness was almost reminiscent of Wu Zetian.
“So— what the Commandery Princess fears is this:
“once the Young Marquis appears—she loses the support of the Marquis residence.
“She loses her status.
“She loses her influence.
“She loses access to one of the three greatest pools of power and resources in all Great Yan.”
Think about it.
If the Young Marquis had never disappeared if he had always existed openly and undeniably then whose orders would Li Liangshen obey?
Beside whom would Seventh Uncle remain day and night, guarding him personally?
Would the three hundred thousand Zhenbei Army troops rather be sent out as a daughter’s dowry or treated as the marriage gift that brought someone else’s daughter into the Li household?
Within Great Yan would the person who spoke on behalf of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence and represented its next generation still be Li Qian, the Commandery Princess?
The moment that legendary Young Marquis walked from rumor into reality—
Li Qian’s only remaining value would be **marriage alliance**.
And only marriage alliance.
Because she was a woman she had ultimately been forced to follow the will of her parents and the Emperor of Yan and enter Yanjing to become Crown Princess.
Because she was a woman the support she could inherit from the Marquis residence was already less than half.
But if the Young Marquis appeared she would not even deserve one tenth.
At the end of the day this was still a patriarchal society.
That was the background of the age.
For the moment human will could not change it.
“So— what you fear is loss.”
The crack inside you was not the Young Marquis.
It was the fear of losing power and status.
A smile appeared at the corner of Zheng Fan’s mouth.
He had located the diseased point.
What remained was simple.
Pour oil onto the fire.
And not some little flame.
A roaring blaze.
Cook it violently.
...
The Commandery Princess ran from the little boy.
She crossed a corridor.
But when she entered the next courtyard she found only desolation.
Fallen leaves covered the surroundings.
Ahead stood a pool of dead water.
At the center of that stagnant lake was a pavilion.
“My beloved consort!
“My beloved consort!
“You came to see me!
“You came to see me!
“I knew it!
“No matter what happens to me, my beloved consort will always remain by my side!”
This place was the Lake Pavilion.
And standing inside it was the current Crown Prince, Ji Chenglang.
Zheng Fan had personally seen the Crown Prince before.
Back when he accompanied the Marquis of Jingnan to cripple the Third Prince he had met Ji Chenglang.
So reproducing the Crown Prince’s appearance inside the dream was no problem.
Only the Crown Prince now wore a crown woven from straw.
His clothing was filthy and stained.
He looked miserably fallen.
Like a man who had been deposed and imprisoned.
Seeing him the Commandery Princess instinctively stepped backward.
From being chased by her younger brother to suddenly seeing the Crown Prince reduced to a ruined prisoner there had been no time to think.
No time to remind herself that she and the Crown Prince had already more or less broken off the marriage arrangement.
“My beloved consort...
“My beloved consort...
“My beloved consort...”
“No!!!!!!!!”
The Commandery Princess screamed.
The Lake Pavilion began soaking in blood.
Blood also started pouring from the Crown Prince’s entire body.
Cracks spread across him.
The blood expanded outward circle after circle until it gradually dyed the entire lake.
The scene was bloody.
Oppressive.
And at the same time strangely beautiful.
More importantly because Zheng Fan had deliberately granted the Commandery Princess authority over the illusion this scene had actually been created from within her own mind.
This woman really was ruthless enough.
But Count Zheng liked the rhythm.
*I open the scene.*
*You finish it.*
That cooperation.
That tacit understanding.
Perfect.
Zheng Fan snapped his fingers again.
The Sixth Prince—
Ji Chengjue appeared.
Ji Chengjue wore imperial dragon robes.
He stood before the Commandery Princess.
Bent forward slightly.
And looked down at her with a mocking smile.
“What exactly do you have left to act so arrogantly about?
“We intend to take you as a consort.
“You may become one of Our concubines.
“After all—
“We still need to pacify the Zhenbei Army.
“And you—that is the only use you have left.”
The Commandery Princess lifted her head.
She stared at Ji Chengjue in imperial robes.
“No!
“No!
“No!”
She began retreating.
Desperately retreating.
Then, Zheng Fan watched the Little Sixth he had created suddenly explode.
His entire body blew apart into pieces.
Count Zheng, standing nearby and watching Little Sixth meet such a miserable end actually felt a little guilty.
Then, Count Zheng snapped his fingers again.
Li Liangshen and Seventh Uncle appeared before the Commandery Princess both carrying swords.
“Brother!
“Seventh Uncle!
“Protect me!
“Protect Qian’er!”
Li Liangshen did not move.
He merely leaned coldly against his plain greatsword.
There was none of the decisiveness he had shown that night when a single sentence from her had been enough to send him out to help kill the Sixth Prince.
Seventh Uncle held his sword in his arms.
He snorted coldly.
“You?
“You think you’re worthy of making me use that one sword?”
“No!
“No!
“No!!!!!!!!”
The Commandery Princess began shrieking.
Her gaze grew unfocused.
Her hair fell loose around her shoulders.
“HU!”
“HU!”
“HU!”
The thunder of urgent iron hooves approached.
A formation of Zhenbei Army cavalry came galloping past.
The Commandery Princess shouted desperately toward those familiar black-armored riders.
But they ignored their Commandery Princess completely.
They kept moving.
Among the formation rode a young man.
He smiled at the Commandery Princess.
Since Zheng Fan had already confirmed she had never seen her younger brother’s real appearance—
Count Zheng stopped holding back.
This time he simply gave the Young Marquis a face.
The Young Marquis shouted disdainfully:
“Elder Sister!
“The Zhenbei Army is mine.
“It has nothing to do with you.
“You should just marry obediently and hurry up so Father can hold a maternal grandson.
“Hahahahaha!”
“No!
“This isn’t real!
“This isn’t real!
“This absolutely isn’t real!”
The Commandery Princess clutched her head.
She began falling into hysteria.
Then, before Zheng Fan could even arrange the next scene himself another scene appeared automatically.
The Emperor of Yan appeared.
“Li Qian!
“You are presumptuous!
“My son is someone you think you can kill merely because you feel like it?
“What do you think you are?
“Even if your father loses you—he still has your younger brother to continue the family line!”
“No!!!!!!!!!!”
Immediately afterward another scene emerged on its own.
This time it was a woman’s chamber.
Inside stood an iron cage.
A man stood outside the cage.
The Savage King.
He rubbed his hands together obscenely and shouted toward the Commandery Princess:
“Hahahaha!
“I’m willing to lead the savages in submitting to Great Yan!
“So Great Yan bestowed you on me in marriage!
“Hahahahaha!
“The Yan people never treated us savages like human beings—but they don’t treat you as much of a human being either!
“Hahahahaha!”
“No!
“Get out!
“Get out!
“All of you—
“GET OUT!”
Zheng Fan had merely opened the beginning.
Everything that followed was the Commandery Princess losing control under stimulation and beginning to “torment” herself.
Like someone who had entered a dead-end alley.
Unable to turn back.
Still drilling deeper and deeper into the wall.
But the scene that left Count Zheng most unsure whether to laugh or cry was the next one.
He saw himself.
Armored.
He had directly pinned the Commandery Princess beneath him.
His hands were violently tearing at her clothes.
It was obvious what he intended to do.
This scene was plainly something the Commandery Princess herself had imagined.
Yet Count Zheng felt unbelievably awkward.
Like watching an adult film in his previous life and suddenly discovering he himself was the male lead.
The Zheng Fan pinning the Commandery Princess beneath him continued ripping at her clothes while laughing viciously:
“I’m the favored man before the Marquis of Jingnan!
“I’m Count Pingye, personally enfeoffed by His Majesty!
“I’m someone the Marquis of Zhenbei values and recognizes!
“Since you and the Crown Prince can’t make it work anymore—then come with me instead!
“Hahahahaha!
“They’ll definitely be satisfied too!
“This way—you still have value!”
“...”
Zheng Fan.
Scene after scene continued appearing.
The Commandery Princess’s gaze had already sunk into madness.
The dream began twisting.
Becoming chaotic.
Cracking apart.
Success.
Zheng Fan released a long breath.
This was genuinely exhausting.
Far more troublesome than simply cutting someone down with a saber.
“Demon Child.
“End it.”
*Hummm!*
*Hummm!*
*Hummm!*
Zheng Fan felt his consciousness get swept into flowing water again.
It rolled violently.
It was like opening his eyes several times in succession.
Like waking again and again within a single instant.
At last, Zheng Fan opened his eyes one final time.
He discovered himself sitting inside the bedchamber.
Siniang’s voice came from nearby.
“Master.
“Are you all right?”
“I...
“Blegh—!”
Count Zheng did not even finish answering.
His mouth opened and he began vomiting violently.
Every bit of the late-night meal he had eaten earlier came back up.
Then, the entire room began spinning.
*Thud!*
The chair toppled backward.
If Siniang had not reacted quickly and caught him—
Zheng Fan’s head might have smashed directly against the floor.
“Hiss...”
At the side the Blind Man also awakened.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
Blood began dripping from both of his eyes.
Inside the underground chamber—
Sha Tuo Queshi released his hand.
The stone containing the Demon Child fell onto the floor.
The Demon Child’s spectral form immediately vanished back into the stone.
The stone seemed to want to float away but it had barely lifted off the ground before losing all strength and dropping again.
It wobbled weakly several times.
Sha Tuo Queshi lay back down inside his coffin.
The baleful qi surrounding him had become unbelievably thin.
As though everything accumulated over the past several years had been consumed in a single night.
But his eyes remained clear.
For a long time.
Then, he closed them.
And fell back into deep sleep.
...
“Why didn’t the Heart-Guarding Jade Pendant work?!
“Why didn’t the Pixiu Fang Anklet the Marquis personally crafted work?!
“Why are the two of you Qi Refiners unable to wake Young Mistress?!
“Where is the evil influence?!
“Where is it?!
“Drive the damned thing out!”
Da Hu and Er Hu knelt beside the bed.
The Commandery Princess lay upon it.
Her brow remained tightly furrowed.
Her expression showed obvious suffering.
She still had not awakened.
“Seventh Uncle.
“We cannot sense the aura of any evil influence.
“The reason the jade pendant and anklet have no effect is because—right now—the Commandery Princess herself does not want to wake up.
“If the Commandery Princess does not want to awaken—we have no way to force her awake either.”
“What do you mean the Young Mistress doesn’t want to wake up?
“No.
“I’ll ask you one thing.
“How long before she wakes?”
Er Hu trembled as he answered:
“The Commandery Princess has closed off her own mind.
“Maybe in a couple of days she will unlock it herself and awaken.
“Or... or... or maybe...”
“Maybe what?
“Speak!”
“Maybe—she will never wake again.”
...
Dawn was near.
But had not yet arrived.
The streets inside the city were cold and empty.
Almost no one could be seen.
Only the Sword Saint walked alone.
Longyuan rested across his shoulder.
And hanging from the sword was a pig’s head.
The Sword Saint carried the pig’s head as he walked down the empty street.
Heading home.
As he walked his gaze drifted toward the buildings lining both sides of the road.
Beyond those walls courtyard after courtyard was packed with armored soldiers hiding in complete silence.
The Sword Saint coughed.
Turned his head.
Looked at the pig’s head hanging from Longyuan.
His stepson, Liu Dahu loved braised pig’s head meat more than anything.
Heh.
At least staying up all night and helping Count Pingye manufacture some killing intent had not been a complete waste.
Back in the villages if you helped a neighbor during the busy farming season the neighbor still had to feed you a meal.
So taking one pig’s head from Count Pingye and bringing it home wasn’t excessive, was it?
Heh.
The Sword Saint continued forward with Longyuan carrying the pig’s head.
The mood struck him.
So he even called out:
“Dry weather tonight—watch your candles and fire~”
————
[End of Chapter 409]
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