400: So Fierce IV

So Fierce IV

Even though they had won the battle, in the end, it was a dreadful sight to behold.2

Those people who did not have to die were eventually sacrificed in the battle.

Liu Yunxiao, the chief culprit of this battle who could not absolve himself of all the blame, must die!

All the powerhouses of the four nations were dead, except Liu Yunxiao, who was still alive! If he was on the hoof, he had to face all of the punishment from Liu Yun Kingdom! To prolong his worldly sufferings even though he wished to die!

Liu Yunxiao looked terrified. He could not understand why it would turn out this way.

At first, it was no doubt a sure-win situation, but Feng Ruqing had returned with a little devil!

Whatever it was, Liu Yunxiao knew that on that fateful day... he was really doomed!

***

Nalan Hu looked at Liu Yunxiao's hopeless old face, but there was no happiness of victory in his eyes. Then, he slowly looked at the corpses that were lying around. His trembling hand was tightly holding a long sword. 

There were not only soldiers from the Nalan family among the corpses.

Some of them were elders in their forties[1], an age old enough for people to start settling down in their later life. 

Also, the naive young ones, they were still not married and had not built a family but had already died in the war.

Not forgetting the spoiled girl, they had actually held the long sword to defend and fight for their nation.

They were all heroes!

Nalan Hu heavily brought one of his knees onto the ground.

The Nalan family and their generations had been protecting the nation for centuries. So, before the generations of Nalan Hu, Liu Yun Kingdom had allowed a privilege to the Nalan family where the family was exempted from bowing or kowtowing to the royals and aristocracies.　

Therefore in his entire life, he had never kneeled before anyone.

But he kneeled this time. He kneeled to the dead heroes in front of all the people.

However, no one would think that kneeling[2] had done any damage to his dignity.

"We could hold the war until now, we could hold until Qing'er returned, I was not the only one who had contributed nor were the Nalan family's soldiers and loyal courtiers. Everyone had worked hard for this.

"All of them are not people from the court. Some of them are even ordinary people possessing only very low abilities. Still, they stood with us to fight and protect this land.

"I, Nalan Hu, standing here, will assure every of the perished heroes that your family is my Nalan family. We, the Nalan family, will provide the best education for your children, we will invite the best teacher for them and send them to the best school!"

"I will support the rest of your wife's and parents' life. Even when I am dead, there will still be people from the Nalan family to support them to the end of their lives!

"For the people still alive, our Nalan family's door is always wide opened for you! If the Nalan family or the palace were to recruit any new members or officials, we will prioritize those among you first. Even if you weren't called up, if you are always kind and loyal to the nation, I, Nalan Hu, can promise you, to ensure you a carefree life forever.

"All of you are heroes.

"We, of Nalan family, will never turn a hero away!"

There was complete silence.

Nalan Hu's voice was as loud as a bell as it lingered among the crowds for quite a while.

But everyone remained silent, no one made a single sound.

It should have been a promise that was joyful, but no one was cheered up under such circumstances.

Too many people had fallen in the war resulting in the crowds being inundated with gloom and grief.

Nalan Hu stabbed the long sword in his hand into the ground and lifted himself up with it. His cold eyes slowly turned to Liu Yunxiao.

"As for this doggie[3] collaborationist, he is at your disposal now! I'll take the responsibility of His Majesty to decide!"

That sentence was more exciting compared to the promises that Nalan Hu had made just now.

[1] During Ancient Chinese civilization, 40 was considered very old age.

[2] There is an old Chinese saying: A man has gold under his knees, which means a man does not simply kneel to anyone as by doing so meant humiliating oneself or injuring his dignity.

[3] In Chinese, the word 'dog' usually has a negative connotation when referring to a person. Equivalent to b*stard or son of a b*tch

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