Dandere General and his Lord

21. Words of a Dying Man

Several armoured soldiers came into the room carrying a man who was covered in blood from head to toe with them and threw him onto the floor in front of Cheng Qianye.

The man’s long, slightly curly hair was in disorder, his body bearing violent marks of maltreatment which almost covered his entire body.

The originally white bandage that twined around his body was now contaminated by blood and dirt, extremely filthy, and his clothing was also dishevelled.

He struggled to rise, but he was unable to do so and barely managed to raise his head.

Cheng Qianye recognized him. He was that slave she had met in Mo Qiao Sheng’s room the other night, A’Feng.

In regard to this person, Cheng Qianye did not have a good impression of him. He had tried to seduce her the first time they had met, and this time, he had conspired to poison her.

But looking at his state at this moment, Cheng Qianye felt that she couldn’t do anything to him apart from granting him death, she couldn’t even punish him.

She pinched the space between her eyebrows. She had not rested throughout the whole night and was feeling somewhat overcome with exhaustion. Passing Hua Yuzhi’s letter to Xiao Jin, she said, “You come interrogate him.”

Xiao Jin opened the letter and skimmed through the contents before asking, “Are you A’Feng?”

A’Feng slightly nodded his head which could be considered a reply.

“Marquis Weibei says in his letter that after you failed to seduce My Lord, you felt resentment in your heart, so you intended to murder My Lord?”

A’Feng sneered mockingly at himself and did not respond.

“Due to this, you colluded with Mo Qiao Sheng to poison My Lord’s food at the banquet?”

“No, Qiao Sheng has nothing to do with this whole affair.” A’Feng lifted up his head and looked at Cheng Qianye. “I was jealous of Qiao Sheng so I hid the gold and poison in his room and tried to frame him. It was the other servant by your side, Xiao Xiu, who colluded with me.”

Cheng Qianye was originally feeling quite drowsy, but this huge plot reversal restored her vigour.

“Oh? Where did a slave like you get so much gold from?” she asked.

“Is Marquis Yé1 really not aware? I am merely a pawn My Lord handed over to you so he could extricate himself from an awkward situation, nothing more.” A’Feng sneered bitterly and continued, “Although he might have angered you, at this point in time, he cannot go so far as to tear all face with you without leaving any leeway for manoeuver between the two countries.”

“I am just a slave. If my master hadn’t instructed me to do so, how would I have the ability to conspire to murder a lord such as the Marquis?” He laughed and fell into a fit of coughing. “Besides, Marquis Yé, you are the most clear about it. That day, you did not beat me or even scold such a lowly plaything like myself, how could I possibly harbor any resentment towards you?”

Human nature was truly complicated. 

In this situation where he was at death’s door, the man’s originally murky, wine red colour had transformed unexpectedly. Like a fine wine undergoing fermentation, the cloudy matter dissipated, gradually becoming clearer.

Cheng Qianye was in high spirits as she stroked her chin. “Since you were jealous of Qiao Sheng, why are you exonerating him now?”

“No, I’m not exonerating2 him.” A’Feng was a little anxious. He looked at Cheng Qianye and struggled to kneel. “Money is of no value to a slave. Marquis Yé, look at me and then think of Mo Qiao Sheng once again. He is so fortunate to encounter such a kind and gentle master like yourself. Why would he want to poison you and return to the side of such a cruel and vicious master like Marquis Weibei?”

His body was criss-crossed with traces of all sorts of abuse, too tragic to even look at. It was impossible to refute his words.

“I’m asking you, why are you explaining on his behalf?”

“I…..” He suppressed the sweet, fishy taste welling up in his throat and took a deep breath. “Good are the words of a dying man.3 I am only speaking the truth.”

A’Feng felt somewhat uncomfortable inside.

He knew that he was certainly going to die.

That day, the Lord had ordered him to use Qiao Sheng and seduce Marquis Jin Yue, and he had failed.

Unexpectedly, the Lord still bribed Xiao Xiu who was always by Marquis Jin Yue’s side and ordered him to cooperate with Xiao Xiu to assassinate Marquis Jin Yue with poison.

Since that time, he knew what the ending would be whether they succeeded or not. Afterall, they were slaves. In the end, they wouldn’t be able to separate themselves from the blame or escape from the fate of being killed in order to silence them.

However, he had never imagined that this matter would actually wind up implicating Qiao Sheng. Xiao Xiu had been persuaded so easily by the Lord, it actually turned out that he did not wish to poison Marquis Jin Yue, but his purpose was to frame Qiao Sheng.

Qiao Sheng.

He closed his eyes. He is my only remaining younger brother.

I’m going to die anyway, so what if I shoulder all the blame for him.

He opened his mouth and continued, “My heart was filled with jealousy towards Mo Qiao Sheng. I envied the fact that he has such a kind master now and was living so comfortably even though he is the same kind of person as me. So I had the malicious idea to hide the gold and the poison my Master gave me and hide it in his room, wishing I could trap him to his death.”

“Where in his room did you hide the poison and gold?” Cheng Qianye asked.

“I….” A’Feng was stupefied.

He did not know what to say.

“Xiao Xiu says that he was the one who hid the gold and poison. And you say that you were the one that hid it.” Cheng Qianye laughed and said to the person who was standing outside the door. “Qiao Sheng, unexpectedly, they’re both vying for the position of the person who framed you.”

Mo Qiao Sheng walked inside. He gazed silently at A’Feng- who was kneeling, his body leaning slightly to the side- for a moment.

A’Feng was somewhat mystified. He had personally seen everyone in the hall accusing him, with all the evidence pointing straight at Qiao Sheng.

He had believed that Mo Qiao Sheng must have been imprisoned by now. Unexpectedly, he was able to appear in front of him so neatly like this.

A’Feng’s heart relaxed and he ceded all resistance. He covered his mouth and blood seeped out through the seams between his fingers.

Mo Qiao Sheng prostrated on the ground. “Master, A’Feng’s crime is unforgivable. Qiao Sheng pleads to receive the punishment on his behalf. I beg you!”

He firmly slammed his head against the ground.

A’Feng’s bloodstained hand seized his shoulder and violently shoved him away.

“Get lost. I don’t need you to meddle in my business.” A’Feng scolded him, his voice hoarse. “You stupid thing that can’t differentiate the good from the bad,4 you’re going to be disrespectful to your Master as well? Since you have encountered such a good master, then you must cherish it properly. “I…. I am happy for you.”

He propped himself against the floor with one hand and a thick stream of blood escaped his lips. 

Cheng Qianye couldn’t bear to keep watching and urged Mo Qiao Sheng with a wave of her hand. “Carry him, carry him away, and call a doctor for him.”

Cheng Qianye had stayed up for almost the entire night. After she finished dealing with everything, she dismissed all the clansmen and went to make up for her lost sleep.

When she woke up, A’Feng’s treatment was actually still not over.

Cheng Qianye walked into Mo Qiao Sheng’s room which was suffused completely with the scent of blood.

The doctor was using an instrument to extract a bloody object from the comatose body that was lying on the bed.

Cheng Qianye almost couldn’t bear to look directly at that bloody scene.

Mo Qiao Sheng saw her arrival and kneeled in front of her. He was silent and did not get up for a long time.

Cheng Qianye stroked his forehead and sighed, “It’s okay, don’t worry, I’m not going to give him any more punishment.”

Then she asked the doctor, “Doctor, how is his condition? Is he going to be okay?”

“This Marquis Weibei did not want to keep him alive at all, he was trying to kill him.” The doctor shook his head repeatedly. “His survival depends on whether he can make it through this night.”

The comatose A’Feng intermittently let out a few indistinct mumbles.

Cheng Qianye bent her head and listened to him for a while.

She was able to discern him saying a few words, over and over again.

“Don’t sell me, don’t sell me, Master.”

Cheng Qianye sighed and approached his ear and said, “I am your master now and I will not sell you.”

“Really…. It’s true.”

“It’s true, I give you my word.”

~

1. (爷 = Yé) A respectful form of addressing a man of higher position [Sir; Master; Lord]/respectful form of addressing an elder man. Literal translation father/grandpa/old gentleman. Basically an honorific such as “sama” in jp. 
2. Exonerate; meaning to clear someone from blame. 
3. (人之将死，其言也善; rén zhī jiāng sǐ, qí yán yě shàn) – Idiom meaning that when a man is close to death, the words he speaks comes from the heart. 
4. (不知好歹; bù zhī hǎo dǎi) – Idiom meaning not being able to understand the kindness of others, and also refers to not knowing the importance of things.