Chapter 232: Husband and Wife Reunite

Qu Yuanxiao’s gaze locked onto Jiu Yu, his eyes trembling with emotion. He hadn’t expected to see Jiu Yu here, his long-lost son finally found.

Yet, before this joy could fully bloom, his expression turned icy as he noticed Jiu Yu standing protectively in front of Su Wan, shielding her.

“Jiu Yu, come here and let your father take a good look at you.”

Qu Yuanxiao beckoned to Jiu Yu with a wave of his hand.

“Father, please stop,” Jiu Yu repeated, his voice heavy. “Mother’s death was because…”

“Because winners are kings, losers are villains?” Qu Yuanxiao’s face twisted, and he let out a cold laugh. “The same applies today. If I succeed in this coup, I set the rules, and I will avenge your mother. If I lose, it’s nothing more than death. Do you know the consequences I’ll face if I stop now, Jiu Yu?”

Jiu Yu’s face turned deathly pale.

“You wish to protect the daughter of your enemy, sending your own father to prison, to a fate of death and dismemberment?”

Qu Yuanxiao’s lips curved into a smile, but his eyes burned with a crazed fire, filled with the determination to destroy everything, unwilling to rest until the bitter end.

Cold sweat broke out on Jiu Yu’s forehead. None of this was the outcome he had ever wanted.

He had never expected his father to still be alive, let alone harboring an unrelenting desire for vengeance.

His mother’s death, though caused by her own ambition, was not something he, as her son, could judge or criticize.

“Father, you can’t. My sister and I are still alive because… because Aunt spared us.”

Jiu Yu’s hands clenched tightly as his mind raced, desperately searching for a way to resolve the situation and protect both sides. “Su Wan saved my sister. We cannot repay kindness with enmity.”

Qu Yuanxiao stared at Jiu Yu for a long moment, a wave of disgust rising within him, the urge to kill them all surging in his heart.

But—

Qu Yuanxiao took a step toward Jiu Yu. “You’re saying Ge’er is still alive?”

Seeing his father’s resolve soften, a faint glimmer of hope arose in Jiu Yu’s heart. He quickly continued to plead, “Father, I will beg Aunt and the Ancestor to show mercy and spare us this time. We can leave the capital and never return. Would that be acceptable?”

Qu Yuanxiao’s expression shifted slightly, as though he were swayed by Jiu Yu’s words.

“My sister misses our parents deeply. If she learns that you’re still alive, she’ll be overjoyed. We’ve already lost Mother; we don’t want to lose Father too.” Jiu Yu used familial bonds to appeal to Qu Yuanxiao’s emotions.

Qu Yuanxiao was moved. He raised his hand and placed it on Jiu Yu’s shoulder. “I thought you both had died under Qi Min’s sword, leaving me alone in this world. It was only the obsession with vengeance that kept me alive all these years. Knowing you and Ge’er are still alive… that’s enough.”

He embraced Jiu Yu tenderly, but his demeanor shifted abruptly. His killing intent surged as he suddenly thrust a dagger toward Su Wan.

Just as the dagger’s tip was about to press against Su Wan’s neck, it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Qu Yuanxiao’s eyes widened in shock as an arrow pierced through his throat, and blood streamed down in its wake.

A gurgling sound escaped from his throat before he collapsed to the ground.

Jiu Yu stood frozen, his lips trembling, struggling to speak but unable to utter a single word.

The poison powder in Su Wan’s hand remained unused as she stared blankly at the hall’s entrance. There, Gu Huaizhi stood tall, dressed in a white robe with upright posture. His brows furrowed, and his cold eyes filled with sharp intensity. He held a curved bow in his hand, the string still taut, emanating a chilling aura of death.

Mo Yuan and Mo Chen stood to his left and right, flanking him. Behind them were several unfamiliar faces, fully armed, their long swords gleaming with a cold light and stained with fresh blood. Around their feet lay the bodies of the slain, sprawled in disarray, all of them with their throats cut.

All of this had happened in just a moment.

Su Wan felt as if she were dreaming. She blinked, but the figure before her did not disappear.

His eyes were cold as frost, and after lowering the curved bow, he beckoned her with a curl of his finger. “Come here.”