Jiang Gunian Made A Change

Part 23

Xia KeXin nodded to herself and bit her lip upon seeing Meng Yao approaching her. The informal camp was barely a quarter of its original size since the raiding parties were sent out. Meng Yao, of course, remained with Jiang YanLi and a few retainers to protect her, and a few advisors. They, too, would be leaving the seaside in a few days, the better to coordinate with the Jiang and Nie sects as well as the raiding parties.

"Greetings," he bowed slightly. "Do you have a few moments? I would like my fortune read."

"You make your own fortune," she reminded him.

"I would like that to be true." He smiled. Perhaps it was even a genuine smile. "How did we win the war?"

"It doesn't matter now. That future was overwritten. The events that led to Wen RuoHan's defeat are no longer possible to repeat." She tried to sound like a true sage. But inside, she was still barely a teenager. Not wise in the least.

"All events are impossible?" He looked away, angry. "How did we do it? I would like to know anyways."

Xia KeXin gave up. He was going to pester her until she talked, right? "The short version? After Wen Chao burned Lotus Pier, Wei WuXian lost his golden core in a fight." She ignored his gasp of astonishment as she was ignoring that she wasn't entirely telling the truth of that story. "He was then thrown into the Burial Mounds and left for dead."

"I assume he didn't die?"

"No. Instead, he..." Sorry, MXTX, for destroying your creation. It's necessary, you see that right? Meng Yao is too smart to know how the war was won last time. I wouldn't put it past him to find the Core Crushing Hand and make a deal: his life for Wei Ying to have his Core melted and his body thrown into the Burial Mounds. "He developed a brand new method of cultivation using yin energy."

Meng Yao frowned. "Using yin energy instead of yang will kill the body and destroy the soul."

More fudging required. "He found a... device... that tempered the effects on the body while amplifying his use of yin energy. With that device, he was able to help the Allies crush Wen RuoHan's army. Then while Wen RuoHan was trying to kill Wei WuXian at the last battle, you managed to swoop in for the kill."

"So... We get the device and have Wei WuXian recreate cultivating with yin energy."

"It's not possible anymore," she boldly lied. "We've changed too many events. Wei WuXian will never be in the same place as the device. Even if you try to have someone throw him into the Burial Mounds, he'll never find it." Hopefully, that will prevent this bastard from harming my Wei Ying! Lan Zhan's Wei Ying, but still.

"I killed Wen RuoHan?" He narrowed his eyes. "That seems improbable."

"Again. You're in completely different circumstances now. What you did then is vastly different that what you've done now. Then you were a acting as a spy for the Allies. Now you are Jiang YanLi's strategist."

"What was my end goal?"

Xia KeXin snorted. "Do you have any other end goal? You crave respect and power. And you're willing to step over as many dead bodies as necessary to get either." Angered at what he had done in the book, she recklessly continued. "Your father acknowledged you as his child after you ended the war. Then he gave you the courtesy name Jin GuangYao. You fell in love with a woman, and she with you. You weren't careful and got her pregnant. Before the wedding, her mother begged you to stop because you'd be marrying your own sister.

"You gave a few hints here and there. Hired a few assassins. Talked people into believing your lies. All the while pretending you were the aggrieved party, and were only acting in the other's best interests.

"People died because of you. Your two brothers. Your sister. Your father. Your son. Your best friend. Thousands of innocent people. Hundreds of not so innocent people. Wei WuXian and Jiang YanLi were also killed because of you."

"I killed my own son?" he whispered, horrified.

"The child you had with your half-sister? You know what happens sometimes when close relatives breed with each other. their bodies and minds aren't always healthy. Bad traits get amplified, right?" See the Egyptian pharaohs for example. And that French royal family with the really bad jawlines. Oh, and the Russian royals, too. Wasn't that blood clotting disease they had due to inbreeding? Same things happen with purebred dogs. Gotta open up that gene pool a bit. "You didn't want to chance anyone seeing those deformities and making the connection."

Meng Yao was silent for a while. "Jiang YanLi... she knows that information?"

"She knows enough. That you're extremely smart: the smartest person in any room. That you will be loyal to those who protect you. And that you have the capability to backstab anyone who hurts you. It appears she's taken the loyal part seriously, given how she forced Nie HuaiSang to whip those men who insulted you."

"Does she know I'm the one who caused her death?"

"I don't remember telling her that. I told her... you will remove any obstacles in your path. That you will kill your father." She half laughed. "You will do that, won't you?"

"Yes."

Xia KeXin nodded. "I wish you luck. Are you going to kill me?"

"I have no need to kill you at the moment."

"At the moment," she repeated. "Fair enough. I keep your secrets and I keep my life? I can agree to that."

"Agreed."