535 Disappointmen (1/2)
”Colonel Xavier, I've read your file.”
Ye Qingxuan tapped on the empty soup bowl with his fingers. The humid wind condensed into water drops and fell on the wooden desk, leaving a slender flowing trace.
”Over the years, you've done very well in Burgundy. Maxwell also thought highly of you. In two years, you can be transferred to the military staff section and become the youngest official who possesses real power. The Fifth Division has always been good to you, but your choice disappointed me very much.”
”Disappointed?” Xavier's face twitched out of shame or anger. He squeezed out a voice between his gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
”Do you really think that you are qualified to feel disappointed about me? I've made great contributions to Anglo! Six serious injuries on the battlefield in East India! Do you know how many things have I sacrificed for this country? All my friends died, leaving me alone in this world!”
He looked at Ye Qingxuan with contempt in his eyes. ”You wimpy kid! You were born with a golden spoon, all you can do is command and criticize. You made me wait here like a dog with just one word, and let me wait to die in the sea?
”Do you really think that you are the only one to save Anglo? You wish! You were lucky, when Anglo disappeared, you were just hiding in the Sacred City! Where were you when Anglo was in the most urgent need of salvation?
”Maxwell is already dead, how many people do you want to bury for your so-called loyalty?”
The sharp screaming reverberated between the stone walls, and the soup bowl shook slightly. Xavier gasped heavily and spat on the ground scornfully.
Ye Qingxuan looked at the floor without saying anything or refuting him. He waited silently until he felt a hint of embarrassment and panic.
”Are you finished?” Ye Qingxuan raised his eyes and stared at him, as if he was looking at a spoiled kid who was rolling on the ground, and he wouldn't do anything even though the kid screamed and cried.
When Xavier finished crying and was too tired to move, Ye Qingxuan finally said, ”Just relax, Xavier. Fearing death, being weak, and escaping are not ridiculous. You don't need to be so angry. But you must understand that you can't take it for granted, and it is not worthy of praise.”
Ye Qingxuan's voice was gentle and slow, without any anxiety.
However, the voice contained no warmth at all, and it mercilessly took away all the heat in Xavier's body. The cold infiltrated into his bones bit by bit and froze the marrow.
”Shut up then.”
”For your family, yourself, important missions, saving the country, rising up one day… or even for Anglo! People can do wrong things for many reasons, but the only thing that can't be changed is that you have made mistakes.
”'Mistake' is the 'wrong deed' that cannot be changed, no matter what excuse you use to cover it up. You must get your punishment for your mistakes. Otherwise, the existence of 'correctness' will lose its meaning.”
In the silence, Xavier opened his lips and was about to say something. But he was deprived of the ability to speak, as if his throat was frozen.
Ye Qingxuan reached out and opened the notebook at hand. He scanned the confession records one by one, and casually asked, ”When did Xavier get in touch with you?”
In the corner, Auden shivered and answered fearfully, ”Fifteen days ago.”
”Oh, pretty early.” Ye Qingxuan smiled. ”The Kingdom of Burgundy seems to have been longing for those things for a long time. Once Angelo disappears, he can't wait to come out and take over the legacy. He must have gotten a lot of good stuff through the connection.”
Xavier stared angrily at Auden with bloodshot eyes.
Auden shrank backwards, dodging his sight. ”He was the one who took the initiative to contact us. He also said that he was willing to cooperate with us and help us to occupy the entire periphery of the Fifth Division. Our earl valued that very much, so he sent Mandel and me here apart from others.”
”Did he?” Ye Qingxuan finally figured it out and nodded. ”It seems that the people of the Burgundy Division have all fallen into the enemy's hands. What a heavy loss! For the first time in years, the Fifth Division suffered such a heavy blow. If Maxwell were still alive, he would feel very shameful and might have resigned already. Well done.”
The last sentence was obviously a praise, but it made Xavier quiver. Cold sweat oozed out of his pores, sticking to his skin and giving off the smell of fear.
After reading the confession, Ye Qingxuan raised his head, with no emotions in his eyes.
Indifferently.
”Seventeen secret bank accounts, more than a few million pounds, three tons of black gold stored as the treasure to restore the national power, two secret storages of military equipment… the entire list of underground members of the South…”
”Do you know where those things come from, Xavier?” he whispered. ”Over a hundred years, hundreds of commissioners and countless people died in order to defend those things.
”The Royal Knights held a secret state-level funeral for them. On a deserted island, the mountains and plains were full of tombstones that covered two entire graveyards.
”More than half of the tombs were empty, some of them contained incomplete bodies. They died for the lives of more people.
”Maxwell once ordered me to swear to them that one day, after taking over all this, I'd make their sacrifice and death valuable. Those are the fruits of their hard work at the cost of their lives. Now they are all ruined at your hands, all of them.”
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes, trying to control his anger.
”All of them.”
Xavier opened his mouth with all his strength and said, ”I don't—”
Boom!
A hurricane burst out of nowhere.