Chapter 676: Son of Heaven

Rear Garden.

In the front courtyard stood a carriage.

It was a large one, with a small stove burning inside, making the interior reasonably warm.

The Emperor of Yan sat within, a blanket covering his body.

Wei Zhonghe entered the carriage and took a red pill from his robes.

There was a rule to the pills that came out of alchemical furnaces: the brighter the color, the stronger the poison.

As a Qi Refiner, Wei Zhonghe naturally understood such things. After all, alchemy was among the lowest and crudest skills associated with Qi Refiners. Mostly, only jianghu charlatans who cheated food and drink bothered fooling around with it.

The Emperor of Yan reached out, pinched the red pill between his fingertips, and brought it to his mouth.

Swallowing had become difficult.

He lifted his chin and used one hand to stroke hard down his own throat, forcing the pill into his stomach.

When he lowered his head again, cold sweat already covered his forehead.

"Your Majesty, tea."

Wei Zhonghe immediately handed him a cup.

The Emperor accepted it.

The tea was scalding hot.

He did not care.

He drained nearly the entire cup in two swallows.

Then he leaned back against the carriage wall.

Both hands fell loosely to his sides.

Wei Zhonghe crouched silently nearby, head lowered, not daring to speak and not daring to look.

At that moment, outside the Rear Garden, a cavalry force appeared.

Roughly two thousand riders.

They belonged to one formation of the Zhenbei Army under Li Liangshen.

The force's Guerrilla General and Assistant General dismounted together and knelt before the gates of the Rear Garden.

Behind them, every rider also dismounted and went down on one knee.

Li Liangshen had once said that his Zhenbei Army formation had remained around the capital region for far, far too long.

To outsiders, perhaps it looked like an unstable blade suspended over Yanjing.

But even Li Liangshen himself could no longer say how much rust had seeped into that blade.

Years ago, the entire Zhenbei Army had been of one mind, ready to help their Marquis seize the Dragon Throne.

Then came the trampling of the aristocratic clans beneath cavalry hooves.

Then the Commandery Princess entered the capital.

Then half the Zhenbei Army marched east on campaign.

Anyone with eyes could see it clearly:

Marquis Zhenbei did not intend to rebel.

Not only did he have no desire to rebel, he had firmly chosen to stand behind the Emperor of Yan and lend him strength.

Many people had regretted that.

Within the army were men like Li Fusheng.

In the provinces were men like Xu Wenzu.

Regret was regret.

But it was hardly a bad outcome.

Great Yan was still Great Yan.

The armies of Yan still fought beneath the Black Dragon Banner for the sake of Great Yan.

So now, if you tried to say whether Li Fusheng truly belonged to the Zhenbei Army or had become part of the Jingnan Army, it was difficult to draw a clean line.

And Xu Wenzu had long since come to regard himself as a great frontier official of the Great Yan court, guarding the lands of Jin.

If even men of their standing had changed in this way, then naturally there were even more below them.

After all... the Emperor of Yan's achievements covered the age.

He was a mighty sovereign.

A rightful Emperor whose legitimacy no one could question.

And Great Yan today had expanded its borders, destroyed states, and remained undefeated through a hundred battles.

Under those conditions... if the court and Emperor wanted to win over and divide the military commanders, it was almost absurdly easy.

The generals who were won over felt no guilt whatsoever.

Their own Marquis had chosen to be a loyal minister.

They themselves were not betraying the state.

They were being loyal to the Emperor of Great Yan.

What was wrong with that?

This was why, on the night of the Sixth Prince's wedding, when the Commandery Princess wanted Ji Chengjue dead, Li Liangshen and Seventh Uncle had nearly planned the entire affair between the two of them, one acting in the open and one from the shadows.

Why had they not simply mobilized troops?

It was not merely because they did not want the affair to become too large.

The real problem was this:

Heaven only knew how many men in that Zhenbei Army formation outside the city would truly be willing, after receiving Li Liangshen's order, to raise their blades, storm Yanjing, and kill their way into the imperial palace.

If matters were truly so simple, if that entire Zhenbei Army formation were genuinely held in Li Liangshen's hand, then why would the Commandery Princess have stopped at such half-measures?

Why not rebel outright, force the Emperor of Yan to abdicate, place the Crown Prince on the throne, and skip being Crown Princess entirely to become Empress and mother of the realm?

It was not that she did not want to.

She could not.

As an Emperor, Ji Runhao was proud.

But he had never lacked the methods of an Emperor.

How could he allow another man to sleep peacefully beside his own bed?

One messenger after another came galloping toward the Rear Garden.

They came from many different yamen.

Some came from princely residences.

Some came from the Eastern Palace.

But when the messengers saw the mass of armored cavalry kneeling outside the Rear Garden gates, all of them froze.

Over there... the Prince of Jingnan had drawn the Kunwu Saber and demanded to see His Majesty, threatening to purge the Emperor's side otherwise.

Over here... outside the very Rear Garden where His Majesty resided, cavalry had already gathered.

Was a battle about to start?

Everything that had happened and was still happening today left countless people bewildered.

Not merely the messengers.

Even the great men behind them were no different.

Once again: if the Prince of Jingnan intended to rebel... did he really need to be this direct about it?

And yet... he had shouted those words.

"Purge the Emperor's side!"

Wei Zhonghe reached outside, accepted a written message, glanced at it, then crushed the slip back into his palm.

When he raised his head again... the Emperor of Yan, who had been leaning weakly against the carriage wall moments earlier, was now sitting upright.

His eyes were deep as an abyss.

Wei Zhonghe hurriedly reported:

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Jingnan has reached the city gate."

"Mm."

The Emperor nodded.

A short while later... the gates of the Rear Garden opened.

The carriage slowly rolled out.

Imperial guards and experts from the Secret Intelligence Department surrounded it.

The Zhenbei cavalry that had been kneeling outside mounted under their officers' command and moved into position on both flanks.

As the procession advanced... the imperial canopy and dragon standard were raised.

The Son of Heaven had left his residence.

Naturally, the progress of the Son of Heaven had to possess the majesty of a sovereign.

...

When the words "purge the Emperor's side" reached the Crown Prince's ears, his body swayed once.

The brothers behind him, and the ranks of civil officials and nobles farther back, were stunned first.

Then came horror.

This... this... this... how had things suddenly become like this?

Everyone knew that after His Majesty entered the Rear Garden to recuperate, he had never emerged again.

Earlier, the Crown Prince had led senior ministers there to request decisions on state affairs.

Later, the Emperor had stopped even receiving them.

The Crown Prince could only travel outside the city every two days, kowtow before the Rear Garden gates, and inquire after his father's health.

He could not even see the imperial countenance.

Everyone knew His Majesty's body had deteriorated as far as it possibly could.

So His Majesty being unable to leave the Rear Garden and come outside the city to receive the Prince of Jingnan was perfectly reasonable.

More than that... given His Majesty's pride, he would never allow his ministers or common people to see him in a state of weakness.

The Crown Prince had come personally.

The imperial clan and entire court were accompanying him.

Every courtesy had already been given.

And even this... was not enough for you, Prince of Jingnan?

Could a man truly be this arrogant?

This overbearing?

Perhaps the gust had blown too violently and too suddenly.

Whatever the reason, no one among those present stepped forward to rebuke him.

That did not mean all of them were cowards.

Even the State of Qian, whose military had once decayed almost beyond recognition, could still produce men of iron who did not fear death.

Great Yan had spent these years swallowing the world with its momentum.

How could every official at court possibly be a coward who clung to life?

It was simply that the blow had come too fast.

Too suddenly.

No one had recovered yet.

Ji Chengjue's gaze passed beyond the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jingnan and landed on Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan's face remained expressionless.

It was as though he did not even notice the gaze from his former "good anda."

In truth...

Marquis Zheng was thinking hard himself.

What exactly did this mean?

Brother... if you wanted to rebel, purge the Emperor's side, launch your own Jingnan Campaign... you should have told me earlier!

Back in Jin, we could have prepared properly.

Aside from the forces guarding Snow Sea Pass and Zhennan Pass, I could have pulled out every soldier under the Marquis Residence.

You could have gathered the Jingnan Army's main force and the other military commanders throughout Jin.

Then we all march here together.

Add Tian Tian too.

We storm this damned Yanjing, seize the throne.

You become Emperor.

I become an imperial prince.

Tian Tian becomes Crown Prince and can sit on your lap.

That boy spends every day at home shouting that he wants to eat the Dragon Throne anyway!

But Marquis Zheng also knew perfectly well that this was merely his imagination running free.

Obviously, none of that was actually happening.

So once he calmed down, he began thinking through the reason.

He had not left the Blind Man and Gou Moli, his two military advisers, behind because some divine strategist had foreseen that he could conveniently pick up Sun Ying while passing through Yingdu.

The real reason was that Marquis Zheng himself had invested plenty of points into political intelligence.

Very quickly... he understood.

A soft sigh escaped him.

The feeling in his chest was difficult to describe.

Heavy.

Helpless.

It was probably rather similar to what Li Fusheng and Xu Wenzu had felt years ago when they learned what Marquis Zhenbei intended to do.

At that moment...

Little Sixth rolled his neck twice.

Then he closed his eyes, crossed both hands, and tucked them into his sleeves.

No more panic.

No more rushing.

But a bitter taste still spread through his mouth.

No matter how fiercely the next wave surges... sometimes the wave ahead of you turns out to be one hell of a bitch.

Beside him, the Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng and the Seventh Prince Ji Chengsu, one grown and one young, kept looking around with anxiety and shock written all over their faces.

The Crown Prince, meanwhile, maintained his earlier posture without moving.

The late-autumn wind blew slowly.

Carried within it was the hardened killing aura of veterans who had fought a hundred battles in the east.

Then... a long ceremonial cry came from the south:

"His Majesty has arrived!"

The civil and military officials and nobles all looked over at once.

Sure enough... the Emperor's dragon standard stood high in the air.

In the next instant... everyone dropped to their knees.

Though they had not seen His Majesty's face for a long time... though His Majesty had not appeared inside the imperial palace for just as long... the Emperor of Yan's authority had already rooted itself deep inside their hearts.

So long as the Emperor of Yan had not died... he remained Great Yan's true master.

"This minister greets Your Majesty! May my Emperor live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!"

"May my Emperor live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!"

The civil officials knelt.

The nobles knelt.

The Imperial Guards all around them knelt.

Ji Chengjue, who had nearly settled into the posture of some lazy village loafer nodding off by the roadside, finally ended his slouch and went down toward the direction of the imperial standard.

"This son greets Imperial Father. May Imperial Father live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!"

Ji Chengfeng and Ji Chengsu immediately knelt as well and paid respects to their father.

Last of all came the Crown Prince.

As the carriage slowly approached... he too lowered himself to the ground.

There was still one enormous group that did not kneel.

They came from the east.

From Jin.

From the Jingnan Army.

From the Marquis of Pingxi Residence.

The divide between the two sides could not have been clearer.

...

While kneeling, Ji Chengfeng whispered toward Ji Chengjue beside him:

"Is the Southern Prince deliberately tormenting Imperial Father just to vent his anger? I refuse to believe he doesn't know how poor Imperial Father's health is."

Ji Chengsu also clenched his fists, anger showing on his face.

As imperial princes, both had been humiliated today.

They had failed to share their father's burdens.

Instead, their gravely ill father had been forced to drag his failing body out here because of them.

As sons, that was unfilial.

As ministers, useless.

Ji Chengjue rolled his eyes at the Fourth Prince.

"Fine. Realizing the Prince of Jingnan isn't actually going to rebel proves you've improved, Fourth Brother."

"Mm?"

Ji Chengfeng turned to look at his Sixth Brother.

Ji Chengjue continued:

"But which eye of yours saw the Southern Prince deliberately trying to torment our father's body?"

"Isn't that what he's doing?"

"Fourth Brother, have you been taking in too many pretty little sisters-in-law lately?"

"I'm only hurrying to spread branches and leaves for the Ji family... Wait, why are you suddenly asking me that?"

"This is the imperial court. This is Great Yan. The men standing at the very top of the realm are making their moves. Do you think this is some harem squabble among the little beauties in your rear residence, fighting for favor? 'He's deliberately tormenting Imperial Father just to vent his anger.' Tch. Childish."

Even after being mocked, the Fourth Prince did not lose his temper.

He immediately pressed:

"Little Sixth, then tell your elder brother. Why?"

Ji Chengfeng had long understood that he could not outplay this younger brother.

Over the past year, he had kept remarkably quiet.

He had also gradually come to understand the Fifth Prince's old mentality.

Ji Chengjue glanced around.

A vast sea of people knelt in every direction.

"How long has Imperial Father been living in the Rear Garden?"

"A long time. Truly a long time."

"Mm. Imperial Father is still Imperial Father."

"Little Sixth, isn't that nonsense? As long as Imperial Father hasn't... As long as Imperial Father remains alive, he is Great Yan's Heaven."

"Exactly. Great Yan's Heaven. But even Heaven can gather dark clouds. Even the sharpest sword, if sealed away for too long, needs to be polished and maintained again. Imperial Father has remained in the Rear Garden for too long. So long that even though you, I, and every civil and military official at court still know perfectly well that Imperial Father remains Great Yan's Emperor... inside people's hearts... things have already begun to loosen. The Southern Prince isn't deliberately tormenting Imperial Father's body. He is doing exactly what he did more than four years ago: standing behind Imperial Father and bringing troops into the imperial city. He is helping Imperial Father wipe the edge of his sword clean. He is backing Imperial Father. Imperial Father wants to use this opportunity to leave the Rear Garden and, at the same time, declare to every civil and military official in Great Yan, and every commoner of Great Yan: Great Yan... is still his!"

"Then... then why doesn't Imperial Father clean things up himself?"

"Clean up what? The Crown Prince's people? Mine? Yours? Why clean them up? Imperial Father... will leave us eventually."

"This..."

Ji Chengfeng drew in a deep breath.

Little Seventh, Ji Chengsu, had already gone completely slack-jawed beside them.

By now... the carriage had entered the center of the gathering.

Wei Zhonghe emerged with his body bowed and lifted the curtain.

Then... the Emperor of Yan stepped out of the carriage.

He wore a black dragon robe.

Standing on the front platform, he swept his gaze across everyone around him.

No anger.

No sorrow.

No joy.

A Son of Heaven's sword was planted against the carriage floor.

In truth... he was using it to support his body.

At last... the Emperor's gaze landed on Tian Wujing, who still sat astride his Pixiu ahead.

The next moment... the Prince of Jingnan planted the Kunwu Saber into the ground.

He swung down from his mount.

Clad in gold-trimmed armor, Tian Wujing walked slowly toward the imperial carriage.

At that instant... countless hearts rose into countless throats.

Everyone knew that Great Yan's Southern Prince stood at the summit among Martial Artists.

His combat strength was terrifying.

The Emperor of Yan watched him approach.

He saw the head of white hair.

His lips instinctively pressed together.

His eyes were unbearably dry.

Because he had just swallowed the red pill, heat now surged violently through his body.

Not a single tear could fall.

All he could do... was call his name.

"Wujing..."

Tian Wujing, Prince of Jingnan of Great Yan, finally reached the carriage.

Before the Emperor standing above him... he went down on one knee.

Behind him...

Marquis Zheng raised one hand and shouted:

"Kneel before the Son of Heaven!"

In an instant... from the Marquis of Pingxi down, more than ten thousand battle-hardened elites returning from Jin sheathed their weapons, dismounted, and knelt toward the Emperor's carriage.

"This minister, Tian Wujing, greets Your Majesty. May my Emperor live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years."

At that moment... countless people quietly released the breaths they had been holding.

It was as though some enormous catastrophe had dissolved before it ever took shape.

The Emperor of Yan looked down at Tian Wujing.

"Wujing. Come. Let's return to the palace together and wait for Liangting."

Then the Emperor laughed.

With an affectionate curse, he added:

"That bastard is still the same as ever. Call him to eat and he's always the first one there. Anything else, and he's always the last."

"This minister obeys!"

Tian Wujing rose and stepped onto the carriage.

Naturally, he took the Son of Heaven's sword from the Emperor's hand and used his own arm to support him.

The Emperor's body was light.

Shockingly light.

The broad dragon robe was only an illusion.

The Emperor looked toward the Crown Prince kneeling below and called:

"Crown Prince. Come up and drive."

"This son obeys."

The Crown Prince rose.

At that moment... the Prince of Jingnan spoke.

"The Marquis of Pingxi is best at driving a carriage."

A smile touched the Emperor of Yan's mouth.

He looked toward Zheng Fan.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Tian Wujing nodded.

"Yes."

The Crown Prince had already reached the front of the carriage and was preparing to take the reins.

Now he froze where he stood.

Climbing up was wrong.

Backing away was wrong.

The Emperor of Yan stretched out a hand and pointed toward Zheng Fan's kneeling figure.

"Very well. Then We will trouble Our Marquis of Pingxi... to drive Our carriage once."

[End of Chapter 676]