Chapter 688: Sever Their National Fortune for a Century!

Night fell.

A grand banquet was held in the imperial palace.

Inside and outside the palace, Heaven only knew how many people were bustling around for the sake of this single feast.

Group after group moved like dense swarms of ants, laboring tirelessly to carry out one decision of the Emperor.

The dishes and wine alone were a major undertaking.

They had to be exquisite.

They also had to be safe.

Every stage required someone to guard it and someone to take responsibility.

The lanterns and festive decorations throughout the palace had to be arranged with equal care.

The dancers and singers were squeezing every last moment out of the remaining time to rehearse.

Officials from the Imperial Household Department, Ministry of Rites, and inner treasury had been so busy that some had not closed their eyes for several days.

Their eyes were bloodshot.

One hard stare from them made them look like beasts ready to devour someone.

Great Yan's present deterrence toward the outside world was absolutely real.

Otherwise, two Princes and two Marquises could never have found the leisure to gather in Yanjing at the same time.

Internally, however... because grand palace events were rarely held, and because the imperial household had lived far too frugally for far too long, every contingency plan and every preparation had been thrown together in a rush.

When a place hosted the same kind of event year after year, the organizers naturally accumulated experience.

But when something was suddenly demanded after years of neglect, every department could only scramble to force the whole thing together at the last minute.

And no one cared about excuses.

If something went wrong... simple.

A head would roll.

This was the first great banquet since His Majesty returned to the palace.

In truth, even in earlier years, this Emperor, who had always practiced strict frugality, had rarely held anything resembling a grand banquet for his ministers or a celebration shared with the people.

At the previous palace banquet... a qin player from Chu had launched an assassination.

The Third Prince died saving the sovereign.

Some ministers gathered outside the palace gates early, waiting to enter.

Envoys from the various states also arrived ahead of time with their gifts prepared.

Men at Marquis Zheng's level naturally did not need to arrive early.

Nor did he need to rehearse where he would sit.

After leaving the First Prince's residence, he returned to his own residence, took a bath, and slept for a while.

When the hour was nearly right... he mounted his Pixiu.

He did not bring the Sword Saint.

Only Siniang accompanied him.

Just as at the roast-duck restaurant last time, when the Emperor of Yan was expected to appear, the Sword Saint would very consciously remove himself and go sit elsewhere under the watchful company of experts from the Secret Intelligence Department.

An expert of his level... especially a swordsman... obviously could not simply approach the Emperor whenever he pleased.

The last time the Sword Saint accompanied Zheng Fan into the palace to receive an ennoblement, Wei Zhonghe had likewise sent someone to invite him elsewhere for tea at the palace gate.

Most importantly... who told the man to have a prior record of killing an Emperor?

And besides... once inside the palace, if danger truly appeared, bringing another two Sword Saints probably would not be enough to protect against everything.

Better to be relaxed about it.

So Marquis Zheng rode his Pixiu to the gates of the Prince of Jingnan Residence and waited there for quite a while.

The two residences were neighbors anyway.

The distance was nothing.

The Prince of Jingnan finally came out.

He nodded to Zheng Fan.

As always, the two rode side by side, Zheng Fan lagging half a body-length behind.

The personal guards of the two households divided naturally to either side.

They had traveled all the way from Litian City together and were already thoroughly familiar with one another.

For Zheng Fan... when he stood beside Old Tian, personal guards were basically there only to serve as an honor guard.

They reached the palace gates.

The guards let them through immediately.

There was not even an inspection.

The two Pixiu themselves were the best possible entry tokens.

No one could counterfeit them.

There were only four true Great Yan Pixiu currently outside.

One belonged to Prince Zhenbei.

One to the Prince of Jingnan.

One to the First Prince.

And one to Marquis Pingxi.

Everything else was merely a Pixiu beast.

Not a true Pixiu.

The personal guards of both households remained outside the palace gates.

Marquis Zheng accompanied Old Tian into the palace on their mounts.

Eunuchs, palace maids, and the occasional minister knelt and saluted as they passed.

Night had fully fallen.

But countless lanterns had been hung throughout the palace.

At least along the Imperial Way, the darkness had been driven back until the road looked almost like broad daylight.

Zheng Fan still remembered his previous late-night entry into the palace.

In the blink of an eye... five years had passed.

Unfortunately, this was not the right moment to voice that sort of nostalgia.

That particular night... the entire Tian Clan had been swallowed in blood.

When they reached the Golden Hall, Zheng Fan dismounted behind Old Tian.

The eunuch guiding them was an old acquaintance.

Eunuch Huang.

Years ago, after two senior officials had smashed themselves to death against the stone lions outside the Marquis Residence, Eunuch Huang had been the one to arrange their funerals before coming over.

Then he happened to arrive just as the Wang River froze and the Marquis of Jingnan departed.

Afterward, many of the court's imperial edicts sent into Jin had been entrusted to Eunuch Huang.

He went to Yingdu.

To Fengxin City.

To Snow Sea Pass.

For a short period, he had even served as an army-monitoring eunuch.

Great Yan had no tradition of eunuchs interfering in politics.

Even Wei Zhonghe always behaved with extreme caution and never dared step across the line.

So the reason Eunuch Huang had repeatedly been "entrusted with important duties" was not because those above believed him exceptionally capable.

They simply wanted a little good luck.

Like scholars deciding which foot to step into the examination hall with first.

A fortunate omen.

"This slave greets His Highness the Prince of Jingnan and the Marquis of Pingxi. May Your Highness and My Lord Marquis enjoy health and peace. This way, please."

The banquet was divided into inner and outer halls.

In other words... inner seats and outer seats.

The outer section held many people.

They could only see the Emperor's position from afar.

But eunuchs were responsible for carrying his words outward, so there was no danger of missing anything His Majesty said.

The inner section was itself divided between front and rear seating.

The front seats belonged to Great Yan's genuine first-tier power holders.

The giants who stood at the very top of some branch of military or civil government.

As for noblewomen and titled wives... they were seated in another hall farther back.

It was not far away.

Any major commotion here could still be sensed there.

Siniang held no official noblewoman's title.

Today she wore women's clothing and followed behind Zheng Fan almost like a maid.

Strictly speaking... that violated the rules.

But when your status was high enough... rules became remarkably flexible.

After entering the front seating area...

Zheng Fan saw that the row to the Dragon Throne's right had been reserved for the great men of the military.

At present, the right side held precedence.

At the same time... it symbolized Great Yan's tradition of founding the state through martial strength.

The First Prince had already arrived.

He sat in the fourth seat on the right.

Old Tian took the second seat.

The first had been left for Li Liangting.

Prince Zhenbei was older, after all.

Marquis Zheng exchanged a smile with the First Prince.

Then sat in the third seat beside Old Tian.

The First Prince was both an imperial prince and a Marquis.

But he knew perfectly well that there was some water in his military-service Marquis title, so he had deliberately yielded the place.

In truth, Zheng Fan had never resented the First Prince for receiving a military-service Marquis title.

Nor did he feel it unfair.

Your father appoints you manager in the family company.

Is that really something worth getting upset about?

Siniang sat behind Zheng Fan.

Soon... one military figure after another arrived and first came forward to salute the Prince of Jingnan.

Old Tian sat there silently.

He did not respond.

Fortunately, everyone regarded that as completely normal.

If the Prince of Jingnan suddenly started chatting warmly with them about household matters... that would be when they truly became terrified.

After saluting Old Tian, they exchanged pleasantries with Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan naturally could not put on Old Tian's manner.

He could only greet them politely.

These men were called military leaders.

But almost half were second-generation military nobles.

Their ancestors had earned titles through war and passed them down.

Others were officers holding some military position in the capital region.

How to put it?

Inside Yanjing... they counted as important people.

Across Great Yan's entire military establishment... they were not quite enough.

Marquis Zheng, by contrast, had happened to catch the right era.

He had always followed the local route.

He accumulated military merit continuously.

Rose through the ranks.

Then became a Marquis.

It was not the conventional path.

Several times he entered the capital solely to receive another promotion.

Yet no one could say he lacked foundations.

Even if one ignored the Prince of Jingnan's support and favor... the man had already opened his own headquarters and raised his own command banners.

He was effectively a semi-independent regional military lord.

The myth of a commoner rising from nothing.

A classic case of overtaking everyone on the bend.

Of course... if Marquis Zheng himself had been forced to spend years grinding seniority like some old barracks hand and drinking his way through endless relationships... he certainly would not have enjoyed the process.

While exchanging pleasantries, he offered one "I've long admired you" after another.

A "your great name is like thunder in my ears" here.

A respectful exclamation there.

"Oh! So it was you. Forgive my disrespect."

In truth... he recognized almost none of them.

Even after they introduced themselves, he remembered very few names.

Different levels.

Different circles.

That was all.

Prince Zhenbei arrived.

The moment he entered, he sat directly in the first seat on the right.

Qingshuang followed behind Li Liangting.

Like Siniang, she sat farther back.

Now both Princes were present.

Marquis Zheng immediately straightened his posture.

The First Prince likewise stopped greeting people amiably and naturally sat upright.

Soldiers... ought to carry the killing air of the battlefield.

Even the First Prince, ranked fourth among these four men, had carved his position out with real blades and real blood.

The four highest-ranking military figures sat like this.

Everyone below them, regardless of age, office, or title... immediately followed suit.

Faces solemn.

Eyes cold.

One entire row.

Uniform as soldiers on parade.

Across from them, on the left... sat the great civil officials.

Originally, those men had been exchanging greetings, chatting, even discussing poetry, songs, romance, flowers, snow, and moonlight.

Once civil officials stepped away from memorials and paperwork, they genuinely had plenty to discuss.

And knew how to discuss it.

But after a while... something began feeling wrong.

One side was noisy.

The other cold and solemn.

The contrast was simply too stark.

Gradually... the civil officials also quieted.

They had been forcibly dragged into the military men's rhythm.

They could hardly curse the soldiers for it.

Nor did they dare show contempt.

For one thing, the civil giants seated here, men such as Left Vice Director Wang Lian, Right Vice Director Cao Que, and Director of the Secretariat Xu Qiutai, were themselves men of high status and deep cultivation.

And more importantly... two Princes sat directly across from them.

Too hard.

You couldn't knock against them.

Even Zhao Jiulang, who had originally been chatting with two Ministers beside him, stopped speaking and sat quietly.

So when palace maids and eunuchs came forward with food, they discovered that the outer seats remained lively and noisy... while the inner hall was so cold it frightened people.

The hands of quite a few servants began trembling uncontrollably as they carried dishes.

Then... the other imperial princes arrived.

Beneath the Dragon Throne was a separate little area with seats facing one another.

On the right sat a single person.

Crown Prince Ji Chenglang.

On the left sat Sixth Prince Ji Chengjue, Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng, and Seventh Prince Ji Chengsu.

Zheng Fan noticed that Fourth Prince Ji Chengfeng deliberately checked his position first and did not sit in the first seat on the left.

He had already abandoned any thought of fighting for the throne.

Apparently he had now truly set aside the dignity of being an elder brother.

At the very end of the inner seats, along the route servants used to carry food, stood another group of smaller seats.

They were cramped together.

The arrangement looked rather like seating for transfer students added to a class at the last moment.

Once everyone was in place... the Emperor of Yan emerged in a black dragon robe, accompanied by Wei Zhonghe.

At once... every civil and military official in the inner seats rose, left his place, and knelt.

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

The larger number of officials in the outer hall also began shouting ten thousand years.

The effect almost resembled an echo.

Or perhaps... a delayed broadcast.

"Beloved ministers, rise. Sit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Marquis Zheng returned to his seat.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The voices from outside arrived a moment later.

The Emperor of Yan raised his wine cup.

"Since We ascended the throne, sovereign and ministers have stood of one heart. Only because of that unity does Great Yan possess the flourishing age before us today. We toast all Our beloved ministers!"

Everyone raised their cups.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After the Emperor's opening...

Zhao Jiulang, as Chancellor, rose and began reading an imperial proclamation.

There was little substance to it.

It praised the achievements of recent years.

Praised everyone's labor.

Reflected on how difficult it had been for the ancestors to establish the state.

In short... it existed to explain why everyone had been summoned to this banquet.

When Zhao Jiulang finished... the Crown Prince rose and read another proclamation.

Mm.

In essence... he repeated the same low-substance material the Chancellor had just read, only in a different arrangement of words.

After each speech... the speaker led everyone in a cup of wine.

The ministers all maintained solemn, sacred expressions as they drank together.

When the Crown Prince finished... something happened that Marquis Zheng had not expected.

Ji Chengjue stood and began speaking too.

He held no proclamation in his hand.

Yet his presence was not weaker in the slightest.

At first... everyone assumed this too was part of the scheduled program.

The two obvious rivals for the throne should both be allowed a moment in the light.

That would only be fair.

But gradually... people realized something was wrong.

Sixth Highness appeared to be adding his own scene.

He began discussing Great Yan's financial condition over the previous two years.

The difficulty of the treasury.

The burden of managing the household.

But in the latter half...

Ji Chengjue brought the subject back around.

The general meaning was that the hardest period had now passed.

And next... came another impassioned vision of the future.

The difference was that the first half had contained too much real substance.

Numbers.

Concrete details.

Actual material.

So listening to him felt genuinely good.

It reminded Zheng Fan of university in his previous life.

Some lecturers liked reading directly from PowerPoint slides.

Others could summon data and examples at will.

The listening experience between the two was obviously completely different.

And because even the eunuchs relaying the speech to the outer seats had not realized this segment was improvised... they too listened with great interest.

Marquis Zheng quietly picked up a piece of duck and put it in his mouth.

Little Sixth had stopped planning to act.

Naturally... there was no longer any need to hide his ability.

And really... that was how it should be.

The final battle was approaching.

If the leader of the Sixth Master's faction did not personally step forward, shout the slogans, and display his strength... how could the people below him dare charge with confidence?

To the genuine core members of the Sixth Master's faction... this unscheduled speech was a war horn.

"Everyone! Drink to Imperial Father! Drink to Great Yan! Drink to this flourishing age!"

Normally, after those words, the ministers in the inner hall would answer and drink together.

Then the response would spread outward.

But Marquis Zheng moved first.

He raised his cup and shouted:

"Drink to Your Highness!"

Then... the First Prince understood immediately.

He raised his own cup.

"Drink to Your Highness!"

The nobles and military men along the right side instinctively lifted their cups too.

They vaguely felt something was off.

But the men above had shouted.

So by instinct... they followed.

"Drink to Your Highness!"

Across the hall, the civil officials were obviously more delicate in their thinking.

Some lifted their cups.

Few actually shouted aloud.

But the ministers in the outer hall heard only the roar from the inner seats.

If the inner hall was shouting... then surely joining in could not be wrong.

So very quickly... a mountain-like cry came from outside:

"Drink to Your Highness!"

It thoroughly overwhelmed the momentum the Crown Prince had built earlier.

Ji Chengjue drained his cup.

He glanced once at Zheng Fan and Eldest Brother.

Then returned to his seat.

The Crown Prince remained where he was.

Steady as a mountain.

His expression did not change.

The Emperor of Yan merely kept a faint smile on his face.

The great civil officials had already smelled something unmistakable in the air.

But because none had witnessed what happened in the roast-duck restaurant, the reports they had received remained fragmentary and uncertain.

And besides... this was Great Yan.

Not Great Qian.

With two Princes seated across the hall... everyone had a ceiling pressed over their heads.

An ordinary Emperor, such as the Qian sovereign, liked using the Silver-Armored Guard to suppress the civil bureaucracy.

Great Yan's Emperor was even more direct.

Those two Princes who held military power had once trampled the great aristocratic clans beneath cavalry hooves.

If anyone refused to behave now... they could simply do it again.

Next...

Prince of Jin Yu Ciming was the first foreign-status noble to come forward, present a gift, and offer auspicious words.

That... was basically his function now.

Yet at the end of his blessing... he first wished His Majesty endless longevity.

Then blessed the Crown Prince.

And finally... blessed Sixth Highness as well.

Zheng Fan found it rather amusing.

Perhaps his own behavior earlier had given Yu Ciming a hint.

Yu Ciming might believe that whatever choice Zheng Fan made must surely be correct.

So he wanted to climb aboard too.

But had he ever considered this?

Zheng Fan could afford to lose.

Could the Prince of Jin Residence?

Then again... there was little point discussing risk tolerance with a gambler.

After Yu Ciming... came the envoy of the State of Liang with gifts and congratulations.

Liang's present ruler had seized the throne in a coup, deposing an elder brother who carried blood from the Xiong imperial clan of Chu.

Then, because of a misunderstanding, Liang had ended up at war with Chu.

Yan troops later entered Liang to help resist Chu.

Xue San had even spent some time serving as a general there.

At present...

Great Yan was Liang's enormous thigh.

Liang was Great Yan's vassal state.

After that came envoys from various smaller states, one after another.

The region of small states that had once crowded the central zone between the four great powers had originally lain beyond Yan's reach.

But after Great Yan swallowed Jin territory and fought Chu...

Yan could now, whenever it wished, send troops directly out of South Gate Pass to punish those little states.

Once that direct threat appeared... the small states immediately softened.

They had not all become Yan's dogs like Liang.

But at the very least... if you flirted with one now, she would not run to the authorities.

She would retreat coyly while saying:

"You devil. Stop it."

Relations between states... were exactly that realistic.

After presenting their gifts, the envoys from the small states all took seats in the cramped "transfer-student" section.

Then... came the main event.

First to enter... was the Chu envoy Jing Yang.

Minister Jing was already a veteran envoy to the State of Yan.

And his deputy envoy this time... was unexpectedly another old acquaintance of Zheng Fan's.

Jing Renli.

The Chu envoys expressed the beautiful hope that the two states could resolve their misunderstandings, honor their treaty, and spare both peoples the suffering of war.

They also wished the Emperor of Great Yan endless longevity.

The Qian envoy was surnamed Fu.

His name was Fu Bi.

He likewise began by expressing hopes for peace between the two states.

But after wishing the Emperor of Yan endless longevity... he deliberately blessed Sixth Highness first.

Then the Crown Prince.

"Hahahaha..."

Ji Chengjue immediately burst out laughing in the hall.

He rose.

Pointed directly at Qian envoy Fu Bi.

And called loudly to everyone:

"Qian has always been weak in military matters. Frail. Timid. But when it comes to intrigue and fighting among themselves, their skill truly makes the rest of us feel ashamed of our inferiority. Did everyone hear that? He deliberately tried to drive a wedge between me and His Highness the Crown Prince. What? Do you truly think Great Yan is your State of Qian? That we'll claw at each other inside our own house just so you Qian people can enjoy the show?"

Fu Bi's face flushed scarlet.

That had indeed been exactly what he intended.

Before entering the hall, after studying the atmosphere, he had even decided which member of his mission would later write an essay about today's brilliant display of "outwitting the enemy."

They would describe how he had stood fearless inside the court of the Yan barbarians... displaying the bearing of a great state!

At the same time... he would plant a seed of discord between Great Yan's Sixth Prince and Crown Prince.

Like "two peaches killing three warriors," he would lay the hidden fuse for future internal conflict within Yan!

His image... would be established.

His reputation... would be built.

His road to advancement after returning home... would open wide.

Unfortunately...

Ji Old Sixth did not play by the normal rules.

At that moment, the Crown Prince also rose.

He lifted his cup toward Ji Chengjue.

"Sixth Brother."

Ji Chengjue raised his own cup and bowed.

"Crown Prince Brother."

The two imperial princes drank together.

Fu Bi intended to argue.

But before he could...

First Prince Ji Wujiang spoke.

"Next time the envoy wants to say something, think it through first. Otherwise, the next reason this Marquis marches south may simply be that the envoy spoke disrespectfully."

"..." Fu Bi.

A weak state has no diplomacy.

A weak state has no diplomacy.

Outrageous.

Utterly outrageous!

It was a threat.

A completely naked threat.

But Fu Bi knew he could not bear the consequences.

And he understood something even more clearly.

If Yan truly used this as an excuse to march south again... the Qian court's first target for punishment would be him and his clan.

Everyone beneath Heaven knew how Great Yan's First Prince had earned his Marquis title.

By beheading Qian's Grand Commander of the Three Frontiers.

At that moment...

Marquis Zheng joined in as well.

In an exaggerated, deliberately playful tone, he shouted:

"Same here!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

In an instant... every minister in the inner hall, civil and military alike, burst out laughing.

After all... they were Yan people.

It did not matter what faction they belonged to.

Did not matter whether they supported the Crown Prince or Sixth Master.

If someone was mocking the State of Qian... then naturally everyone had to help laugh.

Among the rows of foreign envoys, some laughed openly.

Liang and Chu laughed the loudest.

Others covered their mouths with their sleeves.

Those were envoys from small states bordering Qian.

And out in the outer hall... the ministers heard laughter coming from within.

They had no idea what had happened.

But naturally... they started laughing too.

"Hahahahaha..."

Fu Bi's face burned red.

Under that kind of public humiliation, he truly wanted to crawl into a hole.

All he could do was bow.

Then retreat.

Finally... an elderly man in Barbarian dress entered the hall supported by two Barbarian attendants.

First... he knelt.

He presented the Barbarian King's state letter.

Then... he presented the saber of the young Barbarian prince.

Finally... in a rising and falling cadence, speaking fluent Xia language, he began reciting a hymn to Great Yan's greatness.

The High Priest possessed real cultivation.

His voice was powerful but not harsh.

Even the outer hall could hear him clearly.

He praised Great Yan's abundance.

Praised Great Yan's flourishing age.

Praised Great Yan's strength.

He declared that the Barbarians would forever become Great Yan's good neighbors, and that the two peoples should live in peace.

Then... he conveyed the old Barbarian King's words.

The ruler of the Barbarians bore the title Khan of the Golden Tent.

Therefore... the Barbarian King and the young prince wished to honor the Emperor of Great Yan as... the Heavenly Khan of the Desert!

From this day forward... the Emperor of Great Yan would not merely be master of the East.

He would also become protector of the many tribes of the desert!

The instant those words were spoken... the expressions of the Chu and Qian envoys both turned grim.

If Yan truly no longer faced any threat whatsoever from the desert... then wouldn't that mean...

"Please permit me to offer my most sincere prostration before the great and supreme Emperor of Great Yan, His Majesty the Heavenly Khan of the Desert!"

The old High Priest prostrated himself fully, forehead to the floor.

In an instant... inside and outside the hall... nearly every Yan official erupted.

Even palace maids and eunuchs joined the excitement.

Yan and Barbarian had slaughtered each other for centuries.

And now... at last... they had forced Great Yan's most terrifying enemy to submit.

In a heartbeat... cries of "Long live Our Emperor!" thundered through the entire inner palace.

In another hall... the Barbarian Princess sat beside He Sisi.

She began crying from sheer joy.

He Sisi wrapped her arms around her and patted her shoulder.

"Things will be better from now on. There won't be war anymore. It'll be better."

...

The Emperor of Yan spoke.

"We are deeply comforted. Peace on the frontier is a great blessing to the people of both states."

Then... the Crown Prince rose.

And proclaimed an imperial edict.

The decree was long.

Dense with official language.

To Marquis Zheng... it contained roughly three points.

First... the Emperor would directly exercise the authority of Heavenly Khan of the Desert and formally invest the young Barbarian prince as lawful successor to the Barbarian throne.

That sentence sounded almost grammatically wrong.

It was not.

Second... the First Prince's wife, the Marchioness of Andong, was granted the title Madam Antai.

If one ignored the factor of military-service noble titles... then in formal rank, the First Prince's wife had now actually surpassed her husband.

Third...

Great Yan would dispatch envoys into the desert to sign a state treaty with the Barbarian King, establishing permanent friendship and peace between the two sides.

Then came another round of congratulations from ministers and foreign envoys alike.

The Emperor of Yan appeared extremely moved.

To outsiders... that emotion seemed perfectly natural.

This mighty sovereign of magnificent talent and grand strategy... had finally pacified every threat around Great Yan's borders.

The Emperor of Yan rose.

He held his wine cup.

And proclaimed in a loud voice:

"Today Great Yan rises like the sun in the East! The four directions submit! Ten thousand states come to court! Since We ascended the throne, not for a single moment have We ceased thinking of this. Not for a single moment have We dared delay. Not for a single moment have We dared indulge in idleness. What We sought... what We pursued... was precisely..."

Suddenly... the Emperor's body swayed.

He spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

Wei Zhonghe immediately caught him and supported him away from the throne, heading toward the rear.

Then...

Prince Zhenbei.

The Prince of Jingnan.

Marquis Pingxi.

The First Prince.

All four rose and left after him.

Obviously... they were going to check the Emperor's condition.

But their departure was also a statement from the military.

At this moment... apart from the First Prince... not even the other imperial princes were permitted to approach His Majesty.

Zhao Jiulang rose.

He began stabilizing the scene.

The sudden incident stunned everyone present.

Among the foreign envoys... quite a few instinctively released breaths they had been holding.

No one dared show delight on his face.

They could only rejoice silently in their hearts.

This Emperor of Yan... the man who had brought crushing pressure and fear to every state around Great Yan... was finally... failing.

The High Priest remained prostrated on the ground.

His entire body had gone limp.

Inside his heart... he whispered:

Barbarian God protect us.

Great Yan's Heaven... was about to collapse.

...

Imperial Study.

The moment the Emperor of Yan was helped inside... he shoved Wei Zhonghe's hand away.

Behind him stood...

Prince Zhenbei.

The Prince of Jingnan.

Marquis Pingxi.

And the First Prince.

The first two... had known.

Marquis Zheng... had guessed long ago.

The First Prince had genuinely feared for Imperial Father's life.

But the moment he saw his father's present expression... he understood too.

The Emperor of Yan raised one hand.

"Wei Zhonghe. Spread it out!"

"This slave obeys!"

Wei Zhonghe personally unfastened the hide sheet hanging from the curtains of the Imperial Study, where it had looked almost like some rolled screen.

Everyone stepped back.

He spread it across the floor.

It was... a map stretching westward from Great Yan's Beifeng Commandery and covering the entire desert.

Where was the weakness of the Emperor who had just vomited blood?

He raised one foot.

Stepped from Great Yan's Beifeng Commandery into the desert.

Walked farther west.

Then... planted his boot directly on the marked location of the Barbarian Royal Court.

"Heavenly Khan of the Desert? Heh. What are they? They actually think themselves qualified to bestow a title upon Us? We are the Son of Heaven. We are Emperor of Great Yan. In this life... We have no interest in any other title. The time has come. The time has come. That old Barbarian, to pave the road for his youngest son, has gone so far as to grovel before Us in exchange for peace beyond his borders. He... will hold a coronation for that little Barbarian at the Royal Court. When the time comes... every tribal chief and noble still loyal to the Royal Court, along with those tribes brought back under its control in recent years... will gather here. Liangting. Wujing!"

Prince Zhenbei and the Prince of Jingnan dropped to one knee.

The Emperor of Yan extended a hand.

He pointed toward the place beneath his foot.

And said:

"For Us. For Great Yan. Break the Barbarians' backbone... for another hundred years!"

[End of Chapter 688]