Chapter 689: The Emperor of Yan's Death Date

After Prince Zhenbei and the Prince of Jingnan knelt, Zheng Fan and the First Prince immediately dropped down as well.

Break their backbone for a hundred years.

Even though Zheng Fan was not a native of this world and could never truly feel the eight hundred years of blood feud with the Barbarians that had been branded into the bones of every Yan man, his blood still surged at this moment.

It was a dream.

A dream that had begun many years ago.

At the beginning... there had been two children fighting over a chicken leg.

One said that when he grew up, he would make Great Yan's borders stretch so far no one could see the end.

The other scratched his head, wiped the grease from his mouth after gnawing on the chicken leg, and grinned.

"I'll help you fight!"

Later... they met an even younger brother.

He had the same dream.

Dreaming was not difficult.

Anyone could dream. At night. In the day. While idle. While working.

But to spend decades walking one step at a time, slowly turning a childhood dream into reality... very few people in this world could do that.

The blood the Emperor had spat at the banquet should have been fake.

But his condition truly had reached the point where the lamp was out of oil.

Because on the way back to the Imperial Study, while Wei Zhonghe supported the Emperor and Zheng Fan followed behind, Zheng Fan saw the Emperor take a red pill from Wei Zhonghe's hand and swallow it.

The Emperor was extremely excited right now.

But it was an unnatural kind of excitement.

Zheng Fan knelt very close to him.

Beneath the sleeve of the dragon robe, faint brown blotches could be seen on the Emperor's wrist. His lips were a little too red. The shadows around his eyes were a little too dark.

Before attending the banquet, he had clearly worn makeup.

Now some of the powder had rubbed away.

The skin beneath was pale enough to frighten people.

Everything about him showed just how he had forced himself to survive until today.

And yet... one still could not help being overwhelmed by the presence radiating from him now.

This was a true Emperor among men.

Before this...

Zheng Fan's image of what an Emperor for the ages ought to look like had always been vague.

It was this man who had gradually made that image clear.

Some things could be set aside for now.

Some questions did not need answers yet.

Simply look at him.

Then look at the Great Yan under his rule.

That alone was enough to prove his greatness.

To Zheng Fan, Old Tian was the elder brother who never lost a battle, the man who would always stand in front of him.

The Emperor of Yan was more distant.

Higher.

Zheng Fan had only met him a handful of times.

Perhaps precisely because of that distance, the feeling was strangely similar to the way the commoners of Snow Sea Pass had once looked at Zheng Fan himself.

An Emperor nearing decay... in the final afterglow of his life... was still thinking about cutting away the last threat that might one day become an enemy of his empire.

You could say his methods were too extreme.

You could say he was too impatient.

You could say he could no longer afford to wait.

You could even call him greedy, trying to finish in one lifetime what should have required three generations of wise rulers.

But there was one thing you could not deny.

You could not even question it.

This Emperor had almost perfectly embodied the meaning of the Ninth-Five Supreme.

He had abandoned personal pleasure, though such pleasure had been his birthright.

He had cast aside personal affection. He was not a good husband. Not a good father.

One could even say he had hardly been a husband or father at all.

Beneath the imperial crown... there had always been only those cold eyes.

Yet it was precisely that obsession... that had created an almost pilgrimage-like power of inspiration.

Not the kind of religious ritual that buried your understanding beneath layer after layer of doctrine.

Instead... he stood ahead like a lamp.

Showing the road.

Li Liangting, heir to a century-old Marquis Zhenbei Residence.

Tian Wujing, a genius born once in an age.

To make men like these kneel at his feet... to expand his realm for him, ride for him, kill for him, and cast aside every chain around themselves alongside him... that was the Emperor of Yan.

The sovereign who could stand in front of both Princes.

Zheng Fan tried to pull himself free of the emotion.

Tried to escape the atmosphere around them.

He had far too many reasons not to enter this Iron Triangle.

Far too many reasons not to inherit what they represented.

Yet he could not deny that at this moment... an uncontrollable excitement surged inside him too.

Destroy it.

Trample it.

Not merely the enemy standing before your eyes.

But every existence that ten years from now, twenty years from now, thirty years from now... might become a threat to the empire.

We... will sweep away every obstacle for Great Yan!

"Marquis Pingxi. Wujiang."

"This minister is here."

"This son is here."

"At dawn, Prince Zhenbei and the Prince of Jingnan will leave the capital for Beifeng Commandery. We deliberately arranged the Prince of Jingnan Residence beside the Marquis of Pingxi Residence, and Prince Zhenbei Residence beside your residence, Wujiang."

Zheng Fan's eyes widened immediately.

Old Tian was leaving the capital tonight?

Old Li too?

After tonight... both Princes would be gone from Yanjing!

Then what about the struggle for succession?

What about settling the national heir?

Fortunately, the Demon Kings had long since trained Marquis Zheng's composure to perfection.

There was no possibility of him blurting out such a question now.

And he quickly understood the latter half of the Emperor's words.

Why had the two princely residences been placed beside theirs?

So that at this precise moment... the two Marquises, with their status and ability... could conceal the fact that their neighbors were gone.

Use Great Yan's two military-service Marquises... to create a smokescreen for Great Yan's two Princes.

Push the thought a little farther... and perhaps the entire story about two Princes and two Marquises entering Yanjing together to settle the national heir had itself been the greatest smokescreen of all.

A deception aimed at the Barbarians.

A way to reassure the Royal Court.

A way to let that old Barbarian King safely hold the great ceremony beneath his Golden Tent.

This truly was... using every method in hand... every last hidden card... to seize every possible opportunity for Great Yan.

Time... seemed to roll backward five years.

That year... the forces under Li Fusheng and Li Bao, with Zheng Fan among them, had ridden south in a long-range raid all the way to the walls of Shangjing.

But that had only been a feint.

A false thrust to create the opportunity for the Zhenbei and Jingnan armies under the two Marquises to wheel around through South Gate Pass.

And this time...

Zheng Fan himself had not seen it.

The Blind Man had not seen it.

Gou Moli had not seen it.

Even Sun Ying had guessed only the tip of the iceberg.

Then... no matter how many spies the Barbarians had inside Great Yan... no matter who wanted to secretly leak the news... if they themselves did not know the truth... what could they report?

As for the troops... ever since five years ago, half the Zhenbei Army had been transferred east and had fought in campaign after campaign.

But three Zhenbei garrisons had remained stationed in Beifeng Commandery without moving at all.

Those were true veterans.

True elites.

They had not suffered attrition in war.

They had not had their strength diluted by large numbers of new recruits.

And all these years... they had continued being tempered by the wind and sand of the desert.

Beyond that... half of the old Imperial Guards had been stationed in Beifeng Commandery years ago for screening and acclimatization.

Everything... had long since been prepared.

"This minister obeys!"

"This son obeys!"

"You two may withdraw. Wei Zhonghe, see... Our two... Marquises out."

"This slave obeys."

"This minister withdraws."

"This son withdraws!"

Under Wei Zhonghe's guidance, Zheng Fan and the First Prince left the Imperial Study.

Inside... only three men remained.

Standing atop the map, the Emperor of Yan closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

His brow furrowed.

Then he said:

"Liangting... help Us. We can barely stand."

Li Liangting rose and supported him.

All these years, as his own blood and qi declined, Li Liangting had thought his body had already become hollow and weak.

But the instant his hands touched the Emperor... he discovered that the man's body felt as light as paper.

Tian Wujing rose as well.

"Cough... cough..."

The Emperor began coughing.

It was painful even to hear.

He no longer had enough strength to cough properly.

Every cough seemed to stop halfway.

Li Liangting reached out and gently rubbed the Emperor's back.

The Emperor opened his mouth.

A line of saliva hung from one corner.

Li Liangting wiped it away.

From beginning to end...

Tian Wujing merely stood to the side and watched in silence.

The Emperor lifted a hand and pointed toward the inner chamber of the Imperial Study.

That was where he normally took brief naps between reviewing memorials.

Li Liangting supported him inside.

There was a bathing tub there.

The tub was filled with clear warm water.

The Emperor turned his head.

Looked toward Tian Wujing.

"Wujing... Wujing... help... Us..."

Today... he had taken three red pills.

But the third had supported him only long enough to return to the Imperial Study and say what he needed to say.

Then... as though every trace of spirit had been ripped out of him in an instant... his entire body stiffened.

In truth... the Emperor had expected this.

The moment he stepped on the map and issued the order to attack the Barbarian Royal Court... his emotions had reached their highest point.

Afterward... came the terrifying plunge.

"Wujing, what's wrong with His Majesty?" Li Liangting asked.

"Too many medicinal pills," Tian Wujing answered coldly.

"This..."

Li Liangting had known His Majesty was in poor health.

He knew His Majesty had been forcing himself to hold on.

But he truly had not realized that this was how he had been doing it.

In fact... even Tian Wujing had not known before stepping into the carriage outside the city.

"Remove His Majesty's clothes," Tian Wujing said.

Li Liangting nodded.

He began undoing the dragon robe.

Very soon... the dragon robe came away.

Then the inner garments.

What appeared beneath the wide, majestic imperial robes... was an unbelievably thin body.

And across that body... dense dark-brown blotches covered the skin.

Li Liangting drew in a deep breath.

Then closed his eyes.

After that... he laughed.

"Hahaha... Hahahahahaha..."

The Emperor looked toward Li Liangting beside him.

"Your Majesty..."

"Big Brother, look at yourself. You really do look ridiculous. Hahahahaha..."

Li Liangting laughed until he suddenly sucked in through his nose.

"You should've told us earlier. We could have entered the capital sooner."

"I... deserve... this..."

Li Liangting lifted the Emperor and placed him into the bathing tub.

Tian Wujing stepped forward and stood beside it.

"How?" Li Liangting asked.

The tub being here meant His Majesty had obviously prepared for this in advance.

"The pill toxins have entered his body. His Majesty likely wants me to force them out."

"Then what are you waiting for? Force them out."

Tian Wujing pointed at the Emperor sitting in the tub.

"His Majesty's body ran dry long ago. He has been surviving on medicinal pills ever since. It resembles the Gu-raising methods of the tribes in southwest Qian, except His Majesty has been raising himself. He has been using poison to prolong his life. Forcing out the pill toxins is not difficult. But if His Majesty keeps taking the pills, his body will deteriorate day after day until eventually he loses consciousness entirely."

"And if you force the toxins out now?"

Tian Wujing looked carefully at the Emperor again.

Then answered:

"Once the pill toxins are expelled, it will immediately begin his final rally before death. Ten days of clear consciousness. Ten days of life."

Forcing out the pill toxins... would be the same as passing a death sentence.

No medicine could reverse it.

No immortal could save him.

"This..."

Li Liangting opened his mouth.

This Prince Zhenbei, who had spent a lifetime facing desert winds and had been called a baleful star by the Barbarians... was genuinely at a loss.

At that moment... the Emperor sitting in the bathing tub opened his eyes again.

He looked toward Tian Wujing and Li Liangting.

"Force... them... out..."

"Big Brother!"

The Emperor had never taken these pills because he sought immortality.

In fact... he had never believed in such things.

From the very first day he began taking them... he had known this day would come.

"Receive... the decree..."

The Emperor persisted.

Li Liangting lifted his head.

His eyes were already red.

Tian Wujing stepped back three paces.

Then knelt.

"This minister receives the decree."

Afterward...

Tian Wujing rose.

He placed both hands before himself.

White vapor began rising from his palms.

His blood and qi surged.

Suddenly... the Pixiu totem on the wall of the Imperial Study trembled.

And from somewhere unseen... from beneath the Great Yan imperial palace... a low growl seemed to sound.

"Continue..."

Tian Wujing ignored everything else.

He lowered both hands beneath the surface of the bathwater.

No one had ever properly measured just how vast the blood and qi of a peak Third Grade Martial Artist could be.

But forcing medicinal toxins from one person's body... was truly not difficult.

The water in the tub began heating rapidly.

Pain gradually appeared on the Emperor's face.

Then... layer after layer of faint black began seeping into what had been clear water.

Li Liangting stood beside the tub with his arms folded.

Tian Wujing continued channeling his blood and qi into the water.

The black grew thicker.

Darker.

Then... within the black... a silver sheen began to appear.

There was no foul smell.

Yet the color alone was enough to make any ordinary person instinctively nauseated.

At the same time... the dark-brown blotches across the Emperor's body began fading.

In some places... only tiny black dots remained.

Roughly half an hour later... the bathwater had been completely overtaken by silver and black.

The Emperor sitting within it... slowly raised his head.

His complexion had become flushed with healthy color.

This was... the beginning of the final rally.

And once it began... the ending was fixed.

"We have not felt this comfortable in a very long time."

The Emperor spoke.

There was even a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

He lifted both arms and rested them on the rim of the tub.

Then looked down at the black-and-silver water and shook his head.

"Across history, how many rulers sought immortality and swallowed medicinal pills for it? Truly a pack of fools. To think they were eating things like this."

It seemed the Emperor's spirit truly had recovered.

He even had leisure to despise those colleagues from history who had tried to cultivate immortality.

Tian Wujing withdrew his hands from the water.

Li Liangting braced one hand on the rim of the tub and carefully studied the Emperor.

"Big Brother, your color really does look better. If this could simply be you recovering instead of some damned final rally before death, how good would that be? Heh."

Grief did not always have to be expressed through sadness.

In truth... life and death were things all three of them might already have seen through long ago.

"Ten days. Enough."

The Emperor lifted his chin.

"Liangting. Scrub your elder brother's back."

"Forget it, Big Brother. Look at how filthy this water is. We may not be some delicate golden branch or jade leaf, but at least we're a Prince now. True, we ate rough food growing up, but outsiders still think we were born with a golden spoon in our mouth. Don't ask us to do something this disgusting."

Tian Wujing extended one finger.

A blue vortex of qi began spinning at the fingertip.

It sank into the bathing tub.

Then curved toward the plants in the heated room nearby.

In an instant... the black-and-silver substance floating through the bathwater was stripped away, transformed into a mist, and sprayed over the plants.

Those plants had been carefully cultivated in the heated room to remain green throughout all four seasons.

They withered almost instantly.

The water in the tub... visibly became clearer.

Li Liangting pointed angrily at Tian Wujing.

"You little Mirror! Looks like I really didn't beat you enough when we were children!"

Naturally... he could only talk about childhood.

Even if Li Liangting had never suffered his old injury and his blood and qi had not declined early... even if he had cultivated normally until today... he still would not believe himself capable of defeating Tian Wujing.

Harsh words were harsh words.

Li Liangting nevertheless reached for a towel from the nearby rack, walked behind the Emperor... and began scrubbing his back.

The Emperor closed his eyes.

As though enjoying it.

Once upon a time... two chicken legs had been enough to trick that foolish young heir of Marquis Zhenbei Residence into scrubbing his back for him.

Then... the Emperor suddenly spoke.

"Liangting."

"Mm?"

"You were very practiced when you took off Our dragon robe earlier."

"Hahahaha." Li Liangting laughed. "We had one at home. Grandfather secretly had a set made back in his day. My father had one made too."

"Heh... Hahahaha."

The Emperor laughed as well.

For a hundred years, Marquis Zhenbei Residence had guarded Great Yan's border and suppressed the Barbarians.

Never once had it rebelled.

But that did not mean the men inside never imagined it.

Privately... they too had worn dragon robes and indulged the fantasy.

Li Liangting said:

"Your Majesty, once the two of us leave the capital, those pups you've been poking until they're all worked up may be impossible to restrain. If one of them really leaps the wall, the scene may turn ugly."

A confident smile appeared on the Emperor's face.

He shook his head.

"You two may go campaign in the desert without worry. We promise... here in Yanjing... We will give Great Yan's future an answer. And give the two of you... an answer."

After saying that... the Emperor exhaled slowly.

"Liangting. Wujing. Bring the heads of that Barbarian father and son back for Us. Set them before Our image in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. When the time comes... We will stand there with all Our ancestors... and explain it properly. Let them know... that We... though their descendant, though their posterity... have achievements greater than every last one of them! In this life, We have never accepted defeat. In everything... We have always insisted on ranking first or second. Even inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple... even if those ancestors try to pull seniority before Us... they... can forget it!"

[End of Chapter 689]