Chapter 707: The Emperor Falls!

Inside the room, the air suddenly congealed.

After the Emperor of Yan finished speaking, he kept looking at Ji Chengjue.

Many times, when an Emperor grew angry, it was because he wanted those beneath him to understand that anger and better align themselves with his will.

But now... there was nothing but calm in the Emperor of Yan's tone and expression.

And precisely that calm placed a terrifying pressure upon the two men in the room, one kneeling, one standing.

The Crown Prince was already thanking Heaven that he had knelt so early.

He even regretted something.

Not coming to the Lu Residence.

Entering this room.

He was not worrying about what consequences might fall upon him afterward, or whether he would remain safe.

In truth, by now the Crown Prince had already stopped caring about his own future.

Because compared with the nightmare Imperial Father wanted to leave Sixth Brother... the scene unfolding before him was already enough to become the lifelong nightmare of Crown Prince Ji Chenglang.

Before this... he had always carried a vague illusion.

As though he drifted somewhere outside Imperial Father and Sixth Brother.

As though he were an outsider.

Now he understood.

It had never been an illusion.

They all bore the surname Ji.

They were father and sons.

Brothers.

That part was true.

But he, Ji Chenglang... really was an outsider.

He did not dare face Imperial Father as he was now.

He did not even dare imagine what kind of horrifying situation it would be if Sixth Brother were kneeling here instead... and he himself were the one standing there.

He truly... did not even dare think about it.

Imperial Father had already been terrifying enough in his heart.

The Imperial Father before him now seemed even more like a black vortex capable of swallowing everything, twisting and crushing all things into powder.

And Sixth Brother... earlier, before Imperial Father, had shouted that he had come to see him off.

Had called him "Ji Runhao" directly to his face.

In the Crown Prince's eyes, that had already been courage beyond anything he himself could manage.

Yet now... for Sixth Brother to still be standing there... that was what truly made the Crown Prince feel he could never catch up.

They... were the real father and son.

They... were the real family.

And he... seemed to be no more than a target.

An accessory added to the board.

The depression was gone.

The resentment was gone.

Even the jealousy was gone.

The Crown Prince now felt that his present position was actually very good.

This Dragon Throne of Great Yan.

This imperial seat of the Ji family.

He... could not afford to sit upon it.

Ji Chengjue blinked hard.

He reached out and gripped the back of the chair, as though only this could support his body.

He had imagined today's scene countless times.

Even the night before last... even last night... he had imagined many different versions of what might happen here.

But he truly had never expected... that Imperial Father would make such a demand.

No.

Such an imperial command.

Imperial Father had said... he had only this one condition.

And right now... he was still the Son of Heaven.

There was no need for threats.

Father and son knew one another too well.

If Ji Chengjue refused... then this so-called forced abdication... this so-called military mutiny... would instantly become a joke.

Yes, outside the Lu Residence stood the Eastern Palace Guard now under Ji Chengjue's control.

Under Wu Liang's command, they were fully capable of fighting their way inside.

Lu Bing's men would stand on his side as well.

But what about the troops inside the capital?

What about the hundred officials of the court?

If Imperial Father had willingly walked into the Lu Residence himself... then everything outside must already have been arranged to perfection.

There would be no opening.

So had Ji Chengjue ambushed him?

Or had Imperial Father... ambushed Ji Chengjue?

You want to become Emperor?

Fine.

Make Us acknowledge you.

And there is only one way for Us to acknowledge you.

Right here.

Before Our eyes.

Kill Us yourself.

Ji Chengjue had bitten through his own lip.

His tongue already tasted blood.

"Heh... heh-heh... hahahahaha..."

Ji Chengjue bent at the waist, both hands braced on his knees, and began laughing.

When other people remembered their parents... those memories were usually warm.

And his?

Every time he remembered his mother... what appeared in his mind was the image of her after hanging herself.

And from now on... whenever he remembered his father... what would appear was the image of killing him with his own hands.

Humans were not beasts because they possessed filial piety and brotherly duty.

Why?

Why must it be this way?

Why did Imperial Father have to force him to do this?

Ji Chengjue raised his head.

Once again, he looked at his father.

His father's expression remained calm as ever.

He was waiting.

Waiting for his son... to act.

No one else could do it for him.

No object could do it in his place.

He could not even imprison his father and simply wait for the illness to take him naturally.

Ji Old Sixth did not scream.

Did not curse endlessly.

Did not keep asking:

Why?

Why should I?

Meaningless emotional venting.

Useless words.

There was no point in shouting them aloud.

Ji Old Sixth reached down and groped along the floor.

He found the snuff bottle he had smashed earlier.

But when he picked it up... he discovered a large piece had broken away.

He tossed it aside again.

Then... straightened his back.

"Father. You've spent your whole life being stubborn and self-willed. Before you go... can't you act even a little like a father?"

His tone had clearly softened.

The Crown Prince kneeling nearby did not think Sixth Brother had shown weakness.

Nor would he mock him.

Facing Imperial Father at this moment... for Sixth Brother not to collapse... for him to remain clear-minded... was already extraordinary.

The Emperor of Yan spoke:

"We place an intact realm before you. We have fought your foreign enemies once for you. We have leveled the court for you. As for the hearts of the people, We have taken every crime and every responsibility onto Ourselves through the Edict of Self-Reproach. As your father, We ask for no fame. We ask for no profit. We hand over to you, whole and complete, everything watered by Our life's blood. We believe... We are... a loving father."

"Heh-heh-heh... hahahahahaha..."

At first, Ji Chengjue laughed silently.

Then loudly.

Then he pointed at the Emperor and laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

"Second Brother, did you hear that? Did you hear what our father just said? He says he's a loving father! A loving father! Hahahaha! I'm going to die laughing. I truly am. I've been his son for almost thirty years, and this is the first time I ever learned our father knows how to tell jokes. Hahahaha!"

The Crown Prince kneeling nearby forced out two syllables with extreme difficulty.

"Heh... heh..."

Those two syllables nearly exhausted most of his remaining courage and strength.

Ji Chengjue pointed at his own face.

He stepped several paces toward the Emperor.

"Father. Since you're a loving father, then look carefully at this face. Your son's face. Does it look like the face of a filial son?"

"To shoulder the state and be worthy of the ancestors is true filial piety."

"Oh?"

Ji Chengjue spread both hands.

"Second Brother, hear that? I lived this long before discovering that our Ji family, our whole damned household, is apparently a model for the entire world. Loving father. Filial sons!"

The Emperor of Yan reminded him:

"The sun is almost down. Since you came, stop hesitating. We do not wish to wait either."

"Father."

Ji Chengjue gritted his teeth.

Then continued:

"Truly. As an Emperor, I could search every history book and probably fail to find more than a handful who did better than you. But I'm your son! I'm not some bastard sitting there flipping through a history book and reading your biography! I'm not studying your reign dates! I'm not reading about your great achievements while sipping peach-blossom wine and judging your merits and faults! I live right in front of you. I live under your eyes. I can see you, and you can see me. Have you ever once thought... I am your son. And they... were your wives! My mother chose you. I know that. When I was little, Mother held me and told me Grandfather asked her to choose the finest imperial prince. She looked around and chose the best-looking one. The most handsome one. She chose you. Chose you, Ji Runhao, to be her man! In her entire life... did my mother wrong you in even the smallest way? Did she?!"

Ji Chengjue roared at the Emperor of Yan.

"Ji Runhao! Tell Young Master right now! What did my mother ever do wrong?!"

The Emperor of Yan shook his head.

"Your mother... did nothing wrong."

"Then she deserved it, is that it? She deserved it because she was blind enough to choose a heartless thing like you? A bastard without the smallest shred of humanity? And now... you want your own son to walk the same road as you, don't you? You were a good Emperor. But what kind of man were you? You failed the women who loved you! You made every one of your sons suffer with you, living from day to day never knowing when you might throw us out as some excuse to start another war! Third Brother... you could have simply killed him! Give him a cup of poisoned wine at the Pavilion in the Middle of the Lake and let him be free! He was already broken. He stayed in that pavilion for three years! Three whole years! He finally recovered a little. He finally wanted to live properly again! Do you know what Third Brother said when all of us brothers drank together that night? He said he wanted to beg you. Beg you to send him outside the capital. He wanted to travel throughout Great Yan. Travel through the lands of Jin. Write poetry and prose for Great Yan's mountains and rivers! And then? What did you do to him? Solitary tyrant. Solitary tyrant. You truly savored becoming one. Don't you still think you're so damned magnificent? So lofty? An Emperor for the ages! But did you ever once open your eyes and look? At us! At us! AT US! We are flesh-and-blood people! People!"

The Emperor of Yan's gaze remained calm.

He reminded him:

"You have about ten minutes left. After that, this position will no longer be yours."

Ji Chengjue nodded.

"Fine. Young Master will grant your wish. Let you die with some force behind it. Let you die in a way you find meaningful. Heh-heh-heh. You... go... die!"

Ji Chengjue thrust out both hands.

And clamped them around the Emperor of Yan's throat.

The Emperor did not resist.

He had no strength left to resist in any case.

But even with his throat being strangled... he did not make even the instinctive motion to block Ji Chengjue's hands.

He simply continued sitting there quietly.

Letting his own son grip his neck with all his strength.

He could no longer breathe.

Yet he did not find it particularly painful.

He had long since grown accustomed to episodes when he could not draw breath.

Before, he had always needed to force himself to endure.

This time... he did not need to endure at all.

Did not need to brace himself.

And because of that... he instead felt something like release.

In the corner... the Crown Prince raised his head and watched what was happening before him.

His younger brother... was strangling their Imperial Father.

Ji Chengjue gripped harder.

Unfortunately... he was no Martial Artist.

He could not simply twist a man's neck apart.

But no matter how weak his body might be, he was still an adult man.

Strangling someone to death... that much he could do.

And beneath his hands... the Emperor of Yan... was actually smiling.

He... was still smiling!

"Hahaha... heh-heh-heh..."

Ji Chengjue began laughing too.

Tears poured down his face.

Snot ran from his nose.

Father and son... looked at one another from this tiny distance... laughing.

The Emperor's vision slowly began to blur.

The son before him... gradually disappeared.

"Husband."

"My lord husband."

Two crisp voices sounded beside his ears.

He saw Empress Tian standing by the window.

Embroidery in her hands.

One hand covering her mouth as she laughed with shy delight.

He saw Consort Min beneath the ginkgo tree, tossing a jade pendant straight toward him.

"I've chosen you. You're not allowed to run. My family has plenty of silver to buy chicken legs. You don't have to fight that fellow for them anymore."

We... have come.

We... have returned.

At that moment, the Emperor of Yan felt his entire body and mind become light.

As though the burden upon his shoulders... could finally be put down.

He was still the person he had once been.

Dressed in white, just as today.

Holding a paper fan.

In the freezing winter of Yan, he had once secretly opened that fan and waved it just for the look of it.

He would sneak over to see his fiancée before the wedding.

He would scrape one finger lightly across the Min family's young lady's nose and laugh that her abacus work was far better than her needlework.

He would lie beneath a great tree... basking in sunlight while a group of children laughed and played around him.

When he fell ill... the people standing beside the bed would all be family who genuinely cared whether he lived or died.

Scene after scene flashed through the Emperor's fading vision.

He was the Emperor.

But an Emperor... was still a human being.

He had not been born without human feeling.

Had not emerged from the womb already made of ice.

He knew what heat felt like.

What warmth felt like.

He understood the beauty of the mortal world.

In this life... he had done far too many things.

And at the same time... there were even more things... he had never gotten the chance to do.

Wujing.

Liangting.

This... is the answer We give the two of you.

We made Our own son stain his hands with Our blood.

We selected a new Emperor upon whom Great Yan can rely!

This is the Great Yan the three of us forged together.

It... will continue to be protected.

Great Yan's new Emperor... will inherit our determination and our will.

And plant the Black Dragon Banner... in every corner of all the Xia lands!

Now...

We can finally die.

Finally... be released.

Living... has truly been so tiring.

So very tiring.

...

"AHHHHHHH!"

Under the faint smile still hanging from the Emperor of Yan's lips, Ji Chengjue abruptly released his hands.

He stumbled backward.

One step.

Another.

Then fell onto the floor.

He felt Imperial Father had gone mad.

He felt he himself had gone mad too.

He turned his head toward the Crown Prince kneeling in the corner.

The Crown Prince was weeping openly now.

His soul seemed to have left his body.

Mad.

Mad.

Every last one of them was fucking mad!

Ji Chengjue wanted to escape.

He wanted to flee this place.

His mind was filled only with the image of himself strangling his Imperial Father's neck while that man smiled at him.

I'm killing you!

I'm committing regicide!

I'm killing my own father!

What are you smiling for?

Are you smiling because you're finally free?

Why?

Why are you the one who gets to dust off your hands and walk free?

Why?!

Ji Chengjue crawled toward the outside.

He desperately wanted to escape this suffocating prison.

He wanted to reach the open air.

Even if all he could do was take one breath of fresh air.

But then... the Emperor of Yan, already at the edge of death, slowly opened his eyes.

"Chengjue..."

Damn it.

Damn it.

He's rushing me again.

He's about to tell me there isn't much time.

He's forcing me.

From childhood until now.

From Nan'an County all the way to the imperial palace.

From the past... to this very moment.

He has always been forcing me.

Forcing me to run.

Forcing me not to laugh.

Forcing me not to cry.

And now... still forcing me to kill him!

You keep forcing me.

Why?

Why?

Why?!

Why do you have to keep forcing me?!

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Ji Chengjue lay sprawled on the floor, eyes bloodshot.

He reached into his boot.

And pulled out a dagger.

He had learned this from that bastard surnamed Zheng.

Even with the Sword Saint protecting him...

Zheng Fan still kept a poisoned dagger hidden inside his boot.

Buzz!

The dagger came free.

Ji Chengjue surged to his feet.

Roaring... he charged toward his father.

Thrust!

The dagger... drove viciously into the Emperor's chest.

Splatter!

Blood sprayed across Ji Chengjue's face.

Blood so dark it was nearly black.

Thick.

Warm.

Ji Chengjue froze.

He looked at his own hand.

At the dagger gripped in it.

At the blade buried in his father's chest.

His hand shook.

His body shook.

His heart... shook so violently he could barely breathe.

He raised his head in a daze.

Once again... he looked at his father's face.

Imperial Father... had his eyes open.

He was looking at him.

And the faint smile... still hung at the corner of his mouth.

"Chengjue... don't... exhaust yourself... too much..."

...

"ROAR!"

Inside the imperial hall, the pill furnace suddenly erupted with a violent boom.

Then... from the deepest place beneath the earth... came the mournful howl of a Pixiu.

Afterward... everything dissolved into silence.

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes rose.

He walked out of the hall.

Then climbed onto a high platform outside.

There... stood an enormous bell.

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes grasped the striker.

Suddenly... he looked around in confusion.

Then toward the horizon.

The final edge of the setting sun slowly vanished.

Night had fallen.

"It is dark."

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes pulled the striker back.

Then slammed it heavily against the bell.

...

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

The sound of the Departure Bell rang from within the imperial palace.

Its voice carried across Yanjing.

It meant that someone of supreme status within Great Yan... had departed this life.

The last time the Departure Bell rang... had been when the Empress died.

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

Beneath the ringing of the bell... every eunuch and palace maid inside the imperial palace stopped walking.

Stopped whatever work lay in their hands.

The hundred officials stopped over their documents.

Across the whole of Yanjing... street peddlers.

Laborers.

Yamen runners.

Government constables.

Teahouses.

Wine shops.

From the powerful and noble... down to commoners and ordinary black-haired people... almost everyone stopped.

They prayed.

They panicked.

They feared.

They murmured again and again beneath their breath:

No.

Impossible.

No.

Impossible.

The noisy capital of Great Yan fell silent.

Even the autumn wind above it seemed to stop.

Dong!

Dong!

The seventh ring.

The eighth.

And then... the Departure Bell sounded a ninth time.

Dong!

Nine rings of the Departure Bell.

The Son of Heaven had died.

The dragon carriage had returned to Heaven.

In an instant... cries of grief shook Yanjing!

...

Autumn, Fourth Year of Yongping, Great Yan.

The Emperor fell.

[End of Chapter 707]