chun jie di xiao long
Chapter 547
The Yan Emperor's expression remained gloomy as he looked at his kneeling sons below.
Perhaps, on ordinary days, his gaze was more focused on the Qian Kingdom, the Chu Kingdom, the Jin lands, and the desert, but when he turned his eyes upon his own sons,
He could see right through what they were thinking and what they were doing.
In fact,
He wasn't the sort of doddering old fool sitting on the dragon throne being led around by the nose like a puppet monarch; at least, he didn't think he was.
After a long while,
The Yan Emperor took his own left hand and grasped his right wrist, glancing at Wei Zhonghe by his side.
Wei Zhonghe immediately went out and brought back a basin of ice water, clearly prepared in advance.
The Yan Emperor didn't shy away;
He plunged his right hand into the ice basin, and only then did the spasms and numbness begin to subside.
"Cough... cough cough cough..."
After a fit of coughing,
The Yan Emperor spoke:
"Rise. Continue eating."
"This humble subject obeys."
"This humble subject obeys."
The princes all stood up, returned to their places, and resumed their meal.
Earlier, the Fourth Prince had knocked over his bowl of congee. The Yan Emperor pointed to the leftovers in front of him and looked at the Fourth Prince.
Wei Zhonghe carried the remaining food to the Fourth Prince.
"Thank you, Father Emperor."
The sound of chewing filled the imperial study once more.
The Yan Emperor leaned back in his chair, his right hand still in the ice basin, his gaze sweeping over his four sons below.
The eldest was in South Gazing City, but less than a month after he left, news came that the barbarian princess was pregnant.
The second's marriage to the commandery princess had fallen through, but two of his inner concubines were already with child.
The Crown Prince was the heir apparent, and in recent years, he had been tied to a marriage alliance with the Zhenbei Marquis household. It wasn't as if he had no women; in fact, no prince would ever lack for women if he so desired.
Most importantly, it was the duty of a prince to propagate the imperial line.
Because only one could be emperor and rule all under Heaven, the remaining princes were responsible for producing more descendants.
Even the emperor, siring many children for his own line, was a matter of great importance. If the emperor had no heir, the foundation of the country would be shaken, potentially leading to turmoil.
A compromise was to select a child from a collateral line to inherit, but after one's death, one shouldn't expect them to recognize you as their real father, even if you passed the throne to them.
In this era, the extinction of descendants was the most tragic and unacceptable thing.
The Second Prince's women had probably been drinking contraceptives all along, since it was best to reserve the legitimate son, preferably the eldest, for the commandery princess.
But now, the Second Prince obviously didn't care anymore.
The Fourth Prince already had a side consort in his residence, and she was close to giving birth.
The Fifth Prince remained single, reportedly spending his days with artisans in Gazing River.
The Sixth had already secured the next generation for the Ji family.
The Seventh was still young.
They were his sons, and he had two more sons outside.
They were the continuation of his bloodline, of the Ji family, of the Great Yan.
Before long, the third generation would gradually increase in number.
The Yan Emperor's gaze remained devoid of much emotion.
His right hand was finally removed from the ice basin, and Wei Zhonghe carefully dried it with a towel.
The princes had all finished eating one by one.
The Crown Prince sat upright and proper.
Ji Chengjue sat there, his head slightly lowered.
The Fourth Prince felt a little full.
The Seventh felt his throat scratchy from the coarse rice and longed for goat's milk.
"Cough cough... cough..."
The Yan Emperor coughed a few more times.
"Tea."
Wei Zhonghe hurriedly called out, "Serve tea."
Soon, an eunuch came with a cup of tea, which Wei Zhonghe took and placed before the Yan Emperor.
The Yan Emperor picked up the cup, removed the lid, and the rich, bitter aroma of ginseng filled the air.
The deterioration of the body rarely happened gradually; it was often a sudden slide.
Ji Runhao didn't like tonics. Since his ascension, many tributes from various regions that were said to nourish the body and prolong life had been reduced.
But now, if he didn't drink a cup of ginseng tea in the afternoon, it would be difficult to maintain his energy for the rest of the day.
He was the emperor,
He was the master of Great Yan,
The emperor,
Either collapsed suddenly, or mustered all his strength,
What the country feared most was an emperor who sat on the dragon throne but was muddle-headed; such an emperor could only become a scourge to the nation.
After drinking half a cup of ginseng tea, a bit of brilliance returned to Ji Runhao's eyes.
"I... am old."
These three words
Resounded like thunder, shaking the entire imperial study.
Even Eunuch Wei immediately knelt down.
This great Son of Heaven had already shown his talent when he was a prince, mastered the affairs of state when he was in the Eastern Palace, and worked tirelessly after ascending the throne, resulting in the current prosperity of Great Yan.
He could trust Li, the lord of the century-old vassal town, as if he were a brother.
He could treat the direct descendant of a first-rate aristocratic family of Great Yan as if he were a younger sibling.
He dared to open the gates of the palace and allow thousands of foreign cavalry to enter!
He dared to send a letter to the desert, deterring the barbarians from advancing a single warhorse eastward!
When the Hidden Scholar entered Yanjing to sever the dragon vein, he rebuked him as nothing more than a charlatan!
Hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry, making a desperate gamble, simultaneously launched wars against two countries, ultimately destroying Jin. Now, millions of soldiers and civilians were fighting the Chu people outside Zhennan Pass. Along the winding official roads, countless laborers were rushing to the battlefield he had designated to build his ambitious blueprint.
He had always been winning,
And he would remove anything that dared to stand in his way.
For hundreds of years, Great Yan had been jointly ruled by the Ji family and the aristocratic families, suffering from the bullying of the barbarians from without and the covetousness of neighboring countries from within.
Under his rule,
The aristocratic families had fallen into the dust,
The barbarian king had married his princess into Yanjing,
The Three Jins had been incorporated into Yan, the Qian Kingdom dared not turn north, and the Chu Kingdom was in grave danger.
He was the emperor, the emperor of the Yan Kingdom. He was the symbol of Great Yan!
Having poured his heart and soul into it, he had accomplished feats that three generations of monarchs had been unable to achieve.
But,
Now,
He personally admitted, personally said,
That he,
Was old.
The princes were shaken to their core.
The more ambitious and talented the emperor, the less likely he was to have any affection for his sons, because his energy had long been spent on the court and the battlefield.
The Son of Heaven was ruthless, and the imperial family was also ruthless.
The princes of this generation of Great Yan feared their father emperor to the bone.
Because they were familiar,
Because they were connected by blood,
Therefore,
They could more clearly perceive what a terrifying existence their father emperor was.
Except for the Seventh,
None of the other adult princes
Truly believed that they still had any so-called "father-son affection" with their father emperor.
The day the Jingnan Marquis was exterminated, the Yan Emperor allowed Empress Tian to return home to visit her family, allowing her to witness that night of rivers of blood flowing through the Tian residence and the death of all her relatives!
The day after praising the Sixth Prince for being most like himself, he secretly ordered the Jingnan Marquis to be charged with treason and to raze the Min family. Consort Min was given a white silk sash.
The Sixth Prince would never forget the day he bribed a few guards with silver to sneak into the Cold Palace to bring his mother consort food and supplies. When he pushed open the door, he saw the scene.
His mother consort's face
Was pale, so very pale,
Frighteningly pale,
His mother consort's eyes
Were wide open, her eyeballs seemed about to burst out.
Her tongue was sticking out,
As if she was smiling, yet also crying.
The Sixth Prince didn't run away in fright like other children.
He stood below,
For a long, long time,
Just watching, watching his mother consort, watching the concubine his father emperor loved the most, watching that woman whose cheerful personality was respected by the eunuchs and palace servants.
So,
In the many years that followed,
The Sixth Prince never missed his mother consort, because the image of his mother consort hanging herself had long been deeply imprinted in his mind.
Whenever he thought of his mother consort, it was that image;
There were no loving scenes, no warm scenes, only that final appearance.
So,
He didn't want to think about it.
The Crown Prince's body swayed slightly.
In fact, he always wore a sachet inside his chest, filled with dried petals.
His mother empress had actually been insane for several years before her death.
But even so, upon learning that he was about to get married, his mother empress personally made him a sachet during her brief periods of lucidity each day.
When handing him the sachet,
His mother empress's haggard face was full of guilt,
She said she had originally planned to personally embroider a robe for him to wear on his wedding day, but she couldn't do it.
Although she came from the esteemed Tian family, her embroidery skills had always been excellent.
Before her marriage, Tian Wujing often wore the clothes that his elder sister had made for him;
After their engagement, she had also personally made clothes and had Tian Wujing, who liked to follow His Majesty, then still the Crown Prince, around, send them to him.
She didn't compete, whether as the Crown Prince Consort or as the Empress.
When Consort Min entered the palace, the pomp was immense, the gold and silver flowers that rained down seemed to make all the servants in the palace kowtow to her.
But she wasn't annoyed or angry, she simply thought that with the support of the Min family's wealth, her husband would be more at ease in matters of state in the future.
Then,
She died.
She died on the night of the Sixth Prince's wedding.
That day, Yanjing City saw a grand occasion that was rare in ten years. The next morning, the palace's death knell rang.
She had once told him that she only wanted to see him get married, to see him take his wife's hand and walk to her, so that she could pass on some of her jewelry to his wife.
She had been waiting, waiting to see him get married; it must have been her obsession.
But she ultimately didn't wait;
And her death directly became the biggest obstacle to his marriage to the commandery princess.
The Crown Prince couldn't help but raise his head,
Glancing at his father emperor,
Then silently lowered his head again.
His mother empress died suddenly, yet her death seemed so natural.
But he, as her son, dared not investigate deeply, nor had the strength to investigate deeply.
This father emperor,
This high and mighty father emperor,
This inviolable, godlike father emperor,
He actually admitted,
That he... was old.
When a father,
Said that he was old,
His sons, felt no sadness, but instead, from the bottom of their hearts, they unanimously felt:
You,
Finally,
Are old!
You,
So,
Can also grow old!
Ji Chengjue opened his mouth, then closed it again. His eyes were a little red. To outsiders, it seemed that the Sixth Prince was saddened, but in reality, a monstrous hatred had already surged into his heart.
The tiger,
Was finally old,
So could he...
The Crown Prince bit his lip tightly. To others, it seemed he was unable to restrain himself, but in reality, he was controlling himself, controlling himself from laughing out loud.
As sons of the Yan Emperor, they had long learned how to hide their emotions, and even to blend truth and falsehood together in their expressions.
"Father Emperor is not old! Father Emperor is in the prime of his life! Father Emperor will live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"
The Seventh's voice rang out.
In this kind of occasion, in this kind of atmosphere, perhaps, only "children's words are without malice."
The Seventh rose and walked towards the Yan Emperor, saying as he walked:
"Father Emperor is the Son of Heaven of my Great Yan! Father Emperor will have boundless blessings and longevity, and will always be my Father Emperor! My Father Emperor will never grow old!"
Children of the imperial family learned to speak from a young age. Living in the palace, growing up in the palace, it was impossible not to know how to speak.
The Seventh's words were probably taught by his mother consort.
But, that didn't matter, because he had finally brought this oppressive scene to an end.
The Crown Prince sincerely said, "Father Emperor is not old at all. My Great Yan still needs Father Emperor to steer the ship, and cannot do without Father Emperor. Moreover, Father Emperor only seems to have minor ailments, nothing more than recent overwork in state affairs, forgetting to rest. Just recuperate for a few days, and you will be well again.
"This humble subject begs Father Emperor to protect your dragon body!"
The Sixth Prince and the Fourth Prince kowtowed together with the Crown Prince, saying:
"This humble subject begs Father Emperor to protect your dragon body."
The Seventh had walked halfway, preparing to hug his father emperor's leg, but suddenly saw his elder brothers kneeling down behind him, and immediately knelt down as well:
"Father Emperor, please protect your dragon body."
Ji Runhao's eyes swept over his sons.
A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Wei Zhonghe was kneeling by his side, and the corner of his eye caught the arc of the Yan Emperor's mouth.
He was the emperor's close servant, accompanying him day and night. Of course, he knew that the emperor's smile wasn't one of comfort at his sons' solace.
In fact,
That was indeed the case.
This scene of filial piety and paternal love seemed genuine to others.
But in the Yan Emperor's eyes, he knew that his sons below, except for the Seventh, all the other adults, said they hoped he would live ten thousand years, but in reality, they wished he would drop dead right now!
Good,
Good,
Good, ah,
These were the good sons Ji Runhao had raised.
This feeling of mutual understanding between father and sons, yet still having to put on a show, was like offering sacrifices at the ancestral temple during festivals... perfunctory.
"I... am indeed tired."
Ji Runhao coughed lightly,
And said:
"As a prince, as a member of the Ji imperial bloodline, it is only right to share the worries of the country.
"Crown Prince."
"This humble subject is here."
"From tomorrow onwards, I will go to the back garden to recuperate. You have been overseeing the country for some time now. Continue to do well. Wei Zhonghe..."
"This servant is here."
"You will accompany me and stay in the back garden."
Wei Zhonghe smiled and said, "Your Majesty, this servant must follow by your side to serve you. This servant cannot leave Your Majesty."
"Convey my decree, transfer Yang Mingguang to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicature; transfer Dou Yingde to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan; transfer Ma Hongkui to Garrison General of the Ximen Beijing Battalion; transfer..."
The Yan Emperor transferred eight officials at once.
These officials, without exception, were all people from the Crown Prince's faction, holding positions in the Crown Prince's Palace, the so-called... Crown Prince Party.
Although the newly appointed positions were not high, not reaching the sky in one step, they were all serving as deputies or even heads in the powerful government offices under the Six Ministries.
With the promotion of these eight people, the Crown Prince's power would expand instantly.
Because it represented a trend, a trend that meant... the transfer of imperial power!
Other emperors could not casually appoint so many officials in one breath, but the Yan Emperor could, because there were no longer any voices in the court daring to resist him. He was the true Son of Heaven.
"What's the name of that attendant by the Crown Prince's side?" the Yan Emperor asked.
"Replying to Your Majesty, his name is Li Yinglei," Wei Zhonghe replied.
"Let him temporarily take charge as Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will complete the handover later."
The Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial was known as the hidden prime minister of the inner palace, because he held the power to review and approve documents, which meant helping the emperor review the memorials submitted by the prime ministers and others.
The Great Yan did not have a cabinet, but the process of imperial decrees was actually in accordance with regulations. It had to be stamped with the seal of the prime ministers and also had to be reviewed and approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial before it could be considered a legally effective imperial edict.
Of course, Zhao Jiulang followed His Majesty in everything, and the Yan Emperor had the final say in the court, so most of the time, the Yan Emperor's decrees were the real imperial edicts. There was no need to go through this process, or rather, it was just a formality.
Li Yinglei was just a senior eunuch in the Crown Prince's Palace, and now he was temporarily taking charge as Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Crown Prince was already overseeing the country, meaning that the affairs of the court and the power of imperial decrees were all entrusted to the Crown Prince's hands.
Moreover...
The Directorate of Ceremonial of Great Yan was also linked to the Secret Intelligence Division!
The Yan Emperor's delegation of power this time could be said to be truly remarkable.
This was no longer just a political signal, it was no longer just a trend, it was almost plastering his intentions on the faces of those courtiers who were still hedging their bets!
He,
Was the Crown Prince,
Was the Great Yan,
The future emperor!
Of course, no one would naively think that the Yan Emperor was really going to the back garden to be an emperor emeritus. After all, the Yan Emperor had not abdicated, and the Crown Prince had not ascended the throne.
The sky of Great Yan was still in the Yan Emperor's palm.
The Yan Emperor's gaze slowly fell on Ji Chengjue.
"Chengjue."
"This humble subject is here."
"Assist your second brother well, manage the affairs of the country, and also, the supply and demand of the expeditionary army against Chu must not be neglected. This is a national war."
"This humble subject obeys."
Ji Chengjue kowtowed to receive the decree.
"Disperse."
"This humble subject takes his leave."
"This humble subject takes his leave."
...
Outside the palace gates.
Ji Chengjue was preparing to get into his carriage when, unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince also followed.
"Still riding?" Ji Chengjue asked.
"It's cooler in your carriage."
The two got into the carriage.
Eunuch Zhang drove the carriage forward.
Ji Chengjue said, "You can go to the Crown Prince to ask for assignments. He can directly issue the decree, and Zhao Jiulang won't block you. I don't need to trouble myself."
"No, you just accept it like this?"
"The Father Emperor's attitude is already very clear. Tomorrow, no, starting tonight, the trend of the court will change. My Sixth Master Party is also about to collapse."
Princes could compete with each other.
But alas,
The referee came down to pull for one side.
"I don't believe you just accept your fate like this, Sixth Brother. You're not that kind of person."
"I'm a father now."
"Ah, that's right..."
The Fourth Prince's voice lowered.
"Sixth Brother, do you think I should still ask for that assignment?"
"Why not?"
"I suddenly feel that living in the prince's residence is pretty good too."
"Okay, you stay there. After the Chu campaign, we'll have to fight the Qian Kingdom. Maybe another Qian Kingdom assassin will come."
"..." The Fourth Prince was speechless.
"Fourth Brother."
"Yeah."
"You and I are brothers. Although, well, I've always looked down on you. I even think that Fifth Brother sometimes lives more thoroughly than you."
"You..."
"But, if it doesn't come to that point, I won't engage in fratricide. You can rest assured about that."
"Then I'll go to Second Brother in a few days."
Ji Chengjue nodded, "I still have to finish my last leg as a sparring partner. No matter what, the overall situation of the Chu campaign must not be lost."
"Of course. After all, you and I share the Ji surname."
The carriage took a detour and first arrived at the prince's residence. The Fourth Prince got out of the carriage first.
Then, the carriage continued to move forward.
Ji Sixth's gaze,
Turned gloomy,
And began to mutter to himself:
"Do you think you can still live long enough? Or do you think the Chu campaign can end fast enough? So, you think you still have enough time?"
"You're old. When you start admitting that you're old, when you tell others that you're old, you're no longer the you that you used to be."
"Are you afraid? Are you angry? I know you're afraid, and I know your anger."
"I've finally waited for the day you're old, finally... waited."
Ji Chengjue lowered his head,
Bit the back of his hand, creating a clear tooth mark,
Then,
He smiled:
"I'm a person who's a father now."
---
We're tenth in monthly tickets!
"The Descent of Magic" has been published for a full year, and it's the first time it's been in the top ten for monthly tickets. Actually, when I first started writing this book, I really just wanted to make myself happy, and I was prepared for the book's performance to be average.
I can only say that after all, this Qidian still has many people who know their stuff, haha, hold on tight!
chun jie di xiao long
Chapter 1 The Back Garden