Chapter 416: Successor of the Heaven Dou Empire

With the tacit cooperation between Qian Renxue and Nan Feihuang, Xue Beng died very peacefully.

Ever since Feihuang arrived, he had either lived under the burden of being framed by Feihuang or been beaten by Qian Renxue to vent her anger; at this moment, he could finally be considered liberated.

When the soldiers of the Royal Knights carried Xue Beng's corpse before Great Emperor Xue Ye, Xue Ye wept until his old face was streaked with tears.

An old man burying the young—Xue Ye had done this three times in his life; no, it should be four. Although he hadn't buried the real Xue Qinghe, that person had indeed died, only he hadn't known it before.

What made him even more sorrowful was that he had no heirs left; all his sons were dead, wiped clean.

Then what was to become of the Heaven Dou Empire? It couldn't possibly be left without a successor.

"Father Emperor, you must restrain your grief. Fourth Brother has already departed; he would surely wish for you to be safe and sound. You are a Spirit Master, your health is still good. As long as you recover from the poison and give me another younger brother, it will surely be no problem," Xue Ke tried her best to comfort him.

If it were ordinary times, she would indeed be correct; a Spirit Master's physical functions are far superior to those of an ordinary person, and even in old age, it does not affect the ability to have children.

Looking at this cute and filial daughter, Xue Ye finally felt a little comfort in his heart. At least he had not become a lonely man; only in the last few days of his life did he realize who was the most filial.

He could feel that Xue Ke's concern for him came from the heart, rather than a desire to obtain something from him.

Such clear eyes could not be faked.

The facts were indeed so; Nan Feihuang had never told Xue Ke any of his plans, or rather, Xue Ke was already within Nan Feihuang's plan.

Feihuang intended to rely on her inherent kindness and filial piety to move Xue Ye, this dying old man.

After all, when a person is about to die, their words are good. For an old man on the verge of death, he would particularly cherish hard-won emotions—love, friendship, or family affection, all would do.

In his life, Xue Ye had actually never loved any woman. Even his primary wife was merely a marriage alliance with a great noble for the sake of seizing the throne, so love was never his pursuit.

But friendship and family affection, he had both.

Family affection was this well-behaved, precious daughter before him, and as for friendship, he had two close friends. One was Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect; the two had been friends since their youth. Perhaps their association carried a bit of utilitarianism—one hoping to rely on the Heaven Dou Empire to develop the sect, the other relying on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two Douluo—but in the end, their relationship was still quite good.

The other was the official he trusted most; he thought he must be arriving soon.

"Your Majesty!"

A tall figure walked quickly into the bedchamber; it was none other than the Great Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Heaven Dou Empire, Ge Long.

"Ge Long, you have finally come. Seeing you, I am at ease." Xue Ye smiled at Ge Long; even the sense of security Feihuang gave him was not as good as Ge Long's.

The reason Qian Renxue had never been able to truly control the Heaven Dou Empire before was because the million-strong army, which represented the true power of the empire, was entirely in Ge Long's hands.

From this, one could see Xue Ye's trust in Ge Long.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Wanfu has already told me the whole sequence of events. This subordinate is late to save the Emperor; my crime is worthy of death!" Ge Long immediately knelt before Xue Ye.

At this moment, Xue Ye's actions were the exact opposite of his recent scolding of the Zhang Brothers. Ignoring the fatigue of his body, he took the initiative to walk over and help Ge Long up. "Beloved official, do not mind it. This is not your fault. Besides, you were sent out by me to manage the army; how could the events occurring within the Imperial Palace be blamed on you?"

This fellow's double standards were somewhat obvious, and it was no wonder Ge Long became his loyal follower; this display of showing respect to the virtuous was indeed very effective at winning hearts.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Ge Long stood up and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, how is your body now? What did Ye Nichang say?"

Xue Ye shook his head. The people remaining in the room now were only himself, Ge Long, and the couple Nan Feihuang and Xue Ke; they were all considered his own people, so there was nothing left to hide.

"My body has been completely corroded by the deadly poison of the Spirit Hall's Citun Douluo. At this point, even if the Poison Douluo came to save me, I fear it is already too late. Although Feihuang's medicine has temporarily suppressed the toxins, when I just learned the news of Qing He and Beng'er's deaths, I could not help but feel my blood and Qi surge and my heart burn with anxiety. According to Ye Nichang's diagnosis, I fear I will not live for more than a few days."

"Impossible! Father Emperor, you are lying to me, right? How could your poison be so severe?" Xue Ke said in disbelief. She knew her father's health was poor, but she didn't know it had reached the point of being near death.

Big Brother—no, it should be Qian Renxue—could she really be so cruel? She had called Xue Ye 'Father Emperor' for so many years, yet she had struck without any mercy.

Xue Ye gently stroked Xue Ke's hair and said, "Ke'er, Father Emperor does not want to die either, but the facts are irreversible. Now, the only thing Father Emperor cannot let go of is the Heaven Dou Empire. You are my only remaining bloodline. Father Emperor wishes to hand the empire over to you; are you willing to agree?"

"What? Me!" Xue Ke was startled and immediately knelt before Xue Ye. "Father Emperor, I cannot. Ke'er cannot do it. Ke'er has never learned any methods of governing a country since childhood; how could I have the ability to take over such a vast empire?"

In truth, Xue Ye also felt some regret at this moment. Back then, he had only treated Xue Ke as a tool for marriage, teaching her music, dance, and etiquette, solely to increase her bargaining chips for marriage.

This resulted in her having a simple nature, no schemes, and an utter lack of understanding of politics. If it were in the past, he would never have made such a decision, but now, he simply had no choice.

Ge Long, however, had no objections, or rather, he had guessed it long ago. After all, Great Emperor Xue Ye's sons were all dead, and his younger brother Xue Xing was also dead. The entire Heaven Dou Imperial Family had only Xue Ke left as a bloodline; if it wasn't given to her, who else could it be given to? It couldn't be abdicated to an outsider.

"Princess, this is not a question of whether you can or cannot, but a matter of your responsibility. You are the only remaining bloodline of the Heaven Dou Empire. Whether you want to or not, you must shoulder the future of this empire," Ge Long said.

"Ge Long is right," Xue Ye said solemnly. "Ke'er, I know you don't know those things, but it is not too late to start learning now. I will send Ge Long to assist you. Besides, don't you still have your husband?"

Mentioning Feihuang, Xue Ke's eyes lit up. "That's right, I still have Brother Feihuang. Father Emperor, Ke'er has already married far away into the Gu Lei Kingdom; how can I succeed the Heaven Dou Empire?"

Generally speaking, women who marry out rarely return home; she was simply not suitable.

"This is the reason I had Feihuang listen in as well." Xue Ye looked at Feihuang. "Feihuang, I have two requests; I hope you will agree."

"Your Majesty, please speak," Feihuang said.

Xue Ye said, "After Ke'er ascends the throne, I will arrange for Ge Long to be her Assistant Minister. As for you, would you be willing to add the title of Prince Regent of our country, in addition to being the Crown Prince of Gu Lei?"

Nan Feihuang nodded. "Does Your Majesty want me to help Ke'er manage the government? Ke'er is my wife; this is, of course, no problem."

"Good. Then the second request: I hope that among the children you and Ke'er have in the future, one of the boys can take his mother's surname, Xue, and become the next successor of my Heaven Dou Empire, to be personally taught by Marshal Ge Long. In this way, Ke'er only needs to serve as Empress for eighteen years. After that, I allow her to lay down all responsibilities and follow you to the ends of the earth. I will also be in the heavens, wishing you happiness and health."

No matter the time, what was most important in Xue Ye's heart was always the Heaven Dou Empire. However, this was indeed what a qualified monarch should think.

(End of chapter)