Chapter 559

Passing through the Vermilion Ritual Gate, the Prince walked on foot along the long Spirit Way. This is the Qin Mausoleum of the Li Mountain Imperial Mausoleum, the final resting place of Emperor Ningde.

In the hurry, the Prince also did not wear the Great Jin's ceremonial robes, but wore the regular attire of a prince.

He walked slowly, and his mood didn't improve upon arriving here. Next to the Qin Mausoleum is Gaozu's Shun Mausoleum; the ancestors expanded territory and once created the prosperous age of the Celestial Empire, and Gaozu once turned back the tide to keep the realm peaceful within—who would have thought that in just over twenty years since his father's reign, decline would fully show? The forebears of Li Mountain seeing today's Great Jin would surely be angry.

The Prince thought of this, nodded to himself, and this prince is very angry!

Finally arrived at Emperor Ningde's ancestral hall, the Great King took a deep breath, lifted his robe, and knelt neatly on the kneeling mat.

Looking at Emperor Ningde's spirit tablet, he silently muttered, "Father, your son has come to see you! It's not that the son came late; it's that when you passed, your good son Baili Jin didn't dare let me go to the capital to see you off—blame him if you must!"

The son has already sent Lan He's corpse over; I'm sure you're at peace now. You've seen the situation in Great Jin, haven't you? Down there, if you have nothing else to do, give Baili Jin a couple more beatings. Of course, also reflect on yourself—you're not without fault.

Thinking this, the Great King suddenly stopped. "Never mind, today I'm here to pay respects to the old man, not specially to anger him."

He changed the subject.

Father, after all the twists and turns, Long Peace has ended up in my hands. Your name was truly well-chosen, though it didn't suppress things; the son still seized Long Peace through force of arms. But rest assured, I will guard Long Peace and not let it change hands again. As for the Seventh Brother who is still alive, I will take good care of him; as long as he obeys, I will guarantee him wealth and honor for life—rest easy. The Second and Fourth Brothers are the same; I will also spare their lives… as long as there's still time. Even the fragmented Great Jin will be unified; you may rest in peace.

After finishing his silent recitation, he bowed and knocked his head to the ground; in midsummer, his forehead touching the earth, a chill came from the golden bricks, cooling his heart. This guy, without any guilt, clicked his tongue, "Nice stuff!" When he rose, he also silently criticized his father for being extravagant.

The Great King rose himself; behind him, the civil officials of Long Peace were still kneeling, the ritual official was about to call them to rise, but the Great King raised his hand to stop him.

He shouted, "Father, the royal uncle stormed into Long Peace City, the eldest imperial brother is gone, and these officials who eat the court's salaries didn't even protect the young Sixth Brother!" The filial son began to lodge a complaint.

Long Peace civil officials: ……

"Let them kneel here a while longer to apologize to Father," the son said.

The Great King patted his sleeves and left.

The civil officials knelt in the hard, cold ancestral hall, not knowing when it would end. Some had the idle thought, "Why isn't this good fortune brought by strong, sturdy military officers?" These people didn't guard Long Peace—shouldn't they be kneeling here instead?

They had no idea the Great King didn't even slightly value Long Peace's military officers; they planned to not want a single one, and couldn't be bothered to deal with them.

As for commanders, just use those from the Northern Border; the Great King has the strongest army and values loyalty more in commanders. The gap in professional ability is also large—these Great Jin folks, not to mention being comparable to Dong Fu and Chang Li, might even be inferior to the mid-level officers in the Northern Border army who have studied various advanced military knowledge; as for old generals, the Great King only looks up to the likes of the Marquis of Dongdu and the Marquis of Weiting.

The Great King left the ancestral hall and went up the hill behind, to the place where Lady Wei's coffin rests.

His mother, Lady Wei, passed away early; at that time the Reverent Mausoleum was still unfinished, so they simply placed her coffin somewhere within its grounds. By rights, as a lady, when Emperor Ningde passed and the underground palace was opened, she should have been moved inside, or at least placed in a side hall. But the successor emperor was Baili Jin, who regarded the King of the Northern Border as a thorn in his eye and deliberately overlooked this.

The Great King didn't care either—who would want it?

This time only Wei Shen and Xiao Jin followed behind the Great King; Wei Shen took a close look and saw fresh signs of recent tidying up nearby, his expression instantly darkening. It was obvious that, having heard of the change of rulership in Long Peace, the mausoleum guards had hastily tidied things up overnight—who knows what they usually neglect to let fall into ruin. Compared to the Great King, who had never seen his mother, he had a deeper impression of his aunt.

"Bullying people too much!"

The Great King wasn't angry at all, "Not putting her in the underground palace is fine—after all these years, it doesn't matter this moment. Later we'll bring Mother back to the Secluded Prefecture, and together with me and my older sister, Mother will surely be happier."

Wei Shen thought it made sense, so he couldn't be bothered to stay angry.

The Great King lit incense, then knelt and kowtowed to his mother; facing the mother he had never met, he could only speak of his sister and the Wei clan. This guy droned on about trivial matters for a while, then rose and stood before the coffin for a moment.

Mother, this myriad miles of rivers and mountains, the people of the world—I don't know if I can bear the burden, but I will do my best.

Having said that, the Great King resolutely turned; the rivers and mountains and the family name are inherited from our ancestors, and from now on he must bear them alone.

This guy only notified the mausoleum guards after getting into the carriage—let those kneeling in Emperor Ningde's ancestral hall wait until sunset to be called up.

Speaking of the Secluded Prefecture, Xie Yuan hadn't even left his door early in the morning when he received a handwritten letter personally delivered by Zhu Ti from the Great King. He read it over and over twice, unable to deny that this was indeed the Great King's work.

【Mr. ~save save!!! hurry bring the Minister of Justice to Long Peace~

——Jing.】

As the Mr. who had taught the Great King to read for several years, Xie Yuan found it somewhat hard to accept.

Xie Yuan: "……Just this one sheet?"

Zhu Ti nodded.

Xie Yuan: "……Certain the Great King is safe and has smoothly taken Long Peace?"

Zhu Ti nodded again.

Xie Yuan immediately hid the 'Great King's handwritten letter' in his own study, with no intention of letting it see the light of day again.

Xie Yuan replied politely to the Chief Steward: "I'll start arranging my affairs today and set out for Long Peace tomorrow; I'll notify the Minister of Justice's office."

Lord Dong will arrange personnel to escort the two dignitaries; Zhu Ti will take his leave now.

When Xie Yuan relayed this to Lu Tong, Lu Tong heard it and was delighted.

The Great King really does have some skill in warfare—Long Peace actually came into his hands so quickly. "Not bad, what about the Prince's handwritten letter?" He thought, having written it for the two of them, he also wanted to see the exact situation.

"Ahem! The Prince is very busy; only a couple short lines, left at his residence."

Lu Tong also had no doubt, only the Great King's Mr. was somewhat overwhelmed; going to the former court, he saw another Mr., heaved a heavy sigh, opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, leaving the Grand Tutor Xu sighing inexplicably.

Xie Yuan thought, and didn't blame Grand Tutor Xu either—the Great King isn't someone ordinary people can handle; he himself knows that well enough.

The next day, Xie Yuan and Lu Tong set out from the Secluded Prefecture; besides the two of them, Zhao Bao and others who personally attended the Great King also brought along quite a retinue. Within the Northern Border, the imperial roads still allow swift travel by carriage, but once past the Luo River Pass the speed slows down.

Only Xie Yuan, all along the way, secretly swore eight hundred times that after the Great King's change of status, he could no longer be allowed to neglect his studies.

In just a few days, the Establishing Chapter Palace had been refurbished, and the Great King moved there.

The enthronement ceremony was spearheaded by the Marquis of Dongdu; it would be performed in a few days. The Great King would certainly wait until Xie Yuan arrived in Long Peace before proceeding; the Northern Border army's commanders, having taken charge of Long Peace's internal and external defenses, were still busy, and the Great King would torment the civil officials whenever he had something to do.

Ah-choo~

Wei Shen laughed beside him, "Did you catch a chill in midsummer?"

The Great King shook his head, firmly saying, "How could that be? It's definitely those people outside cursing me!"