Chapter 585

The Great King's last bit of stubbornness was moving the morning audience to chen‑shi; the well‑informed officials knew Xie Yuan had entered the capital and thought, finally someone's in charge.

Those qualified to attend court gathered at the palace gate; when the gate opened, what faced them were the two huge pits on the square.

Cheng Taichang, who oversees ancestral temple rites, took a deep breath before the pit; it was obvious who dug it. This isn't breaking ground on Tai Sui's head, but it's close—it's tearing up the three‑hundred‑year‑old ancestral rule.

Everyone carefully crossed the pit, silently sizing up the two newcomers standing below the steps—Xie Yuan and Lu Tong.

Xie Yuan nodded steadily; Lu Tong smiled and exchanged greetings; nobody mentioned the pit beside them.

Just before chen‑shi, the hall doors opened; everyone filed in, the Chang'an officials took their usual places, Xie Yuan and Lu Tong entered first without yielding, taking the front spots by right. They are the legitimate heirs who seized Chang'an's Northern Border King by force, representing the Northern Border faction—what's there to be modest about now?

Xie Yuan thought they were already rude enough—who knew that when the Great King arrived, he'd learn what it means to not treat oneself as an outsider.

This guy sat on the throne without even being enthroned, utterly unceremonious. I thought the first audience would need him to lay out a cushion, then the Great King would politely decline—but he didn't know the Great King and the Duke of the Eastern Capital had already played this act out; after the Wei clan and Divine Clarity Terrace incidents, the Great King couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore.

The Great King didn't even need Zhao Bao's help; he clambered onto the throne with no ceremony. He wasn't alone—his little stumbling block, Xiao Jin, hopped up after him, and Heaven‑Covering Elder settled practiced‑ly on the armrest; the whole process was smooth as silk.

Xie Yuan glanced around—hm, nobody showed anything odd; not bad.

It seems the Chang'an court has become immune to the Great King's pet heavenly troupe; he himself accepts it readily, after all this time there's no oversized bear to steal the view, so it won't distract from the main scene.

Lu Tong curled the corner of his mouth—indeed, nobody dared oppose the Great King sitting there early.

Today we have just two matters: discuss the enthronement date and decide the new dynasty's era name.

"The Temple of Rites will handle the preparations. Grand Astrologer, are you here? Pick a date."

The Grand Astrologer offered several auspicious days; the Great King without hesitation chose the last one—this guy lives for the moment, one day at a time.

Only when it came to choosing the era name did things get lively; the Great King urged everyone to propose enthusiastically.

The Minister of Rites said the two characters "Jing Shuo" were most fitting—Jing means peace and stability, Shuo means the north; together they signify pacifying the borders and securing the realm, and they also match the Great King's name.

The Minister of the Treasury suggested "Wu De" wasn't bad either—stopping warfare is martial, governing with virtue wins hearts; the Great King thought it was perfectly suitable.

The Great King realized these folks were just trying to pin the "Wu" character on him, constantly reminding him he seized power by force, right?

"Is that all you expect of me? Though I'm full of martial virtue, these era names really don't sound very prosperous, huh… What do you think, sir?"

Xie Yuan had really pondered this question, even discussing it with Lu Tong.

"All under heaven gather in response, gaining grain and thus following the auspicious. The people's will, the hope of all, the center of the world. Your Highness, would you like the two characters 'Jing Cong'?"

The Great King pondered it himself, but the advisor understood him best—so the era name was set happily just like that.

The enthronement is still a month away; the Great King had Xie Yuan and the Minister of Rites jointly take charge of the preparations, and he promoted the absent Xie Tu to Assistant Minister of Rites. Whenever someone raised a question—really just hinting that Xie Tu's résumé was lacking—the Great King would then flaunt his examination credentials to the hilt.

As the top scorer of the first class, the Great King didn't even bother to give him a proper post—he just handed him a Nine Ministers seat; the Great King was just too considerate!

As soon as those words were spoken, the officials fell completely silent.

They couldn't help but stay silent.

When the Great King grew excited, Heaven‑Covering's attention on the armrest snapped back, its bright eyes turning to the Minister of the Treasury who had spoken up. The Great King's first Chang'an‑style audience concluded perfectly.

The Great King was utterly delighted—he recovered the feeling of the Northern Border court in just a day?

Xie Yuan exchanged a few pleasantries with some officials, then turned back to look for the Great King, only to be told he had already left the palace……

Wei family brothers had already been waiting at the east palace gate; Da Wang shook off Xiao Jin and Zhe Tian, hurried over to meet up; he saw his cousins let out a heavy sigh: "We almost got detained by Xie Yuan to check homework, luckily I ran fast~"

Wei Shen: "No way? He just came; how could he start checking homework nonstop as soon as he arrived?"

Da Wang: "The coronation date is already set; Sir will surely take the opportunity to lecture me on all the big principles an emperor should follow!"

Wei Ke: "... Isn't that what should be done? Your Highness..."

Wei Shen and Da Wang together loudly interrupted him, speaking in unison: "What about our undercover operation?" "What about our big plan for today?!"

Wei Ke: ……

How about you two stop blaming each other; next time don't sue each other.

Accomplices, same crime.

The three cousins brought along Ling Yin as well, with a few guards following behind; the group headed straight for the Floating Tower. After a brief delay, by the time they came out the back gate they had become commoners of different identities.

Da Wang and Wei Ke remained brothers; there was no way around it—after Da Wang lost weight he really resembled Wei Ke, even more than he resembled Wei Shen; anyone could see they must be related.

Wei Shen was Commoner A, Ling Yin a wanderer. The wanderer Ling Yin's Penglai sword had been disguised, wrapped in dirty rags, looking like a piece of scrap iron.

Commoner A objected: "Being a commoner is fine for this young master, but why change my surname? Even 'Commoner Little Wei' wouldn't do!"

"Little Zhao, the Wei surname has been somewhat sensitive in Chang'an lately; even I, Your Highness, dare not use it!"

Commoner Zhao A: "... You weren't originally surnamed Wei either! That's fine, let's go, Little Qian'er~"

Da Wang corrected him: "Don't call me Little Qian'er, that's terribly unlucky! You can call the cousin Qian Da, and call me Qian Er." Little Qian'er, little money, sounds like not much, very poor.

Wei Shen was speechless: "How about I call you Qian Duo Duo?"

Da Wang nodded: "Good, good~"

The only two serious people, Wei Qian Da Ke, finally spoke up: "Should we first greet Liang He?"

Da Wang brimming with confidence: "No need, no need, are you still afraid we won't be selected? We must act cautiously—who knows how many eyes are on us? How can those with connections even go undercover? With Xie Yuan here, our time is limited; we must quickly understand the inner situation of the Imperial Guard."

Wei Ke, hearing him so confident, didn't say anything else. With just the few of them, including the plainclothes guards beside them, relying on their skills, getting selected shouldn't be a problem.

"In six days it will be the one-month deadline selection; the Imperial Guard will select twenty thousand Feathered Forest troops. Entrusting those twenty thousand to my cousin, the king, would put my mind at ease—this time we must understand things well, because if we don't select well we can't change them quickly~ Also, my cousin has never served in our army; to earn everyone's respect he must rely on his own abilities."

Wei Ke nodded solemnly.

Several people went together to the registration office of the Xuanping Camp; they found many serious applicants, lots of people coming and going, but few actually making it to the preliminary round.

Wei Shen laughed: "... Looks like the Feathered Forest Guard still has considerable appeal; the competition is fierce!"

Da Wang carefully observed the few people queuing in the distance, muttering softly: "... I don't even know how many of them are undercover like us."

Wei Shen: "Huh?"