Chapter 13: The King Halts the War (2)

In the fifth month, the Phoenix Empress executed Emperor Xiang's favorite concubine, Lady Yu, with a brutal punishment. Twenty-two other concubines in the palace were all granted white silk and ordered to hang themselves; among them, three were six months pregnant, and their infants perished with their mothers in resentment before they were even born.

In the eighth month, a Witch Clan handmaiden attempted to leave the palace with a secret blood-written letter from Emperor Xiang to request military aid, but she was intercepted midway by Ying Nu. In a fit of rage, the Phoenix Empress ordered the entire Witch Clan to be demoted to rebel slaves, and every member, regardless of age, was to be executed without exception.

In the tenth month, Young Master Xuan, born to Lady Rong, and Young Master Qing, born to Lady Qi, both died suddenly. Young Master Hao, the "legitimate son" of the Empress, was established as the Crown Prince.

In the twelfth month, all six Grand Historians of the Historian's Office resigned simultaneously. Upon reading the royal history, the Phoenix Empress was enraged; she had all six beaten to death before the palace, burned the royal records, abolished the Historian's Office, and banished all the historians. From then on, the historical records of the Yong Dynasty came to an abrupt halt. The torn scrolls, the broken chapters, the past of the Spring and Autumn periods, and the endless chatter of the masses were all submerged in a color as scarlet as blood...

That year, the Eastern Emperor was ten years old.

When he first ascended to the highest point of the Jiu Hua Hall as the Crown Prince to receive the kowtows of the officials, the woman beside him, known as the "Empress Mother," looked down upon all living beings with the posture of a powerhouse. Her majestic grace was imposing and dazzling.

In that instant when she lowered her eyes to scrutinize him, he met her gaze with a calm and submissive look. Her sharp eyes could not pierce his faint smile, nor could they see the heart deeply hidden within the youth.

"Uncle might not have imagined that I have long known who my biological mother is. Although Feng Wan has kept me in the Central Palace to raise me since I was young, some things cannot be hidden—just like the medicinal soup I drink every day; if you drink enough of it, you will eventually taste what it is." Zi Hao's calm and leisurely tone was as if he were speaking of a trivial matter of no importance. "Uncle still underestimated her. What she has always wanted was never just the Empress's Phoenix Seal."

"Very good, very good, very good." Zhong Yanzi said "very good" three times in a row, sounding both sorrowful and sighing. "I truly did not expect that you are much smarter than your father."

Zi Hao restrained his smile and said slowly, "After Uncle's incident, Father was very heartbroken; he must have known in his heart that he had wronged Uncle. If there was anything in the past that was unfair to Uncle, I, your nephew, apologize on Father's behalf today. I hope Uncle will forgive us."

He consistently treated Zhong Yanzi with the etiquette of a junior, never using his status as a monarch to pressure anyone. His gentleness was such that it dissipated all hostility. However, Zhong Yanzi had always mistakenly believed that the imperial capital's garrison had been ordered by the King to slaughter the Imperial Guards, and thus he hated Emperor Xiang to the marrow of his bones. Years of deep-seated resentment could not be resolved in a few words. Although he did not lash out at this moment, his expression remained cold. "Stop saying these useless things. I only ask you: where is Qie Lan now?"

Zi Hao's eyebrows flickered slightly, and he said truthfully, "Qie Lan is trapped in my formation and has lost consciousness. She is currently in the Changming Palace."

A slight commotion broke out in the Jiu Yi tribe's formation. A lieutenant in the lead could not hold back, drawing his sword with a *clang*. "You muddled monarch! Release the Princess at once, or we will surely trample the imperial capital..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zi Hao's handsome, cold eyes narrowed silently, and a faint light seemed to flash in his pupils. Zhong Yanzi sensed something was wrong, and as his thoughts stirred, he had already lunged toward the front of the formation.

The lieutenant who had spoken had not yet reacted to what was happening when he saw a flash of blue-gray clothing. The force of two colliding True Essences in mid-air knocked him back several steps. Before he could steady himself, his vision blurred, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and a cool sensation at his throat. A thread of warm liquid trickled down his skin. He reached up to touch it and found his fingers stained with blood. In terror, he looked up, only to see the Eastern Emperor still standing leisurely at the front of the formation, but now holding a long sword. A smear of blood on the blade looked fresh, set against the fluttering light blue robes—a soul-stealing coldness, an imposing arrogance.

Zi Hao cast a glance from the corner of his eye and said indifferently, "I am speaking with Uncle; how is it your turn, an outsider, to interrupt?" He waved his sleeve carelessly, and the three-foot-long sword left his hand, pinning itself into a crack in the nearby obsidian, burying itself to the hilt, leaving only a blood-red tassel swaying lightly.

His entry into the formation, the seizing of the sword, and the wounding of the enemy had taken no more than the blink of an eye. He moved through the thousands of troops with ease. Had Zhong Yanzi not intervened, the lieutenant would likely have been a corpse on the spot. The thousands of Jiu Yi warriors were all stunned. Gu Qiutong's sword, which had been half-drawn, froze at his side. A moment later, he slowly sheathed it and said to Zhong Yanzi, "I did not expect the senior to be an elder of the royal family. The Jiu Yi tribe has been disrespectful. Now that the Princess is trapped in the royal city, I wonder what the senior intends to do?"

Hearing this, Zhong Yanzi knew that he had become suspicious, and he felt displeased. He rolled his eyes and said coldly, "If you have the ability, why not break the formation and save her yourself? Why ask me?"

Gu Qiutong was left speechless by his retort, knowing well that this man was aloof, eccentric, and temperamental, so he dared not speak further. Zhong Yanzi, however, ignored him and looked deeply at the Eastern Emperor. "You are ignorant of the heights of heaven and the depths of the earth, actually practicing the 'Nine Nether Mysterious Penetration.' This technique requires the assistance of eighty-one kinds of deadly poisons; it is no different from self-mutilating your meridians. You have quite the nerve." He had just traded a blow with Zi Hao, and because he did not want to hurt him, he had used less than fifty percent of his power. He had originally thought it would be enough to stop him, but he had not expected to be forced back by a single palm strike delivered with such nonchalance. During the exchange, a bizarrely cold True Essence had invaded his meridians—chilling and tyrannical. At this moment, half of his arm still felt faintly cold. In astonishment, he could not help but size up Zi Hao again, discovering that although his gaze was clear and his demeanor calm, his face was pale and cold, and his lips lacked color. It was clear that he was deeply entangled with deadly poisons, which had already become a chronic illness.

Hearing this, Zi Hao gave a thin smile. "Thank you for the reminder, Uncle. My body contains far more than eighty-one kinds of deadly poisons; I have long since grown accustomed to it."

Zhong Yanzi said, "You seeking your own suffering has nothing to do with me, but Qie Lan is now my disciple. I cannot ignore it if you have kidnapped her."

"Oh?" Zi Hao raised an eyebrow. "No wonder Huang Fei was willing to assist the Jiu Yi tribe so much; it turns out Qie Lan shares a master-disciple bond with him."

Zhong Yanzi's eyes flickered with cold intent. "The royal family wants to exterminate the Jiu Yi, but I am determined to help them. The girl Qie Lan is intelligent and clever, very much to my liking. You forced her country to fall and her family to perish, so I am determined to take her as my disciple."

Zi Hao nodded. "Since Uncle came here in person today, I should let Qie Lan go for Uncle's sake. But the Jiu Yi tribe is pressing on the imperial capital with troops. If I release Qie Lan, she will be eager for revenge, and conflict will inevitably arise again. I ask Uncle to forgive me for being unable to comply."

Zhong Yanzi did not say much more, only saying slowly, "I must save Qie Lan. If you truly refuse to release her, do not blame me for being impolite." His sleeves hung still, and he appeared to be standing casually, yet a formless force began to swirl slowly around him. Everyone felt a strange sensation, as if they were facing a deep ocean; the water appeared calm, yet it was filled with swirling vortices, surging violently. The solitary figure of the Eastern Emperor was like a tiny, insignificant flat boat on the surface of a surging sea, with waves coming from all sides, as if it were in danger of being capsized at any moment.

Zi Hao stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering without wind. Facing such powerful energy, he remained composed and smiled. "Uncle is being too biased. Qie Lan's life is not in danger, yet the imperial capital is in imminent peril. Can Uncle really stand by and watch?"

Zhong Yanzi's gaze held a complex meaning as he watched him. "You captured Qie Lan and trapped the Jiu Yi army on the Kan pulse of this imperial capital. Two Kan trigrams overlap, danger upon danger; the Yang is trapped within the Yin, an unfathomable abyss. Once the water gates at the east and west gates of the royal city are opened, the water from the three thousand imperial lakes in the palace will drain out. By then, won't these few thousand people all be fed to the fish and shrimp? And you speak of the imperial capital being in danger? Even if the imperial capital truly cannot be saved, what does it have to do with me? I have long since had nothing to do with the royal family!"

Once these words were spoken, the Jiu Yi soldiers all changed color. Gu Qiutong drew his sword decisively and gave an order. The cavalry on the two wings behind him spread out in formation, the archers quickly retreated into the formation, and the generals stood in front. The formation was like a sharp arrow. At this point, the Jiu Yi tribe had no choice but to attack the city with all their might.

Seeing that a great battle was imminent, Zi Hao seemed to ignore it, looking only at Zhong Yanzi. A moment later, the corners of his lips lifted. "Truly, nothing can be hidden from Uncle. In the future, I will have to ask Uncle for more guidance. However, if Uncle truly has no attachment to the imperial capital, why did you lose your composure and suffer a lapse in spirit just now in the formation, allowing Shang Rong and the others to gain the upper hand?"

The Nine-Turn Linglong, the eight directions illuminated, a thousand illusions, all born from the heart.

What the heart worries about, what the heart fears, what the heart thinks of, what the heart desires—the seven emotions become blades, and the six desires become wounds. People of the world, ordinary mortals, full of love and hatred, burdened with grievances—whenever they enter the formation, under the guidance of the formation setter's energy, they all give rise to delusional thoughts, which is why they are taken advantage of by the killer. Zhong Yanzi knew this principle clearly, but he refused to admit it no matter what. He roared in anger, "A pack of lies! Do you think that just because I showed mercy, I couldn't break your formation?"

Zi Hao's smile faded, and a strange, deep gloom appeared beneath his brows. "If Uncle wanted to break the formation, it would naturally be as easy as turning over one's hand. I do not claim that I could necessarily block Uncle. But I also know that Uncle is, after all, a member of my clan. Heaven has unpredictable storms, and people have unforeseen misfortunes. Brothers fighting in the same house, flesh and blood alienated—from the life-and-death grievances of the previous generation to today, the royal family's lineage has withered, leaving only a few of us, Uncle and me. Blood is thicker than water; no one can erase that. I certainly cannot sit idly by regarding the Yong Dynasty's empire, but can Uncle truly remain indifferent?"

His voice was flat and waveless, yet every word was like a blade, earnest and heavy, and a painful force struck the heart directly. Zhong Yanzi looked at him for a long time, and from those brows and features, he could not help but recall his deep brotherly affection with Emperor Xiang in the past. A surge of waves churned in his heart, truly difficult to suppress. His gaze swept over the tall city walls and the towering palace towers beneath the vast clouds and mist, and he suddenly looked up and sighed long. "Heaven makes sins, and they may be forgiven; self-made sins, and one cannot live! The world today, the royal family today—it is all self-destruction!"

Zi Hao said indifferently, "I, however, feel that the rise and fall of the royal family has never been decided by others. What does Uncle think?"

Zhong Yanzi had originally intended to strike and subdue Zi Hao, forcing him to open the city and release the people, but if he did so, the Jiu Yi tribe would break the city in resentment, and the imperial capital would certainly not be spared. In his heart, he actually did not want to see this happen. Moreover, he knew deeply that the formation within this royal city was no small matter. The Jiu Yi army was trapped in a dangerous place, and it was almost impossible for them to retreat unscathed. Once the war started, the only result would be mutual destruction. Thinking of this, his angry expression faded slightly. "Things have reached this point; what does it matter if I let you call the shots?"

Zi Hao gave a faint smile. "During the years Uncle held the reins of government, the imperial capital could be called strong in troops and horses, yet you never added a single soldier or horse to the various states. A warrior is one who stops the war; a king is one who must never forget benevolence and virtue. The common people have suffered for a long time, and the world is in extreme chaos; it must return to clarity and peace. The chaos was born from the royal family, so let it be stopped by the royal family."

Zhong Yanzi's brows furrowed slightly, and feeling something in his heart, he asked, "First the Witch Clan, then the Jiu Yi—whether you fight or not, Zi Hao, how will you answer to them?"

This "Zi Hao" was hard-won. Zi Hao's eyes flickered slightly, and a touch of arrogant laughter appeared. "Uncle should be able to see clearly: if I truly wanted to exterminate the Jiu Yi, why would I need to go to such trouble? When Qie Lan led her troops to attack the city, I only needed to order the bridge to be cut and the water released, and the elite of the Jiu Yi tribe would have been completely wiped out here. The moat behind you is no longer clear river water; the 'Bone-Eating Soul-Less Powder' inside is enough to turn ten thousand people into nothingness in an instant, leaving not even an inch of bone. And those old, weak, women, and children in the Xi Ma Valley of Zhongshi Mountain are surely no match for the former state's army."

The cold words fell lightly into their ears, yet they were like thunderclaps, shocking Gu Qiutong and the others until they were pale. Just as their minds were shaken, Zi Hao suddenly straightened his expression and said loudly, "Since Uncle asks how I will answer to the Jiu Yi tribe, I, as the Son of Heaven of the Yong Dynasty, guarantee to them that the imperial capital will release all members of the Jiu Yi tribe, return all the Jiu Yi tribe's land, remit all the Jiu Yi tribe's taxes, and bury the Queen of the Jiu Yi tribe with the rites of the Nine Sorrows." He paused, looking at the dazzling sword light in front of the royal city, his tone calm and powerful. "Three years of war—the suffering is known to all. Whether it is the Jiu Yi tribe or the soldiers of the imperial capital, who among them wishes to fight and kill? Who among them wishes to bury their bones on the battlefield? Soldiers are men; who among them has no parents? Who has no brothers? Who has no siblings? Who has no wife and children? The two tribes slaughtering each other—when will it end? The Jiu Yi war was the royal family raising an unrighteous army; the sin is mine. I shall issue an edict of self-reproach to apologize to the world and restore the innocence and justice of the Jiu Yi tribe..."

His words were clear and steady, sent far away with his own internal energy, clearly and truly reaching the ears of every Jiu Yi warrior. The Jiu Yi formation fell into chaos with a *boom*, and in an instant, it became silent again, a piece of silence and astonishment. Zhong Yanzi could not help but be stunned, not expecting that with his status as a monarch and his previous arrogance, clearly holding the winning hand, he would be willing to make such a concession. This was not only unexpected, but it also left everyone with no room for criticism.

Such means—killing to establish authority, pardoning with grace, preserving with emotion, and moving with reason... Zhong Yanzi's heart was filled with a mix of emotions. If Emperor Xiang had possessed even half of this strategy in the past, how could the royal family have lost power, and how could the world have fallen apart?

The war was tragic and vivid in his mind. No one in the Jiu Yi tribe had ever wanted to fight and kill; it was just that to fight for that breath of air, they could not *not* fight and die, allowing themselves to be humiliated. But now that the Son of Heaven had issued an edict to apologize and granted the state the rites of the Nine Sorrows—such an honor had never been seen since ancient times. What more could the Jiu Yi tribe complain about?

The Eastern Emperor's calm voice spread throughout the royal city, penetrating the thick fog and echoing faintly. The clouds opened, the fog dispersed, and the vast sky gradually revealed a color like water, clear blue and cold. The sunlight spread out slowly, finally enveloping the imperial capital in a golden, bright light...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 14 =====