Chapter 443: with translation of chapter title

The Empress's birthday celebration, because of a wager by the Second Prince of Great Qin, turned from joy to mourning when they split the Heaven-Earth Primordial Stone and unleashed the Tortoise Person.

Named entities:

Empress

Great Qin Second Prince

Heaven-Earth Primordial Stone

Tortoise Person

Besides the Second Prince of Qin and Master Jiang Zhuzi of the Imperial Academy, the casualties included one prince, four commandery princes, seven dukes, sixteen marquises, and nine foreign envoys, plus countless other nobles and officials.

Named entities:

Qin Second Prince

Imperial Academy

Jiang Zhuzi Fuzi

Prince

Commandery Prince

Duke

Houjou

foreign envoys

ordinary nobility

high-ranking officials and nobles

A rough count shows that four thousand people were slaughtered on the spot!

No named entities.

This death toll is so great that the whole imperial capital would be clad in mourning and hold court!

Named entities:

Imperial Capital

However, to uphold the Empress's dignity, the emperor ordered the celebrations to continue, declaring seven straight days of festivities starting that day.

Named entities:

Empress

Emperor

Great Zhou

Thus, those who had lost family members mourned cautiously while still celebrating enthusiastically.

No named entities.

To calm the populace, the emperor issued another decree: five top experts from the two states have already set out to capture the Tortoise Person, who will be executed by lingchi as a warning to others.

Named entities:

Emperor

two states

top experts

Tortoise Person

Yet after waiting seven days, there was still no news from Mo Tianqi, Yuan Xunkun, and the other three officials.

Named entities:

Mo Tianqi

Yuan Xunkun

five officials

Thus, the Great Qin envoy and the delegations from various vassal states departed one after another, filled with regret and sorrow.

Named entities:

Great Qin envoy delegation

various vassal state envoy delegations

The atmosphere in the capital inevitably felt strange.

Named entities:

Capital City

Princess Taiping's mansion.

Named entities:

Princess Taiping

mansion

Ji Yafan sat on a pear blossom chair, eating a spicy red snack that made him suck his lips, and said: "According to normal procedure, you've rendered such great service and even saved the emperor; you should at least be given a generalship or a high office—what a pity!"

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

pear blossom grand chair

General

high official

Heng Xian continued to lie on the chair by the window, looking outside and saying: "Enough already—so many people have died, your family hardly has any face left to show!"

Named entities:

Heng Xian

Ji Yafan gave a hollow laugh: "Yeah, those delegations left with regrets—who knows how they'll scheme against Great Zhou when they get home—but it doesn't matter; we're strong militarily, we can just beat them into submission!"

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

Great Zhou

Heng Xian looked at him and asked: "What about your sister?"

No new.

According to his intention, they should have taken Ji Yaoyue away immediately.

Named entities:

Ji Yaoyue

However, Ji Yaoyue was determined to set the wedding date and arrangements, as if once a woman decides to marry, she wants everything to proceed smoothly and properly.

Named entities:

Ji Yaoyue

Heng Xian naturally had no objection; Ji Yaoyue was a noble-born girl who cared for others, her heart was with him, and she was beautiful—there was nothing to complain about—yet he somehow felt something was off, as if something was missing, not matching the feeling he had imagined from his past life.

No new.

Moreover, at this critical moment, Ji Yaoyue sought approval from the emperor, the consort, and the empress, which was somewhat awkward.

Named entities:

Emperor

imperial consort

Empress

Ji Yafan rubbed his nose and said: "Don't mention it—my sister and my mother consort say they want you to marry me as soon as possible, but my mother consort says to wait a bit longer."

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

older sister

mother consort

She then pleaded with her father emperor, but he rebuked her, saying she paid no attention to a maiden's propriety and restraint. Her sister was furious and stewing in the Xianqing Palace—"a grown daughter cannot be kept at home!"

Named entities:

father emperor

Xianqing Palace

older sister

Heng Xian rubbed his nose, speechless.

No new.

"Ah, brother-in-law…"

No new.

Ji Yafan then switched topics, talking about mass-producing spicy snacks, the relations between Great Zhou and Great Qin, and how he hadn't married the Princess of Wei from Great Qin, etc.

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

Great Zhou

Great Qin

Princess of Wei

Heng Xian listened, picking and choosing what to pay attention to.

No new.

At that moment, faint shouts of palace maids and eunuchs came from outside; looking out, snow was drifting down in flurries.

Named entities:

palace maid

Tàijiān

Ji Yafan stopped talking, ran to the window, and said: "It's snowing—this might be the last snowfall of the year!"

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

"Right!" Heng Xian inexplicably felt an ominous premonition, thought it over, and said: "Tell your sister for me: we'll leave Great Zhou within three days, and we'll discuss the marriage later!"

Named entities:

Heng Xian

Great Zhou

Ji Yafan nodded: "Sure!"

Named entities:

Ji Yafan

"……"

No content.

The snow fell heavier and heavier; as night fell, the entire imperial capital was blanketed in white.

Named entities:

Imperial Capital

The imperial palace.

Named entities:

Imperial Palace

On the white jade stone path up Purple Phoenix Mountain, three figures slowly made their way.

Named entities:

Purple Phoenix Mountain

"Your Majesty, perhaps you shouldn't go up!" Eunuch Jia pleaded desperately.

Named entities:

Your Majesty

Eunuch Jia

Feilian also moved his wheelchair, closely following the emperor, saying: "This is unwise!"

Named entities:

Feilian

Emperor

The emperor glanced at the two, his eyes full of sorrow: "I've been poisoned again; I could tell myself, and the day after Heng Xian detoxified me, I was poisoned once more."

Named entities:

Emperor

Heng Xian

Feilian and Eunuch Jia remained silent.

Named entities:

Feilian

Eunuch Jia

The emperor drew a deep breath, and in an instant felt as if he had aged twenty years: "When a person spends decades under the control of a pair of demonic claws, unable to resist or flee, living in constant dread, exhausting all effort yet unable to move the opponent even a finger—not going mad is already a blessing!"

No new named entities.

"I'm not crazy; I consider myself wise and resolute, and I will surely turn things around someday—but… I truly have no recourse; after decades of mental and physical exhaustion, if I could just let out a roar, it would feel better than anything!"

No new.

"After the roar, then what?" Feilian asked.

Named entities:

Feilian

A glint of madness appeared in the emperor's eyes: "What if I say my killer's mace is enough to throw Great Zhou into chaos, scattering it with a single strike?"

Named entities:

Emperor

Great Zhou

Killer's Mace

Feilian suppressed his grief: "The thirty-one elite families you pardoned were slaughtered on their way to the capital! And the four million border troops have these past few days been sent back by Xu Lulu!"

Named entities:

thirty-one great clan experts

come to the capital

four million border troops

Xu Lulu

The emperor stared, his body trembling slightly, then suddenly turned his head to Feilian: "Without my tiger talisman, they…"

Named entities:

Tiger Talisman

Feilian closed his eyes: "The details of the commanders of the eight border armies have come to light—they are all illegitimate sons of household slaves from Purple Phoenix Mountain, deceiving Your Majesty for decades!"

Named entities:

Commander of the Eight Directions Border Army

Purple Phoenix Mountain

household slave's illegitimate child

Your Majesty

The emperor's hair turned gray and disheveled as he laughed to the heavens: "Has the former emperor's favor run out?"

Named entities:

Former Emperor

"It's been gone for fifty years, A Chun!" Feilian said.

Named entities:

A Chun

Feilian

"A Chun…" the emperor blinked, then asked: "Do you still remember my childhood name?"

Named entities:

A Chun

nickname

Feilian said: "I was your study companion; we grew up together since we were three!"

Named entities:

study companion

"Speak!" the emperor grabbed his collar, demanding: "What should I do?"

No new.

"Go back!" Feilian said in a low voice.

Named entities:

Feilian

"Go back? Do you think I'm stupid?" he laughed hysterically.

No new.

The emperor, seemingly mad, suddenly strode upward, taking seven or eight steps until he faced the summit, tore off his dragon robe, and with all his might roared: "Wuxuan, you old demoness, I've tolerated you long enough! You play favorites, hollow out the Ji clan's realm, enfeoff nephews and nieces with titles of different surnames, and vainly seek to cultivate the Dao to escape karma!"

Named entities:

Emperor

Wuxuan

Ji Clan

territory

nephews and nieces of different surnames holding princely titles

You betray your father emperor's love and trust, you are utterly shameless! You are far from the virtuous and benevolent empress outsiders imagine; you have many male favorites, and I know it well!

Named entities:

father emperor

Empress

Purple Phoenix Mountain, a filthy place! Wuxuan, you are a despicable person!

Named entities:

Purple Phoenix Mountain

Wuxuan

I acknowledge you as my stepmother just to give you face, but I don't want this damn throne—pass it to your son, pass it to your daughter!

Named entities:

stepmother

throne

sons and daughters

I watch as your Wu clan's evil offspring stir up heaven and earth! Hahaha…

Named entities:

Wu Clan

evil offspring

Behind him, Feilian and Eunuch Jia wore looks of utter despair.

Named entities:

Feilian

Eunuch Jia

"……"

No content.

The princess's mansion.

Named entities:

Princess's Mansion

In the dining hall, Heng Xian's standard meal was set out: three dishes and one soup.

The dishes are braised spirit pork, braised meatballs, garlic‑paste stir‑fried vegetables; the soup is chickweed beef bone soup, plus a pot of authentic old cellar liquor from the capital's slums — truly, even immortals wouldn't trade for it.

Heng Xian's appetite opened wide; as he ate and drank he sang a line: "Green‑ant newly brewed wine, red‑clay small stove. As night falls and the sky wants to snow, can I have a cup? Only now do I grasp this artistic conception!"

Beside him, Mu Lan, dressed in thick winter clothes and looking at him with affection, said: "Marquis, your words are eloquent — truly you have talent enough to fill eight dou!"

"The Marquis is truly formidable!"

In the corner, wearing a small leather jacket, Gou Dan — the Da Qin chess player who went stiff after forty paces — also clapped.

After the naked‑bottom child became famous in the capital, he formally changed his name to Bai Chao Yu, and could now be considered a talent.

Heng Xian finished the last sip of wine, looked toward the gate, but Ji Yaoyue still hadn't come; he really didn't know what stubbornness this girl was showing, shook his head, got up and left: "Stop flattering me — there's no reward for it!"

Mu Lan lightly laughed: "Seeing the Marquis off!"

Heng Xian had already walked far away.

Still far from the East Mansion, his feet crunched on the snow, and Heng Xian greatly enjoyed this feeling.

Inside the Princess Mansion, snow should not have been able to exist, but the hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs swept however much they were told, and only after Heng Xian ordered them to stop did it reach this scale.

After walking most of the way, Heng Xian suddenly noticed that there were far fewer palace attendants today; ahead it was pitch black, not even a lamp lit.

Just as he was about to continue forward, he suddenly stopped and let out a cold laugh.

Whoosh—

At that moment, from the walls, snowy ground, garden, and groves, at least twenty figures leapt out; as soon as they appeared, their overwhelming aura and killing intent shot straight up to the clouds.

Heng Xian stood still, quickly scanned the circle — twenty‑one people, twenty of them moved to attack, while one remained hidden in the corner.

Among the twenty‑one, nineteen were at Yuan Dan Initial Realm, one at Yuan Dan Middle Realm, and the one hiding was at Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level.

(End of chapter)