Chapter 1047: Parting from the World

Inside the imperial horse carriage.

The atmosphere began to grow tense.

Liu Zheng watched Xie Tianyao quietly, a complex mix of emotions in his heart.

Xie Tianyao's withered hand seemed to want to grasp something, yet it grasped nothing; he seemed to want to exert force, but the strength in his body had long since vanished to who knows where...

Old age.

Despair.

Liu Zheng's pity at this moment was not just pity for Xie Tianyao the Emperor. It was not just pity for a single life, but at the same time, it was also pity for himself, and pity for all of humanity.

What is life?

And what is death?

Since ancient times, many philosophers have had various insights into life and death.

For everyone, life only happens once. Setting aside those religious platitudes, this statement is accepted by most people.

However...

For Liu Zheng, it was not so.

Because he had truly, physically lived twice.

Once in his past life, in modern society.

Once in Longyan, having returned to ancient times.

Therefore, Liu Zheng actually had his own set of views on life and death. He actually took life and death quite lightly. He had already lived twice, so what was there to regret? Of course, there would be those trivial regrets—regrets regarding family, regrets regarding brothers, regrets regarding the woman he loved, and regrets regarding this world.

But since Liu Zheng came to this world, everything he brought and everything he created, for a basic carbon-based organism in the universe, left him with no more regrets.

He had changed this world far, far too much.

How long can a person live?

A hundred years?

And Earth?

Four billion years.

And the universe...

This is not alarmism; these are real, concrete data. From the moment everyone is born, they are struggling—struggling to live, struggling to jump about, struggling to realize their life's value, struggling to realize their dreams... Yet have you ever thought that your life's value, to the entire universe, is truly not worth mentioning?

Even.

It cannot even compare to a speck of dust.

So what is there to be conflicted about?

Liu Zheng always hoped he could live more open-mindedly, more magnanimously, and of course, with more depth. Living this life well was what he hoped for; as for when death would arrive, he did not dwell on it too much, because that would make him unhappy.

Why bother?

He looked at Xie Tianyao in this state and began to mentally count the past and achievements of Xie Tianyao's life.

In fact, Xie Tianyao's life had been magnificent enough.

He was actually a very qualified Emperor. The Longyan Dynasty had previously been in a precarious state, on the verge of falling apart. Relying on his own art of checks and balances, Xie Tianyao had forcibly extended the lifespan of Longyan by more than forty years...

He had put his heart into governing this country, and he had put his heart into finding a way out for this country.

Enough.

It was worth it.

"I..."

"I..."

"I..."

Xie Tianyao was struggling with effort, seemingly on the edge of death. He wanted to speak, perhaps feeling that his time was near, and he no longer insisted on using the royal "We." He knew that in the face of death, he was also just an ordinary person—an ordinary person with a better background than others, nothing more.

"Emperor, your humble servant is here..."

"Your humble servant..."

Liu Zheng did not know what to say.

Although he saw through life and death, when truly facing the death of a person, the sadness in his heart could not help but emerge.

He walked over slowly, crouched beside Xie Tianyao's bed, and grasped his withered hand.

Xie

Tianyao then forced a smile, and a glimmer of color finally appeared in his murky eyes.

"We... are tired..."

"Tired..."

Xie Tianyao tremblingly and with difficulty squeezed these few words out of his mouth.

"Emperor..."

Liu Zheng could not help but be filled with sorrow.

He recalled that since he first met Xie Tianyao, the Emperor had wanted to settle accounts with him several times, yet several times he could not bear to; they had clashed openly and secretly several times, but he had always kept him... because Liu Zheng knew that the vision of an Emperor would certainly not be as small as that of those Scholar-officials and Old Aristocrats. He watched Longyan getting better and stronger, and he had his own standards of judgment...

Unexpectedly.

In such clashes, he had already slowly grown old.

The majesty of the past was no longer there.

He was tired.

He was indeed tired.

Longyan was too big, and there were truly too many places and matters for him to worry about.

"Your servant understands..."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and could only respond with these two words.

Xie Tianyao gave a self-deprecating smile.

After saying those few words just now, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength; he would need to rest for a while before he could speak again.

"Keep... keep the death secret..."

Xie Tianyao suddenly gripped Liu Zheng's hand tightly, his murky eyes suddenly becoming spirited.

Liu Zheng shuddered, his face turning deathly pale.

"Keep the death secret..."

Xie Tianyao persisted with his words, gripping Liu Zheng's hand and beginning to exert force violently.

"Grand funeral, return to Jinghua..."

"Return to Jinghua..."

"Then..."

"Then..."

Liu Zheng's whole body also began to tremble.

He had once thought that Xie Tianyao would die one day, that this old emperor who had always been fighting with him would die, but he still had not expected it to happen right before his eyes, to be happening right before his eyes. He probably had not prepared himself mentally yet...

If Xie Tianyao dies.

Longyan will truly fall into chaos.

He did not expect...

It would be at this time.

"Wuwuwu..."

At this moment, the imperial physicians beside him, as well as Yuan Qingming and Grand Eunuch Zhou, all knelt down one by one; they wanted to wail aloud, but they kept holding it in, fearing that people outside would hear. One must know, this was still on the road for the Crown Prince's grand funeral... at a time like this, the emperor dying was certainly not a good thing.

"You say..."

Liu Zheng also felt grief in his heart.

Xie Tianyao used his final strength to look at this young man, Liu Zheng; he seemed to recall the first time he went to Liangzhou and discussed politics inside a carriage with the young man before him... at that time, Liu Zheng still had a hint of immaturity, and at that time, Xie Tianyao was still high-spirited and full of majesty...

Then.

He remembered again the Liu Zheng he saw during his own birthday last year.

At that time, in Liu Zheng, he saw nothing but the shadow of his own youth.

It is a pity.

He is not his own son...

It is a pity he is not his own flesh and blood.

Only.

Now, he was about to die. Why still dwell on these regrets?

When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out.

"Return to Jinghua..."

"Xie Ming succeeds to the throne..."

"Feudatory Kings mobilize troops..."

"Territorial Exchange..."

Xie Tianyao burned through the remainder of his life to speak these final few sentences.

"What?"

Liu Zheng shuddered, his expression changing drastically on the spot.

Xie Tianyao gave him one last deep look.

And then.

Finally, his head tilted to the side.

Departed from this world forever. Pop-ups have been severe lately; you may click to download to avoid them.