Chapter 601: The Self He Had Never Seen

Xie Tianyao's line, "Apart from the three feet of snow upon your person, who in the world is worthy of white robes?", left the entire audience in an uproar.

What kind of evaluation was this?

What a high commendation this was!

In all the years since Xie Tianyao ascended the throne, the ministers could not recall ever hearing such high praise. This emperor, who was usually stern and rarely smiled, was extremely strict even with his own children, which meant that princes and princesses like Xie Fang and Xie Ling had almost never heard their father's praise...

This Prefect Liu...

The first time!

This was absolutely the first time!

Despite his complicated feelings and inner resentment, Xie Ling still gritted his teeth and followed the rhythm of the crowd to kneel down.

What was this kneeling for?

It was kneeling in gratitude that the Longyan Dynasty had Prefect Liu.

It was kneeling in gratitude for the Liangzhou Army.

It was gratitude that this transcendent genius had appeared to safeguard Xie Tianyao's late-life reputation.

"Princess, Princess..."

Li Xuanya, who had been watching this performance in the Imperial City, had turned deathly pale by this moment, her lips trembling, unable to speak a word.

Li Zheng called out to her several times from the side, but she did not react.

"Lost..."

Li Xuanya gave a bitter smile, her face full of loss.

Lost.

And lost miserably.

Although their envoy mission had prepared and choreographed everything meticulously, they had still lost this time, losing to this Longyan Dynasty, which was full of hidden talents... and it was a crushing defeat. She had once thought that with her "Rainbow Feather Garment Song," she could look down upon all the heroes.

But she never expected...

She still lost.

Seeing Li Xuanya's loss and frustration, Li Zheng felt a pang in his heart and cursed angrily: "This Prefect Liu doesn't play by the rules at all!"

Li Xuanya said sorrowfully: "Lost is lost..."

At this moment, her heart was a jumble of emotions, her mind in chaos.

This time...

What should she do?

Was there still any salvation for her Joseon?

She watched quietly as the youth in white robes rode his horse through the city gate, slowly entering amidst the enthusiastic, selfless, passionate, and thunderous cheers of the people of Jinghua, and the screams of young girls.

"Apart from the three feet of snow upon your person, who in the world is worthy of white robes..."

She watched Liu Zheng quietly, reciting these two lines.

Suddenly...

A look of determination flashed in her eyes.

For the sake of her country, he had been forced into a dead end, and she had no other method...

She could only try it this way!

Success!

This was absolutely an incredibly successful performance, an astonishing finale. The atmosphere of the entire venue naturally became heated; when the ice and snow receded, the blood was washed away, and the sky cleared once more, the people finally let out a long sigh of relief, followed by endless applause and cheers.

Amazing!

Winter Is Coming!

This complete performance perfectly matched the theme that Prefect Liu had been promoting all along.

Moreover, in the process, it vividly displayed the heartfelt loyalty to the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, as well as that spirit of sacrificing one's life for the country.

Blood boiling!

The whole audience was watching with boiling blood!

This surging passion was something that could not be calmed for a long time.

It was in this atmosphere that Liu Zheng entered the Imperial City.

In reality, it was only at this moment that he finally let out a deep sigh of relief.

Good heavens...

Before this, he actually lacked confidence in this performance. Because the atmosphere of the entire program had changed too drastically. What Gu Jin had prepared before was the civil dance "Four Seasons Like Spring," which was naturally full of grace, peace, and joy, completely incompatible with Liu Zheng's theme.

Seven days.

He only had seven days to adapt the program.

So he decided then and there that the Liangzhou Army must be involved. They didn't need to practice any complex dance moves; they only needed to express their daily military training in an exaggerated way, and that would be enough.

His inspiration for this program also came from the "QinwangPozhenYue" of the prosperous Tang Dynasty! "QinwangPozhenYue," also known as the "QinwangPozhenDance" or the "Seven Virtues Dance," was a famous grand song and dance of the Tang Dynasty. It was originally a military song from the early Tang. In 620 AD, the Prince of Qin, Li Shimin, defeated the Rebel Army leader Liu Wuzhou, consolidating the newly established Tang regime. Consequently, his soldiers filled the old tune with new lyrics to sing praises for Li Shimin: "Receiving the order to leave the leader, we go together to punish the rebel ministers. We all sing the 'Breaking the Formation Music,' and together we enjoy the peaceful people."

After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he personally choreographed this music into a dance, and after processing and refining by court artists, it became a massive, magnificent, and large-scale musical dance. The original melody was blended with the tones of Qiuci, making it melodious and pleasant, high-pitched and extremely evocative. At the same time, it was accompanied by a large court orchestra, with great drums thundering, their sound carrying for hundreds of miles, with a momentum so grand it could move heaven and earth.

The martial dance that appeared at the beginning, whether in terms of melody or scene, was modeled after "QinwangPozhenYue," and it was only later that Liu Zheng added some of his own elements.

For example, the soldiers fighting to the death formed a sharp contrast with the extravagance of the harem dancers.

At the end of the program, even Shen Manqing, who was beating the drum, met her end, leaving only Liu Zheng behind.

This was meant to express two layers of meaning.

First, one general's success is built upon ten thousand bones; Prefect Liu's fame was all carved out by these soldiers. Once war begins, there are no true winners.

Second, despite this, we of the Liangzhou Army can still fight for our homes, our country, our wives, and our children; we can still fight for the Longyan Dynasty; we can still fight for the Emperor!

As for any barbarians harboring evil intentions, even if they are far away, they must be punished!

Shocking!

Quite shocking!

Domineering!

Quite domineering!

This program, combined with the previous military record of Liu Zheng, the Prefect, who destroyed three kingdoms in three days, has made the Longyan Dynasty feel even more confident.

Sure enough.

The people of the Eighteen Envoys, at this moment, every single one of them, had very unpleasant expressions on their faces.

What is the meaning of this!

This is a warning to them!

Barbarians!

Even if they are far away, they must be punished!

Although the old Emperor is already frail and aged, the Longyan Dynasty still has the Prefect Liu, and still has the Liangzhou Army! Although the Longyan imperial court is filled with countless traitors, those with ulterior motives, and those who are greedy and extravagant, as long as the Liangzhou Army is here, he will not let these barbarians step one foot into Longyan!

Fear!

When these people looked at that young man in the white robe again, their eyes were already filled with fear.

"Long live, long live, long live our Emperor!"

"Long live, long live, long live our Emperor!"

The entire crowd shouted aloud.

In the end, having no other choice, these delegations from small nations who had come to intimidate Longyan this time could only follow suit and kneel down.

Liu Zheng finally dismounted, knelt down, and shouted "Long live."

Xie Tianyao.

Stood atop the Zhuque High Tower.

Ten thousand nations paying homage!

Fireworks and firecrackers across all of Jinghua went off and rose into the sky in real-time.

When these fireworks, belonging to the sixty-nine-year-old Xie Tianyao, rose into the air, the glory that once belonged to the "Pingyu" era seemed to be slowly fading away with the passing years.

The sixty-nine-year-old Xie Tianyao just stood there.

He cast his gaze out.

Toward that young man in the white robe.

What he saw was.

A version of himself he had never seen before.