Chapter 674: Unify the World! The State Name!

Purple Hall.

Rich Western Regions sandalwood fragrance permeated the whole Purple Hall.

As soon as Li Qingluo stepped inside, she felt the scent choke her breathing; she quickly raised her hand and covered her nose with a handkerchief.

Duan Rongshi looked at the Western Regions shaman kneeling to the side.

The shaman whispered, "If the incense is cut off, at most half an hour..."

Duan Rongshi: "Enough."

"Everyone, withdraw together."

The shaman hurriedly rose, and soon everyone and the incense in the Purple Hall vanished without a trace.

Li Qingluo found a chair and sat down.

Duan Rongshi then walked toward the dragon bed draped with gauze curtains.

He flung open the curtains.

He lifted his foot and stepped lightly inside.

Hearing someone enter, the Yan Emperor opened his cloudy eyes.

"Water..."

He wanted to drink water.

However, upon seeing the face appearing before him, his eyes instantly widened with terror.

"You..."

"Are you Old Five, or... the Moon Noble Consort!?"

Duan Rongshi said nothing, merely staring fixedly at him.

The Yan Emperor trembled as he raised his hand, but could only touch the curtain.

He strained to grab hold, trying to rise.

But his strength was utterly gone; he couldn't exert even a bit.

The Yan Emperor could only shout in terror: "Someone—quick, someone—"

Duan Rongshi: "What are you afraid of, Father Emperor?"

Duan Changyan exclaimed in shock: "Aren't you dead, Old Five?"

"You aren't dead!"

Duan Rongshi: "So, if I were your mother consort, you wouldn't be this afraid?"

"No, you should be even more afraid!"

"Because you are the one who truly killed my mother consort!"

Duan Changyan seemed likewise forced to recall the past.

His bloodshot eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

"No! No, it's not me, not me!"

"What... what do you intend to do?"

"Neither you nor your mother consort were killed by me."

"Your mother consort died in an accident."

"And you, I merely had them send you off to war..."

"I did not want to see you..."

"Nor did I want them to force me to name you crown prince—"

Duan Rongshi: "Do you think your self-deception can still fool anyone?"

"Father Emperor, in your life, have you ever truly given your heart to anyone?"

"Do you love these sons of yours?"

"Which one of them is not merely your pawn?"

"Duan Rongyin? Duan Rongjue? Duan Rongxuan? Or Duan Xiyue!?"

"But which of them met a good end?"

"Just as you once loved the mother consort and also loved your subject sons, yet suddenly you withdrew all your love."

"Behind the scenes you fanned the flames, permitting those who hated the mother to conspire together and kill the mother consort."

"You turned a blind eye to the subject sons being bullied, poisoned, and even repeatedly murdered in the palace since childhood—"

"When the subject sons grew up, you again used them as a knife to do your bidding, making others resent and fear them!"

"When you were pleased, you rewarded me with a mouthful of food."

"When displeased, you confined me to the mansion and stripped me of everything."

"Why do you hate me and my mother consort so much?"

"Is it merely because of that forged letter from your empress?"

"Because the spies you sent out gathered from those who hated my mother the 'truth' that led you to truly believe my mother had an affair with her own brother, even doubting the lineage of the subject sons, insulting the mother consort's purity!"

"Right, Father Emperor?"

Duan Changyan, hearing this, began to tremble all over.

His teeth clacked 'gek-gek-gek' as they struck together.

His tongue had begun to not obey well.

Yet he still strained to shout: "You... nonsense..."

"No... no..."

Duan Rongshi leaned in and told Duan Changyan: "Forgot to tell your father emperor."

"I, now, am the emperor of Great Chu."

"He was my legitimate maternal uncle, who personally passed the throne to me before his death."

"Can you guess why he did this?"

Duan Changyan could only stare with his eyes wide open.

He shouted, "Aaah!"

His anger caused blood to continuously spill from his mouth, and he could not utter a single word.

Duan Rongshi looked at him expressionlessly.

Even a hint of disgust flashed in his eyes.

"My mother, the queen, never betrayed you."

"She, as a princess of Great Chu, knows what it means to keep herself pure. She fulfilled the princess's duty to love the people and serve the nation, and also bore you sons and daughters."

"And you? Not only did you fail to protect her, you also naively believed the traitor's scheme!"

"It was you who defiled the mother, who shamed the mother!"

"If it weren't for the peace of Great Chu, do you think she couldn't find a better man in the world, couldn't obtain someone who would truly give her his heart, or even become her principal wife?"

"You are older than her by a few years, yet you fail to cherish her and betray her sincere heart!"

"Duan Changyan, you should have died long ago."

"I have kept you alive until now only to torment you further, making life worse than death!"

"Moreover, Minister of Rites Qingyue's son does not covet this throne of yours!"

He looked down at him with contempt.

Like a mountain eagle staring at an ant.

Duan Changyan, upon hearing these words, finally understood that matter, perhaps it truly was wrong.

Could it be that Yue'er was truly plotted against?

Those letters were false—were they all false?

The son before his eyes was truly his own biological son?

He, of course, had doubted his own bloodline.

And he had doubted it more than once.

He even convinced himself that giving Lao Wu a life was because he bore a face too strikingly similar to his mother's.

So he always thought it was he who granted Lao Wu a favor, and that he owed Lao Wu nothing.

But, if Yue'er truly was harmed…

And he, toward Lao Wu…

These years…

And Yue'er back then…

Thinking of the great fire at Gui Fu Palace, Emperor Yan's heart was flooded with regret, pain, self‑reproach, and shame.

"No—!!"

Yue'er was the only person he ever loved!

What exactly did he do back then?

Emperor Yan let out a strained low roar, shouting all the regret and resentment in his heart at that moment.

Duan Rongshi, however, turned and walked outward at that moment.

Emperor Yan strained to extend his hand.

He wanted to call Lao Wu.

He wanted him to stay.

He wanted him to forgive him.

In the past, he had been the one who cherished him the most!

But Emperor Yan's eyes began to blur.

His throat seemed completely locked, and he could not utter a single word.

He was wrong…

He really, was wrong, Lao Wu—

Li Qingluo had already stood up.

When Duan Rongshi emerged, she immediately came over and grasped his hand.

She need not say a word.

She only tightly held his hand, accompanying him as he turned to leave this place he despised to the utmost.

The two walked out of Purple Imperial Hall, and General Wan Lao, who had been waiting, immediately rushed into the hall.

Upon discovering Emperor Yan still had a breath left, the ministers all sighed in relief.

As long as he hasn't died of exhaustion, Prince Su is not a patricide.

Everything else is easy to discuss.

General Wan Lao even personally took a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood from Emperor Yan's mouth.

Then the senior ministers all together collapsed beside Emperor Yan's bed and began wailing.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty—"

Emperor Yan lifted his eyebrows as lightly as a wisp of breath.

He wanted to speak.

He wanted them all to shut their mouths even more.

But the officials only cared about crying for themselves; no one paid attention to what Emperor Yan was thinking at this moment.

General Wan Lao even shouted baselessly: "What?"

"Your Majesty, you said, the throne will be passed to the Fifth Prince, Prince Su?"

"The old officials will faithfully obey the imperial decree!"

Emperor Yan's inner thoughts: Old Five, is this all your scheming?

Although Emperor Yan has been muddled these past few years, even having no idea what Duan Rongshi has been doing outside.

But at this moment, besides resenting himself for ending up in this situation, he actually accepted this outcome.

Yue'er...

Beloved consort...

If I really had been mistaken back then, fallen into the schemes of those despicable people——

If I truly die, will you still be willing to see me?

"Don't worry. He won't be able to see Mother Consort."

"Mother Consort must have already gone to the immortal realm, to become an otherworldly being who no longer needs to reincarnate as a human and suffer the torment of samsara."

"They, none of them will be able to see Mother Consort."

"A Shi, look——"

Li Qingluo brought Duan Rongshi to the highest point of the palace, pointing at the entire Jinling City.

The afterglow of the setting sun painted the great geese flying slowly over Jinling City into an eternally engraved beautiful picture.

Duan Rongshi held the hand of his beloved, his heart as calm as the evening glow at this moment, quietly waiting for all the hatred in his heart to completely fade away……

Farewell to the past.

Welcome, just the same.

Emperor Yan passed away.

The Fifth Prince, Prince Su Duan Rongshi, followed Emperor Yan's dying edict and inherited the orthodox imperial throne of the State of Liang.

However, the new emperor of DaLiang announced to the world at this moment, thereby unifying the State of Liang and the State of Chu.

All under heaven became one; from then on the two countries merged into a single entity, and the people became one family.

And he proclaimed the state name as Yue, the era name as Longshi, and set the capital at Jinling.

The people of Chu were initially not very pleased.

But there was nothing they could do, and they had to accept this fact.

After all, the state name had been changed; as long as they weren't turning Chu into DaLiang, the unification actually had little impact on the people.

However, since the capital was set at Jinling, the nobles and former officials of Chu in Nan'an all had to relocate with the capital.

However, the new emperor sent troops to follow and assist, and relocated households in batches, so the mental burden on Chu's nobles and officials was greatly reduced.

They were, after all, moving to the former capital of DaLiang under imperial orders, openly and honorably.

This is not just moving house; it is also imperial grace—how could it not be seen as another kind of encroachment from the heart?

Moreover, the emperor was originally the one they themselves had enfeoffed as emperor!

Therefore, by the principle of first come, first served, it was actually the Chu emperor who had seized DaLiang!

The Chu people took it quite openly.

After all, it was said that the new emperor, in order to purge and cleanse the court, had demoted half of the former officials in the Daliang Chao.

Naturally, those demoted officials were not exactly good people either.

Just like in the Chu court, it wasn't that only half of the officials had been purged; now only half of the officials followed to this new capital?

In the future, after the two courts merged, although it presented a new atmosphere, there would still be plenty of liveliness in the court.

This household move took half a year; only after half a year did the group led by Zhang Tingyi and Yang Qilang finally reach Jinling.

The prosperous and bustling new capital had already restored its former appearance, everywhere filled with novelties never seen by the Chu people.

The Chu officials, upon entering the city, were received by the DaLiang officials.

Each household reported their name, and were immediately taken in turn to the newly assigned residences that had already been prepared.

"Really, Your Highness, this is a gift bestowed upon us?"

Nobody dared to believe it.

Upon arriving at the new capital, even the residences had already been prepared.

Indeed, Your Highness's heart holds the Chu people!

The officials were deeply moved in their hearts.

And in their hearts they swore an oath to devote everything, body and soul, for the sake of Great Yue!

They would surely make Great Yue become a true prosperous age in one fell swoop!