Chapter 408: Historical Dilemma: Who Exactly Is Ji Ming's Mother?

The succession of the throne is of great importance; even if one wanted to intervene and was willing to stir up this muddy mess, one must wait until entering the royal capital and witness everything with one's own eyes before making a decision.

To hastily pick a side based on a single family's opinion, rushing at breakneck speed, is undoubtedly an extremely foolish act; Ji Ming could never make such a mistake.

So he neither agreed to Philip's invitation nor directly refused it.

Instead, he employed his usual Tai Chi Great Method, deflecting Philip's probes with one evasive maneuver after another, consistently maintaining an ambiguous stance.

Philip also saw Ji Ming's ambiguous attitude, but such a major matter couldn't be resolved simply by him pointing it out and pressing for answers.

He could only feign ignorance, indulging him, and laughed it off.

"Very good, Your Highness the Prince is a smart person; I enjoy talking with smart people and hope we'll have more opportunities like this to speak freely."

However, when faced with the God's Chosen's outstretched hand, Philip still grasped it without hesitation.

"Of course, the God's Chosen's knowledge is also unparalleled; I, who have learned a great deal, am already looking forward to our next meeting."

Ending with the classic exchange of mutual praise, the two concluded this private chat, which was essentially an extension of the banquet conversation.

Ji Ming bade farewell and left Philip's room.

"Huh..."

As the door clicked shut again, Philip did not hurriedly summon the servants back; instead, he pounded his lower back and sat back down in his seat.

Although the Northward Squad had done nothing but good deeds along the way, causing such a commotion, everyone in the royal capital was already buzzing with discussion.

They were all wondering whether this move was the church's intention or the action of the few remaining people of Lord Changge.

With one faction to the east and a bloc of interests to the west, this complicated situation is truly extremely vexing.

Thus Philip took a deep breath, only to wearily exhale it.

Meanwhile, Fiya, who had been listening in, slowly approached her brother, massaging his shoulders, the light in her eyes flickering with the sway of the lamps.

"Your Highness, he seems not to have agreed with us."

"Your guess is correct, but I think his meaning is already clear enough; there's no need to qualify it with 'seems'."

Feeling his sweat-soaked back, Philip's formerly confident face broke into a wry smile.

"Fiya, you should have seen the barbarians outside Jueqiao Pass, right? Do you think he really is a divine doctor from some uncivilized land, who, relying on the merits of healing and saving lives, received a divine summons and thus became the God's Chosen?"

Sometimes silence is not a bad thing; at least as an observer, one can perceive more with one's eyes.

So Fiya thought for a moment and shook her head.

"That land couldn't possibly raise someone like this; he looks even smarter than many great nobles."

Philip nodded but said nothing, only muttering after a long while.

"So who is he then? Is he a secret God's Chosen that the church deliberately raised there? Or was he privately cultivated, and now they just found some pretext to bring him to the surface... some other important figure?"

Saying this, Fiya behind him seemed to suddenly think of something.

"Could he possibly be someone related to the Changge Marquis from back then?"

"Hiss!"

Philip instantly sucked in a cold breath, because he actually had a train of thought that this sentence connected.

As a noble conscience still remembered by many commoners to this day, over the past decade or so, let alone those claiming to be nephews and nieces of Lord Changge.

Even those bold enough to claim they were the illegitimate children of Lord Changge, secretly or openly placing a green hat on Princess Meng Quan, are plentiful.

Although none of them are simply clout-chasing fools, if a well-meaning great noble presses them a little, they will tearfully admit their lowly origins.

But in noble circles, those who understand know that even the First Lionheart King, such a brilliant great monarch, could leave behind several cartloads of romantic debts—who knows if Lord Changge would or wouldn't?

Furthermore, based on what is known, anyone in the kingdom who could be linked to the God's Chosen—whether Te Ni Si or Ai Li Nuo—is a role of considerable complexity.

Chaos means anything is possible; any speculation, no matter how outlandish, can be forced to find some plausible-sounding evidence.

Moreover, no matter how complex, they can still find common ground in two places.

One is the church—they are all members of the Holy Light Church; the other is that they are all related to the Changge Western Advance of that year.

Therefore, as this brother and sister leisurely discussed this point, Fiya suddenly recalled a novel she had once read and blurted out.

"Your Highness, do you think it's possible that Ji Ming is actually the child of Archbishop Te Ni Si and the Changge Marquis?"

"Shh!"

Philip instantly widened his eyes in fright, gesturing to his little sister to keep quiet.

Only after the goosebumps that had suddenly risen all over his body had subsided did he wipe his forehead, which had broken out in a fine sweat.

"Silly girl, you mustn't talk nonsense like that!"

Fiya had already covered her mouth and nodded firmly.

"I know, I know, brother, but... since it's not just the two of us here, I merely made a bold guess."

One can't blame Philip for being overly reactive; one must understand that, as a somewhat strained but indeed long-lived species that outlives humans, Te Ni Si has witnessed the history of the Hui Guang Kingdom and the Holy Light Church for over five hundred years.

Although for the church she might be considered a semi-retired ascetic, for the kingdom it is not an exaggeration to say she has been a living fossil guarding from birth to the present.

That old lady back then could play chess with the ancestral king, dance with the ancestral queen, and of the twelve marshals, eight had received her Holy Light blessings, making her fully deserving of the status of a state elder.

Therefore, doubting that she has children with others is tantamount to questioning her identity as the leader of the celibate succubus faction.

It amounts to questioning her contributions to the church and kingdom, questioning the recognition of her by past monarchs and popes, questioning……

In any case, if you're prone to slippery slopes, claiming he directly questions the foundations of the state, even a little bit of Hui Guang treason is no problem!

"What, you say this counts as Hui Guang treason? Then what about the royal capital nobles who let the Changge Marquis's family be destroyed?"

"Big guts!"

"This is a slide you can't even touch!"

"But..."

"Actually speaking, it's actually not impossible!"

One must understand that the succubus clan's greatest talent is disguise; otherwise, with those tails, horns, and hooves exposed, the ducks in hand would surely fly off in a panic.

So the God's Chosen's Eastern appearance isn't necessarily genuine; it might just be a disguise for something.

……

Wait!

Philip suddenly realized that the Chosen One really was appearing in disguise; at that time he clearly had no abnormal coverings on him, but somehow……

He still remembers that feeling to this day; even though his art class grades are abysmal, he still wants to pick up a paintbrush and freeze that moment.

He is also a married man who likes women; if he were a woman……

"Yaya, what do you think the Chosen One looks like?"

"Well... this... do we even need to ask?"

Fiya didn't answer directly, but her slightly trembling hands already said it all.

This even made Philip think of the legend of the bewitching concubine who brought disaster to the state—a man who could outshine all beauties and even defeat the terrifying succubus of the First Lionheart King.

Most importantly, if they weren't mother-son and half-siblings, how could the three of them have gotten together? It surely couldn't be because of some shared ideal……

Having come to this point, Fiya loosened her grip on her brother's shoulder, sat opposite him, lowered her head in thought for a moment, and finally asked softly.

"Really impossible?"

Philip even hesitated with an "huh" before realizing what she was agonizing over, then after a pause gave a complex smile.

"Yaya, I'm glad to see you still holding onto your purity, but......"

He stopped speaking, leaned back on the sofa staring at the ceiling for a long while.

"Okay."

He looked at his sister's eyes.

"I'll strive to keep you thinking that way, and Kai, and Jacqueline, too!"

While the brother and sister held a family mini-meeting to gossip about others, Ji Ming, who had inexplicably gained a mom and three dads, had already fallen asleep.

Of course, he was sleeping alone.

【Then I'll go?】

Unfortunately, attending the banquet was just an interlude; adults each have their own busyness.

Therefore, early the next morning, after breakfast, the three parted ways under the respectful send-off of the Withered Wood Viscount.

"See you in the Royal Capital!"

"See you!"

Watching the carriage bearing the royal crest fade into the distance, Ji Ming also directed the carriage arranged for him by the viscount to head in the opposite direction.

No need to overthink things; after all those battles, wanting to know what the archbishop thought of this matter, it was actually just a matter of going over and asking her directly.

Thus, three days later, when he arrived early at the agreed meeting point, after giving the carriage driver extra money to rush, he waited outside this pass.

Indeed, a pass, and yet another pass.

However, compared to Jueqiao Pass, which is majestic and magnificent, a single glance making one's blood boil, and has become the top of the "Sun Moon Top Ten Must-Visit Spots" for players, this pass is really……

Too delicate?

The surrounding slopes are gentle, like a tourist spot, hardly rugged; the markets and settlements around are scattered everywhere, leaving no place to hide.

As for the pass itself, it's endlessly frustrating; although many places show hints of elven style, it's completely a case of trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog.

Let alone anything else, Jueqiao Pass only does carvings and stonework for aesthetic pursuit in unimportant places; the basic requirement of a military spectacle must be met.

And this pass called Giant Gate is simply stuffed with artworks to flaunt artistic taste, even putting up two big statues on either side—it's practically begging for a bombardment.

What's more ridiculous is that Ji Ming didn't know who those two idiots were; he found out only after chatting with the bartender during a meal.

Oh, so the one on the right is the First Sun King—no wonder there's a disc behind him; I thought it was Captain America changing his mind and not letting the locomotive be a soldier boy.

And the one on the left? Hey, guess what? It's the First Lionheart King!

Exactly, five hundred years ago, those two good buddies signed the peace treaty and alliance oath here; these two statues were erected by the forefather kings to commemorate that.

Ji Ming also thought this thing was either the chief marshal who earned great merit when the state was founded, or the tragically dead Changge Marquis—after all you……

You need to have face, don't you?

Who would have thought the great nobles of Radiance are truly shameless—never mind past relations, now the people of Deep Forest are about to ravage your western borders into a ragdoll, yet you're still here being filial!

He held on until he met up with the archbishop, seeing Little Lion reading in the prison wagon, then he took advantage of nobody noticing here, lying outside and speaking softly.

"Giuseppe! Do you see those two things erected on the city wall?"

"What?"

He pushed up his glasses, possibly due to personal habit, and Little Lion poked out his withered head to gaze into the distance.

Those two statues were painted with a special pigment, so they are clearly visible even from far away, but he didn't know what they were, so he just frowned.

"Who are these idiots, just standing there like vegetables getting rained on?"

Ji Ming: …Truly worthy of being a fellow from a parallel universe, his speech is refined and easygoing.

"Ah, the one on the right is the First Sun King, the one on the left is you."

"Oh! Haha, no wonder—I said how could it be carved so heroic and mighty! Turns out it's me—haha, pretty good, really nice, good!"

Looking at this death knight who was arrogant then submissive, whose skill at changing faces surpasses his own, Ji Ming couldn't help but marvel that he truly is one of the greatest monarchs of the past thousand years.

"Even with amnesia he can pull off such a splendid performance—he really does have a trick up his sleeve (thumbs up)."

And the archbishop had Ji Ming meet them here for a reason; this Giant Gate Pass looks full of flaws, but that's also because its main purpose now is no longer to keep enemies out.

Looking at the civilians strictly examined and given all kinds of difficulties, while merchant caravans could bribe their way through with a wink, and noble convoys passed unimpeded, Ji Ming understood everything.

——The main purpose of this pass now is actually to act as a sieve, letting the wealthy in while the penniless poor stop here, so as not to dirty the lords' eyes.

He also belatedly realized why the market outside this pass could be so frenzied, and bustling to the extreme.

……Because perhaps for ordinary people, this is the furthest they can reach in life; greater prosperity does not belong to them.

Ji Ming turned his head elsewhere and saw Tenisi leading the way straight ahead without glancing sideways, while Elinor huddled in the carriage, not knowing what she was doing.

Only the Little Lion in the rear of the troop had put down his book, gazing into the distance at the chattering, and occasionally hearing the cries of the civilian troop, he seemed thoughtful.

They noticed Ji Ming looking at himself, then they turned their head back and gave a Schwarzenegger-like hard smile, then continued to stare blankly in that direction.

Ji Ming suddenly recalled the words the other party had mentioned during his first interrogation.

"Great undertaking……"

Giant Gate, Giant Gate, naturally it is the gate of the Royal Capital; therefore, after passing through Giant Gate Pass, only half a day later, a faint shadow appeared on the horizon.

Moreover, this 'one path' is not due to laziness in not knowing what measure word to use and just piling it up; it is truly a single path.

From left to right, it filled the extreme of the field of view, making Ji Ming involuntarily think of that boundless wall named Death in 'The Wandering Earth'.

Fortunately, this wall at least has limits in the vertical dimension, so it is not Death, but the royal capital of the Hui Guang Kingdom—Qixia City.

(End of chapter)