Chapter 835

"No, Father Emperor, if anyone must die, let your child die in your place…"

Just as Tie Muzhen was preparing to stretch out his neck for the execution, a figure came running rapidly from the distance.

"Father Emperor, if anyone must die, let your son die in your place!"

The one who came was Tie Muzhen's second son, and also his legitimate eldest son, Wokuotai.

Tie Muzhen had four legitimate sons in total: Shuchi, Wokuotai, Chahatai, and Prince Tuo Lei.

Among them, Shuchi's birth was unclear, so he could only be considered born of a concubine.

Instead, this second son Wokuotai became the legitimate eldest son.

It's just that among these four sons, Shuchi was the most valiant, Chahatai the most intelligent, and Prince Tuo Lei the youngest and most filial.

Although Wokuotai was the legitimate eldest son, he was not favored by Tie Muzhen.

At this critical moment of peril, Wokuotai alone rushed out.

Tears streaming down his face, he ran to Tie Muzhen's side, knelt on the ground, and kept kowtowing toward Senior Xiaoyaozi who sat high upon the Black Dragon's head, pleading,

"Fourth Dragon Head! My Father Emperor is old and frail, and after today's ordeal, I'm afraid he has only a few years left to live.

I beg the Fourth Dragon Head to show mercy beyond the law and allow me to die in my father's place."

"Wokuotai…"

Tie Muzhen could not help feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart.

He had not expected that at the moment of death, among his four legitimate sons, only Wokuotai—the one he least favored—had come forward to die in his place.

Prince Tuo Lei was severely wounded and had not woken; the senior monks of Wang Si had been trying to save him but still could find no way—this would be set aside for now.

As for the other two, Shuchi and Chahatai, not a single one had shown himself.

At this moment, Tie Muzhen felt that only at the brink of life and death could one truly see a person's true nature.

He watched as Wokuotai's forehead struck against the broken walls and rubble, until bloodstains appeared.

Tie Muzhen's heart clenched in pain. He helped Wokuotai up and said gently,

"Wokuotai, there's no need for this. Your filial heart—Father Emperor has taken it all to heart!

It's just that all of this can only be borne by me. You are still young; you cannot just die like this."

"No, Father Emperor, your child cannot bear to watch you go to your death…"

Wokuotai's face was covered in blood and tears, speaking in heartbroken agony.

"Enough! After I die, the countless soldiers and civilians of this Great Yuan will still need a sovereign.

Since you possess filial piety and are also my legitimate son, then before the faces of Yelu Chu and Boyan, I shall pass the position of Khan to you."

Moved by emotion, and at this life-and-death juncture, Tie Muzhen's thoughts suddenly became clear, and he thus bequeathed the position of Great Yuan's Great Khan.

The supreme throne of Great Yuan, though named Great Khan, was in truth no different from a Qin Emperor or Tang Huang.

"No! Father Emperor, you should take this seat; your child will die in your place."

Hearing Tie Muzhen bequeath the throne of Great Yuan's Great Khan, a flash of joy crossed Wokuotai's eyes and vanished in an instant.

Then, from the ground, he drew out a broken blade and slashed it straight across his own neck.

His cultivation was even inferior to Tie Muzhen's.

Let alone the fact that they were so close together.

At the sight of this, Tie Muzhen, disregarding everything, reached out and intercepted the path of the broken blade.

Crack!

The broken blade was tightly locked in Tie Muzhen's Hukou; fresh blood poured down unceasingly, instantly dyeing Tie Muzhen's palm red.

"Father Emperor…"

At the sight, Wokuotai was both panicked and full of pity.

"Child Wokuotai, from this day forth, Great Yuan is entrusted to you."

With a look of utter resolve, Tie Muzhen suddenly snatched the broken blade from Wokuotai's hand and, reversing his grip, drove it straight into his own chest.

His suicide had been carried out under the instructions of the Qinglong Society; whether it was the people of the Qinglong Society or the surviving Yuan ministers such as Yelu Chu and Boyan, not a single one stepped forward to stop him.

So much so that the broken blade pierced clean through his chest, and in an instant fresh blood covered his entire breast.

"Father Emperor, Father Emperor…"

Wokuotai wept bitterly, holding Tie Muzhen's body and wailing without cease.

"Good child, Father Emperor is gone. You must treat the people of Great Yuan well, and… and your… your younger brothers!"

The thrust this time was extremely deep; even Tie Muzhen's speech was no longer fluent.

At the moment of death, he thought again of his other three children, especially Prince Tuo Lei who was still in a state of severe injury and unconsciousness, and could not help wanting to give some final instructions.

Wokuotai held his body, trembling constantly. Hearing the last half of the sentence—perhaps because Tie Muzhen's voice was too soft—he seemed not to have heard it clearly.

Unable to help himself, he wept as he said,

"I will certainly treat the people of Great Yuan well. Father Emperor, rest in peace!"

"And… and…"

At Tie Muzhen's final moments, hearing Wokuotai's words, he felt something was amiss and wanted to give further instructions.

But whether Wokuotai did it intentionally or not, his trembling pulled at the wound more and more; blood flowed like a fountain, and how could his words possibly be completed?

Before long, Tie Muzhen ultimately failed to finish his final words and passed away in Wokuotai's arms.

"Great Khan…"

Yelu Chu and Boyan, confirming that Tie Muzhen's vitality had completely faded, only then fell to their knees and wept in anguish.

Wokuotai's little performance just now—the two of them were shrewd men; how could they possibly fail to see through it?

But Tie Muzhen had taken his own life, and on his deathbed had named Wokuotai as the next Great Khan.

How could they be so foolish as to expose the shortcomings of their new Great Khan?

"Enough, enough!"

Senior Xiaoyaozi noticed that Tie Muzhen's life force had completely dissipated, and he really did not want to keep watching Wokuotai's clumsy performance any longer, so he cut in impatiently.

"The newly appointed Great Khan of the Great Yuan, Wokuotai, pays respects to the Fourth Dragon Head, the Seventh Dragon Head, Mr. Wu, Mr. Xu…"

Hearing the impatient tone in Senior Xiaoyaozi's voice, Wokuotai simply set Tie Muzhen's corpse aside.

He turned toward the members of the Qinglong Society and began kowtowing to each of them in turn, paying his respects.

That fawning manner did not resemble at all the Khan of the Great Yuan, one of the three great imperial courts; on the contrary, it was not even a match for an ordinary member of the Qinglong Society.

Senior Xiaoyaozi could not help feeling a bit disgusted, but he also knew that now was not the time to truly overthrow the Great Yuan, so he could only hold his nose and wait for Wokuotai to finish paying his respects, then said,

"Since you are the new sovereign of the Yuan nation, do you intend to continue leading the Yuan nation and being an enemy of the Qinglong Society?"

In truth, if the Great Yuan continued to be an enemy of the Qinglong Society, Senior Xiaoyaozi and the others of the Qinglong Society were not the least bit afraid.

This time, coming to attack the imperial court of the Great Yuan, slaying the extraterrestrial Buddha Huang Tian the Great Buddha, forcing the Great Yuan's Great Khan Tie Muzhen to his death, and in addition almost completely purging the Great Yuan's central administration.

One deed after another, one matter after another, when spoken of they seemed shockingly dreadful.

In reality, for the Qinglong Society, it was not all that difficult.

It was simply that now was not the time to overthrow the Great Yuan, which was why Senior Xiaoyaozi asked in this way.

Wokuotai, not knowing what he was thinking, remained kneeling on the ground, raised his head, and replied,

"Reporting to the Fourth Dragon Head, the Great Yuan's being an enemy of the Qinglong Society before was truly solely the doing of the former Great Khan Tie Muzhen acting on his own.

As a subject, I often offered remonstrances.

I said that the Qinglong Society's Great Dragon Head is the foremost taboo of the Nine Provinces, unmatched beneath the heavens.

Others such as the Fourth Dragon Head, Senior Xiaoyaozi, the Seventh Dragon Head Zhang Sanfeng Zhang Zhenren…"

"Enough, enough…"

Senior Xiaoyaozi saw that his posture suggested he was preparing to flatter every mid- and high-level member of the Qinglong Society present all over again, and could not help feeling a vague headache coming on, so he cut in directly,

"No need to say more! Since you do not intend to continue being our enemy, then choose a day to send someone and come to Qinglong Peak according to this!"

As he spoke, Senior Xiaoyaozi tossed down a jade pendant from above.

Under Senior Xiaoyaozi's exquisite cultivation, this jade pendant landed squarely in Wokuotai's hands.

After tossing down the jade pendant, Senior Xiaoyaozi asked Zhang Sanfeng,

"Seventh Dragon Head, this matter ends here today. What do you think?"

After all, the reason for coming this time was still the Heavenly Dao Golden List—using the matter of Long Xiang Seng ascending the list to make the bloody case of Wu Dangpai back then known to the world.