V2C126

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The emperor fell silent, only coughing a few times and after a while said, “That is also true. Life doesn’t last a hundred years, constantly worrying about a thousand things…”

The two brothers stared at each other in silence in the depth of the palace, with only the faint sound of the wind whistling across the room.

“Tomorrow morning at the morning court, I will proclaim the decree drawn up today.” After a long pause, the emperor coughed and whispered, “Do you think… that the Green King and his son Qing Gang, will simply rebel?”

“Hard to say.” The Grand Master replied simply, “That old fox is meticulous, not someone who is acting on the spur of the moment, neither his eldest son would rise up in rebellion at the first sign of anger because of his fellow kinsmen.”

“Well…” the emperor pondered, “in that case, do you think he will endure it instead?”

“It’s hard to say. According to our spies, the Green King has recently been in close contact with the Ice Clan on the Western Sea, so he must be plotting something.” The Grand Master frowned, and his expression turned grave, “Moreover, at this moment when you are critically ill, and Shi Ying has just returned to the Imperial Capital, it is the easiest time to take advantage of the transition from the old to the new – with the intelligence of the Green King, he may not let go of this opportunity.”

“…that too.” The emperor turned gloomy, thinking bitterly about the situation unfolding in front of him, and coughed violently, his entire body curling into a ball.

“Well, recover properly first and don’t think too much about it.” The Grand Master formed a seal in his palm and pushed it on his back, “Leave these things for us to worry about.”

The emperor gasped for breath with a cough, nodding slightly and closed his eyes for a few moments of peace.

“Cough… I remember you asked me to write a decree to exterminate the entire family of the Red King last time,” after a long silence, the emperor abruptly opened his mouth to ask, “Did you later… did you afterwards used it?”

“It was put to use.” The Grand Master trailed off.

The emperor stared at him, and proceeded with a new question, “Was it used to facilitate this marriage between the White and Red clans?”

“…” The Grand Master couldn’t help but glance at his elder brother again, a hint of surprise crossing through his eyes, “Ah-Jun, I really didn’t expect you to still have such a sharp mind even at this late time.”

“Probably… ahem, probably a return to the light.” The emperor chuckled bitterly and shook his head, “You were trying desperately to secure the union of the two clans in order to allow Shi Ying to succeed the throne without difficulties, weren’t you?”

“It’s not just for that.” The Grand Master shook his head, and his voice suddenly dropped.

Yes, it was more than that.

The future emperor of Kongsang must marry the daughter of the White Clan. If that girl was not completely removed from Shi Ying’s side, if the ties between the two of them were not completely severed, how could Shi Ying take the throne with his mind unhindered? If Shi Ying does not occupy this position, who will guard the nation of Kongsang? How much power is needed to fight against the fate of the heavens when the astral signs are so perilous…

The wind was still blowing across the night sky, but the stars overhead were already changing. From this night onwards, the whole situation in Kongsang was about to take a huge turn for the worse!

With the emperor’s official consent, the royal marriage between the two clans was put high on the priority agenda. Within just a few days after the decree was issued, the tedious royal wedding formalities were completed. It took an entire morning for the Red King’s residence to finish counting all the items on the betrothal list. In the Red King’s Royal Residence, Zhu Yan couldn’t help but sigh as she looked at the boxes of jewels and trinkets, and turned back towards the person sitting on the opposite side of the table, “You prepared this entire list, didn’t you, Xueying?”

“How could you tell?” Hearing her friend asking this, she couldn’t help but smile.

Zhu Yan skimmed her lips, “The stuff on this list are all things that you would like.”

” Is not what you like?” Xueying smiled a little, but that smile came from a heavy heart, “I remember you had seen before my face-resetting pearl brush, or the cleansing dust rhino horn and kept clamoring that you also wished to own one… Look, aren’t they all given to you now?”

Zhu Yan quickly patted the back of Xueying’s hand and said, “I like them very much… please spare me the nonsense.”

Xueying nodded without making any comment.

After not seeing each other for only a few days, she looked even thinner, her lower jaw sharpened, her wrists were frail, and her frown was filled with sadness. Zhu Yan knew that she was worried about Shi Yu, whose whereabouts were still unknown, and at the moment, the court had undergone a huge upheaval; Shi Yu has been deposed, and the White King has switched sides and started to support the new Crown Prince, which has been an even greater blow to Xueying.

Apart from her, there was probably no one else in the entire Imperial Capital to remember Shi Yu.

Zhu Yan looked at her best friend who was so depressed, but didn’t know how to comfort her, so she could only push the tea in front of her over, “Can you at least have a little? Look at how thin you’ve become.”

Xueying’s hand trembled, silently gripping her teacup tightly and lowering her head, “Ah-Yan, I… I don’t think Shi Yu is ever going to come back.” She spoke in a soft voice and suddenly raised her head, and her tone faltered, “He… they must have killed him!”

Zhu Yan was taken aback, “Killed by who?”

“That Prince of the White Empress, Shi Ying! It must be him!” Xueying gritted her teeth, “They would do anything to steal this throne!”

“No it won’t! Don’t be ridiculous!” Zhu Yan also trembled, but although her mouth said so, her voice was no longer as loud as when she retorted before – the moment she suddenly saw her Master appear in the Palace, a great shock rose in her heart: that person who was transcendent and ignored the struggle for power, had actually come to the Imperial Capital!

Why did he turned around and killed his way back to the center of the power struggle, taking the throne away from his brother, when he claimed to have resigned from his divine position to leave Yunhuang and travel the seven seas?

This series of events with tremendous implications, linking one to another, closely following each other, obviously could not be organized in a matter of moments. Master… Did he really plan all this in advance? The main point she failed to understand was, that he is such a powerful person, as long as he wanted to, he could overthrow the entire world with just one hand.

But… how could he possibly be such a person? Zhu Yan’s heart felt vaguely stinging and extremely confused, and she lowered her head without speaking.

“The truth is that it’s better if he doesn’t come back. In this situation now, Shi Yu is already as good as dead even if he comes back.” When she came back to her senses, she only heard Xueying murmuring along to the side, “I’ve been having dreams lately about him covered in blood. He tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear him clearly!”

She was sobbing, her thin shoulders bouncing up and down while her eyes were raining tears. Zhu Yan stared at her friend helplessly, feeling pain in her heart but not knowing what to say to comfort her, and after a moment of numbness, she asked, “So now, what are you going to do?”

“I… I don’t know. I just want to die.” Xueying sobbed, burying her face into the palm of her hands, murmuring in grief and despair, “Why am I still alive when Shi Yu is already gone…?”

Zhu Yan’s heart tightened, and looking at her cold, desperate eyes, she suddenly felt as if she was witnessing her own self from the past – yes, this kind of feeling, she had experienced it too! When all the people she loved left, she couldn’t want to live in despair, she didn’t want to remain alone in the world even for a moment longer. Was Xueying now as helpless and desperate as she was back then?

How could she be of help?

The next time she has the chance to face her Master again, she must seize the opportunity to ask him about Shi Yu’s whereabouts at any cost. But… what if he does answer, or the answer is something she doesn’t want to know, then… what should she do?

“Don’t be like that.” Zhu Yan sighed, “You must live well.”

“What’s the point of living? It’s better to die and be done with it.” Xueying’s sobbing stopped for a moment, and a mournful expression appeared on her pointed melon face as she shook her head, “Ugh, this is really forcing people to gasp for breath. If… if it weren’t for…”

She lifted her hand to her belly but didn’t continue, her face looking convoluted.

Zhu Yan was a thoughtless person and did not pursue the reason, but simply said, “You must not become consumed by thoughts of death, but rather think of something more positive – you must continue to hold on. What if Shi Yu didn’t die and returns by tomorrow? If you die, wouldn’t it mean you won’t be able to see him again?”

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