Chapter 1 The Emperor's Sunset

The Yan Emperor sat there, his eyes fixed on the white figure in the doorway, as if seeing a shadow of his younger self.

He remembered the year,

He knelt before the sickbed of the late Emperor,

Holding a tray with medicine, his eyes red as he watched the late Emperor reach out for the pill;

"I must eat it.

I will not be some useless retired emperor.

The central imperial power of our Ji family is already so weakened. I seized the throne with the help of the Zhenbei Marquis’s mansion. The Li family will probably never be controlled by the central government again.

Therefore, the Ji family's pie is no longer big enough for us to keep dividing it among ourselves.

I prayed to gods and Buddha, sought immortals and medicines, a foolish emperor dying from taking pills, it's only right.

The Li family's fellow, I had a relationship with him, and he is also gone. You and the Li family's boy grew up together, I know you two are very close.

But the Li family boy, when he was a young marquis, he was just a young marquis, when he became a marquis, then he is a marquis. If you are still a crown prince, the status is not equal, the status is not equal, and the friendship will change.

I have to die quickly, so you can take over;

Sometimes, I look back and think about how I was forced out of the palace and relied on the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion to regain the throne. Was this the right thing to do after all?

Hao’er,

If you can't suppress the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion, if you can't fix the hole that I created, then I will truly become a sinner of my Ji family for all eternity.

Only after becoming emperor did I realize that the scenery I see is different.

The battles with my brothers were so fierce, the struggle for the throne was so intense, looking back now, if I could take a step back, perhaps I would really choose to take a step back. I believe your uncles would probably think the same.

Great Yan,

Is still too poor;

Internal strife after internal strife, just this little bit of wealth, what's the point of fighting over it?

"Father…"

The late Emperor on the sickbed looked at Ji Runhao, his face flushed with an unnatural color, and his neck was covered with dense, conspicuous black spots;

"I am not a good emperor, fortunately, I have a good son, Hao'er, when I go down, I will surely be scolded by the ancestors, but I can endure it, I will endure it;

I will wait below,

Waiting for the next generation of Emperor of Great Yan that I personally appointed, to make his achievements;

Your father is waiting,

Waiting for you down there, to earn face for your father before the ancestors!

Your father wants the ancestors to think that even if your father didn't do anything in this life, and was just foolish, as long as I gave birth to you, chose you, then my life was wise and worthwhile, hahaha…"

"I have nothing good to teach you. Since you started your own royal residence, I have ignored state affairs, only responsible for enjoying myself, indulging in pleasure, so that those aristocratic families would think that my Ji family is just like that, so that the old brother in the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion would find me reliable and steadfast;

In the royal residence, in the East Palace,

In fact, the government affairs were all handled by you.

I am not worried about your ability, but as a father, I must say a few words before leaving, otherwise, it feels like something is missing.

First,

My first half of life was basically spent fighting with my brothers, so I chose you, and I am convinced of you. Of course, even without my protection, you can suppress those brothers so they can't make any waves;

But I still have to tell you, when you are old, when you feel that you are running out of time, arrange the matter of passing on the throne properly, don't create the same chaos as I did.

Second,

Barbarians, barbarians, barbarians;

No matter when, the barbarians are a scimitar hanging over the heads of my Yan people. Don't think they are insignificant now, but you must always keep one eye on the desert.

Ji family ancestral motto,

The country can perish,

The family can fall,

But the barbarians,

Must not advance eastward!

Third,

My child, don't be too tired."

………

"Father, how can you be distracted at this time?"

Ji Chengjue's words pulled the Yan Emperor back to reality.

Between father and son,

One was not wearing a dragon robe, and the other was not wearing a python robe,

The only one wearing a four-claw dragon robe, the crown prince, came in high spirits, said it calmly, and knelt down easily;

The son, today, seemed to be drunk, his words and actions revealing a very clear frivolousness.

He was still so heavy, but no longer steady.

…

"Hao’er, I, am about to leave, I have no regrets. I have been an emperor, I have enjoyed blessings, I have done foolish things; I really have no regrets at all.

It's time for me to leave,

It's time to make way for my son;

It's time to make way for Great Yan;

It's time to make way for all of Xia.

Eight hundred years of Great Yan's dynasty and land, the foundation maintained by the ancestors' bloodshed, the glory guarded by generations of old Yan people;

I,

Give it to you!"

"Father!"

"My son, don't cry, smile;

The Emperor of Great Yan,

Can be foolish, can be tyrannical, can be unscrupulous,

But must never,

Shed a single tear!"

"Father!"

…

"Your son greets his father, may father be blessed and healthy."

Ji Chengjue knelt on one knee and performed a very simple salute.

The Yan Emperor sitting above was not angry because of this disrespectful gesture, but instead, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Before the Yan Emperor could tell him to rise,

Ji Chengjue had already stood up on his own.

"My son has finally grown up," the Yan Emperor said.

"Your son has actually grown up a long time ago." Ji Chengjue looked at the Yan Emperor, "It's you, Father, who have been suppressing me."

"Then tell me, have I suppressed you?"

"You have suppressed me. Crops are born in spring, grow in summer, and harvested in autumn, you cannot go against the seasons, but you have done it."

"Is that so?"

"Unfortunately, you can suppress your son, but you can't suppress your own destiny."

Ji Chengjue also smiled,

Father and son,

Both wore extremely similar smiles.

"Your son is grateful to this old heaven for finally taking you away. Your son really can't live like this anymore."

Ji Chengjue turned his head to look at the crown prince kneeling behind him,

"Second brother, can't live like this anymore either."

"I actually knew long ago that you, you, my sons, repeatedly shout 'Long Live' in front of me, but in your hearts, you wish I would die as soon as possible.

To make way for you, is that right?"

"Father, do you believe me, for a while, your son really thought about just being a foolish prince in this life, forgetting what should be forgotten, and settling what should be settled;

Living a life of drunken dreams, a life of joy and pleasure,

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

But,

You don't give your son a chance.

If your son is happy, you are not happy. You think you are working hard day and night, exhausting your efforts for Great Yan, for state affairs, and you cannot bear to hear your son's laughter."

"Chengjue, you underestimate me."

"No, your son doesn't. From the second day you praised your son as the most like you when you held your son in your arms at the age of ten, your son understood what you meant."

"You understood?"

"Understood."

"You understood very early?"

"I understood very early."

"So?"

"Father, what do you want?

So, your son has to be grateful to you?

So, your son has to cry bitterly for your painstaking efforts?

So, your son has to hold your leg now and cry out to you, your son misunderstood you, Father, you are so great, Father, you are too difficult, Father, your son will inherit your ambition in the future."

Ji Chengjue blinked,

Reached out,

Pointed at the Yan Emperor,

"Ji Runhao…"

The son,

The subject,

At this moment,

Directly called out the name of his lord and father.

"You're dreaming!"

The Yan Emperor placed his hands on the armrests of the chair and looked at his son disrespecting him.

But today, he did not have the slightest anger.

"Do as you please, I will not be angry today."

The crown prince kneeling there slowly raised his head upon hearing this.

His actions caught the Yan Emperor's attention;

When the crown prince looked up, he met the Yan Emperor's gaze;

Then,

The crown prince lowered his head again.

Ji Chengjue reached out and pulled a chair from the side and sat facing his father.

"Ji Runhao, I must have been born under an unlucky star to be born as your son!"

"When you were young, you had a wet nurse, you were not frozen to death on the roadside, you were not trafficked, you did not get frostbite, and you were not crippled.

Even now,

If you were not my son,

What qualifications do you have,

To appear here,

And lose your temper,

At me?"

The smile on the Yan Emperor's mouth deepened.

"Chengjue, you can't escape, you can't break free. Even if you go back now and scrub yourself a hundred or eighty times with soap, even if you peel off your skin.

You still can't change the fact that you are a prince of the Ji family, the fact that you are my son.

Without me,

There would be no you.

I know you have always been angry with me about your mother’s matter…"

The Yan Emperor tilted his head slightly,

Looking at the son sitting in front of him,

Continued:

"It was your mother who chose me first, that's why you were born, not choosing me for you."

"Tch…"

Ji Chengjue shook his head dismissively,

Said:

"Tsk tsk, Father, your shamelessness is really like your son."

"Hehe."

"I never thought you could forgive me, I owe Wu Jing, and I owe Liang Ting, but I have never owed you little bastards."

"We are little bastards, okay, then what are you?"

"I have long been worse than a beast."

"Hiss…"

Ji Chengjue stood up, as if looking for something around, and finally, simply tore off the snuff bottle tied to his waist and smashed it on the ground.

The father,

Failed to get forgiveness from his son;

The son,

Also failed to get repentance from his father.

This pair of father and son,

Even at this time, were still sulking, neither side willing to give in.

…

Outside,

Wei Zhonghe and Lu Bing stood side by side.

"My people can't be mobilized this time." Lu Bing opened his mouth, "From the moment the Sixth Highness entered my Lu residence, they understood that if it wasn't the Sixth Highness who ascended the throne, and it was any other prince, they would be purged by the new ruler along with me, Lu Bing."

In other words,

In addition to the East Palace guards outside the Lu residence, the elite fanzi (secret police) with masks inside the Lu residence had also defected to the Sixth Highness.

It wasn't their fault, they had no choice.

"The people from the Secret Intelligence Division haven't been arranged to come in."

"That's your negligence," Lu Bing said.

Wei Zhonghe glared at Lu Bing unhappily and said, "Who would have thought that Lord Lu would choose a side to stand on?"

"Likewise, likewise."

The two biggest spymasters of Great Yan were, at this time, outside the house, saying useless nonsense.

What was even more helpless was that,

They had nothing else to do now other than to say these nonsense words.

…

The Yan Emperor reached out and pointed to the three imperial edicts placed on the coffee table next to him.

"One is to depose the crown prince;

One is to establish the sixth imperial son;

One is to establish the seventh imperial son."

Ji Chengjue's gaze instinctively fell on the coffee table.

These three imperial edicts represented three different outcomes.

The first one combined with the second one, the sixth imperial son ascended the throne;

The first one combined with the third one, the seventh imperial son ascended the throne;

If none were taken out, then the crown prince ascended the throne.

"These are written by me personally, and have already been stamped." The Yan Emperor looked at his son, "I don't think that at this time, you will say to me that you don't want this country, you don't care about this world, and you disdain that dragon throne."

Ji Chengjue shook his head,

Said:

"Why wouldn't I want it? It should be mine in the first place."

"In this world, there has never been anything that should be the case."

"What are the requirements?" Ji Chengjue asked, "Call Chuanye over, and we father and son will act as filial grandsons, cry for you, and send you off?"

"I have arranged everything. I only need you to promise me one thing right now, and you will be able to smoothly sit on that dragon throne and rule Great Yan.

Outside,

Wei Zhonghe and Lu Bing, I have already ordered them, their loyalty to me can be guaranteed, with them two there, you will be very smooth.

The crown prince,

Is kneeling right there,

The imperial edict to depose the crown prince can be read by himself in front of the officials;

The imperial edict for the new ruler's ascension can be read by Wei Zhonghe, or even, you can let Zhao Jiulang read it for you;

I,

Can let you be clean in the history books, unable to be caught with any faults!

You are not seizing the throne by oppressing your brother and forcing your father,

You are the new ruler of Great Yan chosen for his virtue!

You can sit on that chair cleanly, without any criticism, and steadily.

In the capital,

The 15,000 Zhenbei army in those three battalions will be loyal to you, even if some clowns jump out, it will have no impact.

I,

Will give you this Great Yan, this court,

Without missing anything, without obscuring any light,

To you.

Throughout history, the handover of imperial power, being able to do it as smoothly and properly as I have done, is extremely rare.

Emperors all want to be emperor until they die, who would willingly arrange matters for their descendants, who would be willing to give up this supreme position?

I,

Can.

In addition,

When you ascend the throne,

Wu Jing and Liang Ting should have already arrived at the Northern Sealing Commandery. The Zhenbei Army's iron cavalry will go straight to Huanglong and destroy the barbarian royal court.

This great achievement,

Is what I left for you.

You will gain this earth-shattering feat as soon as you ascend the throne. With this achievement as a foundation, you will be very comfortable as emperor from the very beginning.

What is the most important thing for an emperor?

Not scheming, using scheming to govern a country is a secondary skill.

The Son of Heaven,

Should use his imperial authority to dominate the world,

Should use the general trend to conform to the will of heaven;

Cough cough cough…"

The Yan Emperor coughed violently,

But his eyes were still fixed on Ji Chengjue,

"I don't want to say much more. I know my son knows how to be an emperor, and I believe he can do as well as me.

The Chu people's vigor, the Qian people's courage, the barbarian's spirit,

I,

Have helped you eliminate them all.

Right now,

The country is exhausted and the people are in distress,

But it doesn't matter;

The imperial edict already includes my self-reproach.

It is I who have been militaristic, causing the people to live in poverty;

It is I who have been greedy for achievements, causing constant wars;

The natural disaster is a warning from heaven to me, I acknowledge it, and I accept it.

All the sins and responsibilities,

After you ascend the throne,

You can continue to push it all onto me.

Then,

You can recuperate, you can start anew with the people, you can win over the hearts of the people of Yan and Jin, to be used by your new ruler.

How to accumulate national strength,

You actually understand it better than I do.

As for the rest,

Zheng Fan,

Wu Jiang,

These people are the things you should deal with, you should mediate, and you should appease, I will not make any arrangements.

You are no longer the child who would only curl up in the corner and sob after seeing his mother die, that kind of child, no matter how smart, cannot take my chair!

I am very gratified,

You dared to walk in,

You dared to face me directly,

Dared to say the words to send me off;

This is my good son.

After you sit on that chair, you will be grateful to me, it was I who let you get used to that chair early."

Ji Chengjue shook his head and said:

"Father, I will not become like you, I will be a good father."

"You are an emperor, first, you have to be a good emperor."

Ji Chengjue smiled and continued to shake his head,

"I want to be a good father first, I don't want Chuanye to treat you the way I do now, father and son like enemies."

"Chuanye, is sick."

"After I ascend the throne, I will immediately make him the crown prince, this is the position that our father and son fought for together, he put in the effort, I will give it to him."

"Don't lie to yourself, Chengjue, when you sent the medicine to the Lu residence, don't lie to yourself anymore."

"I didn't!"

Ji Chengjue roared at the Yan Emperor,

"I won't become like you, become like you old thing, do you think you are great, do you think that all sacrifices are glorious for Great Yan, for your ambitious plans?

You are not human, you are just an old beast, you are destined to die a horrible death, a tyrant who deserves not to have a peaceful old age!

I will not become like you,

Absolutely,

Won't!"

The Yan Emperor did not argue, but quietly watched his son jump up like he had been stepped on his inverse scale.

After a while,

Ji Chengjue took a deep breath,

Said:

"What are the conditions? You just said that you wanted me to promise you one thing, is it a state affair?"

"State affairs, that is a matter for the new ruler, it has nothing to do with me."

Ji Chengjue narrowed his eyes, looked at the Yan Emperor, and asked;

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I, want you, to kill me here with your own hands.

Not with white silk,

Not with poison,

Nor let a few eunuchs suffocate me with a pillow;

I,

Want to watch with my eyes open,

Watching my son, the new ruler I chose, kill me with his own hands."

The crown prince kneeling to the side revealed a look of horror.

Ji Chengjue felt extremely absurd,

Pointing at the Yan Emperor, he said:

"Are you crazy?"

"I am not crazy.

What I want,

Is for you to dream every night when you go to sleep that it was you who personally killed your own father, this nightmare will continue until you are old, until the day before you die.

Yes, that's right,

I am dead,

But I will always be 'alive',

I will accompany you,

I will entangle you,

I will warn you,

Let you live in guilt,

Always remember, not daring to slack off in the slightest,

To be,

An emperor of Great Yan who is not inferior to me!"