Amidst the laughter,
Li Zhaoyuan dissipated the cultivation technique from his body.
The mutiny tonight at the Pri Minister’s Mansion was overwhelming, and even with precautions, the Battle of Di’an was destined to conclude in failure for the Imperial Family. He persisted until now, knowing that even if he died, Li Qingyan would take up the banner of the Dayan Royal Family.
By that ti,
under the high pressure of the rebellion at the Pri Minister’s Mansion, all the shackles that once restricted Li Qingyan from ascending to the throne would be destroyed. The strength of the Imperial Family would rally without hindrance around this princess of military renown, propelling her to the throne.
At this mont, this reasoning for surrendering before the battle,
naturally left Li Zhaoyuan without any motivation to continue fighting.
Yet before his death,
he wanted to ask his imperial sister what she was thinking.
By allying with Xu Changtian and fabricating charges of treason, she might indeed, with her military prestige and the legitimate lineage, ascend to the throne and continue the cooperation with the Pri Minister’s Mansion, but the shackles that once prevented her from ascending would return.
The Marquis of Wucheng’s Mansion may not oppose, but the Imperial Faction’s high-ranking ministers aren’t just the Marquis of Wucheng, nor are those with military power only the Marquis of Wucheng. How could they easily agree to let the head of the Xu Family’s bedside companion ascend the throne?
This is an irreconcilable contradiction.
To concentrate power, one must kill,
and the killing must be comprehensive.
Without these people, how could you fight the Pri Minister’s Mansion?
Don’t talk nonsense that Xu Changtian has no desire for the throne,
when reaching that position,
at that mont,
with such prestige!
Even if he doesn’t want to sit, he will be pushed to sit upon it!
The thousand-year reign of Dayan....
will eventually beco a sigh of regret.
The night deepened,
and with the arrival of Li Qingyan,
the intensity of the Battle of Di’an gradually decreased,
and the two most elite troops of the Dayan Court began to withdraw from the battlefield center in batches.
The Imperial Guards headed north, and the Black Scale troops headed south.
In front of Weiyang Palace,
the snow from the sky quickly covered the ruins before the palace courts.
Li Zhaoyuan watched the man who walked toward him on the snow, the Emperor’s Sword in his hand causing a cold ripple, reversing the grip to hand the hilt to the man who ca close.
The outco was decided; this was his ans of preserving dignity.
Xu Yuan looked at Li Zhaoyuan, who was ready to face death, silently gripping the hilt handed to him, but found that Zhaoyuan’s hand still tightly clutched the blade.
With a slight lift of his eyelids,
then,
he saw the unwillingness in his eyes.
In the end, it was unwilling...
Li Zhaoyuan looked at the man who had been elevated since birth and asked:
"Xu Changtian, what did I do wrong?"
Xu Yuan was silent for a mont, then calmly whispered:
"You did nothing wrong. From your standpoint, everything you did was perfect, but unfortunately, I can’t see any possibility of the future from you."
Li Zhaoyuan and Xu Yuan did not share the decades-long bond of the previous generation of imperial chancellor, but at this mont, Li Zhaoyuan understood the aning in Xu Yuan’s words.
This made his grip on the blade tighter, blood silently flowing from his palm along the Emperor’s Blade, dyeing the accumulated snow red.
In a deep voice, Li Zhaoyuan asked:
"Have you found sothing beyond the ideals of Xu Xiang?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"To enlighten the wise and teach the world."
"Ha.... the previous generation was already doing this."
"I’m referring to everyone."
"......"
Li Zhaoyuan was slightly stunned and then let out a wry smile:
"You’re insane."
Xu Yuan noncommittal:
"Perhaps."
Li Zhaoyuan took a deep breath, staring intently at Xu Yuan:
"I’m serious; bestowing cultivation and knowledge upon the common people—they won’t be grateful to you. They’ll take it for granted and then greedily demand more from you."
Xu Yuan laughed softly:
"Yes, I know, but that will be a Human Immortal Dynasty."
Quickly hypothesizing this future in his mind, Li Zhaoyuan said:
"Although the common folk are insignificant, they can unite. When this change reaches a certain point, they will use what you’ve given them against you. What will you do then?"
Hearing this question, Xu Yuan smiled and offered a well-thought-out response:
"If those against can present a new order that convinces ,
"I think,
"I will welco that day with a smile."
"...."
Li Zhaoyuan released the blade, instinctively taking half a step back, looking at Xu Yuan as if looking at a monster, his heart racing, and blood dripping unnoticed into the snow.
Unknown how long it passed,
Li Zhaoyuan quietly said:
"The future you describe actually makes a bit moved, Xu Changtian."
Xu Yuan fully took the Emperor’s Blade from his hand, wiped off the blood with his sleeve, and replied blandly:
"Who wouldn’t be moved by such a future?"
"Actually, you could have communicated with . I have always been looking for a future."
"Other than this mont, do you think I could have said it?"
"True."
Li Zhaoyuan sighed gently, speaking slowly:
"Once spoken, not only others, even the most intimate upper echelons of your Pri Minister’s Mansion would oppose you. You’re upending their foundation.
"However,
"This reason cannot be your justification for taking such risks and instigating chaos at this critical mont.
"Tonight’s chaos, any mistake would an utter ruin, not to ntion achieving that ideal, even the aspirations of the previous imperial chancellor would turn to ashes."
Xu Yuan was silent for a mont, then whispered:
"Destiny is about to descend, right at Di’an."
Hearing this, Li Zhaoyuan imdiately understood:
"If he descends, it will surely be to kill you, this disaster. You indeed can’t trust , and I indeed don’t deserve to be trusted."
After these words,
both n in front of Weiyang Palace fell silent.
But only for a mont, Li Zhaoyuan smiled and said:
"Do it."
"Yes."
Xu Yuan nodded,
raising the Emperor’s Sword and slowly pierced it into the man’s chest before him,
blood gushing out instantly dyed his python robe red.
Xu Yuan applied no spellcraft.
Li Zhaoyuan did not use his cultivation to heal.
The outco of this life, the gains or losses no longer mattered to him.
Feeling the rapid loss of vitality, Li Zhaoyuan looked at the man before him, with a tinge of hope asked:
"You desire the future, I acknowledged it. Do you think if we t in a different place, under different identities, the outco might be different now?"
Xu Yuan thoughtfully considered for a short while, eventually shook his head and said:
"How many Jia-Qing imperial chancellor pairs have existed through the ages?"
With the Emperor’s Sword embedded, Li Zhaoyuan uncontrollably kneeled in the courtyard before Weiyang Palace, lowering his eyes and whispering:
"Indeed, what a pity."
"Yes."
Lastly, Xu Yuan patted Li Zhaoyuan, wiping the blood off the Emperor’s Blade with his sleeve, calmly saying:
"Such a future, who wouldn’t be moved by it?"
Then he walked away slowly toward the horizon.
His disgust towards him had long faded upon ascending to the utmost position,
Li Zhaoyuan’s life.
Many of his qualities had already exceeded the age’s boundaries,
in this extraordinary world, he could see that even the humble people have a collective force.
His regint of the holess should not have ended in tragedy tonight,
but the limits of the era, the forr emperor’s sches, all this eventually constrained this man who had stood up from the hell since birth.
...
...
...
In the forty-eighth year of Jiaying, on the sixth day of February, Crown Prince Yuan died of illness, and the courtiers mourned,
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