458 Heir of the Emperor
The doors to the Hall of Supreme Peace were slowly pushed open.
Mu Chunfeng sat in a corner, his face exhausted, but when he saw that it was Xiao Se who pushed open the door to step in, he slowly turned his head. Xiao Se stepped into the Hall of Supreme Peace and turned to look at Mingde Emperor's sick bed. Hua Jin was slumped over next to the bed with her medicine case scattered around her. She was already fast asleep.
Mingde Emperor reached out and caressed her head, speaking with a gentle voice. "She's such a good child." He raised his head and looked at Xiao Se, his eyes bright as if lit by a torch, sweeping away the malaise of the past few months. In fact, his face seemed to glow with radiance.
But the sight felt like a stone that hit Xiao Se heavily in his heart.
The final radiance of sunset.
Grief welled up in Xiao Se's heart. Long ago, he left Heavenly Revelations City and all these years, he held onto a sense of resentment towards Mingde Emperor. Even when he returned to Heavenly Revelations City, the two of them rarely met. But now that everything had come to light, and he finally understood why Mingde Emperor had to resort to what he did, Xiao Se still couldn't let go of the knot in his heart. Now, though, Mingde Emperor was about to die, and he was finally able to feel the grief unravel in his heart.
"Father," Xiao Se called out and knelt down on the ground.
"Your Majesty." Jin Xuan also followed and knelt down on the ground.
Mingde Emperor smiled, sat up on his bed and got down. He helped Xiao Se and Jin Xuan up and said slowly, "We are about to die."
In the Hall of Supreme Peace, all the inner eunuchs and palace maids immediately knelt down.
Jin Xuan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty must not joke about this!"
"We're not joking." Mingde Emperor stood there, a smile of relief on his face. "The little genius doctor told us just now, that we have two choices. One is to live and she could guarantee another three years, but we will never be able to leave this bed again. The other will let us live a normal life again, but maybe only for three days. Can the two of you guess which choice we would make?"
"The boldness of Hua Jin! How dare she let Your Majesty make such a choice!" Jin Xuan rebuked angrily.
Mingde Emperor gestured a sign of "silence" at Jin Xuan. "She's exhausted. Don't wake her up. This choice was made by us. Jin Xuan, prepare an edict for us."
Jin Xuan bowed his head. "Yes."
"The choice we made today was to force the doctor, Hua Jin, to obey. Hua Jin saved us at a time of crisis and is awarded ten thousand taels of gold, two rooms from the Heavenly Revelations Medicine House, and conferred as Deputy Director of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. Unless summoned, she is not allowed to enter Heavenly Revelations." Mingde Emperor glanced at Mu Chunfeng in the corner. "Young master Mu, have we forgotten anything?"
Mu Chunfeng shook his head. "Thank you, Your Majesty, on behalf of shifu."
"Oh yes. Mu Chunfeng, third son of the Qingzhou Mu family, assisted significantly in saving us and is conferred a cedar longboat. The boat shall be christened Spring Breeze," Mingde Emperor added with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Mu Chunfeng hurriedly thanked the Emperor.
"When we were young, we once shared a drink with your father and had a long chat. Your father is an ambitious man. He allowed you to come to Heavenly Revelations but naturally, it wasn't so you could study medicine, yes? What does he want? A cedar longboat is probably not enough." Mingde Emperor turned around, pointed at Xiao Se, and said loudly, "If we let this good friend of yours be the next emperor, would that be enough?"
"Father," Xiao Se called out softly, interrupting Mingde Emperor.
Mingde Emperor smiled and said, "Do you want to be emperor?"
Xiao Se did not answer.
"Back then, when the late emperor asked us, we answered like this, the Emperor was chosen by Heaven, not by man. It was meaningless to consider whether you wanted it. It all depends on that moment, whether or not you are prepared for the burden of all under Heaven." Mingde Emperor turned around and raised his head to look outside. "But, our throne was not chosen by Heaven. It was stolen by force with blades on that night. But, you are truly chosen by Heaven. They said that even the Heaven Breached Sword showed itself. Here, take this." Mingde Emperor retrieved something from his sleeve and tossed it at Xiao Se.
Xiao Se caught it and was slightly taken aback.
The Dragon-Sealed Scroll!
"Jin Xuan, this one is yours. Don't open this one." Mingde Emperor retrieved another scroll and passed it to Jin Xuan. "Wait until we leave this world, then all under Heaven will be up to the rest of you."
Xiao Se suddenly said, "But I haven't given you my answer."
Mingde Emperor flung his sleeves. "We're not dead yet. We're still the Emperor of all under Heaven. Our decisions do not require anybody's answers."
Xiao Se looked at the scroll in his hand. "If I'm not satisfied with the name on it, I will destroy it."
"Then all under Heaven will be in chaos. You wouldn't want to see chaos under Heaven, and neither would we." Mingde Emperor strolled to the door and looked at the falling snow. He recalled that snowy night when he knelt on the ground to stop the imperial physician from leaving.
"Save my brother. Please, I beg you, save my brother."
Mingde Emperor reached out to collect the snowflakes and said softly, "We miss you so much."
Xiao Se walked to Mingde Emperor's side and reached out to support him. "It's cold outside."
"There are four seasons in a year. Flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, the wind of summer, the snow of winter. When there's cold and warmth, that's what makes people feel truly alive." Mingde Emperor raised his leg and stepped over the door's threshold. "I haven't felt a proper cold wind in a long time. Accompany me to visit a place."
"Okay," Xiao Se agreed.
"The wind is really cold outside. Don't stay out for long and come back soon." Lanyue Marquis handed an umbrella over.
Xiao Se accepted the umbrella and followed Mingde Emperor outside.
"You haven't been back in Heavenly Revelations for so long and when you returned, we fell sick. We haven't had a chance to have a proper talk with you. We just wanted to have a chat with you."
"What would Father like to chat about?"
"You're over twenty this year, and several of your imperial brothers are already married. How about you? How about Ye Ruoyi from the General's Residence? She's been your friend since you were young. Although Ye Xiaoying has retired and returned to his homeland, he still holds his military titles."
"Father, I have someone else in my heart."
"Oh? Whose lady is it?"
"She's Sikong Changfeng's daughter, Sikong Qianluo."
"Oh, the Zhuque Guardian. The Zhuque Guardian is a very interesting person. His wife was very beautiful, and his daughter must be equally beautiful. That's nice. It's just that girls of the martial world are a little wild and you can't hold them back. Take Consort Xuan, for instance. Has Consort Xuan left?"
"She's left."
Mingde Emperor's steps paused, but he quickly started walking again. "Since she's left, then so be it.
"How's that brother of yours, the boy with the surname Lei?"
"He's fine. A little injured."
"Does he want to be an official?"
"No, he doesn't. He just wants to be a great hero, defeat all opponents under Heaven and become invincible."
"He's smarter than his father."
"Father, why are you joking now?"
The two of them chatted like this, as if they were playing the role of a father and son in an ordinary family. As they walked and chatted, they soon arrived in a remote sleeping hall.
Xiao Se had never been to this sleeping hall before and he did not expect the palace would have such a run down sleeping hall. It looked as if nobody had lived in it for years.
Mingde Emperor was about to push open the door and enter, but he suddenly stopped and asked, "If we paid no heed to everything and prevented Ruofeng's death, what would things be like now?"
Xiao Se pondered for a long time before he replied, "When there's a fork in the road, and we make a choice, we'll never see what the other road looks like. Whether it's the realm of an immortal or a steep cliff, no one will ever know."
Mingde Emperor nodded, withdrew his hand and turned around. "Let's go back."
The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and Mingde Emperor's steps when he walked back seemed to have aged instantly.
Three days later, Mingde Emperor passed away.
At the border, they lost three cities in a row. A state of emergency was happening nine hundred miles away.