Chapter 22 (1/2)
XXII Ascension
Before me lie the portraits of every emperor of Great Rui They are seated on the throne, lips pursed, wearing the Twelve Ornaon and croith the Pearl Crohile looking doith stony, e candles and incense burn quietly on the altar Faint wisps of dark smoke draw spirals in the air Grave candles flicker eerily on hosts
Chong Wen Palace is the place where the portraits of the Great Rui emperors are stored and is an extremely sacred place of the entire palace No one can enter without permission therefore it’s as quiet as hell itself
The sombre expressions of the emperors make me uneasy The past see the heavy and bloody history of the Lin clan’s path to power
I stare du flames as if I have been disconnected fro painfully from the slaps
The e by ! I just knew you would try to escape!”
I was stopped by her personal guards at theAn Palace in shackles
“You knave!” hat greeted me when I stepped in
Then she slappedandmade bloody streaks on my cheeks
Immediately, I looked up only to see her storain “You useless coward!”
I didn’t speak or move and just let her hit me and yell at me
Finally, she got tired and backed away to her throne, panting while scrutinizing me
“I will ask you one more time Yes or no?”
“I refuse”
“You whoreson! Good-for-nothing!”
She picked up a teacup from the table and hurled it at me I tilted round, shattering into a million pieces
“Do you not have any ambition whatsoever?!”
I spoke flatly “We all have our aspirations, and not even You, Your Graciousness, can alter them”
“So you are telling me you don’t want to be the ruler, and you don’t want to be a son of the rich?” She glared at me “You only want to be a peasant?”
I dropped on my knees “Precisely, Your Graciousness I do not desire wealth or power I beg that You grant me a way out”
Her eyes were icy and full of emotional turmoil like a blizzard The hall was dead silent
After a while, she got up, regaining her previous posture of a high-class noble lady She walked up tobefore my eyes
Suddenly, she smiled, her cold forty year-old co this if you were a peasant!” Saying this, she raised her ared forward, grabbing her legs “No, Eer, don’t!”
In her hand was none other than the e
“Didn’t you say you wanted to be a peasant?” She looked down atpendant, noould they? I a on your behalf”
I held onto her legs, barely keepingdown
“But then again,” she raised the pendant up, studying it “I don’t have to break it The son of Duke Zhao Rui has beenfor so many years that no one would knoho he is”
I stared straight at her with nothing else to say She looked like a stranger to me
“If you don’t want to be the son of Duke Zhao Rui, there will be plenty of others who do Han Xin, did you really think you could best me?”
She tipped her head back gracefully, sendary hero yet his son is a lowlife who only wants to be a peasant!” Then she kicked , too I bet she never thought her son would be such a wimp”
“Your Graciousness,” I crawled up fro me no choice here”
Turning away, she ignored ure walk towards the hall doors “Guards! Escort Han Xin to Chong Wen Palace!”
As the doors of Chong Wen Palace were closing, I saw her standing outside Her face was pale and the verrave
“Han Xin, I aive you one day’s time!”
I have no idea what ti I’ve been in here I peer to the side to see little sparks sprouting from the candle before Emperor Shun’s portrait at the far end Only then do I have a sense of time
I’ out after I’ve calmed down
The act of choosing me, the son of a traitor, to be heir over the other two proper sons reeks of her and Uncle’s long-term calculations
The Han clan has held control of the court for so long If one of those two kids were to become emperor, then it would still be the maternal relatives who are in control and under the current weakening state, there will surely be an uproar across the nation
I’—everyone knows this If I became emperor, it would shut everyone up and I’d be easy to control
Those eyeing the throne could easily take it froht amount of power If it were a mature successor, the conspirator wouldn’t act so hastily in fear of being shamed by the people
And as long as the ee, even if he were a puppet, the crio to them
I hugmy chest
Suddenly, this all see down my face
I just wanted to be left out All I wanted was to be norets uncovered and I get pushed down a path I loathe
I didn’t want to get involved in their foul and corrupt political fight but now I’ve becoalory or authority but now I’ forced to become the supreme ruler
The freedo for has become the most ironic ridicule
I lower my head, too afraid to look anymore
The eer had asked me if I had the blood and pride of a royalty and I had shaken my head I don’t know I really don’t know Royalty is a terotten what pride is and what nobility is after twelve years of lies and deceits The cowardice of the royal fa and now they want the son of a traitor to sustain the royal pride and valour? It would be less offensive if they slapped every member of the royal family across the face
I glance over every single portrait of the e, reserved and resolute; E, ; finally, E this life
What if… What would my destiny be if I really became emperor?
Would I expand our territories like Emperor Shun did? Would I lead our country to an era of prosperity like E did? Would I be talented in the arts as Emperor Mu was? Or would I only end up as a puppet and die with regrets like Emperor Wen did?
Or maybe I would becoet shaenerations to come?
I stare at the ju flames without a word
Father, as it that made you so determined to start a rebellion? Was it for your own desires? Or was it really to maintain the pride and valour of the royal blood, to protect the name of the royal family?
Your son isn’t as courageous as you He’s only thinking about hi and the royal family is weak
Could you please tell him what to do?
The candlelight before me starts to fade out and the blood-strewn battlefield materialises
Soldiers areout in pain Keen h flesh with athrough the soil hellfire has engulfed the villages and fields and is reaching for the sky Widows and orphans let out heartrending weeps while the old and young starve or freeze to death Corpses line the streets and wild beasts are gnawing away at theinally a hoo has beco hell
I shut my eyes, too scared to think any further of the scenes that appeared before me
If the day really coh the walls, then the capital will becohtered, the wo in pain beneath the Yan cavalry
‘Twelve years If only he had succeeded twelve years ago, Great Rui wouldn’t be what it is today…’
‘Great Rui’s establishment was based on scholarshi+p; many of the royals are scholars But only him, only he was skilled in martial arts, if only he was the emperor now, if only…’
I finally understand what Duke Yu Qing ishi+ng for before passing away
Father has passed away I’ Is this really my so-called fate?
The sorry state of Great Rui has made me understand Father’s choice
Even though he knew there probably would be no turning back from the bottomless pit, he pushed onithout hesitation And Mother wasn’t afraid: she was right behind hieddon
Father, even though he did not succeed, had defended the dignity of the royal family
Before I know it, my face has become ith tears
Father, if you were here, Father, you would want me to brace the tidal waves and take control over the eht even if there was a way out
I smile in self-pity as teardrops slip out of my eyes
Is this my fate?
Inside the still inner hall, I curl up into a ball with ainst Eone through so es and near-death experiences but this time I won’t be able to make it
Time slips past in the stillness and I drift to sleep
In my dream, there are no parents, no friends, no relatives, only me and myself
Suddenly, I’ shaken by someone Dazedly, I blink my eyes I look at the person but nize who it is
Maid Xiu is kneeling in front of ets a word out I bite on aze at her worried complexion and my eyes start to burn and my vision blurs
She reaches out with shaking hands to touch the side offor this day to come”
“Maid Xiu” I pullmy head on le “You’ve always known, haven’t you?”
She bites on her lips and tears well up in her eyes “The duke and duchess can finally rest in peace now”
Tears flon my cheeks She reaches out tenderly and wipes the Are you still going to cry now that you’re going to be the emperor?”
I chuckle “Why must you all make me do this?”
She stays quiet for a while as her tears hit the polished tiles “It is your destiny”
My destiny My destiny, huh I suddenly feel drained, ed down a cliff