Stepping down from the carriage, Xu Yuan looked over this center of imperial power.
Compared to the Forbidden City of his previous life, this palace of the Great Yan Dynasty was likely more than twice as large.
With upturned flying eaves, vermilion palace walls bordered a wide passageway, stretching to the very edge of his vision. A few eunuchs and palace maids walked along it with lowered heads, exuding an air that was majestic yet oppressive.
Pulling back his gaze, Xu Yuan said with slight admiration, "Father, this imperial palace really is huge."
Xu Yinhe glanced at him. "The palace is indeed huge, but do not say such things outside."
Just as Xu Yuan was feeling puzzled, a thin, shrill voice suddenly sounded from half a zhang to his side:
"Chancellor Xu truly knows how to jest. His Imperial Majesty has already instructed that you may enter this palace whenever you please."
"......" Xu Yuan thought.
Again?
He turned his gaze, which fell upon the speaker standing before the hall doors.
The man wore a gray python robe cinched with a jade belt. His face was feminine and soft. Bowing slightly, he raised a hand to usher the two inside.
"His Majesty has already arrived at Qingxin Pavilion and specially instructed this servant to wait for you here."
"......"
Seeing the eunuch's attire, Xu Yuan figured he had to be, at the very least, a ruthless figure on par with an Eastern Depot commander or a chief manager of the Inner Court.
That was how the movies always went; how could the Emperor not have an imperial expert by his side?
Still, if this man's cultivation was truly formidable, was he still really a eunuch?
At the Origin Realm, one could survive having their head chopped off. He wondered if that thing could regrow as well.
As Xu Yuan pondered, Xu Yinhe had already stepped through the palace gates without a word.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan followed, though before walking past, he instinctively shot an odd glance at the python-robed eunuch still standing by the entrance.
The moment the python-robed man caught his gaze, he seemed to read Xu Yuan's thoughts. Narrowing his eyes, he chuckled. "Third Young Master, no need to keep looking. In this lifetime, this servant will never grow it back."
Xu Yuan froze for an instant before casually asking, "Why?"
The python-robed man's expression stiffened, but he replied with a forced smile, "Mutilated men like us are cut with a Qianxun blade. Upon advancing to Grandmaster, we also consume Juesi powder. Besides, we are people who know our place."
Xu Yuan was taken aback, then felt a wave of profound respect. "How open-minded. May I have your honorable surname?"
The python-robed eunuch smiled. "I would not dare claim nobility before Third Young Master. My surname is Nie."
Ahead of them, Xu Yinhe walked forward without looking back.
Xu Yuan stayed behind, chatting casually with the eunuch. Entirely relaxed, he leaned in slightly and whispered, "Eunuch Nie, judging from what you just said, if someone didn't know their place, there'd probably be a way around it, right?"
"......"
Eunuch Nie looked at Xu Yuan with a peculiar expression.
They were about to have an audience with the Emperor. Anyone else coming for the first time would be trembling in fear, or at the very least solemn and reverent. Why was Third Young Master Xu acting as if he were strolling into his own backyard?
After a second of silence, Eunuch Nie let out an exhale as he looked at Xu Yuan. "There indeed is. But His Majesty's grace toward this servant is as heavy as a mountain. Furthermore, the imperial line must never be compromised."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan instinctively glanced toward the depths of the inner palace and nodded in understanding.
The concubines and consorts of the imperial harem were not all cultivators, and even those who cultivated were not necessarily very powerful. A supreme expert bringing chaos to the harem was indeed a very real possibility.
Seeing that completely undisguised gaze, Eunuch Nie's cheek twitched. He said with deliberate cadence, "A great reputation is never unearned. Even here in the imperial palace, Third Young Master remains unconstrained by trivial proprieties."
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
Xu Yuan waved a hand dismissively and went on asking the python-robed Eunuch Nie all sorts of random gossip about the inner palace, while Xu Yinhe up ahead simply acted as though he saw nothing.
The Hall of Great Celebration was immense. The three of them walked along a stone-paved path for about half a quarter of an hour.
As they walked, Xu Yuan kept asking questions, and Eunuch Nie, answering the entire way, looked increasingly strained, his eyes constantly darting toward the silhouette walking ahead.
Just as Xu Yuan was about to ask how companion marriages between eunuchs and palace maids actually worked, another man dressed in a python robe emerged from the depths of the Hall of Great Celebration, followed by a blue-robed eunuch.
In the falling sunlight, one could vaguely see that the newcomer was a rather tall, handsome man.
A purple python robe, sharply defined features—this was clearly not a eunuch granted imperial robes, but a prince.
Seeing this, Eunuch Nie seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Leaving Xu Yuan behind, he strode forward a few paces, dropped to his knees, and bowed. "Your Highness, Second Prince."
Approaching them, Li Zhaoyuan did not immediately pay heed to Eunuch Nie on the ground. Instead, he first bowed to Xu Yinhe in front.
"Zhaoyuan pays respects to Duke Xu."
Xu Yinhe remained standing, his gaze tranquil as he looked at the Second Prince, Li Zhaoyuan, who was bowed before him.
"Why must the Second Prince perform such a grand courtesy?"
"Duke Xu is a pillar of our Great Yan; you deserve this courtesy." The Second Prince's voice was exceedingly respectful.
"Rise."
With that, Xu Yinhe brushed right past him.
The Second Prince remained bowed, only slowly straightening up after Xu Yinhe had walked more than ten meters away.
"......"
Watching this from behind, Xu Yuan felt a strange sensation.
No matter what etiquette dictated, a prime minister was supposed to salute a prince first. But here...
Well, what else could one expect when his father held the military power?
That said, the Second Prince was also an old acquaintance of his.
Back when he had snuck into the Palace City to visit the Music Bureau, he had crossed paths with him once, and had even suffered a setback at the Second Prince's hands.
It was a cliché brothel dispute.
In the end, though, it stemmed from Third Young Master Xu's dissatisfaction with the Music Bureau's inflated prices and pretentious games.
In the Music Bureau inside the Palace City, everything had to follow the rules.
If you wanted to become a courtesan's honored guest behind the curtain, having the money wasn't enough. You had to either possess brilliant literary talent or extraordinary cultivation. And on top of that, you had to catch the courtesan's eye and hit it off in conversation.
With Third Young Master Xu's temper, how could he possibly tolerate that?
He had already thrown the money down; how could he leave empty-handed?
After trying to reason with the brothel keeper, only to find the man obstinately unyielding, Xu Yuan had started smashing the place.
As luck would have it, the Second Prince was hosting a banquet at the Music Bureau for a newly recruited advisor.
A clash was thus inevitably sparked.
Because his advisor had been injured, the Second Prince naturally had to step in.
Neither side revealed their identity at first.
One immediately declared he would be the other's foster father, while the other demanded to know what kind of wild bastard dared run amok in the Music Bureau.
In the end, it was the Imperial City's Imperial Guard that had to come clean up the mess.
By the time Xu Yuan's thoughts reached this point, the Second Prince had already helped Eunuch Nie up from the ground.
He turned his gaze toward Xu Yuan, nodded in greeting, and smiled softly.
"Changtian, with that look in your eyes, surely you aren't still angry with this prince?"
Xu Yuan grinned.
"I'm not angry at all. I just wonder if Imperial Consort Qin still holds a grudge against me?"
"......" The Second Prince fell silent.
Taking a deep breath, the Second Prince stared at Xu Yuan and said with a smile, "I wonder what you are referring to, Changtian. Why would my imperial mother be angry with you?"
Xu Yuan had no reservations whatsoever. Chuckling, he said, "Did you forget? Back at the Music Bureau, you cursed at me, asking where a wild b—"
"Cough. Changtian, you jest."
The corner of the Second Prince's eye twitched. Coughing lightly, he hastily cut Xu Yuan off and changed the subject. "Imperial Father is still inside waiting for Duke Xu and you. We must not keep the elder waiting."
With Chancellor Xu listening right beside them, this was definitely not something that could be said aloud.
Hearing this, Xu Yuan grinned. He stepped forward at an unhurried pace, raised a hand, and under the watchful eyes of Eunuch Nie and the Second Prince's personal eunuch, patted the Second Prince on the cheek.
"Li Zhaoyuan, I still prefer that arrogant, unruly demeanor you had back then."
With that, Xu Yuan gave the Second Prince a teasing look, patted him on the shoulder, and brushed his sleeve, swiftly catching up with Xu Yinhe ahead.
"......"
Eunuch Nie took in the entire scene. After offering a silent bow, he followed behind them.
The Second Prince remained standing where he was. Even after the three visitors had vanished at the far end of his vision, he did not move.
Seeing this, his personal eunuch ventured cautiously, "Your Highness, this Xu Changtian clearly has no regard for the imperial..."
The Second Prince glanced at his personal attendant, and the eunuch immediately held his tongue.
At that moment, Li Zhaoyuan touched his cheek.
"This Xu Changtian has changed..."
His personal eunuch asked warily, "Your meaning is...?"
Li Zhaoyuan let his hand drop with a smile.
"The slaps on my face weren't symmetrical at all. Next time, I'll let him hit this other side too. Heh..."
With that, the Second Prince cast a meaningful glance backward and departed without looking back.
Climbing the stairs all the way up Qingxin Pavilion, Eunuch Nie stood at the entrance to the top floor and bowed slightly.
"His Majesty is waiting inside for both of you. This servant will not go in."
"Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch."
Xu Yinhe did not respond; it was Xu Yuan who spoke up, saying with a chuckle, "Next time, I'll find you again to ask about companion marriages."
"......" Eunuch Nie was speechless.
The sunlight was pleasant and a gentle breeze drifted by; from the summit of Qingxin Pavilion, one could overlook the entirety of Di'an Royal City.
The moment he stepped inside, Xu Yuan's eyes locked onto an elderly man draped in an imperial robe.
His face was aged yet hale and hearty, bearing no resemblance at all to someone critically ill.
The mountain breeze stirred the curtain drapes, dispersing the curling incense smoke throughout the room.
The elderly man sat behind a low table set with some food, while on the opposite side lay two futons, evidently prepared for Xu Yinhe and him.
Xu Yinhe walked straight forward. Without bowing, much less kneeling, he sat down directly upon the futon on the left.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan assumed he didn't need to bow either.
Imitating his father, he walked over and sat down.
The moment he took his seat, however, the old man across from him gave him a rather strange look.
Xu Yinhe also glanced his way.
Puzzlement appeared in Xu Yuan's eyes.
Xu Yinhe let out a breath. "Changtian, pay your respects."
"......"
Xu Yuan looked awkward and was about to stand back up when the elderly man opposite suddenly let out a soft laugh.
"Enough. Since you're already seated, let's dispense with the formalities. Have you two eaten?"
"Not yet," Xu Yinhe replied.
The old man glanced toward the door. "Attendant, serve the dishes."
Xu Yinhe studied the old man's complexion. "Coming here this time, your complexion seems somewhat better."
The imperial-robed old man glanced at Xu Yuan. "I can hardly terrify the junior generation."
Xu Yinhe gave a noncommittal response. "Then you should have made yourself look a little younger."
Picking up his chopsticks to take some food, the old man in imperial robes said, "If you do not believe my injuries, We can let you take Our pulse yourself."
Xu Yinhe's eyes narrowed.
Seeing this, the imperial-robed elder hurriedly waved his hand. "Hey, now, Saint Xu, don't tell me you really intend to take Our pulse with that look in your eye?"
A trace of a smile appeared in Xu Yinhe's eyes. "You know I won't."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Taking the pulse—if the Emperor's injuries were manageable, nothing would happen; but if his days were numbered, they would tear off all pretenses right then and there.
Both sides were well aware of this.
The imperial-robed old man rolled his eyes at Xu Yinhe and sighed softly. "You have been like this ever since we were young, never letting anyone see what you are thinking."
"......"
"......"
Xu Yinhe and Li Yaoxuan exchanged casual remarks back and forth, chatting like old friends shooting the breeze.
On the side, unable to cut into the conversation, Xu Yuan sat drinking tea in boredom while pondering matters in his head.
Ever since Xu Yinhe had given him pointers, he had been mulling over this succession struggle, but very little of his past-life memories could be put to use.
In Cangyuan, the death of this Emperor Jiajing before him was merely glossed over in passing.
At that point in the timeline, players were mostly off in some forgotten corner matching wits with minor characters, utterly incapable of stepping into the struggle within this core circle.
Every time, it was only after a period had elapsed that one would learn the news from an NPC's mouth or notice boards atop the city gates:
The Emperor was dead; the Prime Minister had seized total power.
As for who ascended the throne to succeed the imperial line, there were three candidates in total across all those worldlines:
One was the Crown Prince, one was the Second Prince, and the last was a five-year-old child.
Setting the last one aside for now, the first two were precisely the two princes in the Imperial Capital most likely to seize the succession right now.
As a player back then, he hadn't thought deeply about the difference between these outcomes, because the second-generation emperor's presence had been utterly overshadowed by the Prime Minister.
Now, however, reflecting on the discrepancies between these outcomes sent a slight chill down his spine.
Those fragmented pieces of information from his past life could offer him very little help right now, but he could make a rough deduction.
If the imperial clan's presence was so low, there was only one reason: their power had been purged by Xu Yinhe.
In other words, the Emperor before him had most likely been slain by his father's own hand in the plot.
Taking the thought further, the scripted collapse of the Chancellor's Manor in the late game of Cangyuan might well have had the imperial clan's hand behind it.
With his thoughts reaching this point, Xu Yuan instinctively glanced at the gray-templed middle-aged man beside him.
Yet judging by his father's current attitude, unless driven to absolute desperation, he would never strike against the imperial clan.
There had to be a crucial turning point that forced his hand.
"Changtian..."
Speculation after speculation surfaced in his mind, only to be dismissed one by one, until Xu Yuan finally gave up.
"Changtian."
With insufficient information, he couldn't piece it together; it was better to take things one step at a time.
"Changtian!"
"Ah?"
Xu Yuan snapped back to his senses, only to find both titans looking at him. Realizing the conversation had shifted to him, he smiled awkwardly. "Just now, your child was lost in thought."
Xu Yinhe repeated, "His Majesty asked if you are able to cultivate now."
"......"
Xu Yuan instinctively looked at the old man across from him.
Having his words ignored didn't anger Li Yaoxuan in the slightest. He gave Xu Yuan a gentle smile, appearing just like an elder relative.
"We are curious why you suddenly changed from a born cripple into an Innate Dao Body."
Xu Yuan didn't hesitate for a moment, answering directly, "Previously, Guyuan kidnapped me, and Ran Qingmo rescued me. While on the run, by a stroke of fortune, I obtained an elixir pill. After consuming it, I became like this."
"Do you have the pill recipe?" Li Yaoxuan asked.
Xu Yuan glanced at Xu Yinhe.
Xu Yinhe's voice was steady. "If you do, hand it to His Majesty. His Majesty will naturally not mistreat you."
Xu Yuan paused for a moment before instantly understanding.
They were looking for a way to prolong the Emperor's life.
Only if the Emperor stayed alive could the cooperation between the Chancellor's Manor and the imperial clan continue.
Unfortunately, the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art contained no method for refining that Calamity-Breaking Pill.
"I do not."
Hearing this, a flicker of disappointment seemed to pass through Li Yaoxuan's eyes, but he immediately smiled and said, "If not, then forget it. Let us talk about your marriage, Changtian."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan straightened his posture slightly. "Please speak, Your Majesty. I am listening."
A trace of helplessness crossed Li Yaoxuan's weathered face, his words crisp and direct:
"That girl Mu Zhiyun threatened to take her own life rather than marry you."
"......" Xu Yuan thought.
Damn it, his marriage engagement had been broken off.
Pausing, Li Yaoxuan smiled faintly.
"However, We just discussed it with your father via voice transmission and can arrange another marriage for you. Go to Yuanmian Pingxuan Lake and take a look; she is waiting for you there. If you are willing, the betrothal will be settled today."
With an odd expression, Xu Yuan cupped his hands. "Your Majesty, it wouldn't happen to be Li Junwu, would it?"
Li Yaoxuan was lost for words, a peculiar glint of amusement in his aged yet spirited eyes. "You will know once you go, Changtian."
Led by Eunuch Nie across a lush mountaintop forest, Xu Yuan came upon a lake.
Bidding the eunuch farewell, Xu Yuan walked in alone.
His gaze quickly locked onto a woman standing by the lake.
Dressed in plain white robes, she had long, straight black hair reaching her waist, tied at the very ends. Tall and slender, she stood quietly by the water, gazing out at the scenic lake.
It wasn't Li Junwu.
Xu Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
Though people said good brothers could share a blanket, it still would have felt a little too weird.
Xu Yuan approached with slow steps, trying to search his memories for the owner of this back, but unfortunately, none matched.
Reaching her side, Xu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back. Glancing roughly from the corner of his eye, he noticed she was flat-chested, which left him slightly disappointed.
As the lake breeze stirred his bound hair, Xu Yuan said languidly, "The wind is quite noisy to—"
"You are rather good-looking."
The woman beside him cut off Xu Yuan's rambling, her slightly raspy voice drifting over. "Our future children probably won't be ugly."
"......"
Xu Yuan fell silent.
Were women nowadays this direct?
Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan slowly turned his eyes toward her, only to meet a pair of sharp, phoenix-like eyes.
The moment he saw her stunning, peerless features, he found her somewhat familiar.
By then, the plain-robed woman had already shifted her gaze back toward the lakeside. "You seem to recognize this princess?"
As she spoke, a subtle air of heroism lingered between her willow-leaf brows. Her exquisite nose was slightly upturned, and two strands of hair brushed softly across her cheeks in the breeze, lending her an alluring charm.
Clad in snow-white robes, she seemed enveloped in a veil of light mist as the lake wind caressed her.
She appeared both real and illusory, flawlessly beautiful, as if untainted by the mortal world.
Xu Yuan drew a deep breath and asked, "As I recall, weren't you fighting a war on the Northern Border?"
Chapter 211