In places unknown to the vast majority, war had already begun.
Scouts clashed in mortal combat, armored soldiers roared, flesh and bone piled into mountains, and blood flowed like rivers. Military arrays capable of overturning heaven and earth collided with thunderous force, snuffing out countless vibrant lives in the blink of an eye.
Yet here at the war's origin,
at the center of power in Great Yan,
the murderous tension among the three elders was rapidly dissipating.
All because the Prime Minister had left room for maneuver.
Though Xu Yinhe had brought the silently unfolding conflict to light, he had not exposed the name of the man who had brazenly deployed those troops.
Perhaps it was endurance; perhaps it was a concession.
Regardless, it showed that the Chancellor had no desire to shed all pretense just yet. Fighting while negotiating, keeping the conflict contained strictly within Xize Province, also aligned with everyone's short-term expectations.
Hauled by nine earth dragons, the imposing, monolithic imperial mobile palace slowly rolled into its destination. The No-Return Army, having escorted it the entire way, halted its formation at the periphery of Dragon Emperor Forest, handing over guarding responsibilities to the gold-armored Imperial Guard permanently garrisoned at the hunting grounds.
Mounted atop an exotic beast resembling a pixiu, Li Zhaoyuan, clad in a python robe, calmly watched the retreating land palace and the ink-wash mountain forest shrouded in vast misty waves. A hint of reminiscence tinged his voice:
"These hunting grounds truly haven't changed a bit."
The general in heavy combat armor leading Li Zhaoyuan's mount looked back upon hearing this, faintly surprised:
"Back then, Your Highness could not have been older than a boy with tufted hair. You still remember?"
Li Zhaoyuan gazed into the mist-shrouded mountain forest, his gaze seeming to pierce through time itself as he murmured with a faint smile:
"I wish I could forget, yet I cannot. I cannot forget the humiliation my mother and I suffered here beneath the Imperial Dragon Banner at the hands of the Empress."
Hearing this, the general averted his eyes and murmured in a low, somber voice:
"Ever since Your Highness took command of the army, the Empress must have had restless days. Especially these past three days—that venomous woman has undoubtedly been living in constant fear."
For the Emperor to travel on the eve of his impending demise, choosing not to use the Imperial Guard as escorts but instead placing the Second Prince in command of the escorting army, was already an unmistakable political signal.
"The outcome remains undecided. Do not speak heedlessly."
Li Zhaoyuan's smile faded, his tone turning profound. "My eldest imperial brother only met with that Third Young Master a few days ago, and that Third Young Master truly seems to hold no fondness for me."
With that, Li Zhaoyuan raised a hand to cut off the general before he could speak.
"Senior Attendant, change the formation."
"...Understood."
As the military orders were relayed, there was no murmuring or commotion among the ranks. The armored soldiers in tight ranks began shifting formation in complete silence.
Apart from the central army clustering around the formation core, tens of thousands of armored troops rapidly and efficiently fanned out across the terrain, encircling Dragon Emperor Hunting Grounds in a siege-like cordon like stars across the sky.
By the time the shift in formation concluded, the Son of Heaven's mobile palace had completely vanished into the vast, mist-draped mountain woods of Dragon Emperor Forest. A rare flicker of emotion finally surfaced in Li Zhaoyuan's otherwise unruffled, starlike eyes as he murmured under his breath:
"Today should be the day Imperial Father makes his choice. I must prepare in advance."
"The No-Return Army is changing formation."
Beneath the yellow imperial canopy, gazing back at the surges of qi rolling up from the shifting formation, Ran Jianli stroked his stubble and said with a chuckle, "I know nothing of military arrays. Chancellor, could you help me discern what sort of array this is?"
"Is the Imperial Preceptor worrying about Zhaoyuan?"
Before Xu Yinhe could answer, Li Yaoxuan raised his drooping eyelids slightly, fixing his gaze on Ran Jianli with a knowing smile. "With the Imperial Preceptor's cultivation, even if you cannot break this military array, could you not at least flee?"
Ran Jianli's cheek twitched.
He had not expected Li Yaoxuan to be so blunt.
Yet upon second thought, with the other man's end imminent, there was indeed no longer any need for pretense. He replied irritably:
"Your Majesty truly knows how to joke. Against a military array of this scale, the three of us combined could probably only break it with difficulty, couldn't we?"
At that point, Ran Jianli suddenly countered:
"As for Your Majesty, do you still remember the matter of Consort Qin during the Northern Hunt back then?"
Consort Qin was Li Zhaoyuan's mother.
Li Yaoxuan searched his memory for a moment. His cloudy eyes subconsciously drifted toward the flat ground to the west of the mobile palace as he murmured:
"Does the Imperial Preceptor refer to the Guiwei Northern Hunt thirty years ago?"
Ran Jianli nodded with a smile. "Precisely the Northern Hunt where the Second Prince took first place."
In this world of the extraordinary, the ruling elite were bound to value martial prowess. Even the newly risen clans of a mere hundred years maintained comprehensive systems to test the martial virtue of their descendants, and imperial hunts were one of the imperial family's methods to assess their princes.
During the Guiwei Northern Hunt, Prince Zhaoyuan, while still in his boyhood, took first place in overwhelming fashion. Envious, the Empress made his mother stand and serve tea before the assembled civil and military officials under the guise of showing 'closeness.' Later, she bestowed upon the mother and son the 'honor' of paying respects before the Imperial Clan Banner—and without hearing a divine sign, they were forbidden from standing up.
Kneeling before the Imperial Clan Banner was ostensibly an honor for a concubine's son, but typically one rose to receive the imperial reward after three prostrations and nine kowtows.
Yet the Empress had remarked, "With Zhaoyuan blessed with such heaven-sent genius, the ancestors will surely rejoice. Pray with sincere devotion, and an answer will surely follow." That single remark forced mother and son to kneel before the Imperial Clan Banner for ten straight days, and when the Northern Hunt concluded, Li Zhaoyuan and his mother were brought back to the palace together.
Recalling this, Li Yaoxuan's expression remained entirely impassive.
"We do remember that hunt. That Zhaoyuan could fulfill his filial duties before Our presence was already no small feat."
"Filial duties before your presence?"
Ran Jianli cast a deep, lingering glance at the No-Return Army's formation and shook his head. "Your Majesty, I recall the Empress even had the Second Prince banished to Jingshu Palace for seven years."
The conclusion of the Guiwei Northern Hunt had not been the end of that contest for first place; it had merely been the beginning.
Upon returning to the palace, the Empress delivered another casual decree—"Since you did not kowtow to the ancestors with true sincerity, keep kneeling"—and banished Li Zhaoyuan and his mother straight to the cold palace. An Imperial Clan Banner was erected in the courtyard, forcing mother and son to continue their vigil on their knees.
A single offhand remark from the exalted Empress weighed like a mountain upon Consort Qin, who had risen from a palace maid, and Li Zhaoyuan, a concubine's son.
That kneeling by Li Zhaoyuan and Consort Qin lasted for seven full years.
Seven years was the limit.
Because the Imperial Clan sent envoys to confer a princedom upon Li Zhaoyuan.
Having reached sixteen, he was required to leave the palace.
Throughout those seven years,
the cold palace, completely devoid of Source Qi, stagnated Li Zhaoyuan's cultivation.
Endless kneeling year after year brought Consort Qin, whose cultivation was weak, to death's door several times.
And through all of it,
Li Yaoxuan merely watched in silence.
Recalling this, Ran Jianli looked straight into Li Yaoxuan's eyes and asked with a soft laugh:
"After such an ordeal, does Your Majesty not worry that the Second Prince might not even fulfill filial duty before you?"
"Imperial Preceptor, he does not worry," Xu Yinhe suddenly cut in, his voice calm. "If the Second Prince possesses the mettle to commit patricide here, he will actually be pleased.
"Am I right, Your Majesty?"
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment.
When the etiquette between sovereign and subject began to crumble, every word turned increasingly blunt.
A smile slowly surfaced on Li Yaoxuan's withered, aged face. His emaciated frame shook slightly with a low chuckle. Raising his gaze with complex emotion, he fixed his eyes on his old friend and said with a chuckle:
"In the end, Yinhe, you truly understand Us best..."
Xu Yinhe showed no further reaction, asking impassively:
"So, Your Majesty, are you prepared for what follows should he commit patricide?"
Li Yaoxuan pondered for a moment, not denying it. "We have made some preparations, yet there are things even We are powerless to control."
"If the Second Prince truly harbors such intentions, he will have factored those matters into his calculations."
"You hold quite a high opinion of Zhaoyuan."
"No. That premise hinges on whether the Second Prince truly dares to do it."
Xu Yinhe shook his head, glancing at the military array fanning out along the horizon, and said:
"Judging by the disposition of this array, however, the Second Prince is likely awaiting Your Majesty's decision."
How could Li Yaoxuan fail to understand this? He sighed softly.
"Perhaps had We decided sooner, he would not have had to wait for Us. But then again..."
At that point, Li Yaoxuan suddenly looked at Xu Yinhe, his gaze deep and enigmatic.
"Chancellor,
"We have arranged Our affairs after death. What about you?"
Chapter 727