“Lord, a guard in the palace has ordered you to enter the palace immediately.”
Outside the study, the old butler’s voice was filled with exhaustion and fear. This old man, who had been in the Grand Historical Residence for more than ten years, clearly sensed that something was amiss tonight.
The door of the study opened and Li Changshou slowly walked out.
The paper effigy was dressed in a dark red wide robe. His pale white long hair was tied up with a crane crown. He was still hale and hearty. He was as calm as he had been when he first entered this place many years ago. He was also full of energy.
Li Changshou took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to the old butler.
“After I go to the palace tonight, lock the door and tell the guards in the residence not to go out casually. If anyone asks you, tell them that I have already gone to the palace. When everything is stable tomorrow, open this letter. There is a way to open the cabinet in my study. You will share the money in it with the people in the residence. It can be considered fate.”
The old butler’s hand trembled as he held the envelope. “Lord, you… The rumors in the city are spreading. A few days ago, they said that the Great Lord is seriously ill. D-don’t let anything happen to you!”
“It’s not that something happened. It’s time to leave.” Li Changshou raised his hand and patted the old butler’s shoulder. “Don’t think too much.”
After saying that, a wisp of smoke appeared under Li Changshou’s feet. He slowly lifted himself up by five feet and turned around to appear in the empty courtyard. He walked towards the gate at a steady pace.
The butler opened his mouth, but he only lowered his head and knelt down at the back of Li Changshou’s paper effigy. He sighed softly in the night, as if he was grateful for the care he had given him over the years.
When Li Changshou left the residence, a large group of armored soldiers rushed forward and surrounded the residence. A middle-aged general cupped his fists and lowered his head.
“Lord, the Grand Chancellor invites you to enter the palace immediately. I have already prepared a carriage for you.”
“It’s not an ox cart?” Li Changshou frowned and said in an old tone, “I’m old and I don’t know if my arms and legs can withstand the bumps.”
The general smiled awkwardly and said in a low voice, “The situation is urgent. Please accommodate me. If I offend you, I will chop off the head of the driver!”
The two guards who were leading the carriage could not help but shiver.
“No, no.”
Li Changshou waved his hand and walked onto the carriage. The group of armored soldiers beside him were stunned.
If this was Li Changshou’s hometown, the young people beside him would probably praise in unison.
“Damn, this old man, what the…”
In the mortal world of the South Continent, he could only say, “This old man is really strong.”
The carriage revolved. Li Changshou swayed in the carriage and sped towards the palace.
At the same time, outside the residences of the ministers around the palace, ox carts and carriages rushed to the palace under the protection of the soldiers.
A few days ago, Chaoge City had been in a state of panic.
The old king’s health was deteriorating. At that moment, he was almost exhausted. The three princes were guarding the palace and the government was temporarily controlled by the Grand Chancellor.
At that moment, the Grand Minister had gathered all the ministers in the middle of the night for one thing.
The King was about to pass away.
However, Li Changshou knew that Di Yi had died four hours ago. The azure dragon that had been manifested by the destiny of the human emperor in Chaoge City had disappeared.
At that moment, he used the Qi Gazing technique to observe Chaoge City. He could see that the clouds above Chaoge City were steaming and rosy clouds were surging.
It was the destiny of the human emperor that had yet to be reunited. It meant that the position of the human emperor was still undecided.
Although he was an heir, something must have happened in the palace. Otherwise, he would not have been delayed for four hours.
Mortals, the throne, greed, selfishness…
That night was really suitable for Senior Brother Yu Ding to come here to comprehend the Dao.
Not long later…
“Lord Emissary, it’s time.”
“Yes,” Li Changshou replied. He lifted the curtain and was helped out of the carriage by the guards.
Around him, there were carriages and horses parked everywhere. The old officials were helped down one after another and quickly rushed to the King’s chamber.
The hurried footsteps were like rain sweeping the banana leaves, but also like the chaos of defeat.
Li Changshou was mixed in with the old officials. There were people who kept coming over to say something, but he stopped them with a gesture.
Soon, the ministers rushed to the bedroom.
There were already more than a hundred officials and generals gathered there, but very few people were qualified to enter.
“Lord Emissary!”
An old minister shouted. The ministers around him tried their best to make way. Li Changshou walked forward quickly and frowned as he entered the ajar palace door.
A strong medicinal smell wafted over.
The palace was a little dark, as if it was deliberately highlighting the oppressive atmosphere.
As he walked forward, more than ten civil and military officials gathered in front of the bed in the middle of the hall. Li Changshou focused his gaze and saw that they were all people who were famous on the God-Conferment Roll and had been secretly recorded in his small notebook.
In terms of age, he was stronger. He had the Heart of Seven Orifices and was in charge of the punishment of the Shang Dynasty.
Du Yuanxian, the minister of the Heavenly Supervisory, studied the astronomical constellations and knew about the changes in the temperatures. He decided that the Shang Dynasty would be farming every year.
Uncle Mei, how can the Lord be angry with the King?
Shang Rong, the Magistrate, was originally the minister of internal affairs and was in charge of internal and external affairs with the Grand Chancellor. However, due to the taboo of the ruler of Shang, he was only holding an empty position.
There was also the news of him being old and helping the prince…
The list goes on.
Li Changshou secretly calculated, but he realized that the Flying Tiger who was qualified to enter was not in the hall.
In front of these ministers, the three princes kneeling by the bed lowered their heads and did not speak.
Zi Shou was the eldest son of the emperor’s first wife. He knelt at the front. The two middle-aged scholars behind him were his elder brother and second brother, Wei Ziqi and Wei Zhongyan.
Li Changshou’s footsteps attracted many gazes. Wei Ziqi and Wei Zhongyan looked at him kindly.
Only Zi Shou remained kneeling in front of the bed.
The white-haired Grand Chancellor quickly walked over and whispered, “Emissary, you’re finally here. The King has already passed away. Please write down the historical words and pass them down to the future.”
Li Changshou coughed weakly and took out a beautiful cloth from his sleeve.
“Yes.”
“Write it!” The Grand Chancellor glared at Li Changshou. The old officials frowned and looked over.
Li Changshou whispered, “It’s foolproof. There’s no harm in being prepared.”
The Grand Chancellor opened the cloth and leaned against the lamp stand beside him. He read it carefully and nodded slowly.
“In that case, I’ll go and announce to the ministers that the King has ascended to immortality. Please don’t forget to pay your respects, princes.”
After saying that, the Grand Chancellor held the cloth and the palace servants opened the palace door. With a unique emphasis, they shouted, “King! The king has passed!”
The officials outside the hall quietened down.
“Father!”
Wei Ziqi and Wei Zhongyan shouted in unison. Bigan lowered his head and cried. The ministers bowed and whimpered. The sound of women crying came from the corner of the hall.
The cries spread from the King’s sleeping chamber. Not long after, the palace was filled with sobs.
He had to be respectful. If he did not cry, he would be punished.
Two hours later, the crying stopped.
The Grand Chancellor shouted loudly. The maiden prayed and chanted sutras. The process lasted for a day and night.
Then, the Grand Chancellor said, “The three princes and ministers, please move to the palace. The Shang Dynasty cannot go without a king. The King’s final decree is already in the hands of the old minister. Everyone has witnessed it with their own eyes just now. Everything is decided!”
Li Changshou could not help but laugh in his heart.
Di Yi breathed his last breath four hours before he arrived. The decree was issued three hours before he arrived.
At that time, Di Yi seemed to be in his final moments. Actually, it was just some Dharma spells.
The rule set by the Heavenly Courts was that they could not touch the emperor. When the emperor died, the destiny of the human emperor had already collapsed. He was just a corpse.
This trick seemed shallow, but it was quite useful.
The three princes stood up, lowered their heads, and retreated. Without saying a word, they left the hall. The old officials followed behind.
Wen Zhong took the opportunity to go to Li Changshou’s side. He wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, he sighed softly and did not say anything.
Soon, the officials who were crying just now retreated like the tide. Only a few female sacrifices in the hall began to jump around, looking quite lonely.
The emperor of a generation, the ministers of a generation.
An hour later, in the King’s Hall.
In front of the empty throne, the Grand Chancellor slowly spread out the cloth in his hand. The short-spirited recitation began to drift around the hall.
The three princes stood in front of him and listened.
Wei Ziqi and Wei Zhongyan stood at the back. The two of them looked at each other and smiled deeply.
The Grand Chancellor said, “In my life, although I have fought against outsiders and expanded my country, captured millions of enemies, and displayed the might of my ancestors, I have failed. The Shang Dynasty is in a state of turmoil. I’m cautious. I feel that Zi Shou is too young and too outstanding. If the throne is passed down to me, I’m afraid I will not advance enough and the country will collapse. Ziqi is the eldest son. He is ambitious and humble. He can accede the throne.”
The Grand Chancellor paused and looked down at the three princes below.
A pin drop could be heard in the hall. An indescribable pressure made many officials and generals hold their breaths.
The Grand Chancellor said in a low voice, “Prince Zi Shou, do you have any objections?”
Zishou remained silent, but he straightened his back and closed his eyes.
Wei Ziqi frowned slightly. Wei Zhongyan, who was at the side, sighed and said slowly, ” didn’t expect Father to change his mind at the last moment. Brother Ziqi is indeed more stable than me and Zi Shou. He has the demeanor of a king.”
At that moment, a burly general walked out of the generals’ formation and shouted,
“May I ask, Grand Chancellor! When was the King’s decree decided? Why have I not heard of it?”
Another general said, “Is this decree really written by the King? Since today, the King has been full of praises for Zi Shou. Why did he suddenly change the candidate for the heir?”
“General Lu Xiong!”
A civil servant shouted angrily, “Are you teaching the King what to do?!”
The general named Lu Xiong cursed, “I’m loyal to the King. The sun and moon can bear witness! However, this matter is really strange. I have to investigate clearly!”
“General Lu Xiong.” The Grand Chancellor sighed and said, “Previously, when the King was dying, he ordered us to open the secret box beside the pillow and take out this decree. Five of the six ministers have seen this matter before. The two uncles have also seen it.”
Bi Gan, who was the head of the ministers, nodded slowly. Xu Yu, who did not have much of an exact position, too, nodded slowly.
Most of the generals frowned in confusion, but half of the ministers had a faint smile in their eyes.
Li Changshou watched quietly from the side. He actually wanted to know how Zi Shou would ascend to the throne and whether he would reveal his ruthless side tonight.
He was looking forward to it.
“Third Brother.”
Wei Ziqi opened his mouth and called out. He sighed and said, “Don’t be sad because of this matter. We three brothers will share this throne.”
Zi Shou was completely silent. He stood still quietly, but his back gave off an indescribable might.
This was not the pressure produced by the cultivation realm, but pure dignity.
It was like a mountain, the sky, and the four seas!
“Third Brother.” Wei Zhongyan took half a step forward and said seriously, “Before the ministers, don’t embarrass Eldest Brother. I know that you can’t bear to take the throne, but this is also Father’s decree…”
“Are you done?”
Wei Zhongyan was puzzled.
Wei Zhongyan was about to continue when Zishou said calmly, “The ministers retreat. Those who do not retreat will be killed.”
“Well…”
“Prince, what are your orders?”
“We are appointed by the former King. Why can’t we be here?”
Clang!
Clang! Clang!
The generals stood in formation. A large number of generals actually pulled out their short swords from their greaves and pressed them towards the officials beside them. They were filled with killing intent.
The ministers hurriedly retreated and said, “Those who previously stayed in front of my father’s bed.”
Wei Ziqi raised his arms and shouted, “Wait! Are you going to rebel!?!”
The generals did not answer. They only chased the officials out of the hall and closed the door tightly.
Clang!
Wei Ziqi’s face turned red. He turned around and glared at Zi Shou.
“Zi Shou! Do you not respect Father’s decree?!”
At that moment, Zi Shou had already turned around. He stared at his elder brother with a cold gaze in his eyes, causing the latter to subconsciously take half a step back. His exquisite robe was wrinkled.
“We both know if that was really Father’s decree or not. I have always respected you as my elder brother, but you actually used my father’s death to scheme! Do you really think I don’t know the special techniques of those outsiders?”
The Grand Chancellor hurriedly said, “Third Prince…”
“Shut up!”
Zi Shou turned his head and glared at him. Lightning happened to flash outside the hall. The Great Chancellor was so frightened that he raised his hand to cover his chest and almost fainted.
At that moment, there was the sound of armor rubbing outside the hall. It seemed that a large number of armored soldiers were swarming over.
Wei Ziqi immediately became more confident. He raised his head and puffed out his chest.
“Third Brother, don’t be brave. You can scare me and the other ministers! You can’t make decisions in Chaoge City tonight!”
“Really?”
The corners of Zi Shou’s mouth twitched. He walked towards the throne on the platform and turned around on the steps. He sat in the middle of the steps and his eyes were filled with pity.
“Eldest Brother… Eldest Brother, you seem to have not discovered anything all these years. When I was young, you and your in-laws used various methods to target me. They used poison, assassination, and accidents. They did everything. Have I ever been in danger?”
Wei Ziqi’s expression turned sullen. He said coldly, “I don’t know about this.”
Zi Shou leaned back and placed his elbows on the steps. His eyes were filled with mockery.
He said slowly, “For tonight, you have spent three years secretly subduing the commander of the city guards and the twelve generals of the royal guards. For this, you have been extremely disgraceful and have made bigger promises. If you become the King tonight, there will be more than ten countries. Brother, have you ever thought about the disadvantages of the Shang Nation?”
Wei Ziqi said calmly, “The Shang Nation is plagued with problems.”
“I once thought so too, but it won’t happen again. The disadvantage of the Shang Nation is that you, my father, and I are all standing on this ice mountain, but we want to melt the ice mountain into living water. The first to fall is you and me.”
Zi Shou raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. “In the past, I also thought that only I could see the illness of our Shang Nation. It was not until I talked to the emissary that I realized that I’m not the smartest prince in history. Everyone can see these flaws. There must have been many people who wanted to innovate and bring about changes, but in the end, they only suffered head injuries. Why? There are eight hundred dukes in the Shang Dynasty. However, the Shang Dynasty is the largest dukedom. When the Shang Dynasty was old and weak, there would always be ambitious people who stood up. The real drawback of Shang Nation is… The king does not act like a king.”
Boom! Boom!
Lightning flashed outside the hall, followed by heavy rain.
Accompanied by thunder, a murderous shout suddenly sounded from the direction of the palace gate.
Wei Ziqi’s expression changed. He quickly took more than ten steps towards the palace gate, but he immediately stopped and turned around to glare at Zi Shou on the steps.
“Third Brother, what have you done!?!”
“Clear the rebels.”
Zi Shou answered calmly and shook his head slightly. He said calmly, “You only know how to plot and delay Feihu. However, you don’t know that Feihu has already made preparations and secretly repaired the tunnel from the city gate to the palace gate.
Half of the personal guards and generals that you have recruited are my people.”
Wei Ziqi’s eyes widened. He cursed, “You, you! You schemed against me!”
“I didn’t want to fight internally, but you went overboard, Brother.”
Zi Shou said, “Junior Master, take Father’s decree and let the Grand Chancellor take a look.”
“Okay!”
Wen Zhong agreed with gusto. He quickly walked forward and placed a cloth scroll in the Grand Chancellor’s hand. He raised his hand and gently patted the back of the Grand Chancellor’s hand.
The Grand Chancellor’s breathing was a little chaotic. He opened the cloth shakily and tried his best to recite.
“I-I know that I don’t have much time left. If I return, I will accept Zi Shou as the king. All of you, assist me with all your might and protect the mountains and rivers of the Shang Dynasty. I will be buried beside my ancestor. I cannot die.”
Wei Zhongyan whispered, “That’s all?”
“That’s all…”
The Grand Chancellor lowered his head and looked at the few words on the cloth. “Indeed, that’s all. It’s the Great King’s personal handwriting.”
Wei Zhongyan’s face turned pale.
At that moment, the shouts of killing outside the hall had stopped. The palace door opened a little, and a figure darted in. He was dressed in golden armor, and his entire body was drenched by the rain. His face was mighty, and his aura was long.
It was the son of Huang Feihu!
Huang Feihu knelt on one knee and hugged his sword as he reported, “King! The rebels have been eliminated!”
Wei Ziqi whispered, “No, that’s impossible! I have 100,000 soldiers!”
Zi Shou said, “Feihu, how many enemies are there tonight?”
Huang Feihu said firmly, “However, it’s easy for thousands of soldiers to gather at the palace gate and coordinate with the army of personal guards.”
“No, you lied to me!”
Wei Ziqi’s face was pale. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Someone! Someone!”
It was quiet outside the palace gate, as if even the breathing of the officials had been concealed.
The bell rang, but Wei Ziqi collapsed weakly on the ground.
Zi Shou did not say anything else. He turned around and looked up at the throne at the end of the stairs. He lifted the hem of his robe and walked up the stairs.
His steps were steady, and his gaze was firm.
From today onwards, I will shoulder the glory of the Shang Dynasty.
The harm of the Shang Dynasty and the danger of Feihu were reformed by me.
Those who did not submit were destroyed one by one.
Those who did not pay tribute in all directions were swept by lightning.
I don’t believe in fate!
In front of the throne, Zi Shou suddenly turned around. The palace door opened, the officials and generals lowered their heads and quickly walked in. The ten or so ministers who were originally left in the hall were silent.
Not long after, Huang Feihu sat in front of the generals.
Zi Shou raised his hands and slowly sat on the throne.
Above Chaoge City, golden light bloomed in the purple-red enshrouding aura. Then, a golden azure dragon soared into the sky and quickly absorbed the Great Shang Nation’s destiny. It roared silently at the Heavenly Palace.
I’m destined!
