Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was still six days away from the New Year and seven from the big wedding. While all of Lan City was full of joy, everyone from the Yun Nation looked gloomy.
They had been in Lan City for a week, but the empress hadn’t called for them yet.
Dayao didn’t even take the living expenses of these thousands of people to mind. Even though they were spending large amounts of money to accommodate and feed these people, to the people from the Yun Nation, it was a small sum of money. The implied meaning behind the empress not summoning them made everyone feel uneasy as they pondered day and night.
If she refused to even see them, it meant that they wouldn’t be stable in the future when they returned to the Yun Nation.
Even if they were put in charge of a city, under the iron hooves of the barbarians, there was no telling when their heads would be cut off.
Perhaps the barbarians wouldn’t even have to do that. If this piece of news spread to the Yun Nation, the rebels would have their heads first.
“Mister Lin, what do you think of the situation now?” Several people sat together and whispered. Most of the people in this caravan were the sons of warlords or aristocratic families. After all, the warlords themselves had to deal with political affairs. Without meeting the empress, they didn’t dare to leave the city.
On the contrary, sending their sons was the right decision because their statuses were sufficient. In addition, their loyalty would be expressed.
Before coming, every family had informed their sons that the purpose of this trip wasn’t simply to present gifts, but that the more important task was to find a backer.
When they arrived, they were all confident. What kind of good things could these barbarians have seen? Simply take out some precious treasures and they wouldn’t even be able to take their eyes off them. Even if it was a pinch, it would be worth it no matter how much they had to spend.
However, they felt a chill in their hearts as the days passed.
The empress didn’t summon them and many of the high officials refused to see them as well. The people of the Yun Nation brought gold and jewels, but they didn’t even have a way to offer them.
At present, a few people got together and discussed countermeasures.
The person known as Mister Lin was someone special, and his name was Lin Mengsheng. In the beginning, he gathered all the warlords to surrender together. Even the empress was aware of his existence. This time, he came to Dayao with everyone.
“How could Qi Zixiao possibly not see us at all? These barbarians are really arrogant!” A young man frowned.
Several other people frowned as well and moved a little further away from him.
“Address her as Her Majesty! Don’t say what you shouldn’t, otherwise disaster will fall upon your entire Chen family! If you are seeking death, don’t implicate us!” several of the young men replied coldly.
The young man from the Chen family was stunned. After seeing their expressions, he recalled the task that his family had entrusted him with. He then unwillingly said, “It’s my fault, and I spoke irresponsibly. I spoke too casually since all of you are my own people.”
“Earth Wheel experts have exceptionally good hearing compared to ordinary people. They can even identify the sound of a fly from dozens of meters away. Do you know how many Earth Wheel and Spirit Wheel experts there are in Lan City?” Lin Mengsheng asked faintly.
He was being kind by saying this.
All that stuff about them being his own people was utter nonsense.
If they were given the choice to betray the Chen family in exchange for their own stability, they would tie up all of them and send them to the palace immediately.
They wondered if the Chen family had no other descendants left and were forced to send this person here.
Everyone had their own thoughts in their minds when one of them said, “Not only did Her Majesty not see us, but the officials did as well. The dozens of business cards that I have sent have elicited no response.”
Lin Mengsheng was naturally aware of what these people were doing and said, “Since Her Majesty didn’t summon us, those officials probably don’t know her intentions and naturally wouldn’t want to see us either.”
“Do you have any good ideas, Mister Lin?” Everyone looked at him. His abilities and wisdom were truly extraordinary. If he hadn’t gathered all those warlords back then, the Yun Nation’s fall would naturally have been slower, but all that would have remained of its people would be bones hanging on the city walls.
Before they came to Dayao, many of their families had told them to seek Lin Mengsheng’s opinion.
No matter how much merit he had gained from the aboriginals, he would definitely still stand on the Yun Nation’s side and not the aboriginals’.
This was beyond doubt.
It was just like how the people of Tianjing Basin thought of Ren Baqian back then. They believed that he would definitely draw everybody together to build his power.
However, Lin Mengsheng’s starting point was far lower than Ren Baqian’s. This disparity was probably like comparing the eighteenth floor to the basement.
Everyone thought that Lin Mengsheng would be granted preferential treatment, yet the empress hadn’t summoned him either and his treatment was no different from the rest.
“Wait!” he said.
In fact, he was also guessing the thoughts of the empress. He had some opinions, but he didn’t voice them out.
Everyone had different looks on their faces after hearing that word.
This Lin Mengsheng was no different.
During the journey here, everyone agreed that his abilities and wisdom were great. However, nobody felt that they were any worse either, and it seemed even more so at present. Like everyone else, he had no feasible ideas.
While everyone was thinking their own thoughts, they heard a series of hurried footsteps from the outside. A scholarly-looking young man rushed over and said, “Dear sirs and Mister Lin, the emperor has written a letter of surrender!”
Everyone immediately understood that he was referring to the former emperor of the Yun Nation, their former leader.
Lin Mengsheng’s eyes lit up as he asked, “When did this happen?”
“Just now! He’s right in front of the palace, and news of this is spreading like wildfire! You can still make it if you go now.”
“Her Majesty is presumably going to summon us tomorrow.” Lin Mengsheng smiled.
“How do you know that?” someone immediately asked.
Others had pensive looks on their faces.
The Yun Nation’s emperor had been held captive for more than half a year, right? Everyone had been trying to find out more information these days, but they didn’t manage to find anything useful.
Now that news of his surrender was spreading so suddenly, a good show was coming!
They were putting on a show for the people of Dayao and the captives from the Yun Nation, but there was probably also an intention to show this to the people in the caravan.
“Mister Lin, do you want to go take a look?” one of the young men asked.
“You guys go ahead. I won’t be going.” Lin Mengsheng shook his head.
This was the aboriginal’s celebration and would be the end of the show for the Yun Nation.
From now on, the Yun Nation would completely be history.
No matter how much Lin Mengsheng hated Cheng Dongsheng and Zheng Chengmian, he was still a citizen of the Yun Nation.
Afterward, everyone started to disperse. Some returned to their rooms with sad faces.
There were also some who remained calm and headed to the palace.
As Lin Mengsheng thought, this was a celebration for the aboriginals.
They had already fully occupied the Yun Nation more than half a year ago.
The surrender of the Yun Nation’s emperor didn’t seem to be of any use at all. Regardless of whether he surrendered or not, the Yun Nation had already become history.
In fact, the emperor actually represented the nation in the minds of many.
The act of the emperor surrendering in front of the palace meant that the Yun Nation had acknowledged its allegiance to the aboriginals.
…
Ren Baqian accompanied the empress as she stood at the top of the palace tower. He lowered his head and looked at the man below.
Currently, this man was wearing the attire of an emperor.
After all, it would be rather humiliating for him to surrender while dressed in prison garb. Even though everyone knew that he was the emperor of the Yun Nation, without the emperor’s attire, it would feel as if something was missing.
This was probably the last time that he would wear it.
“The great emperor of Dayao, the expert of the crusade, the godlike strategist, the power of a lifetime… The emperor of Dayao is almighty and benevolent to the civilians, a person whom I dare not compare myself to…”
Cheng Dongsheng stood in the square in front of the palace with his voice spreading throughout the audience via a loudspeaker.
From his attire to him surrendering with a loudspeaker in front of the palace as the empress received this surrender from the palace tower, all of this was naturally arranged by Ren Baqian.
He had even polished up the script a bit.
“Now, Chen Dongsheng is grateful to be heard, and he begs for forgiveness.” After he said these words, it marked a heavy curtain call for the Yun Nation.
Meanwhile, Lan City was filled with wild cheers that rang through the sky.
That same evening, a grand banquet was held in the palace. Tong Zhenye and Qin Chuan were stripped almost naked, revealing their muscular bodies. A piece of animal hide was wrapped around each of their waists as they wrestled in the field.
Hong Wu took off his shirt and held Ren Baqian by the neck, forcing five liters of sorghum wine down his throat.
“Gulp… Gulp… I’m… Gulp… Drowning… Cough…” Before Ren Baqian passed out, he was certain that Hong Wu intentionally did this to him.
Ren Baqian’s hazy eyes looked at the empress and asked for help, only to see her pouring and drinking on her own while occasionally smiling at him.
It seemed like it made her very happy to see her husband chugging alcohol with someone she highly respected.
