Chapter 197 |
Rather than a state letter, it was more like an invitation.
Qu Dubian carefully pondered Yu Ruo's wording.
It was as if the two of them were not the emperors of two nations currently at war, crossing swords and fighting to the death, but rather old friends who had known each other for a long time.
An ordinary, elegant little banquet to attend at the end of spring as the pear blossoms fell.
He placed the state letter on the desk, crossed his hands, rested them against his jaw, and looked serene.
He was unusually quiet. Wen Xiaochun glanced at Ye Xiaoyuan, who secretly peeked at the contents of the state letter on the desk, his eyelids then twitching wildly.
Qu Dubian: "From here to the imperial capital of Nanning, how long will it take?"
Wen Xiaochun looked again at Ye Xiaoyuan, who was winking frantically at him, but failed to understand and said, "If we travel day and night, ten days."
Unlike relay stations changing horses and personnel to deliver eight-hundred-mile messages, a normal journey involves the same group of people the entire way, requiring rest.
The invitation stated March; Yu Ruo had even calculated the time he would spend on the road.
Since he dared to invite, why wouldn't he dare to go?
"Make preparations, I am going to attend."
Wen Xiaochun: "Attend?"
-
Their own Emperor was going to Nanning, and the Great Zhou imperial court exploded in an uproar.
However, their uproar was useless this time. Qu Dubian had long ago ordered people from the Imperial Hospital to stand guard in front of the Zichen Palace, to prevent anyone from attempting suicide by slamming into a pillar in remonstrance and not being rescued in time.
The last time he said he was going to the rear of the battlefield to take command, someone had slammed into a pillar. They were pulled back a bit too late, and the little bit of broken skin on his head didn't heal for three days, making him feel quite guilty.
So this time, he put an end to it completely.
Even if it happened, no one would die.
When an emperor holding real power genuinely wants to do something from the bottom of his heart, absolutely no one can stop his footsteps.
Qu Dubian ordered the three assisting ministers and Prince Ming to oversee state affairs, and had Grand Tutor Fang personally mentor Xi Zixing, his chosen future Grand Secretary.
Following that, the capital was put under martial law, with strict entry and exit controls, as the Emperor set out.
Upon receiving the news, the Zhennan Pass quickly made preparations.
Xu Tingfeng and Xia Fuyang on the front lines also cleared an absolutely safe passage.
There wasn't even the slightest obvious scent of blood.
When Qu Dubian arrived at the front lines, it was exactly March.
He was very clear about his own strength; there were very few people who could be his opponents now. Furthermore, with Liuliu protecting him by his side, he personally wanted to ride a fast horse all the way here, but unfortunately, Imperial Physician Yang did not allow it.
Unable to stop him from coming to Nanning, the people in the imperial court stuffed Imperial Physician Yang, Imperial Physician Zhang, and several other famous doctors from the Imperial Hospital to his side.
Terrified that something might happen to him on the road.
The inner thoughts of the various offices in the Six Ministries of the imperial court were unprecedentedly unified: the great immortal achievement of grand unification was right before their eyes. Even if the graves of the late emperors and ancestors were dug up, their Emperor could not be allowed to lose a single hair!
They wished they could shovel away all the pebbles on the road so their Emperor could have a smoother journey.
In short, after a tiring journey, they finally arrived.
As soon as Qu Dubian got down, he saw Xu Tingfeng and called out, "Uncle."
Xu Tingfeng's eyes curved in a smile: "Mhm, Your Majesty."
Qu Dubian: "Just call me Xiao Qi as usual."
Xu Tingfeng looked around and said in a low voice, "I will call you that in private. For now, it's still Your Majesty."
The two exchanged a few more words before Xia Fuyang pushed past the soldiers and walked over from the front, cupping his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty."
Qu Dubian: "Any movement?"
Xia Fuyang shook his head.
He said coldly, "If he's playing us, I will personally cut off his head."
Qu Dubian: "With his temperament, he wouldn't play tricks. Since we're already here, let's wait a bit."
Yu Ruo must have surely received the news of his arrival.
He went to his resting place, washed up, changed his clothes, and waited patiently.
It didn't take too long.
The early morning of the second day.
The city gates of the imperial capital opened.
Xia Fuyang was just about to lead troops inside to investigate when Qu Dubian raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder. "He didn't invite you all. I will go in myself."
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, you must not!"
Xia Fuyang pursed his lips: "This subject will bring a squad to follow Your Majesty."
Qu Dubian tacitly agreed.
He took the state letter invitation out of his robe and walked into the enemy nation's imperial capital.
Xia Fuyang and a squad of soldiers behind him followed with light footsteps. In the shadows, Yi Shier sensed the surroundings, and his hanging heart settled down slightly.
There really was no one here.
The national flower of Great Zhou was the cold orchid, while the national flower of Nanning was the pear blossom.
In fact, the people of Great Zhou didn't particularly like pear blossoms, because when pear trees grown in Great Zhou bloomed, the flowers had a faint, fishy scent.
Nanning, however, highly revered them.
It was Qu Dubian's first time smelling the scent of Nanning's pear blossoms. He didn't know if it was a different variety, but the pear blossoms here carried a faint, clear sweetness.
A clear breeze rolled across the ground, and pear blossom petals spun in a circle beneath his feet before drifting away elsewhere.
The place where the pear blossoms bloomed most beautifully and abundantly was the Flying Immortal Pavilion.
Located in the very center of the entire imperial capital, it was the tallest and most magnificent place in the city.
It was much, much higher than the nine-story high terrace of the Great Zhou's Star Observation Bureau.
The Flying Immortal Pavilion had thirteen floors. For ordinary people, simply climbing the stairs to the top would be tiring enough, but for those with martial arts skills, it naturally meant nothing.
Qu Dubian stopped at the bottom, looking up at the Flying Immortal Pavilion from afar.
"Lao Xia, you stay on guard down here. I'll go up to attend the meeting."
Xia Fuyang: "I'll go too."
Qu Dubian: "Be obedient."
"..."
Xia Fuyang remained silent, but he didn't stop him anymore.
Qu Dubian took a slight step back, gathered his inner energy, tapped his toes on the branch of a nearby pear tree, and leaped into the air.
The thirteen-story Flying Immortal Pavilion narrowed with each floor, making it convenient for Qu Dubian to borrow momentum.
As he neared the topmost floor, he heard a smiling voice: "Climbing the pavilion to come here, Your Majesty, is not very elegant."
Qu Dubian paused, landed on the floor just below, and fully adopted the appearance of a polite guest coming to an appointment, formally taking the stairs.
The stairs spiraled upward, all the way to the top floor.
On the top floor, Yu Ruo, dressed in simple and elegant white clothes, sat on the floor with a small grill in front of him.
The space was quite spacious, about seventeen or eighteen square meters.
The wind on the top floor seemed even more comfortable. Looking down, the entire city was filled with dancing, snow-white pear blossoms, purely white and flawless.
Qu Dubian: "I have come for the appointment."
He sat cross-legged opposite Yu Ruo and pushed the invitation written on the state letter over.
Yu Ruo shared half of a roasted rabbit with him, only half-cooked. "You grill your own portion yourself."
Qu Dubian raised an eyebrow: "You've got to be kidding. I come here as a guest, and this is how you host me?"
As he spoke, he still took the two iron skewers holding the rabbit, rolled them over the iron grate, and skillfully brushed a layer of oil onto the rabbit.
Yu Ruo: "I originally wanted to invite you for a drink," he pointed to a jar of wine nearby, "but then I remembered you don't like wine with too strong of an alcohol scent. Unfortunately, I didn't have any fresh fruit wine to treat you with, so I could only temporarily roast a rabbit."
"Great Zhou's army is at the city gates, and you are the Emperor of Great Zhou. You should be glad you have something to eat, yet you're still being picky."
He was also roasting a rabbit, which looked like it was almost done.
Qu Dubian: "Where are the people in the imperial capital?"
"The soldiers are in the military camps of the east and west capitals. As for the commoners... they have all been relocated to the place furthest from the city gate you entered. They are very safe."
Qu Dubian: "The last state letter was written to me by your royal father, using soldiers and commoners as a threat."
Yu Ruo said flatly, Yes, so I killed my imperial father.
Qu Dubian's hand paused.
Yu Ruo continued, Only the emperor can command the soldiers and the common people. He slowly recounted what he had done. Among the soldiers, there are those who would die for their country, willing to drag a person of Great Zhou down with them before they die.
Qu Dubian's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze falling upon Yu Ruo's face.
Not just the soldiers, but the court officials as well... Those old ministers who used to curse my impure bloodline actually said they admired me for daring to be emperor at a time like this, and wanted to face the national crisis together with me.
Yu Ruo let out a soft laugh.
They are incredibly pedantic, yet they can still be considered the upright backbone of this dynasty. I gathered these soldiers and ministers together, and last night, I laced their food with sleeping draughts.
With my own hands, I pulled out Nanning's final claws and extracted its last unyielding bones. Then, I opened the gates to welcome the enemy army into the dynasty's territory.
Tell me, how will the history books of later generations record this scene today?
Qu Dubian said, The Son of Heaven guards the nation's gates, and the monarch dies for the state. You had capable soldiers and loyal ministers. Had you fought to the bitter end, Great Zhou would have surely suffered losses. You opened the city gates to welcome us because you did not want to see any more flames of war.
In doing so, you have reduced the casualties immensely, but you have stripped away the convictions of those who were willing to fight and die for their country. They will resent you to the extreme.
Yu Ruo flipped the roasted rabbit in his hands, cut off a small piece, and tasted it.
Then he frowned, opened the jar of wine, and poured it into two small cups. He gave one cup to Qu Dubian, and drank the other himself, washing down the meat.
After swallowing the rabbit meat, he said, They wanted to achieve the glorious reputation of monarch, ministers, and commoners dying together. However, there are also many people who simply want to live well.
Those scholars, common folk, and honest officials... they were hijacked by righteousness. If they said, I do not want to die, they would become cowards.
He remembered the stones thrown from the alleys by the commoners, and he remembered the old man who knelt down.
His imperial father had selfishly wanted them to die, and he selfishly wanted them to live.
Because he, the emperor, had made the choice, they no longer needed to choose between righteous sacrifice and ignoble survival.
They were all loyal subjects and righteous heroes. The one who betrayed the country was the monarch.
Not only those he had drugged, but even those who secretly felt surrendering was the better option could now point at his spine and say with peace of mind, We were all going to defend the city to the death, but His Majesty betrayed Nanning. We had no choice.
When they grew older, they could even say to their descendants, Your ancestor was originally going to defend the city, but alas... His Majesty betrayed Nanning, and we had no choice. In the future, you must never become traitorous cowards.
Irrefutable.
As the last monarch, Yu Ruo would be trampled into the mud.
Those who truly wanted to live and die with Nanning would even wish to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
Qu Dubian remained quiet for a moment before saying, So, you invited me here to surrender the country.
It is quite a bargain, is it not? Yu Ruo said. Although it was a long and arduous journey, it spared both sides from death and injury. If it were anyone else, I absolutely would not have done this, because I do not trust them. But you are different.
You will treat the people of Nanning well.
He drank another cup of wine.
This wine is called Pear Blossom White. Fitting for the occasion, isn't it?
Qu Dubian nodded. The pear blossoms here are indeed beautiful.
Yu Ruo stood up, walked to the railing, and gazed into the distance.
Pear blossom petals fluttered in his line of sight.
Qu Dubian also turned his head to look.
Yu Ruo said softly, Before I returned to my country, you told me that there is a nation where scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are all equal. I wanted to dream about it for many nights, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not imagine what it looked like...
He watched for a moment, turned around, leaned against a pillar in the corner, and slowly sat down, resting against it.
He seemed tired.
Qu Dubian had left that world twenty years ago, and some details of life had already begun to blur in his memory. It is a place where, once you go, you never want to come back, he said.
Yu Ruo truly could not imagine it. After trying for a while, he gave up.
There is a box. Open it and look.
There was a small box next to the wine jar.
Qu Dubian opened it to look.
Inside was the Imperial Seal of State, along with an edict of self-reproach from the fallen emperor, and a letter of confession for surrendering to the enemy.
The last piece of paper was a contract.
Yu Ruo wanted him to promise that after annexing Nanning, he would treat the people of Nanning and the people of Great Zhou equally. He had even prepared the inkpad.
Since that is the case, do you not plan to survive and supervise me?
He did not know what to feel in his heart. Obviously, he did not have much affection for Yu Ruo, but at this moment, he genuinely felt pity and sorrow for Yu Ruo's choice.
The rabbit meat Yu Ruo gave him was not poisoned, but the half of the roasted rabbit meat he kept for himself was poisoned.
When he helped Yu Ruo flip the meat, the moment his fingers touched it, the simulator reacted.
Qu Dubian asked Yu Ruo, but he already had the answer in his heart.
The other party would not agree.
He had turned himself into the final imperial bone for Great Zhou's great unification. Only by stepping on this emperor's bone would the unified empire be born amidst the curses of the subjects and commoners against him.
Yu Ruo indeed shook his head.
So you found out. Do not save me. This is my own choice.
In some aspects, he was also a very self-centered person. He stopped the loyal ministers and honest officials from dragging the entire city's population down to die for the country, and in the highest, most beautiful place of the imperial capital, he surrendered the nation to the enemy emperor.
Ever since he was born and became sensible, and understood that he had half Northern Frontier blood and could not possibly inherit the throne, Yu Ruo knew that he would never in his life become a monarch loved by the people and assisted by wise ministers, leaving a good name in history.
He thought that being a wise minister assisting the emperor would be fine too.
But in the end, he still became the emperor.
The fallen emperor who was destined to be recorded in heavy, colorful strokes by historians in the annals of history; his death brought the dawn of a great unification.
Dressed entirely in white, with pear blossoms filling the city.
Today was probably the day Yu Ruo's reputation was at its cleanest.
Qu Dubian, I truly envy you.
Envy me for what?
Yes, envy what?
Yu Ruo did not know either.
He simply saw the version of himself he yearned to be in Qu Dubian.
He seemed to always know what he wanted, to weigh things rationally, to understand the price he would pay, and then to move forward firmly until he achieved his goal.
In his youth, he hid his strength, pretending to be obedient in sheep's clothing, cunning in mind but simple in thought. Later, for the sake of his elder sister, he suppressed bandits, fought for power, marched to the Northern Frontier, drank poison, and even later, having finally gained a lifetime of freedom, chose to rescue the king, return to the imperial city, and ascend the throne as emperor.
Walking all the way to today.
This might not be what he truly wanted, but it was definitely what he had firmly chosen.
This kind of feeling was very attractive.
That was why he had all sorts of people around him supporting him, following him, unwavering.
Yu Ruo closed his eyes. In the end, he did not say what he envied, but instead made a joke.
You will certainly be able to create a prosperous age of great unification. Being your enemy is very uncomfortable, but perhaps being your subject will be very comfortable. If I die early now and reincarnate, eighteen years later, I will be born into that prosperous age. I hope you can endure for a long time...
"Don't make me pick up a pen to curse you as an incompetent emperor after I am reincarnated..."
He muttered a few more words under his breath.
Then, his breathing faded to a stop.
A long time passed.
Qu Dubian finally spoke, "Then you had better hurry up and get in line. Once I finish training my heir in about twenty or thirty years, I will retire and wander the world. If you are too late, you might not even be able to catch me to curse me."
He took the contract from the box, pressed his thumb against the red inkpad, and stamped his fingerprint onto the document—a contract ensuring that the people of Nanning and the Great Zhou would be treated as equals.
Atop the Feixian Pavilion.
One person sat leaning against a wooden pillar, while the other sat upright in the center.
One appeared to have fallen asleep, while the other remained awake.
The imperial capital was stark and silent. No one was there to witness this spring gathering over March pear blossom wine.
It was just like that time they watched the moon from the eaves so many years ago.
Qu Dubian still hadn't touched the cup of Pear Blossom White that Yu Ruo had poured for him earlier.
Now, he slowly picked up the cup, brought it to his lips, and drained it.
Scattered snow-white petals drifted through the towering Feixian Pavilion, coming to rest on the rim of the wine jar and the trailing hems of their robes on the floor.
As the alcohol washed over his tongue, it left behind only a faint astringency. It wasn't bitter, but there was no sweet aftertaste, either.
"Just as I thought. I still don't like this kind of wine."
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