Lord Yuan Bao was going crazy…Ηe shook his head and went over to grab Meng Fuyao"s dagger, attempting to chope this darn parrot into chunks. That parrot hopped around triumphantly. "Ah ho ho… Zhi Zhi! Zhi Zhi!"
"Jin Gang, you"re being mischievous again!"
A familiar female voice could be heard, and soon after, that parrot was caught. Meng Fuyao also grabbed the struggling Lord Yuan Bao and noticed it was that young lady Jin Huan, Fei Yan"s servant.
That young lady gave Meng Fuyao a smile as she walked away. She patted the parrot and said, "Let"s go. Why are you dawdling, didn"t you say that only food from our home is fit for your tastebuds? Let"s head back and get some thousand sacred pills for you to eat. Hm… We should go back to the clan and look for the treasure…"
She mumbled, walking further away.
Meng Fuyao stood in the crowd, watching her back view disappear thoughtfully. Suddenly, someone appeared beside her and asked, "Who did you see?"
Meng Fuyao turned around and smiled at Zhangsun Wuji. "A bird."
"It didn"t lend you its wings?" Zhangsun Wuji looked towards that direction.
Meng Fuyao just took off, casually replying, "Who knows?"
Zhangsun Wuji did not follow her. Instead, he heaved a sigh.
Xuanji Duan Ming Era on the 18th of the fifth month. It was a stuffy, dry day.
Feng Xuan woke up early in the morning. The moment he got up, he felt a weight upon his chest, as if the dark clouds on a gloomy summer were looming over him. He stared blankly at the damp wall, recalling the fact that he hadn"t had any visitors in a long time.
Then, he remembered the diagnosis that the imperial doctor had given him—he couldn"t live past four months. Why was he still fine now? But honestly, the medicine recently had certainly been good. His energy levels were better than before, and especially his vision, which was originally blurry, was now getting clearer by the day.
He found this somewhat ironic. He had already stepped down from his throne, what would he need such a clear vision for? Would there be anything he would have to personally witness?
Just as he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the noise from opposite his residence. He staggered over to the window to take a look and noticed that there were many craftsmen moving out things under the watch of a eunuch from the opposite palace, where all the ancestors" tablets were placed.
Normally, he wouldn"t have been able to see clearly. But today, his clear vision captured everything—what they were moving were the ancestral tablets!
The ancestral tablets of the previous Xuanji Emperors!
Those illiterate, rough men casually carried out those sacred ancestral tablets, the ancestral tablets that even he himself would have to bow to, and randomly tossed them on a cart. Soon enough, the cart was filled up with the tablets that resembled a bunch of firewood.
Feng Xuan jumped up in anger. Huffing and puffing, he tried to call for his maids and eunuchs. However, the servants that were usually at his every beck and call were nowhere to be seen. He could only lean against the wall for support, hobbling over to stop those civilians worthy of death.
However, suddenly, someone asked, "Where are you going?"
Feng Xuan looked up and saw a platoon of guards swarming in as the imperial carriage slowly made its way in. Meng Fuyao got down from the carriage and glanced at him with her hands behind her back.
"Fuyao, just nice!" Feng Xuan was elated upon seeing her and eagerly went forward and tugged her sleeves. Pointing towards the opposite side, he said, "Look at those thieves… Look at those thieves… They actually dare… dare…" His face was red as he trembled with rage, unable to even speak clearly.
"Oh." Meng Fuyao pushed his hand away, and nonchalantly glanced at him. "Ah, that…"
She walked towards the residence, and Feng Xuan followed her unsteadily and anxiously. "Stop them… stop them…"
"You saw everything?" Meng Fuyao turned to look at him.
"I saw! What"s going on?" Feng Xuan clutched his chest and coughed. "They…"
"They are moving the ancestral tablets of the Feng Imperial Family. Simple as that."
"You—"
Meng Fuyao"s tone made Feng Xuan realize the answer. He looked up and stuttered, "You… You were the one that let them…"
"Naturally." Meng Fuyao laughed, looking at him as if he had gotten dumber. "If I hadn"t given the orders, would anyone have dared to touch that place?"
"You"re crazy!" Feng Xuan stumbled backward and fell onto the ground. With his shaky legs, he tried to get up a couple of times but without much success.
"Whether I am crazy or not, I do not know." Meng Fuyao glanced at him coldly, not bothering to help him up as she added, "But I think you might be going crazy soon."
She strode over and sat on the couch. Her hands were on her knees as she looked down upon the struggling Feng Xuan. "I am here to inform you that I have just given out a new order. From today onwards, Xuanji will be renamed as Wan Changsheng. All of Xuanji"s Imperial Family will become normal citizens. From now on, there will be no more Xuanji!"
As she finished her last word, Feng Xuan"s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fainted.
Meng Fuyao watched him calmly with her dark, unfathomable eyes. "Xuanji, Xuanji, from now onwards, there will be no more of that darn Xuanji Imperial Family. Xuwan, Xuwan, from now onwards, there will only be your tablet!"
Feng Xuan only regained consciousness after a very long time.
When he woke up, his entire vision was black. Initially, he thought that he had gone blind, but then, he noticed something glistening in the dark. Then he realized it was nighttime.
And that glistening thing, was the eyes of a human, the eyes of Meng Fuyao who had not left.
Feng Xuan lay on the floor in the exact same position he had fainted in. He lay there, cold and frozen like the dead. Only then did he realized how deep Meng Fuyao"s hatred towards him was. He initially thought that such things were a common occurrence amongst the Imperial Family. He thought that Meng Fuyao did not have her memories before she was five. He believed that an honorable throne was enough to soothe her rage and hatred. However, he thought it too simply.
He simplified humanity, grudges, hatred, pain, and darkness.
To him, power and authority reigned above all. Unfortunately, he did not know that to others, the most important thing could be their own heart.
Those past experiences that contained joy and tears. Those memories that needed redemption.
"… Aren"t you… afraid of being… cursed…" To witness the Feng Empire, he had protected all his life be destroyed in his own hands. To witness his sacred ancestral tablets being tossed into a dirty cart like trash. To witness himself being the traitor of the Feng family, unable to face his ancestors in death. Feng Xuan struggled with his very last bit of strength, attempting to control the child he thought he could with his vicious words.
"I"ve been waiting for you just to tell you this." Meng Fuyao squatted down and leaned in. "… That oath had nothing to do with me."
She smiled and gently whispered beside Feng Xuan"s ear, "The child you had with Xuwan, Feng Fuyao, was stillborn. And I… am just Meng Fuyao."
Feng Xuan trembled.
"Feng Fuyao was loyal to the Feng family. She did not destroy Xuanji"s Imperial Family. Feng Fuyao would never go against her oath because she was only alive for one hour." Meng Fuyao smiled calmly. "Feng Xuan, do you remember the oath? It was Feng Fuyao who said that, not me."
Feng Xuan suddenly started to convulse. His eyes were fixated on Meng Fuyao"s eyes. Those eyes of hers were emotionless, staring straight at him, locking him in an eternal abyss.
In the dark night, he shook uncontrollably under the icy cold gaze of Meng Fuyao. He could hear the sound of his muscles tearing apart, his bones shattering, and his heart pierced. Somewhere in his body, something seemed to have snapped, inflicting upon him unbearable pain. A tiny crack appeared as a wisp of smoke escaped.
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It turned out the death of an emperor… was so simple.
An entire lifetime of scheming, manipulating, but ended up… to be controlled.
This was karma, karma… it was.
Xuanji, Duan Ming Era, on the 18th of the fifth month. Xuanji was now known as Wan Changsheng. It was only then that everyone understood the previous name was, but short-lived [1. Changsheng refers to longevity in Chinese, thus a pun].
With the exception of the Ninth Princess, who was already married, the rest had now become commoners.
Changsheng, on the 19th of the fifth month. Feng Xuan had pa.s.sed on, buried in the mausoleum. There was no one else in the mausoleum, only him. Apparently, before he had pa.s.sed on, he had requested to be buried with a yellow napkin over his face as he had no face to meet his ancestors. The Empress had allowed his request.
Feng Xuan had become the last emperor to be buried in the mausoleum.
However, there was a lucky one amongst the Xuanji Imperial Family—Feng Wu. He was the prince that wasn"t abolished and, instead, was tasked to become the next Prime Minister, overseeing the political scene.
This move by the Empress left many confused. "I gave everyone a chance, but he was the only one that pa.s.sed," was the only sentence the Empress had left.
That day, where they all had been under house arrest, it had actually been to test them.
1. Political commentary-wise, there were 7 excellent people, including Feng Wu that had caught her eye.
2. Starving them for three days before giving them buns. The moment the buns had been sent in, only those that had been willing to share had pa.s.sed the test. Feng Wu, who had too been starving for three days, had chosen to give up his bun to his nephew. At that point, there had only been three people left that had pa.s.sed both the first test and the second test.
3. Ji Yu informing them that the Empress had the intention to choose officials from the princes and princesses. He had also told them the list of people that the Empress had plans for. Amongst the trio, two had been elated and begun to verbally attack each other. Only Feng Wu had remained calm.
Hence, Feng Wu had pa.s.sed.
A good political commentary showed his talent. Giving his bun up showed his kindness. To not be swayed by temptation showed his prudence.
Meng Fuyao used such methods to choose her officials.
Initially, she could have slowly picked them from the nation, but since she was running out of time, she could only search for talents in the Xuanji Imperial Family that was experienced with the workings of politics.
She also thought that if she were to leave in the future, she would hand the throne to Feng Wu. The nation would be incorporated into either Wuji or Dahan, and with Zhangsun Wuji or Zhan Beiye around, even if Feng Wu were to inherit the throne, he could forget about changing the nation"s name back to Xuanji.