Inside the Imperial Palace in the throne room, the Emperor and the Empress were both seated beside each other in their respective throne. Right now, they were taking a break from their usual schedules of meeting with various clan leaders, n.o.bles and influential people.Hais!
With a deep exhalation of sigh, the Emperor raised his head and a look of longingness could be seen reflected on his n.o.ble face.
"I have never dreamed of being able to purge away these menial tasks to someone else before. At last, it finally came true!" he said emotionally with clenched fists.
When he was young, he was so eager to play the role of an Emperor. As it was the highest rank of hierarchy that one could get in the Jiu Empire and comes with many benefits, he thought that he could instruct others to do his work. But alas, he was too naive! The old saying remains true, "With power comes responsibility", and even the Emperor could not escape from this!
Heck, if not to maintain his dignity and honor as the Emperor, he would bellow out "Shut up, pack your bags and go home!" to those people that came to meet him everyday ceaselessly!
His ears almost grew deaf hearing complaints non-stop since his ascension to the throne, and his mind was tired of having to think creatively for solving difficult situations every time. It was fortunate that his wife, Empress Yu Yan, or most commonly known as Empress Dowager to the people, was a smart woman.
After all, 80 percent of the issues that made him troubled was settled by her and her advisor, Advisor Chen!
To the eyes of the public, they might only see her as a decorative and extremely beautiful woman to fill in the seat of an Empress, but no one knows best on what she was truly capable of than him!
If not for his wife, then the political issues of the Jiu Empire would eventually piled onto one another until it reached the ceiling like a collapsing mountain, which by then would be too late to solve, creating political instability in its wake!
In fact, the reason why all the powerful clans in the Empire could go along so well with the n.o.bles was mostly attributed due to her personal arrangements behind the scenes. To the top echelons of these influential group of elites, the Empress was like a deterrence that balances the advantage on each side, giving benefits to all.
Therefore, since everyone could get a slice of the pie continuously, why bother to create a scene and risk everything?
However, it was not as if everything could go so well due to the Empress" means alone. This was the resulting pa.s.sive effect or power of advanced and functioning society where laws were strictly adhered to and enforced! Not only that, public image was now much more important than millenniums ago. One individual could be powerful and ma.s.sacre anyone that offended them, but what use was power, influence and wealth without the people to flaunt it at?
If everyone was dead, what difference would it make if the last person standing was as weak as an ant or as strong as the G.o.ds? Who would it impress? Nada!
Indeed, the first founding ancestor could be said to be the father of their modern society for creating the foundation through introducing modern concept and philosophy of wealth. Without him educating the people with these ideas to be practiced generation after generation, perhaps the people would have still sticked with the barbaric ways where battle power meant everything!
A world suspended in eternal cla.s.sic!
After recalling the great achievement of the founding ancestor, the Emperor could not help but to only feel respect for the latter!
As for his achievement, well...
Crowning Duan Li as the Imperial Overseer should be it!
"Yu Yan, why do you look so troubled?" he asked after he noticed that this wife of his was a lot more silent than her usual self these past few days.
"You are definitely hiding something from me!" the Empress quickly replied as she cast a sharp gaze on him, appearing to demand an answer straight away.
Pu!
The Emperor made a few dry coughs as he choked on himself.
"This..."
He truly did not know where to start. Knowing his wife, even if he explained it, he wasn"t sure that she would believe him. Besides, there seems to be repercussions if more people were to know about the future. Artifacts of time, or incongruency in the events that were supposed to happen, could lead to many new issues that might be beyond their capabilities to handle!
Just as he was perplexed as to how to answer his wife that grew increasingly impatient, three spatial portals appeared before them.
Wengg!!
From these three spatial portals, came out Liu Sheng Juan, Duan Li, and what seems to be another Duan Li.
"Paying respects to the Emperor." Liu Sheng Juan bowed a little as part of the formality. As for Duan Li and his clone, they don"t seem to be too bothered in the presence of their Emperor.
This was especially the case with Duan Li"s clone whom self-t.i.tled itself as the "Utmost Being". At this moment, the latter seemed to be staring intently at the Emperor and Empress that sat on the throne casually, judging them in his mind.
By the looks of it, they don"t intend to greet me as their Imperial Overseer...
He was displeased and was about to say something barbaric when Duan Li glanced at him menacingly.
"If you dared to utter nonsense, I will really rip your b*lls off!" Duan Li said inwardly.
Since they both could exchange thoughts, when Utmost Being heard this, he harrumphed and looked to the other side lazily while rolling his eyes.
"Liu Sheng Juan, why are there two... Duan Li?" the Emperor said with a confused expression. He immediately scanned both Duan Li the moment they appeared with his Soul Sense, but to his astonishment, he found them both to be completely identical!
What"s going on? Could Duan Li possibly have a twin brother?
"This here with the earring on his right earlobe is the real Duan Li, while this other fellow here, whom wanted to identify himself as the "Utmost Being", is Duan Li"s clone." Liu Sheng Juan replied calmly, appearing to no longer be fazed by it.
Cough! Cough!
The Emperor and Empress felt like their lungs stopped working for a moment.
The other party is his clone? Formidable! We can"t even detect anything out of the ordinary between them!
But to dare call itself the Utmost Being? Isn"t that courting death?
Duan Li then raised his hand forward on top of his head as if greeting at his old buddy, "h.e.l.lo your Majesty! Please don"t mind this clone of mine, his personality is a little bit off." he said with a disappointed tone.
Everyone in the room went silent after hearing this.
As if you"re the one to talk..
"I made him because he will replace me as the Imperial Overseer in my absence. As for any trouble in doing so, don"t worry because he is a complete copy of me, plus we are able to communicate instantly as well through our minds!" Duan Li continued.
The Emperor stared at them both for a long time before sighing helplessly.
He talked as if this was something normal and casual...
"I see... you know what you should do right?" the Emperor replied and asked a bit awkwardly.
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Utmost Being that appeared to be disinterested previously then answered, "Yeah, doing what was supposed to be your job right? I got it." he said in a sarcastic tone with his chin up.
Pu!
The Emperor choked slightly upon hearing that remark and waved his hand, "What are you saying? Since there are now two rulers in the Empire, naturally the workload must also be split into two right?"
In his mind, he felt a bit indignant being directly called out like that. However, it was in fact the truth. Denying it vehemently would only make himself look pitiful.
"Enough of this farce!" the Empress could finally tolerate it no more and exploded in rage!
Boom!
Her cultivation realm flooded the throne room with the suppressing aura of a Pinnacle stage Nascent Soul realm expert, causing others to sweat and their hearts to palpitate slightly.
However, Duan Li and his clone appeared to be unfazed by her aura at all.
The latter then gave out a short burst of laughter.
"Farce? Indeed... let me tell you what a farce this is!" Utmost Being threw her a cold gaze and released his own aura.
BOOMM!!
The Imperial Palace immediately quaked as if earthquakes had struck the Jiu Empire, causing the throne room to tremble and the ceiling to crack!
Stepping forward one step at a time with his hands clasped behind his back, his aura grew increasingly heavy as he continued, "First, you schemed against my original without knowing what he did for the Empire. Second, you didn"t apologize and appeared to hold a grudge against him instead for foiling your plans. Third, he and I are the Imperial Overseer and we stood above you in terms of seniority. As you can see, this is truly a farce. Where are your proper respects?"
By that final sentence, Utmost Being was already standing in front of the Empress while looking down on her with a frosty expression.
"Your meager showcase of power... is insignificant!"
...