In a blink of an eye, there were sounds of fighting outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Crossbows, arrows, and swords clashed with each other. The sounds were faintly carried by the wind, making people feel frightened for no reason.
There was chaos outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple. When they started to move, the city guards on the stone steps were also in chaos. At Zhao Qian’s command, the city guard soldiers approached Yuan Zheng and his party. Yuan Zheng took a person’s life with a wave of his hand, snatched the sword from his hand, and the assassins hiding in the dark also appeared quietly. Meng Jiu silently protected Meng Tan, and with a flick of his long whip, he rolled up the man who tried to take the will from King Xiang and threw him out fiercely, intending to hit Zhao Qian’s feet and kill him on the spot.
Zhao Qian took a step back, his face becoming ugly.
Yuan Zheng held up his sword, looked at Zhao Qian, and expressionlessly said, “Marquis Ping An, my Emperor Father has treated your Zhao family well.”
“You little brat, what do you know!” Zhao Qian sneered, “The old emperor was confused. It was my Zhao family that supported him to ascend the throne, but he was ungrateful and sent my son to Yannan for some kind of inspection. As a result, my son died in the barbaric land of Yannan! His body was incomplete!”
Yuan Zheng coldly said, “That kid acted recklessly in Yannan and almost caused a rebellion there. His death in Yannan is his own fault.”
Zhao Qian stared at Yuan Zheng fiercely, his old hatred surged up, and he said angrily: “Nonsense, the old emperor is afraid of my Zhao family!” His expression suddenly shifted, and he laughed and said, “So what if he can’t tolerate it? He’s dead anyway.”
“Your emperor father was in great pain when he died. He watched some of his sons die and some rebel. He was so angry that blood came out of his seven orifices.” Zhao Qian said with a smile. “He died with his eyes open. It was really a relief.”
Yuan Zheng felt a burning sensation in his heart, his ears buzzing, and the nightmares that haunted him day and night appeared before his eyes. He tightly grasped the sword in his hand and fiercely turned his eyes to Yuan Heng. Yuan Heng was beside Zhao Qian, and the two looked at each other through the pearl tassels, their eyes were indifferent and without any warmth of their youth at all.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew from behind him. Yuan Zheng swung his sword, and a clanging sound was heard, it turned out that two swords had collided. Turning back, he saw Si Shaoying’s sword tip shaking slightly and stabbing towards him.
The smell of blood in the Imperial Ancestral Temple was getting stronger. The city guards and the imperial guards had been at odds for a long time. Now they were going to war. It was like enemies meeting each other, they were extremely jealous of each other and couldn’t wait to kill each other with their weapons.
The Dayan had been established for hundreds of years, and the Imperial Ancestral Temple stood majestically in this flourishing Yan capital, never stained with blood. But now, it witnessed a quarrel between brothers and a war between the same family. The hundreds of long steps paved with white jade were gushing with blood, and corpses were lying everywhere. Most of the officials were civil officials, and when the chaos broke out, they panicked, some hid behind the auspicious beasts in groups of three or two, some fled in all directions, and some were even caught in the disaster and fell in a pool of blood.
The two swords collided, Yuan Zheng and Si Shaoying only exchanged blows when he realized that Si Shaoying’s martial arts were not ordinary. Yuan Zheng wanted to kill Yuan Heng and Zhao Qian, but Si Shaoying clung to Yuan Zheng and protected Yuan Heng regardless of life and death. The two fought for dozens of moves, but Si Shaoying was no match for Yuan Zheng. Yuan Zheng made a feint to pass Si Shaoying and approached Yuan Heng.
Si Shaoying: “Your Majesty!”
Yuan Heng took a step back, his expression unchanged as his pearl tassels swayed. He raised his hand and grabbed Zhao Qian, slapping him with his palm, sending him to Yuan Zheng’s sword.
A sword pierced his heart.
Zhao Qian was completely defenseless. He didn’t believe that Yuan Heng, who had always been like a soft persimmon in front of him, would dare to do this. He widened his eyes and looked down at the cold sword that pierced his body. He wanted to look back, but the sword had already been pulled out. He saw blood splattering in front of his eyes, and it lost all color in an instant.
Blood dripped down the tip of the sword. Yuan Zheng looked at Yuan Heng and laughed for some reason, “Third Brother, I never knew you were good at martial arts.”
Yuan Heng also laughed and said, “Ah Zheng, there are more things that you don’t know.”
“Shaoying, step back.” He casually drew out a soft sword, the sword’s light was like autumn water—he said, “Ah Zheng, from childhood to adulthood, you and I have never fought against each other. Today, let’s fight.”
Yuan Zheng shook off the blood on the tip of the sword and looked at Yuan Heng silently. Yuan Heng took off the emperor’s crown and threw it on the ground. He sighed and seemed to be regretful. The next moment, the soft sword approached Yuan Zheng like a cold snake.
The royal family of Dayan has learned the six arts since childhood and is familiar with archery and horse riding. Yuan Zheng can already lift a black iron longbow and shoot three arrows at once at the age of twelve or thirteen, while Yuan Heng can’t even draw the bow because he was in poor health. The emperor likes Yuan Zheng, not only because Yuan Zheng is the empress’s son, but also because he thinks Yuan Zheng is most like him.
The emperor always said, ‘Among all Zhen’s princes, only Ah Zheng is most like Zhen.’
Yuan Heng said, “Emperor Father said that you are the one who resembles him the most, but he has never looked us straight in the eye.” The tip of the sword wrapped around the edge of the sword, with murderous intent hidden between the hardness and the softness. Yuan Zheng coldly said, “Is this the reason why you patricided?”
“Patricide?” Yuan Heng said, “It was Zhao Qian who killed the monarch. What does it have to do with me?”
As he spoke, dozens of sword moves had already been made. Yuan Zheng’s sword became more and more fierce, cutting off the corner of the dragon robe sleeve. Yuan Heng frowned. If he hadn’t dodged in time, the sword would have passed through his chest already. Yuan Heng’s eyes turned cold, but he said, “Ah Zheng, I know you don’t want to be the emperor. Now I am the one sitting on the throne, why do you want to fight with me?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to be an idle king?”
Yuan Zheng coldly said, “Yuan Heng, are you worthy of sitting on this throne!”
“Do you know how many people died in the war on the northern border because of your thoughts?” Yuan Zheng slashed down with his sword fiercely. Yuan Heng quickly retreated three steps. He saw Yuan Zheng approaching with the sword step by step and said with extreme hatred, “You are not worthy of being a monarch at all!”
“Ha, I’m not worthy?” Yuan Heng’s palms felt numb. He stared at Yuan Zheng, raised his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth, and said coldly, “I’m not worthy, so are you?”
“You are nothing but a loser who relies on Emperor Father’s favor and your noble family background!”
“If you didn’t have your empress mother who died early, who would you be?”
Yuan Zheng looked at Yuan Heng expressionlessly. The resentment that Yuan Heng had suppressed for many years burst out and could not be controlled. He said hatefully, “Yuan Zheng, what you said is so benevolent and righteous. Since ancient times, a general’s success has been built on the bones of countless soldiers. Those who have accomplished great things have all stepped on piles of bones! If I were to become an emperor, I would level the gap between the poor and the noble, usher in a peaceful and prosperous era, and realize my grand ambitions. Who dares to conclude that I am not as good as you, Yuan Zheng?”
Yuan Zheng looked calm and said, “You want to realize your ambitions, what have the people of the northern border done?”
“What has Emperor Father done?” Yuan Zheng picked up the soft sword, the tip of the sword was cold, and he pointed it directly at Yuan Heng. “He is your father!”
He was extremely resentful. Yuan Zheng’s sword was fierce and ruthless. Si Shaoying took a glimpse of it, his pupils constricted, and he raised his hand and shot out a crossbow arrow. With a clang, the tip of the sword deviated slightly and pierced directly into Yuan Heng’s shoulder. Si Shaoying no longer wanted to fight and jumped up to support Yuan Heng, saying urgently, “Ah Heng!”
Yuan Heng snorted and laughed to himself, “Emperor Father, Emperor Father… hahaha.” He said, regardless of anything, with a crazy look on his face, his eyes were red, and he said, “Emperor Father has twelve princes. Among these many princes, Yuan Zheng, ask yourself, does he have any regard for us princes!”
“That year, my mother consort was dying of illness, and I went to beg him to go see her.” Yuan Heng stared at Yuan Zheng with resentment and said, “I knelt outside the palace gate and begged him, but he didn’t even take a look and left in a hurry.”
“Just because you caught a cold, a cold—ha, my mother consort was thinking about him until she died.” Yuan Heng said, “She was originally an ordinary palace maid. If Emperor Father didn’t like my mother consort, why would he bother her? If he didn’t want us princes, why didn’t he just stay with your mother? Since he gave birth to us, why did he favor one over the others and ignore us!”
“Tell me, Yuan Zheng!”
Yuan Zheng paused, staring at Yuan Heng in a daze. Yuan Heng lost his imperial crown, and after a fight, his hair was disheveled, and he looked crazy and paranoid. But in a moment, Yuan Zheng felt a sudden chill and raised his sword to block several crossbow arrows that were shot at him, but his arm and cheek hurt. A crossbow arrow that had a tricky angle and was embedded directly into his arm.
Yuan Zheng almost lost his grip on the sword. Yuan Heng leaned against Si Shaoying, put down his hand, smiled, and said, “Ah Zheng ah, you really don’t learn your lesson. Why are you still so soft-hearted and gullible?”
Yuan Zheng lowered his eyes, pulled out the arrow embedded in his arm, and threw it on the ground. Blood soaked his five fingers. He wiped his cheek with his thumb and said slowly, “Someone taught me a truth. There are things that can be done and things that cannot be done—”
Yuan Zheng’s mind flashed back to the day when Cen Yelan stood on the city gate of Beicang Pass. He looked at the slowly closing city gate, resolute and calm. Yuan Zheng said, “If it can be done, I will never regret it even if I die nine times. If it cannot be done, I would rather die in glory than live in disgrace.”
“I don’t care about any great plans or lofty ambitions.” Yuan Zheng said, “I only know that I cannot let down the heaven and earth, the people, and the people’s hearts.”
Yuan Heng was startled. For some reason, a surge of rage suddenly surged in his heart. “How ridiculous! How ridiculous!”
He was anxious but also angry and coldly said, “What do you know? Have you ever been stepped on by someone? Do you know what despair is?”
Suddenly, a large number of soldiers poured in from outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, holding a large banner with the Chinese character “Si” on it high, like a dark cloud covering the sun, and they pressed forward brazenly.
Yuan Heng looked at Yuan Zheng and suddenly smiled again. With the attitude of a winner, he pressed his shoulder and stood up with Si Shaoying’s help. He said, “Forget it. We are on different paths and cannot make plans together. Why should I waste my words on you?”
Yuan Zheng raised his head and looked over, only to see Cen Yelan being escorted by the crowd. His eyes suddenly widened. There was a sword hanging from Cen Yelan’s neck, and Su Chenzhao and the others were being escorted behind him, their faces pale.
TN: The urge to stop here so you guys get cliffhanging xD
They dare touch baby mama general and baby!?
Thank you for not stopping, I once read a novel that had a cliffhanger for every chapter and it was like self torture when I could’ve just waited a week and wait for a pile up to read but that is like self torture too. There’s no winning. 😂
I hate this too🥲
I don’t want yuan zheng to be the emperor. Emperors usually have a lot of wives even when they don’t want to and out general is a man. Probably he’s never going to be accepted as empress and even if he does, he’s a warrior! I can’t see a future for them in palace… hope it’s just my mind running wild again though