The country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Yuan Heng is dead, and Yuan Zheng’s ascension to the throne is a foregone conclusion.
In just a few months, the throne changed hands several times. Yuan Zheng’s ascension ceremony was kept simple and without any grand ceremony.
Cen Yelan was originally a meritorious official, but he took a leave of absence and did not show up even when Yuan Zheng ascended the throne. He recalled Yuan Zheng’s expression that day, and the young man’s questioning was still ringing in his ears. He could not help but sigh, feeling sour and also a little disappointed.
Yuan Zheng is too young after all.
Cen Yelan thought, He is already an emperor, how can he still do everything as he pleases?
After a thunderclap, the rain started to fall unexpectedly. Cen Yelan, wearing a light spring robe, stood by the window and watched the banana trees in the yard being beaten by the sudden summer rain. The rain flowed down the green banana leaves, forming a dense line and dripping.
Suddenly, a servant outside the door said, “General, Lord Meng is here to visit.”
Cen Yelan came to his senses and said, “Invite him in.”
Meng Tan was still wearing his court robes, perhaps because he had just finished his court session. Meng Jiu was holding an umbrella behind him. The master and servant turned through the archway and waded through the rain along the path.
Meng Tan brushed off his robe and said, “It’s such a coincidence that it rained just as I arrived at General Cen’s mansion. Please don’t blame me for bothering you without sending a visiting letter.”
Cen Yelan smiled and said, “Of course not. Please.”
The two of them sat down, and Cen Yelan had already asked someone to make hot tea, and the aroma of tea was wafting in the air.
Meng Tan asked, “How is Ah Lan’s body?”
Cen Yelan paused while holding the teacup. Thinking of the person who was in front of him was Yuan Zheng’s uncle, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable and said, “Thanks for the concern. I’m fine now.”
“That’s good.” Meng Tan said, “When you were injured that day, Ah Zheng was terrified. Since the late emperor…” He paused and said with a sigh and pity, “Ah Zheng has changed a lot. When I saw him that day, I saw the shadow of the past again.”
Meng Tan’s voice was gentle and unhurried, but the more Cen Yelan listened, the stranger he felt. He drank a cup of tea to cover up and changed the subject stiffly, “I heard that His Majesty is going to deal with Yuan Heng’s party in the near future?”
Meng Tan looked at Cen Yelan and said, “This is what we discussed at the morning court today.”
Cen Yelan heard some hesitation in his words, raised his eyes to look at Meng Tan, and heard Meng Tan say, “His Majesty wants to sentence all the main culprits of Yuan Heng’s party to death.”
Cen Yelan was startled. When the Imperial Ancestral Temple riot broke out, the empress got the news from somewhere and was frightened. She started bleeding on the spot and was sent back to the palace by the palace attendants. After many hardships, she gave birth to a little prince.
Now the mother and son have been placed under house arrest in the palace.
Meng Tan said, “Yuan Heng’s case has already implicated many people. His Majesty has ordered Li Anyu, the Junior Official of the Dali Court, to thoroughly investigate the remnants of Yuan Heng and execute the entire Zhao and Lin families.”
Cen Yelan frowned and said, “Li Anyu—”
Meng Tan smiled bitterly and said, “Ah Lan must know this person as well. Li Anyu is the most upright and honest person. Once he investigates, the whole court will be in panic and unrest.”
Cen Yelan said, “It’s a time of great trouble, yet he’s starting a war like this…” He looked at Meng Tan and said, “Why doesn’t Lord Meng give His Majesty some advice?”
Meng Tan sighed and said, “Ah Zheng has become much more paranoid and angry now. He won’t listen to me.”
Cen Yelan lowered his eyes and calmly said, “Lord Meng is His Majesty’s uncle. If His Majesty won’t even listen to your words, then what’s the point of you talking to me?”
Meng Tan smiled faintly and said, “A frank person doesn’t speak in a roundabout way. Why should Ah Lan pretend to be confused? I have watched Ah Zheng grow up since he was a child. I know him very well…”
“Lord Meng.” Cen Yelan’s tone suddenly turned cold, his face also cold. “His Majesty is young and ignorant, is Prime Minister Meng also not aware of the seriousness of the matter?”
He said this bluntly. Meng Tan was slightly stunned, and his eyes darkened. The two looked at each other for a moment, and neither of them dodged or retreated.
Cen Yelan said, “When you and I formed an alliance, Lord Meng promised me two things.”
“Of course, the General only said one thing that day, that is, if someone with ulterior motives brings up the old matter again in the future, you can separate the Cen family from Cen Yi’s incident.” Meng Tan said, “As long as Meng lives, the Cen family lives.”
Cen Yelan’s expression calmed down a little, and after a moment of silence, he said, “I want to leave the capital.”
Meng Tan suddenly realized that Yuan Zheng would never let Cen Yelan go, considering his obsession with him. He pondered for a moment while looking at the invincible general of Dayan. Cen Yelan was so brave, but now he had to hide from Yuan Zheng in this way. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to laugh or sympathize with Yuan Zheng.
Meng Tan showed a hint of amusement in his eyes and smiled, “General Cen, all the land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are the king’s subjects ah.”
Cen Yelan had no expression on his face and said indifferently, “Then it depends on Prime Minister Meng.”
Seeing that he had no chance of turning back, Meng Tan sighed and said, “Ah Zheng will probably hate me.”
Cen Yelan said, “Thank you.”
The summer rain came quickly and went away just as quickly. The rain outside the house gradually subsided. Soon, Meng Tan and Cen Yelan walked out together.
The gravel on the path was washed clean and transparent. When the wind blew, the sound of raindrops falling from the grass and trees could be faintly heard. Meng Tan suddenly said, “General Cen, do you know why Ah Zheng’s mother entered the palace as the empress?”
Cen Yelan raised his eyes and looked at Meng Tan.
“My elder sister is quiet and intelligent and is deeply loved by my father. My father originally just wanted her to find an ordinary good man and live a stable life. Unexpectedly, the late emperor and my elder sister were childhood sweethearts, and they had already secretly fallen in love with each other. My elder sister insisted on marrying the late emperor despite my father’s opposition.” Meng Tan said slowly, “Although my father was reluctant, he had no choice. After my elder sister entered the palace, she seemed to be extremely favored, but she did not live a happy life and died of depression. But until her death, my elder sister never regretted it.”
“She said that she had always walked the path she had chosen in her life and had never gone against her will. She was very happy.”
When they reached the door, Cen Yelan seemed to be aware of something and looked at Meng Tan. Meng Tan said, “Life is just like a flash of lightning. If we cannot live as we wish, we can only compromise. What’s the point of being no different from plants, insects, and animals?”
Cen Yelan paused, raised his leg, and stepped over the high threshold of the General’s Mansion and said, “The world is complicated, how can everything be up to one’s heart?”
Meng Tan raised his eyebrows. He was usually gentle, but now there was a hint of arrogance between his eyes. He said, “Why not? How can I know it’s not up to me if I don’t try?”
Somehow, Cen Yelan saw Yuan Zheng’s shadow in him. His heart tightened, and he asked, “What if you’re wrong?”
Meng Tan smiled and said, “If it’s wrong, then be it.”
“Besides, who can judge who is right and who is wrong? How do you know that wrong is not right?”
Cen Yelan looked at his receding figure, dazed for a moment. He thought, It’s different. He cannot take even a single wrong step in his life. He has his own path to take.
Cen Yelan had made up his mind, but he tossed and turned for several sleepless nights. It was a rainy day when he left the capital.
Zhao Yiqing and the Northern Border Army had already left the capital. Cen Yelan sat in a carriage, with the sound of horses and carriages and the sound of raindrops, slowly rolling through the vast streets of the capital.
With Meng Tan’s token, they quietly left the capital.
Cen Yelan closed his eyes and leaned against the carriage. The carriage was quiet, but Su Chenzhao felt a little uneasy. He asked Cen Yelan in a low voice, “Ah Lan, are we really going to leave the capital like this?”
Cen Yelan didn’t open his eyes and just let out an ‘en’, but his palm pressed his lower abdomen imperceptibly. Yuan Zheng had just ascended the throne, and he was entangled in trivial matters. Once he had some free time, it would be difficult for him to leave.
What’s more, as time went by, he could no longer hide his stomach.
Su Chenzhao said, “Seventh Prince… His Majesty will be angry, right?”
“Let him be angry.” After leaving the capital, Cen Yelan felt bored and seemed to have no energy at all.
Su Chenzhao looked at Cen Yelan and muttered, “But doesn’t he like you very much?”
Cen Yelan opened his eyes and said, “Like? Yuan Zheng is young and just looking for something new. How long can his likes last? If he were an ordinary person, I would marry him, but he is the em—”
“He is the emperor.”
Su Chenzhao fell silent, and Cen Yelan also stopped talking.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly. Cen Yelan’s heart skipped a beat. Then he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching from outside the carriage.
Outside the carriage, someone called out, “General Cen.” It was Xiao Mengsheng’s voice.
Cen Yelan looked at the tightly closed carriage door and let out a long sigh. The door opened, and behind Xiao Mengsheng were the imperial guards who had surrounded the carriage.
Xiao Mengsheng sat on his horse, leaned forward slightly, and said, “General Cen, I am here to invite General Cen back to the capital by imperial decree. I hope General Cen will not embarrass me.”
T/N: Lmao, YZ’s mindset was definitely inherited from his uncle
Hoo i like how even the uncle trying to help them to be together