People and horses 8 divided into two camps. For about two hours, Dan Li spoke secretly with Empress Chen. No one knew what they agreed on, but on that day, Dan Li quietly took the little prince away. They parted ways with the empress, from now on, everyone had to act on their own. Everyone focused on finding faithful helpers from among the people.
8 人马 (rénmǎ) - people and horses (arr. about the army, army) .
After spending three days in confinement, the spirit of the sword fell silent for half a year. It seemed like he was completely dead. All these six months, Sheng Lingyuan never closed his eyes. Every night he tried his best to subdue his divine consciousness. But his cautious attempts at self-cultivation no longer elicited any reaction from the sword spirit.
When the sword spirit finally woke up and affectionately called it “Lingyuan”, Sheng Lingyuan was so confused that he didn’t even have time to answer him. Hearing the faint voice, the young prince was momentarily dumbfounded. But when "Lingyuan" was heard again, the boy fell off the horse. He pulled the reins so tightly that they nearly broke.
This lesson taught Sheng Lingyuan to hide his emotions, none of the seven feelings should show on his face. From that moment on, he never showed his attitude to anyone else. None other than the spirit of the sword linked to his mind. And so it continued until he came to power.
In those years, he was already more like Xuan Ji's familiar old devil.
Xuan Ji followed him through the memories from beginning to end. His chest seemed to be stuffed with cotton, he couldn't breathe. The young man had nowhere to vent his anger, and he did not know with whom he should be angry. Going through all these vague visions, Xuan Ji could not figure out where he was supposed to be looking.
He so wanted to see the young emperor, who history books would never tell about, but he felt too sorry for the little lord of people.
If Sheng Lingyuan appeared in front of him now, Xuan Ji would agree to forget all their past disagreements and, completely spitting on caution, would rush after him.
He was so flustered that he grabbed his hair, when suddenly a thought popped into his head: what happened to Empress Chen?
Sheng Lingyuan did not look like her son. He was more like an enemy who had killed her entire family.
But if she hated him so much, why did she conspire with Dan Li to put him on the throne?
What unknown virus caused her such a clouding of her mind?
As soon as Xuan Ji thought about it, his legs gave out. Suddenly, the picture before his eyes changed, and the young man saw a completely different memory.
A cool breeze touched his skin, and he suddenly realized that this simple in its splendor complex of buildings in front of him was nothing but Dulin Palace.
Then he saw an adult Sheng Lingyuan with a whole detachment of armed and armored guards in front. Seeing such a Lingyuan, Xuan Ji did not immediately realize that the spirit of the sword was now behind him. It seemed as if the young emperor was involuntarily dragging him along.
The Doolin Palace was built after the Demon King was defeated and the human race was unified. In those days, the Heaven Demon Sword was broken, but for some reason the spirit of the sword did not die. It seemed that his invisible "ghost" always followed the emperor. He somehow resembled Zhichun... But, nevertheless, Zhichun had several blades, and therefore several bodies. But could it be that the Heaven Demon Sword Spirit "brought into being" in such an unusual way also had multiple bodies?
With all these thoughts, Xuan Ji did not immediately notice that Sheng Lingyuan dragged him after him to the palace.
The sleeves of His Majesty's robes fluttered in the wind, his anger was about to spill out. While he was walking, no one dared raise their eyes to him and look at the imperial face. Even his shadow didn't seem to keep up with him.
Xuan Ji only glanced at the sign hanging at the entrance to the palace. Three large characters were inscribed on it: "Changming Palace".
Changmin… What is this place?
While he was trying in vain to find an answer among all his useless knowledge, an old maid threw herself at Sheng Lingyuan's feet. The woman held out her hands to the emperor, as if trying to stop him:
“Your Majesty, please don’t go in there. The Empress Dowager changes her clothes. It will be uncomfortable...
“Go away,” without raising his head, Sheng Lingyuan waved his hand, and the old woman immediately flew a few steps away from him, crashing into one of the pillars of the main hall.
A black mist swirled under His Majesty's feet, and the tiles on the palace floor instantly cracked. Without turning around, he gave a short gesture to the guards.
- Search everything here.
The fallen maid immediately screamed:
“This is the chambers of the dowager empress!” How dare you do iniquity! Your Majesty, do you want to kill your family?
Exactly!
Now Xuan Ji remembered that "Changming Palace" was the very place where the disempowered Empress Dowager Chen spent the last years of her life!
Xuan Ji opened his eyes. It was only here that he realized that what he was about to see now could probably be the truth about why "Emperor Wu exterminated his relatives." Something about which historians have been arguing for thousands of years.
Xuan Ji had no idea what Sheng Lingyuan wanted to find, but it was obvious that mother and son were ready to tear each other's faces. Empress Chen was treated like a prisoner. On Sheng Lingyuan's orders, his guards searched the inner chamber without batting an eyelid.
“Your Majesty, there is nothing in the side hall.
“Your Majesty, the inner chambers are empty.
Nothing in the library either.
Sheng Lingyuan's face was like deep waters. He quickly ran his eyes around the inner chambers until his eyes landed on a few tiles on the floor. The Emperor said only two words:
- Ice room.
The guards were stunned. Suddenly, the voice of the old maid changed:
“Sheng Xiao, how dare you!”
Sheng Lingyuan looked back at her and smiled grimly.
How dare we?
What kind of animal are you?! the old woman yelled angrily. “Is it possible that on the day you were born, the demon of heaven really descended into the world!?” You have no heart! Sheng Xiao! The ice hall is a place for offerings...
“We said to search.” Sheng Lingyuan was no longer willing to waste his time on her. He hurriedly walked towards the Ice Hall. - It's too noisy in here. Let her shut up.
Xuan Ji did not understand what he meant until he saw one of the guards with a dagger in his hand come forward, cover the old woman's mouth and slit her throat.
Xuan Ji was amazed at the killer's agility. The boy that he worried about so much turned into a real devil in the blink of an eye. With a flick of his hand, he started the bloodshed in Changming Palace. A burning cold reigned in the Ice Hall, it was so quiet here that every rustle was heard, and the guards hastily formed a living wall behind the emperor.
“Whoever gets in my way will die,” Sheng Lingyuan said, and the Empress Dowager ’s silent quarters turned into a battlefield .
9 修罗场 (xiūluóchǎng) is a myth. the battlefield of the asuras with Indra (arr. in the meaning: a terrible picture of the massacre).
Xuan Ji shuddered, his worldview shattered into pieces.
Later, he examined the decoration of the Ice Hall, it was hollow, full of mourning attributes. In the center of the hall stood a coffin, above which was a tablet with the name of the deceased: "Prince of Ning, Sheng Wei."
Xuan Ji stared at the scene that opened up to him, dumbfounded.
What's this? Empress Chen placed her eldest son's coffin in an ice cellar under her bedroom!
His worldview, which had been shattered into pieces, had not yet had time to come together, as it immediately broke again, falling out of his trembling hands.
Was there even a single normal person in this huge Doolin palace?
In front of the coffin, bowing at the waist, stood a well-dressed old woman. Hearing footsteps, she slowly turned around and asked:
“Sheng Xiao, what are you doing here?”
Xuan Ji did not recognize her, but her long face seemed vaguely familiar to him. Hearing her words, Sheng Lingyuan smiled and said:
“Mother, please calm down.
So it really was Empress Chen?!
Over the years, Empress Chen seemed to have dried up completely. She was like a doll that could talk and move, but she no longer had anything in common with an ordinary person. Only anger and hatred still flickered in her eyes.
Sheng Lingyuan extended his hand to her.
“We heard that the mother brought a child to the Changmin Palace?” But the kids are noisy and your son is worried that he might disturb your peace. We want to pick him up, where is he?
The Empress Dowager seemed to have spent too much time in the cold cellar. Her face froze and a hard smile appeared on it.
- This bastard? He is dead.
“Your Majesty,” whispered one of the guards who ran up, “there is no one in the Ice Hall.
But Sheng Lingyuan didn't even spare him a glance.
So check again. We left a drop of our blood on the child, it is not so easy to get rid of it.
“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager…”
At this very moment, Xuan Ji suddenly caught a familiar aura. Without waiting for the young man to feel it properly, Sheng Lingyuan moved straight towards the coffin.
“Sheng Xiao, what are you going to do?” This is your elder brother's immortal body! How dare you treat the dead so disrespectfully?!
“Who is it that disrespects the dead here?” Sheng Lingyuan said without ceasing to smile. “What if his spirit in the afterlife finds out who you tried to strangle?
As soon as he finished speaking, the guards standing next to him immediately grabbed the Dowager Empress. But Sheng Lingyuan did not stop there, he extended his hand and "invited" the corpse of Prince Ning to "come out" of the coffin. Directly under the pillow was a small mechanism. His Majesty twisted the lever and the bottom of the coffin opened in the middle, revealing a secret passage hidden underneath. A wave of heat immediately rushed out of the passage, mixed with the mournful cry of a child.
Sheng Lingyuan abruptly staggered back, and then immediately rushed inside.
A black mist enveloped his body like armor. The fire burned him, but the fog immediately healed the wounds. The flame was almost whitish, and at the very heart of this brazier lay a baby.
It was wrapped in a protective cloth, but the flames almost licked it off. Sheng Lingyuan quickly picked him up, and the walls of the secret room intensified the Empress Dowager’s cry many times over:
- Bastard! He's a bastard just like you! You who defile the blood of the human race! If you don't die, the fire of Chiyuan will never go out!
Xuan Ji felt like his head was about to explode from the amount of new information. Did she scold her own son for "defiling the blood of the human race"?
Maybe she put a green hat on Emperor Ping 10 ?
10 绿帽子 (lǜmàozi) - a green hat (about the horns allegedly set on a deceived husband).
But who is this child that she so vehemently tried to burn?
“Human race.” Sheng Lingyuan smiled faintly, and the flames took the opportunity to rush towards him, dispelling the black mist.
Xuan Ji was so flustered that he blurted out:
- Be careful!
Sheng Lingyuan immediately raised his hand and covered the child with his sleeve. The fire left a terrible burn on the back of his hand, but the emperor did not even look at the wound. The lid of the coffin suddenly flew open, and together with His Majesty, sparks flew out of the secret passage, singing the body lying inside.
A hoarse scream escaped the Empress Dowager's throat. She wanted to rush to the dead man, but the guards held her tightly.
Sheng Lingyuan hurriedly extinguished his tangled clothes and glanced at the burned corpse.
- I dare to ask the Empress Mother, where is the nobility of the human race?
Xuan Ji was shocked, the youth automatically looked back at the guards accompanying Sheng Lingyuan. He did not know how many there were, but even after hearing such impudent speeches, none of them moved.
Wait... there's definitely something wrong here.
Xuan Ji couldn't help but look at the guards again. Only now did he notice that most of them, to one degree or another, did not belong to the human race.
- When the fire burns out, collect the ashes of Prince Nin and bury him in the ground. You can't disrespect him." The child's cry echoed off the walls of the strange mourning hall. Sheng Lingyuan immediately lowered his head, checking to see if everything was in order. Seeing that the baby was not hurt, the emperor more conveniently picked him up in his arms and allowed the child to scream heartbreakingly.
“He lived without dignity and freedom, it must not be allowed that even in death he could not find peace,” he turned to the guards.
- This is my son! He's mine! cried the Dowager Empress.
“You gave birth to him,” Sheng Lingyuan gave the Empress Dowager a condescending look, “but he doesn’t belong to you.
Sheng Xiao! You…
The Ice Hall was dark all year round. Smoke billowed from the burning coffin, enveloping the figure of the emperor, making his face as pale as that of a dead man. His smile radiated with monstrous cruelty.
“Mother, was Prince Ning… really just your son?”
The empress dowager looked at him intently.
- What do you mean?
- Nothing. When he was alive, you had to call him to your place several times a day. You were furious if you couldn't see each other. And now that he's gone, you've commissioned someone to steal the coffin and place it here in this cold cellar below your chambers. Are you afraid to bury him with my sister-in-law?
“Your imperial daughter-in-law is alive and well… except… she was confused by the remnants of those shamans…”
— Imperial daughter-in-law? Are you talking about the one that remained in the residence of Prince Nin? Oh, I completely forgot about her. Mother, don't blame me, it's so strange, but I really can't remember her. Sometimes when I see her, it seems to me that she is just a puppet that you created in your own image and likeness. Sheng Lingyuan looked into her eyes the same way that cruel woman once looked at a helpless boy. Now they have switched roles.
He spoke softly, word by word:
“I also heard that my brother and the former emperor were like two peas in a pod. You hid his coffin here, does this mean that, having failed to give birth, you were doomed to share the same grave with him?
The Empress Dowager pondered his words for a long time. Finally, humiliated, she raised her head and looked at Sheng Lingyuan in disbelief.
— What are you talking about? You're worse than a pig and a dog, you bastard, you...
Sheng Lingyuan curled his lips and then laughed a low, nervous laugh.
He laughed and could not stop, as if a real comedy was unfolding in front of him , and this spectacle was definitely worth the money.
11 人间喜剧 (rénjiān xǐjù) - here in the meaning of "comedy of life", similarly to "life tragedy".
His laughter made Xuan Ji shudder.
“Of course, we humans are noble,” the Empress Dowager said. She could not stand up, but even in such a humiliating posture, arrogance was still visible on her face. “We are the only race in this world capable of surviving with nothing in our souls. All these demons rely on their blood, innate strength, natural resources and ancient treasures to help them improve themselves, and cowardly shamans hide under the protection of mountains and rivers. Only people in their entire lives cannot open their seven holes to everything that exists. But we have masters who have studied the laws of heaven for centuries. Only we have amulets that help us maintain the natural course of things. Even the villagers who develop the wastelands and cultivate the land live on what they have created with their own hands! But now that this strange power has dried up, those who have lived all this time, relying only on it, must be destroyed. People are chosen by the gods. It was not we who so desired the dark energy of Chiyuan, and it was not our kind that unleashed a war in Jiuzhou!
Despite being a very good politician in the past, Empress Chen, although she seemed crazy, even at the end of her years, did not lose her talent for delivering inspirational speeches. Hearing the first half of her words, Xuan Ji became so excited that he even nodded. But by the end of the phrase, the young man decided that she was talking nonsense. The war in Jiuzhou was unleashed by Emperor Ping. Everyone knows that humanity itself recognizes this. Otherwise, how did he deserve such a worthless posthumous name?
Although it is not as loud as "Yu" and "Li", but given that the throne was inherited by his son, and "the son hides the act of his father", the ambiguous "Ping" in his posthumous name became equal to "You know " 12 .
