Rebirth Of Chen An

Chapter 163: To the Imperial City

As if sunk in memories, the counsellor related the story of the emperor who looked like Chen An.

People called him the ‘bad emperor’, and yet he hadn’t done anything outrageous. Before his coronation, the nation was already in a terrible state, burdened with troubles and on the verge of collapsing because of what happened in past decades.

The emperor, the General and the Prince were companions while growing up. Young and not yet chastised by the troubles of the world, the three vowed to fight for the peace and prosperity of the nation. Even though they weren’t born on the same day, they vowed to keep each other company on the road to the underworld.

Fate, as it turned out, rarely listened to people’s wishes. The foreign nationals advanced from the north, and the emperor of the time, to bide time, sent the not yet crowned emperor as hostage, who only returned after five years to become the sovereign of the nation.

When he came back, the emperor found that the three of them could never return to what they were: one of them had become a general in charge of a large army; the other was now a prince wielding immense power in the court.

While the emperor who vowed to fight for the peace and prosperity of the nation turned into a ‘bad emperor’ who rarely tended to court matters, leaving the military and the administration of the nation in the hands of others.

“How did the emperor die then?” Ding Sheng asked curiously.

The counsellor sighed again, and said: “since the emperor returned, he refused to reveal how he spent his years in the north. A popular rumor among court officials and civilians was that he’d defected to the enemy’s side; and there were some disagreement among the emperor, the General and the Prince.”

Ding Sheng again could not hold back his curiosity and asked: “So did the General and the Prince kill the emperor?”

Chen An patted Ding Sheng on his head: “could you wait till the counsellor finish what he’s going to say?”

“Erm, sorry. Go on.” Ding Sheng scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. He then folded his arms before his chest and listened intently as if deeply engrossed in the story.

The counsellor shook his head and said: “the general and the prince never wished to harm the emperor. But with the nation in the condition it is, both wanted to rebel and be their own ruler. When the emperor saw the former friends were going to fight each other, he…threatened them with his own life…”

Chen An picked up and continued calmly: “yet he overestimated his own importance and gave his life in vain.”

The counsellor sighed another time and said: “well, you have no idea. The emperor set fire to his palace to stop the General and the Prince, and still he could not obtain their promise of peace; so he threw himself into the fire, and left a curse behind him.”

Chen An’s eyes lit up. He’d felt pity for the emperor for being silly enough to take his own life because of the other two; he did not expect him to leave a curse before he died.

The curious young man again asked: “what curse?

This time, Chen An did not blame Ding Sheng, because he wanted to know, too.

“To be more miserable living than dead, to never have the love they want!”

…

…

After they left the small city, the General was going back to the imperial city; there were news that head of the foreign nationals were leading an army south, marching towards them.

Whatever disagreements existed between the General and the Prince, they had a common enemy; and they were going to form an alliance against this enemy.

Chen An and Ding Sheng was going to the imperial city too, but they were not among the General’s entourage. They would returned to the mountain near the small town first, because Chen An felt they were going to need the weapons on the plane.

The counsellor Qingyu accompanied them. And when he followed the two into the mountain and saw the plane hidden in the woods, he had the impulse to kneel on the ground and say some prayers.

Following them into the plane, his eyes widened in surprise, and remarked several times “masterpiece of the gods”, or “fantastic”.

And the look he cast towards Chen An and Ding Sheng after that was filled with awe.

Ding Sheng and Chen An commanded the soldiers who came with them to take apart the weapons inside. And after they took down the helicopter into several pieces, they transported them downhill.

As for the tank, it was tens of tons and too heavy to be transported. So the best way was to drive it downhill, but the problem was how much oil would remain when they drive it to the imperial city.

Concerning this problem of fuel, Ding Sheng gave his advice: “why don’t we take the fuel from the aircraft?”

This reminded Chen An: they wouldn’t be able to fly the aircraft anyway, so why not take the fuel and use it as backup for the helicopter and the tank?

So they asked the counsellor to find several large wooden barrels, and put the fuel of the aircraft into them. These barrels were then sealed and transported downhill.

“Master, what is this big iron box for? It looks impenetrable!”

What he’d seen in the past few days really impressed the counsellor; he’d never seen iron instruments built in such an intricate way. Even though he’d seen how Chen An could work his ‘powers’, he was still amazed by this entirely novel technology.

“Why don’t you get up and see it for yourself?”

Chen An and Ding Sheng climbed into the tank. Seeing that, Qingyu climbed up and looked into what seemed like a well, and found it hollow inside. Curiosity outweighing his caution, he climbed in.

Once inside, the counsellor was again in for an eye-opening experience: so many strange things appeared before him, and he was absolutely astonished seeing the screen in the tank light up.

“Aaah! It is glowing!”

The middle-aged man with a school pupil’s expression made Chen An and Ding Sheng laugh. And the counsellor was again startled when Ding Sheng drove the tank into motion.

Seeing him like this, Chen An wondered whether the counsellor would faint from surprise when they fly the helicopter.

When they came down the mountain, Chen An and the others put some planks on the outside of the tank and made it look like a wooden carriage.

In this way, no one would be overly surprised when they drive it into the imperial city.

Thus with wooden barrels filled with fuel, a helicopter taken apart and a tank disguised, Chen An and the others marched towards the imperial city.