Chapter 25: Closing In

Chapter 25: Closing In

Imperial Palace, Funing Hall.

Seated above were the young Emperor Longxuan and his grandmother, Empress Dowager Yu. Standing below was the Regent, Prince Gong.

The atmosphere was stifling.

Two months ago, they had dispatched General Feng Gou of the Imperial Guard, along with fifty thousand heavy cavalry, to the south to suppress the Beijing Province uprising. The result? After days of fighting, they had failed to capture a single significant city. Even a fool knew that Wei Ting, the former commander of the Imperial Guard who was preparing for a comeback, was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

"Sixth Uncle, what should we do?" Empress Dowager Yu asked, her face pale. Living long in the shadow of the previous Empress Dowager had left her weak-willed and indecisive.

"Do not worry, Empress Dowager. If Feng Gou refuses to follow orders, we shall replace him," Prince Gong said calmly, his gaze sharp. He had reason to be confident; over the years, he had been recruiting experts from all over. Recently, he had even invited three Grandmaster-level monks from the western regions of U-Tsang.

"If we remove him, who will lead the army? Will the men below even listen?" Although the Empress Dowager was timid, she was not stupid. Since Wei Ting’s departure, Feng Gou had been second to none in both military prestige and martial prowess within the Imperial Guard.

"Has Duan Hu defected to Sixth Uncle?" The Empress Dowager’s eyes suddenly lit up. Duan Hu was another great general of the Imperial Guard, his martial arts and standing on par with Feng Gou.

Prince Gong was almost driven to tears by the Empress Dowager’s stupidity. At a time like this, how could Duan Hu possibly defect to him?

"My intention is to go myself."

"Ah!" The Empress Dowager gasped, then covered her mouth in protest. "How can you leave the capital at a time like this, Sixth Uncle?" She could not imagine how she would manage such a vast country, especially as the edifice was on the verge of collapse.

Prince Gong glanced at the drowsy Longxuan and sighed. "I am old, my health is failing, and I will not live much longer. You must learn to rule the country on your own, Empress Dowager." He cast a glance at the increasingly panicked woman and lamented internally; compared to his sister-in-law who was "playing dead" in the East Mausoleum, this niece-in-law was lacking in every possible way.

"Sixth Uncle..." the Empress Dowager pleaded.

"It is settled. There is no time to lose; I shall depart today." Prince Gong bowed and strode out of the Funing Hall with resolute steps.

"Sixth Uncle!" The Empress Dowager’s voice was too loud, startling the dozing Longxuan into tears. The wailing annoyed her, and she snapped, "Why must you cry?"

"Waaah..." Longxuan cried even harder, his sobs audible from a distance.

"My little ancestor, stop crying, it is Grandmother’s fault," she said, quickly soothing her grandson, acting no different from any ordinary woman.

***

Left History Institute.

The birds at the Left History Institute were different from those in other government offices; they not only scavenged for food in the courtyard freely but also lingered in the corridors.

In a room piled high with books and manuscripts, Qin Yuan looked at the gazette delivered that afternoon. He was stunned by the audacity of the fifteen—no, sixteen (including Beijing Province)—provinces in the south that had declared independence.

The southern gentry, especially those in Jiangnan, Min Province, and Yue Province who had grown wealthy beyond measure through maritime trade, were actually proposing to abolish the monarchy and establish a dynasty governed by the gentry. Locally, the Gentry Council would make the decisions. At the imperial level, a Chief Executive would be chosen, serving no more than five years.

To Qin Yuan, it felt strangely discordant, yet inexplicably logical. These gentry were no longer the traditional figures he remembered; they were a fusion of merchant cartels, military power, and maritime ideology. Most importantly, this situation had effectively existed for decades. Not only had these people grown accustomed to life without an emperor, but the commoners under their rule had as well. Once such a habit was formed, it was hard to change.

Qin Yuan tried to find a comparable period in the history of his previous life, but nothing matched.

Just then, the birds that had been lingering for so long suddenly took flight in panic. Soon, the sound of footsteps approached. Qin Yuan set aside his wandering thoughts.

A resonant voice rang out from outside: "By the order of the Regent, all records of the Left History Institute are to accompany the Prince south!"

What? Accompany Prince Gong south? How could they leave at a time like this? What if Wei Ting turned hostile? Qin Yuan rubbed his chin. He had to find a way to avoid going. A fake fall while mounting his horse? No, that would fool no one; an eighth-rank expert would not fall from a horse. Pretending to be sick? Even less convincing—how could an eighth-rank expert get sick on command? Qin Yuan realized he had trapped himself.

"Uncle Qin, the Prince’s men say we don't need to go home and must depart immediately," Shao Pingping said as he entered. Not yet twenty, he possessed a composure that made him seem thirty.

"Very well," Qin Yuan nodded.

He pretended to pack, then walked out of the room with Shao Pingping.

"Who's there?" Qin Yuan’s expression changed, and he leaped over the courtyard wall. A muffled grunt followed immediately.

"Uncle Qin!" Shao Pingping chased after him, only to find Qin Yuan lying on the ground, eyes closed, blood at the corner of his mouth. "Someone, help! Uncle Qin has been injured and has fainted!"

***

When Qin Yuan opened his eyes again, it was already the next day. He used the excuse of recovering at home to enter a "grind" mode of cultivation. However, this time it was not the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art, but his spiritual sense. This ability could serve as both a detection radar and an offensive weapon.

Since energy and spirit were complementary, Qin Yuan spent a mere fifteen days going from controlling a chopstick to a chair, then a table, and expanding his detection range from one foot to five zhang.

Qin Yuan was not particularly pleased. If his spiritual sense were an area, it was currently no more than a small puddle. He was still miles away from being truly self-reliant.

"The path of caution is not yet complete; fellow daoist must still work hard," Qin Yuan encouraged himself.

As Qin Yuan’s spiritual sense took its first form, Prince Gong returned, filled with indignation.

In the Funing Hall: "Those rebellious traitors!" Prince Gong cursed. During his days in Beijing Province, he had seen with his own eyes how Feng Gou’s well-trained Imperial Guard fought to a stalemate against the ragtag rebel army. When he tried to seize command, a group of "society members" had broken into his headquarters that night to assassinate him. Almost all his attendants were killed, and even the three Grandmaster-level monks he had invited from U-Tsang were not spared.

"At this point, we have no choice but to yield and hand the army over to Wei Ting," the Empress Dowager sighed. *Ancestors, it is not that I did not want to protect the realm; the Great Hun’s fortune has simply run out. If you must blame someone, blame that old witch playing dead in the East Mausoleum,* she added silently to herself.

"It seems we have no other choice," Prince Gong said, feeling disheartened. Before returning, he had specifically visited the East Mausoleum, but his sister-in-law had refused to see him.

"Sixth Uncle, what if..." the Empress Dowager lowered her voice, "we send someone to Changbai Mountain?" The legend of the Changbai Mountain ancestral ginseng being the guardian deity of the Hun Dynasty was one she had heard since childhood.

"It is merely a legend," Prince Gong replied with a bitter smile. If it were real, he, as Regent, would surely know.

"What if it is true?" Seeing his niece-in-law clinging to the last straw, Prince Gong nodded helplessly.

"Urgent report!" A eunuch entered with a scroll. Prince Gong, fearing a crisis at the front, hurriedly took it. Upon reading the contents, he was so angry his nose crooked. The damned Wei Ting was demanding he step down and allow him to take over the regency.

"Delusional!"

The next day, military officers of all ranks submitted a joint petition requesting that Wei Ting take over the regency. Prince Gong had no choice but to agree. For any regime, the true pillar was the military group; everything else was merely a parasite. Now that the entire military group had turned to Wei Ting, he had no other option left.