At the summit of Dong Mountain, the morning fog had already dispersed. The mountain wind blew strongly. The clouds parted, and the true appearance of the temple appeared. Dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, the Qing Emperor stood quietly by the railing, waiting for Ye Liuyun's arrival. When the foot of the mountain was surrounded by 5,000 longbowmen, particularly when traces of Dongyi's ninth-level aces appeared among the rebel soldiers, the Qing Emperor, who had always calculated everything, seemed to have finally realized that, for the first time, the situation was beginning to get out of his control. A faint worry rose between the middle-aged man's brows.
A bell rang out in the group of old temples with round black eaves. It refreshed the mind and moved the soul. It calmed one's mind and made the world restless. The edict used for the worship to heaven burned in the furnace. Green smoke rose in spirals. The various crimes of the Crown Prince that the Qing Emperor had listed seemed to have already been offered to the illusory Temple and the even more illusory will of heaven.
The Qing Emperor's most important mission had been completed during the worship to heaven. All he needed to do was bring the groundless revelation from heaven back to Jingdou, depose the Crown Prince, and then pick a suitable successor.
A straw hat slowly crossed the line of the last stone step at the summit of Dong Mountain and suddenly appeared in front of the group of Qing officials in front of the temple.
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The Emperor looked calmly in that direction. He looked at the simple and unremarkable face under the straw hat. He looked at the clear and gentle eyes like autumn water.
Slowly, he said, "Uncle Liuyun, you're late."
Ye Liuyun walked up the mountain step by step. No one could stop him. He faced the temple quietly and didn't speak for a long time. The officials and priests on the summit, including the Minister of the Board of Rites and Ren Shao 'an, all unconsciously lowered their bodies and bowed to this Great Grandmaster of the Qing Kingdom.
In front of Ye Liuyun, only the Qing Emperor stood as straight as usual. Although old Eunuch Hong, who never left his side, was hunched over, everyone knew that this old eunuch was always hunched over. It was as if he was watching ants walk on the ground. It was not because he wanted to show respect to Ye Liuyun.
"How can you say I'm late?" Ye Liuyun looked at the Emperor and sighed. His tone was filled with indescribable helplessness and regret. "Has Your Majesty received the mandate of heaven on this journey to worship heaven?"
"The will of heaven is upon me. Since I am not afraid of hardships and dangers, I have traveled thousands of li to come to Dong Mountain. Naturally, my wishes will come true," the Emperor said coldly.
Ye Liuyun slightly lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Something like destiny is always hard to fathom. Although Your Majesty isn't an ordinary person, you shouldn't rashly mete out punishment on behalf of Heaven. "
The Emperor looked coldly at Ye Liuyun, who was over a hundred feet away, and said, "Uncle, are you here today just to admonish me and not to vent the anger of the heavens?"
Ye Liuyun laughed bitterly as he slowly raised his right arm. The cuffs of his sleeves were slightly pulled back, revealing his spotless right hand. His fingers were smooth and clean, definitely not a limb that an old man should have.
His right hand pointed at the pool of blood in front of the Qing Temple, as well as the Qing Temple priests in the pool of blood.
"Your Majesty … you're the one who's angry." Ye Liuyun said compassionately, "The priests are the Ascetic Monks who serve the Temple. Even they know that His Majesty's sacrifice to the heavens is a random order. The Ruler has a random order that officials cannot accept, and the sacrifice cannot be accepted. That is why you killed them. "
The Crown Prince's edict for the Emperor's sacrifice to the heavens came from the hands of the internal court. The chosen crimes were only vague matters such as salivation, having a concubine, and misconduct. This was what the Crown Prince had done many years ago. It was completely different from the steady and filial Crown Prince now. In all the previous dynasties and generations of deposed Crown Princes, there had never been such a muddle-headed edict, such as a ridiculous sacrifice to the heavens.
The Qing Temple on Dong Mountain had a long history. Although it was not in Jingdou, the Qing Temple priests often cultivated there. Following the Great Priest's strange death and the Second Priest's Great Master San Shi's death from an arrow, the Qing Temple's power, which had already been weakened beyond recognition by the Qing Emperor, became even weaker. Thus, all the way from the mountain gate to the mountain, the priests of the Qing Temple on Dong Mountain appeared humble and obedient.
When the Qing Emperor formally began the process of offering sacrifices to the heavens to denounce the Crown Prince, there were still some priests who bravely stood out and expressed their opposition with vehement words. They also solemnly pointed out that the Qing Temple would never become a sharp blade in the hands of an incapable Emperor.
The court's secret encroachment on the Qing Temple and the deaths of the two leading priests made the priests of the Qing Temple on Dong Mountain feel boundless anger. The arrival of the rebel army at the foot of the mountain gave these people boundless courage.
Thus, these priests became a few corpses in front of the Black Eaves Temple. Their courage became a puddle of blood that attracted flies.
When someone disobeyed the Emperor's edict, he was never afraid to kill them, even if they were the priests on Dong Mountain. The only people the Qing Emperor didn't dare kill were those he temporarily couldn't, such as Ye Liuyun.
The Emperor calmly watched Ye Liuyun by the stone steps and said, "Uncle, you are not a foolish commoner. You know that these priests are only mortals. Even if I kill them, what does that have to do with the will of heaven?"
Ye Liuyun furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Even if the priests are mortals, this temple is not ordinary. Presumably, Your Majesty knows better than me. When you kill people at the front door of the temple and the blood flows into the steps, are you not worried about heaven's wrath?"
The Emperor's expression was indifferent. He placed his hands behind his back. A moment later, he said each word clearly, "You and I live in this world, but it is not the end of heaven. Thus, in my life, I have never respected ghosts or gods. I only respect you, uncle."
Ye Liuyun was silent and speechless.
The Emperor turned his body and calmly looked at the black eaves of the temple. The old tiles on the eaves shone with a solemn luster under the morning sun. "Thus, I have invited an old friend to meet you."
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There were not many people in this world who had the right to be called Ye Liuyun's old friend by the Qing Emperor. There were only a handful of them. When the bell of the Qing Temple rang out again and the wooden door to the side courtyard creaked open, a gust of mountain wind swept past the summit. Wu Zhu, with a piece of black cloth tied around his neck, walked out from inside the door.
Ye Liuyun only smiled. Of course, there was an additional hint of emotion and bitterness in his smile.
"It has been many years since we parted in Danzhou. I haven't heard news of you for over two years." He gazed at Wu Zhu and amiably said, "I had thought you had already returned. I didn't expect you to be on Dong Mountain."
In the summer of two years ago, the Northern Qi Imperial Advisor Ku He had been injured in a secret duel. As one of the four Great Grandmasters, Ye Liuyun could guess that the one who had done it was Wu Zhu. That was why he had said that he hadn't heard news of you for over two years.
Ye Liuyun's words, "I thought you had already returned," hid too much of his meaning. However, other than him and Wu Zhu, perhaps no one else in this world could understand. Fan Xian was far away on the cliff in Danzhou and did not hear the conversation at the bottom of the cliff.
Wu Zhu, as usual, was neat and tidy. After saying these two words, he stood at the door to the little courtyard and didn't take another step toward the scene. He faced Ye Liuyun from a distance, but he was closer to the Emperor.
The two words he said were, "Hello."
— — — — —
It was just these two words, but they shocked Ye Liuyun even more than when he had come out of the courtyard. He was even more moved. He couldn't help but laugh in a comforting manner. The laughter was very sincere.
Then, the laughter suddenly stopped. Ye Liuyun turned to face the Emperor and bowed slightly. He sighed in admiration and said, "Your Majesty's foresight is divine. No wonder there was a trip to Dong Mountain for the heaven worship. Even this strange creature was dug out by you. Even if I didn't want to admire you, I had no choice."
Hearing these words, the Emperor's expression did not change at all. On the contrary, the corners of his brows twitched a little. Yes, the heaven worship had always been a trap targeted at Ye Liuyun. When Wu Zhu, the vanguard of the trap, stood out, Ye Liuyun did not react as if he had fallen into the trap.
A glimmer of worry flashed through the Emperor's eyes and then disappeared. Presumably, he knew that the major event he and Fan Xian guessed was finally about to become reality.
The Emperor glanced at old Eunuch Hong beside him. His gaze was calm, but it contained many meanings. It was as if he was asking why he didn't immediately act. Given the Great Grandmaster's realm, even if it was two against one, if they couldn't seize the moment earlier when Ye Liuyun's guard had loosened because of Wu Zhu's mysterious appearance, it would still be a difficult task to kill Ye Liuyun on the mountain.
Eunuch Hong completely ignored the Emperor's gaze. His gaze was unusually hot as it stared forward. It passed through Ye Liuyun's shoulders and shot straight into the mountain forest below the stone steps.
He took half a step forward and stood in front of the Emperor's body. He then slowly straightened his body.
Eunuch Hong, who seemed to have been bent over his entire life, suddenly straightened his body. It was this simple change in action. An indescribable aura began to surge into his body and spread out with unusual majesty toward the summit of the mountain.
Everyone knew that Eunuch Hong's body had not grown larger. In this instant, everyone had the illusion that Eunuch Hong had become an undefeatable god. His entire body gave off a piercing light that completely covered the Qing Emperor behind him.
The strength of this wave of zhenqi had even faintly surpassed the limits of what a mortal's physical body could contain.
It was extremely tyrannical.
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…
The endless falling trees rustled down, and the endless great river surged forth. This was the first poem Fan Xian had copied in Jingdou. Regardless of whether the characters for the great river were appropriate or not, this poem had already spread throughout the world.
The people who were lucky or unlucky to be on Dong Mountain all thought of the first half of this poem in an instant.
This was because they sensed a surge of Sword Qi that soared into the sky, wreaking havoc in the forest below the stone steps. Even the distant mountain peaks were invaded by this extremely fierce Sword Qi. The green trees began to shed their leaves for no reason, and the fallen leaves formed a green pile.
Ye Liuyun looked at Eunuch Hong and said, "You are a beautiful person. How can you be a slave?"
Eunuch Hong's silver-white hair floated in the wind. In a raspy voice, he said, "Great Grandmasters are all slaves. I am the Emperor's slave. You are also nothing more than slaves of this world. What is the difference?"
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