As soon as the imperial edict was issued, it immediately attracted a lot of discussion.
Once Crown Prince Jing entered the capital, it would be difficult for him to leave. Did this mean that he was going to be a hostage?
The problem was, how could Cangzhou agree? If they refused, would a civil war break out in the Chu Kingdom?
What was the Emperor thinking? Or was this the idea of Grand Secretary Zhang and the ministers of the Imperial court? Otherwise, how could the imperial edict be issued? Many people with conspiracy theories even thought of another possibility. Could it be that the idiotic Emperor had really come to his senses and was no longer willing to be a puppet? Could it be that he wanted external help to ensure his own safety?
Countless speculations fluttered in the sky above the capital like yellow leaves falling from a tree.
As time went by, the coldness grew stronger. There was still no movement from Cangzhou. The people became more and more uneasy.
No matter how they looked at it, there was no reason for Crown Prince Jing to accept the imperial edict. Was this rare prosperous era going to end because of that imperial edict?
Thinking of this possibility, both the officials and the people felt hatred for the idiotic Emperor in the palace. This was no imperial edict, it was a completely foolish order! Even Grand Secretary Zhang, who had allowed His Majesty to issue the imperial edict, was silently criticized …
The first snow fell. The atmosphere in the capital of the Chu Kingdom was unusually cold.
The soldiers guarding the city rubbed their hands, praying that the idiotic Emperor would die quickly and that everyone would quickly forget about the imperial edict.
Suddenly, he saw a group of people coming from the plains outside the city.
In the wind and snow, Crown Prince Jing arrived at the capital.
…
…
The cold wind in the capital was replaced by warmth. Almost all the people crowded onto the sides of the street.
Countless passionate and curious gazes fell on the car at the very front. The capital was far colder than Cangzhou. Perhaps because of this, although Crown Prince Jing was weak, he still opened the window and leaned against it, smiling and waving at the people on the street.
Crown Prince Jing was very famous in the Chu Kingdom. Everyone knew that he was as beautiful as a flower, gentle, born intelligent, and extremely perfect.
His only regret was that he was disabled and unable to walk. But because of this, he was even more loved.
Looking at the prince through the window, the commoners on the street were extremely excited. Those women looked at the smile on his lips and were even more intoxicated, their legs touching each other.
Someone said, "I heard that Her Majesty is also very beautiful, but her brain is not very good."
These words attracted countless mockery and criticism.
Crown Prince Jing had risked his life to come to the capital for the sake of peace in the Chu Kingdom and for the sake of keeping the people away from the flames of war. How could that idiotic emperor compare to him?
Then, many people thought of a terrible thing. Since His Majesty was an idiot, he must be muddle-headed and easily angered. Thinking of the imperial edict that allowed Crown Prince Jing to enter the capital, what if he really ordered someone to kill Crown Prince Jing? The conjecture spread quickly, and the crowds on both sides of the street were in an uproar. Some scholars waved their arms and led the crowd to the Royal Palace like a tide, requesting to see the Grand Scholar. They had to protect the life of the son of Chu Kingdom.
…
…
In the pavilion, Crown Prince Jing met the famous idiot emperor.
Tong Yan had finally met Jing Jiu.
Even though Jing Jiu was calm and intelligent, he couldn't help but feel sentimental after twenty years. "Extrapolating from one place to another, it's indeed reasonable to experience the mortal world in the Guocheng Temple," he said.
"Haven't you come here before?" asked Jing Jiu.
"Hmm," Tong Yan replied.
Jing Jiu said, "Bai Zao should have been here before."
Tong Yan shot him a baffled glance, and said, "You weren't someone who liked to sow discord."
Jing Jiu said after some thought, "It's true that I'm not good at it."
Tong Yan said, "We can only be ourselves. Even though we have come to the Illusionary Realm and lived here for twenty years, we are still ourselves."
Jing Jiu understood what she meant. What kind of person the participants of the Dao Competition would be reincarnated into after coming to the Illusionary Realm had nothing to do with the Green Sky Mirror, but with themselves. They would become the kind of person they wanted to be the most, the version of themselves in the deepest part of their memories. Then, they would grow according to their own vision and the most important desire, until they succeeded or died. For instance, Bai Zao had always regarded himself as the future leader of the orthodox Cultivation sects. As such, she was born as a princess, but she had to endure countless trials and hardships, and so did the others.
"Big Brother Bai is decisive in killing, which is why my Master appreciates him a lot. But I didn't expect his willpower to be so strong, and it can be fully displayed here. Zhuo Rusui wants to fight, which is why he became an assassin. Though he can't keep what he has cultivated here, I think he must have obtained the most benefits here. "
Tong Yan said, "He Zhan hates his good luck in the real world, so his luck here is very bad. What he remembers most is the betrayal of his friends. As such, he will continue to meet his friends here and experience the betrayal, until he learns the same thing, or overcomes it."
Jing Jiu listened in Silence without uttering a word.
"Que Niang wanted to play chess, so she was reincarnated as the son of the owner of the chess house. This also means that she must have suffered a lot in the Mirror Sect as a woman."
Bai Zao didn't reincarnate as a man because she was favored on the Cloud-Dream Mountain and didn't suffer much?
Tong Yan didn't want to think about the deepest reason.
Jing Jiu asked, "What about you?"
Tong Yan said, "According to my calculation, I will become a good prime minister or a military counselor in the future."
Both a good prime minister and a military counselor played the role of an assistant.
It was very clear who he would assist.
Jing Jiu's line of sight fell on the wheelchair.
A woolen blanket covered Tong Yan's legs.
In the real world, he was a young swordsman of the Zhongzhou School, a real young immortal. Why did he reincarnate as a cripple in the Illusionary Realm?
It was because Bai Zao was born weak and sickly. Jing Jiu pitied her so much that he wanted to exchange his body for hers day and night.
The word "love" was really harmful.
Jing Jiu thought about it in silence.
Even someone as smart as Jing Jiu couldn't avoid it.
Tong Yan knew that Jing Jiu had guessed something. He pulled up the blanket and said while looking at Jing Jiu, "The only thing I can't figure out is why you reincarnated as a prince of the Chu Kingdom. Based on your temperament, this shouldn't have happened. So I'm really curious about your real identity in the real world. The Jing Family of Zhaoge couldn't have raised a son like you. "
Jing Jiu didn't answer Jing Jiu's question directly, saying, "Nobody can predict everything that has happened to others, including you and me."
"Of the twenty-six participants, seven were killed by Zhuo Rusui, and I killed two. Seventeen are left. Nine of them are under my control and can be killed at any time. The remaining seven are Xi Yiyun, He Zhan, Zhuo Rusui, Bai Qianjun, Young Sister, you … and him."
Tong Yan continued after shooting a glance at the guard outside the pavilion.
"It's a bit weird that Xi Yiyun hasn't shown up yet. And Zhuo Rusui's whereabouts are unpredictable, so it's hard to catch him. All I can do is try to control the five of you."
Jing Jiu said, "If you can't control them, you have to try to kill them. You have sent seven groups of people over the last few years. It's really annoying."
He hadn't eaten anything since he was fifteen years old. As for how to deceive those eunuchs and palace servant girls, Liu Shisui would take care of it.
And he had stayed in the deep part of the Royal Palace and had never left the palace gate. It was indeed not easy to kill him.
Yet, Tong Yan didn't give up. He just didn't succeed.
Jing Jiu looked at the guard outside the pavilion again and said, "I didn't expect him to be so strong and so patient."
Jing Jiu said, "I know what you are going to do, so it's not hard to deal with it."
Tong Yan said, "But how can you be sure that I sent those people? Why can't it be Grand Secretary Zhang? Where does your trust in him come from? "
"It has nothing to do with trust," said Jing Jiu. "It's just that if he wants to kill me, he will mobilize an army to attack me. He won't use a stingy method like sending assassins."
"You have a high opinion of him," said Tong Yan.
Jing Jiu said, "He has helped me take care of many things."
"Why can't he send other participants of the Dao Competition?" asked Tong Yan. "Like Bai Qianjun, or He Zhan?"
Jing Jiu said, "I'm an idiot emperor. I'm not a threat to them."
Tong Yan said, "Nobody thinks Jing Jiu of Aoyama is an idiot."
Jing Jiu said, "Idiocy is the behavior of an idiot. In their eyes, my choice or path is wrong, so I'm an idiot. "
Tong Yan said, "I don't think so, though I still can't figure out what path you have chosen."
"You think I'm the right one, so you want to kill me," said Jing Jiu.
Tong Yan said, "I've always thought that you are the greatest competitor of my Young Sister, and that the others are not a threat to me. As such, I can only feel relieved if I kill you."
"You're right," said Jing Jiu.
After a moment of silence, Tong Yan said, "I hope you can give me a chance to prove that I'm wrong."
…
…
By the edge of the Green Sky Mirror, Xiang Wanshu and Que Niang woke up one after another. After finding out what had happened, they showed a regretful expression on their faces, and then they found each other.
"Thank you," said Que Niang with a small smile.
"Don't mention it," said Xiang Wanshu.
Without further conversation, the two of them closed their eyes, starting to digest what they had learned in the Illusionary Realm.
Two days later, the two of them opened their eyes and smiled at each other. As Xiang Wanshu was about to say something, he suddenly heard some noises in the distance.
They were in the deep part of the Huiyin Valley, and the nearest spectators were very far away, but they could still hear the noises. It was easy to imagine the uproar on the other side.
Que Niang felt a bit moved. She got up and dashed toward the outside of the valley. The rest of the participants were reluctant to leave, but Xiang Wanshu employed the Escape Method of Heaven and Earth to catch up with her after some thought.
As they arrived outside the Huiyin Valley, Que Niang and Xiang Wanshu couldn't help but feel bewildered when they saw the Cultivation practitioners on the high platforms, especially some familiar yet strange faces.
Yet, they were attracted by the scene in the sky before they could resolve their bewilderment.
The Heavenly Retrieval Orb, embedded in the Green Sky Mirror, was like the sun in the Illusionary Realm.
The scene projected by the orb in the sky was that world.
The scene was round, like the window in a nunnery.
There was a cold branch inside the round window, on which a Blue Bird was perched.
The Royal Palace of the Chu Kingdom was visible intermittently amid the wind and snow in the distance.
A guard stood outside the pavilion, his clothes covered with snow.
In the pavilion, Jing Jiu and Tong Yan sat opposite each other in Silence. A black Go piece had been placed on the Go board between them.
Seeing this scene, Que Niang covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from screaming; but her eyes were wet with tears.
…
…
I've started my vacation. The main reason is that I have to drink a lot during the twenty-year reunion of my college classmates. Since it's the National Day, I'll take it easy.
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