The intelligence that Ye Zhen had assumed the position of King of North Sea and established a royal residence system struck the new emperor Ji Ao like a bolt from the blue, and it took him quite a while to recover.
Once he had recovered, the new emperor Ji Ao's face was full of conflict, vexation, and pain.
Rubbing his brow in anguish, Ji Ao suddenly let out an extremely stifled sigh. Staring blankly at the imperial throne behind the desk in East Arrival Pavilion, he fell into a daze.
Back when he had been a prince, he had yearned for that throne beyond measure. He had dreamed of sitting upon it, ascending to the Ninth Five and becoming supreme.
Yet after ascending that throne, he found that it did not feel nearly as wonderful as he had imagined. His days as a prince had been far more comfortable.
Troubles within and enemies without; no way to tell which minister was loyal and which was treacherous. He could not eat well or sleep well, worrying and toiling over this empire day and night.
After sitting upon the throne of the Ninth Five Supreme, the view was nothing like Ji Ao had once imagined.
At certain moments, Ji Ao suddenly felt some regret. If he had not taken this lofty position and had continued being a prince—perhaps even an idle prince—would he not have been far less exhausted?
From the roots of the matter, Grand Priest Dongyang Si Chen of the Ancestral God Hall, the inheritor of the Sacred Rite, was absolutely loyal to Great Zhou.
But even now, Ji Ao could not understand why Grand Priest Dongyang Si Chen had falsely claimed that Duke of the State Ye Zhen had already fallen.
As emperor, Ji Ao had surveyed Duke of