"Good!
If he proves hopeless, Wan'er, decide for yourself.
Who... who says women are... inferior...!"
With those words, she breathed her last.
Li Wan'er remained silent for a long time. Seeing this, Zhang Jianzhi and the others waited quietly, their hearts in their throats.
"Our generation rises amid the storms of the world; once we enter the martial world, the years hurry us along. Imperial ambitions and conquests pass amid laughter, worth less than one drunken dream of life.
Sword in hand, astride a horse, we slash through a ghostly rain; bones pile like mountains, startling birds into flight. Worldly affairs surge like tides, and people flow like water; we can only lament how few return from the martial world.
Third Brother, the throne is yours. I only hope you won't disgrace the wisdom of our great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and mother, or let the prosperous age they painstakingly built fall into decline!
Otherwise, since I can give you the throne, I can just as easily take it back.
If the world ever needs a second Wu Zetian, I wouldn't mind occupying that seat while waiting for the Li Clan to produce someone worthy.
Before I leave, let me offer you a word of advice, Third Brother: the people matter most, the ruler least, and the state comes between them!
The people are water, and the ruler is a boat. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it!
As long as you have the people's hearts, the Heavenly Dao will always be on your side!
Members of the Big Dipper Pavilion, heed my command!"
"Pavilion Master!"
To the astonishment of Di Renjie and the others, most of those throughout Shangyang Palace answered, including Shangguan Wan'er, Phoenix, and others whom the late Empress had relied upon.
"Assist the new