Caught in a Bind

Half a month later,

The Imperial Capital, Nine Dragon Mountain.

Beautiful mountains and clear waters, pavilions by the green waters, and vermilion palace walls.

The trees are lush and the area is quiet and secluded, with winding paths.

A man dressed in a gray python robe and with a purple beaded belt walked in front, leading the way for the middle-aged man in a black dragon robe behind him. His voice was soft and melodious.

"Chancellor Xu, His Majesty was furious last night; he even smashed his favorite Dantian Jade!"

"."

The middle-aged man ignored his words.

The man in the python robe glanced slightly at the person behind him, then stopped talking and strode forward quickly.

After walking several dozen steps, a hidden paradise appeared within the forest, with a babbling brook and a large, shimmering lake. An old man dressed in Imperial Dragon Robe sat quietly on a futon by the lake, fishing, with an empty futon beside him.

From a distance, it appears tranquil and serene.

The man in the python robe led the middle-aged man quickly to the old man's side. He stepped forward, disregarding the clean white of his robe, and knelt down to pay his respects on the damp soil by the lake.

"Your Majesty, Chancellor Xu has arrived."

The old man ignored the man in the python robe and continued fishing with his eyes closed.

Seeing this, the man in the python robe wisely took a few steps back, glanced at the middle-aged man, and then turned and left the royal lake.

The birdsong in the woods was melodious. The middle-aged man slowly walked to the old man's side, stood beside the futon but did not sit down, and gazed at the lake without saying a word.

At this time,

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the calm lake surface, and a strange roar, like that of a dragon but not a tiger, came from the bottom of the lake, startling several birds playing in the treetops into flight.

However, the lakeside quickly returned to calm.

An elderly man with gray hair sat quietly on a futon, while a middle-aged man stood silently beside him, gazing at the lake. Neither of them spoke.

silence.

Silence can express a lot, especially for him and for himself.

I don't know how much time passed,

The old man coughed lightly a few times, as if he had caught a chill, exhaled, and without turning around, his voice carried a cryptic smile:

"Sage Xu, do you refuse to sit down because you want me to look up at you?"

Xu Yinhe remained motionless, standing in place looking at the lake, and calmly said:

"I'm very busy with official duties; if I sit down, there won't be enough time."

The words were finished.

silence.

After a while,

The old man, draped in an imperial robe, slowly rose from the prayer mat, supporting himself on his knees, and patted imaginary dust off his legs.

"I'll just stand up then, since I'm not going to catch anything anyway."

This lake has no fish, only a strange beast.

As he stood up, the old man turned around.

Xu Yinhe also saw the other person's face, and his usually composed brows furrowed slightly.

The old man's face was aged but still vigorous, and one could still vaguely see the handsome and dashing appearance he once had. However, several purplish-black veins extended from his neck and covered almost his entire face, and half of the white of his left eye had turned black.

They gazed at each other for a moment.

"Do you think I'm old because of that look?"

The old man smiled and bent down to pack up his fishing gear.

"I have indeed grown old. It's been three years since we last met. Come, accompany me to the Lake Heart Island for a while, let's catch up."

Xu Yinhe followed, but did not help carry the fishing gear, while the old man in the imperial robe knew this and carried it himself.

The two walked on the water, heading straight for the Lake Heart Island.

After walking a few steps in silence, Xu Yinhe suddenly spoke, his voice low and deep:

"Your injuries have gotten to this extent?"

The old man's voice was tinged with laughter, and he seemed very relaxed.

"Don't you know my injuries? I'm lucky to be alive. But don't you wish for me to die?"

Xu Yinhe neither denied nor agreed, and after a moment of silence, he looked into the distance and said slowly:

"There are very few of those people left from back then."

The old man shook his head:

"There are indeed only a few left."

He paused for a moment,

The old man glanced at Xu Yinhe and chuckled softly:

"Looks like something good has happened to you lately, you seem to be in a good mood?"

We met when we were young and have known each other for decades. We can understand each other with just a word or a glance.

Li Yaoxuan knew that his old friend was not someone who liked to dwell on the past or lament the present.

Xu Yinhe didn't reply to him either.

The old man in the imperial robes understood, picked up his fishing gear, and said leisurely:

"What makes you happy is a terrible thing for me."

While speaking,

The old man in imperial robes took out a memorial from his Sumeru Ring and casually handed it to Xu Yinhe:

"Take a look."

Xu Yinhe took it but didn't look at it.

The old man asked:

Aren't you going to watch it?

Xu Yinhe glanced down at the memorial in his hand:

"It's nothing more than a matter of the Wanxiang Sect."

The old man smiled, a smile that held a profound meaning:

"Indeed, using private troops to attack prefectures and sects designated by the imperial court is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."

Xu Yinhe looked back:

"What talk of private troops, what talk of attacking a city? Hasn't the Wanxiang Sect already stated that this incident was actually them asking my Prime Minister's Estate to help them train their soldiers?"

The old man lowered his eyes and smiled, then said:

"Shengshan County needs a considerable amount of disaster relief funds from the imperial court, but the national treasury is empty."

That's all for now.

Xu Yinhe did not try to shirk responsibility.

"Upon hearing of this, the president of the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce, moved by compassion for the common people, voluntarily offered to donate thirty million taels of silver and grain."

After saying that,

The old man in the imperial robe waved his hand, and the memorial in Xu Yinhe's hand spontaneously combusted, eventually turning to ashes and sinking into the deep pool.

In just a few words, the old man and Xu Yinhe traversed a kilometer and arrived at the Lake Heart Island.

There is a pavilion here, with vermilion tiles and green roof, extremely luxurious.

Upon entering the pavilion, the eunuchs and palace maids standing on both sides immediately knelt down to pay their respects.

The two walked to the top of the pavilion and took their seats.

The man in the python robe who had just disappeared reappeared, serving tea and water to the two of them.

A gentle breeze stirred the Imperial Dragon Robe behind him as the old man gazed at the shimmering lake surface:

"My third son has gone to the Wanxiang Sect."

Xu Yinhe paused slightly while drinking tea.

"Dead?"

It was as if he were asking a perfectly ordinary question.

Upon hearing this, the old man's bulging veins on his face seemed to smirk slightly.

"That kid has been a fast runner since he was a child."

Xu Yinhe continued drinking his tea and commented:

"The Third Prince is quite good."

The old man laughed heartily this time, with a hint of mockery:

"The third son is quite good, much better than yours, but it's a pity he's never had any ambition for my throne. Of course, it's also possible I haven't noticed."

Xu Yinhe's face remained expressionless as he said:

"Perhaps. The Third Prince and Yucheng are brothers, and if he doesn't fight, he might have a peaceful end."

Li Yucheng, the current Crown Prince.

Upon hearing this, the old man stared at Xu Yinhe with his purplish-black eyes for a few moments, then suddenly smiled and asked:

"Yin He, who do you think I should pass this position to? The Crown Prince?"

When asked about the topic of succession, Xu Yinhe's voice remained low and calm:

Why ask me about this?

"You wield immense power in my court, so naturally I must ask for your opinion," the old man said with a chuckle.

"."

Xu Yinhe slammed down his teacup with a soft thud; the sound wasn't loud, but it was quite clear in the quiet attic.

"Why rush when your lifespan hasn't ended?"

The old man coughed twice and pointed to the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth and his face:

"Do you think I look like I haven't reached the end of my lifespan?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yinhe's lips curled slightly; it was the first time he had smiled.

His hawk-like gaze slowly swept over the hidden formation in the sky, over the man in python robes beside him, over the vast blue lake, and finally landed on the face of the old man in imperial robes.

His voice was slow and deliberate:

"If Yao Xuan, your life is truly nearing its end, I wouldn't have come here."

The old man squinted, then shook his head helplessly and sighed:

"Before you, I, the emperor, have absolutely no dignity."

Xu Yinhe shook his head:

Everything we have now started with the ideas we had back then.

The old man seemed to be chatting idly:

"That idea can't be realized in one generation."

Xu Yinhe asked:

"So, a compromise?"

"Bang!"

The tea table in front of them shattered instantly, and the powerful shockwave from the Source Qi caused their robes to flutter wildly.

At the top of the attic, all was silent.

Without the table, the old man's hand hung in mid-air, the two old friends looked at each other with normal expressions, and the man in the python robe still stood by with his eyes lowered.

The silence was quickly broken by a series of rapid coughs.

The old man coughed up a large pool of dark blood. The man in the python robe next to him wanted to step forward, but the old man raised his hand to signal him not to move.

"Xu Yinhe, if we act now, the world will only become more chaotic. At the very least, we must first eliminate the surrounding alien races."

Xu Yinhe spoke calmly and unhurriedly:

"The sect won't give us that chance. Don't tell me you haven't received news from the north yet."

The old man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a white cloth; the atmosphere was so tense it felt like it was about to freeze.

Xu Yinhe slowly got up, stepped on the sawdust on the ground, walked to the window, and turned his back to the old man:

"The war in the north is doomed to fail."

The voice was calm, but carried a hint of ambiguous emotion.

The old man was speechless for a moment.

Xu Yinhe turned around and looked at his old friend:

"Li Yaoxuan, the sect will not stand idly by while we eliminate the surrounding alien races. Wu Yuan wants to kill the Barbarian Tribe Alien King, but she is now surrounded by him at Dali Mountain Alien King is isolated and helpless."

"."

The old man casually tossed the blood-stained white cloth onto the ground.

What are you trying to say?

Xu Yinhe gently touched the smooth sandalwood windowsill:

"Zong Qingsheng is near the Dingman River."

Dingman River is only three hundred li away from Dali Mountain.

The old man chuckled softly upon hearing this, but his gaze gradually turned cold as he stared at his old friend.

"Xu Yinhe, are you trying to force me to make a choice?"

Xu Yinhe straightened his sleeves and bowed deeply to the Great Yan Emperor before him:

"If Your Majesty understands it that way, then so be it."

Only one update today.

Thank you to the Alliance Leader, Starry Sigh.