Beside the Dragon Throne, Xu Jiawei sat slumped in defeat. His imperial robes were wrinkled and disheveled, his face ashen and haggard. He looked as if every ounce of spirit had been drained from him, collapsed in his seat without even the strength to lift his head.
Xu Yanli glanced at him indifferently and did not pause. He walked straight to the front of the Dragon Throne, slowly turned around, and faced the officials below the steps.
Luo Xu held out the bright yellow imperial edict in both hands, stepped forward steadily, unfurled it, and began to read the abdication decree in a clear, ringing voice.
The text was ornate from beginning to end, full of the court's stock phrases: "my virtue is meager and my talents meager," "yielding the throne in accordance with Heaven," and "ushering in a new dynasty." The words were as uniform as they were empty and insipid.
Xu Yanli listened quietly. The corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest curve, but there was not a trace of a smile in his eyes, only indifference and cool detachment.
As soon as the abdication decree had been read, Luo Xu immediately changed scrolls and loudly recited the imperial edict of accession.
"...Prince Xiaoyao Yanli, blessed with divine grace, his virtue embracing all living things. Now he inherits Heaven's mandate and follows the people's will, ascending the imperial throne. The era shall be renamed Yong'an, and a general amnesty shall be granted throughout the realm..."
As the solemn official pronouncements reached his ears, a strange, hazy feeling welled up in Xu Yanli's heart.
In that haze, he seemed to see himself from seven years ago.
Back then, he had been only twelve, standing in the Martial Soul Awakening chamber of the Sun Moon Empire, between six black