"Your Highness, wake up! Hold on! Someone! Hurry and fetch the imperial physician!"
"Your Highness, the late emperor has just passed away. If anything happens to you too, what is this old minister to do?"
"Shh... Don't make a sound yet. Wait! Look! Your Highness's eyelids are moving!"
"Thank heavens! The late emperor's spirit in heaven must be protecting him!"
"My head hurts so much. What happened to me?"
Struggling to lift his heavy eyelids, Xu Mochen, a top scientist from Blue Star, gazed around in confusion. Inside a magnificent palace in the gilded style of a Western European court, a group of middle-aged and elderly people dressed in splendid robes of every color crowded anxiously around him, frantically trying all sorts of emergency treatments. When they saw Xu Mochen open his eyes, they finally let out a long breath of relief. Then they began saying all sorts of baffling things, making him even more puzzled.
"Where is this? Wasn't I killed when I was sucked into the machine during an accident while developing a space-time travel device?" Xu Mochen steadied himself and managed to gather his thoughts. At just twenty-six, he had been the youngest and most accomplished scientist in the Dragon Kingdom on Blue Star, developing many products that had ushered in a new era. The most famous of them was the Smart Brain virtual information database.
Using technology, it could compress and store most of Earth's information and data in a person's brain, then retrieve whatever information was needed directly from the mind. Xu Mochen had won countless awards for it. Unfortunately, heaven was jealous of genius. During an experiment with a space-time travel device, a sudden malfunction had sucked him into the machine. When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in this unfamiliar place.
"Phew, thank goodness. It seems the Smart Brain is still here. Things aren't too bad." Xu Mochen quickly checked his brain. Fortunately, the Smart Brain had come along with him through the space-time travel device, so things weren't too dire. As the saying went, knowledge was humanity's greatest wealth. As long as the Smart Brain remained, he had a little more confidence.
Xu Mochen then looked down at his small body, dressed in blue finery. He had been too nervous to notice before, but now he suddenly realized that this child's body wasn't his! Judging by his clothes and the vague things he had heard earlier, Xu Mochen could roughly tell that he had transmigrated—and into the body of a crown prince of some empire, no less!
"Your Highness, the imperial physician is here." The people around him suddenly called out and parted to either side. An old man in a white robe embroidered with gold thread, his hair and beard completely white, hurried over. What startled Xu Mochen even more was that the old man had seven brightly colored rings of light around him. The waves of energy emanating from his body left Xu Mochen utterly astonished.
"No way. Did I transmigrate to some magical world with mystical energy?" Xu Mochen felt like crying. Although he hadn't read many fantasy or cultivation novels, he knew all too well that in a world with cultivators, the law of the jungle would play out even more ruthlessly. The dangers would be far greater than in an ordinary world. At least, judging by the situation, he seemed to have been born into the imperial family—as the crown prince, even! For now, his life should be safe.
The old man quickly crouched beside him. With a casual wave, a dark green ring appeared on the ring finger of his right hand. Then one of the seven rings of light around him, a black one, lit up. A surge of energy brimming with life burst from the ring and settled over Xu Mochen.
At once, Xu Mochen's tired body began to recover rapidly. A warm feeling spread from within him, and he couldn't help praising the old man inwardly, though a hint of confusion lingered. Amazing. Is this the legendary magic? But what are those rings of light around the old man?
The old man had no idea what Xu Mochen was thinking. He cast his "magic" a few more times and examined Xu Mochen from head to toe. Only then did he relax, satisfied, and withdraw the energy. "Please rest assured, everyone. I have just examined His Highness carefully. It seems he fainted from excessive grief. Thanks to the life energy channeled into him by my Martial Soul, the Life Source Ring, His Highness's condition has now stabilized."
"That's good, that's good. May the late emperor's spirit in heaven protect him. His Highness is blessed with good fortune." "His Highness is out of danger. The late emperor's funeral and His Highness's coronation can proceed as scheduled." The gathered ministers finally relaxed, thanking heaven and bowing to him one after another. But Xu Mochen was lost in thought, focusing on the words the old imperial physician had just spoken.
"Martial Soul? What's a Martial Soul?" Hoping to get lucky, Xu Mochen activated the Smart Brain and searched for the term, hoping a blind cat might stumble upon a dead mouse and turn up something useful. Suddenly, he felt another sharp pain in his brain, and the original owner's memories flooded into his mind like a rising tide. Combining the Smart Brain's information, the original owner's memories, and his own deductions, Xu Mochen finally understood.
It turned out that he was in the story of a novel called Douluo Continent. But he wasn't in Douluo Continent itself. He was on the Sun Moon Continent, in the Sun Moon Empire, which appeared in Douluo Continent 2: Peerless Tang Sect. And now, he was the Sun Moon Empire's six-year-old crown prince, who shared his name: Xu Mochen. Judging by the timeline, however, he was in the era of Douluo Continent 1, not the timeline of Douluo Continent 2!
Xu Mochen was both the Sun Moon Empire's crown prince and the late emperor's only son. The late emperor had died after suffering a cultivation deviation. When Xu Mochen had rushed to the hall and heard of his father's death, he had been so overcome with grief that he fainted and died right there. That was how Xu Mochen had gotten this body. The cultivation system of Douluo Continent wasn't magic, but Martial Souls. The rings of light the old man had displayed were the distinctive markers of cultivation ranks on Douluo Continent: Soul Rings.
"Everyone, please rise." As Xu Mochen used the Smart Brain to organize what he knew, he began dealing with the ministers. Just as he was planning to take things one step at a time, a booming voice came from outside the hall: "Prince Yanyang, Prince Yinyue, and Duke Xingyun have arrived!" Then three elderly men, dressed respectively in a golden military uniform, a silver robe, and a black tailcoat, hurried into the hall.
"I, Prince Yanyang (Prince Yinyue, Duke Xingyun), pay my respects to Your Highness." Unlike the other ministers, the three didn't bow repeatedly. They merely inclined their heads slightly. Xu Mochen found their identities in his memories: Prince Yanyang, Xu Yuanding, currently deputy commander-in-chief of the Sun Moon Empire's military; Prince Yinyue, Kong Dehan, currently head of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool Research Institute; and Duke Xingyun, Ye Xingyun, currently chancellor of the Sun Moon Empire.
These three were known as the Sun Moon Empire's three pillars. They were the three elder ministers most trusted by his father, the late emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, and they were utterly loyal to the imperial family. Given their standing, they naturally didn't need to act as obsequiously as the other ministers.
"Your Highness, after careful consideration, the three of us have reached a consensus. The late emperor's sudden passing is a misfortune for the empire, but our more urgent task now is to stabilize the people. If news of his passing gets out without warning, the empire's situation may become unstable. I advise that we temporarily keep the death secret and claim that the late emperor has gone into seclusion for cultivation. Your Highness can first stabilize the people as regent. Once everything is in order, we can hold the funeral and arrange your coronation." Ye Xingyun ignored the angry glares of the ministers around him and spoke frankly to Xu Mochen about his plan.
To be honest, he didn't expect a six-year-old crown prince to shoulder the burden alone. If news of the late emperor's death spread while the crown prince was still so young, many opposition groups lurking in the shadows would likely bare their fangs. The most urgent task now was naturally to steady the court and the empire, and to strengthen the crown prince's influence and prestige.
There was no need to worry about whether the crown prince was capable. With their power and prestige, they would have no trouble helping him establish himself. Although their approach was improper, it was undoubtedly the most feasible option under the circumstances. Still, persuading the six-year-old crown prince before them would probably take quite some effort.
"Nonsense! The late emperor has passed away, and you, Ye Xingyun, are the Sun Moon Empire's chancellor! You're taking advantage of the crown prince's youth to conceal the late emperor's death and obstruct His Highness's coronation! You've conspired with other high ministers in an attempt to strip His Highness of his power! Your ambition is plain for all to see! Your Highness, don't fall for this villain's tricks!"
"Your Highness, do not be alarmed. We old ministers will never let the schemes of petty villains succeed!"
"Your Highness, please see clearly. Duke Xingyun's proposal defies our ancestors' laws and is both disloyal and unfilial."
At that moment, in the Sun Moon Empire's court, the ministers of the opposition faction, who had always been at odds with Ye Xingyun, all jumped out to denounce him. Their words were heated, their emotions running high, and the court erupted into chaos. Ye Xingyun didn't bother to argue back. He merely lowered his head and inclined it slightly, quietly awaiting the crown prince's decision.
Seeing this, Xu Mochen furrowed his brow slightly. According to his memories, the Sun Moon Empire's three pillars were undoubtedly loyal to the imperial family and the late emperor. But seeing was believing; hearing was not. He still needed to test them to find out whether they were truly loyal.
"The three of you were my father's most trusted ministers. Your proposal goes against our ancestors' laws, but you made it for the sake of the Sun Moon Empire. Still, I believe filial piety comes first. If we conceal the late emperor's passing now, even if we come clean later, the people of the empire may consider us unfilial. Besides, it's already too late to keep the news under wraps. Rather than notify the funeral only to those certain to know about it, we should deliberate further on the matter afterward." As he spoke, Xu Mochen's gaze casually flicked toward Ye Xingyun, quietly watching his reaction.
The people in the court were stunned when they heard this. Though Xu Mochen's tone still carried a child's innocence, no one could deny that what he had just said sounded nothing like the words of a six-year-old. Precisely because of this, the ministers couldn't help but think more highly of their crown prince.
Ye Xingyun was also astonished, but he quickly recovered and replied respectfully, "Your Highness is wise. Whatever Your Highness decides, we will support you with all our strength!" As a subject, Ye Xingyun knew exactly how to conduct himself. He was also relieved by the crown prince's performance. A ruler who understood, even at such a young age, the need to think twice before acting was undoubtedly wise. His own duty was to support him faithfully and help the Sun Moon Empire flourish.
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