"Great Yan Dynasty 1566," a gifted, incompetent emperor? / Emperor Jiajing's traits and everyone's roles

"The soul of Beast Lord Aslan? Get out of my way!"

The next moment, just as the Witch King recovered from the roar of the giant lion, he was met with Chen Qi, whose hand gesture had changed at some point, and whose palm was now aimed at his eyes!

The Second Form of Buddha's Palm: Buddha Questions the Monastery!

"Boom--!"

With a deafening roar, a huge palm print appeared in the middle of the ship's deck. As the ship shook violently, everyone was momentarily dazed before realizing that the Witch King's soul had long since vanished, leaving only Chen Qi standing there, unmoved.

The "Witch King's Spiral Horn," which carried the soul of the Witch King, had long since fallen to the ground, leaving only a faint red glow, barely brighter than a glow stick.

"... I'm sorry, Witch King, I've already given you a chance. You chose the second option yourself, so I have no choice but to force you to cooperate with us voluntarily, in this way."

The Witch King's soul was not completely scattered, but like Koschei's, most of his soul was shattered by Chen Qi's palm strike. Only a small remnant of his soul remained in the vortex, unable to even sustain his manifestation, only able to maintain conversation.

But now, the Witch King remained silent, whether stunned by Chen Qi's palm strike or utterly terrified, it was unclear. Chen Qi picked up the spinning horn and casually handed it to the dazed Ebenholz beside him, whispering:

"Ebenholz, his blood flows in your veins. Now, could you please take good care of him?"

"He no longer has the ability to possess anyone's body, but perhaps he'll want to talk to someone? Of course, if you don't want to talk to him, you can always put the whirlwind aside."

"... Of course, Director Chen Qi, I will keep a 'good' eye on him."

Upon hearing this, Ebenholz remained silent for a moment before revealing a knowing smile and accepting the Witch King's horn with both hands. The thought of himself and Kreide suffering so many horrific experiments because of this guy's remnants filled him with a burning hatred for the Witch King.

But Ebenholz won't kill the Witch King. Chen Qi's previous words gave Ebenholz the best way to punish the Witch King —to squeeze out his last bit of value, to extract all his Originium Arts skills, as well as his political, military, and economic insights, until the day he is completely useless.

"I'll come and help reinforce this thing." Nian stepped forward at this moment, and facing the Witch King's Spiral Horn in Ebenholz's hand, she showed an expression of extreme anger and laughter. Although the Witch King's sudden attack on Chen Qi had failed, it had made Nian, the older sister, quite angry.

"I'll trap him in this vortex for life. Even if someone tries to resurrect him again, he'll just be stuck here forever!"

"Chen Qi, are you alright? I was distracted just now."

Xi even came closer, looking at Chen Qi with great concern, as if the Witch King had done something to him. Chen Qi waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he was fine.

Not far away, Koschei, who was currently possessing Talulah, also voluntarily relinquished control of the body. He floated into the Witch King's Spiral Horn and, looking at the Witch King's remnant soul, now weakened by Chen Qi's slap, let out a long-absent laugh, mockingly saying:

"Well, Witch King? Now you know how powerful my son-in-law is?"

"Get lost, you old, filthy Ursus horsehair worm."

However, the only sound the Witch King uttered after a long while was a muffled curse. Koschei, on the other hand, laughed even more gleefully, gloating that someone had finally found themselves in the same predicament as him.

And finally, he had someone to keep him company. Alone inside Talulah's body, he either watched these interactions that had nothing to do with him or watched Chen Qi and Talulah's live-streamed battle at night. Koschei finally had someone to talk to—even though he was a madman, at least he had something to do.

A short while later, after Chen Qi was checked and confirmed to be alright, he finally turned his gaze to Zuo Le, regaining his composure and smile, and said:

"I'm sorry, General Zuo Le, I'm sorry to have startled you."

"... No, Marquis Liewen combines strength and gentleness, and his battles are based on reason and evidence. Zuo Le admires him."

Zuo Le quickly cupped his hands in greeting, then immediately remembered the purpose of his trip and conveyed it:

"Marquis Liewen, His Majesty has decreed that he has won the debate with all the officials and has agreed to invite you to the capital for an audience with the Emperor, on behalf of the Great Yan government! Display your talents and serve as a warning to our Great Yan!"

Chapter 269: "The Great Yan Dynasty 1566", A Gifted but Incompetent Ruler?

Two months have passed Zuo Le delivered the decree from the Great Yan Emperor, inviting Chen Qi and his group to the Great Yan Imperial City. Chen Qi's crew's ships finally appeared outside the Imperial City, but this time, Rhodes Island accompanied them.

This time, Chen Qi specially invited everyone from Rhodes Island to come together. The reason was simple: the project he was going to shoot this time required a lot of manpower. Almost every character with a name and a surname had a very full character design and was not a stereotypical character. Therefore, each character needed to be carefully considered.

Moreover, since the scenes about the imperial court are being filmed in the Great Yan, if some actors with foreign appearances suddenly appear, no matter how good their acting skills are, the audience in the Great Yan will not accept it. Therefore, Chen Qi plans to use all the actors from the Great Yan this time, which will of course require some help from Rhodes Island, since there are quite a few Great Yan people on Rhodes Island.

"The Great Yan... I never imagined that one day I would actually return, and even to the capital."

On the ship, Huang gazed at the imperial city not far ahead, and naturally saw the imperial palace standing within it. However, Huang's eyes held more indifference than reminiscence. At this moment, Kal'tsit, who knew some of Huang's past, couldn't help but ask:

"So, have you made up your mind? Are you really going to get involved in Chen Qi's grand drama? You should know that even he said it's a sensational and shocking spectacle. You should be aware of the consequences."

"It's alright. Didn't the Emperor of Great Yan say he supports Director Chen Qi in making this drama? A dignified emperor can't go back on his word, can he?"

Huang wasn't worried about her safety at all. After all, she had nothing to lose. Now that she was in the Great Yan, although she had no hope for the unsolved mystery of her parents' deaths, she was still happy to participate in the criticism of the Great Yan in this drama.

Therefore, on her way to Great Yan, Huang immediately recommended herself to Chen Qi. Although Chen Qi did not agree immediately, Huang still believed that Chen Qi would give her the opportunity.

"It's not just me; everyone on Rhodes Island is enthusiastically signing up. It seems there are quite a few operators like me who harbor some resentment towards the Great Yan."

"... Having ended up on Rhodes Island, it's not surprising that most of the operators have some kind of story to tell."

However, Kal'tsit did not intend to refute this, after all, most of the people Rhodes Island took in were Infected, while in the Great Yan territory, those Infected were either victims of Catastrophe whose homes were destroyed, or people who had to leave their homes due to turmoil in their respective hometowns.

It's certain that they harbored some resentment towards the Great Yan Dynasty, so much so that now that they heard Chen Qi was backing them up, they could finally vent their frustrations and were naturally quite eager to sign up.

"Then we can only pray that Director Chen Qi won't cause too much trouble this time..." Kal'tsit sighed, refocusing her gaze on the imperial city, and said calmly, "We've arrived."

Two rather large land-based aircraft carriers slowly sailed into the imperial city, where people were already waiting at the main east gate. However, somewhat unexpectedly, the Emperor of Great Yan came here in person, clearly to welcome Chen Qi.

Beside the Emperor of Great Yan, Wei Yenwu and the Grand Tutor had arrived early, stood on either side. The officials and well-equipped guards on both sides had already formed an artificial passage. The Emperor of Great Yan had clearly welcomed Chen Qi's arrival with the highest honors, and it could even be described as eagerly anticipating his arrival.

"Marquis Liewen, I've been waiting for you for quite some time." When the Emperor of Great Yan saw Chen Qi leading Talulah, Xi Henian, and the others approaching, he took the initiative to go forward with great enthusiasm.

Although this was the first meeting between the Emperor of Great Yan and Chen Qi, they had actually been testing each other's attitudes from afar many times before. Now that the Emperor of Great Yan had finally confirmed Great Yan's friendly attitude towards Chen Qi, they had naturally become much more familiar with each other.

"I apologize, Your Majesty. We encountered a minor setback in Leithania, and spent an extra month repairing our ships, which caused a delay."

Chen Qi was also surprised that the Emperor of Great Yan would come to greet him personally. Although as a modern person, he obviously had less reverence for the word "emperor," he still knew that in front of the officials, he still had to give the Emperor of Great Yan, who had given him so much face, some authority.

"Fortunately, these two months are enough for me to perfect the script, so it hasn't been too late. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"It's alright, let's not talk about the script today."

The Emperor of Great Yan waved his hand, glossing over the filming matter for the time being. He then voluntarily gave up a seat, and two figures familiar to Chen Qi stepped forward. Xi He Nian also seemed quite surprised and immediately called out:

"Big brother, your sister?! What are you doing here?"

"It was I who sent them." The Emperor of Great Yan was very satisfied with Xi and Nian's attitude, and immediately smiled and said, "I have heard the Grand Tutor's previous advice: 'Use people without suspicion, and do not use those you suspect.' Now, besides Nian and Xi who are by the side of Marquis Liewen, Ling has also been living in seclusion for many years and is quite quiet in Shangshu. I think that, like Chongyue, he can also be released from surveillance."

"Therefore, I specially dispatched Chongyue to come here, firstly to allow these four brothers and sisters to have a simple reunion, and secondly to demonstrate my resolve."

"Finally... we also want them to help Marquis Liewen, so that his masterpiece can be further enhanced."

To put it bluntly, the Emperor of Great Yan is making a statement to the other "ages": if you behave yourselves, Great Yan will not only not harm you now, but may even consider granting you your freedom. Currently, apart from the Second Brother, who has no way back, the other "ages" can still be fought for.

Allowing "Sui" to directly participate in Chen Qi's script filming is a friendly signal to "Sui's" other brothers and sisters, as well as the other Feranmut of the Great Yan. Although the Emperor of the Great Yan is not in a reconciliation-oriented mood with the Feranmut, with internal and external troubles, it would be good if even one of them could reduce his worries.

If the Great Yan can seize the time to restore its national strength and make good use of the several peerless manuals sent by Chen Qi, then it is not impossible to completely eliminate the problem of Feranmut in the future.

"Director Chen Qi." Chongyue seemed to be in a very good mood today. Obviously, he and his brothers and sisters were happy that they could finally escape surveillance and regain their freedom. Chongyue bowed to his thirteenth brother in front of him, showing both respect and affection.

"So you're the famous Director Chen Qi! You've managed to tame my two troublesome younger sisters. Seeing is believing!"

Ling, whose cheeks were slightly flushed and who looked like he had already drunk quite a bit, looked at Chen Qi in a half-drunk, half-awake state. Ling now naturally knew Chen Qi's identity from Chongyue, and looking at this thirteenth brother who had appeared out of nowhere, Ling also took advantage of his drunken haze to curiously look Chen Qi up and down.

But perhaps because she wasn't drunk enough, her supposedly perfect drunken state attracted two pairs of gazes. One was from Talulah, who subconsciously grabbed Chen Qi's arm, and the other... was from behind Chen Qi, staring at her with an unprecedentedly terrifying look.

Talulah could understand, but Xi's look startled Ling. As a woman herself, Ling was more perceptive than her elder brother Chongyue in some ways, and immediately pretended to joke as well, saying:

"Don't worry, I won't steal your man."

Sure enough, as soon as Ling finished speaking, the aggression in Talulah's eyes dropped considerably. However, as Yuya slowly relaxed, Ling, who appeared calm on the surface, immediately felt alarmed!

This matter... is serious; she needs to discuss it with her older brother.

"Alright, everyone, please proceed to the palace. Whatever the matter is, please come with me there."

The Emperor of Great Yan saw everything but said nothing. He and Wei Yenwu exchanged glances and decided to discuss the matter later.

Soon, riding in the Great Yan Imperial Palace's exclusive car, the officials bowed deeply to see the emperor off, and Chen Qi and the representative from Rhodes Island also entered the palace together.

When Chen Qi and the others arrived at the Eastern Palace, they found that a lot of people were already waiting there. Most of them were people that Chen Qi had asked Chen Huijie to go to Lungmen to ask for help. Besides Chen Huijie, the Rat King and his daughter, and everyone from the Lee's Detective Agency were there.

Chen Qi even saw Huai Tianpei, who also smiled and bowed to Chen Qi.

"Director Chen Qi is truly generous; you almost emptied the entire Lungmen. I even had to send officials to temporarily manage Lungmen for my brother and sister-in-law."

The Emperor of Great Yan slowly sat down, gesturing for everyone to take their seats as well. He then gave Chen Qi a wry smile and, without mincing words, said directly:

"Now that everyone is here, Director Chen Qi, could you please tell us about the filming arrangements? I have already issued an imperial decree that you and your crew are permitted to film in any location within the entire palace. I have also instructed the Grand Tutor to personally approve the use of the palace spaces, and I will get back to you as soon as possible."

"Of course, and what else you need—the dragon throne, the dragon robe, the court proceedings, etc.—I've granted all your requests. It's just filming anyway; there won't be any real memorials or policies being implemented through filming."

The Emperor of Great Yan was very generous, but Wei Yenwu, standing to the side, wore a bitter expression. His younger brother had been secretly making him review memorials since the first day he arrived in the capital, under the guise of "letting his elder brother get a feel for being an emperor. Even if he plays a foolish ruler, he is still a monarch, and it won't do if he can't review memorials."

Then, Wei Yenwu had been at the palace for a month, spending that entire month helping his brother review memorials. His workload at Lungmen, which was already almost comparable to 007's, had more than doubled...

Wei Yenwu was in charge of approving documents, while the Emperor of Great Yan was in charge of the review. This improved efficiency, but the most tiring work fell on Wei Yenwu, who was truly exhausted during this period.

Now that Chen Qi's movie is about to start filming, I'm afraid my younger brother is really going to be a hands-off boss, planning to switch fates with him.

However, just as Wei Yenwu was feeling bitter, Chen Qi stepped forward in time upon hearing this. But unexpectedly, despite the Emperor of Great Yan's meticulous arrangements, Chen Qi still wanted to make more plans.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! However, we still need some preparation for this scene. We don't have enough actors yet, so I would like to borrow some officials from the Great Yan for filming. The list is ready, and it just depends on whether Your Majesty can approve it."

"Also, for this scene, we won't be using the main hall, and the dragon robe and throne will only be used once, but we do need to use the Western Garden of the palace, which is the location where we'll be filming most frequently in this drama."

"Furthermore, we need to travel to Jiangnan frequently for filming. Therefore, we request Your Majesty's permission to contact the relevant officials in Jiangnan in advance and obtain their permission for filming."

"Jiangnan, Western Garden?"

However, Chen Qi's series of requests surprised even the Emperor of Great Yan, who thought he was meticulous and had arranged everything in advance. Even the Grand Tutor, Wei Yenwu, and others did not expect that the main setting for the play that Chen Qi wanted to film was actually Xiwan.

"The Western Garden is a beautiful imperial garden within the palace grounds, but the residences there are mostly rather small." The Grand Tutor stepped forward to inquire about Chen Qi's concerns, asking:

"Director Chen Qi, I've heard that you're filming scenes related to the Great Yan Imperial Palace. If that's the case, there should be a main hall for meetings. The Western Garden doesn't have a palace that can accommodate officials for meetings. Please reconsider."

"Grand Tutor, this is related to the main character of our drama. To be honest, we don't need the main hall at all, because we don't need that many people to hold meetings."

Chen Qi smiled and replied, but having already known that the protagonist of Chen Qi's drama was a tyrannical emperor with the reign title "Jiajing," the Grand Tutor frowned and asked upon hearing that Chen Qi was actually holding a meeting in the Western Garden:

"The Western Garden Palace is so small that it can only accommodate at most twenty ministers for meetings. Wouldn't that be neglecting state affairs?"

"Director Chen Qi, may I ask what the title of this drama is? And who exactly was this Emperor Jiajing?"

"In that case, I'll lay the groundwork and tell you all about our show."

Seeing that if Chen Qi couldn't explain himself clearly, the filming might be delayed, he immediately addressed all the prominent figures in the Great Yan and began talking about the TV series they were going to film.

"I named this TV series 'The Great Yan Dynasty 1566'."

"1566? Is that a year?" Everyone was a little confused when they heard the number "1566". Fortunately, Chen Huijie, who was listening in, realized this first and quickly got Chen Qi's approval, saying:

"That's right, the reign of the Emperor Jiajing ended with his death in 1566, so I used the year 1566 as part of the title."

"As for the Emperor Jiajing, according to my setting, he was the successor to our Great Yan Emperor, but he was not a descendant of His Majesty, but rather a descendant of our Duke Wei —of course, all of this is fictional. Duke Wei Madam Wen Yue had no children, so this is entirely an IF storyline."

"Oh? My descendant?" Wei Yenwu was a little curious upon hearing this, but then felt a strange joy, because he realized that the child Chen Qi had created in the TV series was actually a tyrannical ruler.

Is this kid implying that his uncle is unsuitable to be emperor, and thus using this setup to make his younger brother abandon his plan to pass the throne to him?

Well, at least you still have some conscience, you didn't completely ruin your uncle's life.

However, Wei Yenwu was unaware that Chen Qi had no such intention at all. He had only set up the character of Emperor Jiajing in this way to fit the background of the role. Emperor Jiajing was able to finally ascend the throne because the previous emperor, Zhu Houzhao, had no descendants, and under the name of "succession by brother," Jiajing, who originally had little chance of inheriting the throne, finally came to power.

Wei Yenwu and the Emperor of the Great Yan were brothers, but Chen Qi couldn't directly film a scene where Wei Yenwu was the Emperor Jiajing, as that would be a slap in the face to Wei Yenwu. Therefore, he had to place this "stigma" on Wei Yenwu's son, whose birth was uncertain.

In this way, the current emperor's bloodline will not be tarnished, and it can also subtly imply to the Great Yan Emperor—that since Wei Yenwu's son is not as "virtuous" as the emperor, you can rest assured that he can have descendants.

"What are the characteristics of this descendant of my imperial brother... the Emperor Jiajing?" Upon hearing that he was a descendant of his imperial brother, the Emperor of Great Yan was inexplicably pleased, probably because he felt that Chen Qi was implying that Wei Yenwu would definitely become emperor in the future, and that he was happy to be able to step down from the position. He asked curiously.

Meanwhile, Wenyue, who was making tea for everyone in the back courtyard and hadn't shown herself, was all curiously listening, wanting to hear what Chen Qi, this Feranmut, had to say about this fictional "son" of his and Wei Yenwu.

However, Chen Qi smiled slightly, faced everyone, and gave the Emperor Jiajing his first comment:

"The Emperor Jiajing can be described as an extraordinary person, exceptionally gifted, and his political acumen is unparalleled among the greatest rulers of the Great Yan! Despite battling various factions within the palace, he maintained a firm grip on the political, economic, military, and social power of the Great Yan, manipulating all officials at will."

"Hiss--"

However, when Chen Qi made such a comment, everyone present gasped in unison, and then they all turned their respectful gazes toward Wei Yenwu.

You little brat, are you trying to screw me over?!

However, facing the astonished and shocked gazes of the crowd, Wei Yenwu inwardly cursed Chen Qi with every Lungmen vulgarity curse imaginable. What happened to the supposedly incompetent ruler?! This doesn't sound like the case at all!

Chapter 270: The Characteristics of the Emperor Jiajing and the Roles Played by Each Person

" In the Great Yan Imperial Palace, the power dynamics among the officials are incredibly complex, with Doli and engaging in internal strife. To say that one could manipulate all the officials at will... even the late emperor..."

Upon hearing this, the Grand Tutor couldn't help but sigh as well. As a veteran official of two dynasties, Grand Tutor had been promoted by the Great Yan True Lung himself, rising from humble beginnings to his current Grand Tutor. He knew all too well that beneath the prosperous surface of the Great Yan Dynasty, there were undercurrents of infighting within the court, and many problems had already arisen from the ministers' infighting.

In other words, after "Yes, Prime Minister" aired, the Emperor of Great Yan found an excuse to reorganize the court, and the situation improved again. In addition, Great Yan is now beset by internal and external troubles, such as Feranmut, Demons, and Seaborn. Great Yan can be said to be an indispensable backbone force in the country. Although the country is peaceful and prosperous, everyone in the court is actually living in anxiety and has very little Kung Fu Hustle internal strife.

Under so many conditions, the golden age of the Great Yan Dynasty was able to continue. However, even so, there was still some infighting and competition between the Grand Tutor and the Grand Commandant, and there was also a lot of fighting among the Three Departments and Six Ministries. Although everyone said that they did not form cliques for personal gain, this was an open secret, and everyone knew what was going on in private.