Tu Xingsun had gone ahead and used earth escape to dig out the Imperial Mausoleum.
He had gained plenty of experience robbing tombs, so naturally, he was a dab hand at building them too.
Ji Chang's burial site lay at the foot of Mount Qi, with walls already surrounding it.
His hundred sons, the civil and military officials, and a contingent of armored soldiers all held shovels, baskets, and other tools. Once the burial was complete, they would have to raise the burial mound.
Ji Dan, meanwhile, sat on horseback and watched it all.
It was strange. Very strange.
The guards he had sent had not returned. Instead, a bird-man claiming to be an adopted son had come back, along with an old Taoist.
Yet his elder brother placed extraordinary trust in this old Taoist, addressing him as Father Chancellor.
Did that not mean he intended to appoint him Chancellor?
If Jiang Ziya took charge in Chaoge, and his elder brother obeyed his every word, whose Xiqi would this really be?
There was nothing wrong with being the Son of Heaven, nor with following the instructions of Immortals, but surely he could not become their puppet through and through?
Moreover, his father's death was strange-far too suspicious, far too timely.
His father's years in Chaoge had not been wasted. He had invented farming tools, improved cultivation methods, and promoted rice and wheat, winning considerable popular support.
Combined with his previous achievements, this meant that no one in Xiqi, not even an Immortal, could firmly surpass him in prestige.
One could say his word admitted no second opinion.
Would such a father fail to meet the Immortals' needs?
Was King Zhou not relying on the support of his court officials to show flagrant disrespect toward the gods?
In supporting Xiqi, the