The Sick Emperor Sought Death

The key to replacing a summoned general lay in the Jade Seal.

"The Jade Seal is the authority Heaven bestowed upon the imperial family. By its rules, the Jade Seal can accomplish anything you desire, provided you have enough fortune to activate it."

These words had been passed down through generations of Great Zhou's imperial family.

The Retired Emperor had passed them to him, and now he passed them to the Crown Prince.

Only, it happened much earlier than he had imagined.

Emperor Zhou returned to Taiji Palace and took out the Jade Seal. It bore several more dragons than the Deputy Imperial Seal and was more imposing and finely crafted.

Emperor Zhou poured the power of fortune into it. A rich pink, like soft cotton candy, enveloped the Jade Seal and shone into Wu Junji's eyes.

He saw countless threads suddenly radiate from the Jade Seal in every direction.

They were packed so densely that the sight could trigger a fear of clustered objects.

Red, white, black, transparent...

They gathered like silkworm threads, stretching into the boundless distance.

He could not help reaching out to touch them, but his hand passed straight through, as though they were beams of light that could neither be severed nor touched.

Emperor Zhou held his hand, gathered a wisp of fortune at their fingertips, and guided him to touch the threads.

A chill iced his finger. Hard, cold, immovable!

Heaven's might struck straight into Wu Junji's mind. His human emperor fortune instinctively circulated to resist it, and Emperor Zhou pulled his hand back in time.

"Father, what is this?"

Emperor Zhou sighed. "Fate."

"Each thread is one person's fate."

"Red means gravely ill, transparent means a young child, white means healthy, black means near death, purple means noble fortune rising, and gray means fortune approaching ruin."

"Every day, countless threads break and are born anew, rise again and fall again."

Wu Junji's expression went blank for a moment.

Why had he never known the Jade Seal could do this in his previous life?

Oh, he remembered. He had usurped the throne in haste, and the war with the Demon Domain had been fought in haste, too. His human emperor fortune had blazed to life just as abruptly, rolling over everything like a wheel until not a soul sprawled on the ground could make a sound. He had never needed the Jade Seal's help.

Such vital knowledge about the Fate Line must have been passed from emperor to emperor by word of mouth. Outsiders could never have glimpsed it.

In his previous life, the secret of the Jade Seal had effectively died with Wu Junji.

"Are you and I in there, too, Father?"

Emperor Zhou parted the densely packed threads, revealing several fate threads of different colors.

Pink belonged to Emperor Zhou, gold to Wu Junji, reddish gold to the Retired Emperor, and crimson to Wu Junzheng.

"If one had enough power, then with this seal, wouldn't one..."

Wouldn't this be the work of immortals?

Emperor Zhou laughed at his innocence.

"Even with all my fortune, I cannot budge a single thread. There is a road to Heaven, but it is a dead end."

"In the end, this seal can only be a symbol."

Wu Junji stared unblinkingly at the threads filling the air.

"Father, are the Jade Seals of every nation like this?"

Emperor Zhou said, "No."

"Only this seal, inscribed with 'Mandated by Heaven, may longevity and prosperity endure,' possesses such power. This is also why other nations covet Great Zhou."

"Are demons' Fate Lines within this seal, too?"

"No."

Everything became clear to Wu Junji. He knew how he should create his demon soldiers next.

Emperor Zhou took his hand and placed it on Wu Junji's own Fate Line.

"Probe it with your fortune."

Wu Junji cautiously extended a wisp along the thread and suddenly encountered a fork.

Halfway along his Fate Line, another pale purple Fate Line branched off.

Understanding dawned in Wu Junji's heart. This was Chen Yu!

"A summoned general is like a branch on a great tree. Important to you, but not so important that your life depends on it. Sawing off the branch will cost you some of your fortune, and it can never grow back."

"Humanity fights the Demon Domain once every ten years. That lost fortune is crucial to any Golden Dragon who rightfully occupies the throne. It can even decide victory or defeat."

"That is why emperors throughout history have never replaced a summoned general unless they had absolutely no other choice."

"But you are different."

"You possess human emperor fortune and hold absolute control. To you, losing that portion of fortune is like losing a ladleful from the sea."

At first, Wu Junji had been unable to wield his human emperor fortune and had possessed no ability to sever a summoned general's Fate Line.

Now things were different.

More and more human emperor fortune gathered at the fork where their threads joined.

It seemed to embody the Crown Prince's irreversible resolve.

Still, Emperor Zhou asked once more:

"Have you thought this through? No emperor in our family has ever tried severing a Heavenly Mandate General Summoning. A general chosen by Heaven differs from one you choose yourself. The former complements you perfectly; the latter follows an unorthodox path."

"No one knows what effect this will have on you or him. Even whether you can have a second summoned general is unknown."

The imperial family's use of fortune was very limited: crushing enemies to death, imprisoning and suppressing them. Once they entered the Demon Domain's battlefield, they could only support their summoned generals.

It was not that no one had considered developing other uses for fortune, such as condensing it into weapons. But when Heaven opened a door for you, it closed a window. It could not be done.

Perhaps this was a form of balance.

Had he not seen Chen Yu's face in that dream, Emperor Zhou could not have resolved to follow the Crown Prince's wishes.

Summoned generals were absolutely loyal to their lords. Who could have known Wu Junji would encounter an exception?

Wu Junji answered with an explosive surge of fortune that tore the thread free.

Dark clouds churned, and muffled thunder suddenly rumbled through the clear February sky.

Outside the palace, passersby grumbled that Heaven changed its expression on a whim, without caring whether people lived or died.

Only a few recognized that this thunder was different.

In the Palace of Eternal Longevity, the Empress Dowager abruptly opened her eyes, which had been closed as she prayed and recited sutras.

She could not help walking outside and looking up at the dark clouds shrouding the palace. They were thickest above Taiji Palace.

Fine streaks of lightning flickered among the clouds.

"Severing a summoned general..."

The Empress Dowager murmured the words, her hand involuntarily tightening around her prayer beads.

She had thought she was the only masterless summoned general under Heaven. She had never expected to see another before she went into the earth.

The Chen family was the Crown Prince's maternal family. No one could have been more suitable than Chen Yu as his summoned general. Why would Emperor Zhou allow the Crown Prince to sever him?

The Empress Dowager instinctively recoiled from such an act.

She considered it for a moment.

"Invite the Imperial Noble Consort here."

Inside Zhaocheng Palace, Chen Yu sensed something intangible being drawn out of his body, while a mysterious power flowed back into him.

That unbreakable connection snapped with a crack amid the muffled thunder!

Just as he had mysteriously received his mission on that storm-lashed night, today, beneath the rumbling thunder, his mission abandoned him.

He was free, and he had even received compensation.

Like a brothel prostitute paid handsomely after being used.

What more could he possibly want?

"Hahahahaha..."

Chen Yu lay in bed with the quilt over his head, laughing so hard his whole body shook.

The crimson at the corners of his eyes made him look sickly and deranged.

He remembered his previous life.

The Sick Emperor had lain dying in bed without saying a word, simply staring at him with eyes full of hatred.

Everyone had knelt and begged the Sick Emperor to kill Chen Yu.

They believed the Sick Emperor clung stubbornly to life and refused to close his eyes because he had not yet killed Chen Yu.

The bell cord beside the bed had been in his hand. He needed only to shake it-or even make a sound, nod, or blink-and Chen Yu would die however he wished.

But he had done none of those things.

His breath had been thin as a thread, yet his authority remained. The hatred was real, and so was his refusal to kill.

The Sick Emperor's last words had not concerned Chen Yu. Every word had dripped with unwillingness. What he hated most was that he had lifted the realm toward its rise but had no time left to steady it.

His hatred of his unfulfilled ambitions outweighed his hatred of Chen Yu.

The Sick Emperor's final words had been:

"Five years... give me five more years..."

"Why can't you give me five more years!"

Only after voicing that bitter longing for five more years had the Sick Emperor died with his hatred unresolved-

Chen Yu's heart had suddenly hollowed out.

If the Crown Prince had flayed him and torn apart his bones, Chen Yu could have died without regrets. Even if reborn, he could have said that the previous life's affairs were settled in that life and lived as serenely as a chrysanthemum.

But the Crown Prince had done nothing.

Chen Yu could not describe that feeling.

As the greatest stumbling block on the Crown Prince's road to the throne, he had remained unpunished even at the very last moment.

The Second Prince, Third Prince, Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, Seventh Prince, Emperor Zhou, the Crown Princess, Mister Ruan, the Crown Prince's subordinate officials from Jixia Academy... everyone who had wronged Wu Junji had died.

Only Chen Yu.

Only Chen Yu remained.

And so he had to torment himself over it, in both his previous life and this one.

Why didn't you kill me?

Why didn't you torment me?

Why did you let me go?

Why did you hate me, yet refuse to take revenge?

The man's hatred had clearly reached its utmost limit. He should long since have fallen onto a demonic path and slaughtered without restraint, becoming the greatest tyrant and depraved ruler in history.

Wu Junji had indeed killed.

Yet when people thought of Wu Junji, their first thought was not of his four great crimes of murder.

It was of his interception of the imperial carriage, his march north, and his Revolution of the Old Days.

He subdued the Mongols to the north, fought Great Fan to the west, advanced into Goryeo to the east, and crushed the rebel princes to the south. In between, he had also booted the eighth prince onto the throne and pacified eighteen bands of petty lords, those demons and monsters.

Such achievements reduced his murders of his father, brothers, teacher, and wife to matters of private morality.

After quelling the unrest, he had forcibly dragged the powerful clans off to guard the imperial tombs, publicized the Demon Domain's existence, established special institutions, and used the demons to unite the hearts of the people. He had vigorously promoted literacy, farming, commerce, and military buildup. A golden age had been about to dawn.

That unfinished Human Emperor's Decree contained only four words: no demons under Heaven.

Once the word "demons" was completed, the Demon Domain would be razed. Unfortunately, Wu Junji's body had reached its limit. A mouthful of blood from his heart had carried away his final breath of resolve, covering the word "demons." Heaven's mandate had denied this decree.

Dazed, Chen Yu seemed to grasp the answer.

Chen Yu lived by "Better I betray everyone under Heaven than let anyone under Heaven betray me"-his was the burden of betrayal.

When he encountered someone who shouldered burdens instead, he could scarcely believe such a person truly existed.

At some unknown point, that fatal attraction had lured him onto a painful, hopeless road of pursuit.

For every day the Crown Prince denied him an ending, Chen Yu would remain unable to let go.

Chen Yu sought death with all his heart...

Author's note: Hurry off to bed once you've finished reading. I'll update more tomorrow. I really can't manage any more today.