Inside Weiyang Palace

The imperial palace in Chang'an City was still lit up at night.

The eunuchs moved cautiously, carrying red lanterns as they carefully inspected every door and window.

Imperial guards, armed with swords, patrolled the various passageways of the palace.

In contrast to the bright lights everywhere else, the main hall of the Weiyang Palace was dimly lit, with only a palace lantern flickering with a flame the size of a soybean.

This resulted in the palace being shrouded in darkness, with only a few feet of light illuminating the area illuminated by palace lanterns providing a meager view.

Beneath the palace lantern, three figures sat at a long table.

The three wore robes of very similar style, but the different headdresses on their heads made them clearly distinguishable.

One of them wore a twelve-tasseled crown, while another had slightly modified his crown, folding one of the tassels so that only eleven tassels hung down.

The other headdress is made of gold thread, which is equally noble and extraordinary, but it does not have the lofty and imposing air of the two upright headdresses.

The dim light illuminated the three headdresses, making the faces beneath them vaguely discernible in the darkness.

The two faces under the imperial hats were almost identical, except that one looked haggard while the other looked normal.

Beneath the golden crown was a young face.

A young man's gaze swept over the haggard face on the left, then looked at the normal-looking face on the right.

No one responded to his gaze until the small flame in the palace lantern suddenly went out without any wind, and everything disappeared into darkness. Only then did the young face speak in a low voice.

"Father, Imperial Uncle?"

The questioning voice was not conspicuous in the empty Weiyang Palace.

"How?"

"It should be successful!"

Two voices spoke, one after the other; the first asked a question, and the second answered.

This relieved the former.

When he clapped his hands, twelve palace lanterns in the Weiyang Palace were lit, and the person who had been wearing the eleven-tasseled imperial crown had disappeared.

"Father?"

The young man asked again urgently, which drew a slightly annoyed look from the man wearing the twelve-tasseled crown.

"Che'er, you'll always be so anxious!"

"Father, I know I was wrong!"

Only two people remained in the Weiyang Palace, the two most powerful figures in the Han Dynasty.

One was the emperor, and the other was the emperor's successor.

The former is clearly Emperor Jing, while the latter is Crown Prince Liu Che.

The Crown Prince raised his head and looked at Emperor Jing's haggard face, his anxiety evident.

Hearing the Crown Prince admit his mistake, Emperor Jing finally sighed.

"This is merely a divination technique from the physiognomy school; the extinguishing of the lamp proves the technique has been successfully performed," Emperor Jing said.

"Wasn't the Fuxi Physiognomy School destroyed?" the prince asked in surprise. "Their techniques aren't even in the Secret Pavilion."

"The technique is difficult to fully explain, and the cost of casting it is too high, so naturally it won't be kept in the secret pavilion," Emperor Jing said. "Your uncle's physiognomy skills are also incomplete. Forcing him to use them would probably shorten his lifespan, and he might even pass away before me!"

Emperor Jing spoke in an extremely calm tone, but his eyes held an unfathomable depth.

He spread out the silk on the long table; the silk was blank, which caused the crown prince's expression to change repeatedly.

Emperor Jing delivered two pieces of devastating news in a single sentence.

One possibility is that Emperor Jing's lifespan was not normal, and another is that the lifespan of that mysterious imperial uncle was likely even shorter.

The third factor that caused his expression to change was the silk.

The prince clearly remembered that the roll of silk was covered with all sorts of messy symbols, but after the palace lanterns were extinguished, those symbols disappeared from the silk.

"This is the Fuxi Bagua calculation of the world by the Xiang family. Your uncle is not capable enough and only managed to seize a sliver of an opportunity!" Emperor Jing said.

"What was the trigger?" the crown prince asked in a low voice.

"Naturally, this is the opportunity for the continuation of our Great Han," Emperor Jing said. "This opportunity lies with Dong Zhongshu!"

"Does Erudite Dong really have such abilities?" the Crown Prince asked incredulously.

"The arts of the Prime Minister are unpredictable and mysterious; who knows?" Emperor Jing shook his head and said, "In any case, the opportunity rests on his shoulders, and he should have already accomplished part of the task."

"Is that all there is to it?"

"His current presence in Shu Commandery is perhaps a fortunate event for our Great Han regarding the Wenweng Academy. If he returns and reports early, I will issue an imperial edict granting Shu Commandery some conveniences. If he returns late, you can make the same arrangement. However, the academy matter needs to proceed gradually; such things cannot be rushed, lest it become another opportunity for powerful figures to seek fame and fortune!"

"Your subject has remembered."

"Unfortunately, the matter of Zhu Jiuyin cannot be easily concealed. He is currently residing in the secret realm of the Xieluosi River, patiently awaiting a change," Emperor Jing sighed. "Father has diligently studied and practiced for decades, yet he is still no match for even a single manifested form of his. If he causes you trouble in the future, you can summon the Serpent-Slaying Sword of our ancestor, Emperor Gao!"

"That Crimson Sky Sword?"

"That's good, but you can only hold the sword, don't actually use it," Emperor Jing instructed. "We can just pretend, but if you really try to stab him with the sword, he'll see through our act."

"What conditions must be met for the ancestor's sword to be used?" the prince asked, puzzled.

"Father doesn't know," Emperor Jing shook his head and said, "But you shouldn't place all your hopes on a single sword. True strength comes from within, not from external objects!"

"Father's teachings are correct!"

"If you possess great power and one day become so powerful that you dominate the world, as strong as the Emperor Qin, then you will surely have people from all directions paying tribute and everyone submitting to you. At that time, you will not need to worry about such external things."

"But the Emperor Qin..."

"As long as he lives, the Qin Dynasty will not perish, and he is not so easily defeated. Perhaps he is still watching from somewhere, perhaps he still has a backup plan, and perhaps one day we will return all of this to him!"

Emperor Jing shook his head.

The cultivation system in the Han Kingdom was extremely fragmented, while the Qin Dynasty at that time gathered almost all the knowledge from all directions. The library was filled with rows of inherited knowledge, and talented people emerged one after another.

Under those conditions, perhaps only the Emperor Qin could answer what the Qin Dynasty was planning.

The presence of two emperors in the Weiyang Palace is merely a smokescreen; in the eyes of the other side, they are likely not impressive enough.

Emperor Jing sighed.

Without the fall of the Qin Dynasty, there would have been no birth of the Han Dynasty. In terms of status, he should thank the fall of the Qin Dynasty for giving them the possibility of becoming emperors.

However, from the perspective of national power, Emperor Jing also deeply resented the Emperor Qin's actions of burning many things to the ground.

This brought profound disaster to those who followed.

The once mighty Eastern Empire dominated all sides, but now they can only defend themselves and even need strategies to cope.

Once faced with overwhelming pressure that uses force to overcome skill, everything about the Han Dynasty would be exposed like a fig leaf, leaving it utterly shameful.

"These are the words of our ancestors; I'm just repeating them to you!"

When the Crown Prince showed a look of surprise, Emperor Jing had no choice but to explain.

"Based on normal lifespan, even if Emperor Qin lived longer, he would be over a hundred years old by now. There's nothing to worry about at that age," Emperor Jing added. "Even if he lives a long life, not everyone in his army will live that long. Our generation has almost no need to worry about Emperor Qin, and he doesn't have the resources to make a comeback."

"Father is right!"

"The real crises you'll face after your ascension to the throne stem from two sources. First, the Xiong State: be wary of them taking advantage of your misfortune to create external threats, which could then trigger internal strife. Second, your future Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager: they tend to be conservative and cautious, and the Immortal Court has been secretly contacting them repeatedly. Third, be wary of your uncles: they might be misled by some hidden forces. Li Guang's background seems questionable; you must use him cautiously and not allow him to gain too much power. Also, you need to guard against the various schools of thought; they have a terrifying old relic among them..."

In the Weiyang Palace, Emperor Jing personally instructed him, almost to the point of naming names and explaining the situation.

Some topics were old news, and the Crown Prince had heard them over and over again. But when the topic turned to personnel changes in the court, the Crown Prince finally couldn't help but ask a question.

"So, should I give Erudite Dong an important position in the future?"

"When Emperor Qin executed Confucian School masters who were proficient in all schools of thought, the Empress Dowager and others took this as a warning and never gave important positions to Confucian School scholars, the Empress Dowager will definitely stop you." Emperor Jing pondered for a long time and said, "But times are always changing. Decades ago, it might have been necessary to guard against the various schools of thought, but perhaps it is no longer necessary in your time!"

Emperor Jing looked at the Crown Prince.

He hoped the Crown Prince could figure out for himself what was necessary and what was unnecessary.

When a person is weak, he doesn't even trust his own wife and children.

When a person is powerful, even foreigners and strange people can be brought under their control.

As long as the Han Dynasty had sufficient strength to maintain control, it didn't matter who they employed, what kind of people they were, or what school of thought they belonged to. What mattered was what these people could do and what they could bring to the Han Dynasty.