Chapter 147
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Surrounded, Xie Duo quickly attracted the attention of the guards who had been waiting outside the crowd.
The guards sternly scolded the crowd, and gradually, the people quieted down and then knelt one by one.
The village chief, with fear in his eyes, led the way by shouting “Long live!” followed by the villagers quietly murmuring the slogan “War God Prince Ling,” which had spread among the people after the complete defeat of the Tatars.
Even though the villagers knew that the young prince before them had now ascended the throne, this slogan had already been engraved in the hearts of the common people. When they were excited, they would speak it aloud.
Fortunately, the Emperor himself also preferred the title “War God Prince Ling.” He smiled and asked the villagers to rise and continue the celebration.
Because Xie Duo had taken the silver bracelets that the villagers had prepared for the antler competition, he unfastened his jade pendant from his waist and handed it to the village chief, allowing the villagers to hold another competition.
The village chief dared not refuse and was at a loss for words. Just as he was about to decline politely, a eunuch at the side, with a gentle yet alert voice, said, “How could one not accept His Majesty’s rewards? Old man, quickly express your gratitude.”
The village chief finally understood and quickly knelt down to receive the rewards and give thanks.
“Since today is the Water Deity’s ceremony, there’s no need to kneel before me. I am traveling incognito today. The villagers should not disturb the neighboring villages. No need to shout ‘Long live.’ Simply follow the proper guest etiquette.”
After giving the orders, Xie Duo walked towards the place where Han Jiao was seated. The crowd in front quickly moved aside.
Just as he was about to exit the encirclement, he was stopped by several young girls. The tallest one among them was holding an inflatable ball.
Xie Duo recognized these girls from when he had first visited the village as children. He halted, smiled, and asked the girl with the ball, “What’s this? Do you want to have a little game of ball with me?”
A group of young girls nervously lowered their heads. The girl in the middle handed the ball to Xie Duo and, with courage, whispered, “We want to exchange this for Your Majesty’s bracelet.”
The eunuch quickly scolded, “You must not be impudent!”
Xie Duo raised his hand, signaling the eunuch to stay silent. He kindly told the young girl, “This ball is still brand new. If you don’t want it, take it to a pawnshop and have someone knowledgeable appraise it. You can exchange it for a large box of silver bracelets.”
“We don’t want bracelets,” an impulsive girl beside her spoke eagerly, “We want to serve Your Highness as your senior wives!”
Xie Duo turned his head to look at her with a smile. “How old are you?”
The young girl hurriedly stepped forward and answered, “I’m seven years old!”
“Do you know the legal age for marriage?”
“Fourteen!” the girl responded without hesitation.
Xie Duo couldn’t contain his laughter. “Well, you’re quite the lawbreaker, then!”
“We are dowry maids.” The young girls around had already discussed how to exploit a legal loophole. They pointed to the girl in the middle who held the ball. “She’s already fourteen. We’ll be her dowry maids. In the future, we’ll be yours too!”
“Mine?” Xie Duo lowered his head, his gaze slowly scanning the five girls in front of him. He spoke with a serious tone, “My wife and her attendants are indeed mine, but I’ll only love my wife. I’ll do my best to make her smile, and I’m willing to give everything to her alone. As for what her attendants look like, I might not even remember, and I won’t show them any affection. Now, who among you will be my wife, and who will be her attendants?”
“Me! I want to be your wife!” The girls who had initially planned to be dowry maids together changed their minds collectively, competing eagerly for the position of wife.
“You’re only nine years old!”
“I’m already fourteen.”
“Your Majesty! She’s actually only thirteen!”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
“You’re the one talking nonsense! You’re committing a crime of deceiving the money!”
“It’s called deceiving the monarch, you silly girl!”
“Waaaahhh…”
The sinister War God instantly shattered the will of the opponents from within, and this attack ended with five kids crying in unison.
Xie Duo bent down to get close to this group of children and clapped his hands. “Look here.”
Wiping away their tears, the children looked up curiously. They saw the War God Emperor’s palm flip, conjuring candied haws.
“Wow!” The sight of the candies made the children forget their woes.
Xie Duo was about to stand up when the youngest girl suddenly ran up, tiptoed, and reached towards his masked face. But Xie Duo instinctively grabbed her wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to be your wife when I grow up,” the little girl said with a determined and stubborn expression. “I want to see what you look like.”
Xie Duo chuckled and bent closer to the little girl. He spoke with a serious look, “When you reach the age to get married, there will be a man who will win the ornament from the antlers on that platform and give it to you. He will promise to love only you for life. If you accept his gift, the man’s face will be what’s under my mask.”
The little girl gazed at the wolf mask, her eyes suddenly filled with boundless anticipation.
Having successfully fooled all five little girls at once, Xie Duo returned to the side of the little child prodigy.
“Aren’t you supposed to be selecting a consort?” Han Jiao, looking annoyed, sat in a chair and stared at Xie Duo. “Why didn’t anyone come back with you?”
Xie Duo raised an eyebrow. “Who said I went to choose a consort? I wanted to show you who the most formidable person in the world is.”
Han Jiao was puzzled. “Then why did you take that bracelet? Everyone told me it’s for getting married.”
Xie Duo lifted his mask, revealing a bright, shining smile with sharp little tiger teeth. He raised the silver bracelet in his hand and wiggled it. “Do you like it?”
Han Jiao was so astonished that he stood up, his eyes fixed on the bracelet, almost drooling!
Xie Duo opened his palm and said, “Give me your hand, Han Xiaobai.”
Han Jiao stared at the “stinky bracelet,” then looked at the War God, who was even more attractive than the bracelet. Without hesitation, he extended both his hands!
“One hand is enough.” Xie Duo held the left hand of the little child prodigy, looking at him with a serious expression. “Are you willing to accept my bracelet?”
Han Jiao nodded vigorously.
Xie Duo smiled with delight, lowered his head to put the bracelet on for the little child prodigy…
It didn’t fit.
The bracelet got stuck.
Han Jiao’s hands were slender and graceful, but they were still a man’s hands, with larger bones than a girl’s. The bracelet, designed for fourteen or fifteen-year-old girls, got stuck in Han Jiao’s hand and couldn’t slide down.
Han Jiao was getting anxious, instinctively taking a deep breath and trying to make himself take up less space.
However, this didn’t solve the problem of the bracelet being a size too small.
In fact, Xie Duo had already secretly squeezed the bracelet flat, but it was still stuck and wouldn’t go down.
“Push harder!” Han Jiao, with a look of disdain, raised his eyes and scolded the present Emperor in anger, “Have you not eaten enough!”
“I’m afraid it will hurt you.”
“It won’t hurt! Just push harder!” Han Jiao urged anxiously.
Xie Duo, who hadn’t eaten enough, got some encouragement. He grabbed Han Jiao’s wrist with one hand and firmly held the bracelet with the other, then pushed hard!
“Clank!”
Silence for a moment.
“What was that sound?” Xie Duo’s voice sounded a bit nervous.
He lifted his head and saw the little child prodigy with red eyes, and his lips were trembling.
His thumb was dislocated.
The village doctor said it wasn’t a big deal, but Xie Duo still took the little child prodigy back to the palace early for treatment by the imperial physician.
Half a month later, the former Emperor was critically ill.
In the end, he couldn’t wait for the woman he had missed for half his life to see him one last time, but he did wait for the victorious Prince Yan to return.
Because he had almost lost the ability to speak, he couldn’t refuse his son’s request to see him.
Prince Yan, after removing his armor, refused both rewards and celebration feasts. The praise from inside and outside the capital seemed less important to him.
He only wanted to see Father Emperor. He had too much resentment that he could no longer suppress, and he just wanted the father who had never considered him a son to see his current success and glory.
He realized that his constant desire for recognition from everyone throughout his life was actually because he had never received acknowledgment from Father Emperor since childhood.
After finally achieving a great victory, the person he wanted to see the most was still Father Emperor, who had never cared about him.
He could confidently recount every step of his strategy in defeating the local chieftain of Luozhou to Father Emperor. He could subtly mock Father Emperor’s past criticisms. He could compare his own strength to that of his ninth brother. He could stand tall and talk to Father Emperor as the eldest legitimate son.
He wanted Father Emperor to know that he had finally freed himself from the invisible bonds Father Emperor had placed on him. From now on, he wouldn’t care about Father Emperor’s judgment.
He had many things he wanted to say, but when he saw Father Emperor, he realized that it was too late for revenge. The wheels of fate had turned, and they had reached Father Emperor before him.
Prince Yan cried. He knew Father Emperor’s strong-willed nature and his aversion to seeing others shed tears, but he couldn’t help but sob in Father Emperor’s presence.
After that day, he didn’t mention a word about his own military achievements in front of Father Emperor. Instead, he silently took on the laborious task of caring for Father Emperor. He slept on a low couch at night, never leaving his side.
The Grand Emperor endured like this for another five days, ultimately falling into an unending coma.
The imperial physician delivered the urgent news of his critical condition once more.
The entire palace, led by the Empress, stood outside the Taiqian Palace, weeping and waiting. The Princes knelt in the inner courtyard, awaiting summons.
A long, agonizing day passed, but the Grand Emperor remained unconscious, and his breathing grew weaker.
Everyone believed that the Grand Emperor would pass away in his deep slumber, but unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, there was news that the Grand Emperor had awakened.
All the Princes entered the hall, including Xie Guang, Xie Xiu, and Xie Duo, guided by eunuchs.
The Grand Emperor had awakened, but he still couldn’t open his eyes. Yet, it was evident that he was constantly swallowing in pain.
The poison had already eroded his organs. With every breath, he endured indescribable agony.
“Father Emperor…” Xie Guang couldn’t help but choke up.
The Grand Emperor seemed to summon the last of his strength, opened his eyes, and looked at his three sons by the bedside. His gaze wandered for a moment but eventually settled on Xie Guang.
Xie Guang immediately knelt by the bedside, holding his father’s hand, waiting for his words.
Everyone believed that, on the brink of death, the Grand Emperor would only have instructions for Xie Duo, but in a surprising twist, at the last moments of his life, he focused his attention on this eldest legitimate son whom he had ignored throughout his life.
The Grand Emperor, with sunken but still lucid eyes, stared directly at Xie Guang. His voice was like dry leaves crushed underfoot as he said, “The person I’ve hated the most in my entire life is your… paternal grandfather.”
Xie Guang was taken aback. He glanced at his two brothers, wondering if Father Emperor was confused due to his illness, about to utter something terribly rebellious.
Xie Xiu’s face showed no grief, just curiosity as he watched the dying man on the bed.
In Xie Duo’s eyes, there was a similar sense of astonishment to Xie Guang’s.
The Grand Emperor continued to fix his gaze on Xie Guang, his expression filled with bitterness as he went on, “He manipulated me for half of my life. Even after his death, I kept wanting… wanting to take back everything he had taken from me…”
His dark eyes suddenly turned sorrowful. He looked at Xie Guang for a long moment before whispering, “I clung to those grievances for over twenty years, and now, looking back, I’ve realized that I missed you, missed your mother, and missed all the opportunities I could have seized.”
Xie Guang’s nose stung. He tightly held his father’s hand, but the words wouldn’t come out.
The Grand Emperor raised his other hand and weakly patted Xie Guang’s shoulder. “Father Emperor is not worth you bearing grudges for the rest of your life, A’Guang. From now on, be yourself.”
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