Joy of Life

At night, the little building glowed with light. A large number of eunuchs and serving girls surged into the deserted garden from all directions like magic. All kinds of dishes, fruits, and steamers were delivered smoothly into the building. The Emperor and Fan Xian talked and smiled as they ate in the building. They chatted away while that woman, the one lying across the history of the Qing Kingdom and between the Emperor and Fan Xian, remained silent in the picture upstairs, calmly watching everything.

What should have been the start of a massacre became a last supper between father and son. Fan Xian was aware of this and accepted it. It was impossible for one person to start a two-person battle. Since he had already endured for so long before making such a brave and ruthless decision, what difference could one more night make? Most importantly, just as the Emperor said earlier as he easily broke his set up and walked away, since it was a battle between two people, time had to be given for the Emperor to do that which he had already implicitly promised Fan Xian.

Was one night enough time?

“Your Majesty, Mistress Ruoruo has come to bid you farewell,” Eunuch Yao said respectfully as he stood below the small table with his head bowed.

“Let her come in.” The Emperor smiled slightly and glanced at Fan Xian to show him that he would do what he agreed to.

A gust of chilly wind carrying snowflakes swirled into the building. An icy looking woman followed the wind in. Her steps were steady, and her expression was calm and unchanging. She bowed shallowly in front of the Emperor. It was Fan Ruoruo.

After she bid farewell to the Emperor, this girl, who had been under house arrest in the Palace for a number of months, slowly turned and looked calmly at her older brother. Gradually, a faint wetness appeared in her eyes.

Fan Xian stood and shook his head with a slight smile. “No crying.”

So, Fan Ruoruo did not cry. She bit her bottom lip firmly and managed to force a smile as she said, “Brother, long time no see.”

It had indeed been a long time. The brother and sister had not seen each other again since Fan Xian returned from Dongyi. After Fan Xian returned to the capital, he had only seen that autumn rainfall. At that time, Fan Ruoruo was already under house arrest in the Palace as a hostage to control him.

Fan Xian went forward and gently held his sister’s slender shoulders and gave her a hug. By her ear, he quietly said, “Be good. Be filial toward father and mother.” When he said this, Fan Xian felt as if time was going backward. It seemed that the icy woman in front of him was still the young child many years ago in Danzhou who couldn’t even speak clearly.

Fan Ruoruo made a sound of acknowledgment and left. She knew why the Emperor was letting her leave the Palace. Her brother and the Emperor must have come to some kind of agreement. The things she trusted most in her life were her brother’s lessons and plans, so she had no suspicions at all. She just calmly and silently accepted all of it.

The little building recovered its silence. However, it was not silent for long. With an awkward expression, Eunuch Yao announced, “The Third Prince is here, just outside the building. I couldn’t stop him.”

Neither the Emperor or Fan Xian had expected for the Third Prince to appear at this time. They had not thought that Shufang Palace would not be able to hold back this youth.

The Third Prince entered the building and bowed toward the Emperor and Fan Xian. In a muffled voice, he said, “Greetings, father. Greetings, teacher…”

Strangely, the Third Prince turned and left after saying these words. Without any care to etiquette and rules, he left behind the Emperor and Fan Xian, who had sunk into silence. Naturally, both of them had clearly seen the Third Prince’s expression earlier and saw that the child’s eyes were already red. Presumably, he had already cried outside the building.

The Emperor looked at the empty ground. He suddenly gave a smile filled with complicated emotions after a moment of silence. There was a faint glimmer of disappointment, but there was also a trace of admiration that he could not hide away. Li Chengping had come to the little building today to send Fan Xian off. Such affection and daring aligned well with the Emperor’s nature.

“Not bad, right?” Fan Xian asked.

“You taught him well. This is something I’ve always admired about you. I’ve also never seen you treat him particularly well. Regardless of whether it is the officials in court, your subordinates, or even my sons, it seems they are all willing to stand on your side,” the Emperor said.

Fan Xian was silent for a moment. He then said, “That is probably because I always treat them fairly.”

Eunuch Yao walked into the building for the third time and calmly said, “Someone outside the Palace has sent the book Sir Fan junior needed and a sword.”

It was the sword of the Wei Emperor. It was quietly placed in front of Fan Xian on the table. The book was a list of crimes committed by the He faction, written by previous members of the Overwatch Council for use in the Emperor’s edicts in future days.

Eunuch Yao stood in front of the Emperor and calmly narrated what happened outside the Palace. Naturally, the internal court had a number of spies in Jingdou, but there was no need to specially investigate the disturbances in Jingdou to know about it.

The Imperial Censors of the Imperial Censorate were kneeling on the snowy ground outside the Palace crying mournfully and asking the Emperor to harshly punish Fan Xian, an unforgivable murderer. Fan Xian was not a fanatical murderer. The lives that had disappeared in Jingdou were all powerful members of the He faction. As for the Imperial Censors that were just pedantic, they were still living just fine.

Other than these Imperial Censors, the civil officials in various departments in Jingdou also began to communicate in secret, preparing to exert pressure on the Royal Palace. All of this was because the court had been shocked by the massacre that had happened. They felt a boundless and endless fear. Thus, they had to make a stand.

After Fan Xian entered the Royal Palace from the Hall of Governmental Affairs, many of the court officials waited outside the Royal Palace. They were waiting for the Emperor’s edict. A day had passed. It was now night, yet the Royal Palace remained silent. The officials began to feel enraged and fearful. Was the Emperor still thinking of the affection between father and son after Fan Xian had done such a hair-raising and bloody thing and would not punish him severely?

Because of the Palace’s silence and officials’ concerns, the Imperial Censors once again knelt outside the Royal Palace.

When the wind and rain desired to come, the pressure was immense. Mountains wished to collapse and lakes wished for great waves.

Eunuch Yao’s report did not change the atmosphere in the little building. Regardless of whether it was the Emperor or Fan Xian, neither cared about the officials’ pressure. Besides, after tonight, one of them would eventually have to give some kind of explanation to the world.

The Emperor smiled. He raised his wine cup and slowly took a sip. He then touched on a subject or two that had not been raised yet. “If you die, will the words you leave behind be able to control the crazy people under your command? If not, why should I agree to let them go?”

“You need to take a gamble that my words can control them. Otherwise, if the world falls into chaos, it’s not a scene you wish to see.”

The Emperor’s finger slowly turned the wine cup. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Are you not worried that I will kill you and not do what I promised?”

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly. He was silent for a moment before he calmly said, “The promises of an Emperor cannot be chased back even by four horses.”

“Four horses, not one.” The Emperor smiled. “It’s four horses. Your mother also said these strange words back then, which is why I remember. I just didn’t think that you also knew of it.”

The Emperor sighed and said, “In today’s world, if the person in front of me was not you and instead was your mother, no matter what, I would not give her the right to a fair battle.”

Fan Xian mockingly said, “You indeed did not give her any justice back then.”

The Emperor shook his head and coldly said, “I would not give her such a right because I knew that she would not use this world to threaten me. To use the world as a bargaining chip means to invest all the people into the gamble. She would not bear to do that, but I would be able to bear it.”

“I am willing to use the lives of everyone in the world to threaten you,” Fan Xian replied calmly. “This was the difference I spoke of earlier.”

The Emperor shook his head again and said, “That is why I don’t understand. Since you love this country and care for the people, how could you use it to threaten me?”

“I must give my love first to those beside me. The other thing is that I have always been a shameless person who is afraid of death. If truly forced into an impasse, of course, this impasse is not just referring to me. I do not object having the world and Your Majesty’s wild ambitions accompany me to the grave,” Fan Xian said with his head down. “Actually, I have been waiting for a person, but that person has still not returned. I have no choice. I can only fight desperately myself.”

His were spoken with misery and helplessness. However, the Emperor’s eyes gradually lit up. He knew who Fan Xian was waiting for. In the Emperor’s opinion, in the world at present, only that person could threaten his life and rule. After the murder in Taiping Courtyard all those years ago, he had always maintained a faint fear toward that person’s existence. He even sent the last emissary from the Temple to the alley by the Fan manor.

Even with this, Wu Zhu still did not die.

“He won’t come back.” The light in the Emperor’s eyes was gradually restrained. In a slow voice, he said, “It’s been three years. He wanted to find out who he was so he could return to the Temple. If he truly returned to the Temple, how could he come out again?”

Fan Xian nodded and accepted this truth sorrowfully. If Uncle Wu Zhu still remained on this land, he would not be so passive in front of the Emperor to the point of threatening mutual destruction.

“How did you make the Temple stand on your side back then?” Fan Xian furrowed his brows as he looked at the Emperor. This was one of his biggest questions.

“I have never been to the Temple. After being with your mother for a long time, I learned that the Temple was actually a place that was gradually falling into ruin. The Temple never interferes in worldly affairs. This is true.” A mocking smile rose to the Emperor’s lips. “However, the Temple has always quietly influenced this land. It is unfortunate that I am a man of this world. They could not do anything to me. Your mother and Lao Wu were people of the Temple. This one difference was enough. Naturally, I knew how to make use of this.”

Fan Xian let out a sigh and shook his head. He had no choice but to feel admiration for the Emperor’s powerful resolution. In the eyes of the Emperor, the Temple that everyone worshipped was nothing more than a sharp knife.

“During the Northern Expedition, all the Meridians in my body were shattered. I could not move a single finger. My eyes could not see, my ears could not hear, and my nose could not smell. I was like a dead man. However, my soul was hidden within that shattered shell, unable to escape and unable to find release.” The Emperor suddenly began to narrate the events of the past. “It was like being in an endless darkness, enduring the torture of loneliness. Such pain made me come to a decision.”

Following the Emperor’s narration, the light in the little building dimmed slightly. It was as if it was about to sink into the sea of darkness that had no release.

“Other than oneself and the loneliness one can experience, nothing else was real,” the Emperor said. “Other than myself, I no longer trusted anyone else. In order to achieve my purpose, I don’t need family or friends.”

“When I woke from the darkness, the first things I saw were Chen Pingping and Ning’er,” the Emperor said with narrowed eyes. “Thus, I had the most trust in them. You don’t need to worry about Ning’er’s safety.”

“However, I never thought that Chen Pingping would betray me.” The Emperor’s eyes narrowed more severely. A cold light shone through. His tone was vaguely angry and sorrowful. With a mocking smile, he said, “I trusted one wrong person and caused things to be as they are today.”

“You haven’t experienced that kind of waking pain in the darkness, so you don’t understand what I am saying.”

“I have had such an experience.” Fan Xian shook his head. Naturally, he did not explain anything. That had been a very, very long time ago, an unfortunate event he had encountered in that other world. “However, I did not become someone like you. It is personality that determines fate.”

He abruptly narrowed his eyes and said, “If Ye Qingmei did not appear in this world, what would things be like now? Would they be better?”

The Emperor’s eyes gradually grew icy. Staring at Fan Xian’s face, a trace of anger flashed across his face. He coldly said, “Putting aside what the Qing Kingdom would be like today without your mother, you just need to remember that the court of the Wei Kingdom was corrupted all the way through. Not only could it not compare to the Qing Kingdom I ruled, even when compared to the Northern Qi of today, there is still a vast difference.”

“Even though the Wei court was thoroughly corrupted back then, it was still a colossus monster. Your mother’s arrival in this world at least destroyed that massive mountain. Do you know why there are no previous subjects of the Wei Kingdom who miss the previous dynasty? Do you know why there are none who are connected to their old kingdom and have raised armies in opposition in the territories I have conquered?” The Emperor smiled coldly and mockingly. “Think about it.”

Fan Xian smiled and said, “I can’t be bothered to think about it. Mother and father are both remarkable people. For me, the son, it is not a very honorable thing.”

The Emperor finally laughed out loud. The two of them continued to eat, drink, and talk. The father and son, ruler and subject, were actually very similar. They were both cold and heartless at their core. It was just they had different opinions when it came to the world, past, and present. They had different opinions on all matters, but this did not affect the mutual trust, respect, and fear they had for each other all these years. Firmly, they stood at the peak of the world.

Wind and snow swirled around the little building all night. This was the last supper, the last long talk.

As the night grew darker, the two of them sat on different chairs and began to meditate and rest under the light from the lanterns. Even the zhenqi flowing in their bodies was harmonious. Other than being Tyrannical, each had a power to destroy. Yet, they melded harmoniously in one place.

Unconsciously, the day brightened and the sun rose. The snow and wind outside stopped. The thick carpet-like snow on the ground reflected the clear light in the sky, illuminating the northwest corner of the Royal Palace with particular brightness.

Fan Xian woke and sighed in his heart. He stood. His right hand picked up the sword of the Wei Emperor from the table as he walked to the door of the building. Then, he turned and looked quietly at the Emperor on the chair.

The Emperor slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were unusually clear and bright, unusually calm and cold. There was no longer a trace of emotion that mortals should have. All that should have been said had been said. From this moment on, there was not a strand of affection between them.

Fan Xian raised his right arm. From his shoulder to elbow to wrist to hand, he steadily held the hilt of the sword. It did not tremble at all. The tip of the sword, terrifyingly steady, pointed directly at the Emperor’s face.

The sword was still in the sheath, but it began to emit the sound of a dragon’s cry, ringing like the pipes in Chen Garden. Thick Tyrannical zhenqi flowed into the body of the sword from between Fan Xian’s thumb and forefinger with the desire to awaken this sword. A light barely visible to the naked eye began to build up in the gaps of the sheath.

The body of the sword struggled within the sheath, wanting to escape but unable to find a way out. It was miserable and distressing. It made one’s heart tremble with fear.

Who knows how much zhenqi Fan Xian poured in to create such a startling scene? The Emperor’s pupils shrunk, but his hands remained on the chair. He did not rise. However, the last Great Grandmaster in the world discovered that his favorite son was much more powerful than he had expected.

In the cold winter day, a drop of sweat fell from Fan Xian’s brow. His delicate face was filled with a heavy and unyielding expression. He had accumulated strength for a long time, yet the Qing Emperor still had not moved. He could not wait forever. He was already close to losing control of the sword grasped in his hand.

With a quiet slapping sound, Fan Xian’s right fought took a step back and landed heavily on the threshold of the door while his right hand struck out with the sword in a move to singe the sky and finally burst forth.

The white light shining between the gaps in the sheath suddenly disappeared. The little building became absolutely silent. The sheath of the sword could no longer endure the Emperor’s sword’s anger and struggle. Suddenly, silently, and strangely, it flew like an arrow straight toward the Emperor’s face. Fan Xian’s first strike was the sword sheath.

The sword sheath carried his seven days of hard thinking, the accumulation of his strength after a long night of talking, and a very thick layer of Tyrannical zhenqi. In an instant, it shot out. Its speed was reminiscent of Yan Xiaoyi’s arrows as it easily tore through the air and exceeded the limits of time. In just an instant, in the blink of an eye, it arrived before the Emperor’s eyes.

Suddenly, a very steady hand appeared in the air. It was a hand that had once commanded the wind and rain on Dong Mountain, a hand whose middle finger bore a callus from holding an annotating brush for too long.

This hand caught the sheath as if it were catching a firefly flickering light, like catching a speck of dust amidst millions of snowflakes. This hand was fast enough to catch light, fast enough to catch shadows. How could it not catch a sheath with shape and substance?

The calmness of the little building was instantly broken. The sword sheath began to emit a dragon-like cry again, but then it suddenly stopped.

The sword sheath Fan Xian had accumulated power in for a long time was like a giant dragon being choked around the throat, unable to breathe. Decrepitly and weakly, it hung its head and lay gasping in the Emperor’s palm.

The Emperor slowly stood. His expression was unusually calm, but he had to admit that Fan Xian’s realm had already exceeded his judgment. This attack that seemed like a dragon from beyond the sky had the faint sense of having left this space.

The doorway of the little building was completely empty. The Emperor coldly looked in that direction as the chair behind him shattered with a rustling sound, becoming powder, dust, and nothing as it scattered across the ground.

Fan Xian had put all of his strength into the sword sheath. It seemed that he had staked everything on this one attack. There was no audience around the little building, so no one expected that after that moment, his body would rise up even faster, sweep up, and fly away.

His body was like a large bird. He was actually lighter and faster than a bird. He was like a snowflake caught in a wild wind. At a speed impossible for humans to reach, he floated 150 feet away through the doorway of the little building in an instant.

Suddenly, snow began to fall again from the sky.

During the process of flying, Fan Xian almost stopped his breathing. Using only the methods in the book Ku He left before he died, he felt the cold in the flow of the air and went with the flow, floating away.

As he floated, he had time to think. From the Emperor’s chair to the outside of the building was 40 feet, but the Emperor had to catch his attack and think. Presumably, he would not come out too quickly.

The four Great Grandmasters were all extraordinary. In the end, they were not immortals. They each had their own weaknesses. Master Ku He’s biggest weakness was his old physical body while Ye Liuyun’s strongest point was in his cloud-like movements. If the Great Grandmaster in the building right now was Ye Liuyun, Fan Xian would not dare to hope he would be able to keep the other in the building.

However, it was the Emperor in the building. His zhenqi cultivation was the best of this time and filled to the brim. Even though he relied on zhenqi to move, there were always the limitations of the body. Of course, there were ghost-like tricks to be used to dodge and hide within a small area, just like how Ye Liuyun faced a sky full of arrows in the past.

However, the Emperor might not be able to force his way out of the little building within such a short time and execute a flawless attack immediately after.

Fan Xian’s feet slid in the snow for nearly two feet and left two lines in the snow. The moment he landed, sword light flashed. He half knelt on his front knee with the sword held horizontally in front of him in a killing stance.

At the same moment the icy cold sword light illuminated his delicate features, an abrupt, powerful, and swift fire swallowed the little building in an instant. Just like this, an ocean of fire appeared in the snowing Royal Palace.

With a few muffled sounds, countless tongues of fire shot into the sky and enveloped the small building within. Red and burning light immediately warmed the sword Fan Xian held horizontally in front of his face, turning it red.

Such a large and quick burning fire could not have occurred naturally. Who knew what Fan Xian had prepared in the little building?

What made Fan Xian feel slightly disappointed was that a breath of air flowed through the ocean of fire. A human figure stood brilliantly in front of the fire looking at him on the snowy ground, tossing the ocean of fire behind him.

The Emperor’s dragon robe was already singed in some places. His hair had become slightly messy, and his face was pale. He still stood arrogantly and looked coldly at Fan Xian.

“When did you move the fire powder of the Third Bureau into the Palace?” The Emperor looked at Fan Xian with slightly narrowed eyes.

Fan Xian smiled broadly, tightening his hold on the hilt of the sword and replied. “During the Jingdou rebellion three years ago, when I was regent. It was not difficult to move as much fire powder as I wanted into the Palace.”

The Emperor slowly approached Fan Xian with his eyes narrowed. In an icy voice, he said, “So, for today, you’ve already prepared for three whole years!”

Like the Emperor, Fan Xian also narrowed his eyes so that the bright ocean of fire would not affect his vision. Pressing his lips together, he said, “I just think that mother would also feel angry if her picture continued to hang in this building. Since it is so, I might as well burn it.”

If the Emperor had not met with Fan Xian in front of the little building yesterday, if the Emperor had chosen to act immediately instead of having a long conversation, Fan Xian would not have been able to find an opportunity to activate the trigger and light the fire powder.

Until the moment Fan Xian snapped the threshold, he was filled with confidence that the Emperor would set the final battlefield in this little building in this desolate garden because there was Ye Qingmei’s picture upstairs. The Emperor would certainly choose to completely end the decades of gratitude and grudges, affection and hatred between him and her in front of her picture.

Fan Xian could confirm this because he knew better than anyone else in this world the Emperor’s thoughts. He knew what kind of person the Emperor was. The Emperor was a cold and heartless man who pretended to be a kind-hearted and affectionate person. Fan Xian was also very fake. If one were to use words from the other world, the father and son were both people who liked to pretend to bourgeois airs. For this play, the little building was, without question, the best stage for the two of them.

At the moment the fire began to burn, Fan Xian’s heart jumped slightly. The reason he had chosen to make the fire powder he had hidden for three years as his grand weapon was because Chen Pingping’s wheelchair in the royal study had given him confidence. Faced with an attack that came from all sides and with no place to hide, even a Great Grandmaster could not make something from nothing and find a way to escape.

The metal shards fired from the gun in the wheelchair was like so. Presumably, the devastating fire would also be like so.

Unfortunately, the Emperor stood, still perfectly fine, on the snowy ground, although his face was particularly pale earlier. Presumably it was because he had burned up a lot of yuanqi as he sought an escape from the ocean of fire. In the end, this blazing fire did not cause him any irreversible injuries.

“Fire is too slow,” the Emperor said without a trace of emotion as he looked at Fan Xian coldly.

“Try the sword.” Fan Xian held the sword of the Wei Emperor and bared his teeth in a delighted smile.