Chapter 1425 - 342: Raising the Banner_3

Chapter 1425: Chapter 342: Raising the Banner_3

Just like Emperor Qin in that other timeline’s history that Lord Zheng is familiar with: while he was on the throne, the four seas were calm and the winds subdued, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu could only kneel by the imperial carriage and cry out "Long live!" to the mountains.

After he passed away, all the monsters and demons crawled out.

Monsters and demons?

Lord Zheng frowned slightly. How did he end up scolding himself along with them?

"Prince, Your Majesty—who will he let inherit the throne?"

Lord Zheng asked.

Now, speaking in front of Tian Wujing, he’d already become quite unrestrained. After all, they were family.

Besides, it was Tian Wujing who first told him that His Majesty’s dragon body was ailing.

You started it; I’ll continue it.

Most importantly, although Tian Wujing was the Second Prince, that is, Crown Prince Ji Chenglang’s maternal uncle, the relationship between uncle and nephew was actually very subtle.

Tian Wujing seemed to have never truly regarded the Crown Prince as his nephew,

and the Crown Prince, very likely because of his mother’s situation, also wouldn’t see Tian Wujing as his uncle.

Since last year, how miserable have the Crown Prince’s days been?

First, his grand marriage with the Prefecture Princess fell through; second, the civil service exam he had painstakingly managed ended up becoming a wedding robe tailored for the Sixth Prince; his mother, the Empress, also suddenly passed away;

after this string of blows, the Crown Prince’s position, the status of the East Palace, could be described as precarious, like eggs piled on a rock.

This heir apparent was truly sitting on pins and needles.

Of course, with such a forceful father in front of him, being Crown Prince was never an easy role.

But if Tian Wujing were willing to speak up for the Crown Prince, even if it were just a single sentence, the Crown Prince’s situation would inevitably undergo a huge change!

Li Liangting was far away in Beifeng Prefecture; after the War of Jin was finished, he returned to the Earl of North Border’s residence, continuing to guard the desert.

These past few years, all the other campaigns have been fought by Tian Wujing.

Back then, the two marquises of North and South—North strong, South weak; the Southern Marquis was more like someone the court had lifted up to help balance the pressure from the north.

Now, the Southern Marquis has long since surpassed the Northern Marquis.

Yet Tian Wujing acted as if he had completely forgotten he still had a nephew,

though this was easy enough to understand,

because Old Tian also seemed to deliberately forget that he had a son.

Thinking of Tiantian,

Lord Zheng actually felt a bit of longing for that child.

If his own future children could be as easy to raise and as obedient as Tiantian—never having fallen sick from childhood till now—that would be wonderful.

Faced with Lord Zheng’s question,

Prince Jingnan answered with the same calm:

"As he pleases."

"Uh..."

That answer really caught Lord Zheng off guard.

"Zheng Fan."

"Prince."

Tian Wujing set down the wine cup he had barely touched,

reached out,

and pointed at the Black Dragon banner hanging to one side of the King’s Tent,

saying:

"I ask you: what do you think of this banner?"

"I’m very fond of it. It looks great."

The sentiment showed. There really was feeling there now.

Ever since he joined the army, he had charged time and again behind this banner. Even though later he had his own "Zheng" character banner, this Black Dragon banner that symbolized Yan—every time he saw it, it gave him a sense of belonging.

That sense of belonging was a lot like how, in the other timeline, many people would randomly roar, "For the Horde!"

Even if you truly treated this lifetime, this world, as nothing more than a game or a dream, you still couldn’t avoid the way it soaked into your whole being.

Much less so,

given that this is not a game; this world is immeasurably real, and infinitely intricate.

"And the armor you wear?"

Lord Zheng gave a wry smile: "Prince, if the circumstances allowed, I’d genuinely like to switch to a different set of armor. This armor is just too eye?catching.

Besides, even if it has to be somewhat bright, I still feel this pure golden armor is downright tacky."

With Blind Man’s design, Liang Cheng’s practicality, and Xue Three’s forging, they could easily put together a set of armor that was truly luxurious, low?key, and full of substance.

"What plans do you have for the future?"

Prince Jingnan asked.

Stage a rebellion!

That was absolutely impossible to say out loud. Although Lord Zheng felt there was already a tacit understanding between him and Tian Wujing, that understanding still contained a very clear red line.

You could whirl and leap and probe desperately outside that red line,

but you could not be stupid enough to actually touch it.

"Prince, I’ve always wanted to visit Qian State, to see the elegance there, to see the scenery there."

"His Majesty’s greatest dream in this life is to go to the imperial capital, to sit on that dragon throne said to be passed down from Xia." Tian Wujing’s gaze grew distant with reminiscence. "Yet of all things, Jin was the first to fall, and now we’re campaigning against Chu."

"Rest assured, Prince—sooner or later, the iron cavalry of my Yan will trample Qian State’s flowery Jiangshan flat and ride our horses across Jiangnan."

"Lord Pingye, go and lift that banner for me."

"Yes!"

Lord Zheng rose from his seat, walked to the other side, and hoisted that Black Dragon banner onto his shoulder.

Prince Jingnan sat there, watching Lord Zheng with the banner on his shoulder, his gaze lingering, unmoving.

Lord Zheng simply stood there, maintaining that posture.

Inside the King’s Tent, a formless pressure began to slowly increase; at some point, even breathing in there seemed to require every ounce of effort.

"Swear an oath."

"Mm?"

"This banner in your hands must never change."

"I, Zheng Fan, here swear: in this life I will only stand beneath the dragon banner of Yan; if I break this oath, may heaven and earth destroy me!"

After a long while,

Tian Wujing spoke:

"Do oaths mean anything to you?"

Once, beneath Jade Plate City, Prince Jingnan had sworn a vicious oath to the Chu people, then turned around and issued the military order: "Exterminate them all."

Lord Zheng hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and said:

"Prince, I actually don’t really believe in that kind of thing."

When you’re surrounded by the dead, by vampires, Zombies, wraiths, and a whole crowd of such beings, it gets very hard to keep believing in some heaven?sent destiny.

Tian Wujing smiled,

and said:

"Then it’s useless."

Lord Zheng, however, smiled and said:

"Other people may not understand my temperament, but you should, Prince. Even if that old heaven tells me to do something, I still have to weigh it, calculate whether doing it is worth it for myself."

"Oh?"

Lord Zheng planted the banner in his hands into the ground,

and said:

"But if my big brother tells me to do something, I’ll definitely obey."

——————

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