The Human Emperor

“In that era, that man’s only hope was a woman as dazzling as a firework! Even in the darkest sludge, she always remained hopeful, encouraging him and telling to persist, to look toward the light!

“The two of them were like ants, living out a meek existence, two floundering fish struggling to keep themselves alive with their spittle!”

The Sage Emperor fell into a long silence as he recalled those memories from long ago, that world and era he had been on the verge of forgetting.

“!!!”

Wang Chong carefully listened, his mind in shock. None of the history he remembered matched what the Sage Emperor said.

“All things have their beginning and end. He thought that he would die a lowly death, but in that darkest and final era, he saw the collapse of the world with his own eyes!”

The Sage Emperor took a deep breath before beginning to speak once more.

“To his even greater surprise, a coincidence allowed his and her souls to enter another world, the legendary era of the Tang Empire where all of this was said to have begun!

“He accidentally entered the body of this person and discovered that he had the power to change the world!

“At that moment, he told himself that he would change the world no matter what! That he would restore the Great Tang and the Central Plains to resplendence!”

The Sage Emperor’s eyes exploded with unprecedented light!

“He proceeded to campaign in all directions, leading this empire on the verge of decline in conquering other countries and stepping onto the path of resurgence. He knew that the Central Plains in his memories was only a small region, so he did his utmost, defeating Ü-Tsang in the west and forcing them back to the plateau, sweeping the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates to the north, destroying their path to prosperity and making them eternally fearful of the dynasties of the Central Plains…”

The Sage Emperor’s voice echoed endlessly through Taiji Palace.

Taiji Palace fell into a long silence.

Wang Chong continued to earnestly listen. Though the Sage Emperor had not explicitly said so, Wang Chong knew that he was the main character of this story.

The Sage Emperor’s long life had been cut down into a short sketch. But while the Sage Emperor had made his recount very understated, it still sent ripples through Wang Chong’s heart.

Many matters had begun to surface at the incident of the true and false Sage Emperors, including that the Sage Emperor might have been like him and come from another world.

However, the Sage Emperor’s tale still made Wang Chong’s heart incredibly heavy.

A Great Tang that never thrived, a Central Plains occupied by the Hu for hundreds of years, the Han eking out a meager existence on a tiny piece of land…

The Sage Emperor’s history was completely different from the history that Wang Chong knew. No point of his history matched up with it, indicating that this was a world that had gone on a completely different track.

Even though he had not experienced what the Sage Emperor had, he could still understand what it felt like through the Sage Emperor’s words.

From a certain perspective, the Sage Emperor’s story was very similar to the apocalyptic era from his last life.

That deep despair had eternally branded itself in the depths of his soul.

Moreover… Wang Chong had another strange feeling. After descending upon this world, the Sage Emperor had taken command and started a series of conquests to change the course of the world, averting the darkest era for the Central Plains. But the brand-new history that he created was exactly the same as the history of Wang Chong’s original world, perhaps the same as the history of countless other parallel universes.

This brand new history ended up being the history that everyone was familiar with!

But nobody knew about the history that the Sage Emperor spoke of.

The Sage Emperor did not know what Wang Chong was thinking, lost in his own memories.

After a long while, he broke free of his memories and softly sighed. He began to speak once more.

“But even the revered sovereign, the master of the realm, cannot change everything. In that sudden development, he and his most important woman had entered this world together. He became the world-renowned and revered sovereign, but she had disappeared, and it was not known which body her soul entered.

“Even though the flesh was destroyed, the soul still existed. It was impossible to determine what she looked like, but he could depend on the connection he had with her soul to find her!

“But in the end, he learned that destiny had played some enormous joke on him!”

Wang Chong silently listened. This was not the first time the Sage Emperor had mentioned ‘her’, but he did not know who the Sage Emperor was referring to. However, he could see the Sage Emperor’s eyes softening with affection whenever he mentioned this woman.

That woman should be the Sage Emperor’s most beloved, but what does this have to do with Consort Taizhen? Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

Wang Chong didn’t know why the Sage Emperor was telling him this story, only that it had to be closely linked to what the Sage Emperor wanted to impart to him.

Perhaps because he was also a transmigrator, he had become the only person who could listen to the Sage Emperor’s story about this other world.

“Haaah…”

The Sage Emperor half-closed his eyes, a hint of pain appearing on his majestic face.

“He believed that he possessed everything, that he had changed the course of history. It was only later that he realized that there was a mysterious force hiding behind it all. This force was hidden in the shadows, and controlled the entire world!”

Wang Chong’s face turned grave. He knew exactly which force the Sage Emperor was talking about, even if it wasn’t explicitly named.

“These people couldn’t defeat him, so they resorted to every other method at their disposal to deal with him!

“He knew that these people were despicable, but he had never imagined how far their depravity could go.

“They had found that most important woman of his life and controlled her destiny, even used her life to threaten him…

“She died ten years ago. It was only at that time that he learned that she had started a family and left behind a child.

“On her deathbed, she entrusted her child to him.”

The Sage Emperor slowly closed his eyes, deep grief on his face.

Wang Chong was shaken by the Sage Emperor’s words.

“That child… is Consort Taizhen?” Wang Chong suddenly muttered in realization.

He had never imagined that this would be the truth the Sage Emperor would divulge!

Consort Taizhen was actually the child of the most important woman in the Sage Emperor’s life!

Many more thoughts emerged in Wang Chong’s mind…

Consort Taizhen’s background had always been out in the open.

The Yang Clan was a renowned and noble clan. Her great grandfather was Yang Wang, a supporting pillar of the Sui Dynasty who had served as Minister of Personnel. Her father, Yang Xuanyan, was a revenue official for the Shu Province. Her mother… was undoubtedly the woman the Sage Emperor regarded so highly!

The two of them had loved each other. One had become Emperor of the Great Tang, and the other had gone adrift, becoming…

Wang Chong did not know what had happened between them that had caused these two lovers to go separate ways. Moreover, from the Sage Emperor’s recount, he could tell that the fact that the Sage Emperor was not able to be together with his beloved despite his status and power was inextricably connected to the men in black.

He once more glanced at the pain on the Sage Emperor’s face, pain that came from the depths of his soul. Wang Chong suddenly understood why the Sage Emperor was so set against the men in black, and he also understood that this seemingly omnipotent sovereign, eternally resolved and determined, also had a weak and soft side.

Deep inside, he was just like any other person!

Recalling his past conversations with Yang Zhao, Wang Chong seemed to understand, and asked a probing question.

“This… Consort Taizhen does not know, yes?”

Around two years ago, the wise Sage Emperor had gone against the entire court to bring Consort Taizhen into the palace, with even King Song coming under fire. This was completely different from how the Sage Emperor usually acted, and the Sage Emperor had been so determined and stubborn on this matter that everyone was left confused, even Wang Chong. But with this information, everything was resolved.

Wang Chong now understood why the Sage Emperor had been willing to defy all the officials for this.

So that’s what was going on… Wang Chong inwardly muttered.

He would have never imagined that this sort of secret would be hiding behind it all.

Wang Chong also recalled King Shou…

Consort Taizhen had initially been married to King Shou, and it was rumored that even though Consort Taizhen had been King Shou’s wife for several years, King Shou never even touched her. Thus, two years ago, when Consort Taizhen married the Sage Emperor, she was still a virgin. This imperial scandal of a father stealing his son’s wife served as the greatest blemish on the Sage Emperor’s life.

But King Shou, Li Mao, had been abnormally docile throughout, not expressing the slightest dissatisfaction.

It was not feigned obedience, but true obedience!

Wang Chong had even asked King Song to pay a visit to King Shou, and the meeting had left a deep impression.

So this was actually all arranged by the Sage Emperor. Perhaps King Shou understood from the start. All of this was just a cover so that he could protect Consort Taizhen, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

As he thought about it more and more, the many riddles around the incident were slowly resolved, the truth becoming evident.

Moreover, Consort Taizhen, after spending several years in the King Shou Residence, was suddenly summoned into the palace two years ago by the Sage Emperor. It now seemed as if the Sage Emperor had sensed some danger, forcing him to adopt this inferior plan.

The Sage Emperor didn’t care about much in this strange world, but Consort Taizhen was probably one of the few.

Moreover, Yang Zhao had once said that even though Consort Taizhen was married to the Sage Emperor and the Sage Emperor pampered her in all manner of ways, they had never had sex.

It was clear now that the Sage Emperor simply didn’t think of their relationship as man and woman, but as father and daughter.