Chapter 2059: The Inevitable Cannot Be Avoided

Queen Ying was startled. "Is it really that big?" she asked.

She knew that the State of Mou was already frighteningly large.

The larger the territory, the harder it is to unify. Her husband had spent his entire life conquering the State of Yuan and establishing a new dynasty. What kind of extraordinary person, then, could conquer the entire Glimmering Gold Plain?

"The probability of annexation is high," He Chunhua said, knowing this was the main point. "And you both know this powerful person."

"We... us?" He Yue asked, greatly surprised. He pointed at his nose, then looked at Queen Ying.

Did they, mother and son, have an acquaintance thousands of miles away? Not just an acquaintance, but a formidable person!

In that very instant, an absurd thought flashed through his mind.

Queen Ying was displeased. "Stop teasing us," she said, "just tell us already."

Her husband was already the ruler of a nation; who could be important enough for him to beat around the bush like this?

What needed to be said couldn't be avoided. He Chunhua secretly took a breath.

"It's Chuan'er."

He Yue abruptly stood up, nearly knocking over his chair.

That absurd thought had actually come true?

The meatball on Queen Ying's chopsticks dropped with a "plop" into the soup, splashing her sleeve, but she only stared blankly and said:

"What did you say?"

"Sit," He Chunhua said, gesturing for his son to sit down. "You're twenty years old, and you still haven't learned composure."

"Why are you talking about Yue'er?" Queen Ying's voice unconsciously rose to a higher pitch. "Say it again, who's alive? No, who's about to annex the Glimmering Gold Plain?"

She was a little incoherent.

"It's Chuan'er," He Chunhua said, gently pressing her arm and enunciating each word. "He Lingchuan!"

"Big brother is alive!" He Yue's tone was equally incredulous, but he was much calmer than his mother and reacted more quickly. "Didn't Father say before that big brother sacrificed himself in the Coiling Dragon Desert?"

He made a slip of the tongue for a moment, calling his royal father "father" again, but He Chunhua didn't mind, because the question was truly difficult to answer.

Queen Ying also glared at him, wanting to see how he would explain away his previous statement.

Her husband had lied to her, and just watched her cry for days!

"The journey through the Coiling Dragon Desert was extremely perilous, but Chuan'er didn't die," He Chunhua explained. "After the great battle, he left the State of Yuan and went to the Yangshan Archipelago in the east."

Queen Ying was puzzled. "If he's alive, why didn't he come home? Why did you... why did you...?"

Why did you lie!

This question was precisely what He Chunhua had previously found difficult to answer, which was why he fabricated He Lingchuan's death.

At the time, he thought that even though He Lingchuan was still alive, the world was so vast that he would be like a clay ox entering the sea, and he likely wouldn't hear from him again.

He Yue pressed his lips together. There had been some issues between his elder brother and his father. At the time, he was too young to understand fully, but in recent years, he often recalled it, always sensing many vague, unspeakable doubts.

His elder brother seemed to be wary of his father, and his father...

In his father's doting affection for his elder brother, there seemed to be something else mixed in.

Now that things had come to this, He Chunhua decided to reveal the core issue. With his imperial mindset, he simply endured the incredulous stares from across the table and selectively revealed parts of the past:

A Divine Vessel.

The God of Fate personally chose the young He Lingchuan to be His Divine Vessel, and formed a pact with He Chunhua, offering him some assistance in his endeavors.

But He Lingchuan himself discovered this secret, and used the Battle of Coiling Dragon Desert to escape thousands of miles away, never looking back.

Queen Ying covered her mouth with both hands, so shocked she lost her voice for a moment, and only after a long while could she manage to speak:

"A Divine Vessel? What, what would happen to Chuan'er if the Heavenly God descended?"

"That body would no longer be his, and he would suffer immense trauma." He Chunhua had kept this secret for many years, not daring to confide in a third person. Now, speaking it aloud brought a strange sense of relief. "However, the Heavenly God assured me that Chuan'er's constitution is one in ten thousand, capable of withstanding even a divine descent. It's just that Chuan'er didn't believe it at all."

"You..." Let alone He Lingchuan, Queen Ying's first reaction upon hearing this was also disbelief.

She immediately had a realization!

No wonder, no wonder, no wonder her husband had doted exclusively on their eldest son for so many years, without principles or limits. He must have known that their eldest son, as a Divine Vessel, wouldn't live long!

In this instant, Queen Ying's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

"Father, how could you, how could you sacrifice big brother and make a deal with the Heavenly God!" He Yue's throat was dry, and he finally couldn't hold back his words. "Even a venomous tiger doesn't eat its cub; how could you abandon father-son affection!"

He used to hear sayings like "there are no fathers and sons in imperial families" on stage, and he'd always treated them as mere jokes. But today's revelation proved that saying true!

His royal father could betray and exploit his own eldest son, his own flesh and blood, showing such coldness!

A chill ran down He Yue's spine.

"What kind of look is that!" He Chunhua was enraged by his gaze, slamming the table. "What situation was I in twenty years ago? The Heavenly God demanded my son; do you think I had a choice?"

He Yue swallowed hard.

"The entire He family was massacred, their grievances unavenged. I was a mere child when I was exiled to the frontier, enduring every hardship imaginable in Blackwater City! Tell me, how was I supposed to turn the tide and avenge my entire family without the aid of a Heavenly God?"

"Father-son affection?" He Chunhua sneered. "If I hadn't survived back then, you wouldn't even exist!"

He Yue gritted his teeth, enduring his father's authority. "The King of Yuan said the He family had offended the gods, which is why he annihilated our entire family; you, you did indeed appease a god in the end!"

"If he was inhumane, don't blame me for being unjust!" He Chunhua said coldly. "Didn't the King of Yuan always think his words were golden? I simply made his words a prophecy!"

He saw that the mother and son were about to question him again, so he spoke first. "If I hadn't been at my wit's end, if I hadn't been powerless to change things, who would cruelly offer up their own flesh and blood? Yue'er, I've warned you countless times: never preach kindness to those who haven't experienced the suffering of others!"

"But..."

"You lived in Blackwater City, and you grew up listening to the stories of Coiling Dragon City, didn't you?" He Chunhua cut him off. "Do you remember what Zhong Shengguang, the Commander of Coiling Dragon City, did? One of those things was that he sacrificed his own daughter to gain the overwhelming support of the Heavenly God, and that's how he reversed Coiling Dragon City's predicament!"

He sneered. "So, when Zhong Shengguang sacrificed his daughter, it's a heroic, admirable deed, but when I, He Chunhua, sacrifice my son, it's heartless and inhuman? Zhong Shengguang stubbornly resisted for thirty-two years, and Coiling Dragon City still couldn't escape its demise; I toiled for over twenty years, not only avenging the entire He family, old and young, but also conquering an entire empire and founding my He Dynasty!"

"Tell me, who's the hero!" He Chunhua pointed at He Yue's nose. "Before you speak, look at where you stand, look at the delicacies you eat, and look at the silk and brocade you wear! If it weren't for my desperate gamble back then, you wouldn't be standing above thousands today!"