Chapter 558: Fortune

Inside the grand and imposing bedchamber, Ji Lin, seething with anger, paced back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. What was seemingly on the verge of completion had gone awry at the last moment.

After a while, his wide sleeves swished as he powerfully gestured with his left hand.

"Send out all remaining personnel," he commanded, "no matter what methods are used, Anping must be found for me before the coronation ceremony!"

"Your servant obeys the decree," replied an old eunuch.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger," said a voice. "This minor matter will not cause much delay. Anyone who isn't blind can see that fortune is on your side. It would be a greater concern if you were to harm your health by getting angry."

Hearing this, Ji Lin's expression softened slightly. "By the way," he asked, "is there still no news about Ear Jiu from the Zoroastrian faith?"

"The city gate guards reported seeing this person enter the capital," came the reply, "but neither divination nor calculation can pinpoint his whereabouts."

"Hmph! This person is truly useless for important tasks," Ji Lin scoffed. "Never mind. Considering his past merits, let his merits offset his failures, and grant him an honorary official position."

After saying this, Ji Lin, with his hands clasped behind his back, prepared to attend the morning court. However, as he was changing his clothes, he suddenly changed his mind and headed towards the Imperial Temple.

This time, he was unescorted. He entered the mausoleum alone. Accompanied by the tremor of stone, the sarcophagus, adorned with nine dragons, slowly opened.

"Imperial Father, I have accomplished everything you commanded me to do," Ji Lin said, gazing levelly at his father lying within, without a trace of affection in his eyes.

"Excellent! Hahaha, you are indeed the son I chose," the old emperor said with a laugh, firmly bound by golden chains.

"My mother supported the First Prince, so I killed her too!" Ji Lin declared, his words forcibly interrupting the emperor.

"The Grand Empress Dowager plotted rebellion, and I killed her too. Imperial Father, this is what you taught me: 'Those who achieve great things can even kill their closest kin!'"

The old emperor in the coffin paused for a moment, then spoke again: "Ruthless enough. I was not mistaken in you."

This was clearly not the answer Ji Lin had expected. Infuriated, he kicked over the offerings in front of the sarcophagus.

"Why!" he demanded. "I am about to become emperor, and now I ask you why! Why did you make us brothers kill each other?!"

"I tell you! I am the emperor now, and from now on, what I say goes," he declared. "I will absolutely never let my own children slaughter each other!"

"Hehehe," the old emperor chuckled. "Lin'er? Why do you think all the civil and military officials listen to us? Why do they respect us?"

"Because we are the emperor!" Ji Lin retorted.

"Do you truly believe that?" the old emperor challenged. "Do you truly think that by merely bearing the title of emperor, you can make the Military and Confucian schools utterly loyal to our imperial family, without any ulterior motives?"

"Even the Imperial Guards within the palace are their people. Then do you know why they don't dare to overthrow us and become emperor themselves?"

This question stumped Ji Lin. He had never considered it before.

"Because they don't dare," the old emperor declared. "Because they don't dare to stand by and watch their own clan members slaughter each other. But our Ji family dares!!"

"When the Great Qi Dynasty collapsed and became leaderless, our Ji family was considered a prominent clan, numbering at least several thousands. For this imperial throne, we saw sons kill mothers, grandfathers kill grandsons, and brothers slaughter each other. They brutally fought until only one person remained, and that person became the first emperor of our Great Liang Dynasty."

"That is why our Ji family can maintain its lineage for ten thousand generations, while the remaining spineless cowards can only serve our Ji family!"

Ji Lin stumbled back a few steps in disbelief, clearly shocked by this answer.

After a few seconds, he said unwillingly, "Why!! Why must it be our Ji family that sheds each other's blood?"

"Because we are the Son of Heaven! The True Dragon Son of Heaven!" the old emperor roared. "Only in this way can we bear the destiny of the Great Liang Dynasty!"

With the old emperor's roar, a soul-stirring dragon's roar echoed from within the sarcophagus. Dragon scales appeared on Ji Lin's body, then vanished piece by piece.

After a long while, the dragon's roar gradually subsided. The old emperor's voice, tinged with fatigue, said: "Since you are also about to ascend the throne, I shall tell you this: in truth, the world in the past was not as peaceful as you imagine."

"In ancient times," he began, "humans were raised by sorcerers as food. They lived like pigs, feeding on filth."

"But later, our ancestors did not wish to be pigs for generations, so they all escaped."

"Even after escaping, it wasn't enough. Sooner or later, the sorcerers would find them. Therefore, they had to find a way to carve out a world for themselves to live. And destiny is what upholds this world."

"But they would not give up. They always sought to break open our world and force us back into being pigs."

"In those days, the ancients devised a method: they seized a portion of destiny from the sorcerers, allowing one person to uphold this world. That person was the first emperor. No matter where they reigned, all emperors were the same."

Ji Lin stood dumbfounded, his mind in a whirl. He couldn't grasp what the old emperor was saying.

"It's alright if you don't understand now," the old emperor said. "You can think about it thoroughly once you've ascended the throne. Remember, what I have told you is the truth. If anyone ever tells you about a 'Lord of Fate' or an 'Everlasting Heaven,' those are all lies, meant to deceive the ignorant masses."

Ji Lin walked out in a daze, and sat on the steps of his bedchamber, pondering for a long time. He thought until dusk, and then until dawn.

If his Imperial Father had not lied to him, then his future descendants would also have to slaughter each other, just as he had.

To uphold this so-called destiny, the Ji family had truly paid an exorbitant price.

It wasn't that Ji Lin hadn't considered giving up being emperor and letting someone else bear the burden of destiny.

But he had already paid so much, killed so many siblings, and only with great difficulty was he able to ascend the throne.

He had already paid the price. He had exerted immense effort to survive as the last of nine contenders. He was on the verge of reaping the rewards; could he just hand this "peach" over to someone else simply because his future children would slaughter each other? He couldn't do it.

It was only when an old eunuch draped the imperial robe over him that he suddenly awoke. "Your Majesty, please return to the palace to rest," the eunuch said. "You will exhaust yourself."

Ji Lin silently nodded, turning towards his bedchamber. His mind still dwelled on his father and what he now was. "If the dead can be revived," he mused, "does that mean my Imperial Father is now immortal?"

Ji Lin lay on his bed, drowsily pondering these questions.

Just then, he suddenly heard faint footsteps rapidly approaching his side.

"What is it?" Ji Lin asked, his eyes slightly closed, still lying on the bed.

"Reporting to Your Majesty," a voice said, "Princess Anping's whereabouts were sighted in the capital's suburbs. She was taken by that Ear Jiu."

"What?!" Ji Lin's eyes snapped open, and he glared, grinding his teeth, at the junior eunuch who delivered the news.

"It was him!" Ji Lin roared. "I treated him with such openness and trust! He actually betrayed me for a woman!"

"Issue the decree!" he thundered. "Once captured, have Ear Jiu's entire clan exterminated! Execute him by slow slicing! And feed all his flesh to the dogs!!"