Outside the Taian Gate, the sounds of battle were deafening, echoing throughout the Palace, which had tens of thousands of rooms, but gradually fading into the distance. The sky revealed a faint pale light, but it was soon hidden by dense clouds and a drizzle began to fall. A faint smell of blood permeated the air, making it eerily foreboding.
Xie Jingyuan divided his forces into two groups, with half of his troops going to attack the severely wounded Zhou Wencheng while leading the other half to control the Palace. From a convenient place, they could see the flames growing both inside and outside the Palace, and the rain did not seem to dampen the heat.
In the night, chaos reigned among the soldiers. Xie Jingyuan led his guards to directly surround Taiji Hall. The sound of galloping horses, clashing swords, and armor echoed in the night, and countless arrows flashed with cold light, their sharpness fully evident in the darkness.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
They drew their bows and aimed directly at the Imperial Guards standing at the Palace gate. Countless arrows rained down silently, soundlessly eliminating most of the enemy.
Xie Jingyuan tightly gripped his sword at his waist. He had originally thought of rushing into the hall, but after some thought, he asked Chu Xinian’s opinion, his face hidden behind a silver mask that glowed with a cold tone. The drizzle was falling on him, sliding down his armor and wiping away the bloodstains.
Chu Xinian stood thoughtfully for a moment, then picked out a soldier and whispered a few words in his ear. The soldier nodded and entered the room to deliver a message to the Emperor. After completing these arrangements, Chu Xinian turned to Xie Jingyuan and said, “Well, the situation is settled. Let’s wait a little longer.”
The Emperor was already planning to pass the throne to the Crown Prince, so there was no need for them to make any additional moves. If they rushed now, the legitimate succession would turn into a forced palace coup. While reputation might not matter much, it was better not to provide historians with unnecessary material when the situation allowed for restraint.
The Emperor had been gravely ill and was unaware of the external situation. It was not until a sudden clap of thunder broke the silence of the night that he awoke startled. He struggled to sit up in bed, but a single movement took his breath away, and he weakly called out the Crown Prince’s name, “Chenghao…”
The Crown Prince had been worried about the situation outside and did not know how Xie Jingyuan and the others were doing. He had not received any messages during these days and had been absorbed in his thoughts. Hearing the Emperor’s call, he forced himself to calm down and knelt beside the bed, saying, “What is your command, Your Majesty?”
The Emperor, unable to speak fluently, raised a trembling hand as if he wanted to touch the Crown Prince’s face. However, his strength failed him and his hand fell weakly. The Crown Prince made no gesture to approach.
The great hall was empty, and the palace maids and eunuchs stood in the corners like lifeless puppets, their expressions numb. Outside the windows, the wind and rain were raging, and the heavy curtains concealed the dreadful scene of death and destruction.
At that moment, a soldier knelt in the outer room and reported, “Your Majesty, Prince Jin, and General Chang Zongping led a mutiny, but they have all been captured by General Zhou. Troops from Battalion Wude and Pingxiang are waiting outside the Palace.”
The Crown Prince was shocked by the news, and wanted to inquire about Xie Jingyuan and the others, but restrained himself due to the Emperor. He could only frown and suppress his curiosity.
Upon hearing the news, the Emperor felt a mixture of sadness and anger. After all, he had placed great hopes in Prince Jin, his son. He coughed violently for a moment and, gasping, cursed his son, “Traitor!”
His chest was rising and falling uncontrollably as if he would faint at any moment. A eunuch quickly stepped forward to help him breathe, saying, “Your Majesty, there is no need to get angry over someone unworthy. Look, the Crown Prince has been serving you filially. He has not even closed his eyes for several days. I cannot but pity His Highness.”
He was a shrewd courtier who had served in the Palace for many years. Seeing Prince Jin’s defeat, he naturally wanted to curry favor with the Crown Prince.
It seemed that Emperor Yan had been persuaded by him. He looked at the silent Crown Prince and gestured, “Chenghao, come here.”
The Crown Prince instinctively raised his head to look at him and then slowly knelt and approached. He saw Emperor Yan pull out from under the pillow a scroll of bright yellow silk, “Prince Jin is unfilial, and Prince Chang and Prince Ping are unlikely to achieve greatness. Now, beneath my knees, you are the only son I can trust…”
He coughed again, his face turned blue, and an almost deathly paleness came over him.
“I trust you, Great Yan…”
Undoubtedly, the yellow scroll in his hand was the decree of succession. The Crown Prince was momentarily stunned, not knowing whether to accept or reject it. Perhaps he did not desire this dull position as much as he had imagined.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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General Xie Jingyuan’s Mansion had been lifeless in the past, but it had become lively since Chu Xinian was there.
The Crown Prince always liked to go there; only when he was there did it feel a little warmer. Unlike the Palace, which was a cold prison full of corpses, the high-ranking people cared little for their people.
While he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Emperor Yan order a small eunuch to come out of the Palace and summon General Xie Jingyuan and Prince Ping.
The Crown Prince was puzzled and asked, “Father, why are you summoning General Xie Jingyuan and Prince Ping?”
Emperor Yan said nothing, but the old eunuch beside him understood his intention and brought a jug of wine on a tray. The slender golden jug was intricately decorated, but it was unclear what it contained.
Perhaps it was something related to someone’s life.
“Chenghao, come here…”
Emperor Yan knew that the Crown Prince was not a heartless person, at least not enough for an emperor. However, before he passed away, he had to eliminate the last potential threat to be sure to pass this empire into the Crown Prince’s hands.
“I understand that you have a close relationship with Xie Jingyuan, but an Emperor is an Emperor, and a subject is a subject. You must never confuse these two. You are young and inexperienced, and you have not yet secured the throne. Xie Jingyuan is a potential threat…”
The Crown Prince hastened to interrupt, “Father, you worry too much. Xie Jingyuan…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Emperor Yan raised his hand to silence him, “There is no need to say more. When Xie Jingyuan arrives, you will give him this wine. Once the wine is delivered, I will pass the throne to you.”
The Crown Prince suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. He stared at Emperor Yan and felt that the emperor’s gaze was both icy and familiar. Many years before, Emperor Yan had shown a similar expression when he had punished Empress Mother.
“…”
The Crown Prince remained silent, frozen in place. After a long while, he spoke with difficulty, “What if your son doesn’t want it?”
He did not know the outside situation, only that Xie Jingyuan had lost his military power and would have no choice but to obey once he entered the Palace. The hand hanging at his side trembled faintly.
Emperor Yan closed his eyes and said, “I have more than one son.”
Accompanying General Xie Jingyuan inside was also Prince Ping. If the Crown Prince could muster the courage to kill Xie Jingyuan, he would pass Emperor Yan’s test. If he could not, then the throne would belong to Prince Ping.
What a cunning scheme…
The Crown Prince forced a smile, but it did not reach his eyes. The old eunuch beside him noticed his hesitation and handed him the wine cup, whispering, “Your Highness, don’t do anything foolish. When Xie Jingyuan arrives, do as His Majesty says.”
The Crown Prince stared at the wine cup in his hand, feeling it weighing him down, as if he were under a petrifying spell and unable to move. Emperor Yan, impatient and anxious, tapped the edge of the bed and asked, “Is Xie Jingyuan more important than the fate of your empire?”
The Crown Prince did not move, closing his eyes.
Emperor Yan scolded him, “If you are soft-hearted, how can you achieve great things?”
The Crown Prince still did not move, with reddened eyes and silent tears.
Emperor Yan, in his anger, could not stop coughing. It was a violent and wrenching cough as if he wanted to expel all his internal organs. He gasped and said, “Do you know… do you know how deep Xie Jingyuan’s connections in the army are? As long as I am alive, I can still suppress him to some extent… but after… you will be ascending the throne… with little experience… if he has some ulterior motive…. will you be able to maintain this empire? Huh?”
Regardless of the past, at least at this moment, Emperor Yan was really worried about the Crown Prince. He struggled to swallow the bloody taste in his throat and anxiously waited for the Crown Prince’s reply. However, the Crown Prince, who had been kneeling silently on the ground all this time, suddenly smashed the wine cup on the ground with a violent movement.
Bang!
The wine glass crashed to the ground, making a loud noise, and the poisoned wine splashed everywhere. Then it rolled a couple of times and disappeared into the shadows in a corner.
The palace maids and eunuchs were startled and knelt to apologize, trembling with fear.
Emperor Yan was also startled by the Crown Prince’s sudden action. He looked up in surprise, only to see that the Crown Prince had tears running down his face, and his eyes were red. He backed away step by step, distancing himself even further from Emperor Yan. He had veins on his forehead and looked like an enraged lion.
The Crown Prince slowly raised his hand, pointing at Emperor Yan, and said, “You are ruthless and treacherous, and you want me to be just like you! You repay kindness with ungratefulness, and you want me to do the same! You face the rebellion of your people, and you want me to have the same fate!”
“I don’t want to! I don’t want to!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes were filled with hatred. He remembered Xie Bi, the master who had never despised his stupidity and had treated him like a son. He remembered the Empress Mother, the mother who had baked pastries for him and sewed his clothes. But all these people were dead, dead because of this ruthless and malicious person in front of him.
Pointing at Emperor Yan, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Your heart is made of stone, not like mine!”
The Crown Prince beat his chest hard, overwhelmed with regret and grief.
“I used to have a master, true friends, a mother! It was you who destroyed everything!”
“You killed Xie Bi! You killed the Empress! And now you want to kill Jingyuan! If you want to die, then die! I don’t want the throne! Do you understand that I don’t want it?!”
“Do you know how much I hate you?! I don’t want to be your son at all. I’d rather be a beggar or a slave, but not your son!”
Suddenly, the Crown Prince stepped forward, gripping Emperor Yan’s shoulders tightly, his eyes bloodshot, glaring at him intently. He spoke threateningly, “In the future, I will have grandchildren and loyal friends. I will be a hundred, a thousand times happier than you. You will carry your throne and your power to your coffin! And in the future, no one will remember you!”
His scorching tears fell in great drops, landing on Emperor Yan’s hands and the embroidered quilt, causing a heart-racing burning sensation.
“You killed loyal ministers, you destroyed virtuous wives, and even if I die, I will make sure that the world knows your vile deeds. You will be denigrated for generations and people will spit on your name.”
As the Crown Prince uttered these words, Emperor Yan choked, unable to catch his breath. He gasped heavily, struggling to find the words. His eyes bugged out and he trembled as he pointed at the Crown Prince, as if he wanted to say something, but could not form a complete sentence, “You… you…”
The Crown Prince released his grip and staggered back two steps. Emperor Yan’s trembling fingers seemed to reach for his clothes, his face thin and aged, his expression twisted into a grimace as if he wanted to devour someone. Because he leaned too far forward, he suddenly fell off the bed with a thud, gasping.
Emperor Yan wanted to say something, but his voice grew weaker and weaker, almost as if the storm outside was gradually calming down. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood, staring straight ahead, holding that tense posture without moving for a long time. After a moment, he collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Everyone present was stunned by the scene.
After a long time, the old eunuch finally summoned the courage to approach and reached out his hand to check his breathing. Then his face paled and he sat down on the floor in panic, his voice full of confusion and alarm, “His Majesty… His Majesty has passed away.”
Hearing this, the Crown Prince was momentarily stunned. He stared at Emperor Yan’s lifeless body, not knowing whether to feel sad or relieved. He felt completely exhausted, leaning against a pillar and slowly sliding down, his face pale as paper, as if he had lost his soul.
Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan were just outside the hall. The little eunuch sent by Emperor Yan to deliver the message was now tied up and lying in a corner. When they heard the commotion inside, their expressions changed, fearing that something had happened to the Crown Prince. They rushed inside, only to find that Emperor Yan had already died. A group of palace maids and eunuchs were in shock, crying and holding their faces.
The Crown Prince was sitting on the floor, staring blankly.
Chu Xinian slowly approached, crouched down in front of him, and held out a hand to wave it before his eyes, “Crown Prince? Crown Prince?”
The Crown Prince did not react.
Xie Jingyuan was more direct. He walked over and kicked the Crown Prince, then reached out and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him up. He frowned with concern, “Has your soul been eaten by a little ghost? Why are you sitting here doing nothing?”
Only then did the Crown Prince slowly come to his senses. He saw Chu Xinian and Xie Jingyuan in front of him and hesitated for a moment. For some reason, his vision began to blur, his nose stung, and he suddenly burst into tears, sobbing, “Why…why did you guys take so long to come…?”
He cried as if he were a child.
“Jingyuan… I don’t want to… I don’t want to be the Emperor… I don’t want to be alone facing my family. I want friends, brothers, a peaceful life, and a peaceful world. I don’t want to end up like him, abandoned by my own…”
His voice was full of pain and fear, afraid of becoming like Emperor Yan; disloyal, unfaithful, unloving, and untrustworthy. What was the point of such a life?
Chu Xinian stood silently by his side. Xie Jingyuan had a worried expression. After a long while, he lifted the Crown Prince off the ground, “You won’t be…”
Chu Xinian patted the Crown Prince’s shoulder silently, then grasped him firmly and whispered, “As long as you remember what is in your heart today, you will never become unrecognizable even to yourself…”
“It’s okay if you don’t know how to be an Emperor. We can teach you to be one. It’s okay not to understand schemes; we can teach you.”
In this novel, ‘A Thousand Years of Feud’, whether the original story or the revised one, everything has changed, but one thing has not… Xie Jingyuan never betrayed the Crown Prince.
Chu Xinian may not have understood it before, but he does now. In this tumultuous era, having a true friend was fortunate. Even if it meant facing death, they had no regrets.
With the throne at stake, the Crown Prince had never let Xie Jingyuan down.
In times of crisis, Xie Jingyuan never abandoned the Crown Prince.
This was a friendship purer than anything else, something they both held in higher esteem than power.
At this moment, who the antagonist was no longer mattered…
Outside, the sudden rain had stopped, and the first rays of sunshine broke through the clouds, illuminating the sky. Inside the Taiji Hall, there were piles of corpses and rivers of blood, but beyond the conspiracies and intrigues, there was a vast and beautiful land stretching into the distance.
Chu Xinian sighted and reassured the Crown Prince, “You can trust yourself.”
“In these vast mountains and rivers of infinite beauty and endless possibilities, Jingyuan and I will help you protect them.”
An old and intelligent eunuch, who had witnessed everything, held Emperor Yan’s abdication decree with both hands, raised it above his head, and knelt in front of the Crown Prince, bowing repeatedly, “Before His Majesty’s passing, he left a decree, naming the Crown Prince as his successor. I humbly present it to Your Majesty – long live the Emperor!”
Outside the hall, the generals and soldiers, upon hearing the news, all knelt on their knees, and the clinking of their armor resounded as they shouted, “Long live the Emperor!”
A very nice ending for this arc/novel. Thanks for the chapter!
Ugh this was heartbreaking.. I’m happy that the crown prince is finally free and technically(?) has taken his revenge. If I read this ending in a physical book I think I’d be so bedridden by sadness that I wouldn’t be able to get up for school! 😭💖