Chapter 264: A Brand-New Betrothal (2)

The Second Prince remained standing where he was. Even after the three visitors had disappeared from sight, he did not move.

His personal eunuch cautiously spoke up beside him. “Your Highness, this Xu Changtian truly has no respect for the imperial—”

The Second Prince glanced sideways at his attendant.

The eunuch immediately shut his mouth.

Li Zhaoyuan raised a hand and touched his cheek. “Xu Changtian has changed.”

His attendant asked carefully, “You mean…”

Li Zhaoyuan lowered his hand with a smile. “He only struck one side. It’s terribly uneven. Next time, I suppose I’ll have to let him slap the other cheek as well. Heh…”

With that, the Second Prince cast a meaningful glance toward the path behind him, then turned and walked away without looking back.

??

Xu Yinhe, Xu Yuan, and Eunuch Nie climbed the stairs all the way to the Tranquil Heart Pavilion.

At the entrance to the top floor, Eunuch Nie bowed and gestured inside. “His Majesty is waiting for you within. This servant will not accompany you any farther.”

Xu Yinhe said nothing and simply walked forward.

“Thank you for the trouble, Eunuch Nie.” Xu Yuan answered, smiling cheerfully. “Next time, I’ll come find you and ask more about those shared-meal arrangements.”

Eunuch Nie had nothing to say.

The sunlight was pleasant, and a faint breeze stirred the air. From the summit of Tranquil Heart Pavilion, one could overlook the entirety of the Imperial Capital.

The moment Xu Yuan stepped inside, his gaze settled on an elderly man draped in imperial robes.

His face was aged, but he still looked hale and vigorous. There was nothing about him that suggested he was at death’s door.

The wind at the mountaintop billowed the curtains, carrying the curling fragrance of incense throughout the room.

The old man sat behind a low table. Several dishes had already been laid out before him, while two meditation cushions rested on the opposite side, clearly prepared for Xu Yinhe and Xu Yuan.

Xu Yinhe walked straight over. He offered no salute, much less knelt. He simply sat down on the cushion to the left.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan assumed he did not need to salute either. Following his father’s example, he walked over and sat down as well.

The moment he did, however, the old man opposite him gave him a peculiar look.

Xu Yinhe also glanced sideways at him.

Xu Yuan looked back in confusion.

Xu Yinhe exhaled. “Changtian. Pay your respects.”

Embarrassment crossed Xu Yuan’s face. Just as he was about to stand again, the old man opposite him chuckled.

“That’s enough. You’re already sitting, so there’s no need to fuss over formalities. Have you two eaten?”

“Not yet,” Xu Yinhe replied.

The old man glanced toward the doorway. “Attendant, bring in the food.”

Xu Yinhe studied the old man’s complexion. “You look somewhat better this time.”

The elderly emperor glanced at Xu Yuan. “I could hardly frighten the younger generation.”

Xu Yinhe neither agreed nor disagreed. “Then you should have made yourself look younger.”

The Emperor picked up his chopsticks and reached for a dish. “If you doubt my injuries, I can let you take my pulse yourself.”

Xu Yinhe’s eyes sharpened.

Seeing this, the Emperor hurriedly waved his hand. “Hold on, hold on, Sage Xu. Don’t tell me you actually intend to take my pulse?”

A trace of amusement entered Xu Yinhe’s eyes. “You know I won’t.”

Xu Yuan inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking the Emperor’s pulse would settle everything. If his injuries were manageable, then there would be no problem. But if he truly had little time left, all pretenses between the two sides would be torn away on the spot.

Both men knew that.

The elderly emperor rolled his eyes at Xu Yinhe and sighed. “You were like this even when we were young. No one could ever tell what you were thinking.”

Xu Yinhe and Li Yaoxuan continued exchanging idle remarks, chatting like a pair of old friends discussing nothing of consequence.

Xu Yuan could not find any opening to join them. He could only sit to the side, drinking tea in boredom while his thoughts wandered elsewhere.

Ever since Xu Yinhe’s warning, he had been trying to puzzle out the coming struggle for the throne. Unfortunately, his memories from his previous life were of little use.

In Azure Point, the death of the current Emperor Jiajing had been mentioned only in passing.

At that point in the game, players were still stuck in forgotten corners of the world, matching wits with minor characters and struggling through petty conflicts. They had no chance whatsoever of entering a contest this close to the heart of imperial power.

Each time, players only learned the news well after the fact, either from some random NPC or from proclamations posted on city gates.

The Emperor was dead.

The Chancellor had seized absolute power.

Across the many possible timelines, three different people had inherited the throne.

One was the Crown Prince. Another was the Second Prince. The third was a five-year-old child.

Setting the last one aside for now, the first two were precisely the princes with the best chance of winning the current struggle for succession in the Imperial Capital.

As a player, Xu Yuan had never given much thought to the differences between those timelines. The second emperor, whoever he happened to be, was completely overshadowed by the Chancellor’s presence.

But now that he examined those differences more carefully, the implications sent a chill down his spine.

The scattered fragments of information from his previous life offered him little help, but they were enough for him to make a rough guess.

There was only one possible explanation for why the imperial clan had become so insignificant.

Xu Yinhe had purged its power. In other words, there was a very good chance that the Emperor before him had been killed by his father’s own hand in the game’s original story.

And if he followed that thought further, the almost plot-mandated collapse of the Chancellor's Manor late in Azure Point might also have been partly orchestrated by the imperial clan.

At that thought, Xu Yuan instinctively glanced at the graying middle-aged man beside him. Yet judging by the attitude his father had shown so far, Xu Yinhe would never move against the imperial clan unless he had absolutely no other choice.

There had to be some crucial event that forced his hand.

“Changtian…”

One possibility after another surfaced in Xu Yuan’s mind, only to be discarded in turn. Eventually, he gave up.

“Changtian.”

There simply was not enough information to reach a conclusion. He would have to take things one step at a time.

“Changtian!”

“Huh?” Xu Yuan snapped back to reality and found both of the great figures staring at him.

Realizing that the conversation had turned to him, he smiled awkwardly. “I was thinking about something just now.”

Xu Yinhe repeated himself. “His Majesty asked whether you can cultivate now.”

Xu Yuan instinctively looked at the elderly man across from him.

Li Yaoxuan did not take offense at having been ignored. Instead, he gave Xu Yuan a faint smile, looking every bit like a kindly elder. “I am curious. How did you suddenly go from being born with a crippled physique to possessing an Innate Dao Physique?”

Xu Yuan answered without the slightest hesitation. “Gu Yuan kidnapped me. Ran Qingmo rescued me, and we fled together. Along the way, I happened to obtain a medicinal pill. After I swallowed it, I became like this.”

“Do you have the pill formula?” Li Yaoxuan asked.

Xu Yuan glanced at Xu Yinhe.

Xu Yinhe’s voice remained calm. “If you have it, give it to His Majesty. He naturally will not treat you unfairly.”

Xu Yuan froze for a moment, then immediately understood. His father was searching for a way to extend the Emperor’s life.

Only while the Emperor remained alive could the alliance between the Chancellor's Manor and the imperial clan continue.

Unfortunately, the Blood Origin Heartfall Art contained no recipe for the Soul Scattering Calamity Pill.

“I don’t,” Xu Yuan replied.

A trace of disappointment seemed to pass through Li Yaoxuan’s eyes, but he quickly smiled and said, “If you don’t have it, then forget it. Let us discuss your marriage instead.”

At those words, Xu Yuan straightened slightly. “Please speak, Your Majesty. I’m listening.”

A trace of helplessness crossed Li Yaoxuan’s aged face. He came straight to the point. “That girl Mu Zhiyun threatened to kill herself rather than marry you.”

Xu Yuan’s heart sank. Damn. Broken off before it even started.

After a brief pause, Li Yaoxuan smiled faintly. “However, your father and I have just discussed the matter through voice transmission. We can arrange another marriage for you. Go to Calmview Lake and meet her. She is waiting for you there. Should you find her agreeable, the engagement can be settled today.”

Xu Yuan’s expression turned strange. He cupped his hands. “Your Majesty… it isn’t Li Junwu, is it?”

Li Yaoxuan was momentarily speechless. An odd smile appeared in his aged yet spirited eyes. “You will know once you get there.”

??

Led by Eunuch Nie, Xu Yuan crossed a lush forest atop the mountain and soon came upon a lake.

After parting with the eunuch, he continued inside alone.

His gaze quickly settled upon a woman standing by the shore. She wore plain white robes. Her long, straight black hair fell to her waist, tied near the ends. Tall and slender, she stood silently at the water’s edge, gazing out at the scenery.

It’s not Li Junwu… Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Brothers for life was one thing. Sharing a quilt was quite another.

He slowly approached, searching his memories for the owner of that silhouette. Unfortunately, no one came to mind.

Stopping beside her, Xu Yuan clasped his hands behind his back. He discreetly glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noticed that she was rather flat-chested, and felt a faint pang of disappointment.

The lake breeze stirred his tied-back hair. Xu Yuan spoke in a leisurely tone. “The wind is rather loud today—”

“You are quite handsome.” The woman interrupted his rambling. Her voice was faintly husky. “Our children should not be ugly.”

Xu Yuan fell silent. Are women these days all so direct?

Drawing a deep breath, he slowly turned his head and found himself meeting a pair of sharp, phoenix-shaped eyes.

The instant he saw her breathtaking face, Xu Yuan felt that she looked familiar.

The white-robed woman had already turned her gaze back toward the lake. “You seem to recognize this princess?”

A quiet air of heroism lay hidden between her willow-shaped brows. Her delicate nose tilted slightly upward, while two loose strands of hair danced against her cheeks in the breeze, adding a touch of alluring charm.

Clad entirely in snowy white, she stood amid the gentle lake wind as though wrapped in a veil of mist. She seemed both real and illusory, flawless in her beauty, like an immortal untouched by the mortal world.

Xu Yuan drew a deep breath. “I thought you were fighting a war on the northern frontier?”