Chapter 663: In the Palm

Chapter 663: Chapter 663: In the Palm

December 19th. Imperial City, Fuan Palace.

The Imperial Physicians no longer dared to prescribe medicine for the Emperor. The potency of the medicine inside was now too fierce, and its toxicity outweighed its efficacy; to call such a concoction poison would not be an exaggeration.

Prescribing poison for the Emperor? The Imperial Physicians would never have the guts for that.

But while the Imperial Physicians dared not, there was always someone who would. For example, Yang Xiusheng.

Based on the previous prescriptions from the Imperial Physicians, Yang Xiusheng made some improvements, then increased the potency according to the Emperor’s current condition. The purpose was to force out what energy the Emperor had left, so he could avoid being bedridden or falling into confusion before death.

Of course, this came at the cost of shortening his life. Where once there might have been three to five years remaining, now being able to last a year would be considered a stroke of luck.

"Uncle, don’t be sad. This is fate, as it has been for our Royal Family through every generation. Rather than dying tormented on a sickbed, isn’t it better to stay clear-headed and finish what needs to be done? At least Father did not choose me in vain."

The decoction was prepared by Yang Xiusheng himself. He was also in charge of brewing it, and even delivered it to the Emperor with his own hands. The complexity of his feelings was beyond the understanding of outsiders.

"I know." Yang Xiusheng said little, standing by as he watched the Emperor drink the medicine, and then, with his own hands, burned the leftover dregs to ash with a torch.

After finishing the medicine, the Emperor returned to soak in the Warm Soup behind the side hall.

"Uncle, what is it about this Warm Soup that’s so special? Why can it ease the pain caused by the Heart Devouring Curse?" The Emperor reclined on a cushion, feeling the agony in his body slowly ebb away in the Warm Soup. Although the effect was not as strong as before, it was still far better than sitting outside the water.

The Royal Family had enlisted Golden Sword Cultivators to study the mysteries of this pool in Fuan Palace ages ago, but there had never been any progress.

"I don’t know. Whether beneath the pool or in the water itself, nothing unusual has ever been found. To get real answers, you’d probably have to dig it all up—maybe then the mystery would be revealed."

"Forget it. That suggestion has been heard by every Emperor for generations. Who would dare agree to dig up the pool? What if, after it’s dug up, the water loses its effect? That would be intolerable." Yang Jian shook his head; he, for one, would never take such a risk. The Emperors after the Yang Family all rely on this pool to alleviate the agony of the curse.

Yang Xiusheng shook his head—this was precisely the crux of the matter. Each Emperor of the Yang Family inherits a cruel curse along with the throne: it cannot be lifted, cannot be removed, cannot be treated—one can only grit their teeth and endure it, receiving the supreme authority of the world at the cost of lifelong suffering, until death.

The only means to ease the pain of the curse is this Warm Soup, fortuitously discovered by the ancestors of the Yang Family long ago—after which the capital was relocated and Fuan Palace was built here.

Everyone thinks that the Emperors of the Yang Family simply enjoy soaking in Warm Soup, as every Emperor spends most of their time in Fuan Palace. Thus, Fuan Palace has always been considered the Emperor’s haven, enjoying a special status.

Generation after generation, nearly every Emperor has wanted to uncover why this Warm Soup can alleviate the curse’s pain, yet the same concerns persist: if the pool is dug up, the water might leak out, or something might be damaged, causing its miraculous effects to vanish. That would be a calamity for subsequent Emperors—a disaster passed to posterity that no one dares to risk.

Yet the Emperor was at least philosophical about it—regarding this matter, he was able to let it go. After enduring the agony of the curse for most of his life, he cared little if the suffering stretched just a few more days as death approached. As for subsequent generations, let them make their own choices and considerations.

"Let it be; leave it for the descendants to worry about. Perhaps they’ll come up with something different."

Hearing the emotion in the Emperor’s words, Yang Xiusheng smiled and asked, "Oh? Have the young ones been up to something? Has something even you did not expect occurred?"

Yang Xiusheng had never concerned himself with state affairs; even if the Emperor tried to speak of them, he sometimes chose not to listen. But Yang Xiusheng never avoided matters concerning the Royal Family. As head of the Golden Sword Cultivators, keystone of the Jingjiu Dynasty and backbone of the Yang Family, he had to fully understand everything about the great "Major Examination" within the Royal Family—a process crucial until the Emperor’s death and the New Emperor’s enthronement, at which point he could step back and return to pursue quiet cultivation at Fenghong Manor.

The Emperor hid nothing from Yang Xiusheng. Now, Yang Xiusheng was the only person in the world the Emperor truly trusted.

"Do you still remember my youngest son?"

"The Seventh Prince? Shu?"

"Yes, that boy Yang Shu. He is the youngest, and was the last to leave the palace and establish his own household. When he was in the palace, he was like a lump of dough—seemingly useless. But after leaving to found his own estate, his nature changed completely: he mingled with the common people and was saturated with the air of merchants. I never liked him for it—couldn’t stand him, in fact. But this time, he’s given me a true surprise."

In fact, an unexpected delight."

Yang Xiusheng was truly curious what could make the Emperor speak in such a tone. So he asked, "So Prince Ling Shu has been hiding some remarkable talent?"

"No, his cards have always been on display for everyone to see, yet everyone ignored them. Or perhaps all of us, myself included, assumed he simply held a losing hand. That’s why I entrusted him with the entire nation’s finances, hoping he could use that power to quickly catch up with his brothers and at least not be entirely defenseless."

But I soon realized I was wrong. Yang Shu is by no means the weakest—not nearly as frail as I thought. The vast commercial network he controls is already able to use the lower rungs of society to threaten those at the top."

Yang Xiusheng was a Prince himself before becoming a Golden Sword Cultivator at Fenghong Manor, but he had never truly experienced life among the commoners. It was only natural that he couldn’t understand how a Prince dismissed as a good-for-nothing among merchants and petty Nobles could possess anything with which to use the lower classes to threaten the upper ones.

"Heh, at first I didn’t understand either, but later, when I thought it over, everything became clear. The reason? Just one word: ’money’!"

"Money? What do you mean?"

"There’s a war in the south. Although it’s up to our Generals’ strategies, in the end, it comes down to national strength. And what is national strength? Is it not the people and silver coins?"

Heh, that boy has taken a path all of us overlooked—from the bottom up, harnessing the power of merchants and the new Nobles whom those at the top scorn and ignore. Like a shadow beneath a lamp, while all of us are fixated on the old, established great powers and Gated Clans, he quietly amassed for himself a considerable fortune."

Did you know that not long ago, Yang Shu used his merchant influence to utterly ruin the businesses owned by Left Minister Ye Lansheng and Minister of Justice Ma Xuanlin?"

"Ruin them? He... how could he possibly have the nerve to move directly against those two?" Yang Xiusheng was indeed shocked by this.

"No, no—he didn’t act directly. Instead, he used tactics from within the merchant world to crush their enterprises, and even made them end up owing him a large debt."

"Why would Prince Ling do such a thing?"