A nation cannot be without a ruler for a single day.
The next day.
Succession before the spirit tablet, the new emperor ascended the throne.
Ying Jingjue donned the black dragon robe embroidered with golden wandering dragons, wore the imperial crown, and step by step ascended to the supreme throne as civil and military officials knelt in worship.
“Long live His Majesty, long live, long live!”
“Rise.”
Among the prostrate officials, there was one conspicuous gap.
Ying Jingjue looked at the empty rosewood chair at the first position on the right side. His gaze rested on it for an instant, then moved away.
—Lian Shenwei had not come today.
He’d taken sick leave.
Having entered the palace so imposingly yesterday, then falling ill today—who could believe it? Most officials present muttered in their hearts, thinking this was the Regent Prince showing off to the new emperor, requiring the new emperor to personally invite him to attend court.
Ying Jingjue sneered inwardly but showed nothing on his face: “Zhen’s ascension today is entirely due to the Regent Prince’s past guidance. Now that my teacher claims illness, naturally he should rest well.”
“Once court affairs stabilize, Zhen will personally visit to offer condolences.”
Having a minister stay home to “rest well” was not good news. The Left Minister detected hints of power reduction in these words.
At the beginning of the reign, during this busy time, there were numerous important matters to discuss. Just after mentioning the Regent Prince, as the ministers prepared to discuss what came next, the palace gates opened wide and soldiers bearing urgent military tokens galloped forth.
The soldier didn’t even care about proper etiquette and knelt directly: “Report to His Majesty! Border warfare!”
“Ten days ago, Northern Yi suddenly launched a surprise attack beneath Jusha City with fierce offensive, spreading word everywhere of the previous emperor’s passing to disrupt our morale. The second son of the Kashael tribal chief of the Northern Yi royal court, Mofeili, leads troops and has already captured one city!”
Ying Jingjue stood abruptly: “What?!”
Minister of War: “For news of the previous emperor’s passing to reach the frontier should take at least half a month. How could Northern Yi have known so much earlier?! And even prepared in advance?!”
The Left Minister stepped forward: “Your Majesty, it appears Northern Yi’s eyes and ears in the capital have existed all along!”
Ye Mingqin: “Right now the most important thing is to boost morale. Please, Your Majesty, quickly deploy border forces, dispatch a commanding general, and stabilize military morale!”
Ying Jingjue instinctively glanced at that empty rosewood chair, then immediately became aware of the inexplicable dependency remaining in his heart.
His expression grew colder. He abruptly withdrew his gaze, composed himself, and methodically issued orders.
The first matter upon ascending the throne was so fraught with challenge and crisis.
If this matter wasn’t handled well, at best it would fail to establish the new emperor’s authority; at worst it would shake the Great Sheng Dynasty’s newly transferred throne.
But in the Great Sheng Dynasty over the past thirty years, military generals had declined severely. The Old Marquis had an old leg injury and was already elderly. Ningfeng was still in recovery—even if he rushed to the frontier immediately, he couldn’t go to the battlefield right away.
Because of his leg, it might even damage the trust the soldiers had accumulated in him.
In the Great Sheng Dynasty, what other generals had the talent to command?
***
When Lian Shenwei woke, it was already evening.
This wasn’t within Tian Nan’s expected timeframe, because normally when he developed a fever and fell unconscious, he never woke this late.
His heart had been clenched the entire time. Only when he saw Lian Shenwei open his eyes did he finally breathe a long sigh of relief.
“Master, you’re finally awake.”
Perhaps because he’d just woken, Lian Shenwei only saw Tian Nan’s mouth move but couldn’t hear clearly what he said. His ears felt as if submerged in water, and his vision was blurred for a moment.
After a while, it gradually cleared.
He pressed his temples, aching from the hangover, and slowly sat up: “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Tian Nan said. “Is Master hungry?”
Lian Shenwei glanced at the sky outside, his voice slightly hoarse: “What time is it? I remember today is the Crown Prince’s ascension day.”
Tian Nan: “It’s almost evening.”
Then the ascension ceremony had ended.
The Great Sheng Dynasty’s new emperor succession ceremony was traditionally simple and rather special. The previous emperor’s spirit would remain in the palace for one year, receiving offerings from consorts and descendants.
After a year, the new emperor would go to Foquan Temple to divine three auspicious days for the entombment. Once these three auspicious days were obtained, they would be compared with dates calculated by the Bureau of Astronomy to select the most suitable day.
Apart from welcoming the empress and seeing the previous emperor to his tomb, the day the new emperor wore full ceremonial regalia was only the ascension ceremony.
Lian Shenwei had originally wanted to go take a look.
That brat, no matter what, even if he didn’t remember past events, still carried Sister’s blood in his body. Blood relations were always special, impossible to sever.
Unfortunately, he’d missed it.
“Never mind. I don’t have the energy to worry about it now.”
Lian Shenwei told him to leave. He washed up himself, changed clothes, and personally washed the handkerchief, not letting Tian Nan see the extremely faint crimson color dispersing in the water. He casually wrung it dry and set it aside.
Ming Zhu brought up the food that had been kept warm.
All were mild, nourishing foods with very expensive ingredients. The greatest expense of the entire Regent Prince’s manor was in his meals. Thanks to these things sustaining him, his physical foundation wasn’t too depleted.
Lian Shenwei didn’t want to eat.
Having spent so much time with Feng Ke, he understood a bit of basic medicine. Since that time using internal energy, he’d discovered he had some loss of appetite.
Previously he’d forced himself to eat because of Li Ningfeng’s leg injury—he needed to let blood. Now that treatment was over and he didn’t need to let blood anymore, he didn’t have to force himself to eat things he disliked.
“This is thousand-layer pastry?”
Lian Shenwei picked up a piece and sniffed it. “From Liu’s shop, and the first steamer too?” He smiled. “You all had the effort to get up so early to queue?”
Tian Nan: “It was Lord Ye who heard you were ill and went to queue. She delivered them personally early this morning—they were piping hot when delivered. It’s just that you woke late, otherwise they’d smell even more fragrant.”
“Mingqin?”
Lian Shenwei was stunned for a moment, then smiled: “That girl. It’s already autumn—wasn’t she cold?”
His appetite inexplicably improved quite a bit, and he even finished the ginseng congee.
Tian Nan silently took note in his heart, feeling pleased—this food intake was barely normal.
After he finished eating, Ming Zhu came in from outside and handed over a letter. “Master, this arrived from the letter agency. It’s an open letter.”
An open letter meant one that openly stated its destination with no encrypted code.
Lian Shenwei hadn’t received this kind of letter in a long time. He couldn’t help being curious. “Let me see.”
***
Loyal Righteousness Marquis Manor.
Feng Ke administered the final acupuncture treatment to Li Ningfeng. “Treatment is completely finished. The rest is up to your own efforts to recover. Follow the method I gave you, train daily, and in a month you can fully recover.”
“However, the realm you fell from—you’ll need to cultivate and improve again after full recovery. Don’t rush it.”
During Li Ningfeng’s treatment, Feng Ke was usually too lazy for small talk. Only now at the end did he give a few more instructions.
Honestly, during their time together, he’d found this young marquis was actually quite decent. Even when unable to leave bed, he often read military strategy books and sword manuals, deducing in his mind.
He’d written many letters to his master Lian Shenwei, but unfortunately Lian Shenwei was too busy—originally couldn’t see them during the southern tour, then after returning to the capital was occupied with capital matters. In total he hadn’t replied to many letters.
His temperament was unrestrained, but actually quite tolerant toward those he recognized. Despite all Feng Ke’s mockery, difficulty, and sarcasm, this kid hadn’t uttered a single word of dissatisfaction. He didn’t speak a word about the pain during treatment, not making a sound.
Except for when he first learned he couldn’t stand, when his despairing appearance annoyed him, overall he was acceptable.
But this didn’t prevent Feng Ke from disliking him.
Feng Ke clearly distinguished between close and distant, inside and outside. The Feng family all protected their own. Li Ningfeng had used Lian Shenwei’s blood—that reason alone was enough to earn the antipathy of all the Feng family.
Li Ningfeng struggled to get off the bed, arms pressing on the crutch, supporting himself as he bowed: “Thank you, Master Fubiao.”
He hesitated a moment, then said: “I wonder if Master Fubiao has any methods for faster recovery? I don’t mind hardship or pain—I want to get better quickly.”
Feng Ke: “I treated your legs but not your brain, is that it?”
Li Ningfeng: “…That’s not what I meant. Northern Yi customarily invades in autumn. If I recover faster, I can go to the frontier. You also know His Majesty just ascended the throne—delay breeds change.”
“If there really was a method I wouldn’t dare use it on you. Otherwise why do you think your master insisted on using blood…”
Feng Ke suddenly stopped.
…Almost let it slip.
Li Ningfeng heard: “Master insisted on using blood? What does that mean?” He was very sharp. “The blood used in my treatment—you said it was drug person blood. Does it have something to do with Master?”
Feng Ke’s gaze drifted: “Yes, related to your master. Your master… obtained it with great difficulty.”
Li Ningfeng: “From what you’re saying, treating my leg injury—there wasn’t only the drug person blood method?”
“Right, not only. But that other method takes much longer, and if adopted, your martial arts realm would have no possibility of future progress. To put it bluntly, you’d keep your life, everything else depends on luck.”
“Does drug person blood affect Master? Was it very difficult for Master to obtain those things?” Li Ningfeng found it hard to connect such bloody matters with his master.
Through these years of correspondence with his master, in his impression, Master was a free and unrestrained knight like clear wind and bright moon.
Feng Ke: “You’ll have to ask him, don’t ask me.”
Li Ningfeng was silent for a long while, then suddenly knelt down on his crutch and kowtowed once to Feng Ke.
“As a disciple and junior, not having shown filial respect to Master, but instead making Master worry everywhere for me—this is being unfilial and disrespectful. Ningfeng feels deeply ashamed.”
“This kowtow is for Master. You are Master’s friend—please convey my remorse.”
Feng Ke’s movement to dodge froze. He accepted this bow, his expression complex: “Get up. I understand.”
He sighed, shouldered his medicine box, and left as silently as he’d come.
***
Elsewhere, someone reined in their horse before Linfeng City.
One person, one sword, one bundle—Qiu Che lifted his bamboo hat and gazed from the capital outskirts toward the imposing capital city.
Had his close friend lived in this kind of place these years?
He also carried a small cage covered with black cloth. Inside it was silent—who knew what it contained.
Beyond the capital outskirts, maple leaves blazed like fire, forests stained in layers. Horse hooves lightly passed through as Qiu Che slowed his pace.
He’d come to keep the appointment.
**
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1