Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Mo Yu, the Prince of Louyang, Grand Tutor Bai Ying, and all the ministers and guards immediately turned their heads.

The faces of the Prince of Xiang and Eunuch Lin instantly changed, and even Cao Yunping showed an expression of surprise and bewilderment.

No one noticed that a delicate little eunuch on the second platform also looked over.

The Prince of Louyang lowered his arms in a daze.

That smear of bright yellow was fully revealed.

Emperor Yuren of the Great Zhou.

"Your Majesty!"

Several people shouted.

Yuren calmly regarded Eunuch Lin below.

Eunuch Lin suddenly felt a little hot, not in his body, but on his face. Why?

"It was We who decreed for the eunuchs and maids to hide, not your adopted son."

Yuren's expression was gentle and calm, and his pronunciation continued to improve. "Blades and spears have no eyes, and the great matters of state have nothing to do with them. What need is there for them to be injured or die for this cause?"

Eunuch Lin was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "Your Majesty is truly a benevolent sovereign."

Yuren replied, "Teacher and you both wanted me to be a benevolent sovereign, but if We were to abdicate because rebels and traitors threatened the lives of common people, We would not be a benevolent sovereign, but an incapable one."

His words grew smoother and smoother until they were no different from an ordinary person's. It was just that his voice was a little hoarse.

No one noticed what he and Eunuch Lin were saying, because everyone was still stunned at the fact that he could speak.

His Majesty was not mute, could actually speak? Then why didn't he speak normally? Not even Eunuch Lin, who had served at his side for ten-some years, knew that he could speak.

Perhaps one could say that this was some hidden card, but what use was there in keeping it secret?

Seeing the several dozen stunned gazes, Yuren knew what everyone was thinking. He had originally planned to not answer, but after thinking about it, he decided to explain.

"I do not know how to lie, so when I left the capital as a child, Master instructed me to not speak. Later on, I got used to not speaking.

"In Xining Village, there were times when I did not need to even gesture to Master or Junior Brother. A glance was all that was needed to communicate, so there was no need to speak.

"Later on in the capital, while I was emperor, the most I did every day was read memorials, so it was fine if I just wrote with the brush. There was also no need to speak.

"Even during the court sessions, I realized that it was best to listen and not speak, because this saved time and left things peaceful.

"Since there was no need to speak, why should I have to speak?"

……

……

If there was no need, there was naturally no reason to do it.

No one would decide to run a dozen times around the continent without good reason, passing through the plains, mountains, and the four seasons countless times, not unless their wife had quietly left in the middle of the night.

The Prince of Xiang said, "So it turns out that Your Majesty was playing dumb."

Yuren replied, "Yes, I read the records regarding Emperor Taizong as well as the records of the wise sovereigns from other dynasties, and I realized that they were all skilled in playing dumb."

The Prince of Xiang fell into deep thought, and then he shook his head. "Your Majesty is truly extraordinary. It is fortunate that you only hid the fact that you could speak."

Yuren wanted to say something, but he was too late. After all, this was the first time in many years that he had spoken, so his reaction was inevitably somewhat slow.

"In the future, I will also learn how to play dumb."

The Prince of Xiang added, "But please write the decree of abdication first. This matter does not require speaking, only writing. Your Majesty should be very practiced."

Yuren did not speak, only shook his head.

The Prince of Xiang sighed and said, "Then please forgive me."

At this moment, the small eunuch standing behind the golden railing on the second floor suddenly walked out and took off her hat.

She looked at the Prince of Xiang and asked, "Your Highness, are you sure that you want to do this?"

The tumbling black hair and her moving beauty caused many of the old ministers to quickly recognize who this girl was.

"Your Highness! Princess!"

The crowd wondered in shock, does Luoluo's sudden appearance in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace represent the stance of the demi-humans?

But then what was going on with the North-Pacifying Army assisting the rebel army in surrounding the Imperial Palace?

The Prince of Xiang gazed blankly at Luoluo, and then he smiled and shook his head.

Cao Yunping also smiled and said with a gentle expression, "Princess, stop playing around."

This sort of attitude that one saw when elders were speaking to their juniors should not have appeared at a time like this.

Luoluo raised her brow and said, "Before I entered the palace, I already persuaded the North-Pacifying Army. Xuanyuan Po is at the Orthodox Academy right now precisely so he can stop all of you."

Cao Yunping faintly smiled. "If the venerable Daoist and Chen Changsheng led the army back south, you and Xuanyuan Po would be troops waiting in ambush, because the White Emperor would appear and defeat me and His Highness, becoming the savior of the Great Zhou. Since the venerable Daoist did not return, it means that he has given up on His Majesty, and the White Emperor will not appear, so anything you do will be meaningless."

Luoluo understood what he meant and her small face paled.

Everything was in the White Emperor's palm. Otherwise, how could she have been able to easily escape White Emperor City, and how could Xuanyuan Po have remained concealed in the North-Pacifying Army for so long?

The Prince of Xiang and Cao Yunping were completely unaware of her and Xuanyuan Po's existence.

But she and Xuanyuan Po were chess pieces, actors that followed the White Emperor's will, constantly changing roles.

Since the White Emperor had still not appeared, it meant that he had decided to comply with the agreement he had made with the Prince of Xiang.

This also meant that, just like Cao Yunping said, everything that Luoluo and Xuanyuan Po did was meaningless.

Luoluo suddenly recalled that matter from ten years ago.

Mu Jiushi had been killed at sea.

Luoluo had always believed that Shang Xingzhou had arranged this, but now it seemed like her father had been involved.

The moment she found out about the agreement between the White Emperor and the Prince of Xiang, she informed Chen Changsheng as quickly as possible and then traveled day and night over the eighty thousand li to the capital to offer her aid.

It had already been many days since she had had any rest. The sudden realization of the uninteresting truth caused all her fatigue to well up and her body to sway.

A hand rested on her shoulder, supporting her.

It was a wide and firm hand. Even through her clothes, she could feel its warmth.

Luoluo came to her senses and retreated to the side.

She had no idea why she did this. Perhaps her teacher had ordered her to do this, but she had forgotten.

Mo Yu, the Prince of Louyang, Grand Tutor Bai Ying, and all the ministers and guards did the same.

The crowd parted like a tide and Yuren walked out.

His speed was very slow, because the entire world knew that he was lame in one leg.

But no matter how slowly one walked, as long as one was willing to walk, one would eventually reach the other shore.

This was the case whether it was the stream of Xining Village, the river of wisdom, or the rivers and seas painted on the golden bricks on the ground.

Yuren walked up to the Prince of Xiang and stopped.

This was the first time the Prince of Xiang had seen him from so close.

The blind eye, the half-missing earlobe, the shoulder that leaned slightly to the left—these features gradually began to fade from his sight.

All that was left was that clean face.

A hint of confusion appeared in the Prince of Xiang's eyes, then suspicion, then shock, and finally amusement.

He slapped his palm at Yuren's head.

This palm was so soft that there seemed to be no bones within. It burned with the flames of an invisible sun, contained a monstrous Qi.

The guards came to their senses and shouted in surprise. They heedlessly charged, hoping to take this blow for the emperor.

Suddenly, a powerful wave of Qi, almost like an actual wave of water, swept the guards onto the steps.

The golden railings shattered and dust rose.

……

……

According to the after-action report, very few people saw what actually happened next.

The light was so strong that one needed to immediately close one's eyes to not go blind.

Even people of extremely high cultivation level like Mo Yu and Luoluo could only see a blurry picture.

A bright curtain of light appeared in the center of the hall. Compared to this light, the Night Pearls were like the embers of burned weeds.

Two figures could faintly be seen in this curtain of light. One of them was a little fat, making them the Prince of Xiang, and the other was naturally Yuren.

Two palms met in the air.

The curtain of light sprung from where their palms met.

A sun shone there.

……

……

The dark clouds in the sky were completely driven away.

The stars had just barely begun to emerge before they were drowned out.

Countless rays of light shot out of the Imperial City and into the sky.

The capital was returned to daytime.

The people observing the monoliths in the Mausoleum of Books turned their heads in shock while the squirrels in the dark forests awoke from their slumber and began to jump about.

In the Li Palace, the vigilant Orthodoxy cavalry began to flip open the visors of their helmets and look toward the night sky.

Everyone saw a sun.

The Prince of Zhongshan was organizing a group of cavalry on the Road of Peace, preparing to charge into the Imperial Palace to protect the emperor.

The sky suddenly brightened and he raised his head, upon which he found himself incapable of looking away.

He squinted his eyes and stared for a very long time until that sun gradually faded away.

"Ah, such a beautiful sun…"

The Prince of Zhongshan was overcome with emotion. He waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to cancel the attack on the palace.

He got off his horse, took a bath, and then had the kitchen make a bowl of zhajiangmian. After adding half a spoon of garlic, he began to heartily dig in.

Upon seeing this sight, the beautiful concubine couldn't help but think the same as the strategist who had died in the daytime: are these noodles that tasty?

Of course, she was much smarter than that strategist. By the time the words had left her mouth, they had become, "We're not saving His Majesty?"

The Prince of Zhongshan mumbled out a few words as he ate.

The concubine heard the first sentence from the prince as 'His Majesty doesn't need us to save him and we're all idiots.'

After some serious thought, she confirmed that the second sentence was 'It will be a bright and sunny day tomorrow.'

……

……

"Many years ago, truly many years ago, before Imperial Father's eyes began to have problems, you know, oh, you don't know, there was a study over there. It was in that study that I first heard the secrets of that style. At the time, I felt like this style was incredibly formidable. The sun was so hot, so bright, so how could it be put in my body?"

The Prince of Xiang continued, "Imperial Father said that I was wrong. That sun would only become a true sun once it left our bodies. I thought to myself, that's also very formidable! In order to see that sun, I incessantly cultivated, but even after I became the strongest member of the Imperial clan, I still didn't see it. Even after I crossed that threshold ten years ago, I still didn't see that sun, so over the last few years, I often thought to myself, was Imperial Father teasing me back then?"

Yuren replied, "No."

The Prince of Xiang silently regarded him for a while. "Yes, it was only today that I finally knew that it was true, that Imperial Father had not tricked me."

Yuren was quiet for a while, then he said, "I also only found out today."

The Prince of Xiang said, "Such a powerful Blazing Sun Style—not even Emperor Taizong could have been better, no?"

Yuren answered, "I do not know."

The Prince of Xiang sighed, "Your Majesty is crippled in body but whole in spirit, truly the light of the Daoist faith, the light of the Chen clan."

This was the sincerest praise.

But he was still a little confused.

"But why did Your Majesty have to conceal your cultivation?"

The Prince of Xiang bitterly said, "If we had known this, how could we have ever thought about rebellion?"

Yuren apologetically said, "No one ever asked me… and I also never had an opportunity to use it."

The Prince of Xiang was a little stunned by these words, and then he couldn't help but smile.

It was still the same principle.

Yuren could speak, but he did not speak.

He could create a sun in the night sky of the capital, but he did not.

Because he did not want to, and there was no need.

This was what it meant to follow one's heart.

"Your Majesty is truly the son of Imperial Father and Mother."

The Prince of Xiang was finally at ease, but he still felt a little regret.

"Why couldn't I be Imperial Mother's son?"

Upon saying this, his body dispersed into countless rays of light, shattering into the finest crystals to be swept away in the night wind.