Chapter 525
Some newly appointed officials who had never seen much of the world stirred slightly at those words. Fortunately, two senior officials were currently engaged in a “friendly” debate over how to govern the newly conquered territories.
They were practically spitting in each other’s faces, and the officials throughout the hall followed their rhythm, quietly discussing matters among themselves. The unnatural expressions that flashed across some faces did not seem particularly conspicuous.
Emperor Mingxi and the ministers who had weathered countless storms, however, suddenly felt as though they had been transported to another lifetime when they heard Yue Fuguang and the others mention the fallen ruler once more.
The question that had lingered in their hearts for four years was finally about to be answered.
Emperor Mingxi and his assembled officials did not have to wait long. Yue Fuguang promptly provided the name.
“Of course I remember. Wasn’t the fallen ruler of Dayan none other than the Eighth Prince, Xie Zhilian?”
Yue Fuguang wore a nostalgic expression. “I still remember the first time we attended the emperor’s birthday celebration. You pointed at the princes and princesses of the six kingdoms in the hall and asked me to guess who would ascend the throne.”
[Exactly. There were more than a dozen princes and princesses from the six kingdoms combined, yet only that Xie Zhilian eventually became emperor—and he became the ruler who lost his kingdom.]
“I never figured it out. At the time, Dayan’s Crown Prince was dead, the Second and Third Princes were crippled, the Fifth and Sixth Princes were barely clinging to life, and the Seventh Prince was dead as well.”
With every sentence Yue Fuguang spoke, the emperor’s and the princes’ expressions grew grimmer.
“The emperor’s Fourth and Ninth Sons were still alive, and behind them stood Northern Li and Southern Yue. So how did the insignificant Eighth Prince end up ascending the throne?”
Indeed—how had the Eighth Prince ended up ascending the throne?
As the person involved, Xie Zhilian very much wanted to know the answer himself. The moment Yue Fuguang revealed his name, the people around him began looking at him strangely.
Before today, he had never imagined that he would become the ruler who lost his kingdom. How could it possibly be him?
[Because when it came to backing, the Eighth Prince’s supporters were no weaker than those two!]
Eighth Prince: How did I not know my backing was that powerful?
The other princes: Little Eighth, you’ve been hiding your strength! If you’re so capable, why have you been pretending to be innocent?
“There was something like that too? Hurry up and tell me what kind of force stood behind him. If it was so powerful, how did he still manage to destroy Dayan?”
Emperor Mingxi and his officials: Exactly! If you had such powerful backing, how did you still lose the kingdom?
[Master, is it possible that the very purpose of pushing Little Eighth onto the throne was to speed up Dayan’s collapse?]
“Little Eighth’s ascension could accelerate Dayan’s destruction? Is he really that capable?”
The Eighth Prince, utterly despairing: Auntie, if you had this kind of ability, would you want it?
[Master, the force behind Little Eighth was Panshan, an organization devoted to overthrowing dynasties and replacing them with new ones. In their eyes, although Dayan had been founded only a little over a century ago, it was already corrupt and declining. They felt it was time for someone else to take its place.]
“I’ll admit that it was corrupt. After all, among the six kingdoms, it had the most severe land monopolization and the greatest number of powerful aristocratic clans.
“But if you wanted to replace it, then replace it. How did you end up plunging the world into chaos?”
[Is it possible that they accidentally lost control of the situation? Originally, the Xie family’s dynasty was supposed to be replaced by the Sima family. But something went wrong along the way, and the Sima family ended up controlling only half the empire.
“Then that half of the empire kept changing hands. The other kingdoms under their control also descended into internal disorder, and the heirs they had favored failed to ascend the throne.
“While attempting to ‘restore order,’ they managed to get the emperor killed. After that, the entire realm fell into chaos!]
“So most of the blame for the chaos that engulfed the world should fall on Panshan? Isn’t their organization supposed to be deeply entrenched, with influence everywhere, and constantly boasting about how powerful they are?
“And they still managed to lose control? Their abilities and methods aren’t all that impressive, are they?”
[Master, Panshan’s strength lies in the wide distribution of its influence, but that is also the source of its downfall!
“Panshan is like a dynasty in its own right. It is made up of people, and wherever there are people, there will be personal agendas and individual preferences.
“Once those exist, disagreements will follow. And once there are disagreements, there will be struggles.”]
Yue Fuguang nodded. “Take Southern Yue, for example. Two or three factions within Panshan were maneuvering behind the scenes over the throne. On the surface, it looked like the Gan family was fighting among itself, but in reality, it was Panshan’s own people battling one another. When all was said and done, it was nothing more than a struggle for profit.”
[That’s right. At the time, Dayan’s emperor and Crown Prince had both died, while the adult sons who remained were either dead or crippled.
“Several important ministers who were loyal to the emperor had either been forced out of court or met with violent deaths. Most of those left behind were sycophants concerned only with their own advancement.
“During the struggle among Northern Li, Southern Yue, and Panshan, Panshan emerged victorious in choosing the successor. Xie Zhilian, who represented their interests, ascended the throne.
“His mission was to bring the Xie dynasty to an end, become a sinner against the Xie family, and rule as the emperor who lost his kingdom.”]
The hearts of Emperor Mingxi and his officials were shaken to the core. Xie Zhilian’s face, in particular, had gone so pale that not a trace of color remained.
If the Seventh Prince had not still cared enough about their brotherly bond—and if he had not wished to keep Yue Fuguang from noticing that something was wrong—and thus done his utmost, together with the Third Prince, to support him, Xie Zhilian would have collapsed long ago.
The Third Prince, too, stared at his Eighth Brother in bewilderment. The divine artifact had said that the younger brother with whom he was closest would eventually ascend the throne. So it had been Little Eighth all along. Yet their relationship was only ordinary at present. How had they later grown so close?
“Did Xie Zhilian know about his historical ‘mission’? No matter what, he was still a member of the Xie family. How could he destroy the foundation his own family had built?
“Anyone would have to suffer brain damage for ten years straight to do something like that!”
Emperor Mingxi nodded furiously inwardly. Forget ten years—even twenty years of brain damage would not be enough to make someone do such a thing.
If his abilities were lacking and he lost the kingdom because he could not govern it properly, that would be a matter of competence. It would be a fatal flaw, but there would be nothing to say.
But if he had set out from the very beginning with the intention of bringing about the kingdom’s downfall, then the problem lay with his principles!
He narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized his eighth son. The boy was nearly fifteen this year. How had he failed to see earlier that he was a menace?
[By the timeline, in the eighth year of Yuankang, he still didn’t know. At that point, he didn’t even know that he carried Panshan blood.]
“Panshan blood? What does that mean?”
[Master, guess this: among all his brothers, the Eighth Prince was unremarkable in every way. Why was he chosen to inherit the throne?
“Although I said that the original purpose of placing him on the throne was to bring about a change of dynasty, there were people among those who pushed him forward who did not share that intention.”]
“You mean Xie Zhilian was chosen by Panshan for some particular reason, and the people who supported his ascension eventually split into factions?”
[That’s right. The divisions within Panshan were actually even greater than those among the officials in the imperial court. When Xie Zhilian ascended the throne, some wanted him to send Dayan to its grave, while others hoped he could secure his position as emperor and use Dayan’s existing framework to establish a dynasty of their own.]
“That sounds like quite a spectacle!”