Chapter 502: Through Thick and Thin

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Yu Youyao had also read the emperor’s edict.

It was filled with talks on his benevolence, righteousness and virtue. He kept silent about major charges while admitting that he had been deceived by the traitors and had wrongly killed a meritorious general, which in turn let the country, dynasty and his ancestors down.

Humans were not saints. This small mistake was already insignificant compared to the merits of his benevolence in the beginning.

Yu Youyao was filled with sarcasm. “How completely worthless, he was just too slow to act!”

Ever since the founding of the dynasty, there had never been a precedent of a King with more than one syllabus in their title. King of Zhouli could be considered to have set a precedent, which was already a great honor.

The emperor even bestowed the Great Zhou Dynasty with the “country title” and allowed King of Zhouli to be crowned with the word “Zhou” as a sign of the emperor’s great kindness. It showed that the “King of Zhouli” had contributed greatly to the country and his achievements would last for thousands of years.

Such an honor was rare in the history books.

After the Qin Emperor Hanwu, only the emperor could have the country title.

The emperor conferred the title of King You on the king side by side, and no ministers in the court objected.

When he was given the title “King of Zhouli”, there were many voices of opposition from the cabinet. However, these voices of opposition did not stop the stubborn emperor.

It was also because of this that the decree was delayed for three days before it was announced to the world.

Yin Huaixi lowered his eyes as he sipped his tea, seemingly unbothered by all this.

Yu Youyao looked at her cousin and couldn’t help but ask, “Everyone in the court is preparing for the funeral. Do you really not have to appear personally?”

Yin Huaixi shook his head. “There’s no need. Three years ago, I set up a cenotaph for my father and buried him with my mother. I think that was the best place for him. I suggested bringing him back to Youzhou because I didn’t want him to enter the imperial mausoleum and be buried in the capital, so that he could rest in peace.”

No matter how casually he said it, she could see through the complexity and sadness in his eyes even if it could be hidden from the rest of the world.

Her cousin had always been brooding over the calamity in King You’s residence back then.

Yu Youyao’s heart ached. “Cousin, King of Zhouli’s funeral ceremonies are all governed by the country’s rules. The emperor, ministers, and commoners will mourn with the entire country. When the mourning is over and the heads of everyone in the Marquis of Changxing fall to the ground, this matter should come to an end. Cousin, you…”

He should stop brooding over it.

She pursed her lips and did not say it out loud.

She clearly wanted to comfort her cousin and persuade him, but every time she spoke, she felt powerless. Everything was in vain.

Zhou Linghuai smiled faintly. “Just as you said, although his life was short, he was successful at a young age. He had a beautiful wife by his side, built a common business, and was a hero for the rest of his life. It can be considered a win-win situation. There’s nothing to feel bad about.”

However, he couldn’t help but feel sad.

His master had once said that he was destined to die and be alone. People who are not of great virtue and fortune cannot stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

He scoffed at this and stubbornly believed that his parents were people of great virtue and fortune in the world.

He did not hesitate to train his troops in secret so that the Northern Territory would be stable and his father would be invincible. He thought that by doing so, his family would be able to live a stable life.

The speculations of the officials and nobles in the North were not wrong.

He had long planned to get rid of them one by one. Once the Di Army, it would be the best time to deal with them.

However, in the end, he still underestimated the unfathomable heart of the ruler and lost to the emperor’s scheme

His father’s death was caused by the old ministers of the Cabinet. Marquis Weining, Marquis Changxing, the officials in the North, and the nobles had only fulfilled the emperor’s wish.

Otherwise, why would he ever have to care about those clowns?

At the thought of this, Yin Huaixi said in a faint voice, “When I was young, my father often mentioned to me about his brotherhood with the current emperor. Many things were repeatedly broken up and told to me in detail. I often scoffed at it, but I was inevitably affected when I heard it often.”

If he had been more scheming, King You’s residence would not have ended up like this.

Everything was predestined.

Even if one could not go against heaven’s, Yin Huaixi would still have to wield his saber and slash through all the evil in this world.

Heaven, earth, gods, and ghosts alike~

Yu Youyao was silent for a moment before saying, “I heard from Grandmother that when the emperor was in seclusion, he indeed had a deep relationship with the King of Zhouli. When the emperor first ascended the throne, he was also diligent in politics. At that time, the court was relatively stable. It was only after he suddenly fell seriously ill that he became obsessed with Dao techniques and did not think about court politics. The emperor did not go to court, think about politics or treat anything diligently. He was blind, deaf, and could not distinguish between right and wrong…”

In other words, the emperor had only become so muddle-headed and immoral later on.

The calamity of King You’s residence was not his cousin’s fault.

Cousin shouldn’t blame himself either.

Yin Huaixi smiled. “I’m already past the age where I would force all the blame on myself.”

On the battlefield, he was ambushed by the Marquis of Changxing and dismounted from his horse. When he woke up, more than a month had passed.

King You’s residence was burned to the ground. His mother, eldest sister, the servants in the house, and the 2,000 elite soldiers were all buried in the sea of fire. Their corpses were all gone.

His father had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, intending to rebel. He had been secretly executed.

At that time, he was extremely indignant.

He believed that it was because he killed the officials and nobles in the North in order to ease the situation there that they could take advantage of the situation and kill his father. That was why King You’s residence was in trouble.

Later, he gradually understood.

If he had not done that back then, once the Di people broke through the narrow Yu Pass, King You’s residence would still be doomed.

Yin Huaixi said indifferently, “It’s just fate!”

This sentence almost made Yu Youyao cry on the spot.

Thinking about how her cousin’s family had been destroyed and how the world would be so vast from now on, Yu Youyao’s heart suddenly ached

“Cousin, the King of Zhouli and the Princess Consort have been benevolent. From now on, I’ll accompany you through thick and thin. I won’t leave you.

How about that?”

She did not know what this promise meant.

However, just because she was unaware did not mean that Zhou Linghuai did not know either.

The wild thoughts that he had suppressed in his heart grew like vines because of this sentence. It wrapped around his heart tightly and suffocated him, almost making him unable to breathe.

Zhou Linghuai was greedy, angry, and infatuated.

For some reason, he thought of what Mr. Xian Yun had said when he came to the Yu Residence to visit him and happened to see the “Bodhisattva” he had drawn—

“Bodhisattva originally did not have a tree, and the mirror was not a platform.

It originally did not have anything, so how could it cause dust!”

“Bodhisattva represents you. You have nothing to begin with, and you’re the only one left.”

“You originally had nothing but yourself, but you have a purpose in your heart.”

“This painting is nothing more than the greed, anger, and obsession in your heart. You should have nothing to live besides the desires of your heart. All living beings have the wisdom and virtue of Tathagata, but they can’t prove it with their delusions.”

“Kid, Buddhism emphasizes that the body is like a tree, and the heart is like a mirror.”

“Kid, you only did the opposite. You hold onto things, thoughts and desires. All for the sake of protecting one person..”

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