Xi Yan closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Outside the hall, the wind swept past, setting the bronze bells beneath the eaves tinkling in a delicate burst of sound.
They were wind chimes unique to the Xiqiang royal palace. It was said that the Huajiang tribe’s ancestors had passed down the craft, and that every peal of the bells represented the gods’ protection. But at this moment, the sound seemed especially hollow.
“Summon Feng Yuan,” Xi Yan finally said, his aged voice seeming to drift from somewhere far away. “And summon all the tribal lords as well—especially Huajiang. At tomorrow morning’s court, anyone who fails to appear need not come again.”
Zhao Chongli accepted the order and withdrew. When he reached the hall doors, he heard their emperor’s voice sound once more behind him, soft as a mutter to himself.
“Minister Zhao, do you think the appearance of that Goddess Yue at this particular moment is suspicious?”
Zhao Chongli stopped but did not turn around.
“Your Majesty, Goddess Yue… whether we want to acknowledge it or not, she is the goddess of Dayan. Her origins can be verified.”
Xiqiang gave no reply. Once again, he thought of the fragmented dreams he had been having after getting drunk these past days. Yet none of them contained Yue Fuguang.
A great drought had ravaged the world for three years, killing countless people. Like Dayan and Beili, Xiqiang had been severely weakened by the prolonged disaster.
But thanks to the arrangements he had made in advance, he had successfully joined forces with several kingdoms to drain Dayan, which possessed the best land in the Central Plains, and use it to replenish their own countries.
He clearly remembered succeeding. They had spent several years wearing Xie Fei down before dividing Dayan’s territory among themselves. In the years that followed…
Xi Yan collapsed heavily back onto the bed. He stared blankly at the canopy, murmuring, “Yue Fuguang! Yue Fuguang! It shouldn’t have turned out like this. There shouldn’t have been…”
By the time Zhao Chongli left the palace, dusk had already fallen. There were few pedestrians on the streets. Occasionally, a few carriages hurried past, loaded with household belongings and heading out of the city.
The wealthy families in the city had already begun fleeing in secret, taking their gold, silver, and valuables to hide at the foot of the snow mountains to the west. Ordinary citizens had no way to escape. All they could do was burn incense at home and pray for their Goddess Yue to protect them.
He had even heard that some commoners were secretly hoping Dayan would conquer Xiqiang as soon as possible.
Zhao Chongli watched the departing carriages. This was their last chance. Once tomorrow passed, the city would probably be sealed off.
“System, what do you mean? What does it mean that Xi Yan has begun awakening memories of his previous life?”
[Host, I’m not entirely sure either. I only detected abnormal fluctuations in Jincheng, the capital of Xiqiang.] The system felt a pang of pain whenever it spoke of this.
[I spent quite a bit of energy conducting a careful scan and discovered that the problem originated with Xi Yan. Through his dreams, he has been recalling fragments of the history we know.]
Yue Fuguang rubbed the fluffy little creature in her hands. “The two countries are so vastly different in strength now. So what if he remembers? It shouldn’t have much impact on the overall situation.”
Yue Fuguang was brimming with confidence. With the unification of the world down to its final push, Xi Yan was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot before Dayan’s advance. As far as the grand scheme was concerned, he could not cause much trouble.
[Host, have you forgotten? I told you that after Dayan fell, the other kingdoms benefited at first, but they later declined one after another, leading to those three hundred years of chaos.]
Otherwise, the destruction of a single Dayan would never have plunged the world into such a dark age.
The previous hosts had not initially chosen Dayan, the first kingdom destined to fall. They had failed, while her host was on the verge of succeeding.
Whether the problem lay in their choices or their methods was anyone’s guess.
“So?” Yue Fuguang finally became a little more serious, though she still did not take her hands off Caramel and Milk Tea.
After being constantly fed by her, the two black-and-white fluffballs had become just as clever as Taxue and Wuhen, who perched in the peach tree at Mingyue Pavilion.
Still, they were often tricked by the three foxes. If not for their larger size and overwhelming physical strength, they probably would have been led straight into a ditch by those three.
With her current identity, everyone around her was a “good person,” leaving her no opportunity to witness palace intrigues or household dramas.
Yet these past few days, the animals around her had been putting on a domestic power struggle every day. Once the little creatures started competing for attention, no one else had anything to do.
The system glanced at the way its host stroked the black-and-white fluffballs—one pat at a time, nearly rubbing them bald—and desperately wanted to say that it really was unnecessary. Even if Dayan unified the entire world tomorrow, they would not be leaving this realm anytime soon.
They were a proper system, after all, complete with after-sales service!
[So, Xi Yan has recalled the events of the past. Xi Yan, whose paranoia has only worsened with age, still possesses some influence in Xiqiang. And though he is old, his methods remain ruthless.
Host, guess what he’ll do next?]
The system was asking her to guess again. It had been playing this guessing game since the very first chapter and still wasn’t tired of it.
Yue Fuguang rolled her eyes. “Could he really slaughter the people who would later destroy the Western family’s dynasty, even with a great war about to begin?”
Yue Fuguang had read the complete history of the Six Kingdoms. Xiqiang was a dynasty composed of numerous tribes, and more than half of those who held the greatest power came from noble families.
The strongest tribes were the Xiqiang tribe under Xi Yan’s control, followed by Huajiang and Qingqiang.
The collapse of Xiqiang would owe much to those two tribes and the various nobles.
[Why not? If he can’t kill off Dayan, can’t he send those people to their graves first?]
They were all going to die anyway. With Xi Yan growing increasingly deranged, he was perfectly capable of taking revenge and settling old scores.
[Besides, I wouldn’t mind wasting a little energy to physically liberate those nobles who devour human flesh and drink human blood, all without getting my own hands dirty.]
“Didn’t you say he only dreams of his past life after getting drunk? Who would believe things they saw in a dream, let alone act on them and sabotage their own people at such a crucial moment?”
Xi Yan was merely old, not insane.
[Where there’s a will, there’s a way.]
Wasn’t this simply a matter of adding a little fuel to the fire? The system was an expert at that. If it could eliminate all those bloodsucking nobles without dirtying its own hands, it did not mind spending a little energy.
Xi Yuanshan was certain his father had gone mad. These past few days, Xi Yan would often ask who he was, and even say such chilling things as that he should never have existed.
If the two of them had not looked three or four parts alike, Xi Yuanshan would have suspected that his father might depose him.
“My lord, are you truly planning to sit here and wait for death?” Xi Yuanshan no longer knew how many times Xie Zhiyao had questioned him about this in recent days.
