Peace Order
Chapter 341 - 150: Chen Yuyun, Dead! _2

Chapter 341: Chapter 150: Chen Yuyun, Dead! _2

"I will specially decree her to be a Commandery Princess."

"By then, once you become a Founding County Knight and establish more military merits, you will be able to marry her. Won’t that be a match of equals, both childhood sweethearts?"

Chen Yuyun was overjoyed.

Emperor Chen smiled encouragingly, "Yu Yun, tomorrow your father looks forward to seeing your performance."

"It’s getting late and there’s rain. There’s a banquet today; I regret not being able to go with you."

"When the day comes that we acknowledge each other, your father will make it up to you amply."

It was raining outside. The Ritual Eunuch held an umbrella as he accompanied Emperor Chen away, getting into the carriage. When the carriage began to run, the horse’s hooves treaded air, as it was actually flying. If it were not for the fear of alarming the citizens and exposing the Emperor’s departure from the palace, the carriage could have flown through the air.

Such a treasure was rare in the world.

It was among the most treasured of carriages and Exotic Beasts.

Its value was no less than that of a city.

But Emperor Chen had obtained it nonetheless.

As the carriage started moving, Emperor Chen calmly watched the rain falling on Jiangzhou City. The Ritual Eunuch attended to him at his side. The Emperor suddenly laughed, "Do you think I am too cruel to that child?"

"To put all these burdens upon his shoulders, yet beside help in martial arts, I give him nothing else. For more than ten years, he has been living in a humble place with his mother, his position just an imperial guard."

"I can see the greed and desire in his eyes."

"It was pressed out by me."

The Ritual Eunuch bent at the waist, speaking softly, "Your Majesty has Your Majesty’s insights."

"How could a servant see as far as a True Dragon?"

Emperor Chen laughed aloud. He pointed at the Ritual Eunuch who had been with him since his childhood, "Such a sly fellow you are; you always manage to avoid mistakes."

The Ritual Eunuch for some reason thought of the young man who was guarding the Qilin Pavilion.

He answered softly, "This servant’s life was granted by Your Majesty, and naturally should be devoted to Your Majesty with loyal death at the ready." When he was young and got into trouble, he was about to be beaten to death; it was Prince Jing, also young at the time, who saved him.

For this, Prince Jing became scorned by the previous Emperor, who uttered the phrase ’womanly kindness.’

In the following years, Prince Jing was excluded from the center of power.

He looked at the quietly seated Emperor.

Yet, he realized that the young lord who once knelt in the heavy rain in front of the great hall to save an eunuch, that child who was whipped by the Emperor with a willow switch three times on his back, sighing about ’womanly kindness’ and going off to play the zither, had unwittingly become a truly dragon-like existence.

Immeasurable in depth, majestic and profound.

He couldn’t help but think.

What would the young lord think if he saw the current Emperor?

Emperor Chen removed his shoes and placed his feet in the Ritual Eunuch’s embrace, letting the latter massage his legs. It seemed he hadn’t been out walking for a long time, and the path he had just walked had left his feet feeling somewhat numb and itchy.

The Ritual Eunuch diligently carried out these menial tasks. Emperor Chen looked at the pouring rain outside the window.

He seemed somewhat fatigued, lacking the presence he had in the court, not as composed and unhurried.

"All this is for Chen Country," he said.

"I am not a good Emperor, it was fate and the Heavenly Mandate that pushed me into this position. Looking through the many documents, I found out that an Emperor skilled in strategy like me finds it difficult to truly accomplish great feats."

"Yet, sitting in this position, who wouldn’t want to achieve something significant, to be remembered in history? I won’t be able to, but I want my child to achieve it."

He asked the Ritual Eunuch, "Do you know what a true monarch is like?"

The Eunuch answered, "How could this servant know such profound matters?"

Emperor Chen squinted his eyes:

"The world’s heroes, emperors through the ages with the greatest achievements, also had the greatest greed."

"That kind of heart, desiring everything, drives talented emperors to ambitiously watch over this world. Only such an Emperor, earnest and progressive, is capable of establishing an enduring legacy."

Emperor Chen stretched out his hand to catch the rain, his fingers moving rhythmically as he lowered his gaze:

"I want Yu Yun to have a heart of greed. He needs no benevolence or virtue."

"This world is a dish, and all the heroes are greedy beasts, sharpening their teeth and sucking blood, craving a full feast. How to emerge victorious in this world is not about benevolence or ambition, but desire, driving one to be unwilling to be beneath others, driving one to be discontent with the status quo."

"That’s why I cannot give him a life of wealth and honor."

"A comfortable and elevated mundane life would grind away all the heroism in a hero’s heart."

"I want him to be forever discontent, forever greedy, ambitious and forward-reaching."

"Such a person is bound to encounter obstacles. Great Chen’s martial merits are too strong, like a thorny hedge bristling with spikes. I must smooth these spikes for him, so that when he grasps the thorns, it is easy to handle and won’t injure him. By that time, I will release him upon the world."

The Ritual Eunuch listened to the sovereign’s words, but he suddenly thought of a saying.

If the thorns lack their sharpness,

Could they then be used to whip the world into line?

Emperor Chen let out a self-mocking laugh: "When I was young and saw my older brothers go off to be military supervisors looking so grand, the second time I cried and made a fuss to follow, and when I got there, I realized the frontier was harsh. That must have been when I met Taiping Duke, whom I both respected and feared."

"Do you know? When people in the military look at us of the Imperial Family, they do so with awe."

"But their gaze towards Taiping Duke was full of fervor. My brothers didn’t care, but I felt fear as if I saw a blaze... but, in the end, the fire extinguished, I don’t know how he died, but let me tell you the truth."