In the palace’s Imperial Garden, rocks were piled high, and rare flowers and exotic trees filled the grounds.
Chen Chu came before Chen Qing and stood there calmly.
Perhaps because, no matter what, Chen Chu was still Chen Qing’s bloodline, or because Chen Qing had seen all kinds of people and had already more or less figured out Chen Chu’s personality even though the two had spent only a brief moment together.
Arrogant to the extreme, looking down on everything.
Even as his emperor, or as his father, he could not make Chen Chu lower his head.
It was clearly impossible to expect Chen Chu to treat him with the same deference as his other sons did.
So he said in a more easygoing tone, “Sit.”
Chen Chu did not stand on ceremony and sat across from Chen Qing.
Without even pausing to think, he said directly, “Not killing Chen Fengyi today was me giving you face.”
As for how Chen Fengyi had actually fainted, the false impression Chen Chu had let the outside world see was that His Highness the Imperial Grandson, disregarding all rules and morals, had tried to seize the Ninth Prince Chen Chu’s woman, and Chen Chu had struck back in fury.
But in front of Chen Qing, that obviously would not pass.
As emperor, how could Chen Qing not know that the “woman” Chen Chu spoke of was actually the assassin who had poisoned him along the way?
Chen Chu had never intended to deceive him.
His scheme to frame Chen Fengyi was actually very simple. He just wanted to disgust Chen Fengyi and let him see what human malice looked like.
Not killing him outright was indeed giving Emperor Chen Qing face.
“It seems I still do not fully understand you. You are not only too arrogant, you are also too overbearing. Don’t tell me you really think that after cultivating the Immortal’s Tome, you are truly invincible under heaven? That even I can be ignored.”
Chen Qing felt it necessary to suppress Chen Chu, or who knew what earth-shaking trouble Chen Chu might cause in the imperial city in the future.
As an emperor, since the day he ascended the throne, Chen Qing had been absolute in his words and had never compromised.
My anger is the majesty of heaven.
My will is the will of heaven.
But as a father, Chen Qing was exceptionally broad-minded. He did not mind his own bloodline being unruly. If the royal bloodline had not even a little superiority, then the two words “royal family” would be far too cheap.
Eight hundred years ago, the founding emperor of the Tianchen Dynasty discovered the Immortal’s Tome. He studied it for ten years and still could not enter its gates, yet he accumulated a body of dragon fortune and then campaigned in all directions, step by step building the Tianchen Dynasty of today.
After founding the nation, the founding emperor built the Imperial Mausoleum at the place where the Immortal’s Tome was kept. Successive emperors would send the highest-realm member of the royal family to guard the tomb, so as to keep the secret of the Immortal’s Tome.
At the same time, for eight hundred years no one had ever fully comprehended the Heavenly Man Book. Over time, the emperors of Tianchen came to believe that the Immortal’s Tome existed only to generate dragon fortune.
Until three years ago, the Ancestor sent word telling him that Chen Chu had fully comprehended the first thirteen volumes of the Heavenly Man Book, and that his realm was equivalent to the thirteenth-rank Manifest Saint realm in martial arts.
At that time, the dragon fortune of the Tianchen Dynasty had already been thinning day by day, revealing signs that the nation was on the verge of collapse.
Yet the dragon fortune Chen Chu possessed at that time could already stand shoulder to shoulder with the Tianchen Dynasty’s most prosperous era.
How terrifying was that?
Even with your backside, you could figure it out: as long as Chen Chu remained loyal to the Tianchen Dynasty, the Tianchen Dynasty would not fall.
That was the real reason Chen Qing insisted on summoning Chen Chu back.
The future of the Tianchen Dynasty, which had weathered eight hundred years of storms, might be something only Chen Chu could shoulder.
But that did not mean Chen Qing had to revere Chen Chu like some ancestor. Especially since Chen Chu’s ability to stir up trouble was terrifying.
He had only just entered the imperial city and already kicked the Imperial Grandson into unconsciousness. Who in the entire imperial city would he still not dare to touch?
However, Chen Qing still underestimated Chen Chu.
“I really am not at the level of being invincible under heaven, but at least in the imperial city, no one can kill me. Your Majesty wants to knock me down and make me obey the rules in the future. I understand that logic. But…”
Chen Chu said coolly, “In my eyes, I am the rule.”
Before Chen Qing could get angry, Chen Chu continued calmly, “It is not that I had to come to the imperial city; it is that the imperial city had to call me here. Your Majesty understands this. I can repay the grace Your Majesty showed me back then by not killing me, and the grace the Ancestor showed me by raising me. But I can also choose not to.”
The implication was: if things do not suit me, I can leave at any time.
But Emperor Wuzhao Chen Qing, would he dare let him leave?
Chen Qing ultimately acquiesced.
Although dissatisfied, he also understood that perhaps only someone with Chen Chu’s absolutely uncompromising personality could defend Tianchen’s rivers and mountains after his death.
Do not be fooled by how vigorous and imposing he looked now. Only he himself knew how terrifying the backlash from failing to break through Grade 16 was.
He could feel that he did not have more than a year left to live.
He had nine sons in all, but some had died of illness, some had been assassinated, and now only the second, third, sixth, and the ninth before him remained.
Including the Imperial Grandson Chen Fengyi, there were only five candidates for Crown Prince in total.
And to speak honestly, although these children all had their own strengths, aside from the ninth before him, not one of them was a qualified Crown Prince in his mind.
If Chen Chu’s mother had been merely a maid with no background at all, he would have overruled all objections and supported Chen Chu to become Crown Prince.
But the problem was that Chen Chu’s mother was the Sacred Lord of the Longevity Sect in the wasteland. The eight clans of the wasteland and a million wasteland warriors bowed to her, and her status was practically that of the wasteland’s empress.
And the Tianchen Dynasty had existed for eight hundred years, fighting the wasteland for eight hundred years. The blood feud they had accumulated had already reached the point where it could no longer be resolved.
If Chen Chu had not cultivated the Immortal’s Tome, Chen Qing would not have acknowledged this son as long as he lived.
Not killing Chen Chu back then had been the greatest mercy Chen Qing had ever shown him.
“I have arranged a marriage for you. I originally intended to decide it directly, but now I have to ask for your opinion. If you are unwilling, even if I bestow the marriage on you, you will not agree.”
After saying that, Chen Qing gave a self-mocking smile.
It had been far too long since he had spoken to anyone in such a consultative tone.
“A marriage?”
Chen Chu’s first thought was Xu Zhaoxing.
It was not hard to guess. In the court, the military, the yamen, and the palace, Chen Qing could have sent anyone to the Imperial Mausoleum to receive him, but he had specifically chosen only Yu Fengcheng and Xu Zhaoxing. His intention was very obvious.
But that little girl still had not fully grown yet.
Chen Chu was not very interested.
“Do not rush to refuse.”
Chen Qing had already guessed Chen Chu would refuse and cut him off first. “Back then, when the Longevity Sect messenger sent you to Taiji Hall, almost all the court officials submitted memorials risking death, urging me to kill you to prevent future trouble. This included the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and all of my princes wanted you dead. But only one person wanted to protect you. To tell the truth, if not for Old Duke Xu sharing the burden for me, I might not have decided to spare your life. It can be said that Duke Xu is your greatest benefactor.”
“And now Duke Xu is at the end of his life. What he worries about most is the future of the Xu residence. Yet among his children and grandchildren, there is only one granddaughter who is barely capable of handling things.”
“This girl has ability, ruthlessness, and methods. But she is still too young. It will take at least ten years of tempering before she can stand on her own.”
“In ten years, the Xu residence may already have been devoured by others until nothing remains.”
“Do you understand what I mean?”
Without outside help, once Old Duke Xu passes away, the Xu residence will not take long to sink into obscurity.
What is even worse is that it may not simply be a matter of the Xu residence declining, but of being uprooted by those Lords who covet the two hundred thousand Flying Flower Army.
Chen Qing’s plan was to make Chen Chu that outside help.
Not only could he protect the Xu family, he might even take over the Flying Flower Army further down the line.
After a brief hesitation, Chen Chu chose to agree. “Fine, I will marry Xu Zhaoxing.”
“???”
Chen Qing was suddenly stunned, his eyes widening as he blurted out, “I told you to marry Xu Zhaoyue, Old Duke Xu’s eldest legitimate granddaughter, not Xu Zhaoxing!”
Chen Chu: “…”
Seeing that slightly stunned expression, Chen Qing assumed Chen Chu had taken a liking to that little girl Xu Zhaoxing, and added, “Of course, if you want to enjoy both blessings at once, I can also speak to Old Duke Xu about it. It should not be a major problem.”