Emperor Xie Junlin glanced at the loyal old eunuch beside him.
His slender fingers massaged his temples, his eyes filled with self-loathing.
Of course he knew those people were coveting his throne, but what could he, infertile as he was, do about it?
His voice was calm. “I married at eighteen, and now another eighteen years have passed without a single son or daughter. My infertility is known throughout the land—why hold a selection of consorts just to become a laughingstock?”
The old eunuch remained silent.
Not only was the Emperor unwilling to hold consort selections, he hadn’t visited the rear palace for eight months.
He had given up hope, abandoned himself to despair.
The old eunuch whispered, “Perhaps it’s not Your Majesty’s problem, but that the ladies cannot conceive? If we select another group of young imperial concubines, perhaps…”
Xie Junlin lowered his eyes in self-mockery. “One cannot bear children, so all the women in the three palaces and six courtyards cannot? Have I gathered every infertile woman in the world into my palace?”
The eunuch fell silent again.
After a long while, the eunuch mustered his courage to make a desperate suggestion.
“Your Majesty, this old servant dares to suggest… perhaps you could try women who have already borne children. I’ve heard some women conceive easily. If you find those who have given birth to seven or eight children, they might bring good fortune to Your Majesty…”
Xie Junlin looked up at the old eunuch.
The gaze from the imposing emperor made the eunuch’s scalp tingle, and he hurriedly knelt with a thud.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger! This old servant only has loyal intentions!”
“Although those women who’ve borne seven or eight children are older and their beauty has faded through hardship, far less delicate than the palace concubines… for the sake of the empire having an heir, Your Majesty… wouldn’t you consider trying?”
Xie Junlin watched the trembling eunuch, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
It wasn’t that he looked down on women who had borne children, but if a woman could have seven or eight children with her husband, they must share deep affection. To test whether such women could bring him fertility, he would have to forcibly separate couples, make men lose their wives, and leave seven or eight children motherless—what kind of enlightened ruler would that make him?
Besides, if he really wanted to test this, one woman wouldn’t be enough. How many such women would he need to seize before it ended?
How much sin would he have to commit before it was over?
“Your Majesty…”
“Silence.”
Xie Junlin signaled for the eunuch to stop speaking.
His dark eyes gazed into the distance.
Didn’t he want children? He dreamed of having one, but after trying for over a decade, he simply couldn’t produce an heir.
He had once placed his hopes in his younger brother Prince Rui, wanting him to bear a child for adoption. But his brother was born autistic and feared women. Last time their mother sent several beauties to him, it drove his brother to despair—he crashed into walls. Now his brother hid in his room all day, cutting his wrists in self-harm. How could he possibly ask him to bear children?
His empire was destined to have no successor.
No woman could bear him a child, no one could save him from this childless fate.
He murmured to himself.
“This emperor doomed to have no heirs, my young brother Prince Rui who hides under his bed all day cutting his wrists, and my brave Great General Xiao Lingzhao… no one can save any of us…”
“No one can save us…”
…
Shen Yuanwei knew nothing of the childless emperor’s despair. She landed in an alley beside the General’s Residence.
As soon as she steadied herself after landing, she hurriedly checked her body.She looked into the puddle on the ground and was overjoyed to discover that not only had the bloody bullet hole on her forehead disappeared, but she had also transformed from twenty-five to eighteen years old!
“To think dying once made me seven years younger—what a huge bargain!”
She smoothed the antique-style robes she wore, fiddled with the intricate hairstyle, and gazed in the direction of the imperial palace, a faint smile curling her red lips.
“At eighteen, of course I’m going to find a handsome, beautiful, and clean God of War for a redemption game. Who wants to bear children for a thirty-six-year-old Emperor? Who wants to play palace intrigue with a bunch of Imperial Concubines?”
“What if I, powerless and without influence, give birth to a child, and then that dog Emperor kills the mother to keep the child, murders me, and snatches my baby to be raised by his Empress? Wouldn’t I have traveled through time for nothing, just to give them a child for free?”
“Of course, I must first marry the God of War. Only with the support of a vast military family will that Emperor and Empress not dare to plot such a disgusting scheme of killing the mother to keep the child…”
Shen Yuanwei walked out of the alley and arrived at the entrance of the General’s Residence.
The God of War General, huh?
Let her see just how extraordinarily handsome this God of War was.
Inside the General’s Residence, a cloud of sorrow hung heavily.
Old General Xiao Zhen had fought on battlefields all his life. Four sons and two daughters had sacrificed themselves for the country. Finally, in his old age, he was blessed with a son, Xiao Lingzhao, born with immense strength. But now, Xiao Lingzhao was suffering from backlash from the Strange Power within him. For more than half of each day, he lost his senses, and when his madness took over, he couldn’t distinguish friend from foe. They had no choice but to chain him up before he lost control.
“Ah.”
The white-haired Old General Xiao sighed. He had already decided to go to his death alone and was explaining his final wishes to the Old Madam.
Ling Zhao is becoming less and less clear-headed these days. If this continues, he’ll completely lose his mind and lose his life. Only the Successor of the Ghost Doctor can use silver needles to nullify the Strange Power within him and save his life.”
“But the Successor of the Ghost Doctor hates me for exposing her father’s crime of killing innocent people and falsely claiming their achievements, which led to her family’s ruin. She demands that I take my own life in front of her before she’ll save Ling Zhao.”
“My dear, I’ve already endured the pain of losing a child six times. I cannot lose Ling Zhao too. If it can save him, what do I fear about sacrificing this old life of mine?”
“I’m just worried about Ling Zhao. If he finds out his father died to save him, he’ll likely develop inner demons, never able to forgive himself. Especially since he’ll also lose that immense strength, falling from the glorious God of War to a useless man—that would be a heart-wrenching blow…”
“My dear, after I’m gone, Ling Zhao will be left to you. Promise me you’ll guide him well. Encourage him to pull himself together. Tell him he’s my son, Xiao Zhen’s son. Even without that immense strength, he can return to the battlefield and be invincible.”
The Old Madam tightly grasped the Old General’s hand, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face.
She didn’t know why heaven was being so cruel to her.
If she didn’t allow her husband to end his life, her son would die. If she wanted to save her son, she had to watch her white-haired husband go to his death.
Why?!
Their family had served with utmost loyalty. Why wouldn’t heaven grant them a little more protection? Why must they endure such torment?!
The Old General gently wiped away his wife’s tears. “Alright, don’t cry. In the future, when I’m gone, you’ll be alone… You must take care of yourself.”
The Old Madam sobbed, unable to speak. “I don’t want you to go…”
The Old General softly patted his wife’s back, tears slipping from his own eyes.
He didn’t want to die either.But he had to save his son.
The Old General hardened his heart, gently pushed his wife aside, picked up his sword, and limped out of the hall.
Outside the hall, servants knelt in rows.
As the Old General passed them, they rose one by one, sobbing as they followed.
Their Old General had spent half his life on battlefields—shot by five arrows, wounded over a dozen times, and left with a lame leg. Now, to save his only son, he was going to humiliate himself by kneeling at someone’s doorstep to end his own life. How could Heaven be so cruel to this old hero?
Heaven…
Who could come and save their Old General? Who could come and save their Young General!
Amid the desperate sobbing, Shen Yuanwei raised her hand and knocked on the brass door knocker.
Knock, knock, knock—
The sudden sound of knocking startled the grieving, despairing people inside the General’s Residence.
Ever since their Young General had been confined to the residence a year ago after the incident, visitors had become fewer and fewer. For half a month, no one had even knocked on their door.
Who could it be at this time?
Could it be the Successor of the Ghost Doctor, growing impatient and coming to claim the Old General’s life himself?
They looked at the Old General in panic and helplessness, every pair of eyes brimming with tears. Heaven, who could come and save their Old General? Their Old General must not die!
The Old General faced death with equanimity.
“No one move. I’ll go. What must come will come. If my life can be exchanged for Ling Zhao’s survival, I will die without regret!”