Chapter 91: The Regent King Appears
Wei Wanlan’s heart ached so badly that he was on the verge of collapse.
At this point, he had no time to question why Fu Jun had closed the gates of the Hanyuan Hall, leaving the escape route across the Imperial Bridge to him while taking on the desperate situation of facing the Turkic assault alone.
He only wanted to save Fu Jun. To see Fu Jun safe and sound. This had almost become an obsession, rendering him unable to think of anything else, his mind repeating only Fu Jun’s name:
“Fu Jun, Fu Jun…”
“Fu Jun!!!”
Their few days together had been short.
But time was not a measure of everything. At least for him and Fu Jun, it was an exception. Fu Jun could not die.
Wei Wanlan opened the system.
Simultaneously, the gates at the end of the Imperial Bridge opened to him.
Those who arrived were not just the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Manor. Stepping into the dawn, alongside the rising sun, came a larger force—the solemn formation of the Great Wei army outside the main gate.
Wei Wanlan couldn’t tell how many people were outside. Because the moment their eyes met his, everyone dismounted and knelt on one knee. The leading general bowed deeply and boomed, “Li Jiucheng of Shangzhou, here by order to protect His Majesty! Requesting Your Majesty’s command!”
He had heard Li Jiucheng’s voice in the carriage during the mutiny on Vermilion Bird Street. He was a man even more rugged than Tang Tuan.
Wei Wanlan had no time to care about whose orders he followed or why the regular army of Great Wei had come here.
Wei Wanlan ordered:
“Go to the Hanyuan Hall and bring back my Fu Jun.”
The Emperor’s decree was only to save a person, nothing else.
Li Jiucheng only obeyed orders, ignoring everything else, leading his troops with drawn blades and galloping into the Luoyang Imperial Villa.
The moment they raced across the Imperial Bridge, a flicker of confusion passed through Li Jiucheng’s simple mind:
Clearly, the one who issued the secret order to deploy troops was the Regent King. The Regent King said he would find a way to escape. They were to protect the little emperor and incidentally catch a big fish—the famous Turkic general Ashina Qingyun, who had infiltrated Luoyang alone.
But, the entire secret order didn’t mention anything about a “husband” (Fu Jun)?
Who is His Majesty’s husband?
Where did His Majesty get a husband?
His Majesty is a little boy, right? Right? Right!
That initial sliver of confusion grew into a cloud of doubt as Li Jiucheng kept questioning himself. His worldview was challenged, his copper-bell eyes widened, and he felt entirely unwell.
The army charged fiercely towards the Luoyang Imperial Villa.
The Hanyuan Hall was right in front of them…
Wei Wanlan returned, this time dragging an item from the system interface: a person-finding talisman. He had seen this thing in many novels, and the descriptions were more or less the same, so there shouldn’t be any problems using it.
Golden characters faintly appeared on the item, instructing him to silently recite the approximate location and name of the person he sought.
Wei Wanlan didn’t hesitate: “Luoyang Imperial Villa, Fu Jun.”
The golden light, visible only to Wei Wanlan, flew out quickly, weaving through the warm orange mist and pink peach blossom dust of the Luoyang Imperial Villa.
But.
At the same time, Wei Wanlan felt a wave of mental exhaustion.
This made Wei Wanlan’s ankles suddenly feel boneless, as if he were stepping on cotton, lacking any sense of reality, soft and collapsing.
Wei Wanlan took a deep breath.
But it was useless. The panic didn’t subside; instead, as time passed, he felt worse and worse.
Wei Wanlan vaguely realized that the system item was a bit strange.
The props of this broken system were always messy and bizarre, but this was the first time there were side effects. Perhaps the system talisman indiscriminately applied the settings of a xianxia novel, while they were just ordinary mortals in a political intrigue novel…
So he couldn’t sustain using the talisman to find someone like this.
At this moment, the talisman flew back in a daze, floating in mid-air, its circling trajectory seeming somewhat lost.
The talisman hadn’t found him.
And Wei Wanlan was clearly suffering. Yet he issued the command again:
“Luoyang Imperial Villa, Fu Jun.”
Search failed.
“Luoyang Imperial Villa, Fu Jun.”
Not found.
“Luoyang Imperial Villa, Fu Jun.”
How could this be?
There is no Fu Jun in the Luoyang Imperial Villa.
There is no person named Fu Jun here…
Clearly, Fu Jun had just appeared, blocked the Turkic officer, and spoken to him.
If he was there just now but not anymore, Wei Wanlan could only think of one possibility: that Fu Jun had died at the hands of the Turks in the span of a few cups of tea, so he was gone.
This terrifying answer was unacceptable to Wei Wanlan.
His small face visibly turned pale, then ghostly white.
His lips were so dry they were about to crack, and he looked like a blooming epiphyllum suddenly withering. His steps faltered, and he collapsed outside the Hanyuan Hall.
“Your Majesty!”
Seeing the emperor suddenly fall, Xiao Ji’s face instantly drained of color. He hurriedly helped Wei Wanlan up, but Wei Wanlan couldn’t be roused.
Xiao Sheren thought the little emperor had stayed up all night. He was hungry and tired. Plus, his emotions had been fluctuating. He put down his fan and pinched the little emperor’s philtrum, feeling the weak breath under his palm, lighter than falling flowers.
“Fu Jun…”
“Fu Jun.”
His eyelashes were completely wet.
Xiao Sheren’s heart ached. Hearing him mumble incessantly. The feeling of physical depletion continued, as if the withering flower was about to melt into the dust. Xiao Ji had no way to make the little emperor stop.
Previously, Xiao Ji had a hypothesis: the Regent King was Fu Jun.
But after several overt and covert observations, he repeatedly denied this guess.
Because based on Xiao Ji’s understanding of the Regent King, Su Yan had become increasingly heartless and cold after taking power, and he was very busy. Even if he wanted to control the puppet emperor, he wouldn’t go so far as to personally disguise himself and act alongside the little emperor.
Moreover, although that Fu Jun had a cold face, he treated the little emperor exceptionally well.
Even someone like him, who suspected Fu Jun was Su Yan’s lackey, was willing to trust Fu Jun’s stance in the end and send a message for him.
But Fu Jun’s signal flare brought the Great Wei army…
Fu Jun looked more and more like Su Yan. It could almost be concluded that it was Su Yan; no one else could command Su Yan’s soldiers unless it was him!
Is he crazy?
What does he want to do?
He went to great lengths to assume the identity of the Heavenly Sword Manor Lord, just to get close to and protect the little emperor? What about Fu Jun now?
—It couldn’t be because the identity of Fu Jun had served its purpose, and he had to find another opportunity to appear…
Xiao Ji felt this stupid logic was impossible no matter how he thought about it, so much so that he didn’t believe it at all. Too absurd, too ridiculous!
Now the little emperor’s condition was truly worrying, and he faintly envied that Fu Jun.
Xiao Ji lowered his head.
Wei Wanlan grew even weaker.
Curled up on the floor, apart from his moving lips, the rest of his body, whatever parts could still move, were twitching painfully, completely turning into a pitiful and listless little animal.
Even though the military doctors who hurried over tried every method, they couldn’t stop the little emperor’s condition. There were no external injuries; the little emperor had been protected well.
Just his consciousness sinking into a coma.
The military doctors were helpless in this situation.
It was simply… simply like the common saying, there is no grief greater than a heart that has died.
The military doctors could only hope to see someone who could make a decision soon.
Everyone turned their attention back to the battle circle, seeing Li Jiucheng, Xu An, Chen Kang, and other Great Wei officers fighting together outside the Hanyuan Hall. Ashina Qingyun, located in the center, was not losing ground.
Ashina Qingyun wielded a large saber, whipping up a gale of blood with every stroke.
Ashina Qingyun sighed in standard Great Wei official Mandarin:
“You have a saying, ‘to die in the right place.’ I came on this trip, killed your governor, took the treasure. Even if I die here, the Khan will consider me an eagle fallen from the sky, and my tribe will forever remember my prestige…”
After speaking, Ashina Qingyun laughed long and loud.
Ashina Qingyun’s laughter was full of irony. The truth was indeed so. If Great Wei really lost intelligence, treasure, and the Luoyang Governor, while the Turks only lost a general, this account would be a loss for Great Wei no matter how it was calculated.
Thus, the movements of the generals besieging Ashina Qingyun became sluggish, their hearts heavy.
“Ha, hahahaha!”
Ashina Qingyun laughed wildly again.
But at this moment.
That laughter was temporarily suspended by a sense of baseless pressure.
Peach blossom dust rose with the wind.
Ashina Qingyun’s eyelids twitched, his eyelashes brushed by the petals.
Clearly the most elegant and extraordinary scene of the Central Plains in March, yet because on the other side of the beautiful scenery, a general riding a tall horse and dressed in dark heavy clothes was seen, his existence penetrated the soft spring scenery, conveying a chilling killing intent at any time.
He would never forget this man he had seen countless times on the border of the two countries—
They fought on the battlefield.
Competing in wits and bravery.
Although the Turks had occasional small victories over the years, looking at the overall situation, they had never gained any advantage from him.
The Regent King of Great Wei.
Su Jingzhi.
The saber in his hand stopped.
Li Jiucheng and other officers jumped out of the battle circle, holding their weapons horizontally to surround the Turkic soldiers in the center.
Li Jiucheng excitedly said first: “Your Highness! Since we parted in Chang’an, until we meet again now, please forgive this subordinate for holding a weapon and being unable to bow. This subordinate pays respects to you!”
The faces of the other generals also showed joy.
The Su family had been based in the military for hundreds of years and had long become a belief and symbol of the Great Wei military.
As if as long as the Regent King appeared, even if Ashina Qingyun was still resisting, he was just a grasshopper after autumn and wouldn’t be able to jump for much longer…
“Su, Yan.”
How is it you.
The light in Ashina Qingyun’s pupils flickered. That light was different from the previous intention to die for a just cause. The Turkic general’s fierce and flamboyant arrogance slowly burned out, like an arrow at the end of its flight.
Ashina Qingyun took a deep breath.
But seemed to forget how to breathe.
Because all his attention was on the opposite side, his field of vision gradually occupied by Su Jingzhi’s majestic and cold body from far to near.
Su Jingzhi had a nickname in the Khan’s mouth.
When the Khan cut the roast lamb fiercely with a golden knife, gritting his teeth, he would squeeze out this nickname. Ashina Shali called him “Erik,” the god of death in Turkic mythology.
Ashina Qingyun mixed into the Central Plains dynasty and heard that the address for this person here was not much different. Yuan Xizai secretly called him the King of Hell.
Because he was:
Inescapable. Unavoidable. Rendering one helpless.
At the moment the Regent King appeared, Ashina Qingyun suddenly, despairingly, understood some things:
Su Jingzhi couldn’t have just received the news and set off. He couldn’t have come from Chang’an so quickly…
Unless Su Jingzhi had already gained insight into everything.
Knowing that Yuan Xizai had united with them, knowing that Yuan Xizai had sold Wei’s intelligence, and knowing that Yuan Xizai’s silver vault was coveted by them.
The Yuan Xizai treason incident.
Perhaps from the beginning, it was a counter-stratagem. His side thought they were deceiving the heavens to cross the sea, but the other side was catching fish in a jar.
—If he knew early on. The intelligence couldn’t be effective, and the money couldn’t be transported out. Dying in Great Wei was worthless.
Worth. Less.
Ridiculous.
Lurking for three years.
They fell into a trap!!!
Ashina Qingyun’s passionate blood just now completely cooled down.
The victor, Su Jingzhi, what would he say to him?
Mockery? Sneer? Triumph? Disdain?
Ashina Qingyun, who had killed countless Great Wei soldiers and civilians, had trembling facial muscles. He opened his lips but made no sound. He wanted to say something first to salvage the overly passive situation, and didn’t want his old rival to think he was a complete failure…
But what he didn’t expect was.
Su Jingzhi did approach him, but didn’t look at him at all, let alone speak to him.
Ashina Qingyun’s pupils suddenly shrank.
The Regent King of Great Wei dismounted, bent down to pick up the peach-blossom-soft little emperor, and cherished him in his arms. The capture of the Turkic generals was a foregone conclusion, and the treasure of the silver vault had also been recovered.
He didn’t want to worry about court affairs anymore. Now his eyes couldn’t hold anyone else.
“Fu Jun. I want Fu Jun. Are you alive, Fu Jun?”
Wei Wanlan smelled a familiar scent and murmured unconsciously.
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