It was mid-autumn, and the wooded mountains glowed with the colors of sunset clouds. A crowd had already gathered at the entrance to the Western Hills. The scions of Yanjing’s noble houses, along with civil officials and military officers, stood in practical riding attire, leather belts with hanging straps at their waists. All gazed up at the tall, straight figure in crimson upon the raised platform.
Song Liang stood in wide-sleeved crimson ceremonial robes embroidered with muted gold, his hands folded before him. With a serene expression, he paid homage to Heaven and Earth while reviewing his scores with 3085 in his mind—
【There has to be something wrong. Even if it only measures a reputation for debauchery, it shouldn’t rise this fast. There’s no reason for one visit to Xie Yun by Xu Qingye to give me three whole Debauchery Points.】
【Xu Qingye is an honest, good kid. He wouldn’t make things up.】
【So something is definitely wrong.】
【Besides…】
【Enough with the “besides”!】 After listening to him question its functions the entire way, 3085 finally lost patience. 【Do you think your reputation is that good? And you still have the nerve to doubt me?】
Song Liang was puzzled. 【When did I doubt you?】
3085: 【How haven’t you? Questioning a system’s functions is like telling a man he can’t perform! Would you put up with that?】
Song Liang’s ceremonial movements paused. 【You’re male?】
3085: 【…】
Song Liang asked again, 【You’re a guy?】
3085: 【It was a vivid analogy! The point was to emphasize the emotional harm you’re causing me!】
Song Liang: 【You hurt me first.】
Song Liang: 【I feel terrible. I don’t want to be a tyrant notorious for debauchery, dragged out as a cautionary example even after I’m dead.】
Song Liang: 【Someone might even turn my name into an idiom and recite it whenever people gather for an orgy, saying—】
3085: 【…Saying what, damn it? Where do you get such a vivid imagination? This is just a scenario world. There is no posterity—】
“Why wouldn’t there be?” Song Liang suddenly answered aloud, drawing the eyes of the officials attending the ceremony behind him. Those below the sacrificial platform pricked up their ears as well.
Straightening, Song Liang gazed at the towering mountain range before him and asked, “Can’t you see the immense fortune swirling above this mountain?”
The voice in his mind abruptly fell silent.
“The fortune accumulated through countless generations gathers into a vortex, then disperses outward, never ceasing for a moment. Seven parts lie in the Central Plains, two on the plains of the northern Hu peoples, and one—”
Song Liang slowly turned and pointed southwest, asking Zhou An beside him, “What land lies in that direction?”
“The Dian region. It was once home to the Baiyue and Baipu peoples, later brought under imperial rule by Gaozu and Shizong in succession. It is a land of tribal peoples.” Zhou An looked at him in confusion. “Your Majesty, what is wrong with that region?”
“It holds one part of the realm’s fortune. Unrest is coming.”
Before the officials behind him could react, he looked north again, his voice distant.
“The northern Hu will also invade our Great Yao.”
“!!!”
That declaration thoroughly terrified the officials behind him. Even Zhou An’s expression changed. After all, the southward invasion of the thirteen northern Hu tribes remained a blood-soaked chapter of history!
The stunned officials immediately tried to approach him for an explanation, but Song Liang had already turned and descended the sacrificial platform.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty—”
“What leads Your Majesty to say such things?”
“…”
The officials hurried after him, anxiously demanding answers, and a commotion soon broke out.
Watching from a distance, Xie Yun frowned slightly. Cen Huan immediately understood, excused himself, and left.
Elsewhere, an attendant hurried to the Grand Empress Dowager and whispered something in her ear. She first started in alarm, then looked toward the crimson figure below the platform with an expression of shock and uncertainty, as though something had frightened her.
Just then, Cen Huan returned with his report and repeated every word Song Liang had spoken upon the sacrificial platform.
“Unrest is coming to the Dian region in the southwest—did he truly say that?”
“He did.”
“And…” Cen Huan clenched his fist, his expression grim. “He also said that two parts of the realm’s fortune lie with the northern Hu tribes, and that they will invade our Great Yao.”
Ruan Chong’s expression changed as well, his hands tightening into fists.
If the northern Hu invaded now, their prince’s current health would make it impossible for him to return to the battlefield. Shi Qun, commander of the Northern Pacification Army, was already elderly. The only other man capable of bearing such responsibility, the Duke of Wei’s heir, was still too young and surely could not withstand the Hu cavalry. Great Yao would be in grave danger.
“Your Highness—”
Xie Yun raised a hand to stop him, his expression somber. “Eight years ago, the thirteen northern Hu tribes were shattered. They may not dare march south again. Whether war resumes is not something Chen Min can determine with a few words.”
Ruan Chong’s brows drew tightly together. “Then why would His Majesty suddenly say such a thing?”
Xie Yun considered this for a moment, his gaze fixed on the crimson figure in the distance. In the end, he said nothing.
Because he could not fathom him. He could not fathom what that young man intended to do. It seemed that ever since Hanshui City, the fate of Great Yao—and everyone within it—had begun to change, slipping beyond even his control.
Song Liang, who had just given everyone an enormous fright, seemed entirely oblivious. He returned to his tent with his hands clasped behind his back, humming all the way. Zhou An listened with mounting apprehension. He could not understand why His Majesty remained in such fine spirits after learning that unrest was coming to the southwest and that the northern Hu would invade Great Yao. But he dared not ask.
Neither did 3085. It remained silent throughout the journey. Only as they approached the tent did it finally muster the courage to ask, 【You… you really can see this little world’s fortune?】
Hearing its cautious tone, Song Liang deliberately withheld an answer.
3085 grew even more tentative. 【Then… how do you see it? Do you know why you can?】
【That, I don’t know,】 Song Liang replied. 【Because I didn’t see anything. I made it up.】
【Oh, oh—WHAT???】 The system’s mechanical voice abruptly changed pitch. 3085 could scarcely believe it. 【Made it up? You made all of that up???】
【Yes.】 Song Liang sounded a little surprised. 【So fortune really does exist?】
【Then how did you know there was trouble in the southwest?】
【The plot.】
【…】
3085 nearly choked with anger. 【You’re shameless! You liar!】
Song Liang did not expose the real reason for its anger, nor did he ask why it had believed he could actually perceive the so-called fortune of a world. He merely replied casually, 【What can I do? My reputation is terrible. I have to find some way to salvage it.】
“Besides—”
【Besides what?】
“Since someone has set the board, and I can’t dismantle their scheme perfectly, I might as well throw the whole game into chaos first.”
Standing before his tent, Song Liang gazed toward the lofty, imposing Western Hills. Then, as though remembering something, he turned to Zhou An beside him.
“Remember to prepare a riding outfit and a bow and arrows. Tomorrow, I shall join the hunt.”
Zhou An froze. An emperor taking part in a hunt was perfectly normal, but their emperor had never participated once since ascending the throne. To put it kindly, he had no interest in riding or archery. To put it bluntly, he knew nothing about either and could not even ride a horse.
Zhou An could not help worrying. “Your Majesty, with so many riders and horses at the Western Hills hunt, should someone collide with you and injure your imperial person…”
“It’s all right.” Song Liang smiled faintly. “Because I, too, very much want the prize for first place.”
For a moment, Zhou An could not recall what that prize was. Then he remembered.
The lives of every member of the Jiang and Yang clans.
From beginning to end, their emperor had never intended to spare either clan.
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