Kays Translations

Chapter 144: The Kong Family Returns to the Court

That same evening, over 500 miles away from the imperial palace, at Tianfeng Ridge and Yunding Mountain, Li Xian’s expression was quite strange.

A few days ago, he felt that his cultivation had reached the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, but he was unable to make any further progress. However, just after finishing dinner and while drinking tea, he suddenly felt an inexplicable tremor, and then, in a dazed state, he unexpectedly entered the middle stage of Foundation Establishment!

Entering the middle stage of Foundation Establishment in such a dazed manner, Li Xian thought for a long time and could only come to one conclusion—Anyang had conquered Luliang County! And as the de facto “dictator” and “central authority representative” of Anyang, his fate was tied to the fortunes of Anyang.

With the expansion of Anyang’s vision and reach, Li Xian’s fortunes naturally increased, which in turn led to his cultivation breaking through without him realizing it.

After the last rays of the evening sun set in the western sky, Ge Zhengfeng looked up at the sky and suddenly froze.

“Senior Ge, what’s wrong?” Ge Zhengfeng’s sudden daze caught Li Xian’s attention.

Ge Zhengfeng didn’t answer, but was clearly observing the starry sky. He then had his attendant, or rather his disciple, bring over some items that Li Xian couldn’t understand and began to busy himself with them.

After a long while, about half an hour later, Ge Zhengfeng sighed and slowly sat down.

Li Xian quickly served him a cup of fragrant tea.

This time, Ge Zhengfeng didn’t make any sarcastic remarks but furrowed his brows deeply and said, “The celestial phenomena have changed, the emperor star is flickering.”

“The emperor star is flickering? Does that mean the Great Xia Dynasty is about to prosper?” Li Xian asked casually, seemingly not taking it too seriously.

Ge Zhengfeng took the tea and drank it all in one go, but his answer was completely unrelated: “Tell me, when does a candle flicker?”

Li Xian was stunned for a moment, then slowly uttered four words: “A candle in the wind!”

Ge Zhengfeng stopped speaking and simply held his tea cup, lost in thought.

Li Xian sat quietly beside him. The mountain wind howled, and neither spoke a word. Yet, Li Xian’s heart wasn’t calm. An emperor, a ruler of the cultivation world, just like that… was going to die.

Suddenly, Ge Zhengfeng spoke again, “It is said—just said—that the emperor’s cultivation is built upon the nation. Therefore, when the nation prospers, the emperor’s cultivation will rise step by step. But if the nation weakens, the cultivation gained will not diminish, but a state of the ‘Five Declines of Heaven and Man’ will appear!”

“So, some emperors, upon seeing the decline of their nation, will abdicate the throne to the crown prince and free themselves.”

“Of course, I’m not an emperor, and I don’t know the specifics, but it’s unlikely to be groundless.”

Li Xian remained silent, listening quietly, but his heart was filled with a storm of emotions—this is the price that emperors must pay? They enjoy endless wealth and power, yet they must bear crises beyond imagination.

To face the Five Declines of Heaven and Man, possibly never able to ascend, and to carry the weight of a nation’s sins…

After a while, Ge Zhengfeng continued, “Just now, I used a special method of astrology, a technique called ‘Stargazing’, to observe the stars in the sky. Do you know what I saw?”

Li Xian knew this was just Ge Zhengfeng talking to himself, so there was no need to answer. He quietly poured tea for his elder.

Ge Zhengfeng stared blankly at Li Xian pouring the tea, exhaled a long breath, and continued, “What I saw just now shocked me greatly. The Ziwei Star was fluctuating, constantly flickering, and with each flicker, its light weakened a little.

And around the Ziwei Star, the Big Dipper was shining with all seven stars! The light of the seven stars actually overshadowed the light of the Ziwei Star!”

Li Xian, being a good student, didn’t understand and asked, “Seven stars shining together, does this mean that the Great Xia Dynasty will have seven separatist regimes?”

“No, astrology is divided into personal and collective aspects. From the collective perspective, the Ziwei Star represents the emperor, while the Big Dipper represents the high powers of the nation; all the high authorities. Generally, it includes powerful ministers, generals, local governors, inspectors, provincial commanders, etc.

The seven stars shining together is a typical sign of a weak ruler and powerful ministers—it’s a sign of a declining nation, one that is about to split. As for how many factions will emerge, and who they will represent, that cannot be observed.

This kind of observation only represents a direction, a trend, nothing more; and since it’s a trend, naturally, it can be changed.

For example, the Northern Kingdom of Cai once had such an astrological sign, but Yan Ze’an single-handedly revived the Cai Kingdom, reversing the astrological omen with his own efforts.”

“Yan Ze’an?! Does he have such abilities?” Li Xian was truly shocked.

“Yes!”

Li Xian’s heart bloomed with joy, and he suddenly looked at Ge Zhengfeng, “Senior, are you interested in resting in Anyang for a while?”

Ge Zhengfeng stood up and began to leave, “Let’s first repair the imperial tomb, and speed things up.”

Li Xian looked at Ge Zhengfeng’s retreating figure and muttered, “Old fox! No clear answer, just leaving people hanging in the air. But hmm, you won’t escape my grasp!”

With nothing to do, Li Xian continued his “lazy half-rest on the mountainside, while others wear thin clothes.”

While Li Xian was relaxing, the capital was bustling. The court had already descended into chaos, and the emperor had become increasingly weak, looking like a sculpture carved from decaying wood. Perhaps the sudden rebellion in Zhongshan County had drained the last of the Great Xia Empire’s luck, exacerbating the emperor’s worsening decline.

But despite Zhongshan County’s rebellion, the court couldn’t come up with a solution because there were no military forces available in the capital! Moreover, many ministers opposed dispatching troops from other regions—what if the troops arrived not to fight Zhongshan County, but to attack the capital instead?

Surprisingly, this was a real possibility! This idea made many people hesitant; even Li Yulong found himself helpless in the face of this situation! A clever woman cannot cook without rice.

At this moment, the Crown Prince, also the second prince, Xia Shu, spoke up, “Father, Nanyang County has recently expressed a desire to return to the capital and pledge allegiance to the Great Xia Empire. Why not have Nanyang’s troops strike from the south, so their army wouldn’t have to enter the capital?”

“Furthermore, Nanyang County is willing to offer an additional 100,000 taels of gold as a tribute to the imperial tomb, to show their loyalty.”

By this time, the emperor had already given up hope for the Great Xia Empire and immediately agreed. Coincidentally, with the position of Prime Minister vacant, Kong Xiang was brought back to the capital to assume the role. The process was without incident.

Kong family’s return to the capital would only make the already chaotic Great Xia Empire even more complicated; Li Yulong returned to the Li estate, worried. As soon as he entered the Li residence, Yang Zhong came to greet him, “Master, we received a letter from Anyang. Several peak Foundation Establishment experts delivered it using wind escape techniques, and it seems urgent.”

“Let me see!” Li Yulong opened the letter and read it quickly. After finishing, he smiled. Things were getting more interesting!

Why? Of course, it was because Zhao Guoshan, the governor of Lüliang County, had been captured! First, Zhao Guoshan was a pawn of Li Xian. Secondly, the information Zhao Guoshan had revealed made Li Yulong smile, as it solved a question that had been bothering him.

The reason Zhongshan County dared to rebel was that they had coordinated with Lüliang County. But now Lüliang County was under the control of Anyang, and by the time Zhongshan County rebelled, they were unaware of Lüliang County’s situation and were still waiting for their support!

However, the situation wasn’t entirely optimistic. Once Zhongshan County learned of this, they would only become more desperate in attacking Anyang to open a route to the state of Cai!

Kong family returning to the capital was another troublesome issue!

Wait, maybe this could work—drive away the wolves and swallow the tigers. Perhaps an alliance with the Kong family could be the way forward! In politics, there are never absolute enemies!

The Crown Prince tried to woo the Kong family, hoping to unite them with the Yuan family to push Li Yulong out of the capital!

Yet at this moment, Li Yulong was thinking about forming an alliance with the Kong family.

Who, in the end, had the superior strategy?

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