Back then, the eldest and second princes disregarded the people, vying for power and causing instability in the court. The old emperor, however, remained indifferent to this. While searching for the branches of the Jumu tree with his friends, he witnessed firsthand the suffering and happiness of the people. He did not want the people to be displaced, he did not want the prosperous country to decline, and he did not want the court to be filled only with treacherous officials who exploited the people.

So when everything was settled, he took on his royal responsibilities and joined the struggle.

The struggle for the throne is extremely dangerous. One wrong move and the whole game is lost, and even one's life and fortune cannot be spared. He had long been aware that this trip might be his last.

He didn't expect that Shao Gong would also come to help him.

Shao Gong was so intelligent that he was almost supernatural. Xia Yize didn't know what in this world was something he couldn't solve or do.

Within a year, Xia Yize ascended to the throne, and Shao Gong became the prime minister, assisting him.

A court official once advised him that the harem was empty and requested that he take a concubine and establish an empress. Xia Yize was furious, rebuked him, and returned home. Afterwards, Shao Gong ordered ten beautiful women to be sent to the person who had given the advice. After this happened several times, no one dared to gossip about the matter anymore.

Afterwards, Xia Yize selected a suitable successor and ordered Shao Gong to carefully teach him. A month ago, Xia Yize abdicated the throne, pretending to die suddenly from an illness, but secretly went to Buzhou Mountain with Shao Gong.

These ten years felt like a dream of living a life of pleasure and debauchery. The silent and cold Buzhou Mountain was empty and desolate, with nothing there, which made his mind and spirit clear.

He had fallen out with Shao Gong, clashed with him, and even harbored murderous intent towards him on several occasions. Before leaving, he didn't trust Shao Gong at all.

When he was emperor, he would sometimes dream in the dead of night that he was walking with those unattainable gods, which he thought was an absurd dream. However, whenever he saw Shao Gong, who was being respectful in the court, he could barely convince himself that it was not a dream.

But can he really grasp such an existence?

Giving up everything, going all in, having nothing left, just like that... can you really grasp it?

The longer it goes on, the more bewildered and uneasy I become.

He couldn't help but believe that the high and mighty god had long forgotten him, otherwise why wouldn't he even glance at him?

He grew anxious and became even more eager to settle everything and hand it over to his successor.

He has fulfilled his responsibilities.

Xia Yize moved forward silently. He recalled the words Shao Gong, who had become the prime minister and was second only to the emperor, asked him with a half-smile, just like when they first met when he was a handsome and refined young man.

'Your Majesty, to abandon wealth, luxury, and the greatest power in the land for that harsh, desolate place... do you regret it?'

Do you regret it?

No regrets.

Within Mount Buzhou, time seems to stand still, as if the passage of years has ceased.

Ten winters and summers are but ten breaths to Long Xun.

While in a light sleep, he sensed a familiar presence entering the Buzhou Mountain area. Upon waking, he immediately conjured a spiritual clone to greet the newcomer.

A biting wind whipped up a flurry of heavy snowflakes. In this pristine white world, two men draped in thick cloaks pulled their hoods down and silently made their way toward Mount Buzhou.

The wind was too strong today, and they couldn't fly directly to their destination in such wind and snow, so they had to continue on foot.

Suddenly, the wind and snow stopped, and a man in black armor appeared quietly, standing with his hands behind his back, as if he had existed there since time immemorial, and would not change no matter how the world changed or how the world turned into mulberry fields.

Xia Yize looked up, staring blankly at the handsome, cold, and indifferent man in front of him.

The wind stopped, and the snowflakes fell in a flurry, leaving the world silent.

In a hazy sense, the bewilderment, unease, and all the pent-up emotions of the past ten years seemed to be swept away and washed away by the swirling snow.

Long Xunyao looked at Xia Yize, whose temples were now streaked with white from overwork.

Ten years ago, he was a quiet and aloof young man, but now he has become profound and unfathomable. His long tenure in a high position has made his eyes no longer clear, but deep and majestic.

Xia Yize raised his hand, pulled open the hood of his cloak, and smiled slightly at him, just as calm and gentle as before. The unfamiliarity brought by those years had quietly disappeared.

"I'm back."

...

Before Long Xun and Xia Yize could catch up, they were caught off guard by something.

Shao Gong was already thirty years old. The moment they stepped into the stone house where they lived, he suddenly turned into a fair-skinned and tender baby.

Watching Long Xun naturally take out cloth and other things to wrap the baby and hold him, and then feed him some of the remaining milk, Xia Yize asked him about the whole story in a daze, and it took him a long time to accept that the Prime Minister had turned into a child.

Xia Yize was no longer called Xia Yize. He abandoned the identity and name of Emperor Li Yan, as well as the name of Xia Yize, a disciple of Taihua Mountain. He only used the name Yin Chen, a name given to him by his mother, who belonged to the merman clan. Long Xun also lifted the seal on him, allowing him to return to his identity as a merman.

Merfolk have long lifespans. After Yin Chen was unsealed, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes had disappeared, and he looked as young as an eighteen-year-old boy.

Not long after, the priests of Longyou City prepared a simple wedding, and Yin Chen and Long Xun bowed to heaven and earth and became husband and wife.

Both of them were aloof and indifferent to worldly things. Their wedding was simple, and their married life remained the same, with them taking care of Shao Gong as he grew up.

Mount Buzhou was far too quiet, so they moved from near Long Xun's main body to the desert area on the edge of Mount Buzhou, finding a small oasis that was gradually becoming inhabited. The desert was quite windy and dusty, so even though the two of them wore cloaks all year round, they didn't attract too much attention from others.

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