Chapter 532 Coronation Ceremony

As the world expected, a magnificent coronation ceremony was held smoothly.

The imperial palace was filled with strict imperial guards, all civil and military officials stood in awe, and meritorious generals rode their powerful horses in a mighty formation.

The brand new nine-dragon flag fluttered high in the sky, and the low and melodious sound of the horn swept across the ferocious and eye-catching dragon head on the flag, with its eyes wide open and a natural momentum.

The wolf-slaying colt and the cloud-swallowing beast pulled the golden throne and stopped it steadily in front of the jade steps of the Yong'an Hall.

Huo Gannian walked out slowly, walked up the long jade steps step by step, and reached the most awe-inspiring height.

He was dressed in gorgeous court robes and a dragon crown, with a cold and stern aura. His face was handsome but intimidating without anger, his phoenix eyes were as sharp as swords, and his whole body exuded arrogance.

Civil and military officials took the lead in kneeling and kowtowed, and the entire audience performed the ritual of kowtow. The endless black crowd stretched from the palace to outside.

It was as if the entire Kyoto City and the entire Nan Kingdom were prostrating themselves at his feet. Millions of voices rang out at the same time, like thunder, making one's scalp tingle:

"Long live our emperor, long live our emperor, long live our emperor!"

The sound was so powerful and loud that it startled the Wolf-Slaying Colt, the Cloud-Swallowing Beast, and all the generals' mounts, causing them to raise their hooves and neigh. It also added a touch of the aura of destiny that knew all about the nine provinces.

Yun Chen stood in the temple and clearly heard the sound of kowtows that was like the roar of mountains and seas.

Her lips were smiling, but her eyes couldn't help but fill with tears. She imagined Huo Gannian looking down on the world and whispered in his direction:

"A Nian, congratulations, you got what you wanted."

After saying that, she wiped away her tears, took a deep breath to calm herself down, and began to pack her bags, making final preparations before escaping.

What she didn't know was that Huo Gannian, in front of the Yong'an Hall, suddenly became dazed the moment he sat on the dragon throne after accepting the kowtows of the whole audience.

Looking at the endless number of subjects below him, why didn't he have the sense of security of holding the country in his hands, but only a fear of losing something?

Leaning against the cold and spacious new dragon throne, he was just as Yan Shijiu had said, his mind was filled with the image of the day when Yun Chen knew the truth, that moment of despair and shattering despair.

He suddenly remembered the answer Guanxu gave when he asked him about "he and Yunchen".

Yes, no, fate, destiny.

He had pondered over it for several years, and now he seemed to finally understand a little, as if he had caught a glimpse of the answer.

The entire coronation ceremony took place in a state of confusion, and he could not remember how the long and tedious ceremony ended.

He only remembered that no matter how hard he tried to look for Yun Chen in the crowd, even though he was standing in such an extremely high position overlooking the world, he could not find Yun Chen no matter what.

A huge emptiness and sadness came over me.

It was not until the night banquet arrived and he began to accept toasts from civil and military officials and talk to them that he felt a little better.

Duke Zhuang brought his concubine Zhuang Ji to present him with a century-old wine.

A huge jar of wine was pushed up, and once the lid was opened, the whole place was filled with the aroma of wine, making people drunk without even drinking.

Zhuang Ji personally poured out a spoonful of wine and walked forward holding the wine cup.

She was beautiful, with graceful manners. She looked at Huo Gannian with affectionate eyes, and her every move and gesture was like that of a mother of the nation, leaving no room for fault.

When Huo Gannian took the wine and drank it, his eyes looked around calmly.

He saw that Duke Zhuang and his close associates had smug looks on their faces, and the ministers exchanged glances, and all their plans were unspoken.

Apparently, Duke Zhuang had discussed with many ministers about making Zhuang Ji the queen.

The important officials also seemed to feel that compared to Yun Chen's identity as a "daughter who had been married three times", the innocent and noble lady Zhuang Ji was more suitable to be the queen mother.

He suddenly felt inexplicably annoyed.

It is obvious that over the years, it has become a habit for him to make things happen at will, and it is easy for him to play tricks and scheme.

With his intelligence and talent, he would have made great achievements in unifying the Three Kingdoms, and would not have been led by his ministers like Nanli Jun.

He was confident that he could handle everything calmly, but he couldn't help feeling irritated.

It was like he was facing a deep quagmire with no end in sight and no bottom to find. At this moment, he only wanted to see a pair of eyes as clean as a clear spring.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

Zhuang Ji called out twice, bringing Huo Gannian back to his senses.

From her expression, it can be seen that she was surprised that Huo Gannian was distracted at this time.

She thought about it and guessed that it was most likely related to Yun Chen.

She lowered her eyes and saluted respectfully to Huo Gannian:

"Your Majesty, I feel a little unwell and would like to take my leave. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

"Go ahead." Huo Gannian said lightly.

Zhuang Ji left quietly. As agreed beforehand, she ordered the Zhuang family's carriage to be reloaded with wine jars and water in the imperial kitchen, and then began to move towards the west palace gate.

During the journey, the lid of the wine jar was deliberately left open.

When passing by the deserted palace road, a thin figure jumped up as lightly as a night cat and jumped into the altar accurately from the mouth of the altar, causing only a little splash of water, which was completely drowned out by the sound of the carriage wheels.

Zhuang Ji calmly closed the lid of the wine jar.

At the last moment when the lid was about to close and block out all the light, she looked at Yun Chen, who was completely immersed in the water in the jar.

The latter squatted quietly in the jar like a cat, with his hands clinging to the edge of the partition, only his pale but handsome little face was exposed to breathe on the water surface.

A pair of clean big eyes flickered, brighter than the ripples on the water under the moonlight, and written in pure white with gratitude and trust.

This scene made even Zhuang Ji, her love rival, soften her heart.

She couldn't understand why there were people in this world who could go through so many hardships and still come back so clean.

Is there really anyone who can be as pure from the beginning to the end as described in the storybooks?

"How long can you hold your breath at most?" Zhuang Ji asked softly.

Yun Chen thought about it seriously. With her previous water ability and internal strength skills, holding her breath for a quarter of an hour would be no problem.

But now the Soul Devouring Pill has weakened his body, so it probably won’t last too long.

"About half a minute." Yun Chen answered honestly.

Zhuang Ji smiled slightly, looking at Yun Chen from under her eyes, with a meaningful tone:

"Then you'll have to try harder. My brother can let you through the first two palace gates, but there are three more behind. It will take about a quarter of an hour to pass through. If you really can't hold on any longer, just knock on the altar wall and I'll let you out."

"Wouldn't that expose our true identity and get us caught?"

"Yeah, so you try to hold on."

Zhuang Ji's lips curled up into a sweet dimple, and after she finished speaking with a smile, she slowly closed the lid. The smile then disappeared, and her eyes returned to their usual coldness.

The moment the lid was tightly closed, the surroundings instantly fell into darkness.

The dark and narrow altar wall made Yun Chen feel creepy for a moment, and he was so panicked that he couldn't breathe.

She kept comforting herself and slowly calmed down.

As the carriage moved forward, stopped, checked, and moved forward again, it was easy to pass through the first two palace gates guarded by Zhuang Fengtian, without even opening the lid of the wine jar to check.

The carriage soon arrived at the third palace gate. Zhuang Ji tapped the altar with her fingers, and Yun Chen immediately understood. He submerged himself in the water and hid under the partition.

Immediately afterwards, the lid of the wine jar was opened, and the visitor stirred it twice with his hands.

Fortunately, he only stirred the water and did not hit the partition. In addition, Zhuang Ji's face was cold. The visitor knew that the power of Duke Zhuang's family was extraordinary and did not dare to provoke her.

The carriage passed smoothly.

But the more troublesome thing was that Yun Chen originally thought that she could hold her breath for at least half a minute, but as soon as she passed the third palace gate, she felt that her breath was not enough.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been swimming for a long time and my body is too weak.

She gently pushed open the partition, exposed her mouth from the water, and greedily breathed in the little air in the wine jar.

Feeling the carriage stop again and the sound of water coming from outside, she quickly hid back in the partition, only sticking her ears out of the water through the gap, not daring to move.

She knew that Fu Lin was a cautious, sharp-eyed man who acted very carefully.

As expected, Fu Lin said, "Pour out all the water from the wine jar so that the empty jar can go out."

Yun Chen's heart suddenly rose to his throat when he heard Zhuang Ji's unhappy tone:

"The wine jars in my Zhuangguo Mansion are all made of the finest golden sand purple clay from Lingnan. Empty jars are fragile when traveling, so they must be filled with clear water. I have reported this to the Emperor."

"How could I not know? The emperor didn't tell me." Fu Lin was merciless.

Zhuang Ji chuckled: "Of course you don't know, because——"

She deliberately dragged out her tone and said ambiguously:

"Because the Emperor told me one night that there were only the two of us in his chambers. Of course you didn't know."

As soon as these words came out, Fu Lin fell silent.

Yun Chen was also stunned for a moment, remembering that Huo Gannian had indeed left in a hurry in the middle of the night a few days ago.

It turned out that he was going to see Zhuang Ji.

What could be so important that he would have to go there in person in the middle of the night, when it was just him and Zhuang Ji?

Yun Chen couldn't think of it, and his heart ached. He tried to shake his head to stop thinking about it.

We're leaving anyway, aren't we?

Who cares who he meets at night, who he loves...

Yun Chen heard silence outside for a moment, and then Fu Lin said coldly, "Let it go," and the carriage continued to move forward.

The last palace gate is right in front of us.