The ministers knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, please give the people a way to survive!"
The old emperor's chest heaved with rage: "Isn't it true that nothing has happened yet? Why should we leave any chance of survival?
Besides, I don’t even know where to survive, so how can I leave a way for others to survive?”
Liao Yongxian retorted: "Your Majesty, when something happens, will the people still be alive?
As the ruler of a country, you must understand the people's sentiments, follow their will, and seek the welfare of the people.
Just because you can't find a way to make a living, you can't stop caring about the lives of the people. Emperors since ancient times have never been like this. Do you want to leave a bad reputation for eternity?
"How dare you! You are just one of my subjects. I gave you your position as Prime Minister. What qualifications do you have to speak to me like this?"
The ministers refused to do this.
“You are the king of a country, indeed.
But we, your subjects, see that you are acting less and less like a king. If we do not remonstrate with you, we would be remiss in our duty."
"Your Majesty, your current situation is the result of your disregard for the lives of the people and your cruelty to innocent civilians.
If you think more about the people and show more compassion for them, maybe you will get better."
A desire for life flashed across the old emperor's eyes, but was quickly suppressed.
"Stop confusing the public and be considerate of the people. Do you think that this means you want Xiyue to submit to Dongling?
You'd better give up this idea. As long as I live, you will never surrender to Dongling."
"What if you die?"
The old emperor closed his eyes and blurted out without thinking: "Death will put an end to everything. Out of sight, out of mind."
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized something was wrong and opened his eyes to look towards the source of the voice.
A golden light appeared from the roof, and Nangong Jiu sat cross-legged on the lotus seat that Xiao Wang had transformed into, and slowly landed in the Yangxin Palace.
"Hey, why are you all kneeling here? Is he going to die?"
The old emperor stared at Nangong Jiu angrily: "You..."
Nangong Jiu went straight to the ministers and said, "Look, he can still speak and get angry, so he won't die for a while.
Come on, eat something first. Only when you are full will you have the strength to kneel before him."
As he spoke, he took out the food from the imperial kitchen from his small bag and distributed it to each minister.
He also held a chicken leg and started to chew it.
"Eat it quickly, it's delicious!"
Liao Yongxian, Huang Zhongyuan and others looked at Nangong Jiu, and with a smile on their faces, they took the lead in eating.
The other ministers were indeed hungry, so they also started to eat voraciously.
The old emperor stared blankly, his hunger making him swallow desperately, and the growling sound of his stomach filled the entire Yangxin Palace.
"Are you hungry too? Do you want to eat something? It's delicious." Nangong Jiu tilted his little head and looked at the old emperor with his big eyes blinking.
As he spoke, he took out a roasted golden pigeon from his small pocket.
With her little hand, she gently pushed it in front of the old emperor and said, "Here you go. Eat it quickly. It's my favorite. I can't bear to eat it."
The ministers lowered their heads, suppressed their laughter, and ate with even greater relish.
The old emperor looked at the eight-treasure pigeon hovering in front of him. He felt that it looked familiar, and the fragrant aroma made him drool.
The eunuch hurried to wipe him.
The old emperor endured the physical and mental torment and raised his hand to try to shoo away the temptation in front of him.
“Take it!”
"You really don't want to eat something this delicious? If you don't, I'll put it away."
Nangong Jiuyi spread his hands, and the Eight Treasure Pigeon flew back into his hands and was put into his small pocket.
Xiaoxing, who was hanging on Nangong Jiu's waist, couldn't help but complain with his spiritual sense.
"Your Majesty, aren't you torturing him on purpose?"
"Who said that? I treated him to a meal out of kindness. It was Eight Treasure Pigeon, which is really rare."
Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Nangong Jiu pouted.
"If you don't eat, you'll starve to death. It's no fun worshipping a living dead who doesn't eat. I'm leaving, leaving..."
The old emperor was so angry that he fell backwards and lay on the bed gasping for breath.
After the ministers had eaten their fill, they began lobbying again.
"Your Majesty, submitting to Dongling is a good thing that benefits both the country and the people. After you submit to Dongling, perhaps the gods will be pleased and pardon you?
By then, you will be a carefree prince, worrying about nothing, not caring about anything, just eating, drinking, and having fun, living a happy life. How wonderful!
The old emperor was so hungry that he felt dizzy and had hallucinations of eating, drinking and having fun.
He stretched out his hand to grab him, but suddenly he was startled and woke up instantly, and the action of grabbing turned into pointing at the minister.
"Stop trying to shake the morale of the army here. I won't be fooled, even if I die.
Xiyue is the foundation built by our ancestors, and we cannot give it away to others."
Liao Yongxian smiled and said, "Why are you doing this? As long as there is green mountains, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. You have to save your life first, so you can protect the foundation of your ancestors, right?
What's more, the princes are still so young, are you willing to let them lose their lives like this?"
"Save my life? How can I save my life? I can't even eat anything I see."
"Yes, that's why I said you have to guarantee your life first.
How about this: you write a letter of surrender, and we will help you intercede with the gods?
The old emperor paused, then threw the pillow beside him at the ministers.
"Shut up. No matter what you say, I can't possibly write this letter of surrender."
Huang Zhongyuan picked up the pillow and handed it to the eunuch: "Your Majesty, even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Are you willing to watch your sons die?"
The old emperor lay on his back on the bed and ignored his ministers.
This tactic didn't work, so the ministers tried another one.
"Your Majesty, since you are unwilling to write this letter of submission no matter what I say, then I will chat with you.
When I was little, my great-grandfather would often point to the moon and tell me stories about his great-grandfather.
At that time, my great-grandfather was still a prefect of Dongling..."
The minister told the story he heard from his great-grandfather, and his voice became sadder and sadder as he spoke.
The old emperor became increasingly unhappy as he listened, and interrupted, "You all should go back. I am tired and want to rest for a while."
"Your Majesty, please take a rest. We will talk about our business."
The ministers simply changed from kneeling to sitting, and continued to talk one after another about some of the past events about Dongling that they had heard from their elders.
The old emperor was sleepy and hungry and wanted to take a nap, as there was a constant buzzing in his ears.
He was so annoyed that he called out to the secret guards: "Come here, come here, drive them out of the palace.
Those who refuse to leave will be killed. These traitors seeking personal gain cannot be allowed to stay."
The secret guards appeared, but did not listen to the old emperor. Instead, they stepped forward and persuaded him, "Master, they are the ministers you rely on the most.
They are dedicated to the country and the people, and cannot be killed!
If we kill them, the people will rise up in rebellion before foreign invaders come to divide up Western Yue."
The old emperor looked at his secret guards.
"I can't even order you around?"
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