Abdication
The emperor was so enraged that he even forgot about his own palanquin and walked straight back to his own palace. The eunuchs who had accompanied him to court were terrified and hurriedly shouted "Dismiss the court" and followed him back to his bedroom.
"Your Majesty." He called the emperor in a low voice, and the emperor waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
"Yes." The eunuch had been promoted to the emperor's side for a short time. He was at a loss, so he suppressed the words on the tip of his tongue, bowed his head, and left quietly.
As soon as he left the emperor's bedroom and stood up, he saw his master. The old eunuch had obviously been waiting for him for a while, and when he saw him, he asked about the details of the morning court.
The young eunuch hesitated.
"Why, you went to court with His Majesty and thought you could get rid of me, your master, now that you've become rich?"
The old eunuch's ambiguous words made his apprentice break out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly said "I dare not" and told him everything that happened in the morning court in detail.
"Okay, I understand. You can go back." The old eunuch ordered in a shrill voice, and then walked into the emperor's bedroom without even looking at his apprentice.
The emperor was leaning back on the couch with his eyes closed. He was already irritated, and the sound of footsteps only made him feel even more furious.
"Didn't I tell you to get out?" Anger was raging in his heart, and his words were filled with anger.
The old eunuch paused, and after a few breaths, he said in a gentle voice, "Your Majesty, it is this old servant."
"Oh, it's you." The emperor said only these four words and stopped talking. The bedroom suddenly became silent.
The emperor didn't say anything, and the old eunuch stood beside him without saying a word. After a long while, the emperor opened his eyes and sighed deeply, and the old eunuch immediately put on an attitude of listening attentively.
"My dear son, you have kept this secret from me for so long."
The old eunuch had already learned everything from his apprentice, but he still acted ignorant and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, is there anything troubling you?"
Facing the old man who had served him for many years, the emperor was very patient and trusting, and explained in detail the causes and consequences of asking Xiao Wan'er to predict the future of the prince.
"The Crown Prince's intentions are obvious, proving that what Kang Le said is true. Despite this, the majority of the civil and military officials in the court support him. Just how much power has this good son of mine gathered through this display of fatherly kindness and filial piety?"
The emperor became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and at the end he unconsciously wanted to find something to throw on the ground.
The old eunuch hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, calm down."
The emperor stopped talking and just gasped in anger.
"Your Majesty, the fact that His Royal Highness has the support of the court officials proves that he is a wise man who can win the hearts of the people." The old eunuch saw that the emperor's breathing had finally stabilized after a while. He looked up at his face, confirmed that he was indeed not that angry, and then spoke cautiously, "For the past ten years, the Tang Dynasty has been plagued by frequent military rebellions, and the leaders of the previous dynasty are inevitably worried. It is a blessing to have a crown prince who can make them sincerely obey."
"Oh, if it weren't for the divination, it would indeed be a happy event. But a wily and foolish monarch would surely bring disaster to the country!" The emperor said in a cold voice, looking at the old eunuch with suspicion. "But you, when did you become so appreciative of the Crown Prince? Ever since you entered my chambers, you've been speaking up for him."
The old eunuch fell to his knees with a thud.
"Your Majesty, I am a loyal servant, and heaven and earth bear witness to my loyalty! I simply feel that the Crown Prince's testimony this morning has proven him to be a capable man, and Your Majesty can rest assured even if you abdicate!"
The emperor looked at him in silence.
The old eunuch's fear grew even greater. In a moment of panic, an idea struck him. To protect his position, he simply dragged Xiao Wan'er into the fray. "Besides, divination is said to be able to foresee the future, but who can truly say? Even if Princess Kangle's predictions are true, now that His Majesty, the Crown Prince, and the court officials are aware of them, we can surely avoid these ominous futures."
The emperor seemed to be persuaded by him.
"You have a point." There was no doubt in his tone anymore.
The old eunuch breathed a sigh of relief.
The emperor asked him again, "Did you already know what happened at the court this morning?"
He felt all the hairs on his body tremble.
The emperor was in a good mood to comfort him: "Don't worry, I'm just asking you."
"Yes." Feeling no malice, the old eunuch told the truth.
"I understand," the emperor waved his hand, "you can leave."
The old eunuch retreated with peace of mind, not knowing that that afternoon a eunuch who had just been promoted to the emperor's side was demoted to clean the Taiye Lake.
That night, an imperial edict fell from the sky and knocked him down.
"Impossible!" He refused to believe what had happened. "I accompanied His Majesty from the time he was Prince of Ji to the time he became Emperor again. How could His Majesty demote me to a place of retirement?"
"Why not? Don't you know what you've done?" The eunuch who had come to announce the decree had always been at odds with him. Seeing him so broken, he sneered mercilessly, "His Majesty is still allowing you to live in honor because you've been with him for so many years. Or do you also want to join your apprentice in becoming the lowest eunuch sweeping the Taiye Lake?"
The old eunuch knew that everything about himself had been exposed. He stopped crying out for justice and calmly accepted the imperial edict, then followed the eunuch who delivered it into the carriage that was to take him out of the palace.
The carriage drove out of Chang'an and stopped at an imperial manor outside the city. This would be the residence that the old eunuch would not be allowed to leave until his death.
It was already night, and in Yongchangfang, Xiao Wan'er opened her eyes.
"Senior Sister!" Seeing her open her eyes, Liu Mingyin, who was guarding her side, called out to her in surprise, "How's your breathing control going?"
"Basically, I'm fine. The healing pills you gave me were given just in time."
After returning home, Xiao Wan'er remained in the courtyard, cultivating her breathing, while Liu Mingyin and Mingshu served as her guardians. Large-scale divination exercises were inherently costly, and being interrupted mid-sentence only exacerbated her injuries. Fortunately, Liu Mingyin immediately administered ample amounts of healing elixirs, and with their help, she was nearly fully recovered in less than a day.
"You're finally safe, that old bastard!" Ming Shu still gnashed her teeth in hatred when she thought of the old man from the Longxi Li family. "He forcibly interrupted your divination, and he must have suffered a severe backlash. Should we take action?"
She raised her hand and made a gesture of wiping her neck.
Xiao Wan'er fell into deep thought. Undoubtedly, this was an excellent opportunity. There weren't many opportunities to seriously injure a Half-Step True Realm expert.
But most of all, she shook her head.
"Ah? Why?" Mingshu was obviously frustrated.
"Your Majesty should be watching right now," Xiao Wan'er was certainly tempted, but she didn't dare act. "At this moment, the more you do, the more mistakes you'll make."
"Okay." Mingshu nodded helplessly and accepted her statement.
What Xiao Wan'er didn't know was that it made no difference to Mr. Li whether they went or not.
Inside the Eastern Palace, the imperial physicians and medical practitioners stood in a long line around Elder Li's bed. No matter which of them approached to take his pulse, they all came to the same conclusion—Elder Li was beyond help, and his time was numbered within a few days.
Elder Li himself was quite open-minded and even comforted the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, don't be sad. Even cultivators cannot escape birth, old age, sickness, and death. I was able to resolve the crisis for Your Highness before I pass away. If I could make Xiao Wan'er suffer a heavy blow, it would be a well-deserved death."
This old man, Li, also had another identity: the grandfather of the previous commander of the Divine Dragon Guard. Upon learning that his most talented grandson had died at the hands of Xiao Wan'er, he immediately emerged from retirement and, like his predecessor, joined the Crown Prince's army to avenge his father's death.
Stopping Xiao Wan'er's divination made him feel happy, but it was not enough.
"Your Highness, on the pretext that I am about to pass away, please allow Your Majesty to come over."
The prince agreed, and at dawn the next day, eunuchs from the East Palace rushed straight to the emperor's bedroom.
The old man from the same clan who had one foot in the realm of returning to the truth asked to see him before his death. Even if the emperor was angry, he could not directly refuse his request.
In less than half an hour, the emperor's carriage had stopped in front of the East Palace gate.
"Your son greets the Emperor." The Crown Prince had been waiting in front of the gate of the Eastern Palace. Upon seeing the Emperor, he bowed respectfully and greeted him, but the Emperor ignored him and went straight into the Eastern Palace.
The eunuch who invited him to the East Palace pretended not to see anything and just led the emperor to the door of the old man's room, then bowed and left.
In front of the East Palace gate, the prince's trusted eunuch lowered his head and whispered to the prince, "Your Highness, His Majesty has already gone in."
The prince then stood up straight, put his clothes in order carefully, walked into the East Palace, and stood on the inside of the gate.
Elder Li had already dismissed all the servants from the room and closed the door. No one knew what he had said to the emperor. Everyone in the Eastern Palace only knew that the emperor was furious when he left, even mocking the crown prince who was guarding the gate, "You truly are my good son."
The prince was calm and composed, still looking like a filial son: "Your Highness, I respectfully bid you farewell."
The emperor turned away.
That evening, Elder Li, the most formidable of the Longxi Li clan cultivators, a mere half-step away from achieving the state of returning to the true self, passed away in meditation within the Eastern Palace. Deeply grief-stricken, the Crown Prince established a mourning hall in the Eastern Palace. Civil and military officials offered their condolences, but the Emperor remained silent throughout.
On the day of Li Lao's funeral, the emperor summoned all court officials of the third rank and above who were not under the Crown Prince's command to the Purple Palace for a political meeting. This meeting lasted all night, until dawn, when these officials went directly to the Xuanzheng Hall with the emperor for court.
The ministers first took their places, and then the emperor, under the eunuch's loud shouts, sat on the throne. Xiao Wan'er could clearly see from below that the emperor was in a very bad mood.
She had been feeling a sense of unease since early morning. Sure enough, before the morning court session ended, the emperor announced his abdication. Along with the abdication decree, three other imperial edicts were issued.
He promoted Princess Taiping Zhenguo to the title of Princess Taiping Zhenguo Da Chang, and granted her a golden medal of immunity from death, which exempted her from all crimes including the Ten Evils; he moved Prince Song Li Chengqi to be the Governor of Puzhou, and Prince Shen Li Chengyi to be the Governor of Yizhou, and chose a day to leave Chang'an with Prince Bin and Governor of Youzhou Li Shouli; he promoted Princess Kangle Li Wan'er to the commander of the Shenlong Guard, demoted the former commander of the Shenlong Guard, Pei Yingguan, to the deputy commander of the Shenlong Guard, and returned the position of abbess of Biyun Temple to Princess Kangle.
As soon as the court was announced to be over, Xiao Wan'er had not yet walked out when the eunuch who was close to the abdicated emperor asked her to see the emperor.
As soon as Xiao Wan'er saw the emperor, she received a secret decree before she even had time to pay her respects.
"Kangle, Chengqi, Chengyi, and Shouli were all cursed twice by that old villain from the Longxi Li family. The first curse has been lifted with the abdication decree, but the second curse states that if Sanlang dies, they will be buried with him. This curse cannot be dispelled even by the caster's death."
Xiao Wan'er's heart skipped a beat.
"Kang Le, you are already the strongest cultivator I can entrust to you. I give you ten days. After these three leave Chang'an City, you must remove the curse for them. Do you understand?"
"I obey your order." Xiao Wan'er immediately accepted the order.
When the emperor saw that Xiao Wan'er accepted the order straightforwardly, his attitude softened.
"Thank you. If Taiping is dissatisfied, please inform her. This is the best solution I can offer while striving to protect everyone."
Xiao Wan'er agreed, then bowed and took her leave, leaving the Daming Palace as quickly as possible.
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