Chapter 110
On the day of Yunkai's succession ceremony, the entire Yunxiang City was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and flowers and cypress branches were hung in front of every household's bamboo building. The elephant-foot drum and zither had been playing non-stop since he left the palace to receive the Buddha's blessing at the official Buddhist temple.
The leaders who were attending the ceremony in the Buddhist temple had subtle expressions when they saw that Li Shengmeng had only sent the eldest son of the Tao family to attend the ceremony.
After purifying himself at the Guanfo Temple with water once offered to the Buddha, Yunkai donned the crown symbolizing his chieftain status and rode an elephant for a parade. The elephant servants, leading the elephant, waited at the temple gate. When Yunkai emerged, they instructed the elephant to kneel. The servants set up a ladder, and Yunkai climbed onto the elephant's back, using it as a stepping stone.
Armored soldiers cleared the way, while young women carrying bamboo baskets filled with flower petals scattered them skyward. To the steady beat of elephant-foot drums, resounding gongs, and majestic trumpets, the onlookers waved and cheered as their new king, seated in an elephant sedan, arrived. Seeing their future king, crowned and adorned in a gold-embroidered ceremonial robe, tall and graceful, he seemed like the reincarnation of Zhao Shutun. This made countless young women blush and their hearts flutter.
Yunkai smiled and waved back, then suddenly spotted Yueming in the crowd. Standing at the back, she looked at him with a look of relief mixed with a hint of sadness. He was stunned, unable to believe Yueming had actually come.
Her big cat-like eyes sparkled in the sunlight, and she seemed about to cry. Yun Kai felt extremely embarrassed when she looked at him like that, as if he was stripped naked and paraded through the streets.
He had actually thought of a solution that wasn't a solution, and he couldn't wait to tell her, but he was turned away every time he went to her house. Even when he asked his third sister to come, Changsheng politely refused to see Yueming. Finally, one day, he ran into Yueming on Paifang Street, walking out with Yehu. He used his old trick again, silencing Yehu and Aiye and having Feng Xiaosai drag them away. He then led a helpless Yueming into their favorite restaurant.
As soon as they sat down, Yueming complained to him, "If you want to talk, just talk nicely. Why did you have to do this? You scared the two girls out of their wits.
He said with a look of grievance: "Your family won't let me see you."
Yue Ming was surprised and asked, "Isn't this as it should be? We've both called off our engagement, and if we meet again, people will gossip about us."
Looking at Yueming's indifferent expression, he pleaded, "Don't talk to me in that tone, okay?"
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes and his haggard complexion, Yueming steeled her heart and turned her face away, saying in a bitter voice, "What are you going to say? Congratulations on your impending ascension to the throne?"
Yun Kai was speechless for a moment. He picked up the teapot and poured her a cup of tea before saying, "Can you wait for me in Kunming? After I deal with those traitors, we can get married. I've figured out a way to eradicate them completely in a few years."
Yueming remained silent, just looking at the teacup in front of her.
Yunkai had thought Yueming would be delighted to hear the news, would raise an eyebrow and ask him exactly what year it was, and maybe even hit him and scold him for wishful thinking. She definitely wouldn't be as indifferent as she is now.
He raised his finger eagerly: "I swear, I can really take care of them. I won't let you wait for me in vain. I don't want to marry anyone else but you."
Yueming sniffed, holding back the tears that threatened to fall, and said quietly, "I never doubted your love, so I broke off the engagement without a fight. But Yunkai, this is the last thing I can do for you."
Yun felt a chill on his back. He asked sadly, "Why? I've never doubted your love. You love me, so why are you willing to leave me? Why can't you wait for me a little longer?"
Yueming said calmly, "Over the years, it seemed like you'd been waiting for me to grow up, but in reality, it was me who was waiting all along. I waited for you to become mature and steady and gain Dad's approval; I waited in Bangkok for you to finish your business and come back to the mansion to talk to me; I waited for you to come and marry me after you returned to Yunxiang. I stood there waiting for you, so you could see me the moment you turned around. But what I waited for was a breakup you couldn't even bring yourself to say."
Yun Kai was filled with sorrow: "I have disappointed you, haven't I?"
"I'm not disappointed." Yueming shook her head. "Your choice is right. The women and children in the mansion, the people in the city, all depend on you. If you really choose to run away with me and abandon them, I will be truly disappointed in you. I know you will definitely find a way to deal with those who force you, but it won't be done overnight. I can imagine how fierce their struggle and counterattack will be, and the dangers you will face."
"Since you can figure this out, why don't you give me some thoughts and wait for me in Kunming? I will definitely come to pick you up when I'm done."
Yueming's expression suddenly took on a certain resoluteness and sharpness. "Because this is the path you chose. No matter what the cause and effect are, this is your choice. Why should I wait for someone who has no relationship with me anymore?"
Anger instantly filled Yun Kai, and he sternly said, "Say it again, do you dare to say we have no relationship?"
"You didn't argue when you should have, but now you're arguing!" Yueming was stunned for a moment, then laughed at Yunkai's angry face: "Let's leave a good impression on each other! We can't look back on the past and only remember that we almost got into a fight when we last met."
Yun Kai calmed down and asked with a tone that seemed to be both angry and resentful: "Can't you wait for me for a few years? I've already begged you so much."
"In a few months I will be 19 years old." Yueming said, "Looking back on these 19 years, my studies have been fragmented, I have only a vague understanding of the family business, and the love I longed for is gone. I can say that I have accomplished nothing in the past 19 years, and I don't want to be like this anymore! You already have a path to take, and it's time for me to think about what path I should take. Yunkai, let's leave it at that between us!" His tone was gentle, but with an uncompromising aura.
Yun Kai felt his heart tremble after hearing this, unable to speak for a long time, staring at her almost frozen. He knew that from now on, no matter what path she took or what she did, it had nothing to do with him.
Recalling this, Yun Kai, sitting in the elephant sedan, felt a wave of bitterness. He had vowed to be her hero, to make her proud, to have her admiring him. Yet, he betrayed her for the throne beneath him. He recalled how, when he had gone to break off the engagement, she had managed to maintain a strong smile, yet she didn't know how to hide the trembling at the corners of her mouth. Every time he recalled this scene, he felt his blood run cold.
He kept repeating to himself: Don't look at her, just don't look at her. But he couldn't bear to move his eyes even a little.
Yueming looked up at Yunkai, who was slowly approaching in his elephant sedan. She had never seen him dressed so formally. He was dressed in a full suit, classical and solemn, like the immortals painted on temple murals. He waved solemnly and majestically to the cheering people.
She had seen what she wanted to see, and could leave without regrets! Yueming said to him silently in her heart: "Let us say goodbye like this, and never meet again in this world."
Changsheng came behind her and whispered something to her. Yueming nodded, took a last look at Yunkai on the elephant's back, and resolutely turned and left.
Watching Yueming's figure, carrying her cowhide backpack, drift further and further away, Yunkai panicked. Was she leaving? Was she abandoning him? The thought of being separated from Yueming from now on snapped a knot in his brain. Just as he was about to jump off the elephant's back and chase Yueming, the cannon blasted. His senses returned, and he straightened up, staring straight ahead, continuing his parade.
His heart felt like it was being torn apart by a wild beast, and he forgot who had told him that the process of recovering from pain was often more painful than the pain itself.
He had to think carefully about who told him that, and he had to ask him: He could endure the pain, but how long would it take for it to pass?
Back in the meeting hall of the Tusi Yamen, I took off my gold-embroidered sandals and climbed the stairs. With each step I took, the view in front of me widened a little.
Sitting cross-legged on the chieftain's throne, the ceremonial officer announced, "Kneel down and pay respect to our supreme Anyazhao chieftain, the respected Hanyun Kaifa."
Yun Kai watched coldly. Those kneeling below were his ministers. They were kneeling respectfully on the ground, without any of the arrogance they had when they had forced him before.
Revenge was never a quick fix. He would cook them slowly, like a broth. Their own ambition would only fuel their own destruction.
As expected, on the first day of the meeting, these people revealed their greedy faces. First, they cried poverty, saying that the harvest was poor and the people were starving, let alone paying taxes. Then they mourned the death of the chieftain, saying that the old chieftain had always been kind and treated the people of Quan Yunxiang like his own children. If he were still alive, he would never have watched Yunxiang's people starve to death.
Yun Kai laughed at their impatience in his heart, but a look of worry settled on his face as he said with embarrassment, "My father's passing seems to have taken away all of Prime Minister Quan Yun's blessings. I ascended the throne so hastily and have little experience. Since this year's harvest is bad, let the grain collection office and the tax collection office discuss whether to reduce taxes or release grain."
The laid-off circle leader glanced at Yun Kai and sneered inwardly, "Why are they playing dumb? Are they doing all this just to get a few bushels of rice to cook at home?"
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