Chapter 1 After the Nine Tolls

After the nine tolls of the bell,

The entire city of Yanjing was plunged into immense grief, with wails echoing in every street, alley, courtyard, and house.

The people of Yanjing had long known that their emperor's health was failing. Regardless of whether the mystical act of hiding Fu Zi in Yanjing to sever the dragon vein was true or false, their emperor had been recuperating in the back garden for quite some time. If his body could truly withstand the affairs of state, why would His Majesty need to leave his palace?

But,

Knowing was one thing, having a premonition was another,

And actually hearing the toll of that bell,

In an instant, it was still a bolt from the blue;

Their emperor had passed away just like that?

In their minds, even if the emperor was unwell, he would still recover. Even if the emperor was on his deathbed, he would certainly not die;

He was the emperor,

He was the supreme ruler of Great Yan,

He,

Should truly live to be ten thousand years old, as they cheered him.

"Your Majesty… Your Majesty… Your Majesty…"

An old man knelt on the street, crying out loudly.

He was not a noble or an official; he was just a vegetable farmer. Therefore, his cries had no other purpose, and no one would monitor whether a vegetable farmer was truly grieving;

Because no one cared, it seemed all the more real.

The old vegetable farmer lived by selling vegetables. He had three sons. The eldest son died in battle on the Wangjiang River, the second son was stationed at Nanwang City, and the youngest son was still young.

His old wife passed away a few years ago after being heartbroken by the news of their eldest son's death.

The old vegetable farmer was left to raise his young son alone;

Last year's campaign against Chu, coupled with the domestic disaster, led to a doubling of the tax rate in the market, making life very difficult.

Logically speaking,

He should hate, at least, in the poems of the Qian Kingdom's scholars, the people of Yan should hate their emperor who exhausted the country's resources through endless wars, a tyrant who the people wished they could devour his flesh and drink his blood.

But the old vegetable farmer did not,

He was crying,

Repeating "Your Majesty" over and over again,

His pain and sorrow came from the bottom of his heart.

He sat on the ground, an old man, yet he was like a child, constantly hitting the ground with both hands, wailing with tears streaming down his face.

When he received the news of his eldest son's death,

He just wiped away a tear and forcibly restrained himself. He was a man, a grown man, how could he cry like a woman?

But today,

He didn't care about saving face or anything else. He just wanted to cry, he just wanted to shout.

No one on the street laughed at him, because many people were crying.

The shopkeeper lay on the counter, wiping away tears incessantly, and the shop assistant leaned against the door, his eyes red.

Many passersby who had been rushing earlier were now sitting by the roadside. Everyone was immersed in this immense atmosphere of grief, and each of them was a part of this atmosphere of sorrow.

Most of them had never actually seen the emperor, even when he left the palace for inspections, and didn't even know what he looked like, but today, they felt genuine sorrow from the bottom of their hearts.

Outside Yanjing City,

Because winter was approaching, some refugees had already migrated here;

Although the court had made extensive re-arrangements and provided relief after last year's locust plague, there were still many impoverished people who, with the desire to survive, came to the capital early, hoping to rely on being under the Emperor's feet to get through the winter.

The government had also made preparations for relief, and porridge distribution had already begun.

But when the toll of the death knell rang,

Many refugees who had just received their porridge did not rush to devour it, but silently placed the porridge bowls on the ground, with chopsticks placed horizontally across the bowls.

They wanted to stand the chopsticks upright, but the porridge was too thin and not rice, so it couldn't stand.

They were also crying, they were also wailing.

It was clear that the emperor's years of military campaigns, conscripting labor and draining the country's resources, had led to a natural disaster that left them with no means to continue their impoverished lives;

But, they did not believe this was the emperor's fault;

The Emperor,

Was not wrong.

This was not a blind and foolish belief, but because it had only been a hundred years since the people of Yan had truly stopped suffering from the threat from the desert.

A hundred years was not enough to erase the memories passed down from their ancestors. The barbarian soldiers crossed the border, the butcher knives were raised, and countless Yan warriors followed the emperor on expeditions. Although it had faded in the history books, it still circulated in the streets and alleys, or in the stories told by the elderly to their children and grandchildren.

The people of Yan still remembered the pain of war reaching their own doorsteps, and the suffering of foreign troops trampling on their land;

Therefore,

The people of Yan could actually understand their emperor.

By defeating all foreign countries and foreign tribes, subduing them, and ensuring their own safety, they could guarantee that the flames of war would not burn into their own homes.

For this reason, being a little hungry and emptying their family's savings, the people could truly understand.

Of course, the premise was that the wars Great Yan had launched against foreign countries in recent years had been great victories, which made the people's endurance even stronger.

Since they had been winning battles all along,

That was good,

They would tighten their belts and help His Majesty defeat the foreigners. After that, they could live a peaceful life.

Even from the perspective of Marquis Zheng today, this idea was correct;

In the past, Marquis Zheng also thought that the foolish people were easy to fool and knew nothing, but gradually, he began to understand the profound meaning of the saying: "The eyes of the masses are sharp."

Look at what the people of Jin have suffered in recent years. Jinxi was a little better. When the iron hooves of Yan came, they did not deliberately commit massacres, because the Yan court wanted to incorporate Jin into its territory rather than burn, kill, and loot and leave. But even so, soldiers were like bandits, living off the enemy's land. Don't even think that the Yan army that had just entered would not commit any crimes; that was unrealistic.

As for Jindong, it was truly a tragedy;

The barbarians invaded, looting the population, and Jindong was almost completely empty;

Later, when the Yan army confronted the barbarian Chu coalition, the barbarians and Chu people, who were short of food, even captured the nearby Jin people to use as two-legged sheep for food.

It was truly miserable;

Later, the reason why the Pingxi Marquis Manor was able to extensively absorb refugees in Jindong while starting to grant military land for cultivation was also because the original population on this land was almost gone, so there was no resistance at all. Anyway, it was all unclaimed land, and you could do whatever you wanted.

Could you play the same game in Yingdu, Litian City, or Yanjing?

Natural disasters, well, they could endure it and hold on. After spring, they could look forward to things getting better. At the very least, if they really had nothing to eat, they could flee to the capital,

Because,

Their Emperor was here.

Now,

The Emperor had passed away.

…

"Creak…"

The door of the room was pushed open from the inside.

The one who came out was Ji Chengjue, his face covered with blood, which was his father's blood.

Behind him, the Crown Prince was still kneeling there, his soul lost.

And outside the door,

Lu Bing and Wei Zhonghe slowly knelt down.

"Your subject, Lu Bing, greets the new Emperor, may His Majesty live ten thousand years!"

"This servant, Wei Zhonghe, kowtows to the new Emperor, may His Majesty live ten thousand years!"

They were the most trusted and closest people to the Yan Emperor. They had long suspected some things, not to mention that although the two were standing at the door, the movements inside, even every word, could not escape their ears.

The Emperor's death and the new Emperor's enthronement were often the most chaotic times for an empire.

When the old Emperor of Chu died, it immediately triggered a rebellion among the princes. When the Emperor of the Ji family's previous generation ascended the throne, the princes even competed and fought in Yanjing City;

However, the Yan Emperor would never allow such a thing to happen after his death.

A great emperor of all time seeks not only glory in his lifetime but also peace after his death;

Arranging his affairs before and after his death with his own hands,

Was the true fulfillment.

The heads of the two Great Yan Fanzi agencies were the best assistants the Yan Emperor had arranged for his successor;

Not to assist the new Emperor in governing the country and bringing peace to the world,

Wei Zhonghe did not have that ability, and Lu Bing, in fact, did not have that ability either;

But they were enough to help the new Emperor smoothly get through this period of time, so that nothing would go wrong.

Ji Chengjue reached out,

Wiped the blood off his face,

Took a deep breath,

Looked at the two kneeling before him,

And said:

"Father, has passed away."

"Your Majesty, the death knell has already sounded in the palace, and the news of His Majesty's passing is known throughout the capital. According to the ancestral system of Great Yan, when heaven and earth change, the new Emperor should be established first, and then the state funeral should be held.

Please enter the palace first, Your Majesty."

The ancestral system of Great Yan inherited from the past, and in fact, many systems were constantly being modified. The Yan Emperor modified them especially during his reign;

But some things were basically retained by successive generations, and etiquette was one of them.

And establishing the new Emperor first and then holding the state funeral was also because the Yan Kingdom needed to face external threats at all times in those years. There was more than one Emperor who died in battle during a personal expedition. Therefore, the new Emperor was first established to deal with the situation, and the funeral affairs were put aside for a while.

The affairs of the living were taken care of first, and the affairs of the dead were put aside.

This was out of practical consideration in those years, but even though the Yan Kingdom had been doing much better in the past hundred years, this ancestral system had not been changed, in order to make the new Emperor think about the difficulty of starting and maintaining the business of his ancestors.

The Qian and Chu people scolded the Yan people as barbarians, believing that the Yan Kingdom was a country of tigers and wolves, and part of the reason came from this. Since ancient times, the Yan people have regarded etiquette as toilet paper and do whatever makes them comfortable. They are definitely not a country of etiquette and are ashamed to associate with them!

"Father, has everything been arranged?"

"Your Majesty, the late Emperor had already arranged everything properly." Lu Bing replied.

Ji Chengjue nodded,

And said:

"Wait a moment."

"Your subject obeys the decree."

"This servant obeys the decree."

Ji Chengjue turned around and walked back, entering the room.

The Yan Emperor,

Was still sitting in the chair,

In his chest,

Was stabbed a dagger.

However, the Yan Emperor's face did not show any pain or resentment, only a sense of relief.

"Alas."

Ji Chengjue sighed,

Walked to the side of his father's remains, reached out, and picked up the three imperial edicts placed on the coffee table.

Candles were lit in the room.

He placed the edict conferring the title of Xiao Qi (Little Seventh) in front of the candlelight, watched it burn, and threw it on the ground only when it was about to burn his fingers.

Even so,

He continued to watch until it was completely burned to ashes before moving his gaze away.

Then,

He took the remaining two imperial edicts and walked to the Crown Prince's side.

With the imperial edicts clipped under his right arm,

He bent over,

With his left hand,

He supported the Crown Prince's arm and helped him up:

"Second Brother, get up first, let's do things first."

The Crown Prince nodded and slowly stood up, but still couldn't help but turn his head to look at his father.

"Don't look, he's been liberated, and he's also comfortable."

Ji Chengjue pursed his lips,

"Let's go, let's explain things first."

"Yes… Your Majesty."

When Ji Chengjue pulled the Second Prince out of the room, he saw the Old Madam standing behind Lu Bing and Wei Zhonghe.

The Old Madam slowly knelt down,

And saluted Ji Chengjue.

Ji Chengjue stood there and accepted it.

After the Old Madam got up with Lu Bing's support,

Ji Chengjue looked at her,

And said:

"Please, Grandma, adorn Father's remains."

When an old friend leaves, the elders of the family should be chosen to wipe his body, dress him in his shroud, and put makeup on him, so that he can have a good last journey.

The new Emperor will enter the palace first, and then the Yan Emperor's remains will also enter the palace.

Earlier, Lu Bing and Wei Zhonghe had paid homage to the new Emperor early, and they had not even cried, not because they were in a hurry to curry favor with the new Emperor, but because they knew what they should do now.

As the confidants of the late Emperor, they had no time to grieve now, and even wiping away a tear was a luxury. Only after settling the new Emperor according to the late Emperor's wishes could they perhaps have time to think about how their Emperor had left.

The Yan Emperor died in Lu's residence, which was actually very convenient, because although the Lu family had a group of incompetent clansmen, it was, after all, Lu Bing's residence, and there were many trustworthy subordinates inside, so there was no problem in handling the situation here.

As for how the Yan Emperor died, he naturally died of illness, and it was impossible for the Sixth Prince to stab him to death with a dagger.

Today, those who know the whole story are only a few of them.

Later, the people who the Old Madam took with her to organize the late Emperor's remains will also be quickly silenced.

The late Emperor's last wish,

Was for the new Emperor he had chosen to ascend the throne with a clean slate.

The Crown Prince,

Will read out the edict abdicating his position as Crown Prince;

Wei Zhonghe or Zhao Jiulang will read out the edict establishing the Sixth Prince as the new Emperor.

The knife wound on the late Emperor's body will be covered up;

Even if someone in later generations wants to smear the new Emperor, they will not be able to fabricate any "shadows of candles and sounds of axes" on the matter of succession.

Even if the new Emperor really committed regicide.

But the late Emperor would still give him a "righteous and aboveboard" justification.

Ji Chengjue sat in the carriage arranged by Lu Bing, and the Crown Prince also sat inside.

Wei Zhonghe drove the carriage,

And Lu Bing also sat in the carriage.

At the same time, Lu Bing's subordinate yamen and the Secret Intelligence Division also received orders from their respective bosses at almost the same time, and began to operate in full force, all for the smooth progress of the new Emperor's affairs.

Ji Chengjue's face had been wiped clean, and the clothes on his body had also been changed.

Sitting in the carriage, leaning back, his eyes were open, but in fact, he was not really thinking about anything.

The Crown Prince lowered his head and sat opposite him.

At least, he was still the Crown Prince now;

"Second Brother."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Ji Chenglang raised his head when he heard the voice and looked at his sixth brother.

"Don't change your address yet, change it later."

"Okay, Sixth Brother."

"He's gone, this family, this country, now we have to rely on us to support it."

Ji Chenglang nodded and said, "I'll help you for a year, and then I'll resign and return to the mansion to read and revise books."

There was no hypocrisy, no affectation, everything seemed very direct.

At this moment,

Ji Chenglang had long lost the energy to fight or compete for anything, he had already submitted;

From the moment he saw the Sixth Brother grabbing his father's neck, from the moment he saw the Sixth Brother stab his father's chest with a dagger,

He was afraid, extremely afraid,

But at the same time, he felt liberated.

Father was gone, and Mother was gone. Hatred and resentment seemed to be stripped away from the subject at once.

What he had to stay and do was to act, and he had to help with some things in the new dynasty. At the same time, he also knew that his sixth brother would arrange a very important position for him.

He had to use his actual actions to inform the world that he was deposed and his brother was established as the Emperor was truly the will of his father, and that he, the Crown Prince, was not forced to abdicate.

Of course,

There was nothing to be wronged about, and it didn't even count as acting, after all, he had personally seen that it was his father who passed the throne to his sixth brother.

"Revising books will cost a lot of money." Ji Chengjue actually said this at this moment.

Ji Chenglang smiled,

Indeed,

Revising books costs a lot of money, it is a big project.

"Father fought for the world, you rule the world, I always have to find something to do, just to leave some real culture for Great Yan, so that when my Yan people deal with the Qian and Chu people, they won't feel insecure when they are said to have no culture.

Most importantly, after Father's departure, I'm afraid that after I lose my energy and spirit, my body will have problems.

If I, your brother, really get sick and leave early, I don't care about myself, but it's not good for you, Sixth Brother."

Ji Chengjue nodded.

Princes are like eels, and the Yan Emperor is like a dogfish. Without the stimulation of the dogfish in a group of eels, it is easy to become lifeless, and then die quickly.

"Wait two more years, the national treasury is currently running rats."

"This is not urgent."

The two brothers, at this moment, after their father's death, actually showed true brotherly harmony.

The departure of the late Emperor took away the estrangement between the brothers.

Ji Chengjue was not sure whether his old man had calculated this before his death.

The carriage had entered the street.

The cries of the people on both sides came, and the brothers were instantly surrounded by the sadness of this capital city.

Ji Chenglang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Ji Chengjue then opened his mouth and said:

"Eunuch Wei."

"This servant is here."

"Can I issue a decree now?"

In theory, he could not, after all, the new Emperor had not yet ascended the throne, and even many ministers did not know that the new Emperor of Great Yan was not the Crown Prince but the Sixth Prince.

But, in reality, with Wei Zhonghe and Lu Bing here, at this moment, the imperial edict could be directly used to transmit the late Emperor's last order;

Well, the effect might be better than that of the new Emperor.

"Your Majesty, you can certainly do so."

Ji Chengjue nodded,

And said:

"Transmit the decree, order the Marquis of Pingxi to transfer the Jingnan Army outside the city into the capital."

——————

The plot of the previous two days consumed too much of my emotions and energy. In addition, I had to forcibly reverse my work and rest schedule today, so my brain was basically empty and numb during the day, so there is only one update today; In fact, I have the plot in my mind, but I am not satisfied with writing it out without the right state, so I will sleep and write it well tomorrow.

Thank you for your rewards and votes these two days, I really appreciate everyone.

When I first wrote *The Descent of Magic*, I said in the single chapter that *The Descent of Magic* is a book for me to practice writing, so when I decided to publish the book, I was already prepared for the results to decline significantly compared to my previous book, *Late Night Bookstore*. I just wanted to write happily and enjoy myself, and it would serve as a way to train and settle myself. After all, I plan to take writing books as a lifelong career. If I want to pursue results, I can wait until later, there is no rush, sharpening the knife does not delay the work of chopping wood.

Therefore, it cannot be said that *The Descent of Magic* is a transitional work, but it can be said that it is a new attempt. At first, I wrote infinite flow, then horror, um, and now I write *The Great Yan War Records*.

And now the results of *The Descent of Magic* are that the average subscription is not as high as *Late Night Bookstore*, but other data have exceeded the bookstore. It is only a matter of time before the average subscription catches up.

Well, a book for practicing writing can actually have the opportunity to surpass my book with the Great God contract,

Hands on hips,

I am so proud, I have made myself so awesome.

Therefore, I will continue to write with great enthusiasm and seriousness in the future, and will not disappoint everyone's support for me.

I think the happiest thing for an author is that when you are seriously dreaming a dream, there are still many people who support and like your dream.

Dreams will not let people down.

Hold on to everyone!