Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

55. A Mutiny

Translator: Flying Lines

State Yanling had a time-honored history which was full of mystical legends. According to History of Yanling: Founding: In ancient times, there was a demigod who put hundreds of wild beasts at his disposal, conquering and expanding lands to become the emperor. Later, when the neighboring nations were ravaged by wars, countless mortals flooded over and begged the demigod for shelter. The demigod pitied the mortals and took the refugees in. However, the mortals feared the beasts, so the demigod dismissed them and only let swallows stay as the emblem of the country. This was why the country was called Yanling: Swallow Spirit.

The mortals looked up the demigod as their emperor, who later married a beautiful outstanding mortal woman and had children. Their eldest son became the crown prince.

As the prince grew older, the demigod remained the same ageless face; when the prince took the throne, the demigod left, singing, leaving no traces to be found.

This was the legend of State Yanling, but the authenticity of it could never be verified. Yet, there was no denying that State Yingling was indeed a country with a profound history.

Till this day, the people of Yanling still believed and worshipped the ancient legends, firmly convinced that only those bore the blood of demigod was entitled to the throne, one of the reasons why Yanling still hadn’t fully united yet. Most commoners believed in demigod, and some didn’t and intended to overthrow the rule of the demigod descendants, and thus the Usurping Incident a dozen years ago.

Now standing at the height of City Hao, Su Jie remembered the what Zhou Zaiyue had said.

“Sixteen years ago, Lan Buhui, General Invincible entered the capital, started a mutiny and tried to kill the Emperor. The Emperor was severely wounded, and Lan Buhui’s subordinates led troops and broke into the palace.”

The Imperial Army desperately resisted against the rebelling troops. However, Lan Buhui was a master of miraculous military skills and wiped out the Imperial Army soon. The Emperor was dying. At that time, the Emperor had a son and a daughter, and the Empress was intelligent and resolute in that knowing the usurping, she immediately commanded two maidservants to flee with the five-year-old princess, and the Vice General of the Imperial Army and her close maidservant to escape with the three-year-old prince.

When the rebelling troops entered the harem, they found it on fire, with smog all around, servants either fleeing in helter-skelter or lying wounded or dead. The Empress had perished in the sea of fire, leaving no dribs of her body.

Lan Buhui killed the Emperor, but his daughter and son both escaped.

Lan Buhui selected a day and ascended the throne in the dragon robe.

Given the commoners’ belief in the demigod blessing the country, Lan Buhui, fearing to cause public resentment, daren’t to change the country’s name, which remained to be Yanling.

At that time, General Zhanbei Ju Liandao, meaning Great Sickle, was guarding the frontier and hadn’t learned the incident until months later, when it was already impossible to reverse the situation. General Zhanbei wrote a letter with his blood in front of every soldier, swearing to overthrow Lan Buhui’s reign and restore the ruling of the Su family.

In view that the family’s descendants fell outside without traces, and that wars would only do harm to the country and the people, General Zhanbei had only kept an opposing stance against Lan Buhui without resorting to immediate violence. Both sides were searching for the prince and princess.”

This was what Zhou Zaiyue had told Su Jie the other day.

“What does this have to do with me?” Su Jie wore an impassive look, unaffected.

“The Vice General is Su Shuche, and the maidservant is Jinzheng.”

“Where were you when the usurping happened?”

“… I was in the frontier on the Emperor’s order and lucky to survive.” Zhou Zaiyue’s eyes were streaming with tears of shame.

“How do you confirm by the jade pendant that I’m the son? Probably the jade has been traded many times and happens to become mine.”

“You take very much after the Emperor. I can’t be wrong.”

After a while’s silence, Su Jie asked, “I heard you lived in seclusion in the forest of State Yanhui. Why is that?”

Zhou Zaiyue dried his tears, his eyes gleaming, and there was even a smile at the corners of his lips, “I’m afraid I can’t tell you for now.”

“What if you can never find the imperial descendants? What will General Zhanbei do?”

“But after sixteen years of searching, we do find you at last.”

Su Jie was silent again.

Zhou Zaiyue’s expression was cordial.

“I hope you can go back to Yanling, give a hope to me, General Zhan and Yanling people…”

“Yanling needs you…”

The recalling came to an abrupt end.

Su Jie took a final glance at the westering sun in the distance and silently walked down the lookout tower.

The burning flames of clouds bloomed at the edge of the sky, just like Su Jie’s bloody-red clothes.