Song of Adolescence

Chapter 347 It’s Just All Under Heaven

Wang Pichuan continued sharpening his spear silently. "My Prince, what are your plans?"

Xiao Lingchen looked at the sea, and the sea breeze blew at his hair. He said lightly, "What if we return to Beili? What should we do?"

"We issue the order to assemble now. The day my Prince steps onto Beili, will be the day the Langya Army returns. The soldiers who scattered to all four corners of the land will gather and wait for us on the shore. Assemble the Langya Army, march to Heavenly Revelations." Wang Pichuan finished sharpening his spear. The tip of the spear gleamed in the sun.

Xiao Lingchen turned and leaned over. "Then why aren’t we going now?"

"We wait." Wang Pichuan put down his long spear. "We wait for the most opportune moment and someone will come look for us. There are people on the shore more anxious than us. They live near Heavenly Revelations and they know better than us when the most opportune moment is."

Xiao Lingchen pondered for a long moment, then he suddenly shouted, "Raise the sails! Set sail!"

"My Prince! What’s our heading!" A seaman hurriedly stepped forward and asked.

"To Heavenly Revelations!" Xiao Lingchen shouted.

"Heavenly Revelations? Heavenly Revelations is landlocked, sir. We can’t sail to Heavenly Revelations." The seaman was very confused.

"Then we ride our horses there! If we have no horses, we walk! Bring your blades, sharpen your spears, we’ll kill them all and leave no survivors behind!" Xiao Lingchen waved his sleeves and pointed towards the shore. "Don't worry. By the time we dock, there will be tens of thousands of soldiers and horses waiting for us." He turned his head and looked at Wang Pichuan. Wang Pichuan returned a calm look and asked faintly, "Why?"

"Because I'm thinking, rather than wait for them to come to me, isn’t it better for us to go look for them? This is our own fate. We should hold it in our own hands," Xiao Lingchen said solemnly. "When I want to do something, no one can stop me. When I don’t want to do anything, no one can force me. They can either choose to follow me or they can oppose me and fail."

Wang Pichuan chuckled. "Now you’re showing the true progeny of the old Prince. Little Prince, you’re very impressive."

"I'm not the only one who’s his true progeny. Don’t forget, there’s another one in Heavenly Revelations. He’s gone back," Xiao Lingchen said with a smile.

Heavenly Revelations City.

General’s Residence.

Ye Ruoyi was standing at the entrance to the study, watching her father silently.

Her father was writing.

Stroke by stroke, looking very serious.

He had been writing all morning, and wasted a lot of paper.

How long he had been writing was how long Ye Ruoyi had been waiting.

Finally, Ye Xiaoying put down the brush, and the calligraphy was ready.

There were only five words on it.

Loyalty, justice, ceremony, faith, and tolerance.

The word tolerance was written many times, until it was finally written one last time to complete the caligraphy.

"The year I met him, I was seventeen years old. I was the son of a butcher from the Ye family in Heavenly Revelations. I was holding the knife to chop meat and I looked at him. He said to me, I see you using a knife to butcher pigs and sheep, but you have an air to conquer all under Heaven. Are you willing to join me and fight for all under Heaven? I replied to him, Are you buying meat? If not, scram!" Ye Xiaoying laughed but did not continue.

Ye Ruoyi listened quietly without speaking.

Then, Ye Xiaoying continued, "Later, I became a commandant of the street patrol, and then a deputy general of the vanguard battalion. I fought in a few battles, everyone I knew was dead and I’m the only one who survived. The vanguard battalion was abandoned as bait. He was the only one who rushed over to rescue us. He dug me out of a pile of corpses. At the time, I thought that for him, I would give my life willingly."

"I’ve never heard Father tell this story," Ye Ruoyi said.

Ye Xiaoying shook his head. "It’s an old story. Later, I became a general of the cavalry, then the Upper General, then the General-in-chief. The previous Emperor bestowed me with the golden armor and the title, Golden Armoured General, but I was still willing to be a foot soldier to follow behind his horse. But that day, he died. He didn’t die on the battlefield, but on the execution ground."

Ye Ruoyi didn't see what happened that day, but she had heard many people talk about it. The virtuous Prince, all dressed in white, picked up the sword from the ground and slit his own throat on the execution ground. Everyone who witnessed it hid their faces and wept.

"The day I got the news, I was in Ningzhi, but was placed under house arrest. A month ago, Langya Prince had suddenly condemned me, confiscated my army tally and punished me to face the wall and self-reflect for a month. A month later, when I walked out of that room, all under Heaven had changed. I was still the General-in-chief, and the military forces were divided into three. I know that Mingde Emperor didn’t kill me because he wanted to prevent a mutiny. He allowed me to keep my position to appease me. For so many years, I also pretended to be appeased. I obeyed him in everything, and chose what I wanted to see. I continued being arrogant and despotic, and did not appear to be affected by the death of Langya Prince. I only wanted everyone under Heaven to know that I, Ye Xiaoying, did not hold a grudge against the Emperor because of Langya Prince’s death, but because I feared the Emperor’s power, I dare not be rash. This was the outcome everyone wanted, so I showed them what they wanted.” Ye Xiaoying paused, looking at the piece of paper. "I’ve tolerated it for many years. In fact, the word I’ve borne in my heart all this time was, rebel.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity to raise an army and rebel against the Emperor, to change the reign and appoint a new Emperor. Xiao Se was such an opportunity, but he’s Mingde Emperor’s son. The most he can do is merely succeed the throne and afterwards, exonerate. But now I have a better choice. All under Heaven should always have belonged to Langya Prince!" Ye Xiaoying declared solemnly.

"All these years, even I couldn’t see through my father's heart." Ye Ruoyi sighed.

Ye Xiaoying's eyes seemed to light up with flames. "I had already given up. I didn’t want everyone under Heaven to think that Langya Prince had really rebelled. I’m opposing the Emperor now because the throne should have been Langya Prince’s in the first place. Now, I have something that can prove it."

"Father, did you see the scroll?" Ye Ruoyi asked in surprise.

Ye Xiaoying was taken aback for a moment. "You know about the scroll too? Looks like Xiao Se is really not so simple, but we’ve come to this point. No one can stop me anymore." Ye Xiaoying lowered his head, suddenly lifted the paper in front of him, and split it into two with his palm. "I won't tolerate this anymore."

Ye Ruoyi sighed softly. "This daughter understands."

"But you can tell Xiao Se, whether he’s on my side or he opposes me, he won’t die. His friends won’t die either. This is my promise to him. You may take your leave."

Outside the General's Residence, a carriage was parked there quietly.

Ye Ruoyi walked out of the General's Residence. Steward Xu lifted the curtain of the carriage and Xiao Se was sitting inside. He glanced at Ye Ruoyi.

Ye Ruoyi shook her head gently.

Xiao Se nodded, lowered the curtain, and whispered to Steward Xu, "To the Lanyue Marquis Residence."

Red Prince Residence.

Xiao Yu was standing on the eaves of the roof, surveying the entire Heavenly Revelations City. He laughed and said, "This storm covering all under Heaven is finally about to rise."

Outside Heavenly Revelations City, a single rider on a horse was galloping at full speed on the road.

"Langya Prince, Langya Prince, all under Heaven are always calling this name. But, are you worthy of this name?"

Out at sea, a flag with a headless warhawk fluttered in the wind.

Xiao Lingchen stood at the bow of the ship and whispered, "Father, all under Heaven were about to forget your name. It’s time for us to remind them again."

In the Imperial Mausoleum, a chess piece was placed gently on the board.

"Here it begins."

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