With this breath, the old emperor became more energetic. His whole body seemed to regain some strength, and he wanted to sit up.

Concubine Ren and the eunuch Li Sizhe, who were next to the emperor, hurriedly supported him, while the palace servants beside him stuffed the cushions behind his back.

Ji Yuan glanced at the old beggar and said:

“Look, he’s been waiting specifically for you.”

The old beggar’s mouth twitched. The way Ji Yuan said it made it sound like he was being malicious, as if the other party were the victim. He had already been beheaded once, okay?

But now that it had come to this, they had to resolve this incident today. Moreover, judging by the old emperor’s current appearance, his state of mind had indeed undergone a dramatic change.

It could be attributed to the man’s impending death, but also to his experiences these past few years, which could be seen in the manifestation of his Qi.

The old beggar bowed with cupped hands to the old emperor.

“Your Majesty, do you still remember this old beggar?”

Things were different now than they had been in the past. Seeing the old beggar again at this moment, the old emperor naturally no longer held the arrogance he had in the past. Seeing the old beggar bow, he also cupped his hands in return.

The surrounding princes, concubines, and ministers all assumed that the old emperor drinking the ginseng soup was in order to give his final dying words, and they all waited attentively with utmost vigilance.

Seeing the old emperor bow, the princes and nobles all bowed in greeting together.

“I… of course… remember the Immortal Master…”

The old emperor’s words were much clearer than before, his voice no longer trembling. However, the ministers were baffled by his words.

Prince Jin frowned and glanced at the prime minister beside him. The prime minister shook his head in confusion, expressing the same bewilderment.

It was the head eunuch Li Sizhe who quietly informed the nearby princes and ministers.

“His Majesty may hallucinating… He was already mumbling to himself before everyone had arrived…”

Prince Jin looked at his father with mixed emotions in his heart. He was of course happy to receive the throne, but his teacher had just been buried, and now his father was in this state once more.

‘Even after decades of wielding imperial power, even he becomes like this in his old age!’

Prince Jin couldn’t help these swirling thoughts.

Although everyone else believed that the emperor was hallucinating, none of them interrupted him at this moment.

Ji Yuan waited for the old emperor to finish speaking before jokingly teasing him.

“Your Majesty, I brought you that person. Feel free to air out any grievances.”

The old beggar choked at Ji Yuan’s words. However, the old emperor was unable to punish him any longer, so the beggar smiled and asked once more.

“Your Majesty, if this old beggar were to ask you that same question again today, how would you answer?”

Emperor Yuan De sighed and forced a smile on his face.

“This Immortal Master has already told me that my fate is nearing its end, and I cannot live any longer.”

Indeed, after hearing this, the old beggar turned to look at Ji Yuan.

“Mr. Ji, haven’t you spoken everything you wanted to? Then why am I here?”

Ji Yuan hurriedly waved his hand.

“That is not the case. I just said that one thing, then went to find you. If you have any other things you wish to say, Mr. Lu, please do not refrain from speaking them. This is a matter of fate between you and His Majesty.”

The old beggar sighed and turned back to look at the old emperor.

“Your Majesty, outside this room are two daytime patrol ghost messengers from the underworld, both official envoys; four soul-binding messengers, all of whom were high-ranking officials in life; and eight ghost messengers, clearing the way holding dark umbrellas. All were stationed at the gates of the underworld. They are here to fetch you.”

When the old emperor heard these words, he felt a chill run down his spine, and his face subconsciously filled with panic.

“I… I am going to die soon?”

To one side, Concubine Ren watched the old emperor’s unfocused eyes and fearful expression, and clutched the emperor’s hands in anguish.

Only then did the old emperor turn to look at his beloved concubine, and clenched her hand tightly.

Several princes and some of the old ministers were also filled with grief. Although Emperor Yuan De was no sage ruler, nor did he possess great talent or wisdom, he had at least been a firm, strong-willed emperor throughout his life. Now, in his final moments, his intelligence seemed to be regressing.

Even though there were several highly skilled imperial physicians in the palace, at this point, nothing could be done to save him.

“Your Majesty will naturally die soon. Everything in this world will someday meet their end, even me, the old beggar, and Mr. Ji next to me.”

The old beggar looked at the way the emperor and Concubine Ren clasped each other’s hands and continued.

“I can also tell you that, despite the grand ceremony of the underworld messengers coming to fetch you, even if you are the supreme ruler of the mortal Yang realm, once you die and descend to the underworld, you will still be subject to the judgement of the Yin-Yang Division, and accountable to the Merits and Demerits Division, and punished by the Punishments Division of the underworld.”

The old emperor’s face grew even more frightened, but he didn’t speak.

“Of course, an emperor’s life is the most difficult to judge. Plus, with the sacrifices made to you in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, you will surely endure it all… This old beggar has said all this simply to inform Your Majesty that you have ruled Dazhen for decades, enjoying immense power and splendor, but a few short decades after the time of your death, you will be no different than an old farmer in the fields. Dust will return to dust in the end.¹

“Of course, Your Majesty’s life was undoubtedly far more splendid than that of an old farmer, but the emptiness of old age comes on far stronger.”

The old emperor opened his mouth to refute, but after looking at the crowd of princes and nobles who were respectfully waiting to see him off, he remained silent.

Ji Yuan then added a comment at this moment.

“Even so, in the world, out of ten thousand people, all ten thousand would want to be emperors.”

“Indeed, what Mr. Ji said is true!”

The old beggar sighed and looked back at the old emperor. He just spoken so much without a single objection from the old emperor. He wanted to encourage his open-mindedness, but there seemed to be no need to say more.

“If Mr. Ji hadn’t swept away that bloodstain, you and I would not have been able to stand together and talk so peacefully today. In my eyes, this is also fate. Your Majesty, if you wish to know anything else that does not involve the fate of the dynasty, you can ask me.”

When the old beggar said this, his expression turned solemn.

Hope rose in the eyes of the old emperor, a hope for continued life, but then it dimmed.

“At this point, I have nothing to look forward to. Instead, I would like to ask: how long will I live in the afterlife?”

Since the underworld was undoubtedly real, then the rumors about it must also be true. The old emperor was now a little curious about his Yin life span.

“Haha…”

The old beggar laughed.

“You will have to wait until you die before you know. However, I can tell you that even the wise emperors recorded in the history books often lived less than ten years after death. Most only lived for three to five years.”²

“Then, what about after that?”

“After that, your earthly soul will return to the earth, and your heavenly soul will return to the heavens. There will no longer be an Emperor Yuan De Yang Zong.”

The old emperor sighed and slowly closed his eyes. After a long moment, he broke away from Concubine Ren’s hand and bowed to Ji Yuan and the old beggar.

“Alright, thank you, Immortal Masters, for allowing me to glimpse the true face of an immortal.”

“Father!”

​​Prince Jin couldn’t help but cry out. The old emperor, hearing the concern in his voice, was moved to tears. He turned to look at his pale-faced son and but simply nodded without saying anything.

“Lord Yin has arrived! Prime Minister Zhao has arrived! Lord Yan has arrived…”

Faint voices could be heard from outside. Yin Zhaoxian and several ministers who had arrived late entered the bedroom, but they only exchanged silent greetings and bows before standing to the silde.

Whooooooo…

A silent gust of cold wind swept through the palace, sending chills down the spines of some ministers and nobles. As the old emperor watched, a contingent of ghost messengers slowly entered the room.

Now, the old emperor was no longer so afraid anymore.

This team of ghost messengers knew that Ji Yuan and the old beggar were present, so their presence was of no surprise. They first bowed in greeting to the two of them.

“Greetings, Immortals!”

After Ji Yuan and the old beggar returned the bows, all the ghost officials turned and bowed slightly but respectfully towards where Yin Zhaoxian was standing.

Yin Zhaoxian seemed to sense something, and he glanced sideways in confusion. A faint glow of righteous aura emanated from his body, and he could vaguely discern a blurry figure standing beside the emperor’s bed.

“Master Yin, what are you looking at?”

Yan Chang was also a person with keen senses, but he felt only a chill, and did not see anything.

“Oh, nothing!”

When the old emperor saw this scene, he focused intently on Yin Zhaoxian. As if he understood his confusion, the old beggar spoke.

“Yin Zhaoxian is a man of great unwavering righteousness. All the people pray for his safety, and even ghosts and gods admire him. He is a great scholar and a sage of this age, worthy of the respect of the ghost messengers.”

While the old emperor was undergoing this realization, the right envoy of the daytime patrol spoke.

“Yang Zong, your time has come. Your body and soul have already begun to separate. While you still draw breath, hurry and speak your last instructions!”

The ghost messengers had appeared a little early out of courtesy to Ji Yuan and the old beggar to give a warning. In any other case, they would normally only appear after the individual’s death.

The old emperor’s breath trembled as he looked at Prince Jin Yang Hao and waved him over.

“Hao’er, come closer, come closer.”

“Yes!”

Prince Jin stepped forward and leaned closer to the old emperor, who whispered into his ear.

“Yin Zhaoxian is a man of great talent and even greater wisdom. He can bear important responsibility. We must now allow him to be harmed by treacherous officials. Several other officials of the court, aside from Zhaoxian and Liu, are also capable ministers…”

The old emperor spoke rapidly, his voice growing increasingly agitated. Finally, a trembling hand clutched Prince Jin’s shoulder tightly, but he could not longer speak.

“Father? Father!”

King Jin looked at his father. His eyes were already closed.

“The emperor is dead!”

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

. . .

Outside, all the officials knelt, and all the concubines wept.

Ji Yuan and the old beggar looked at the old emperor’s body and watched his soul being carried away by the ghost messengers. Then the former spoke with emotion.

“I thought that Mr. Lu would ask again.”

The old beggar didn’t hide anything.

“Just now, for a moment, I truly did want to ask again. However, if he had agreed, wouldn’t he become a disciple with only a few breaths of remaining life?”

“Why not?”

Ji Yuan looked at him, spoke indifferently, and then left.

1. T/n: man that nihilistic philosophy kind of makes me feel small and terrified. I do not blame the emperor for being scared.
2. T/n: indeed, with all the power in the world comes great responsibility, and hard decisions. The merit and demerit of rulers and leaders probably comes out very balanced in this regard, as one individual’s great cruelty can be another’s great kindness. The trick is making sure the kindness is towards your people, and that your scales are tipped in favor even the slightest bit towards good.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read