Title: Infinite Power Over The World
Original title: 权倾天下[重生]
Author: 叶默凉(Ye Moliang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
WARNING: Descriptions of violence, blood and gore ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Three days later, Emperor Chongde prepares to set off and confront the enemy himself. He stood in the hall as Empress Xu assisted him in putting on the armour. This armour was the one he’d worn when he’d seized the throne decades ago. As he gazed at the armour he was wearing, his thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to that year.
Back then, he was still an egotistical youth. For the sake of obtaining the status and power he wanted, he staged an armed rebellion and slaughtered all the brothers by his side. Right now, he still recalled his eldest imperial brother throttling him by the neck with all his might before he died and rebutting: “Murong De, sooner or later, you will have retribution!”
During that time, he utterly snubbed those words. He’d already seized the throne, so what retribution would he have? But when he made the association with the situation of the crown prince’s tragic death and the rebellion of the fifth prince, he couldn’t help but bemoan that the world was unpredictable. Eldest Imperial Brother was indeed prophetic.
Emperor Chongde stood motionless in front of the bronze mirror, bedecked in his armour. He stared at himself in the mirror, and it was totally different from his energetic appearance decades ago. He’s middle-aged now and no longer as heroic as before. He also doesn’t know if this battle expedition was able to defend his throne.
With a heavy sigh, Emperor Chongde bade Empress Xu to leave first, while he remained there and bemoaned. Back then, he disregarded familial relations. He killed all his brothers and his parents. Only then was he able to trade that in for the current throne. Who would’ve thought that the retribution for all of this would be inflicted on himself?
When the thought came to mind, Emperor Chongde couldn’t help but feel a sense of desolation in his heart. He has made it to this day. Not only does he not have anyone around him who can inherit his throne, but he still needs to set out personally to protect his position. How miserable this was!
Now that the crown prince and the fifth prince are dead, his status is actually being threatened by a number of royal relatives. The more he thought about it, the more enraged he grew. But it was too late to overly lament. He lifted his gaze and headed out. No matter what, he can’t let those people snatch away his throne—absolutely not!
Flipping himself onto his horse, Emperor Chongde followed the army to arrive outside of the city. He would be facing the troops of those vassal kings. Emperor Chongde narrowed his eyes, and after a long silence, he signalled to Li Xian with a look. Li Xian understood and said loudly to one of the leaders, “Yang Zhen, if you surrender immediately, your life shall be spared!”
Unexpectedly, Yang Zhen raised his head and gave a loud laugh upon hearing this. Not only did he not display a fearful expression, but instead he said in a stern voice, “Murong De, you’re at your end now. Hand over the throne obediently; otherwise, This King will completely annihilate you!”
Emperor Chongde was furious when he heard the words; without another word, he raised his hand and swung downward. In all his decades on the throne, he’d never been subject to such petty annoyances. If he didn’t kill him, he wouldn’t be able to quell the hatred in his heart!
The two armies began to fight, and the sounds of swords facing each other followed. Emperor Chongde took the lead and charged to the front. With the sword in his hand, he slashed at the soldiers around him. Blood splattered, staining his armour red, but he didn’t care. He continued to hack and kill.
Although he still maintained the dignity of leading the army, his body wasn’t as good as it was before. When Emperor Chongde swung his sword, he clearly detected that his body couldn’t keep up, and his movements gradually slowed down.
At the same time, Murong Heng came out of the shadows. In order to deceive others, he dressed in the uniform of a common soldier. As he eyed the figure of Emperor Chongde slashing his sword on the battlefield, a sneer appeared on the corners of his mouth, and he raised the bow and arrow he was holding. When everyone wasn’t paying attention, he released his finger and let the arrow fly!
Emperor Chongde had to lamentably admit that he was truly old. After so much killing, his body had lost strength. But his thoughts braced him; he couldn’t collapse. His entire body was covered with blood, and his body suffered a few small cuts from the enemy soldiers surrounding him every now and then.
Just as he raised the sword in his hand and was about to hack off the head of a soldier, there was a sudden exclamation from the crowd. Emperor Chongde was taken aback and subconsciously turned his head to look, only to see a feathered arrow piercing through the air and flying over. Before he could react, he was shot forcefully in the chest. The powerful recoil caused him to fall off the horse!
“Your Majesty!” Li Xian saw this scene not far away and hurriedly spurred his horse over to Emperor Chongde’s side. Using the people around him as protection, he hauled Emperor Chongde from the ground and sped his horse towards the city.
Due to Emperor Chongde’s injury, the soldiers invariably chose to withdraw their troops and return to the city. The vassal kings wanted to take advantage and follow up a victory with a hot pursuit, but the city gates were already shut. Arrows were continuously fired from the city entrance, just like when Murong Chong led them in the attack. Therefore, they had no choice but to retreat first and fight again another day.
After Emperor Chongde was delivered into the imperial palace, all the imperial doctors were summoned over to examine him. The leader, Imperial Doctor Li, placed his finger on Emperor Chongde’s wrist. His brows were furrowed, and he bore a serious expression.
Emperor Chongde lay unconscious on the bed. After a while, Imperial Doctor Li withdrew his fingers and ordered all the imperial doctors to prepare for the removal of the arrow. Once everything was ready, he held the feathered arrow on Emperor Chongde’s chest firmly with his hands. Just as he was about to pull it out, Emperor Chongde woke up.
“Your Majesty, you have been struck by an arrow. This subject must remove the arrow for you. Please be patient.” Imperial Doctor Li said seriously. He asked the imperial doctor next to him to fetch the anaesthetic soup for Emperor Chongde to drink, then stuffed a soft towel into his mouth. He moved to place his hands once again on the arrow in his chest.
Emperor Chongde was extremely weak at this time, and he didn’t have much strength to speak. He turned his head to spot Doctor Li’s serious expression, and it took all his energy to nod, indicating to him that he could pull it out.
With a deep breath, the arrow abruptly separated from the body, ripping off a good deal of flesh with it. Emperor Chongde’s eyes bulged; he instantly sat up straight and quickly slumped back onto the bed. He assumed that a seasoned soldier such as himself wouldn’t fear this sort of pain. But many years of living the good life in the imperial palace had long altered his physical condition, so it was no longer as sturdy as it was before. Therefore, it was natural that he couldn’t bear the pain.
Gasping in large breaths of air, Emperor Chongde’s vision kept turning black, and he couldn’t see clearly. He sensed that Doctor Li was tending to his wound. When the medicine powder was sprinkled on the wound, it triggered a second bout of pain. He inhaled sharply and, after a while, passed out.
It was already late at night when Emperor Chongde awoke again. He turned his head and noticed Empress Xu keeping watch by his bedside. His own upper body was naked, and his chest was covered with gauze. His torso felt as if it were on fire, so he wasn’t cold even if he was just lying there. Seeing that he had woken up, Empress Xu hurriedly asked for the imperial doctor to be called.
Doctor Li entered from outside with all the other doctors. He carefully inspected Emperor Chongde’s injuries, and after a while, he breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “Fortunately, there was no poison on the arrow. As long as Your Majesty takes a good rest, you will fully recover soon. However, this battle…” He said tactfully, trusting that Emperor Chongde would comprehend.
“This Emperor… understands.” Emperor Chongde’s voice was extremely soft. The injury on his chest was terribly painful, and his body was covered with sweat. He hadn’t suffered such an injury for many years. Back in the day, he wouldn’t care when he suffered such a trivial wound on the battlefield. However, he’d been accustomed to the pampered life in the imperial palace, and now this injury was more than his body could bear. Fortunately, he veered his body at the critical moment, the arrow missed, and his heart was not injured. Otherwise, not even the Great Immortal Luo would be able to save him.
After Doctor Li and the others left, Emperor Chongde asked Empress Xu to withdraw as well. He lay on the bed alone. The pain in his chest made him feel a sudden throbbing in his head, and he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.
He had never believed in the cycle of retribution, but based on the current state of affairs, he had to accept it. He doesn’t know what will happen in the future. However, right now, he will do his utmost to defend his throne.
Time returned to the moment after Murong Heng fired the arrow. He watched with satisfaction as Emperor Chongde tumbled off his horse. Taking advantage of the chaos of the crowd, he withdrew and left. Upon his return to his mansion, he took a bath and tidied himself up.
After a change of clothes, Murong Heng readied himself to enter the imperial palace to see Emperor Chongde. These superficial actions still need to be duly performed, so he prepared his horse to enter the imperial palace and arrived outside the emperor’s hall.
After being announced by the palace attendants, Murong Heng strode into the hall. Through the screen, he could vaguely make out Emperor Chongde lying on the bed and hear his very light breathing. He appeared to be extremely weak at the moment.
Following some feigned words of concern, Murong Heng left. On the way out of the palace, he recalled the scene when the arrow shot into Emperor Chongde’s chest, and inwardly, he felt extremely refreshed.
It wasn’t that Emperor Chongde was fortuitous enough to evade the point of death, but rather that when Murong Heng shot the arrow, he deliberately didn’t place him in a fatal position. How can he be killed so easily?
When he arrived back at the mansion, Murong Heng walked into the room. Shen Ci hadn’t gone to rest yet, and he seemed to be waiting for him as he sat on the bed. Upon seeing him turn his head and smile at him, Murong Heng’s heart immediately softened. He came to sit down by the bed, took hold of Shen Ci’s hand, and asked softly, “Why aren’t you resting? Are you waiting for me?”
Shen Ci nodded slightly when he heard the words. He was indeed waiting for him to come back. “How is Emperor Chongde?”
“Lying in bed with serious injuries.” Murong Heng was extremely exhilarated when he thought of Emperor Chongde’s weak appearance. He vividly described to Shen Ci how Emperor Chongde looked after being shot by an arrow and laughed without abandon.
Shen Ci listened to him patiently without missing a single word. He could imagine Emperor Chongde’s miserable condition as he lay on the bed, and he felt uplifted inside.
However, he felt that it was letting him off the hook too easily to merely shoot him like this.
With this in mind, Shen Ci began to consider it carefully again in his heart. After a while, he told Murong Heng—who was beside him—all his views and attentively listened to his reaction.
“Use poison?” After hearing this, Murong Heng thought for a moment before nodding vigorously. Indeed, just shooting him with an arrow like this would be too merciful for him. It would be even better if they added some poison so that Emperor Chongde’s injury couldn’t heal!
Thinking of this, Murong Heng got up and went out to ask an undercover guard to locate a drug that could prevent a person’s wounds from healing for a long time. How could they allow Emperor Chongde to completely recover so easily? They would never be so lenient on him!
After giving the instructions, Murong Heng returned to the house, removed his clothes, and went to bed. As he held Shen Ci in his arms, his heart was filled with excitement. He could almost envision Emperor Chongde’s hideous look when he died, and he felt elated when he thought about it.
As they embraced each other and lay down, Murong Heng tightened his hold to allow Shen Ci to sleep more comfortably. He closed his eyes, but he couldn’t suppress his keyed-up emotions. When he becomes emperor in the future, the biggest star will be his Ah Ci. Without him giving counsel behind the scenes, he would not have succeeded so quickly.
In his previous life, he was alone, with no one to send him off when he died. The only person who gave him warmth was the person in his arms. In this life, he was stained with blood from head to toe and would seize the throne at all costs. Once he succeeds, he will shower all his feelings and love on Shen Ci.
If he didn’t have his Ah Ci, he himself would not be able to predict what he would look like now. With this thought, Murong Heng released a long sigh of relief. He lowered his head and kissed Shen Ci’s forehead, his gaze filled with tenderness.
His Ah Ci is the best person in the world.