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 blood and gore ahead. Proceed at your own risk.
Once the enlightened Fan Hu left, Murong Heng released Shen Ci, who’d been leaning against his chest, and continued walking ahead while holding his hand. The war was imminent, and the time between the two of them was diminishing. He doesn’t know what will happen in the future, but he will cherish the present.
Shen Ci left Murong Heng’s embrace. He clearly heard the earlier conversation between Murong Heng and Fan Hu. Although both of them had confirmed their relationship, they hadn’t made it public yet. Just now, Murong Heng’s move was simply to declare this fact to everyone.
Upon arriving at a place where no one was around, Murong Heng pulled the dazed Shen Ci to stand in front of him and asked softly, “What happened? Why’s your face so red?”
Shen Ci didn’t respond to his question and remained silent. Right now, the vassal kings had entered the capital, and the fourth prince was the emperor. It seemed that the whole world was under the control of the vassal kings. However, no one could say what would happen to this situation in the future.
“Don’t overthink.” Murong Heng said as he patted him lightly on the shoulder, assuming he was worried about Fan Hu’s opinion. When he saw that he was still in a daze, he directly pulled him into his arms, kissed his forehead, and said in a soft voice, “Ah Ci, you are mine.”
Regardless of what others thought, he was set on having this person.
“I wasn’t overthinking.” Shen Ci quickly explained, for fear that he might misunderstand. He reached out his arms to return Murong Heng’s embrace. No matter what happened in the future, he would never let go of him.
“Good.” Murong Heng’s heart turned into a puddle of spring water when he heard his words. He held Shen Ci’s hand and strolled around with him in the camp, not at all shying away from his relationship with him in the least.
He, Murong Heng, likes Shen Ci. The heavens and earth could be his witnesses.
After wandering around for a while, the two walked back. From a distance, Murong Heng noticed Feng Nan was standing outside the commander’s tent, bearing a plain cloth-wrapped bundle on his back. His gaze surging with joy, he turned his head and said to Shen Ci by his side, “Ah Ci, guess who’s here?”
Before he could open his mouth to guess, Feng Nan, who wasn’t far away, gladly ran over and said loudly, “Young Master, I missed you terribly.” Since Murong Heng was next to him, Feng Nan didn’t give Shen Ci a hug. He noticed that they were holding hands—inseparable and intimate. He could only give a gentle sigh and wish them well from the bottom of his heart.
These past few days, he’d been waiting quietly in the prince’s mansion. He’d witnessed the relationship between his young master and the prince get better and better. A few days ago, he’d unwittingly come across the two kissing in the moonlit night. It was then that he realised his young master had accepted the prince’s feelings. The two of them were officially together.
Initially, he felt dejected, but once he’d thought it through, all he could do was wish the best for them. It was fine as long as his young master was happy. He’d already planned out his own future from the start, right? It was great to be able to spend more time with him now.
“Feng Nan!” Shen Ci elatedly replied when he heard Feng Nan’s voice. He’d considered that it wouldn’t be safe for him to be alone in the capital. He never expected Murong Heng would brave the dangers to have him brought out. He must have noticed his worries a few days ago. With this thought, he pursed his lips and smiled before turning his head and saying to Murong Heng, “Murong, thank you.”
Murong Heng didn’t answer. He lovingly stroked Shen Ci’s hair. It was precisely because he knew Shen Ci was worried about Feng Nan that he had to get him out no matter what. Moreover, Feng Nan possessed martial arts skills, and he could more or less help in the subsequent war. Therefore, he’d sent someone to bring Feng Nan here without informing Shen Ci.
The three of them headed over to the tent together. Feng Nan gave a breakdown of the situation in the capital over the past few days. At present, the people in the city were in a state of anxiety and feared that they would bring disaster upon themselves. It seemed like the entire city had been enveloped in smog—things appeared extremely desolate.
When Murong Heng heard what was said, he began to ponder discreetly. Based on Murong Yu from his previous life, he would definitely make a major move in a few days, so it was better for him not to act rashly and observe the situation for a while.
After talking about the past for some time, Murong Heng noticed that Shen Ci seemed a little tired, so he gave Feng Nan a look. Having followed his young master for many years, Feng Nan could naturally see that Shen Ci was exhausted, so he left with a soldier.
“Rest for a while; I’ll call you for dinner.” Murong Heng supported Shen Ci as he lay down on the bed and carefully tucked in the quilt for him. Then he took hold of Shen Ci’s hand and sat on the side of the bed.
Shen Ci nodded lightly. His right hand was clasped in a warm palm. As he lay on the bed, he soon fell asleep. In his stupor, he felt Murong Heng kiss him on the lips before dozing off again.
Once Shen Ci was sound asleep, Murong Heng got up and left the tent.
****
A few days later, the new emperor, Murong Yu, attended court for the first time after ascending the throne. He sat on the magnificent dragon throne and felt a sense of excitement in his heart as he looked at the courtiers below the platform calling out their wishes for his longevity.
Murong Yu lowered his head indiscriminately and continued to feign cowardice. However, he sneered three times in a corner where no one could see. At the moment, he just needs to wait for an opportunity, and when the opportunity presents itself, he will immediately kill these vassal kings that don’t treat him humanely. He would repay all the suffering that they’d inflicted upon him one by one!
His attendance at morning court was thoroughly useless. Anyone with eyes could see that the new emperor was completely under the control of those vassal kings. As long as they were the ones saying it, he had no choice but to do it. To be this emperor was completely in name only.
After the court had adjourned, Murong Yu returned to the imperial study with his head lowered. When faced with the mountain of memorials, he felt the exasperation and helplessness of being an emperor for the first time. He glanced out in resentment, sat before the desk, and began to look through the memorials.
Unknowingly, the sky had gradually darkened. Murong Yu stretched out his waist. He was about to get up and go out for a walk when suddenly the door of the imperial study room was forcefully flung open. Yang Zhen led the vassal kings through the door. In his hand, he held a small, delicate bottle.
Murong Yu inadvertently took a few steps back. He stared at the bottle in Yang Zhen’s hand and asked in a trembling voice, “You… what are you going to do?”
Yang Zhen didn’t respond. He walked straight over and held Murong Yu’s body down, wanting to feed him the drug in the bottle. This bottle contained a kind of poison. It wasn’t deadly, but it would cause excruciating pain. There was no antidote. The poison could only be alleviated each time by consuming it continuously. Once the poison accumulates in the body, the victim is at death’s door. One could say that it was similar to being dead, although your body was still alive.
Murong Yu struggled ferociously. Without warning, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He’d been kicked by Yang Zhen! As he knelt on the ground in pain, blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. His jaw was lifted, and the drug was about to be emptied into his mouth.
No! He mustn’t be controlled by others! Murong Yu’s gaze gradually turned fierce. If he consumed this drug, he would never be able to re-establish himself again for the rest of his life! With this in mind, Murong Yu slowly clenched his fists to gather strength and acted as if he were weak. Just as he was about to be given medicine, he instantly kicked Yang Zhen violently in the abdomen with his knee when the latter wasn’t paying attention. He pulled out the sword from his waist and resoundingly stabbed Yang Zhen in the chest.
Murong Yu met Yang Zhen’s look of disbelief as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He stabbed him several more times. He glanced up to see the shocked gazes of the other two vassal kings. He raised his head skyward and let out a mighty roar, then charged over.
He’d endured for so long. At last, the opportunity had arrived. He doesn’t want to endure it any longer! He will kill them today!
The guards outside the door rushed in when they heard the commotion. Right now, Murong Yu was wielding his sword across the neck of one of the vassal kings, his body covered in fresh blood. He stared at the guards and shouted in a hoarse voice, “I am the emperor! Which one of you dares to mess around?”
Having heard this, the guards didn’t dare act recklessly out of concern for the life of the vassal king in his hands. Murong Yu laughed three times upon noticing this. He glanced down at the person in his restraint and said coldly, “I didn’t expect that; you’d ultimately die at my hands!”
“You…” The vassal king who was being held down by him never anticipated that the fourth prince’s martial arts were not as poor as they appeared, to the extent that he was “hiding his light under a bushel”. Could it be that his usual cowardice was just a false front?
“You guessed right, This Emperor is just faking it!” Murong Yu speculated what he was thinking and admitted it point-blank. He’d been pretending for so many years; this opportunity that he’d been waiting for had finally arrived today. This throne was his! Don’t anyone even think of stealing it from him!
When he was thinking of it this way, Murong Yu took one last look at the vassal king before him and swung his sword mercilessly. Blood spurted three feet high, covering his entire face and body. He resembled a bloodthirsty asura. No one had ever laid eyes on such a terrifying stare as that.
That night, something occurred in the imperial palace, but what exactly happened, no one knows. All the guards involved had perished. All the vassal kings who’d held power in the court also died at the hands of the new emperor, Murong Yu. That night, he walked out of the imperial study room soaked in blood. Everyone was terror-stricken at his demonic appearance.
From then on, no one dared to look down on the newly enthroned emperor.
The news reached Murong Heng’s ears within a few days. He wasn’t surprised in the least since he’d long deduced that Murong Yu would make such a move. As such, he immediately issued an order for the army to assemble and prepare to attack in a few days. The time has come for him to recapture the throne that belongs to him!
Three days later, the Iron Halberd Army set out from camp, with Murong Heng as the commander and Shen Ci as his military adviser. Tens of thousands of people marched grandly northward, in the direction of the capital.
At that moment, Murong Yu was drowning in the intoxication of female beauties. After he’d taken control of state affairs, he clearly sensed that the courtiers attitudes towards him had undergone an earth-shattering change, from the initial disdain to the current reverence.
In the past few days, he slaughtered all those who refused to obey him. He only needed two kinds of people in the imperial court. The first are those who are useful to him, and the second are those who obey him. As for those worthless ones that remained, it didn’t even matter if they died.
His arrogance and stupidity immediately aroused the anger of the courtiers and the common people, but for fear of his methods, no one dared to publicly say anything. In fact, if he caught wind of someone possibly saying demeaning things about him, he would immediately dispatch someone to have that person killed.
Being merciless was his manner and attitude towards life. After suffering for so many years, Murong Yu had enough of being bullied, and he will get even for each and every hatred that he suffered.
However, when he heard about Murong Heng dispatching troops, aside from being shocked, he was even more furious. Then he clenched his fists, and his eyes filled with rage. The fine porcelain cup shattered on the floor with a loud crash, its fragments spreading all over the ground.
He mustn’t allow anyone to snatch away the throne that had been so difficult to come by!