CH 89.1

Translator – Xiao He Lian

Chapter 89.1

The capital.

Inside the Daming Hall1(The Daming Palace was the imperial palace complex of the Tang dynasty, located in its capital Chang’an. It served as the imperial residence of the Tang emperors for more than 220 years.).

Layers of thick bright yellow curtains almost obscured the figure lying on the bed, and one could only vaguely see the person lying on his back, his chest heaving with his ragged breath echoing in the pin-drop silence.

At the end of the bed stood a row of eunuchs and palace maids. They were like wood and even the sound of their breathing was kept to a minimum.

On the right of the eunuchs, stood a man dressed in black.

He is tall, with a straight back, his eyes slightly lowered and his faint gaze fell on the bright yellow dragon bed.

After a while, the emperor took a deep breath and said with difficulty: “I’m about to die.”

Shi Ye’s eyes moved slightly but his eyes and expression did not change at all and even his words did not fluctuate: “They have gone to find famous doctors from all over the world, so you should hold on for a while and wait for them to return.”

The emperor let out a chuckle and then coughed sharply.

“Your Majesty!” The eunuch next to him yelled worriedly and quickly trotted forward with his waist bowed and brought a cup of steaming tea to the bed, “Your Majesty, take a breath first and moisten your throat.”

The emperor turned his head and said hoarsely, “No need.”

The eunuch paused while holding the tea and retreated silently.

The emperor coughed a few times, and finally recovered and looked at the figure outside the curtain with cloudy eyes: “Thirty years of my life was a gift from your mother and I can die without regret.”

After saying this, his gaze dropped down and landed on Shi Ye’s leg, “Have you recovered?”

Shi Ye said, “Yes.”

The emperor seemed to want to laugh but felt a sharp pain in his chest. In the end, he pulled the corners of his mouth reluctantly: “In this way, I think those people will no longer have anything to say and I can also rest assured handing over the kingdom to you.”

A hint of what could be called confusion finally appeared on Shiye’s expressionless face, he was a little puzzled and abruptly took a few steps forward, passing through the layers of drapery, he finally got a clear look at the Emperor’s waxen face.

“Why?” Shi Ye said coldly, “Why do you say that?”

The emperor opened his eyes with difficulty and his gentle eyes fixed on Shi Ye’s face: “What are you talking about?”

“You know very well that I shouldn’t be in that position.”

In the past, even with the emperor suppressing them, those people in the court were dissatisfied with Shi Ye so they did not dare to say anything. Now that the emperor was seriously ill, those people knew that the emperor’s time was coming, so every day there were more and more memorials denouncing Shi Ye.

Even Shi Ye himself thought that the emperor gave him the hat of a crown prince just to control him and it was impossible for the emperor to pass on the throne to him.

He did not expect–

This emperor actually intends to help him to sit on the throne.

“You should,” the emperor’s eyes were misty and it took him a long time to concentrate, “You are the child of your mother’s empress, you are my firstborn son, the throne …… has always been in your hands, no one can snatch it away.”

Shi Ye smiled lightly and the warm candlelight shone on him, softening his face a lot, but the faint smile on the corner of his mouth was still cold: “Aren’t you afraid that I will destroy your kingdom?”

The emperor shook his head slightly, this action took him a lot of strength, he rested for half a tea before continuing, “I believe that you will be a wise ruler. You are smarter and more thoughtful than your brothers, the only shortcoming is that that incident brought you too much hostility but there are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people2((idiom) however good sth is, there is always sth better / in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself), there will always be someone to oppress you, isn’t there?”

After saying so many words in one breath, the emperor began to pant again, to the point of scaring the eunuchs at the side to come forward and carefully smooth his breath.

After finally getting the emperor to  ease His Majesty’s breathing, he raised his head with trepidation but from the corner of his vision, he saw Shi Ye’s face was gloomy.

The eunuch was startled and shivered violently, he was about to get up when Shi Ye strode forward.

The eunuch knelt on the ground with weak legs: “Your Royal Highness.”

Shi Ye’s dark eyes were full of coldness, he kicked away the eunuch who was kneeling in front of him and stepped directly on the edge of the emperor’s bed.

He bent down and stared directly at the emperor with cold eyes.

“Tell me,” Shi Ye snapped, “What do you know?”

Facing Shi Ye’s furious appearance, the emperor was neither afraid nor angry. He looked at Shi Ye calmly and said in a hoarse voice, “I know everything.”

“…”

At this moment, Shi Ye felt all the blood in his body rushing to his head, the veins on his forehead twitched and the hands holding the quilt on the emperor’s chest trembled slightly.

He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he managed to suppress the impulse: “You also know that I ……”

The emperor said: “I know.”

Shi Ye was shocked.

The emperor looked at him, his light-colored eyes filled with water: “The older you grow, the more you look like your own father.”

Shi Ye’s hand trembled violently and the shock in his eyes lasted for a long time before slowly dissipating. Soon, he restrained his expression and let go of the quilt he was clutching tightly .

“Since you knew that I was not your biological son, why did you pass on the throne to me?” Shi Ye lowered his eyes, his raven-feathered black eyelashes obscuring his eyes and it was impossible to see clearly the emotions in his eyes.