Upon hearing Emperor Xia’s words, a dead silence fell over the hall.
Everyone was frightened by the madness in His Majesty’s eyes. Was this still the same calm and composed Emperor of the Great Xia? This was clearly a madman, blinded by hatred and willing to do anything for revenge.
"I... obey the decree," the Minister of War, Jiang Mingyuan, was the first to accept the order. A strange light flashed in the depths of his pupils.
The decree was quickly issued, shaking the entire imperial court and country.
"The Southern Barbarians dared to kill even His Majesty’s Nanny! She was one of the people closest to him, even closer than the Empress. They’ve decided to drop all pretenses!"
"His Majesty has issued a death order, demanding the Southern King crush the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races. I’m afraid rivers of blood will flow in this war."
"But we’re still at war in the Northern Territory! How can the National Treasury sustain a war on two fronts? I heard it was even plundered not long ago."
"It’s just talk. It’s been so many years, and we’ve never managed to wipe out the Southern Barbarian Hundred Races. His Majesty won’t be able to do it this time either."
...
Discussions spread like a tide through White Jade City, interwoven with panic and anxiety.
Everyone felt that the great ship of Great Xia was accelerating toward an unknown abyss, with no way of knowing if the future held good or ill.
Yet amidst this chaos, some people had not forgotten their own petty schemes and were still courting death.
「At 11:45 PM, the candles in the Sleeping Palace of Wenhua Hall cast a dim yellow glow.」
Xia Wuyang wore only a loose, moon-white undergarment, leaning languidly on a brocade couch. His white hair was disheveled and draped over his shoulders, and his chest rose and fell with slightly ragged breaths.
His eyes were half-closed, the flickering candlelight reflected in his cloudy pupils. A faint sheen of moisture from the wine he had just drunk lingered at the corners of his mouth, mingled with the scent of cosmetics.
His entire appearance was that of a debauched, decrepit old man, his Essence Qi scattered. He seemed not long for this world.
Li Wan’Er appeared silently beside the couch. What she didn’t know was that Xia Wuyang had detected her the moment she arrived at the Eastern Palace. He had immediately left his Practice Room, put on a Disguise, and laid down here to wait.
She had changed out of the formal palace attire she wore during the day. Now, she was dressed in a soft, pale-green silk long dress. The skirt cascaded like water, outlining a still-slender figure that, despite her age, was not much different from a young girl’s.
Her long hair was loosely tied up, with a few stray strands falling beside her cheeks, making her gentle and beautiful face appear even softer in the candlelight.
She stood there quietly, her gaze fixed on Xia Wuyang’s face. A deeply complex emotion flickered in her eyes. After all, the man before her was the idealized love of her youth.
「More than fifty years ago, she had stood before him just like this.」
Back then, he was the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, in the prime of his life—spirited, ambitious, and as handsome as jade.
She was just an inconspicuous Little Palace Maid from the Empress’s palace. Because of her excellent medical skills, she had been transferred to the Eastern Palace to serve and had attended to Xia Wuyang for a time.
Xia Wuyang was kind to everyone. He often spoke to her with gentle words and a smile, and would sometimes ask her about interesting things from outside the palace.
A young girl’s affections had quietly blossomed during those days together. It was because of this lingering sentiment that she later volunteered to help Princess Jinping check on his physical condition and investigate his situation.
’And even if I did find something,’ she thought, ’I might not have told Princess Jinping.’
Back then, she never dared to reveal a hint of her feelings.
’He was the bright moon in the sky, and I was but dust on the ground. The distance between us was far, far too great.’
She had only dared to secretly sketch his profile as he reviewed memorials in the dead of night. Or, when she handed him a clean towel after his sword practice, their fingertips would briefly touch, and her heart would pound like a drum. Even now, the memory made her Heart Spirit tremble.
But later, everything changed, becoming difficult to accept.
The Crown Prince was deposed, and the Empress died of illness. Before all this, she had been transferred away, eventually ending up by Princess Jinping’s side and gradually becoming her trusted confidante.
Over the years, she had watched him fall, bit by bit, becoming crazed and muddle-headed.
Watching his hair turn white and seeing him become lost in wine and women, the affection she once held had long been ground by the years into a bitter sigh. Taking on this task of checking on his body periodically had only made her heart grow heavier.
It seemed the feelings she once had for Xia Wuyang were gone. But as his body weakened day by day, with rumors that he didn’t have long to live, those old feelings suddenly began to stir in Li Wan’Er’s heart once more.
Xia Wuyang had previously thought she was an old Nanny. Only later did he realize this "old Nanny" was actually younger than him, with looks that rivaled many of the concubines.
"Your Highness..." Li Wan’Er called out softly, her voice carrying a tenderness she herself didn’t notice. She dared to be so bold because she had secretly used a colorless, odorless sleeping drug, believing that Xia Wuyang and the beautiful women around him were all fast asleep.
As expected, Xia Wuyang showed no reaction, seemingly unaware of anything.
Looking at his increasingly aged face, he seemed like a candle flickering in the wind. She wondered if she would even have another chance to examine him.
Li Wan’Er bit her lip and slowly sat down on the edge of the couch, right next to Xia Wuyang.
She extended a slender, pale hand, its fingertips trembling slightly, and gently placed it on the part of Xia Wuyang’s wrist that was exposed by his sleeve.
His skin was warm to the touch, but slack, and his pulse was faint and erratic. This was indeed a sign of decay. It was possible he had at most a few months, or at least, only ten days to half a month left.
Yet a flicker of inexplicable hope remained in her heart. She pressed her fingertips a little harder, and a thread of pure Qi Blood silently entered his meridians. It traveled slowly up his arm, probing the true condition of his body—not just for the examination, but also for the sake of her own feelings.
Wherever her Qi Blood passed, his meridians were shriveled and atrophied. His own Qi Blood was as thin as a thread, almost nonexistent.
His meridians were empty, save for a few wisps of residual Qi Blood flickering like a candle in the wind. This was likely just a remnant from taking the Dragon and Tiger Elixir; he possessed no Cultivation of his own.
His heart pulse was weak, his kidney qi was utterly depleted... All signs indicated that this body’s oil had truly run dry, and its time was short.
Li Wan’Er’s heart sank bit by bit. She couldn’t resist feeding some of her treasured Celestial Water Essence to Xia Wuyang.
This was a Middle Level Mortal Treasure. Xia Wuyang himself had obtained some back in the day, and for him at that time, it was an incredibly rare treasure.
Xia Wuyang, who was only pretending to be unconscious, hadn’t expected Li Wan’Er to do such a thing. His Soul Enchantment Technique silently reached out and probed her surface thoughts, shocking him. The anger he had felt a moment ago vanished without a trace.
Just as Li Wan’Er was about to withdraw her Qi Blood, she suddenly felt a strange sensation at her fingertips.
On the inside of Xia Wuyang’s wrist, there was a tiny, old scar.
It was from many years ago, when he had been burned blocking a falling candelabra to save a Little Eunuch who had accidentally knocked it over. For him to go to such lengths for a Little Eunuch had deeply moved them all at the time.
The scar was faint, almost invisible, but her fingertips remembered it with perfect clarity.

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