Strange Stories

Chapter 506 Change the world
Such a grand scene had already stunned the two disciples.

After a long time, Xu Yi came back to his senses and said blankly:

"I heard from Lord Wan that the current emperor of the Xin Dynasty was once the protector of the Immortal?"

The little girl next to her was even more surprised when she heard this.

In fact, she was not from the Central Plains, nor from Qinzhou. She only saw this "master" displaying his magical powers and killing evil people in the mountains, so she wanted to become his apprentice. After following him to Fengshan, she spent most of her time busy in the mountains. No matter how much she listened to Xu Yi's stories about "Master Lin" and Wan Gong's stories about how powerful the monsters he had eliminated in the past were, she was always confused in her heart. It was far less comparable to a trip to Beijing.

"We have indeed walked together for a while." Lin Jue said, "But Mr. Luo is a great man in his own right. What made him what he is is himself and the times."

"Oh……"

"After offering sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, the coronation ceremony is completely over, and the world will be transformed from then on. When you are older, when you tell your descendants about it, you can tell them that you witnessed the day when the founding emperor of this dynasty ascended the throne in the capital. It was the first day and the first scene of the new dynasty.

Lin Jue said to them and looked into the distance——

Outside the north gate of the capital, there are a large number of elite soldiers and sentries. Even the heavily armored cavalry that have just traveled across most of the mountains and rivers are on standby at all times to ensure that no one dares to cause trouble here. However, in the far distance, there is a line of dust that is difficult to see and a slight roar that is difficult to detect. It is approaching this direction, then slowly slows down and stops on the top of the mountain.

There were two tall stone horses, with two Taoists, one big and one small, sitting on their backs.

"Your uncle and sister Ziyun have also arrived. I am going to see my old friend as well."

After the Taoist finished speaking, he turned into a breeze and left.

……

The preliminary preparations took several months.

As for the core ceremony which was supposed to take three to seven days, because the south had not yet been pacified and the people had been exhausted after the war, Lord Luo decided to keep everything simple, so he compressed it into one day.

Worship heaven and earth and announce the imperial edict.

Because Yubi County was once the land of Yu, the ancestor of the Luo family was named "Marquis Yu" and the country was named Yu.

Honor and reward the founding heroes and civil and military officials.

Pan Gong was re-ennobled as the god of the Weishui River, and ten temples were built for him along both sides of the Weishui River for future generations to worship him.

Because the King of Yue had retreated to Huizhou and Jiangnan, which were no longer places where the Wei River could not flow, the dispute over the god of the Wei River ended with Pan Gong regaining the throne and the Wei woman failing.

Although the new emperor had the same aura and style as the founding emperor of the Dayu dynasty, he did not abandon the Juxian Palace. He just made it independent again and no longer had it managed by the Ministry of Rites. He set up positions such as minister and junior minister, who were only responsible to the emperor and were responsible for dealing with all the goblins, ghosts, and strange things in the capital Qinzhou and even the whole world.

Master Nan Tianshi was appointed as the Minister of Juxian Mansion, and Master Yunchan was appointed as the Junior Minister of Juxian Mansion, and they were ordered to reorganize and clean up Juxian Mansion.

Officials are strictly prohibited from swallowing evil elixirs such as Wu Shi San, and are strictly prohibited from doing things that are immoral in the streets or in their mansions. It is even more forbidden to regard this as a romantic act, and to eliminate the unhealthy tendencies and evil spirits of the previous dynasty.

Remotely pay tribute to the ancestors of Longzhou Yubi.

Worship the Great Emperor Zixu and announce to the world that from now on all palaces, temples and shrines must respect the Great Emperor Zixu as their master.

Move the original statue of Tianweng aside.

Burn incense, play music and follow the ritual process.

He then rode back to the palace.

Doing this saved time and variables, and saved people's money, but it took a lot of Mr. Luo's energy, and even he felt tired.

And because it seemed like a landmark symbol, completing it made him even more tired.

There is a sense of loneliness amidst the fatigue.

There is a bit of regret in loneliness.

He didn't see the old friend at all today.

Until everything was over and he returned to the palace, sitting alone in his bedroom with candles lit and food and wine on the table, did the feeling of loneliness come over him in waves - this thing was not afraid of him at all, even though he was an emperor and had traveled across most of the world on horseback. Instead, it seemed to have borrowed his prestige, and thus became even more rampant and powerful, staying in the darkness and staring at him in silence.

The emperor, who is in his prime, is naturally not afraid and his heart is as hard as iron.

But the emperors who were well-versed in history books could not help but think, throughout history, those famous heroes and emperors, in their twilight years, was there anyone who had not been overwhelmed by this loneliness?
Until a breeze blew and the candlelight flickered.

The guard outside the door easily noticed this change. When he turned around, he saw the candlelight reflected on the window paper the silhouette of a six-tailed white fox, which was moving around like a monster, and there were also two human figures in the distance.

Just as I tightened my grip on the spear, I heard:
"Don't come in, he's my old friend.

"Back off."

As the guard retreated in silence, he heard a voice of relief from inside the house:
"The Taoist priest is finally here!"

"Lord Luo, how can you not come to the grand ceremony? How can you not come to see the changes in the world? Lord Luo, you don't know how many gods and immortals who are rarely seen in the sky came to watch your demeanor."

"Congratulations, Lord Luo, on becoming the emperor. I went to the north to look for the golden essence, but when I heard that you ascended the throne today, I flew back specially today."

"The fox also congratulates Mr. Luo! The fox has specially come here from the mountains as an old man!"

"When did you guys arrive?"

"I arrived in the afternoon, but seeing that Mr. Luo was at the ceremony, I didn't want to disturb him, so I watched from the dark." Lin Jue said, "Besides, I have gone to the mountains to practice in seclusion, and have not asked about worldly affairs for a long time. If Mr. Luo recognized me and greeted me, all the dignitaries and common people in the capital would see it, wouldn't it push me into the world again?"

"Today at the north city gate, the glow and the sound of horse hooves in the distance must be the two Taoist priests, right?" Luo Gong's face was filled with real bitterness. "If you had shown up at that time, I wouldn't have had to wait so long. I thought the Taoist priests had truly attained enlightenment and wanted to avoid the secular world to seek peace and quiet, and would no longer come to see me now. We will never have the chance to meet again in this life."

"It's not too late now..."

Lin Jue knew that this table of food and wine was prepared for him and others, so he sat down and poured wine. Old friends met today, and they did not talk about the throne or the military and politics of the world, but only raised their cups and asked:
"I haven't seen you for many years. How are you, Mr. Luo?"

"After many twists and turns, I have finally made it to this day." Luo Gong took the wine glass from him, and hesitantly sighed and said, "Master, I have no one to talk to now."

"Not even one left?"

"Not one left."

The newly enthroned emperor took off his dragon robe, and seemed to have returned to the warrior who used to travel the world alone with a precious sword in hand. It's just that the warrior's high spirits back then came from his youthful vigor and from the precious sword and spear he had inherited from his family. But now he is no longer young, and the spirit of the sword and spear has also moved to his dragon robe, and in the dead of night, it was taken off just now.

At this moment, what remains on the body are mostly wind, frost and fatigue.

"Those martial arts masters who followed me out of the capital back then either lost their lives in the subsequent battles, or became powerful and wealthy, becoming generals and treating me as the emperor. Now the interests of all parties are too deeply involved. Even the gods want to seek incense from me. The way I talk to everyone has changed. Sometimes I really feel that not only the Taoist priest has become an immortal, but I am no longer a human being."

"Where's Nangong?"

"Mr. Nan is upright and unchanging, but when I handle things, even if I try my best, I may not be able to satisfy him as I did in the beginning. I don't know if the way he looks at me will change."

"Emperors are often like this." Lin Jue advised, "Since you have reached this position, you should be a good emperor and don't forget your original intention."

"Then please rest assured. The reason why I sit on this rotten chair is that I think others are not as good as me as emperors." Lord Luo tightly grasped the wine glass, with a heroic spirit in his heart, "I will rectify the atmosphere, investigate corruption, eliminate bandits, balance the north and the south, and give the people a peaceful and prosperous world!"

"I hope so."

"Where is the Taoist priest now?"

"Deep in Maple Mountain."

"Can Luo see the Taoist priest again?"

"Now Lord Luo is an emperor, busy with government affairs, and I have also achieved enlightenment and have gone to the mountains to practice asceticism. But every time Lord Luo celebrates his birthday, I will still come to congratulate him. Even if it is inconvenient for me to come, I can still use magic to meet him in his dreams." Lin Jue said with a smile, "Unless one day, Lord Luo has forgotten our friendship, then I will not come again."

"So good!"

Mr. Luo raised his glass and clinked it with him: "Perhaps one day, I, Luo, will become the incompetent ruler that I cursed when I was young, and I will need the Taoist priest to wake me up."

"Haha, I don't mind doing this..."

"If you can't wake me up, please chop me to pieces!"

Today's emperor has just ascended the throne. He is full of heroic spirit and great ambition. He speaks these words from the bottom of his heart without any psychological burden.

Lin Jue raised his head and glanced up at the sky: "Then I dare not kill a founding emperor with a sword."

"Hmm?" Lord Luo was keenly aware of his glance. "Are there gods listening to me right now?"

"Those who were there before, when I came, they left."

"Since I came to the capital, spirits have often appeared in my dreams." Lord Luo frowned and his face darkened. "I have never heard of such a thing happening to emperors before."

When Lin Jue saw him like this, he knew what the gods had told him to do in his dreams.

It must be some kind of meddling.

Given the temperament of the northern gods, even if they were just offering suggestions, it would probably be difficult for them to be as tactful and gentle as in the human world.

If it were an ordinary emperor, he might have listened to it.

The founding emperors were all dragons among men, with unparalleled elegance and immense pride. They would never think that they were superior to gods just because they lived in heaven and died a few years earlier than themselves.

People like Luo Gong dared to draw their swords and slay gods when they were still a commoner. Now that he has fought in the north and south and founded a dynasty as emperor, he is even more so.

"The previous Tianweng advocated inaction, allowing the gods to develop freely and the human world to govern itself. Today's northern gods are indeed more overbearing than the previous gods, and perhaps they will interfere more with the human world."

"I see."

Luo Gong's face calmed down: "It's rare for us to meet, so let's not talk about these. Let's talk about old friends and past events."

That was our first meeting in Huizhou.

The mountain that moved silently is still there. The emperor said that he would go and take a look at it again when he leads his troops to the south this year.

He also said that after they parted, Mr. Luo rode a horse to Huizhou, and met the current King of Yue. However, the King of Yue at that time was a descendant of a local noble without real power, and Mr. Luo at that time was just a warrior who came from a declining general family and left home to go south to make a living. No one had ever thought that the two of them would be at war with each other in the world today. They could only sigh that fate was mysterious and destiny played tricks on them.

Talk about the monsters and gods in Weishui River.

Although Lord Pan won, the fight between gods is restrained and elegant after all. In addition, Lord Luo and the Wei girl were old acquaintances, so he did not completely wipe her out. Instead, he let her stay in the Wei River. However, her statues and tablets were not allowed to enter the river god temple, leaving her to practice her own beliefs and survive on her own.

He talked about the battle with Dazu in the north, about the Snow Lotus Society that he had also heard of, about how he led his cavalry on a raid in the ink-black mountains, and about how a Taoist priest once guarded there and exorcised demons.

The past twenty years have passed, all in this night talk.

Several years of ups and downs passed by with a sigh.

Even the junior sister listened attentively.

Only the fox was not worried. It felt that the house was large and old, with hanging towels and tassels everywhere. It could not help stretching out its claws to play with them. It tasted a few dishes and saw many vases and antique utensils in the house. It could not help but come closer to take a closer look to see what was inside.

Let the Taoist priest mumble there.

Before I knew it, it was dawn.

(End of this chapter)