Chapter 495
Chapter 495
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 495
>Chapter Title: Boss
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When Li Huowang had just reached the entrance of this grand palace, he was stopped by a towering guard who looked to be at least three meters tall. “No weapons allowed inside the palace!”
This massive guard had an enormous upper body but disproportionately short legs, making him look especially uncoordinated and bizarre. His face was concealed by a bronze mask, leaving Li Huowang unable to tell whether there was a man or something else inside.
After the guard grabbed the Purple Tassel Sword and the copper coin sword from him with one hand, he retreated back into the shadows, standing as still as a statue.
Li Huowang entered the hall. He saw that the vast interior was supported by numerous red pillars, each one carved with a coiling, lifelike golden dragon—an especially magnificent sight.
Such opulent decorations didn’t look like those of a bedchamber at all.
Before Li Huowang could observe much more, a delighted voice from the distance drew his attention. “Come here, quick!!”
The speaker was the young emperor of Great Liang. He was dressed in black-red imperial robes and kept waving at Li Huowang. If not for the eunuchs holding him back, he would have rushed over already.
Li Huowang stopped three zhang away from him and performed a Daoist salute. “Er Jiu pays respects to Your Majesty!”
At this, Ji Lin could no longer be restrained by the eunuchs around him. He dashed right up to Li Huowang, his face full of urgency as he said, “Er Jiu! You have to help me!”
Li Huowang was utterly baffled by this sudden outburst and stood there silently, waiting for him to continue.
“My imperial father was right—our brothers are making their moves! They want to steal my throne!”
Deep fear showed in Ji Lin’s eyes. “I—I don’t even have to be emperor. I’d be fine as a carefree prince, but—but not only do they want the throne, they want to kill me too!!”
“Of course they do. You don’t seriously think they’d spare your life out of brotherly love, do you?” Li Huowang thought to himself.
This trouble wasn’t his anyway, so Li Huowang felt no urgency at all. He was purely in spectator mode.
“Your Majesty, as a member of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau, I am bound by ancestral precepts. No one is allowed to interfere in court politics.”
“You’re lying! Then why does Third Brother have people from the Celestial Surveillance Bureau on his side?!” the emperor of Great Liang immediately retorted loudly.
His voice then grew quieter. “I’ve heard the eunuchs talk about you. They say you’re incredibly powerful, right? You’re the one who brought in that spirit aberration. You’ve got some pull in the Bureau, don’t you?”
“Do you know? Right now, aside from these eunuchs, I don’t know who to trust in the court. They all have their own agendas. I don’t even know if some of them have secretly defected to someone else!” The young emperor’s voice began to tremble.
“Back during the Shangsi Festival, you warned me about that scam, so your heart must be in the right place, right? I’m begging you—come help me! I really don’t have anyone else I can turn to!”
“And do you know anyone in the Celestial Surveillance Bureau? If you can bring some over to help me, I’ll bestow titles and ranks on them all!”
Li Huowang couldn’t help frowning at this. Even someone like him, who knew nothing of imperial politics, could see how utterly naive this young emperor was.
He was trying to recruit allies from outsiders like himself. Without even a single advisor by his side, in this cutthroat battle royale for the throne, he was likely to be the first eliminated. “Your Majesty, forgive Er Jiu’s incompetence. I cannot take on such a heavy responsibility.”
The moment Li Huowang refused, Ji Lin flew into a rage. “I’m the emperor—you have to obey me! Or else I’ll have your head chopped off!”
This made Li Huowang’s anger flare up inside. “Maybe I should defect to one of his brothers and find a chance to kill this kid myself?”
Just as he was thinking this, Ji Lin’s tone suddenly softened. He grabbed Li Huowang’s hands, practically pleading, “Er Jiu, help me out. Just this once! I really have no other options. I don’t want to die!”
Seeing the tears streaming down his face, Li Huowang felt a flicker of sympathy. But taking sides in a succession struggle was incredibly dangerous—one misstep and you’d be shattered to pieces. Besides, his own background wasn’t clean. If his identity as a heart elemental were exposed during the process, it would all be over.
“Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. Please allow me to return and give it serious thought.”
Hearing Li Huowang shift from outright refusal to hesitation, Ji Lin breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, good, good! Take your time! I won’t rush you. As long as you help me this time, once my throne is secure, I’ll give you all the wealth and glory you could want!”
As Li Huowang slowly walked out of the grand bedchamber, he caught with his peripheral vision the old eunuch by the young emperor’s side nodding slightly. The eunuch took a brush and circled a name written on his palm.
He probably wasn’t the only one the emperor had approached tonight for support. The kid was desperate, grasping at straws left and right.
Li Huowang had no intention of getting involved—what he’d said earlier was just to placate him and make a clean exit.
As for whether the young emperor would come after him later, that was a problem for after he survived this battle royale.
Li Huowang figured the kid’s chances were slim anyway. He surely wasn’t the only one to turn down his recruitment.
By the time Li Huowang returned home in an eight-carrier palanquin, the sky had already brightened.
He casually grabbed a beggar, slapped his own face onto the man’s, and left him at home to impersonate Li Huowang. With a new face, he then took Miao Miao and Li Sui toward the city gate.
As a red middle of the Sitting Oblivion Dao, Li Huowang was confident his disguise could fool anyone watching him.
Sure enough, just as he’d expected, they reached the city gate without incident—everything was calm.
“You two wait here. I’ll go buy some breakfast. We can eat on the road.” With that, Li Huowang headed toward a nearby stall.
Thin, pale yellow dough was stretched and dropped into a pot of boiling oil, where it quickly puffed up and rolled around, turning from light to dark until it became a golden youtiao.
Meanwhile, the freshly pounded, steaming sticky rice cake was balled up and squeezed out through the gap between a plump man’s thumb and forefinger, then rolled in black sesame seeds and coarse sugar.
The crispy youtiao was folded in half to sandwich the sesame-and-sugar-coated sticky rice cake. With both hands gripping it, he took a big bite—the crunch of the fried dough enveloped the soft glutinous center, while the rich sesame aroma blended with the savory fritter flavor, filling his entire mouth.
“Six of them.” Li Huowang tossed some copper coins into the bamboo basket on the stall.
Seeing the money come in, the rotund, thirty-to-forty-year-old stall owner broke into a grin. His tiny, mung-bean-sized eyes vanished completely into the folds of fat.
“Hey~! Coming right up! Six youtiao-wrapped sticky rice cakes. Here you go, sir—careful, they’re hot!”
Li Huowang took the food and bit into one. After just two chews, his legs stopped as he walked back.
He stepped over to the stall and spat out the die from his mouth. Looking at the stall owner, who was enthusiastically calling out to customers, he asked softly, “Boss, what’s up?”
The fat stall owner wiped the thin sweat from his forehead—caused by the heat of the oil pot—with the cloth around his neck. Nodding and bowing as he beckoned customers, he said casually, “Aw, nothing much. Just need a little favor from you, that’s all.”
(End of chapter)