Chapter 369

Chapter 369

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Final Volume: The Rise and Fall of Royal Power, The World United Chapter 369: The Imperial Seal Reappears

North Palace…

For Liu Xie, the memories of living here were far from pleasant.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion in the seventh year of Guanghe gave Emperor Ling of Han a legitimate reason to move from the North Palace to the South Palace, strengthening ties with the court, while the North Palace became the residence for the imperial concubines.

At that time, Empress He held power in the central palace. Due to her brother, Grand General He Jin, even Empress Dowager Dong, who raised Liu Xie, had to yield to avoid conflict. Liu Xie, the beloved prince of Emperor Liu Hong, found his status somewhat precarious.

Later, this place became his, but also Dong Zhuo’s.

When Liu Xie stepped into this place, the palace, seemingly cleared of weeds, was devoid of human voices but still exuded a chilling coldness that made him shiver.

He tightened his cotton clothes, suddenly regretting his decision to come here.

If it weren’t for the lack of guards in Luoyang, Liu Xie would have wanted to run away, fearing someone might recognize him as an intruder.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard the sound of a golden bell from a nearby courtyard.

The sound was fleeting, like a hallucination.

But he was sure it was real.

[You’re not afraid he’ll think it’s ghosts causing trouble, are you?] the system muttered.

Qiao Yan, standing on a distant pavilion, watched Liu Xie through a telescope.

The boy was unaware that his every move was being watched, or that the scenes resembling his childhood were orchestrated by someone else.

But perhaps the gaze upon him was not malicious, which is why the usually sensitive boy didn’t notice.

When the conversation between the person and the invisible system happened, he couldn’t hear it.

“You’re wrong,” Qiao Yan replied. “He won’t retreat because of ghosts. His past experiences have taught him that the most terrifying thing in the world is not ghosts, but human hearts.”

He had seen Emperor Ling deceive and kill Dong Zhong, lure He Jin into the palace to execute him. He had seen Dong Zhuo enter the capital, execute Empress He, and desecrate He Jin’s brother He Miao’s corpse, wielding the power of life and death in the court. He had seen Li Jue seize power after Dong Zhuo’s ambitions faded, treating him, the Son of Heaven, as a puppet.

How could he still fear ghosts, possibly even the ghosts of his Han ancestors?

As Qiao Yan finished speaking, the system saw Liu Xie identify the direction of the bell sound and, after a brief hesitation, continue forward.

He indeed wasn’t afraid of ghosts.

It had been four years since he was no longer the Son of Heaven. If his father in the afterlife was displeased with his decision to hide in the mountains and abandon the throne, wanting to take his life, he had nothing to say.

As for other things, he didn’t think there was anything left for ghosts to covet.

The sound of the golden bell, one of the eight tones, and the earlier memory-like scene made this native Han royal feel as if someone was trying to give him a hint.

With this thought, in the continued silence, Liu Xie finally chose to enter the courtyard.

The familiar yet unfamiliar plants and trees of Luoyang’s North Palace greeted him. As he stepped on the thin frost in the courtyard, a stronger sense of familiarity than the years of separation washed over him because—

This was where he had once lived.

To be precise, this was where he lived when he was still a prince.

The South Palace, as someone had told him when he first arrived in Luoyang, had been renovated into offices for officials, while the North Palace remained as it was.

A fire in Luoyang’s South Palace burned away the last remnants of Emperor Ling’s dignity as the Son of Heaven after his death. The fire set by the Yuan clan to rescue Liu Bian also affected the North Palace, leaving the halls covered in soot.

Liu Xie walked to the door and pushed it open.

Whether due to years of weathering, drought, and neglect, or the lingering effects of the fire, the door nearly fell off as he pushed it open.

Liu Xie looked up at the door frame, not feeling the situation was tragic but rather finding some amusement in revisiting the past.

Having experienced the embarrassment of nearly starving and years of poor living in the wilderness, he had nothing left to care about.

Perhaps because after Dong Zhuo was expelled, Luoyang, still under the jurisdiction of Henan Yin, was well-protected under Sima Fang’s care, and no one passing through tried to loot the palace.

When Liu Xie entered the room, he saw a wooden carving his father had given him on the bookshelf, untouched by cleaning.

He carefully picked it up, trying to dust it off, but the dirt in the crevices was too deep, requiring water to clean.

Thinking of the well in his old palace courtyard, Liu Xie held the carving and walked back to the courtyard.

But as he reached for the wooden bucket, he suddenly realized the palace well wasn’t deep, meaning after two years of drought, it should have dried up.

He put down the bucket and looked into the well, seeing no water reflecting the sky, only dry ground.

At the bottom of the well was a brush he had accidentally dropped years ago, now reappearing as the water dried up.

The unexpected appearance of this old item made him pause, and in that moment, he noticed something else at the edge of the well.

It was an oilcloth package, wrapped around something square.

The dim light and the earth-colored cloth made it hard to see at first.

An oilcloth package…

Liu Xie couldn’t remember throwing such a thing into the well.

Curiosity offered no benefit; he should have left after not finding the source of the bell sound.

But the nostalgia from revisiting his childhood memories made him hesitate, and he decided to retrieve the package to see what was inside.

The square outline hinted it wasn’t ordinary trash. He found an iron hook in his bedroom and used the still-functional well rope to lower it.

Thanks to his years as a farmer, Liu Xie managed to hook the package and lift it.

When he held the dusty package, he felt a sudden palpitation.

The quiet North Palace was filled only with his breathing.

“At this point, what’s there to hesitate about?” Liu Xie muttered, placing his hand back on the package.

To his surprise, the package contained not a wooden box but a tightly sealed iron box.

Perhaps in haste, the box lacked a lock to prevent others from opening it.

Liu Xie carefully opened the rusted iron box and took out a wooden box.

At this point, his mood shifted from inspecting Han palace relics to something more serious. If someone were facing him, they’d see his expression turn grave.

He had seen this box before.

When his father was still the Son of Heaven, Liu Xie had seen this box in Yutang Hall!

This was the box that held the Imperial Seal!

Since Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, the Imperial Seal had disappeared.

No one knew if it was picked up and hidden during the chaos or entrusted to a close minister like Zhang Rang, who hid it safely before dying in Mang Mountain.

For over six years, the Imperial Seal had been missing, leaving both the Chang’an and Ye courts unable to prove their legitimacy.

Liu Xie thought the Imperial Seal might never reappear, disappearing with Luoyang’s loss of capital status.

Living as a commoner in Hanzhong, he even hoped the Imperial Seal wouldn’t fall into his brother’s hands at the wrong time.

But Liu Xie never imagined, as if in a dream, he would return to this “old residence” and find the Imperial Seal in his hands!

No, not yet—it was just the outer shell, not necessarily containing the seal.

But the weight in his hands suggested it wasn’t empty.

As he opened the wooden box, his hands trembled.

The lid opened, revealing the… Imperial Seal.

It was indeed the Imperial Seal!

The gold trim from chipped corners, the fine Hetian jade, the four-inch square size, and the inscription “Heaven’s Mandate, Longevity, and Prosperity” matched his memory.

Recognizing it, Liu Xie thought of putting it back into the triple-layered package and hiding it again.

After all, the seal was a hot potato, and he was no longer the Son of Heaven!

But another thought emerged.

Why was the seal hidden in his old residence as a prince?

Was it his father’s intention, containing some expectation for him?

Thinking this, Liu Xie felt hiding the seal again, keeping it unknown for years, would make him a sinner.

But he also questioned himself: even if he took the seal to honor his father’s wishes, what would he do with it?

Returning it to the Chang’an court, letting Liu Yu hold the legitimate Imperial Seal and challenge the Ye court, might be a good choice.

But entrusting it to someone else was unthinkable.

Delivering it himself would disrupt his peaceful life.

And handing a weapon to his brother’s “political enemy” was a painful decision.

As he struggled, he suddenly heard the整齐的脚步声 of a patrol nearby.

Startled, Liu Xie quickly wrapped the Imperial Seal in the oilcloth, hid it in his robe, and ducked behind the courtyard wall, listening carefully.

To his relief, the patrol seemed to be on a routine sweep of the North Palace’s main paths, not conducting a deep search or heading his way.

Their voices soon faded, and in no time, Liu Xie was alone again.








Their footsteps could no longer be heard.

He touched the bulge in his chest, his expression momentarily微妙.

All the thoughts he had before tucking it away were temporarily suppressed by the sudden act of hiding just now.

Liu Xie pondered in his heart, if he suddenly discovered the Imperial Seal, was it a destined event? If so, taking it away might also be an inevitable result of receiving some暗示.

Rather than纠结 over whether the existence of this object would bring him unnecessary risks, it would be better to think about whether he would regret it for life if he left the Imperial Seal here and it fell into the hands of someone who shouldn’t have it.

Since that’s the case, taking it away first is the way to go!

He pressed the hidden object in his chest.

Years of砍柴捕鱼制药 had made his physique appear slightly stronger than his peers, and the Imperial Seal was somewhat扁平, making it hard to notice such an object was there.

Feeling somewhat reassured, Liu Xie listened again to the outside.

Hearing that the巡逻声响 of the guards who had already left did not reappear, he hurriedly opened the courtyard gate and escaped through the small door he came from.

Only when he stood outside the North Palace of Luoyang did he finally feel his rapid heartbeat return to normal.

However, considering the close connection between the South and North Palaces of Luoyang, Liu Xie still dared not delay, quickly heading west towards the nearby bustling streets.

But obviously, his vigilance and worries were unnecessary.

To ensure his successful retrieval of the Imperial Seal from the North Palace, Qiao Yan had already调走 many of the soldiers who were supposed to guard there, using the excuse that Zhong Changtong’s Dingzhong Temple needed sufficient guards.

The only remaining team was the one whose sounds Liu Xie had heard.

They had also received Qiao Yan’s instructions early on not to pass by the courtyard where the Imperial Seal was hidden, so how could they possibly discover Liu Xie, the “accidental” intruder, and arrest him for trespassing into the forbidden palace.

“I果然没猜错.” Watching Liu Xie’s successful escape, Qiao Yan放下 the telescope in her hand and露出 a smile.

The system asked: [What didn’t you guess wrong?]

She replied: “Liu Xie may not be suitable to become the Son of Heaven, nor is he the destined emperor who can save the Han Dynasty in the midst of rising heroes at the end of the Han Dynasty, but he is a qualified descendant of emperors. At least… he still has a sense of responsibility that hasn’t been磨灭 by past hardships.”

So when the Imperial Seal appeared before Liu Xie, he would choose to keep it first.

This was the destination Qiao Yan had chosen for the returned Imperial Seal.

More than six years ago during Dong Zhuo’s rebellion, Qiao Yan攻入 Luoyang and while searching for Liu Bian and Yuan Ji in the South Palace, she意外 found the Imperial Seal hidden by Zhang Rang. But due to her transaction with the farming system, the seal was exchanged as a bargaining chip.

For Qiao Yan at that time, the existence of the Imperial Seal was as鸡肋 as it could be, possibly even attracting trouble like Yuan Shu in history. Therefore, exchanging it away, making it disappear from everyone’s sight, and gaining a considerable amount of farming experience wealth was an absolutely划算 deal.

As it turned out, her transaction was not wrong.

Her rapid rise in the Bingzhou region was related to both defeating the Xianbei forces on the northern grasslands, allowing Bingzhou to develop in peace, and the agricultural变革 that accumulated a significant前期 wealth.

As the land area she controlled expanded, the benefits of this experience increased geometrically.

In the face of such收益, even if the Imperial Seal she sent away was lost, it wouldn’t be a significant loss for Qiao Yan. But obviously, the host of the farming system who proposed the Imperial Seal as a bargaining chip was no庸才.

Even before the originally agreed ten-year period, she had already returned the seal.

As she said when returning the seal, a truly powerful monarch does not need to rely on the Imperial Seal to determine their正统性, at most treating it as a锦上添花. Perhaps she could point to a stone and say it’s the Imperial Seal, and someone would认可 the claim.

Now, her strategy of高筑墙广积粮 had achieved a阶段性飞跃, and the Imperial Seal could be returned.

The seal returned to Qiao Yan’s hands two months ago, and she immediately decided to let it see the light of day again as the “Changyan” appeared in the world.

Now it has fallen into Liu Xie’s hands as Qiao Yan hoped, and this arrangement is half completed, making her prepared alternative plans unnecessary, undoubtedly good news.

The system was still somewhat worried: [You waited so many years for the Imperial Seal to return, are you really放心 it’s in Liu Xie’s hands?]

That was once the Son of Heaven!

The Son of Heaven with the Imperial Seal, in the认知 of the Han Dynasty people, is almost no different from天命所归.

Zhong Changtong just said there is no天命之说, probably also useless.

“Of course I’m not放心.” Qiao Yan gave an answer that surprised the system.

It thought Qiao Yan made the decision so果断, she would毫不犹豫 say she was放心.

But紧接着 it heard Qiao Yan say: “But don’t forget, Liu Xie didn’t come to Luoyang alone, he has a good helper by his side. Years of羁绊 have made it impossible for him to抱着 the Imperial Seal and leave without a word; among the various messages he received, I am still his最优选 if he chooses to投靠 someone; moreover, since I already know he is in Luoyang and arranged such a drama for him to come to the North Palace, how could I let him escape unnoticed.”

Liu Xie’s养父 wouldn’t betray her, because they were originally流民 brought back by Chu Yan with薯蓣 to the Central Plains during the Zhongping era, and the “早逝儿子” they told Liu Xie about also took a position in one of her factories after completing his studies at Leping Academy.

Whether it was for the救命之恩 or the son’s前途, they would only continue to play the role of养父母 until Qiao Yan said it was time to终止.

Liu Xie wouldn’t suddenly disappear from her sight unless he suddenly gained the ability to飞天遁地.

What she was doing now was just moving the Imperial Seal from one storage place to another.

Since it’s not a loss, why bother feeling烦扰.

[But this only ensures the Imperial Seal isn’t lost, and now it’s顺利 handed to Liu Xie, it can’t ensure that Liu Xie with the Imperial Seal will act exactly as you希望, right?] The system追问.

It felt its question wasn’t wrong.

After all, Liu Xie is an independent individual, even a大汉天子 trained by Emperor Ling as a successor.

Qiao Yan could make him have养父母 without防备, and隐居山林 for years, as if Li Jue had谋害 his life years ago, making him disappear.

But this only limited his人际关系 and去留, it couldn’t make his thoughts完全同步 with Qiao Yan, making him a提线木偶 while holding the Imperial Seal.

Perhaps because of being with Qiao Yan for a long time, the system vaguely guessed some of the roles Qiao Yan intended for Liu Xie to担负, but… as it worried, why would Liu Xie help her complete the落幕 of this grand drama?

“Why can’t he?” Qiao Yan反问.

The previous “不放心” she said果断, and now this “为何不能”同样让人毫不怀疑 her信心 when she said it.

She looked at the North Palace院落宫室 below, her expression凛然, “If I can’t even convince Liu Xie, who has been潜移默化熏陶 for years, to stand firmly on my side, how dare I冒天下之大不韪,行僭越称帝之举!”

The system: […]

The扑面而来的肃杀决绝之气 made the system怔住.

But what she said was indeed correct.

What she needed to说服 was never just Liu Xie, nor would it stop at Liu Xie.

Since she wanted to篡夺 the Han Dynasty’s基业, how could she let her子民 have a second choice?

Now Liu Xie,卸掉了 his帝王身份, could be considered one of these子民.

As for whether she could achieve this…

Anyway, her system had no参考经验 in cultivating the天下第一谋士, so it was理所应当 to not think of any反驳之言 for such a剑指帝位的宣告.

After卡壳 for a moment, it replied: [Right, when you held the Imperial Seal, it no longer减气运数值.]

Two months ago when the seal returned to Qiao Yan’s hands, it was already大不相同 from when she first接触 it, even the system’s内置气运判定 no longer considered holding the Imperial Seal a举动 that would bring her大难临头.

It even乖巧地 increased the气运 by five points.

So how could she not心中有数 about the安顿 and正式出场 of the Imperial Seal?

In such a situation, the system felt it hard not to稍微同情 Liu Xie, who left the North Palace of Luoyang with the Imperial Seal.

A Son of Heaven being manipulated in such a way is indeed独一份的可悲.

But it quickly thought, why should it心疼 Liu Xie.

As Qiao Yan once said in a conversation with Guo Jia—

In the洪流 of this era, there can only be one站到最后的胜利者.

Whether others would be姑且不论, at least Liu Xie wouldn’t be.

And now, this注定不会是胜利者的存在 has already stood among the crowd at Dingzhong Temple in the southern suburbs of Luoyang.

After leaving the North Palace, he originally wanted to find a place to hide the Imperial Seal, but considering the many people往来 in Luoyang and the土地翻腾 in winter, who knows if someone might dig the seal out again.

Then his act of bringing it out of the North Palace would become meaningless!

If he先将其放回到 his temporary residence in Chang’an, Liu Xie couldn’t explain to his养父 why he turned back home halfway after saying he was going to see Zhong Changtong’s鼎中观一辩.

It would be better to pretend he didn’t go to the North Palace, and he wasn’t怀揣着 such an天子信物, directly going to围观 with an若无其事的姿态.

The触感 of the Imperial Seal紧贴着胸膛 made Liu Xie feel somewhat安心 even in the crowd.

No one would think that this person, who didn’t look特别 and even somewhat有损, was once the Son of Heaven.

Even less would they think he would appear in such an场合 with the Imperial Seal.

Now everyone’s attention was集中 on the distant高台.

Eleven years ago, Qiao Yan’s策论之书 in Dingzhong Temple only appeared before Xu Shao, Chen Lin, Wang Qian, and others, making those outside the temple无缘得见不免遗憾.

But now Qiao Yan was the权倾天下的大司马,绝不可能再参与到此等活动中一争声名.

But now the author of “Changyan” approved by her appeared here to应对 the upcoming种种质疑,何尝不是一种呼应.

This高台搭建以对群雄的姿态 could also be considered全了当年遗憾.

“Is that Zhong Chang公理? He’s really young!”

Liu Xie heard someone议论 beside him, then looked towards the高台, seeing a青衣广袖的年轻人 standing there.

Although the distance made it impossible for Liu Xie to看清 his相貌, as the周遭之人 said, the风姿气度 he展现出的 was clearly一派年少傲气, making him seem格格不入 with the成熟老辣的政论著作.

But thinking that this person might have been pushed to the台前 by Qiao Yan’s授意, everyone couldn’t help but think that nearly four years ago, Qiao Yan became the大司马 at the age of nineteen, making the少年人的举动 not that难以理解.

In the周遭一瞬的哑然无声, Zhong Changtong bowed to both sides and朗声开口: “I dare to ask for your指教 with over a hundred thousand words of ‘Changyan’.”

Successfully revising “Changyan” and推广 it through printing, it was far from time to松懈.

As he promised Qiao Yan, since he took the字公理, he must stand on the种种根基 laid by the君侯,与愚昧之人一辩高低!

And一证公理所在!