Summoning the Peak of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 2985 Inescapable Fate, The Time Loop (Part 2)

Chapter 2982 Inescapable Fate, The Time Loop (Part 2)

Zhu Rong could naturally understand Ying Hao's concerns. After all, Hongjun still had personal feelings before he merged with the Dao, and his beloved disciple, Taiqing Daoist, had just perished at Ying Hao's hands.

It's important to know that Hongjun, as recorded in ancient texts, was very protective of his own.

If he were to learn Ying Hao’s true name and deduce certain causes and effects from it, who would dare to say that this Dao Ancestor would not seek revenge for his disciple and demand retribution from Ying Hao?
"Your Majesty's predicament is naturally understood by Zhu Rong."

Zhu Rong changed the subject, a strange look flashing in his eyes, and said, "But what Zhu Rong is thinking is actually something else. Even if the Dao Ancestor before he merged with the Dao could return from the past to the present, he still would not be able to find out His Majesty's true name."

Even if you use the pseudonym 'Li Shimin,' he won't be able to distinguish the real from the fake, and will simply assume that Li Shimin is you.

At this point, Zhu Rong paused, and a bold deduction emerged:

"Your Majesty, do you think there is such a possibility?"
After returning to the timeline of a hundred years ago, the Taoist Ancestor left a decree for his disciples, strictly ordering them to protect 'Li Shimin'.

But he didn't know that it was a pseudonym, and that the Taoist Taiqing also mistook the real Li Shimin for the one the Taoist Ancestor was referring to.

It was precisely for this reason that during the decisive battle between Qin and Tang, the Taiqing lineage of Taoism gave its all, regardless of the cost, to support Li Shimin!

It's quite normal for Zhu Rong to have doubts and make such connections, after all, the fact that the Taoist sect was wholeheartedly supporting the Li Tang dynasty was itself suspicious.

At the beginning of the conflict between Qin and Tang, the outcome may not have been clear. However, as the war progressed, the situation became clear, and anyone with a bit of insight could see that the fall of the Tang Dynasty was only a matter of time.

Under these circumstances, whether considering the interests of the Taoist sect itself or the consistent style of the Taiqing Taoists of tranquility, inaction, and seeking advantage while avoiding harm, there was absolutely no reason for them to gamble everything and risk the entire Taoist sect and their own lives to fight the Qin Dynasty to the death when they knew the empire was about to collapse.

However, the reality was that Taiqing Daoist did exactly that, until in the end, everything was destroyed.

This was incomprehensible not only to the Taoist disciples, but also to the leaders of the various schools of thought. They couldn't understand why Taiqing, who had been wise and cautious all his life, seemed to lose his mind when he encountered Li Shimin.

However, if Hongjun learned from Ying Hao that it was a false name, and then issued a decree after returning, strictly ordering Taiqing to protect 'Li Shimin', then all the previous inconsistencies would suddenly become clear and have the most reasonable explanation.

Ying Hao was also surprised after hearing this. He obviously did not expect that Zhu Rong, whose intelligence attribute was only 77 points, would have made such a profound connection based on just one lie.

Indeed, intelligence is not the same as IQ; rather, it is a comprehensive ability that can be applied to warfare, encompassing IQ, EQ, strategy, knowledge, and so on.

People with low intelligence attributes are not necessarily low in IQ. For example, Zhu Rong was able to make such profound connections, which shows that she was actually very smart, but her intelligence attribute was not high.

If Zhu Rong, with her 77 intelligence points, could think of something, then Ying Hao, with his 101 intelligence points, certainly couldn't possibly not have thought of it.

In fact, before answering Hongjun's question, Ying Hao had already anticipated that his act of giving a false name might cause a misunderstanding.

Even so, Ying Hao still chose to deceive people by using the name "Li Shimin". His intention was not simply that revealing his real name would endanger his safety. He had a deeper concern.

"Zhu Rong."

Ying Hao couldn't help but sigh. His gaze was deep as he slowly said, "I had already considered all of these things before I told this lie."

I am well aware that if this lie is uttered, it could very well hinder my great cause of unification, but I am willing to take this risk to ensure that he carries the erroneous information back to the past.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Rong's eyes showed even greater confusion. After all, since His Majesty knew that lying would cause trouble, why did he do it on purpose?

Isn't this just... asking for trouble?
Ying Hao saw through her doubts at a glance, and his tone suddenly became serious, revealing a deeper concern: "The grass on the grave of Daoist Taiqing is already three feet high, so why would I be afraid?"

Ying Hao's voice was deep, carrying a hint of indifference towards his former enemies. He said calmly, "Even if Dao Ancestor Hongjun returned to a hundred years ago and ordered him to do his utmost to protect those with the name 'Ying Hao,' so what?"
With the protection of the Supreme Purity, I might receive more assistance and less resistance, but even if he were my enemy, wouldn't he still die at my hands? He simply cannot stop me from unifying the world.

This clearly shows that whether or not the Taiqing Emperor protects me, it will not have a significant impact on me.

"Then what exactly are you worried about, Your Majesty?"

"What I'm really worried about, besides the Dao Ancestor potentially turning against me for personal reasons, is that the revelation of our true names will change our past."

At this point, a barely perceptible hint of seriousness flashed across Ying Hao's deep eyes. He was indeed afraid that Hongjun would retaliate directly, but more than his personal safety, he was afraid that Hongjun would disrupt the current timeline and rewrite history.

Ying Hao paced slowly, his imperial robes brushing against the dust on the ground. With each step he took, it seemed as if he were treading on an invisible thread of fate.

"What's done is done..."

At this point, Ying Hao's tone suddenly turned somber, like a stone falling into a cold pool.

"If the Dao Ancestor truly takes my true name back to the past and forces Taiqing to protect it, then Taiqing will not die, and the Daoist sect will not decline. The direct result would be that everything that happens on our timeline could be rewritten."

Ying Hao stopped in his tracks, gazing at the vast sky outside the palace, as if staring at the ever-flowing yet incredibly fragile river of time. His voice carried a barely audible chill as he spoke in a deep tone:

"That's the most terrifying thing. If time and space are reversed, and the timeline is forcibly covered up and distorted..."

Will the Qin Empire, the great empire I built with half a lifetime of effort, forged on mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and through painstaking efforts, crumble like a sandcastle under the ripples of cause and effect? ​​Should I start all over again, reliving those glorious years of war and carnage, of countless bones piled high? Should I confront once more the adversaries I have buried with my own hands, and unravel the predicaments I have already foreseen?

All of this is unknown.

What is known is never scary; what is always scary is what is unknown.

It was precisely this deep fear of the uncontrollable and dramatic changes in the timeline that led Ying Hao to choose to tell this lie, even though he knew that the lie he told Hongjun would stir up waves in the future and bring him immense misunderstanding and targeting from the Daoist sect.

Although this was self-inflicted trouble, setting up thorns and formidable enemies for his past self, he had already resolved these problems, so they were no longer troubles for him.

People always have to look back, so when faced with two evils, choose the lesser. Ying Hao would rather have a difficult past than an unbearable future.

Upon realizing this, a resolute glint flashed in Ying Hao's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Faced with the misunderstanding and hostility of the Daoist sect, I am still confident that I can break through and win. After all, this is a visible problem. At worst, I can slaughter the Daoist sect and then establish a new one."

But if their real names were allowed to be leaked, shaking the very foundations of time and triggering a rewriting of history, it would be a catastrophic disaster that would engulf everything, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

After speaking, Ying Hao slowly closed his sore eyes, then opened them again. His imperial will was once again as firm as a rock, and he said in a deep voice, "That is precisely why, even knowing that lies are like poison, I am still willing to accept them."

Because only by allowing the Daoist Ancestor to return with the erroneous information of 'Li Shimin,' and letting history proceed along its predetermined 'erroneous' path, can the past be frozen to the greatest extent possible, safeguarding the present and future that I personally created and cannot overturn, and thus completely completing the time loop.

Who knows if he'll still be the same person he was on the original timeline after Hongjun rewrote and restarted it?

I can't afford to gamble, and I don't dare to gamble.

Therefore, Ying Hao's deliberate lying was by no means cowardice or escapism, but rather an emperor's all-out struggle in the face of the vastness of time and space, using lies as a shield to protect his country and his own destiny.

Ying Hao had made himself clear enough. If Ye Qingmei had heard this, she would have understood immediately. But Zhu Rong, after all, had an ancient way of thinking.

For Zhu Rong, terms like timeline, cause and effect, and time loop were far too advanced for her to grasp immediately.

But Zhu Rong understood one thing: although Ying Hao lied to the Dao Ancestor, only he was the one who was troubled, while all of them benefited.

If Daozu had truly brought Ying Hao's true name back, everything that was happening now might have been different. She might not have married Ying Hao, but instead married Gonggong.

If that's the case, she also feels that things are already pretty good as they are, so it's best not to change them if possible.

Ying Hao's heavy sense of responsibility and his almost reckless protection broke down the last barrier of restraint in Zhu Rong's heart, making her unable to suppress the burning and surging love in her heart, as hot as the most intense lava.

"Your Majesty, you are right. No matter what the future holds, Zhu Rong will always be the sharpest sword in your hand, accompanying you on your journey."

As soon as these words, which sounded almost like a confession, came out, Zhu Rong blushed deeply and kept rubbing her clothes.

"As long as you understand."

Ying Hao didn't notice Zhu Rong's embarrassment. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to explain so much, but he did anyway because he didn't want Zhu Rong to misunderstand his intentions. After all, the impact of this lie was already significant enough, and he didn't want any more misunderstandings to arise.

Seeing that Ying Hao hadn't grasped her intention, Zhu Rong grew secretly anxious. Her voice trembled slightly, but was more gentle and melodious than usual, as if it held a thousand threads of emotion, as she spoke:
"Your Majesty, although we are already married, we have not yet had our wedding night. There is no better time than today. I think tonight is an auspicious day."

Zhu Rong even changed her way of addressing herself. Before, she would refer to Ying Hao as "this humble general" or "Zhu Rong," but now she calls herself "your humble servant."

After saying that, Zhu Rong immediately reached out and prepared to take off Ying Hao's robes.

Her slender, pale fingers, burning with heat, gently caressed Ying Hao's strong arm. Her fingertips slowly traced the intricate patterns of the imperial robe, carrying a silent yet fervent invitation.

Those beautiful eyes, which always burned with fighting spirit, were now filled with tears, revealing only the most primal and direct desire: she wanted to feel each other's presence, draw strength from each other, and offer everything she had in this stormy night in the most intimate way.

"Well..."

The moment Ying Hao was touched, his body stiffened almost imperceptibly, and he sighed silently in his heart.

He did not respond to Zhu Rong's gaze that almost melted him, but he did not refuse her service either. After the heavy outer robe symbolizing the emperor's throne was removed, and the inner ordinary clothes were taken off, revealing his strong but tired body, he also took the initiative to help Zhu Rong take off her loose dress.

Zhu Rong lay on the bed and shyly closed his eyes. Just when he thought Ying Hao would make a next move, Ying Hao simply kissed him lightly on the lips and said, "It's late. So much has happened tonight. You must be tired. You should rest early."

After saying this, Ying Hao pulled the soft brocade quilt over himself and Zhu Rong, then embraced Zhu Rong and closed his eyes to sleep.

Zhu Rong was stunned. Such a beautiful woman had taken the initiative to throw herself into His Majesty's arms, yet His Majesty remained unmoved? One must know that countless men in the South were madly in love with her.

Seeing Ying Hao quickly become calm and seemingly have truly fallen asleep, an indescribable sense of loss welled up in her heart. However, Zhu Rong also knew that too many things had indeed happened tonight. Perhaps it wasn't that he disliked her, but rather that he was simply not interested.

Zhu Rong guessed correctly. It wasn't that Ying Hao had no feelings for Zhu Rong, but he had just experienced Hongjun's time travel, and his own life hanging by a thread, and even the absurd experience of almost having time reversed. His mind was now like a bowstring stretched to its limit, and he was extremely tired. He just wanted to get a good night's sleep and didn't have any thoughts about men and women at all.

However, Zhu Rong was wrong about one thing: Ying Hao was indeed not in the mood to sleep, but he was not asleep either. Instead, he was communicating with the system in his mental space.