Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2709 Still Vigorous in Old Age 93.0
"That's true!" Qi Zhifeng took a sip of tea, hummed twice, and said, "Adults really want too much. They want everything, whether it's good health, a long life, great wealth, or fame and success. They want it all, but in the end, they get nothing. They work hard their whole lives, and in the end, it's all for nothing." After saying that, he sighed softly, "If growing up means becoming like that, I'd rather stay the way I am now, and not grow up."

"Then remember what you said now, and don't forget it." Chu Han patted Qi Zhifeng's head affectionately. "I hope that when you reach our age and look back on your life, you can say that you have no regrets, okay?"

"Definitely!" Qi Zhifeng extended his hand and gave Chu Han a high five. "My benefactor, I will definitely do it!"

Chu Han smiled, pinched his chubby cheeks, turned to look at Shen Cha, and raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw her thoughtful expression.

"Xiao Cha? What are you thinking about?"

"The throne of the previous dynasty ultimately fell into the hands of the last emperor because of the departure of the little prince, right?"

"Yes, but not entirely," Chu Han sighed. "As you know, the little prince's parents love each other very much. Although his father has two concubines, it's practically the same as not having any. And these two concubines come from the empress's family; they're of one mind with the empress. No matter how much the noble families try to persuade them to convince the emperor to expand his harem, it's to no avail. This has resulted in a small number of offspring. Besides the little prince, the emperor and empress have two sons and one daughter. But…"

"They all died young?" Xiao Fengqi thought for a moment. "I remember my great-aunt mentioning that at that time, a princess from the Central Plains married into the Liao Dynasty, but she didn't marry Yelü, nor Xiao or Qi, but Huhe. However..."

"Wasn't the Huhe tribe wiped out?"

“Yes, that’s what I was just about to say.” Xiao Fengqi saw Qi Zhifeng’s surprised expression. “Don’t be surprised. The clan was wiped out a long time ago, but it wasn’t caused by humans, it was a natural disaster.”

"A natural disaster?" Shen Cha was taken aback. "What happened? What kind of natural disaster could cause the annihilation of an entire tribe?"

“It was an avalanche.” Xiao Fengqi sighed. “The Huhe tribe’s settlement is deep in the mountains. That mountain is covered in snow all year round. In fact, in our opinion, it is not a suitable place to live. But the Huhe tribe is very strange. Whether it is the chief or the tribesmen, they are unwilling to leave that mountain. They think that it is a sacred mountain that can protect them.”

"I've heard that the Huhe clan is very powerful?"

“Divine power?” Xiao Fengqi shook his head slightly. “It’s all just superstition, probably.” Seeing Chu Han’s disapproving expression, he added, “My benefactor, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that they’re very stubborn and obstinate.”

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

“My great-aunt said that after the Liao dynasty was established, they invited Huhe to move to Linhuang Prefecture every year, but they refused until the Huhe tribe was wiped out. Each time, the reason for their refusal was exactly the same: they didn't like living in crowded places, nor in cities and prefectures, because those places were far from the sacred mountains and the power of heaven and earth, which they felt was wrong. Furthermore, their tribe was relatively small, and from the chieftain to the tribespeople, they were particularly happy to live in seclusion, content with a self-sufficient and self-entertaining life.” “Even when a princess from the Central Plains married into the tribe, did nothing change?”

“No.” Xiao Fengqi shook his head gently. “What’s most infuriating is that the princess from the Central Plains also enjoys that kind of life and integrates into Huhe very quickly, as if she were a member of that tribe herself.” He spread his hands helplessly. “It was precisely because of this that Linhuang Prefecture once suspected that the Central Plains had randomly found someone to impersonate a princess and marry into Huhe. For this reason, Linhuang Prefecture even sent someone to stay in the Huhe tribe for a few days and found that this princess had an extraordinary demeanor and was indeed from a prominent family.”

“The previous dynasty would never have done such a thing, after all,” Chu Han curled his lips in disgust, “In the previous dynasty’s hierarchy, royal women had the lowest status. Whether they were princesses, county princesses, or county princesses, as long as they were royal women, they were born with only one path: to marry into a foreign family. Only those who were exceptionally outstanding and excellent could marry into a powerful family.”

"And it's considered a high-status marriage." Xia Chen, seeing everyone's shocked looks, helplessly spread his hands. "Daughters of noble families are truly of noble status. Every emperor in previous dynasties tried every means to marry a daughter of a noble family to become their strong backing, but..."

"If they can't marry a daughter from a family like the Wang or Xie, they can only consider families of lower-middle status?" Seeing Chu Han and Xia Chen nod in unison, Shen Cha snorted softly, "No wonder they've been making so many underhanded moves!"

"What does it mean?"

Jin Miaomiao, who had been keeping quiet all along, finally spoke up. She didn't really care about these old, trivial matters. Anyway, not knowing these things wouldn't stop them from capturing the little prince. But then she thought that if she didn't know these things, she might easily be led astray by that guy during the interrogation.

"It means that they want to replace families like the Wang and Xie clans, successfully ascend to the top, and become the rulers of this dynasty. If the princes supported by these aristocratic families sit on that chair, they won't be far from their goal. The aristocratic families behind other royal children should think the same way."

"But why target Master Falian?"

"Because the Empress dotes on him the most. They're worried that because the Emperor and Empress are so affectionate, they might extend that affection to the young prince and want to pass the throne to him. So..."

"They were quite farsighted, thinking too much about things." Jin Miaomiao waved her hand. "But in the end, they still adopted one from a collateral branch, didn't they? This can be considered the beginning of the adoption of clan members in the previous dynasty, right?"

"This must be retribution, right? After the little prince left Xijing City, their only targets were each other, resulting in mutual destruction. Neither of them survived. In the end, before the little prince's father passed away, he didn't have a biological son and had to adopt his brother's child to inherit the throne." Chu Han looked at Qi Zhifeng. "See, this is what you meant by being busy all your life, scheming against this and that, and in the end, you got nothing but a sigh."

"He deserves it!" Qi Zhifeng snorted twice and said, "If he hadn't believed the Imperial Observatory, if he hadn't believed the little prince was a jinx, none of this would have happened. This is the result he deserves!"