Thief Emperor

Chapter 1136 Matters Before and After Death

Du Qian is right. Places chosen as strongholds are often strategically important, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Otherwise, ordinary strongholds would hardly be able to withstand the siege and suppression by the government and local troops.

Back then, Li Yun was able to wipe out the entire bandit group in Xuanzhou with just a few dozen men because he and his brothers had grown up in the mountains and were very familiar with climbing up and down the hills.

In addition, his own ferocity made him so invincible.

Now, more than 20 years have passed since Li Yun descended the mountain. This is Liu Bo’s third time returning to Cangshan Mountain. However, while Cangshan Mountain remains the same, the mountain path seems to have become much steeper.

The Duke of Ying, who had been in charge of the Nine Departments for many years and could be called the "Night Emperor of the Tang Dynasty," was no longer as skilled as before.

The place he could easily leap over in his youth now caused him to stumble and tumble down the hillside.

Although they were just some superficial injuries, they were a significant blow to him.

This is... the place where he grew up!
When he was eight or nine years old, he could run through the mountains as if walking on flat ground.

Now in his forties, he nearly died on a mountain path in Cangshan.

Even the shrewd and calculating Duke of England couldn't help but feel a deep sadness and weep bitterly at such a tragedy.

At this moment, Prince Jin had also come down the slope. After confirming that Liu Bo was alright, he said helplessly, "You rascal, you're covered in fat, who can you blame?"

"If you fall, you fall."

Prince Jin reached out to pull him up, but shook his head and said, "Why are you crying?"

The Duke of England struggled to his feet and sighed deeply, "How heartbreaking."

He looked down at his belly and muttered, "How did I end up like this?"

Prime Minister Du had also approached the area. He saw the three brothers at the bottom of the slope and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened? Did the Duke of Ying fall?"

"no!"

Liu Bo said loudly, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Du, I'm fine!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yun and Li Zheng exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

His Majesty the Emperor laughed for a long time, laughing so hard he was doubled over, until Liu Bo's face turned black before he finally spoke with a laugh: "Can you still walk?"

"Your leg isn't broken, is it?"

Liu Bo stretched and felt a bit of pain in his thigh, so he said with a wry smile, "I don't know if it's broken or not. Call a few Imperial Guards over and get me upstairs."

Li Yun was speechless and said, "Why go through all that trouble?"

He crouched down and said, "Come on, I'll carry you up."

Liu Bo was startled and waved his hand, saying, "Second Brother, how can this be?"

"Didn't you carry me on your back enough when I was little?"

"Stop talking nonsense."

His Majesty the Emperor laughed and said, "If you say another word, I'll kick you later."

After hesitating for a long time, the Duke of England finally climbed onto Li Yun's back. Li Yun was naturally strong and had not stopped training over the years, so he didn't feel much while carrying Liu Bo. They soon returned to the mountain path.

The Prince of Jin followed along, ascending the mountain path.

Du Qian wiped the newly released glasses from Liulichang in his pocket, cleaned them, and put them back on. Only then did he notice the disheveled Liu Bo. He went up to ask him a few questions and then said with a wry smile, "Luckily, this slope isn't deep, otherwise, something really bad would have happened."

Liu Bo was a little embarrassed and shook his head, saying, "Master Du, let's not make this public."

He sighed, "If the people in the village find out, I won't want to live anymore."

Prince Jin laughed and scolded, "There aren't many people left in the old village. It's a pity that Zhou Bi didn't come today, otherwise, I would have given him a good talking to."

After the four of them talked for a while, it was clear that the Duke of England had not broken any bones. After resting for a while, he felt much better. With Li Yun's help, the four of them climbed up for a bit more and finally arrived at a platform halfway up the mountain.

On the platform is a village consisting of twenty or thirty households.

The village wasn't particularly dilapidated, but it was completely deserted.

Li Yun stood with his hands behind his back, looked around for a while, and then said, "My third uncle used to come here often, and would occasionally send someone over to clean and tidy it up."

He walked towards the village and sighed, "Things have changed."

Of the nine leaders of Cangshan Dazhai in the past, most of them have passed away. Only Li Yun, the leader, the eighth and ninth leaders, and the fifth leader who is a doctor are still alive.

That fifth uncle lived in Luoyang for several years, and now he has gone on a journey around the world, saying that he wants to practice medicine throughout the land.

There are actually very few people left who truly came from the old village and are now working in the imperial court.

At its peak, this large village had twenty or thirty households and a total population of over sixty. Now it is completely deserted. Even the Shiwang Village, which was occupied by Li Yun, is now empty.

His Majesty the Emperor walked at the front, followed by Prime Minister Du, and entered the Cangshan Great Village. Behind them, Prince Jin helped Liu Bo, and they also entered the village.

Li Yun turned to look at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Come on, I'll take Brother Shouyi to my place."

Du Qian responded, and Li Yun led him to his residence in the village. It was a small courtyard, one of the few properties left to him by the old village chief. There were three rooms in the courtyard: a main hall and two bedrooms on the left and right.

Looking at the courtyard, Li Yun was filled with many thoughts.

He was reborn, and the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was right here.

Later, although he slowly recalled some memories of this life, his true new beginning was in this courtyard.

It was here that he met Empress Xue.

Li Yun pointed to the smaller room on the west side and said to Du Qian, "When I was a child, my elder brother and I lived here. My father lived in the big room on the east side. Later, my elder brother passed away, and I lived in the west room by myself. Then my father also passed away, and I became the chieftain, so I moved to the east room."

Du Qian tentatively asked, "The King of Chu?"

"Ah."

Emperor Li sat down on a rock in the courtyard and said, "He probably didn't want to be a bandit and looked down on this village. When he was a teenager, he secretly ran away down the mountain and never came back."

"I was still young then."

"When I saw him again later, it was in Nanjing. You know the situation at that time, Brother Shouyi."

Du Qian moved a stone, sat down next to Li Yun, and asked, "Where is Erlang's mother?"

Li Yun shook his head: "I've never seen it, I don't remember anything about it."

Du Qian sighed: "Me too. My mother died when I was young. I lived in Chang'an when I was a child. Every morning when I got up, I would go to my study to read."

"It was also very difficult to get through."

At this point, Du Qian smiled and said, "Fortunately, I am a person who enjoys reading, so when I was around ten years old, I no longer felt that it was torture. Later, when the teachers could no longer teach me, I started reading on my own."

"Thinking back to those days."

Du Qian coughed and said, "Although it's a bit tough, it's still much better than when you were a child, Erlang."

"Not always."

Emperor Li stood up, put his hands on his hips, and said with a smile, "Perhaps each has its own advantages? When I was a child, I was like a mountain king. I killed two tigers in the front and back mountains."

"After my father passed away, I became the chieftain and could do whatever I wanted without any restrictions."

At this point, he looked down at Du Qian and said with a smile, "To be honest, you might not believe it, but the restrictions I face now as emperor are probably even greater than when I was a bandit chief."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is bound by your own benevolence."

Li Yun did not deny this, but simply asked with a smile, "And what about Yuan'er in the future?"

After thinking for a moment, Prime Minister Du said, "Your Majesty, it is not necessarily a bad thing that the emperor has rules to follow. If there were someone in the world who had no taboos, the world would be in chaos."

Emperor Li grunted in response.

"People like Qiu Dian and Wang Junping are truly unscrupulous."

His Majesty the Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, looked around his small courtyard, and after a long while sighed, "Looking back on the past and thinking about today, it all seems like a dream."

Du Qian stood up and said, "Your Majesty has worked hard for more than twenty years, which can be said to have restored the world. Your merits are immense. If it is a dream, it is a great dream that will benefit the world."

The emperor did not respond for a long time before saying, "To be honest, I would like to be buried here after I die."

"But I'm afraid it's no longer feasible."

The emperor chuckled self-deprecatingly: "People say, 'Born in Suzhou and Hangzhou, buried in Beiman.'"

"I was born here, but I will also be buried in Beiman."

Mangshan Mountain, north of Luoyang, is a place with excellent feng shui, favored by kings, nobles and generals of all dynasties. The imperial mausoleum of His Majesty the Emperor was also chosen to be located in Mangshan Mountain, and construction has now begun and is almost complete.

Since the imperial mausoleum has already been completed, it is highly unlikely that the emperor will be buried back in Qingyang.

Du Qian laughed and said, "In the future, I will be buried back in my ancestral homeland of Guanzhong."

Li Yun glanced back at him, then smiled and said, "Brother Shouyi, you can't go back either. Even if I die before you, I will leave a will so that you can be buried with the emperor."

"If I die after Brother Shouyi, I'll have someone bury you in Mangshan first."

"So that I won't be lonely in the afterlife."

Du Qian was taken aback, then smiled wryly and said, "Your Majesty..."

The emperor looked at his appearance and laughed heartily.

"I will make the decision on this matter entirely on my own."

Minister Du sighed and lowered his head.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)