The first time Lu Yu heard his father, King Cao, say such words as a "son," he looked up at his father in astonishment, tears slowly welling in his eyes.
He had already understood the purpose behind his father Cao Cao's actions; it was all for him!
For him to smoothly transition from Crown Prince... to King of Wei!
Just now...
Didn't his father's words on the high platform, between the lines, convey precisely this meaning?
Cao Cao looked confused. "What's wrong?"
Lu Yu's reply was flustered and choked, "This subject has lost his composure, this subject admits his guilt, but... the dominion of Great Wei was built by Father's disregard for life and hardship, and Father intends to just... just like this..."
Lu Yu suddenly sobbed, biting his lip tightly, suppressing his cries and letting the tears fall.
When had he, along with his sister Cai Zhaoji, sought refuge with Cao Cao? At that time, how could he have ever imagined... that one day he would inherit his father's mantle, become the King of Great Wei, the very soul in the hearts of all Great Wei's soldiers?
Could he... could Lu Yu do it well?
Cao Cao was silent for a moment, then said, "My son is skilled in psychology; it seems Father's thoughts cannot escape my son's eyes."
Saying this, Cao Cao beckoned, "Come, come closer to Father!"
Lu Yu held back his tears and stepped forward to kneel by Cao Cao's sickbed. Cao Cao picked up a silk scroll from beside him, along with a magnificent seal. Cao Cao placed the seal on the silk scroll and handed them both to Lu Yu, "These will all be yours sooner or later! From the first moment I saw you, I knew these would all be yours sooner or later!"
Lu Yu glanced at his father in surprise, then looked at the silk scroll.
Under the backdrop of the "magnificent" King of Wei seal, he was certain of the scroll's content, but... he was not ready, to be precise, he had never been ready to take over this vast empire.
Previously, whether as "Marquis of Dingnan" or "Crown Prince of Wei," he could act without reservation... even recklessly, and never worry.
Because he knew that even if mistakes were made, his father was behind him.
Cao Cao's existence always gave him boundless confidence and reliance.
But... afterwards, this... this vast Great Wei, would have to be borne by him alone. Every word he spoke, every action he took, might have a huge impact on the empire!
Trembling...
Lu Yu's hands were trembling. He reached out hesitantly, only to find his palms full of sweat. He didn't dare to stain the silk scroll, so he wiped his hands on himself. This small action was noticed by Cao Cao, and his heart ached. Cao Cao picked up the handkerchief beside him and handed it to Lu Yu.
Lu Yu quickly wiped his hands before taking the silk scroll his father offered. It seemed... not heavy, enough for one hand to support.
But it also felt heavy... as if his whole body needed to bear it, as if his shoulders were carrying a burden of ten thousand catties!
Slowly unfolding it... the characters on the silk scroll were large: "My ailing body can no longer bear the burden of King of Wei. I now pass the position of King of Wei to Crown Prince Cao Yu!"
On the lower left was the blood-red seal.
Ten years of strategizing and planning in the Cao camp;
For ten years, deducing the situation time and again, probing the enemy's mind, considering countermeasures;
Lu Yu had paid his best youth, his best ten years, as the price for this unexpected yet inevitable position of King of Wei.
Lu Yu's entire body trembled...
He looked up at Cao Cao, knowing... his father Cao Cao's headaches prevented him from working as hard as before. Surgery like Hua Tuo's trepanation to remove the wind-phlegm from the skull was, in this era, merely theoretical.
Father Cao Cao had to take that step, to retreat into the mountains and forests, to invigorate his mind with the Great Purity Qi, and thus recover!
With this in mind... Lu Yu did not refuse, and choked with tears, "This subject will certainly not fail Father's trust!"
Cao Cao nodded his approval. "The scholars of Yingchuan, the warriors of Qiaopei, and the civil and military officials who have followed me on expeditions over the years, I have spoken with them separately. They will all assist you wholeheartedly, just as
They assisted me before! In my lifetime, I only wish to see the unification of Great Wei, the unification of the world, but I don't know... if I can hold on until that time!"
Lu Yu felt both pain and shock, and said tearfully, "May Father live for ten thousand years without end, may Father live for eternity... In the future, your son will definitely unify the world, make the four seas submit, and let all nations pay homage... to visit Father!"
Hearing Lu Yu's confident words...
Cao Cao smiled, a truly joyous smile. "Where in this world are there boundless years, or immortal beings? Ziyu... you bear a heavy responsibility, go... I am ill, but Great Wei cannot be without a ruler for a single day! Go... go!"
Cao Cao waved his hand weakly, as if these words... had exhausted all his energy, and also, these words... had relieved him of a great burden!
Lu Yu suddenly dared to take his father's hand.
"Father, your son will definitely not disappoint you. Please take good care of yourself..."
The father and son's hands touched...
Cao Cao suddenly remembered something. He leaned close and told Lu Yu, "Father has also prepared a gift for you, it's outside the door... Go, may you understand Father's kind intentions!"
Lu Yu was surprised. "A gift?"
Cao Cao smiled. "There are no two suns, and no two rulers in a country!"
With that, Cao Cao slowly lay down and released Lu Yu's hand.
It had been a sunny day just moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, a light drizzle began to fall outside the door, as if the heavens themselves were weeping for Cao Cao's abdication.
But it was only a brief shower. Before Lu Yu could even descend the towering steps, the rain stopped and the sky cleared... sunlight shone through, and the sky at this moment was much brighter than before.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince..."
At that moment... a eunuch hurried towards Lu Yu.
Dian Wei blocked the eunuch's path, but the eunuch bowed and said, "His Majesty requests the King of Wei to come to the Han Palace..."
Hmm... Hearing this, and recalling his father Cao Cao's mention of a "gift," Lu Yu's eyes narrowed. "The Han Palace? Now?"
"Yes!" the eunuch nodded repeatedly. "His Majesty said that if the Crown Prince does not come, His Majesty will come himself!"
Hoo...
This statement further astonished Lu Yu.
Recalling his past conversation with the Son of Heaven, it had been a long time... since they had spoken at length.
That time, he had helped the Son of Heaven open his heart. What about this time?
It couldn't be...
A bold idea suddenly appeared in his mind. Lu Yu's eyes narrowed, and a sense of immense shock swept through him. But in just a moment, Lu Yu shook his head... such a thing shouldn't be thought of carelessly.
"His Majesty is the Son of Heaven. When the ruler commands, one does not delay. I will go and see him!"
Lu Yu instructed Dian Wei, "No need to bring too many people, be careful not to startle the Son of Heaven!"
Dian Wei cupped his hands. "As you command!"
...
--
In Xudu City, outside the School of Vigilance, guards stood in strict formation.
Inside the School of Vigilance, Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Ju Shou, Zhou Yu, Xu Shu, Sima Yi, and Yang Xiu were each kneeling. Sima Yi and Yang Xiu knelt at the rear.
"I did not expect the King of Wei's headaches to be so severe. Perhaps the Crown Prince will be regent from now on?"
Cheng Yu sighed...
Others nodded, or their gazes were downcast, as if in thought.
Only Yang Xiu spoke, "Commander Cheng may have spoken incorrectly... According to my knowledge, before the Crown Prince returned to Xudu, the King of Wei had separately met with dozens of civil and military officials."
Hmm...
Yang Xiu's words piqued everyone's curiosity. In fact, it was not strange. Yang Xiu was responsible for the Intelligence Department, which managed information.
This information was divided into external intelligence and internal intelligence...
Lu Yu, holding the position of "Minister of the Imperial Censorate," also had the duty of supervising all officials.
"Dezu, please elaborate..." Cheng Yu gestured for Yang Xiu to finish speaking.
Yang Xiu slowly stood up and said solemnly, "It is not strange that the King of Wei summoned the meritorious officials of Qiaopei... but the King of Wei summoned Lord Xun, Military Advisor Xun, Minister Zhong..."
Yang Xiu listed over thirty names in one go, each a prominent official of Cao Wei. The fact that the King of Wei had met each of them individually, and for half an hour each, was very strange!
"Dezu means..." Cheng Yu added a question...
"Perhaps the King of Wei..." Yang Xiu's words had just escaped his lips, but he quickly retracted them, apparently afraid that what he was about to say would be a transgression!
"Let me say it!" Guo Jia swayed his wine gourd and slowly stood up. "It's not the Crown Prince acting as regent, but the King of Wei's headaches are worsening, and the King of Wei intends to abdicate to the Crown Prince! Perhaps tomorrow... the fate of Great Wei will change!"
Guo Jia's words startled everyone...
They might have thought that their Commander Lu would eventually become the King of Wei, but who could have imagined it would be so soon, so sudden?
"It's more than that..."
Sima Yi, who had been silent for a long time, slowly stood up. "Just now, His Majesty summoned the Crown Prince... at this hour, and under such a sensitive circumstance, this summons must be significant! Moreover, to my knowledge, during this period... the King of Wei has also visited the Han Son of Heaven, and they spoke for a long time... I heard that when the palace gates were opened at the end, both the King of Wei and the Han Son of Heaven were smiling, smiling with relief..."
This...
Sima Yi's words almost wrote "the truth" on his face. Those seated in the School of Vigilance were all intelligent people...
At this moment, their faces showed more than just terror.
"Finally... are we taking that step?"
Xu Shu sighed...
Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed. "I never thought that after only recently joining the School of Vigilance, I would witness such a grand occasion..."
Cheng Yu and Ju Shou, Guo Jia exchanged glances...
This matter was too significant...
And this group of them, could now be considered "Dragon Ascendants," having earned merits for assisting the dragon?
...
...
Thirty armored soldiers of the Dragon Riders Camp and thirty soldiers of the Tiger Guards escorted Lu Yu's carriage to the foot of the Imperial Palace.
Lu Yu alighted from the carriage at the palace entrance and looked up at the palace, smiling proudly.
"I never noticed it before, but looking now... the Imperial Palace of Xudu City seems much smaller."
As he said this, Xu Chu beside him seemed to recall something and quickly said, "Your Highness, Crown Prince, the King of Wei made a similar remark once when he came here. He also said that the palace built in Luoyang was ten times larger than this place! It better displayed the imperial demeanor! And it was more fitting for the future ruler of the world!"
Lu Yu's eyes slightly reddened, and he murmured, "Father... back then, you already..."
In just a moment, Lu Yu composed himself.
His eyes slightly reddened, and he murmured, "You all stay here. I'm going to see His Majesty!"
"Yes!"
Xu Chu and Dian Wei said in unison.
The Imperial Palace today was no longer the Imperial Palace of the Imperial Edict era. The Son of Heaven today was not the Son of Heaven who once harbored grand ambitions... Everything had changed... changed!
Lu Yu walked up the steps alone. Under the blazing sun, his back was proud and confident. The guarding Jinwu guards all knelt down, paying homage to the current Crown Prince, the soon-to-be King of Wei, and even... the future Son of Heaven.
Lu Yu stepped forward, one step at a time!
It was as if every step reminded him of all that had happened in the past.
From leading Zhaoji sister south to find her family, to going to Yanzhou to seek refuge with Cao Cao, to helping Cao Cao conquer the Central Plains, to establishing Great Wei, to the father-son reunion, to his father handing over Great Wei to him personally, Lu Yu, and now, to the summons from the Son of Heaven.
All of this seemed like yesterday. All of this made Lu Yu feel a thousand emotions, among them hardship, sorrow, and boundless pride. Perhaps, the steps he was taking now were among the most glorious steps of his life...
Fortunately, all his loved ones were here...
Able to witness it with him.
Witness this glory!
The footsteps echoed "da da"... Lu Yu entered the great hall. Emperor Liu Xie had already been waiting there... Just as Lu Yu was about to bow, Liu Xie suddenly held him up.
"Ziyu, Ziyu, after today, who knows if it will be you or me who bows to whom? You must not perform such a great ceremony!"
As he spoke, Liu Xie got straight to the point and picked up the imperial seal and its ribbon from the table, presenting it to Lu Yu.
At this moment, this emperor in his thirties was as apprehensive as a child who had made a mistake.
"Your Majesty... what does this mean?" Lu Yu asked knowingly.
Liu Xie was almost in tears. He pointed to the eight characters on the Imperial Seal, "Receiving the Mandate of Heaven, May You Live Forever and Ever," and pointed to the corner that was once broken when Empress Dowager Wang smashed the Imperial Seal in anger during Wang Mang's usurpation, and was later mended with gold.
He said, "Ziyu, do not have any concerns. This Imperial Seal is given to you by me. You did not seize it, and you did not even want it. It was I who begged, who desperately pleaded to give it to you! As you said, the Great Han is rotten to the bone. Even scraping the bone cannot cleanse this decay. I followed your advice... abolished the recommendation system, implemented the imperial examination system, abolished the head tax, and implemented the system of dividing land and levying taxes proportionally. All of this made me truly feel like an emperor, that I had done something for the people. But this... also made me, and the Han, offend all the powerful nobles. I seek nothing else. What I seek is for your Wei to change this era, to change this situation. This is what I have finally realized, this is all the vision that allows me to persevere and live! Think of it as helping me... won't you! Won't you!"
This...
The Son of Heaven's heartfelt words entered Lu Yu's ears, and Lu Yu felt as if thunder was rolling, deafening him.
To such an extent that for a moment, he felt a sense of shared experience.
... This prince Liu Xie, whose life was destined to be tragic, was forced to take an abortifacient by his mother, Lady Wang, when she was pregnant. He survived this ordeal, but while still a child... he experienced the tragic death of his father, the struggle between eunuchs and powerful families, and then later Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, and then Cao Cao... How much suffering had he endured? How much hardship had he witnessed? How desperate was he for the Great Han that he could utter those words!
Similarly, what he had done, such as "imperial examinations" and "dividing land and levying taxes proportionally," allowed him to see hope. Therefore, he was entrusting that beautiful vision, the vision for the world, for the common people... to Lu Yu.
After leaving the King of Wei's palace, Lu Yu had thought... perhaps Emperor Liu Xie summoned him here for abdication!
But...
Lu Yu had not expected that Liu Xie's words, so tragic, would still contain such dreams and aspirations.
The Son of Heaven's position is not easy...
Liu Xie is like this. Perhaps... when he sat in this position, he could also understand this difficulty!
"Your Majesty, do you truly think so?"
Lu Yu did not want to go through the "three persuasions and three refusals." He believed this was a blasphemy to this unfortunate Son of Heaven...
He longed to know Liu Xie's inner thoughts.
If this Son of Heaven's throne made him unhappy, uncomfortable, made him feel pressure, or even like sitting on thorns, like a thorn in his back... Lu Yu was willing to relieve him... to let him find true solace!
"Thump..."
At this moment, Liu Xie suddenly knelt down. He held Lu Yu's hand and, seizing the opportunity, stuffed the Imperial Seal into his hand.
His face was flushed red, as if he had a belly full of words to say to Lu Yu.
...
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