I followed the sound and saw Prince An, his face stern, appear in the corner of the secret chamber.

I said, with righteous indignation, "If I don't curse you, will you come out?"

I pointed at Prince An and cursed, "You, at least you're a ghost and god. Can't you do things a little more decisively? Do you have to dilly-dally? Is that fun?"

"If you want to kill me, if you want to flay me, just give me a straight answer."

"Let's not waste time like this!"

Prince An said, "When you were unconscious, I pondered for a long time and still didn't understand the meaning of your last words. I came because I wanted to talk to you."

"You don't have to worry about anything. This secret chamber can isolate the outside Yin energy, which will help you heal."

I looked at Prince An, "Are we just going to chat like this? Shouldn't you get some wine?"

Prince An was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, "Interesting, interesting. I've met so many people in the martial world, but you're the only one who makes me feel a bit like a Jianghu hero."

"Someone, prepare a banquet."

I waved my hand and said, "No need for a banquet. It's just a casual chat. It's no fun if you make it so formal."

"Indeed, I'm being too fussy." Prince An had wine and dishes brought over, and sat down on the floor with me. He picked up the wine pot and clinked it against mine. "I salute you."

I took a sip of wine and said, "What do you want to talk about?"

Prince An thought for a moment and said, "Tell me about Li Yu first! Did you mean that no matter how many times Li Yu becomes emperor, he will repeat the same mistakes?"

I nodded and said, "That's right!"

"Some people, from a personal point of view, are geniuses of their generation. However, they are not suitable to be emperors. Letting such people become emperors is a disaster for them, for others, and for the people of the world."

"Li Yu is one of them. Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, and Emperor Xizong of Ming, Zhu Youxiao, are all typical examples of this!"

"Do you think they are fools? Of course not. If Li Yu hadn't been an emperor, he would have been a great lyricist. If Zhao Ji hadn't been an emperor, he would have been a famous calligrapher and painter. With Zhu Youxiao's skills in carpentry, as long as someone guided him, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to become a grand master."

"Each of them wasn't stupid, but none of them had the brains for governing a country. Do you think it's a disaster for them to become emperors?"

Prince An pondered, "What you said makes some sense. But didn't they all have their own achievements?"

I waved my hand and said, "You're wrong about that. They were grandmasters who were delayed by the throne, and their countries were dynasties delayed by grandmasters. Neither of them ended well!"

"Of course, you can also say that Li Yu and Zhao Ji reached the peak of their art after being imprisoned. But think for yourself, couldn't they have reached this peak without being emperors? They could have."

"Literary people have richer emotions than ordinary people. The bitterness of life is commonplace for them, so why did they have to taste the bitterness of national subjugation?"

"If they hadn't been emperors, they wouldn't have had these shortcomings. When future generations appreciate their works, they wouldn't add the label of 'defeated ruler' to them. They could write about spring flowers and autumn moons, paint magnificent rivers and mountains, but they lost their own country."

"So, people must first know what they are suitable for and what they can do."

"Am I right?"

Prince An nodded slightly, "You said that my inner demon is actually easy to resolve, what did you mean by that?"

I said, "Prince An, let me put it this way! In history, there are actually not many people who were granted the title of Prince An. Maybe about seven?"

"Among these Princes An, most of them were posthumous titles, and none of them had good endings. There was only one Prince An who had the opportunity to touch the throne, and he was forced to commit suicide because he failed to seize it."

Prince An's brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't say a word.

I continued, "Prince An, I won't ask who you are, and I don't want to know about your past."

"I only ask you, back then, did you choose the method of sacrifice to exchange for the throne?"

"Yes!" Prince An nodded, "That's right. The demon god who accepted my sacrifice asked me to sacrifice the person most important to me."

"I..."

"I sacrificed the woman I loved most in my life."

I asked back, "The woman you love is the demon god on the throne? Your inner demon?"

"Yes!" Prince An nodded again, "I once made a promise with her that I would never fail her in this life. Otherwise, in the next life, she would be the master and I would be the servant."

"I have no next life to speak of, but I never thought that my inner demon would actually transform into her appearance."

"Inner demon!" I couldn't help but frown slightly.

I immediately changed the subject, "What you've always been concerned about is why you didn't meet the demon god's requirements even after sacrificing the most important person, right?"

Prince An nodded, "Yes!"

"I've also thought about what you said. The person who can be sacrificed is not the most important person to me."

"But, my beloved concubine is indeed someone I cherish as my life! And I did it for the sake of the country, for the sake of hundreds of millions of people!"

I smiled, "In your opinion, the country is not a person, right? This country includes your hundreds of millions of people! Your subjects are more important than a beauty, you should have chosen to sacrifice the people of the world!"

Prince An was immediately stunned.