Three days passed.
As soon as the crown prince was appointed, the old emperor, who had been trying hard to look healthy some time ago, immediately returned to the depressed state he was in before Yin Zhaoxian returned, and was even worse.
Two years ago, the old emperor was confident that he could live for at least another ten years, and he was even more confident that he could find an immortal and obtain the elixir of immortality during this time.
The old emperor was considered to be quite lucky. When he devoted his energy to seeking immortality, a lot of information he learned showed some traces of immortality. Although it seemed out of reach, it was enough to confirm the existence of immortals.
This made the old emperor want to live forever and enjoy the imperial power forever. Although his two sons, the King of Wu and the King of Jin, were not mediocre, they were both an eyesore in this situation.
Unexpectedly, a water and land ceremony full of opportunities would cause the old emperor such a severe blow that his body collapsed and it seemed that he could no longer see the path to immortality.
Although some of the celestial masters who stayed in Kyoto had some abilities, the old emperor, who had seen the true methods of immortals, no longer had any regard for them. He also knew very well that those people could not refine the elixir of immortality.
What made the old emperor even more desperate was that his physical condition was worse than he had imagined. Things were fine when Yin Zhaoxian took drastic measures to reorganize Wanzhou, but things went from bad to worse afterwards.
At this moment, in the emperor's bedroom in the imperial palace in Gyeonggi Prefecture, Emperor Yuande was lying on the bed with his eyes closed to rest.
Although the weather was not very cold, Emperor Yuande was very afraid of the cold, so the entire bedroom was kept warm by the charcoal stove.
Although Emperor Yuande was very tired after taking the medicine, he was suffering from neurasthenia and could not fall asleep even with his eyes closed.
Ji Yuan was in the bedroom at this moment, standing beside the old emperor's bed and looking at him.
The various guards within the imperial palace naturally have little effect on a person like Ji Yuan, but the emperor on the throne is actually related to the fate of humanity and the country. He is also surrounded by the aura of Ziwei, which can drive away evil spirits to some extent, but now his aura is much weaker.
"Huh...huh...huh..."
The old emperor couldn't fall asleep after all. He opened his eyes again and stared at the top of the bed, gasping for breath and in a daze.
Ji Yuan was very curious about what he was thinking at this moment.
In his previous life, Ji Yuan probably had little contact with people in such a position. But now he found that no matter whether it was a farmer who worked all his life or an emperor who was responsible for the fate of the country, they all looked the same before death, and perhaps the latter was even more decadent.
"Hmm... Is anyone... there?"
The old emperor suddenly asked in a hoarse voice.
The old eunuch who was originally a little sleepy beside him woke up immediately, walked to the bed in small steps and responded in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, I am here!"
The emperor looked at him and shook his head, his eyes bleak. In fact, Ji Yuan was standing next to the old eunuch, but the old eunuch was bending over to get closer to the emperor, while Ji Yuan was standing with his hands behind his back.
"What do you need, Your Majesty?"
The old eunuch asked carefully again, saying that even after the death of a tiger, its power still remains, and the emperor is not dead yet.
But the old emperor did not look at the old eunuch. Instead, he opened his eyes slightly, looked at the side of the old eunuch, and stretched out a trembling hand, trying to grab something.
The chief eunuch Li Sizhe looked to the side, then glanced around, and found that there was no one else except himself.
"Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?"
Ji Yuan's calm and gentle voice suddenly reached Emperor Yuande's ears, causing the latter's eyes to widen and his breathing to become a little faster.
"Hmm...Hmm...Hmm...Please, please!"
Ji Yuan smiled and said.
"Mr. Lu should have asked you a question in front of the temple, but you two were not destined to be together. I can bring him here again. Do you want to meet him?"
"Ho, ho, ho... Can you bring me back to life?"
Hearing the old emperor's question, Ji Yuan also shook his head.
"Life and death are the cycle of nature. Your Majesty is now at the end of his rope. He can survive for a while longer, but it is too late to recover."
"Then...then why..."
Ji Yuan knew what the old emperor wanted to ask, and answered with a smile again.
"Bring him here and let you scold him. It will at least help him get rid of some of his worries. Given your current state, he should still be willing to see you."
When the old emperor was talking to Ji Yuan in a trance, the eunuch Li Sizhe beside him looked at the emperor and then at the empty surroundings, and a trace of panic rose in his heart.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what's the matter with you? Your Majesty?"
The old eunuch waved his hand in front of the old emperor's eyes, but the old emperor's eyes were not focused on him at all, as if he was ignoring him.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, who are you talking to? Your Majesty..."
The old eunuch's voice became louder and louder, alarming the palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside. Two palace maids and two eunuchs hurriedly trotted in.
"Eunuch Li, what happened?"
Li Sizhe looked at the emperor's bed and said to them with a very ugly expression.
"Prepare the royal ginseng soup. His Majesty may not be able to survive. Go and summon the princes, adults, and concubines in the harem! Quickly!"
"Yes Yes!"
Several eunuchs and palace maids were all shocked and ran out in panic. After receiving the news, the palace servants and guards outside also quickly dispersed to pass on the message.
Ji Yuan looked at the direction the eunuchs and palace maids left, and then looked at the chief eunuch Li Sizhe who was standing beside him with a concerned look on his face.
"Your Majesty, do you need me to find him?"
The old emperor looked at Ji Yuan in a trance, took a few breaths and asked.
“You, who are you?”
The old eunuch Li Sizhe hurriedly walked to the front of the old emperor's line of sight and responded in a louder voice.
"Your Majesty, it's this old slave, this old slave is Li Sizhe! Your Majesty, don't you recognize me? This old slave..."
The old emperor was furious and in excitement he stretched out his hand to Li Sizhe's side.
"You...get out of here..."
The old eunuch was so frightened by the old emperor's glare that his heart trembled and he shrank and hid to the side.
Ji Yuan looked at the old eunuch.
"Your Majesty, don't be angry in your current situation. Eunuch Li is just too concerned. He can't see me. As for who I am, hehe..."
Ji Yuan couldn't help but smile again.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the mooncake that was not grasped tightly in the court?"
Ji Yuan originally wanted to tease, "Your Majesty, did you drink the mooncake soup?", but after thinking it over, he decided not to provoke the old emperor.
"Oh...I see...Master, you..."
"Since I have come to see Your Majesty, I naturally have some affinity with Your Majesty, but it is not what Your Majesty thinks."
At this stage, Emperor Yuande also understood, and raised his hand tremblingly to bow.
"Please, Master, please go and invite Master Nalu..."
Ji Yuan also returned the greeting.
"Then your majesty, please hold on. Mr. Lu is a great immortal in the world and may not be easy to find. I will go."
After saying this, Ji Yuan walked out. In the eyes of the old emperor, Ji Yuan's figure faded in a few steps and soon disappeared.
"Ho…ho…ho…ho…"
The old emperor lay back on the bed, panting due to the physical exhaustion caused by the excessive excitement just now.
…
Time passed slowly, and people inside and outside the palace received the news and rushed over.
"Father!" "Your Majesty~~"
"Your Majesty~~"
…
As voices of concern, both real and fake, were heard, many royal relatives and ministers rushed over.
Before, Emperor Yuande was too annoyed to allow anyone to accompany him. Even Concubine Ren only came to visit in the morning and evening. But now, when they suddenly heard the news from the palace, everyone hurried over.
These are just the ones that are coming fast, there are more on the way.
After looking at the people who had come, the old emperor closed his eyes again and didn't say anything more.
A eunuch carefully brought over a hundred-year-old ginseng soup. Concubine Ren took the initiative to pick up the spoon and prepared to feed the emperor the ginseng soup, but she saw the old emperor waving his hand, indicating that it was not necessary for the time being.
Outside the palace, Ji Yuan walked towards the land temple with a purpose. Although he told the old emperor that it was difficult to find the old beggar, Ji Yuan had already expected the old beggar's whereabouts.
It is hard to say if the other party has already left Dazhen, but since we know that they must be in Dazhen, Ji Yuan predicted that when Emperor Yuande was about to die, Lu Niansheng must be in Jingji Prefecture.
Who knows, after visiting Jizhou Ju'an Pavilion last time, the two beggars might have rushed to the capital.
In this Gyeonggi Prefecture, the one who has the best relationship with Ji Yuan is the burly Gyeonggi Prefecture Land God. This land god can be regarded as the most sturdy land god Ji Yuan has seen in all these years.
When he arrived at the temple, he did not go inside. He just transmitted his voice into the temple. After a while, the God of Land appeared to see Ji Yuan.
It was still that tall and strong figure, the same dark black beard and dark black eyes, and the same rattan staff that looked like it could be used as a heavy weapon. As soon as the land god appeared, he smiled and bowed to Ji Yuan.
"Mr. Ji, what do you want from me?"
Ji Yuan quickly returned the gift.
"Please help me find someone, the old beggar, who should be in Gyeonggi Prefecture."
"Oh, that's so difficult!"
The God of Land smashed the ground with his rattan staff, and immediately a circle of ripples spread out, somewhat similar to the changes when Ji Yuan used the God-binding Technique, but also different.
"Found it, he is not hiding, Mr. Ji, follow me!"
The God of Land put his arm around Ji Yuan's shoulder, and the two of them disappeared into the ground in a trance. After a moment, they emerged from a bridge in the west of the city, and happened to see two beggars, the old and the young, taking a nap under the bridge.
"Uh, Mr. Ji is also in Kyoto?"
The old beggar rubbed his eyes and asked in surprise.
"Hey, Mr. Lu, come with me."
"Where are you going?"
Ji Yuan looked at the young beggar and then at the old beggar, and asked seriously while teasing in his heart.
"The Imperial Palace. I'm here to invite you. Will you give me some face?"
"Mr. Ji's face... Of course I have to give it to him!"
The old beggar hesitated for a moment, then stood up.
Half an hour later, in the palace, several princes, concubines, and some important officials including Yin Zhaoxian were already in the bedroom, while many ministers and royal relatives were standing outside.
Ji Yuan led the old beggar into the imperial palace, while the young beggar stayed in the land temple.
When the two men walked into the bedroom, they saw that the underworld officials were already waiting outside. It seemed that the old emperor was really about to die.
However, the old emperor will not go to the underworld after his death. Influenced by the fate of the Great Zhen Dynasty, he will first enter the Taimiao and then the imperial mausoleum.
But this is only because the tomb is more spacious. People will still be held accountable for what they did during their lifetime, but because their spirit tablets are enshrined in the Taimiao, they are protected by the fate of the Great Zhen Kingdom, and will not be directly killed by the punishment of the underworld, but will be ensured to survive this disaster.
Compared to ordinary people, there are of course benefits. As long as Dazhen is not destroyed, the royal family in the underworld will definitely not lack paper money and tributes and the like. However, when the underworld life is over, the earthly soul will still be transformed into earth and the heavenly soul will return to heaven. The so-called eternal enjoyment of the Taimiao is nothing but a fantasy of the royal family in the world.
Ji Yuan and the old beggar came in. No one else could see them, but the old emperor could see the two of them slowly walking to the bedside from blurry to clear.
It’s just that the old emperor’s condition is even worse than before, and he doesn’t have the energy to speak much.
“Ginseng, ginseng soup!”
The old emperor finally spoke, and Concubine Ren carefully fed the ginseng soup, which had been kept warm, into his mouth.
The hundred-year-old ginseng soup saved his life, and he came back to life in one breath. The old emperor's face suddenly became ruddy.