As he took a deep breath, the old emperor became more energetic and seemed to have some strength in his body. He wanted to sit up.
Concubine Ren and the chief eunuch Li Sizhe hurried to support the emperor, while the palace maids stuffed the cushions behind the bed.
Ji Yuan glanced at the old beggar and said.
"Look, I'm waiting for you."
The old beggar's mouth twitched. Ji Yuan spoke in a bad way, as if the other party was the victim. He deserved to be beheaded!
But now that things have come to this, we have to get through today's battle no matter what, and looking at the old emperor's current appearance, his state of mind has indeed undergone a huge change.
This is related to the person's impending death, and also to the experiences of the past two years, and can be seen in the manifestation of the qi.
The old beggar bowed to the old emperor.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the old beggar?"
Things are different now. When seeing the old beggar again, the old emperor naturally no longer has the arrogance he had in the past. Seeing the old beggar bowing, he also raised his hand in return.
The princes, concubines and ministers around him all thought that the old emperor had given his final instructions after drinking the ginseng soup, and they all waited with all their attention focused.
Seeing the old emperor bowing to the outside, all the princes and nobles bowed together.
"I, of course, remember the Immortal Master..."
The old emperor's words were much clearer than before, and his voice did not tremble, but his words left the ministers puzzled.
King Jin frowned and looked at the assistant prime minister beside him. The latter shook his head at King Jin thoughtfully, expressing his confusion as well.
It was the chief eunuch Li Sizhe who secretly informed the princes and important officials nearby.
"Your Majesty may be experiencing hallucinations... He started talking to himself before you all arrived..."
Prince Jin looked at his father with mixed feelings. He was certainly happy to have obtained the right to inherit the throne, but his teacher had just been buried, and now his father was like this again.
'I have held the imperial power for decades, and it is still the same in old age!'
Prince Jin couldn't help but have such thoughts in his mind.
Although everyone thought the emperor was having hallucinations, no one disturbed him at this time.
Ji Yuan waited for the old emperor to finish speaking before teasing him.
"Your Majesty, I have brought the person to you. If you have any complaints, please tell me."
The old beggar was choked by Ji Yuan's words, but the old emperor naturally couldn't scold him at this time, so he smiled and asked another question.
"Your Majesty, if I, an old beggar, ask you the same question again today, how would you answer?"
Emperor Yuande sighed and forced a smile on his face.
"This immortal master has already told me that my luck is running out and I will not be able to survive any longer."
Yes, hearing this, the old beggar looked at Ji Yuan and said.
"Mr. Ji, have you said everything you want to say? Then why am I here?"
Ji Yuan waved his hands quickly.
"That is absolutely not the case. I only said this and then came to find you. Mr. Lu, please feel free to tell me the rest. That is the extent of my fate with Your Majesty."
The old beggar sighed and turned to look at the old emperor.
"Your Majesty, there are two underworld gods outside, both of whom are official messengers, four soul-collecting messengers, all of whom are senior officials, and eight underworld messengers who open the way and hold umbrellas, all of whom are regular guards at the Ghost Gate. They are all here to pick you up."
The old emperor felt cold when he heard this, and a look of panic appeared on his face subconsciously.
"I am going to die soon?"
Concubine Ren on the side looked at the old emperor with a focused gaze and a frightened look, and she clutched the old emperor's hands in discomfort.
The old emperor then came back to his senses and looked at his beloved concubine, and held her hand tightly.
Several princes and some old ministers were also upset. Although Emperor Yuande was not a wise and intelligent monarch, he was strong all his life. But now he seemed like an idiot at the end of his life.
Even though there were several skilled doctors in the palace, by now it was too late to save the patient.
"Your Majesty is going to die soon. Everything in the world will have this day. Even I, an old beggar, and Mr. Ji next to me will probably have this day."
The old beggar looked at the emperor and Concubine Ren holding hands and continued.
"I, the old beggar, can also tell you that although the underworld messenger came to pick you up with great fanfare, even if you are the emperor of the world, after you die and go to the underworld, you will still be unable to escape the soul determination of the Yin and Yang Department, the accountability of the Merits and Demerits Department, and the punishment of the underworld by the Punishment Department."
The old emperor's face became even more frightened, but he said nothing.
"Of course, the emperor's life's merits and demerits are the most difficult to judge. And since there is a temple for sacrifice, you will definitely make it through... The old beggar said so much just to tell your majesty that you have been in charge of Dazhen for decades, with all the power and glory in the world, but after just a few decades, you will still be no different from an old farmer dying in the field. In the end, dust will return to dust."
"Of course, your majesty's life must be far more exciting than that of an old farmer in the fields, but the emptiness of old age is also far better."
The old emperor opened his mouth to refute, but looking at the crowd of princes and nobles around him who were waiting respectfully to see him off, he said nothing in the end.
Ji Yuan also said something at this moment.
"Even so, among ten thousand people in the world, ten thousand of them want to be emperor."
"Yes, what Mr. Ji said is true!"
The old beggar sighed and looked at the old emperor again. He had just said so much, but the old emperor never refuted. There was no need to say more to persuade people to let go.
"If Mr. Ji hadn't swept away that pool of blood, you and I wouldn't have been able to stand together and talk so calmly today. In my opinion, this is fate. Your Majesty, if you want to know anything else that doesn't involve the dynasty, you can talk to me."
When the old beggar said this, his expression became solemn.
Hope rose in the old emperor's eyes, a hope for life, but then it dimmed.
"Now, I have nothing to look forward to, but I want to ask, how long will I live?"
Since the underworld does exist, some rumors about it should also be true. The old emperor is now somewhat curious about his own longevity in the underworld.
"hey-hey… "
The old beggar smiled.
"You can only see this after you die. However, I can tell you that even the wise rulers recorded in history books often do not live more than ten years after death. Most of them only live three to five years."
"So, what happens after that?"
"After that, the earth soul turned into the earth and the heaven soul returned to the sky, and there was no longer any Emperor Yuande Yang Zong."
The old emperor sighed and slowly closed his eyes. After a long time, he broke free from Concubine Ren's hand and bowed to Ji Yuan and the old beggar.
"Okay, thank you two immortal masters for allowing me to have a glimpse of the immortal's true appearance."
"Father!"
Prince Jin could not help but shout out, and the old emperor heard the concern in his voice. He was so moved that he wanted to cry. He turned to look at his son, whose face was still a little pale, and just nodded without saying anything.
"Lord Yin has arrived, Prime Minister Zhao has arrived, Lord Yan has arrived..."
Faint sounds were heard outside. Yin Zhaoxian and several ministers who arrived late entered the bedroom one after another, but they just stood aside after bowing silently.
Woo… Woo…
A silent gust of cold wind swept through the bedroom, and some ministers and princes and nobles felt cold. In the eyes of the old emperor, a group of people slowly walked in.
Now the old emperor was not so afraid anymore.
This team of ghost messengers knew that Ji Yuan and the old beggar were present, so they were not surprised to see them come in and first saluted to the two of them.
"Greetings to the two Immortals!"
After Ji Yuan and the old beggar returned the gifts, the group of ghost messengers turned around and bowed slightly towards the position where Yin Zhaoxian was standing respectfully.
Yin Zhaoxian seemed to sense something and glanced sideways in confusion. The majestic aura around him emitted a faint glow, and he actually vaguely saw a blurry black shadow standing beside the emperor's bed.
"Master Yin, what are you looking at?"
Yan Chang is also a person with keen senses, but he just felt cold and didn't see anything.
"Oh, nothing!"
When the old emperor saw this scene, he looked at Yin Zhaoxian carefully, as if he understood his doubts, and the old beggar spoke.
"Yin Zhaoxian is a man of great integrity. All the people pray for his safety. Even the ghosts and gods admire him. He is a great scholar and wise man of the time. He deserves the respect of the Yinchai."
When the old emperor was realizing it, the right envoy of the daily patrol spoke.
"Yang Zong, your time has come. Your body and soul have begun to separate. While you still have your last breath, hurry up and tell your story!"
The ghost appeared earlier than expected for the sake of Ji Yuan and the old beggar, and gave them a reminder. Otherwise, he would normally appear after someone died.
The old emperor breathed tremblingly, looked at Prince Jin Yang Hao, and waved.
"Hao'er, come here! Come closer!"
"yes!"
Prince Jin took a step forward and moved closer to the old emperor, who whispered in his ear.
"Yin Zhaoxian is a man of great talent and wisdom, and is capable of handling important tasks. We must not allow him to be harmed by treacherous officials. The other ministers in the court, except Zhao and Liu, are also capable officials..."
The old emperor spoke quickly, becoming more and more angry. In the end, he grabbed Prince Jin's neck tightly with one trembling hand, but he could no longer speak.
"Father? Father!"
Prince Jin looked at his father, whose eyes were already closed.
"The Emperor has passed away!"
“Your Majesty!” “Your Majesty!”…
All the officials outside knelt down and all the concubines cried.
Ji Yuan and the old beggar looked at the old emperor's corpse and then watched his soul being taken away by the underworld officials. The former said something with emotion.
"Ji thought Mr. Lu would ask again."
The old beggar did not hide it.
"Just now, for a moment, the old beggar really wanted to ask again, but if I said this, wouldn't it mean that my disciple would have to live for a few breaths?"
"Is it possible?"
Ji Yuan looked at him, said something calmly, and then left.