IDWBE -Chapter 324 The Imperial Seal

Everyone wished they could tear him apart, drink his blood, crush his bones, and suck out his marrow.

Truly, he had angered the masses—everyone wanted to kill him!

He knew that his father’s current plight owed no small part to He Jin.

That he could enter the palace so openly was not because of his own strength, but because his father had already lost the people’s hearts. He Jin was merely the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Then give him a swift end. Don’t let him suffer—make it as peaceful as possible,” Emperor Delong said helplessly.

“I’ve said it,” Lin Yi said calmly, “I will not personally kill him.”

Seeing that his father did not press further about He Jin, Lin Yi was not surprised. After all, his father knew better than he did what He Jin had done.

Since He Jin could no longer be saved, there was no need to say more.

Emperor Delong suddenly asked, “How did you persuade Elder Wuxiang?”

Lin Yi was a bit taken aback, not understanding the meaning behind the question.

Elder Wuxiang? The Grandmaster of the Vajra Terrace? What did that have to do with the Vajra Terrace?

Still, he feigned depth of thought: “What does Father think?”

“Elder Wuxiang has remained in the palace but left without notice yesterday,”

Emperor Delong sighed. “It is fortunate that you gained the support of the Vajra Terrace. I had thought that with your current influence, you would be a patient and prudent man. Yet, you were still a bit hasty. You should not have brought troops into the palace at this time. Disloyal, unfilial, unkind, unjust—even if you gain the throne, do you think it will bring peace?”

Lin Yi was surprised. He realized that He Jixiang, Chen Desheng, and the others had spoken the truth—the Vajra Terrace had strong ties to the palace. And from his father’s words, it seemed the Vajra Terrace had abandoned his father and chosen him instead.

Yet he himself had no prior connection with the Vajra Terrace and had never met anyone from there.

Since he couldn’t figure it out, he let it go for now. Straightening his back, he paced in front of his father: “Father, if I told you I did not want to be emperor, would you believe me?”

“Then why do you act so conspicuously?”

Emperor Delong looked coldly at his son, who had never truly faced him.

“I act for the people,” Lin Yi said sincerely. “What I have seen along the way is unbearable. Even the hardest heart would weep. Seeing that Father is old and unable to manage the realm, I thought it best that I step in to protect the country.”

“Protect the country?”

Emperor Delong laughed—louder and louder—like he had heard the funniest joke in the world. Eventually, he could not help but cough.

Lin Yi massaged his back while smiling: “Father, there’s no need to hide the truth now. A few days before arriving in Ankang City, I still thought of helping you drive away the Wadan people and take no credit. But when I saw a father cooking his own one-year-old son and eating it with tears, it was like a stone dropped in my heart. I could not keep that idea. How innocent the child is! How innocent the common people are! If I hesitated another day, countless more would suffer and die. I could not wait—if necessary, I would bear the blame to save the people.”

He could no longer tolerate the scoundrels occupying positions without doing anything.

Thus, the night before, after a bit of wine, he decided to remove his father from power.

“When I was young, I thought like you,” Emperor Delong said after coughing and taking a sip of tea, suddenly angry. “When I first ascended the throne, I issued imperial edicts against corrupt officials, devoted my life to governance, ate little, dressed simply, and dared not slacken, yet I still ended up like this. Heaven and earth are in chaos, officials are corrupt, the people unruly, calamities rise from all corners.”

Lin Yi could hear the frustration and helplessness in his father’s words.

He smiled: “Father, rest assured. I will learn from your lesson and will not repeat your mistakes.”

Emperor Delong coughed again. “Those who betrayed me could just as easily betray you. I will watch with open eyes.”

“Father, don’t forget—if I fail, the ancestral legacy will be lost,” Lin Yi said, sitting across from the old emperor, word by word. “Do you expect my third or seventh brother to uphold it?”

Emperor Delong was stunned. After a moment, he said: “Jizhao Temple! Do not marry women from Jizhao Temple.”

“Father, rest assured,” Lin Yi said lazily, “I will destroy Jizhao Temple completely—leave no chickens or dogs behind.”

Emperor Delong looked at Lin Yi and finally said, “Prepare the calligraphy.”

Xiao Xizi quickly ground the ink, helped the old emperor to the desk, laid out the paper, and once he wrote, dried it with his breath and eagerly handed it to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi glanced at it, bowed, and said: “Father, your wisdom is unmatched. But Father, where is the imperial seal? We still need the stamp. Proper procedures make it formal; otherwise, the world may misunderstand my intentions and think I usurped the throne.”

Emperor Delong slowly opened a drawer, walked to his chair by the bed, and sat down again.

Xiao Xizi, seeing the Prince’s signal, quickly retrieved the yellow-cloth-wrapped item from the drawer and placed it on the desk.

Lin Yi said, “Open it.”

“Yes.”

Xiao Xizi carefully untied the cloth, revealing a reddish-purple stone. He gently held it and turned the base toward Lin Yi.

“Mandated by Heaven, may your reign be long and prosperous.”

Lin Yi recognized only the character “Longevity” but could easily guess the rest.

Xiao Xizi pressed the imperial seal into the ink, then turned the dragon-shaped knob side toward Lin Yi.

“You may stamp it.”

Lin Yi did not reach for it.

“I dare not,” Xiao Xizi trembled.

He was not a chief eunuch. If he pressed it incorrectly, it would be a crime punishable by extermination of the nine clans. Though he had no nine clans, he still did not want to die needlessly.

“Stamp it.”

Lin Yi’s tone brooked no refusal.

“Yes.”

Xiao Xizi braced himself and shakily pressed the seal onto the edict.

If the Prince ascended the throne later, anyone digging up old records would be in for a shock! He was certainly not He Jin!

Once Xiao Xizi packed away the seal and edict, Lin Yi said: “Arrange for a few clever attendants for Father. No negligence.”

Then he said to Emperor Delong: “Father, rest assured. Tomorrow is the last morning court. You may rest properly. I take my leave.”

Turning and leaving Qilin Palace, Xiao Xizi held the yellow cloth bundle, following closely: “Prince, where are we going?”

They couldn’t get lost now—they were about to leave the palace!

Lin Yi smiled: “Back to Prince He’s Mansion. The palace is too large and eerie; better to sleep comfortably at home.”

Xiao Xizi hurriedly instructed the young eunuchs behind to prepare the carriage.

Standing at the palace gate, Lin Yi looked back at the rows of soldiers, their bright armor glinting in the sunset.

Returning to the long-missed Prince He Mansion, twenty or thirty people knelt at the gate. Except for Guo Zhao and his wife, none were familiar.

Guo Zhao shouted, “Welcome back, Prince!”

“Long live the Prince!”

Everyone echoed.

“Feels good to be home,”

Lin Yi casually plucked a blade of grass from the wall crack, held it in his mouth, and strolled into the mansion with hands behind his back.

Xiao Xizi followed, while Guo Zhao pulled him aside and whispered, “Do we still call lord Prince or now Regent Prince? I wasn’t sure, so I still called him Prince.”

“See if the plaque has changed?”

Xiao Xizi pointed to the three large characters: “Prince He Mansion. Regent Prince is an honorary title. He remains Prince, unchanged. It feels more personal to keep calling him Prince.”

“Seems reasonable,” Guo Zhao nodded in sudden understanding.

As Lin Yi picked up a tea cup in the main hall, He Jixiang arrived.

“Prince!”

He Jixiang stood and said, “After surrounding the Secret Guard Command, not one escaped. Only Jiang Zhong’s whereabouts are unknown.”