Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 471 The New Master

Hou Lai was startled by these words, but he didn't say anything more and quietly slipped out.

Yuan Cuo placed Liu Yuechu's painting inside the carriage to refresh himself and soothe his emotions.

Although the painting was somewhat ugly, it was the best medicine. From the moment he received it, Yuan Cuo no longer had a place to kill and returned to his original humility and openness.

The atmosphere among the group instantly warmed up, at least it wasn't as cold as it had been when they first left Daqi.

Snow fell in showers, and the cart wheels rolled on.

After traveling for another three days, they finally arrived in the State of Yan.

The people of Yan already knew that Yuan Cuo would come in person, and they waited at the city gate.

Upon seeing the Qi carriage, they had already asked the people on the road to leave, and they traveled without any obstruction. Yuan Cuo went straight into the castle of the Yan king.

The castle was very spacious, and its high roof was transparent, allowing a view of the entire starry sky.

The ruler of Yan lived in a place where the starlight could reach. He disliked darkness the most, and even during the day, the fortress was filled with luminous pearls, making it exceptionally bright and dazzling.

Upon seeing Yuancuo, the old king smiled.

Seeing that Yuan Cuo also breathed a sigh of relief, he said, "It seems that the Chinese medicine is much better than I expected."

The old man didn't fall down; instead, he sat in a rocking chair, swaying leisurely and quite content.

"What do you imagine I'll be like? Lying in bed, sickly and weak, perhaps even drooling all over the bed, looking extremely unpleasant?" The old king couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"Maybe they knew I was coming and cleaned it up on purpose."

Before the king could speak, Yuan Cuo had already struck down with his long needle.

He bared his teeth in a ferocious grimace, in excruciating pain.

Yuan Cuo, however, stuffed the painkillers he had prepared beforehand into his mouth.

"It's still so sweet; this is my favorite flavor." The king savored it, finding it very delicious, as satisfying as a child receiving candy.

"Actually, it has no taste at all; only you say it's sweet." Yuan Cuo naturally knew that the old king had long lost his sense of taste. All the tastes were merely his imagination.

This is just like the human heart.

The heart is bitter, the taste is bitter;

Sweet heart, sweet person.

"You knew all along, but you never exposed me. Were you deliberately saving face for me?" the old king laughed.

"Why bother exposing him? After all, you've been praising how delicious my medicine is, so there's no need for me to reveal my shortcomings." Yuan Cuo chatted casually, but his hands trembled. He had also seen that his needles were unlikely to bring him back to life. For the first time, he resented his own medical skills for not being good enough. The feeling of being helpless was really too painful.

He then thought of the poison sent by the Chu Emperor.

Perhaps she had already anticipated this?

"Tell me your last words, and I will do my best to fulfill them." Yuan Cuo did not want to admit his powerlessness, but he had no choice but to accept reality.

The old king was already aware of his situation and was not surprised, but rather accepted it humbly and calmly.

"First, let me leave with some dignity, not in a terrible state. I want Yanzi to help me change and put on makeup, and then this person will stay by your side from now on."

“Okay,” Yuan Cuo agreed immediately.

That Yanzi was the adopted daughter of the ruler of Yan, but unfortunately she was mute.

But she has a unique skill: disguise.

"You actually agreed? I thought you were indifferent to women," the old king laughed.

"I will treat her like a younger sister, my younger sister. No one will bully her, you can rest assured about that." Yuan Cuo also directly defined this relationship.

The old ruler said nothing more; he had long known that Yuan Cuo would do this.

Yanzi could hear him, so he stepped forward, acknowledged this elder brother, and bowed.

Yuan Cuo took out a jade pendant from his person and gave it to her, which was a way of formally acknowledging her in front of the old king and putting his mind at ease.

"The State of Yan is now in your hands." The old king coughed, not spitting blood, but a bloody taste came out of his mouth. "I don't care whether you want the Great Qi or the State of Chu, the throne of the State of Yan has always been prepared for you, and you must not abandon it."

Yuan Cuo: "..."

"Why aren't you saying anything? Have you changed your mind?" the old king pressed.

He and Yuan Cuo became friends by chance and had saved each other's lives.

Yuan Cuo had promised that one day he would return to repay the State of Yan, and the old king wanted him to repay the state by inheriting the throne and helping the people of Yan live happier lives.

“I agree.” Yuan Cuo knew he couldn’t refuse. “I just thought it would be many years later, that you would live to be a hundred, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

His words were filled with helplessness and lamentation. He didn't understand why everything had to be intertwined, and why he couldn't be given time to make arrangements. He was simply overwhelmed.

The old king laughed heartily, "You still think I can live to be two hundred years old? I'm just an ordinary person. If I lived that long, I'd be an old monster by now. Besides, your father, that old scoundrel, is the most selfish. You can earn a reputation for him, so he'll never let you go. He's deliberately using the future of the people to control you."

"And this time, I'm giving you a reason to leave. If you're so capable, then go to the underworld and play chess with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, just like me."

After the old king finished speaking, he chuckled.

But Yuan Cuo was very reluctant to let them go; he really didn't want the person in front of him to leave.

"Yuan Cuo, forgive her." These were the last words the old king said. "She's a woman, it really hasn't been easy for her."

His brow furrowed, and his forehead wrinkles smoothed out like paper.

Yuan Cuo immediately knelt on the ground, threw himself on top of him, and shed tears.

Yanzi wept silently to the side. She had already prepared all the clothes and decorations, just waiting to dress her adoptive father and send him off on his final journey.

Yuan Cuo was also unusually out of control.

Liu Musheng helped him up.

Everything proceeded according to the established procedures.

Yuan Cuo still had Yanzi administer a poison sent by the Chu Emperor to the old king.

He has passed away and naturally cannot understand the ferocity of the poison, but the fact that it can be preserved as a fragrance for a hundred years without decaying can be considered a merit of hers.

Yuan Cuo guarded the tomb of the old king for one night.

It was dawn the next day.

He then succeeded the old ruler of Yan and became the new ruler of Yan.

The ministers of Yan were already familiar with Yuan Cuo and had received the edict of succession from the old king. They had almost no doubt that Yuan Cuo should succeed to the throne.

If he could elevate Qi from the bottom of the Seven Kingdoms to the third from the bottom, then Yan, currently at the bottom, could also climb up, at least surpassing Meng.

The people of Yan were chattering about the future.

The news of Yuan Cuo becoming the new ruler of Yan spread rapidly, and soon reached the ears of Emperor Qi Xiao.

Emperor Qi Xiao was shocked upon hearing this news. "What did you say? Say it again? He's become the new ruler of Yan? How is that possible?!"

"Then what about the Great Qi?"

"So he just abandoned the project?"