Shen Sheng had just finished reviewing a batch of memorials when, before he could even catch his breath, a new batch of memorials was presented to him. He rubbed his throbbing temples, sighed, and resignedly continued reviewing the memorials.
But fate had made up its mind not to let him have peace.
"Brother Emperor—"
Before she arrived, her voice preceded her arrival; Shen Sheng didn't even bother to lift his head to know it was Shen Yu.
Only Shen Yu was so disrespectful, barging into the imperial study without announcing his arrival and making a scene.
Dressed in military uniform, Shen Yu stepped into the imperial study in the blink of an eye. He walked to Shen Sheng's desk and was very dissatisfied with Shen Sheng's behavior of focusing on reviewing memorials and ignoring him. He called out to him in a drawn-out voice, as if calling for his soul.
"Brother! Brother! Brother! Look at me!"
"What is it now!" Shen Sheng was annoyed by his shouting and slammed the folded paper down. When he looked up and saw his outfit, his face darkened.
"Why are you dressed like that? Did you go to the military camp again and cause trouble for me? Where is General Qi? Weren't you supposed to be studying military strategy with him? Why are you running around everywhere again!"
Shen Sheng's rebukes bombarded Shen Yu like a machine gun, leaving her dizzy and standing there dumbfounded, sinking into deep self-doubt.
Am I so despicable that my elder brother would assume I've done something wrong the moment he sees me?!
“That’s right, you’re just so troublesome for me,” Shen Sheng said bluntly.
Shen Yu was shocked: Has my royal brother finally learned the magic of reading people's minds?!
"Don't look at me like that. Your thoughts are written all over your face. Don't I know that?" Shen Sheng said irritably.
Sometimes Shen Sheng even wondered if his mother had given him the wrong baby. Shen Yu had grown up with him, but he was more carefree than anyone else. He hadn't learned any of those scheming tricks and was ridiculously naive.
Shen Yu felt wronged: "Brother, you're complaining that I'm stupid again. If you scold me again, I'll go to Mother and tell her you're bullying me!"
Shen Sheng almost suffocated when he heard this. His younger brother was taller than him and still complained to their mother. Was his stupid younger brother seventeen or seven years old?
"I don't want to discuss this with you. To make a long story short, what do you want from me?" Shen Sheng was so angry with Shen Yu that he forgot to refer to himself as "I, the Emperor."
"I want to go to Xizhou with General Qi!" Shen Yu's eyes shone brightly as she looked at Shen Sheng with anticipation.
"No." Shen Sheng refused him without hesitation.
"Why!" Shen Yu's face fell, and he tried to clench his fist to prove to Shen Sheng that he was very good at fighting. "I'm very strong! And General Qi also said that I'm very talented and can learn military strategy very quickly!"
"Come on, with your mediocre skills and brains, you'd be devoured by those cunning demonic cultivators in the Western Continent, leaving not even bones behind." Shen Sheng laughed in anger, picked up the folded document, and smacked Shen Yu on the head.
"Besides, General Qi isn't going to Xizhou for leisure; he's going to lead troops into battle. Swords have no eyes; what if something happens to your mother?"
After being hit, Shen Yu was about to yell, but after hearing Shen Sheng's words, he stopped his playful mood and frowned, saying, "Are we really going to go to war with Xizhou? Didn't we say we were going to cooperate with them?"
"Hmph, that's why you're so naive." Shen Sheng straightened his sleeves, pulled out a memorial from the list of documents he had approved, and tossed it to Shen Yu.
“Those guys from Xizhou are used to bullying the weak and fearing the strong. They won’t know the meaning of cooperation until we beat them into submission. Besides, Guizhong, who was originally subdued by Yandi, has started making trouble again. It’s a good opportunity to teach these guys a lesson.”
"Onizuka... why are those disgusting guys again?" Shen Yu seemed to think of something and spat in disgust.
Being targeted by those inhuman, ghostly beings is, to put it bluntly, more disgusting than falling into a latrine.
He quickly opened the memorial Shen Sheng had given him and glanced through it. When he saw those familiar place names, he angrily threw the memorial on the ground and said to Shen Sheng with an incredulous look, "They haven't given up on finding Aunt Yan's burial place yet, have they?!"
“She was the Yan Emperor who died protecting the Southern Kingdom. According to the rules, you cannot address her like that,” Shen Sheng said in a deep voice.
Shen Yu gritted her teeth and whispered, "But she's also our aunt..."
"Before she was our aunt, she was an emperor, a good emperor that we should all remember."
Shen Sheng rubbed Shen Yu's head and sighed, "Xiao Yu, I know you and Yan Di were very close. Yan Di's death in battle made you very sad. You want to avenge her, and so do I. But you must not go to Xizhou."
"Why? You clearly know why those guys are looking for Yan Gu, no... the place where Yan Di died. They won't even leave her remains behind. Why won't you let me go and avenge her!" Shen Yu's eyes were filled with resentment, not understanding why Shen Sheng had stopped him again and again.
“For my own sake, you are my younger brother, and I do not want you to be in danger, nor does my mother.”
"I'm not afraid!" Shen Yu shook off Shen Sheng's hand, her expression sorrowful. "Aunt Yan was also the Emperor's only daughter. Aunt Yan volunteered to fight and died on the battlefield, but we can't even find her remains... How ridiculous!"
"Let me finish speaking!"
Shen Sheng forcefully pressed Shen Yu down, staring intently at him, and said, word by word, "Personally, I don't want you to go, and for the public good, I certainly can't let you go. If something happens to you, who will inherit the throne when I die in battle? Will we rely on those good-for-nothing royal relatives?!"
Shen Yu was speechless after hearing what he said, but he was still unwilling to give up: "But...but...things may not be that bad. Unless there is really no way to salvage the situation, you, my brother, would not be able to lead the army in person."
"Nothing is impossible, and you should always be prepared for the worst." Shen Sheng lowered his eyes, looking at the dragon soaring over the sea embroidered on his cuff, and gave a self-deprecating smile. "Just like I never thought I would wear a dragon robe, nor did I ever imagine that such a tragic change would occur during the Four Continents War."
The founding year of the Southern Kingdom is too long ago to be determined, but as the masters of a nation that occupies nine-tenths of the Southern Continent, they have their own principles. Whenever the Southern Kingdom is in trouble, the reigning emperor will personally lead the army. During the war between the four continents, the Southern Kingdom had thirty-seven emperors. Often, the news of the previous emperor's death on the battlefield had just arrived when the next emperor was preparing to set off for the front lines.
It can be said that the Southern Continent royal family has been able to stand firm for many years precisely because of this ruthlessness, which has also given the Southern Kingdom an extremely strong sense of cohesion.
“But…” Shen Yu lowered her head sadly and said, “Even if we can’t search for Aunt Yan’s remains extensively in order to recover our strength, are we just going to stand by and watch them search? And then dig up her remains, and even refine her soul…”
"I'm telling you this not to anger you, but to tell you something," Shen Sheng said, picking up the memorial Shen Yu had thrown on the ground, his gaze deep. "The Southern Kingdom is still in a dangerous situation. We can only rely on our ancestor and ourselves, so don't keep thinking about going to the Western Continent. Focus on your cultivation. When you're as powerful as our ancestor, no matter what kind of ghost tombs or spirit tombs they are, they won't be worth mentioning!"
Shen Yu's last hope was shattered, and he left the Imperial Study with a heavy heart.
Shen Sheng stood at the door of the Imperial Study, watching his increasingly smaller figure. The wind blew up his sleeves, and the golden dragons on his bright yellow dragon robe seemed to be about to burst out at any moment. He was the thirty-eighth emperor after the war of the four continents. He was only nineteen years old this year, with a youthful face, but no minister dared to underestimate this young emperor.
"Why should Your Majesty tell the Prince?"
A man dressed as a military officer walked out from the side hall. It was General Qi. He had listened to the argument between Shen Sheng and Shen Yu from beginning to end. He knelt on the ground and said respectfully, "Your Highness is still young and is eager to find the remains of the Yan Emperor. Telling him about the Ghost Tomb will only cause him anxiety."
"Seventeen years old, not young anymore." Shen Sheng raised his head, lost in memories, and muttered to himself, "Emperor Lin also ascended the throne at seventeen, and died at Tingchang Slope less than half a month later. It's laughable. I am two years older than him now, but I don't know if I can last three days."
"His Majesty……"