And so, His Majesty the Emperor, filled with deep remorse, came to the Prime Minister's residence.
"Prime Minister, it's all my fault. I know I was wrong," Liu Ying said, holding Xiao He's hand.
Xiao He was overjoyed, never expecting that his feigned death would have such a wonderful use. "If Your Majesty can think this way, this old minister can die in peace."
"I have a question I would like to ask the Prime Minister," Liu Ying said, bowing.
"Your Majesty, please ask." Xiao He raised his hand.
"I wonder who can succeed the Prime Minister after his death?" Liu Ying knew that the position of Prime Minister was of great importance, but there were many capable people in the court, and he did not dare to make a decision for the time being.
"Does Your Majesty have someone in mind? Who do you favor the most?" Xiao He did not rush to answer.
Liu Ying thought for a moment and said, “I think the most urgent task is to let the people rest and recuperate as soon as possible. I have heard that Cao Can is the prime minister in Qi and he highly praises the regulations set by Prime Minister Xiao and implements them with all his might. Therefore, I would like to appoint Cao Can as prime minister.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao He struggled to his feet, which were already weakened by illness, and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty is fortunate to have Cao Shen as your prime minister. Even if I, Xiao He, were to die, I would have no regrets!"
Liu Ying quickly helped him up with both hands, saying, "With Prime Minister Xiao's words, I can rest assured."
"This old minister has one more request," Xiao He said, bowing.
"Please speak, Prime Minister, and I will certainly grant your request." Liu Ying secretly resolved that he would agree to whatever Xiao He asked for, no matter what the Empress Dowager disagreed with!
"After this old minister passes away, I will surely ask Your Majesty to allow the entire Xiao family to leave Chang'an and live in seclusion in Zhongshan, Jiangdong. I beg Your Majesty to grant this request!" Xiao He pleaded.
Liu Ying was slightly taken aback. He never expected Xiao He to make such a request. However, he quickly realized that Xiao He might be worried that someone would harm his family after his death.
"Your Majesty, I agree." Liu Ying's face was flushed. To have a prime minister with such worries was truly embarrassing for him, the emperor.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Xiao He bowed again.
...
That very night, Xiao He 'died'.
The death of this renowned prime minister, who devoted himself to the cause, has moved many to tears, and a constant stream of people have come to pay their respects.
However, Xiao He was not in the coffin; he had already left with Xiang Yu, clinging tightly to Xiang Yu's waist as he looked down upon the Central Plains.
Zhongshan Mountain is right in front of us!
Chapter 222 The New Emperor
The fourth plane, Zhongshan.
Bang!
The stone door, weighing an unknown amount of weight, was easily pushed open by Xiang Yu, and Xiao He followed Xiang Yu out, looking completely bewildered.
In fact, he first followed the path back to the main plane, Fangxian Temple, before arriving in this time and space.
Although he spent very little time in the main plane, he still felt the call of the original body and vaguely understood many things, but not completely.
"Prime Minister Xiao, can you sense yourself in this world?" Xiang Yu suddenly asked.
"Uh, I feel it, King Xiang, what exactly is going on?" Xiao He guessed that this must be Xiang Yu's supernatural power, but the idea of having two versions of himself was still too unbelievable.
"In short, I have created several identical worlds, even the people in them are the same, only the flow of time is different, and the Prime Minister Xiao in this world is younger. The two Prime Ministers Xiao can merge into one, becoming a younger and stronger version of yourself." Xiang Yu did not intend to tell Xiao He about Hao Jiu; there was no need.
“So that’s how it is… No wonder I could feel a mutual attraction.” Xiao He said, then bowed with his hands clasped. “I’ll trouble King Xiang to escort me to see my other self.”
"Good, that's what I thought too. Let's go." Xiang Yu closed the stone door and made sure no one else was nearby before leaving.
"It seems that the two clones can also be merged," Hao Jiu suddenly said.
"Hmm, I think it's fine if they can't merge," Xiang Yu said noncommittally.
"Haha, wouldn't that mean two Xiao Hes could work together?" Hao Jiu smiled slightly.
"It's a pity that one of them is about to die," Xiang Yu sighed.
"King Xiang, people always die, but immortals don't necessarily. As long as we seize the time and work together to become strong enough, it won't be difficult for everyone to prolong their lives or even live forever," Hao Jiu encouraged.
"I understand. Is the Awakening of the Dionysus's divine powers nearing completion?" Xiang Yu asked.
"Haha, Xiang Yu has figured it out? We've got some ideas, just need to refine them a bit more." Hao Jiu was in a great mood. He had finally come up with a satisfactory supernatural power. Although it might not be that heaven-defying, it was indeed very useful to them.
"Very well, then I, the King, will wait to see the unparalleled divine power of the God of Wine." Xiang Yu knew how hard Hao Jiu had worked during this time, so he figured his divine power must be extraordinary, and he was genuinely a little curious.
Hao Jiu chuckled, "Haha, it'll be quick. We can definitely finish it before the one-year deadline. King Xiang will be satisfied. By the way, this plane is the one with the least interference from us, right? I wonder what it's like now."
"We're almost at Chang'an. Xiao He has finished his integration and we can find out soon enough. There shouldn't be any major problems. I've been traveling and observing the area, and I haven't found any traces of war." Xiang Yu's mood became increasingly cheerful.
After Xiang Yu killed Liu Ji in Bairen, Zhao, he only left Guan Gao, Xiahou Ying and others with one sentence: "The world has reached the point where it is time to be at peace. Anyone who dares to start a war will be killed by this god!" Then he hurriedly left to save Zhongli Mei in the third plane.
The reason I brought Xiao He to the fourth plane this time was to see if those people had taken Xiang Yu's warning to heart. If the plane was in chaos because of Liu Ji's sudden death, it would be a good opportunity to clean it up.
In fact, Xiang Yu was overthinking things. A person who had died and been resurrected, who had become a god or saint, who could ride a flying horse and was unharmed by ten thousand arrows—who wouldn't be afraid of such a divine being?
After recovering from the shock, Xiahou Ying immediately sent a fast horse to report to Lü Zhi.
However, most of the court officials, including Empress Lü, did not believe it, as it was simply too unbelievable. But Xiahou Ying was not a liar; who would dare to lie about such an important matter?
Even if Xiahou Ying and Guan Gao conspired to murder Liu Ji, there was no need to fabricate such an outrageous lie, was there?
Therefore, Empress Lü sent a trusted and bold person to investigate and interrogate Xiahou Ying and others. The result turned out to be true!
Although it seems unbelievable, many people witnessed this firsthand, making it impossible to fake.
Empress Lü and her court officials were now in a state of complete panic, with many unable to sleep at night.
Empress Lü knew all too well how deep the enmity between Xiang Yu and Liu Ji was. Now that Xiang Yu had become a god, mortals could not kill him, or even hurt him. With his flying horse that could travel ten thousand miles a day, killing anyone he wanted was as easy as turning his hand. Could the Han Dynasty continue to exist?
If Xiang Yu wanted to settle scores later, those generals who had opposed him would likely be in danger, but they were powerless to resist and could only hide.
However, it is not difficult to see from the words left by Xiang Yu that Xiang Yu, who had already become a god, did not seem to have any intention of killing everyone. What Xiang Yu cared about was the stability of the world.
If it weren't for that statement, after the news of Liu Ji being killed by the god Xiang Yu spread, countless people across the land would have risen up to overthrow the Han dynasty.
But now that Xiang Yu's words and the news of Liu Ji's death have spread, those who want to start a war will have to think twice.
With Xiang Yu's words resounding throughout the world, it was possible for the Han dynasty to survive for thousands of generations, provided that it could seek Xiang Yu's forgiveness and refrain from instigating war.
But how can I gain Xiang Yu's forgiveness?
After leaving Bai Ren, Xiang Yu vanished without a trace, and could not be found anywhere.
Therefore, we still need to start with Xiang Yu's words: on the one hand, to stabilize the world, and on the other hand, to never provoke a war. However, even if we do both, we still cannot reassure Lü Zhi and others.
Therefore, Empress Lü and her ministers went to the residence of Marquis Liu to invite Zhang Liang to serve in the government, and agreed to any conditions Zhang Liang might have.
Since feigning illness to protect himself and staying at home, Zhang Liang had spent most of his free time studying cultivation and qi refinement. Now, upon hearing that Xiang Yu had returned as a god, his feelings were quite complicated, a mixture of excitement and fear.
It should be noted that Zhang Liang played a crucial role in Liu Bei's victory over Xiang Yu. If Xiang Yu were to seek revenge later, Zhang Liang would certainly not escape death.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Liang agreed to return to public service under Empress Lü's guidance and devised a series of survival strategies.
On the one hand, they secretly executed those who had betrayed and harmed Xiang Yu, such as Xiang Bo, as well as those who participated in dismembering Xiang Yu, and all of Liu Ji's descendants except Liu Ying. In short, they included all those whom they believed Xiang Yu must kill.
Then, people like Lü Zhi and Zhang Liang, who had also offended Xiang Yu but held real power and wanted to protect themselves, found Ji Bu, a former subordinate of Xiang Yu with a high reputation, and appointed him as king to temporarily manage the world on Xiang Yu's behalf.
Although Ji Bu rejected the proposal, he suggested a better solution: to appoint a member of the Xiang clan as emperor.
In fact, Zhang Liang had thought of this method before, but now all the Xiang clan members he could find had been given the surname Liu. It was questionable whether these people were still considered members of the Xiang clan in Xiang Yu's mind. If things went wrong, they would be completely finished.
However, Zhang Liang was still Zhang Liang after all. He had long suspected that the disappearance of the Xiang clan members who refused to surrender was related to Ji Bu. Now, at this critical juncture, Ji Bu proposed such a bold method. Could it be that Ji Bu knew the whereabouts of the Xiang clan's descendants?
Upon inquiry, it was indeed the case. It turned out that the brothers Ji Bu and Ji Xin had been secretly helping the Xiang clan all these years. If it weren't for Empress Lü and Zhang Liang's ruthless operation to wipe out the descendants of Liu Ji and even imprison Liu Ying, Ji Bu would never have dared to reveal it.
After some preparation, Empress Lü announced to the world that she was loyal to the god Xiang Yu and that she would support a descendant of the Xiang family as emperor!
Of course, Empress Lü and the others were not stupid. They could not just randomly choose an adult to be the emperor. What if the new emperor turned against them and killed them all? Wouldn't that have been a waste of their efforts?
In fact, Zhang Liang and Ji Bu already had a suitable candidate in mind, which was none other than the reclusive Xiang Long!
When Xiang Yu heard from Xiao He, after the merger, that Xiang Long had ascended the throne, his expression was priceless!
Moreover, in this world, Xiang Long already has an empress! It's Lü Shizhi's youngest daughter, a year younger than Xiang Long, clever and quick-witted, and clearly a beauty in the making...
Chapter 223 Return
The fourth dimension, the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Xiang Yu's expression gradually turned cold, a hint of murderous intent lurking beneath. "Are Lü Zhi and Zhang Liang's men trying to use Long'er to blackmail me, Your Majesty?"
Xiao He pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, “The safety of the palace is the responsibility of Ji Xin, and the defense of Chang’an is the responsibility of Ji Bu. From these two measures, we can see that Lü Zhi, Zhang Liang and others do not want King Xiang to misunderstand that they have any intention of coercing him.”
Therefore, I believe they currently harbor no ill intentions, but this may change in the future. King Xiang should still try to deter them. Once the new emperor comes of age and fully controls the court, there will be no need to fear him.
If King Xiang didn't trust them, why not eliminate them to prevent future troubles? The new emperor is still a minor; how much affection can he possibly have for the empress? It's practically a marriage alliance without any real connection.
Xiang Yu's expression softened slightly. "Let's wait until I've met with my mother and the dragon before making a decision."
"Oh, by the way, Zhang Liang is now the Grand Tutor, and he teaches the new emperor and empress every day. But King Xiang need not worry, there is a reliable person protecting the new emperor..."
...
At Weiyang Palace, everyone connected to Liu Ji and the Liu family has left.
They either died or were moved to Chang Le Palace.
Inside the Imperial Academy, Zhang Liang was carefully instructing Xiang Long and Lü Le.
After listening for a while, Xiang Yu turned his attention to the mysterious guard accompanying Xiang Long. The man's figure gave Xiang Yu a familiar feeling, but he couldn't recognize him because his back was to Xiang Yu. But that didn't matter.
Snap!
Zhang Liang had just picked up the bamboo slips on the table when he suddenly trembled, and the slips fell to the table.
"Is Grand Tutor alright?" Xiang Long asked with concern.
Zhang Liang ignored Xiang Long and instead turned his gaze to the guard, whose face was covered, revealing only a pair of sharp eyes.
"Are you Xiang Sheng?"
"So what if I am?" Xiang Sheng slowly pulled off his mask, not expecting that Zhang Liang would still guess his identity.
"Good." Zhang Liang said, then rolled his eyes and fainted.
Xiang Sheng, "..."