Chapter 1158: Chapter 727: The Future You Want

“Your Highness.”

“Your Highness!”

“Your Highness!!”

As Li Yucheng picked up the Gold-plated National Seal, the previously silent hall was filled with an uproar of voices—some calm, some urgent, all carrying an unmistakable tone of admonishment.

On the court, those affiliated with the sects were few; most who spoke up were members of the Imperial Faction and the Prime Minister Party.

Yes, the Prime Minister Party as well.

They were desperate to stop the Crown Prince from imprinting the seal upon the crimson missive perched on the table. When Xu Yuan’s gaze swept across them, their defiance showed no signs of retreat.

Was this betrayal?

Not quite.

Throughout history, conflicting voices have always existed, and the Prime Minister’s Mansion was no exception. Suddenly facing this ominous imperial decree was enough to make the moderates within the Prime Minister Party bristle like startled cats—a reaction not difficult to anticipate.

Because this was war.

A war that could bring endless suffering to the people.

Yet by now, these voices hardly mattered. Since Li Yucheng had already lifted the Gold-plated National Seal, he would not halt simply due to verbal dissuasion. After decades of supervising the country, this man had undeniably cultivated the bearing of a future ruler of the empire.

Holding the seal, Li Yucheng raised his gaze to sweep slowly yet firmly over the assembled officials below. His voice, steady and deliberate, carried a resolute gravity:

“Gentlemen, when my father was still King Qin, he taught me the way of this realm: To rule is to sacrifice oneself for the prosperity of all. My father dedicated his life to this principle. I, too, have dared not forget it for even a moment over these twenty years, striving day and night for the welfare of the people. But tell me, esteemed officials, do you believe that today’s world can truly be called a peaceful era?”

The commotion within the hall fell momentarily silent. Li Yucheng lowered his gaze and gently smoothed the creases on the parchment atop the table. His fingers passed over the inked words that seemed to drip with blood, as he continued:

“This very question was once posed to my father by Prime Minister Xu in their first meeting. My father claimed it was a prosperous age, but not a peaceful one. What, pray tell, is the cause? Mighty Dayan, with a millennia of national fortunes, is outwardly strong yet inwardly decayed. Despite my father’s victories—quelling the calamity in the Western Desert, suppressing the chaos of the Northern Barbarians, eliminating the pirates of the East Sea, and ushering in the Jiajing Dynasty—we still cannot escape the conclusion of that long-ago question!”

The Crown Prince’s voice landed with irrefutable finality.

These words rendered the hall momentarily silent again.

Li Yucheng grasped the seal, his hands trembling slightly. He leaned forward onto the desk holding the imperial missive and took a deep breath:

“I hope that, a hundred years from now, the citizens of Dayan will not suffer from bandits or demonic disasters. I hope Dayan’s children can roam freely across the fields. Even if I must sacrifice my blood and bones, I wish to witness this vision of a true peaceful era!”

Xu Yuan listened quietly as these words echoed across the vast and desolate hall, his lowered gaze masking his thoughts.

Li Yucheng’s words inexplicably reminded Xu Yuan of the Prime Minister’s Mansion and the side chambers once prepared there by his father for the current emperor, Li Yaoxuan.

If only there had been more time. If heaven had granted the previous generation just a little more leeway, the royal figure before him might have emerged as a benevolent ruler in an alternate future.

A ruler of infinite magnanimity—a benevolent sovereign with a heart vast enough to contain the flowing rivers.

[After quelling the realm, let us behold the mountains and rivers together.]

Xu Yuan thought,

Perhaps that was what those two had once envisioned.

But alas, fate had other plans.

In the deathly silence,

Li Yucheng’s hand gripping the National Seal pressed determinedly and gradually onto the parchment that symbolized destruction and war.

At that very moment, Xu Yuan exhaled softly.

The uncontrollable turmoil in the realm ensured that Li Yucheng’s path would end in tragedy. Although he appeared resplendent on the surface—with the imperial National Seal granting him authority to supervise affairs—in truth, he lacked real power to decide major matters. Any transgression would morph the Crown Prince Party’s loyal ministers into shackles upon him. If persuasion failed, only physical intervention would remain.

With this in mind,

A faint, dark flame flickered in Xu Yuan’s lowered gaze.

Then,

A deep and resonant voice sounded unhurriedly from the hall’s entrance:

“Your Highness, the National Seal is a matter of great consequence. I urge you to first seek His Majesty’s approval.”

Turning toward the source, Xu Yuan saw a man clad entirely in armor, bathed in the muted gleam of gold under streams of light piercing the clouds.

Xu Yuan had encountered this man before—more than once.

The man was none other than Wang Shili, the father of Wang Chengping, one of the Four Young Masters of the Capital.

Back then, Xu Yuan would often visit Wang Shili’s residence to play. The older man had always regarded him with calm and smiling eyes. But now, through the visor of his helmet, only a chilling coldness emanated.

Speaking of which, aside from Li Junwu, the fool, the other two members of the Four Young Masters of the Capital had fully positioned themselves against him.

A mix of pity and melancholy.

The old company dispersed, the world transformed.

Wang Shili, with his imperial golden knife strapped to his waist, advanced to the golden steps in an instant, stopping before Xu Yuan and Li Yucheng.

Li Yucheng didn’t lift his gaze. His motion of imprinting the seal remained unwavering.

No pleasantries, no dialogue exchanged.

Only a sigh, not clear who it came from.

And then,

Wang Shili reached out, ready to forcibly stop Li Yucheng’s hand.

In the next moment,

“Buzz——————”

A brilliant light erupted violently from the ground, a fierce gale surging forth. The sudden impact sent civil and military officials tumbling in chaos. Those with weaker cultivation were propelled back, crashing heavily against the hardened walls of the hall, their blood staining the Golden Throne Hall.

When the crowd finally recovered their senses from the swirling waves of Qi, they looked up desperately at the smoke-filled center and saw only the half-kneeling figure of the head of the Imperial Guards, and standing before him—a man with disheveled hair, calmly gazing down at him—Prime Minister’s third son.