Chapter 139.1 – State Preceptor Hao Ran
Da Ya’s imperial palace was just as majestic and spectacular as the Forbidden City that An Zi Ran had seen during modern times. Because he was sitting in a horse carriage when he first arrived, he did not see the place very clearly. Now, walking out of the Taiqing Palace, he could see the layers of red bricks and glazed tiles that made up the structures. The palace towered over the residents, solemn and stately.
The Ciming Palace, where the empress dowager lived, was a bit of a distance from the Taiqing Palace. Fu Wu Tian had originally proposed taking a chariot there, but An Zi Ran rejected the idea.
An Zi Ran was not sure whether he would enter the palace in the future, so he wanted to take this opportunity to have Fu Wu Tian take him around to get acquainted with the palace.
“Wangye, tell me about the late emperor and Grandfather?”
An Zi Ran took the initiative to bring up the topic. He didn’t know what attitude the laowangye would take towards his union with Fu Wu Tian when his dementia was better. In order to take precautions for that moment, he felt it was necessary to do his research.
In the silent night, Fu Wu Tian’s low voice flowed slowly.
“Both the later emperor and Grandfather were born from the empress dowager. They were taught from childhood that brothers should support each other and love each other, so their relationship is better than that of brothers in ordinary families. It was to the point that they both evaded the title of emperor. But the late emperor was the elder brother, so in the end it was decided that he would succeed the throne. Back then, the late emperor’s other brothers were also interested in the throne. In the end, it was Grandfather who did his best to help the late emperor clear away the obstacles so that he could inherit the throne.
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“The late emperor knew that Grandfather did a lot for him, so he would send all sorts of good things to the Fu Manor, so much so that he took care of everyone connected to Grandfather. He cherished my father and I very much.”
Although Fu Wu Tian downplayed it, the fight for the throne was a bloody and cruel struggle, and An Zi Ran could fully imagine how tragic it was at that time.
An Zi Ran thought of what Fu Wu Tian had told him in the past, “I’m guessing, when the late emperor was on his death bed, he regretted not having Grandfather inherit the throne back then?”
Fu Wu Tian stopped abruptly. His eyes in the darkness lit up slightly, and a warm smile flashed past, “This prince has always known that wangfei is very smart, but you still surprise me every time.”
That meant that An Zi Ran guessed correctly.
An Zi Ran was neither modest nor proud. This outcome wasn’t that hard to guess.
The late emperor had sincerely liked Grandfather and his family, otherwise when he was on his deathbed he would not have granted Fu Wu Tian the right to ignore the imperial power in witness of all the civil and military officials, nor would he have gifted Fu Xiao a feudal fiefdom. He even promised that the fiefdom could be inherited. Just from this one point, it could be seen that the late emperor’s love for Fu Xiao and Fu Wu Tian outstripped the love for his own son.
It’s not like the late emperor was blind to the absurd actions of Emperor Chong Ming. Therefore, based on the late emperor’s affection for the Fu Manor, he must have regretted it.
“What does Grandfather care about the most?”
“My grandfather has two regrets in his life. One regret is about my father, who died an untimely death. In the past, Grandfather was actually against my father and mother being together.”
“Because Mother is not from Da Ya?” An Zi Ran guessed.
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Fu Wu Tian nodded, “Grandfather has always disliked Mother, and Mother’s temperament was also strong. Not long after they got married, she followed my father to the battlefield. After she got pregnant, Father sent her back, but Grandfather did not change his attitude towards Mother because of her pregnancy…”
“I understand.”
Fu Wu Tian tilted his head to look at him with a smile in his eyes. “What does wangfei understand?”
An Zi Ran’s eyes seemed to flow with a glimmer of confidence, “That’s also why the late emperor brought you into the palace when you were young, right?”
“Smart.” Fu Wu Tian praised him without hesitation.
Chatting can easily make people forget the time.
Before they knew it, the two of them have already walked two-thirds of the way, and they were not far from the Ciming Palace. They could even vaguely see the brightly lit Ciming Palace in front of them. Grandfather should also have arrived by now.
The sound of footsteps in the dark caught their attention.
Fu Wu Tian and An Zi Ran looked in the direction where the sound had come from, and a figure came out of the darkness.
Translations by Vanilla Muse.
An Zi Ran looked at the man dressed in a cyan Taoist robe in surprise. His long hair was tied with a cyan ribbon that draped down into two long fluttering strands. He had a square jaw and a mustache. He carried a horsetail whisk in his hand. The long white silk strands of the whisk draped over the crook of his arm. His entire getup looked like a dignified and upright Taoist priest.
“It turns out to be the state preceptor.”
When Fu Wu Tian saw the other man, a strange emotion flickered through his eyes. It happened so quickly that bystanders did not have enough time to catch it. His gaze also deepened by a lot.
Hearing this sentence, An Zi Ran was not surprised. There was a Taoist priest in the palace for no reason, and the other party could even walk freely within the palace. Obviously, it could not be an ordinary Taoist priest. An Zi Ran could already largely guess the identity of this state preceptor.
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