Silent Crown

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After the long and chaotic night, many things had been changed, including the royal palace, the Imperial Capital, the Aurora, and perhaps even the world outside Aurora had become different.

The only thing that had not changed was probably the Originator that humans yearned to change.

Power struggles, rebellions, trials, suppression… In just a few days, it was as if the whole country had become a pot of boiling water, with various shocking ingredients thrown into it one after another, until everyone had no idea what the soup would be like in the end.

Then, the chaos were ended overnight.

The first day after Bai Heng's death, the gates of the capital city opened wide, and the joint army of the various nobles marched in. They forcibly suppressed all rebellions and sealed off the palace, and everyone was guessing whether some noble would claim the crown as their own next.

But immediately after that, on the second day after Bai Heng's death, a new empress ascended the throne.

But the only winner shocked everyone.

It was not House Yuan, nor House Liu, nor the indignant House Changsun, nor House Ye that was said to harbor wolfish ambitions… It was House Bai, which had a new head, and House Yunlou, which only had one very last descendant left alive, that had the last laugh.

After all, the last remaining members of the two houses were the same person.

— Yunlou Baixi.

Actually, one could just remove the word Yunlou…

The first to bow down to her was House Yuan. House Yuan was the most unambitious out of the nine families, and cared the littlest about power and wealth. Although the previous head of the house died for the cause, House Yuan didn't seem sad in the slightest bit, and instead they were glad that he died a well and great death.

The group of madmen had always used themselves as swords, sharpening the blades by fighting their enemies. Under the pressure of fighting against Mr. Hu, Yuan Changqing broke through the limit and entered a domain that the heads of the past had all failed to reach. The last remaining sword was proof.

At the invitation of Bai Heng, House Yuan descended from the mountains with the sole intention of seeking death. At the moment, they had already found it, and naturally they had no wish to stay till New Year to attend reunion dinners. After Bai Xi wrote them a letter in the name of the head of House Bai, reminding them of their agreement with Bai Heng, House Yuan gave up their military power in a very direct manner and turned to leave, returning to the mountains.

House Liu was more difficult to handle, but it was not impossible to strike up a deal with them.

The fact that the emperor could be anyone but a member of House Liu was reassuring.

The reason was simply because the term 'bad' was too much of an understatement when used to describe the reputation of House Liu.

For centuries, House Liu had focused on researching ghostly bestiality, making themselves resemble something between humans and ghosts. Most of the remaining elders in the family were like zombies, and the youngsters also appeared eerie and sinister.

Even if they were to put on the Dragon Robe and sit on the throne, the people would thought that it was the corpse of the deceased emperor sitting up there. But while bestiality seemed invisible, the amount of resources needed to research it was frighteningly huge.

It was especially so for the sorcery of rearing ghosts. Even a mountain of gold and silver would be used up.

Therefore, it was necessary to see what price must be paid to satisfy their appetite.

As it turned out, the Cloud Tower itself was enough.

Bai Xi had no qualms about selling away the assets of her ancestors, not to mention the fact that it was property that used to belong to Yunlou Qingshu. If not for Ye Qingxuan's reminder, Bai Xi would have long forgotten about the Cloud Tower, that goddamn place. At the moment, it could still be 'recycled' for use, and naturally Bai Xi had no reason to feel reluctant about giving it up.

After two out of the three houses were convinced, the remaining House Changsun naturally couldn't do much.

They still couldn't complete their wish that had been passed down for a thousand years. After many discussions and calculations, they weren't decisive enough to start a life-or-death fight. Bringing with them plenty of benefits, they gave up their military power and returned to their fief.

And so, the position of the new empress was stabilized.

Although there were still innumerable questions…

For example, what on earth is the surname of Her Majesty?

Yes, it was true that she was the head of two houses, but one must surely precede the other.

So, House Yunlou and House Bai, which one preceded the other?

Bai Xi was Bai Heng's adopted daughter alright, but she still had the word 'Yunlou' in her name. However, Yunlou Baixi was the daughter of Yunlou Qingshu alright, but as a daughter, she personally killed her biological father, and it was unclear whether she was even willing to recognize 'Yunlou' as her surname.

Moreover, the previous empress left a written will, bestowing the title of princess upon Bai Xi, changing her surname to Zhao.

Right, so one must also consider whether Bai Xi was going to change her surname to Zhao.

Fortunately, Her Majesty, the present Empress, found a noble with royal blood related to House Zhao from God knew where, and passed the legacy of his family back to him. It was equivalent to Bai Xi temporarily safekeeping it for them, and House Zhao remained in the hands of those actually bearing the surname Zhao.

So at the moment, what was the surname of Her Majesty?

God knew how many people got a headache at the same time from worrying about it.

Toning the problem down, it merely affected her designation. But playing the problem up, it was a matter of which side she would be choosing to take…

House Yunlou and House Bai, Her Majesty could be the head of both houses, but surely she couldn't have a foot in both camps? Many nobles wondered, Your Majesty, does your loyalty lies with House Yunlou or House Bai?

Are you a friend of House Bai or a friend of House Yunlou?

Or rather, whose enemy do you intend to be?

Moreover, it was not just the question of whether the surname of Her Majesty at the moment was Yunlou or Bai, looking at it from a long-term perspective, the question of what surname Her Majesty would take on in the future was equally important!

Is your surname Yunlou? Or is it Bai?

Or you planning to… take on the surname Ye?

And what exactly is going to happen with House Ye? Will their good name be restored or will the issue remain covered? Will they regain their original fief or will it be merged into the crown land?

For a while, everything was very complicated and in a mess. Moreover, some issues were too sensitive, yet they could not be simply ignored. God knew how many people became burnt out because of it.

Fortunately, Her Majesty, amid her busy schedule, gave them a new troublesome issue to deal with, and all the other troubles didn't seem troublesome anymore.

— Give Bai Heng a state funeral.

It was extremely troublesome.

Let's not mention how the regent, who had controlled the Aurora for 15 years single-handedly, had died, or how the late empress had died. After all, in the history books in the future, both of them could only have died of sickness. .

Moreover, the writers must avoid the important and dwell on the trivial, covering up this paragraph in history which no one knew happened at all.

Let's not even mention how much hair the officers in charge of writing history would have to shed to settle the issue. Deciding on the posthumous name of Bai Heng alone would be enough to make the doctors of philosophy working in Pavilion Shiqu [1] beat their own brains out.

Moreover, Her Majesty stubbornly insisted on burying Bai Heng in the mausoleum the previous empress built for herself, no matter how many ministers kowtowed before the steps leading to the throne, their foreheads bleeding even.

And so, on the fifth day after Bai Heng's death, he was given such a grand burial.

Generally speaking, the ruler would usually confer additional titles upon the dead at this point to show generosity and a reluctance to part ways. After all, the dead could not leap out of their graves to make demands, so one could just casually make empty promises. However, for some reason unknown, Her Majesty the current empress seemed to be extraordinarily stingy in this regard. She conferred no additional rewards at all, making herself seem somewhat unsympathetic, yet of all the things she could do, she chose to gave him a state burial.

It was so contradictory.

However, for the ministers who had their minds subjected to so much abuse, they couldn't be bothered anymore…

They only hoped that after Her Majesty had gone through the phase of being a new broom that swept clean, she would stop stirring up so much trouble, or at least do so less frequently.

And so, the funeral was conducted.

Although it was a funeral, the popular folk custom of hiring people to cry before the grave was not followed. Everyone simply took a moment to mourn him symbolically — Actually, probably no one felt sad, and on the contrary many felt relieved and glad.

Ah, he is finally dead.

The traitor who had controlled the politics of the nation for so many years is finally dead.

God knew how many people secretly felt relieved.

No one knew how sincere were their pretentious tears.

The dirge was solemn and grand, and the funeral was conducted personally by the head of House Ye. Even Her Majesty was present to mourn him, bringing with her the mysterious 'descendant of the former royal family', the present head of House Zhao.

She was a woman who seemed a little sluggish and dumb, her gaze always made her seem as if she was sleepwalking, and she was always half a beat slow in replying whenever someone talked to her.

She always looked as if she wasn't awake.

When the funeral was over and everyone was ready to leave, in the cold silence, she still seemed stuck in the past, and she was quiet.

"Do you feel very sad?" Ye Qingxuan asked her.

"I don't know." The woman who was once the empress shook her head. "In the past few days, I saw a lot of things about him, but it was all very different from the him I once saw. I am forgetting many things, and now even if I try hard to remember, I can't remember his face clearly, only his gaze, somewhat."

Hearing her words, Ye Qingxuan couldn't help but smile resignedly.

It is probably what Bai Heng wanted to see?

However, although he stubbornly asked her not to remember him, if she really forgets, that old fella would probably be fairly upset too?

How ironic, Bai Heng.

"But I am very sure about one thing —" Her voice suddenly sounded.

Ye Qingxuan looked back, puzzled, and saw her serious look.

"I really like him." Like she was recalling what was left of her memory and once again saw the pair of eyes that remained in her mind, she seemed to wake up from a fuzzy dream, opening her eyes. "Because his gaze was full of strength."

She said, "I want to be like him."

After a long silence, Ye Qingxuan laughed self-mockingly, not knowing what to say. After a long time, he patted her shoulder. "Then work hard to live on…"

…

After returning to the palace, Ye Qingxuan walked on the jade staircase alone, looking around, and could not help but sigh emotionally.

Just as he was recalling the past, he heard someone kowtowing in the palace. An old man kowtowed flusteredly, his voice hoarse and alarmed. "Your Majesty, I must say this even if the price is my life. Abruptly conducting a royal wedding after a state funeral inevitably goes against the traditional etiquette. Moreover, Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and plenty of work must be done…"

Wait!

Royal wedding?

Who is getting married?

Outside the palace, Ye Qingxuan felt like a bolt of thunder had struck him, and he almost rolled down the steps.

"So fast?" He finally picked up his jaw that had hit the floor, and cautiously looked into the palace. He only saw the old man below the steps, whose forehead was bleeding, and Bai Xi sitting on the throne, her gaze cold with no trace of mercy at all.

When she heard his voice, Bai Xi looked up towards him, and her gaze… became even colder.

"Mhmm?" As if she didn't catch what Ye Qingxuan had said, she produced a seemingly puzzled sound from her nostrils, but Ye Qingxuan shuddered and pretended that he had not said anything.

Bai Xi's expression relaxed slightly. Pinning Ye Qingxuan, who was ready to escape, in place with her gaze, she then waved her hand. "I have my own reasons. Tai Changqing, if there's nothing else, you may go."

The old man pretended not to hear her and continued to kowtow, but was soon dragged out by two warriors in gold armor.

Suddenly, Ye Qingxuan and Bai Xi were the only two left in the main hall.

The silence became more and more awkward.

No one said anything.

It wasn't until Ye Qingxuan couldn't stand Bai Xi's gaze that he coughed twice pretentiously, then opened his mouth to speak. "Ahem, cousin…"

"Mhmm?" Bai Xi produced another syllable from her nostrils, signifying her annoyance.

"Bai Xi! Bai Xi, Your Majesty!!" Ye Qingxuan spoke hurriedly, plastering the kind expression he used to wear as an elder cousin on his face. "Sometimes, you need not rush things too much. Isn't there an old saying that goes, it gets done faster when you take it slow… I don't mean that I am unwilling, I'm just saying…"

Before he could finish stuttering, his words were interrupted by the sharp peals of bells coming from afar.

— Someone had broken into the palace!

The sonorous clanking of iron armor sounded.

Two rows of imperial guards rushed to the scene, stationing themselves before the palace. But Ye Qingxuan had sharp eyes and saw the 'assassin' running here from afar.

It was clearly the standard armor of the Knights of the Round Table!

And from the man's height and sound of heart, Ye Qingxuan could recognize him clearly: The man was his orderly!

"Step aside!!!" The knight held no weapons in his hand, and so panicked that he paid no attention to the strict protocol of the forbidden palace. He held a box high with both his hands, and rushed to the outside of the palace, running all the way. "Step aside, I want to see His Royal Highness! His Royal Highness! Where is His Royal Highness?!"

Ye Qingxuan frowned and reached out to stop the imperial guards from killing the knight on the spot.

"What happened?" He looked at his panicked orderly. "What happened to Anglo?"

The knight knelt on the ground and handed him the iron box with both hands. "Your Royal Highness, Avalon sent an urgent message via the wind tunnel! It has been sent 19 times in the past day! Only Your Royal Highness may open it, please pardon my rudeness…"

Before he finished his words, Ye Qingxuan grabbed the iron box from him and had no time to pacify the knight. He directly pulled the iron box open, and a thin letter made of aether crystal fell into his hand.

Soon, his face turned purple with rage.

For a moment, everyone in the entire imperial capital felt panic in their hearts.

A biting chill rose into the sky from the entire palace and spread in all directions. In a flash, cold winter had swept across the nation, and numerous frostwork spread.

Something heavy pressed down in everyone's heart, making it difficult for them to breathe.

Those with slightly weaker minds almost fainted on the spot.

Not knowing how many enchantments he set off in the palace when he lost control for an instant, Ye Qingxuan flicked his hand and shattered the thunderbolts floating around in the air. For the third time, he read through the urgent report in his hand once again.

He clenched his hands.

Ashes fell from his hands.

A word escaped his lips. "Charles…"

[1] The largest library in the Western Han Dynasty.