NABC Chapter 79 Farewell My Concubine, Departure and Posterity
Chapter 79 Farewell My Concubine, Departure and Posterity
In the autumn of the tenth year of the Qianwu reign, Yang Kang returned to the capital.
They received Batu's envoy and accepted Batu's submission.
Soon, following in the footsteps of the Mongol westward expeditions of the past, Prince Chen Wanyan Yi, along with the brothers Marquis of Beian Möngke and Marquis of Champion Kublai Khan, led 50,000 elite troops on a westward expedition.
He intended to completely pacify the Western Regions for the Great Qian Dynasty, rebuild the Silk Road, and at the same time bring the martial arts of the Western Regions countries under the Great Qian's control.
The army marched westward and completely annihilated the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate. After witnessing the terrifying fighting power of the Great Qian warriors' army, Batu Khan did not hesitate to submit and became their guide.
He then joined the army of the Great Qian Dynasty and launched another expedition to the west.
Meanwhile, on the high seas, a similar conquest was underway.
In the spring of the eleventh year of the Qianwu reign, the Daqian Navy set sail from the ports of Quanzhou and Mingzhou, with more than 300 warships carrying 20,000 cavalry and naval troops, and advanced westward along the South China Sea.
In the first battle, Nie Feng single-handedly broke through the city, killed its king amidst the army's protection, and calmly fought his way out.
The Southeast Asian countries were terrified at the mere mention of his name. Srivijaya and Malacca surrendered without a fight and sent envoys to acknowledge him as a vassal state and pay tribute.
The fleet crossed the Strait of Malacca and established a supply port on the southern coast of India.
Zhang Rou built a giant ocean-going treasure ship, recruited top seafarers from all over the world, and sailed along the west coast of India straight into the Arabian Sea.
When the Arab merchant saw Bu Jingyun sink the pirate ship with a single sword strike, he knelt on the deck and exclaimed that God had appeared to him.
The states along the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea were shocked and successively submitted, thus connecting the East and West via the Great Qian Maritime Silk Road.
As the territory of the Great Qian Dynasty expanded, in the thirtieth year of Qianwu, the Great Qian Dynasty finally restarted the enfeoffment system. Dongying was granted to Yang Kang's fourth son, Yang Li, while his third son, Yang Xun, was enfeoffed in Samarkand, leading the army to continue expanding westward.
In the twentieth year of the Qianwu era, Guo Jing broke through to the Innate Realm, shocking the world.
No one expected that after the Emperor and Empress, the first to break through would not be Zhou Botong, Huang Yaoshi, or the Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar, but rather Guo Jing, the Prince of Xiangyang.
Guo Jing's breakthrough completely separated his innate abilities from the myths and legends of emperors and empresses, making him a reality that ordinary people could touch.
Subsequently, the former Five Greats—Eastern Heretic, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar, and Old Urchin—all broke through to new heights, and even Qiu Chuji entered the Innate Realm.
Martial arts research in the Great Qian Dynasty is in full swing, and the course of civilization has irreversibly shifted.
In the fortieth year of the Qianwu reign, Yang Kang, who was nearly seventy years old, abdicated, and his eldest son Yang Qian ascended the throne, later becoming Emperor Taizong of the Qianlong Emperor.
After Yang Qian ascended the throne, he continued his father's policies, and the territory and national strength of the Great Qian continued to grow under his rule.
He was not as gifted as his father, but he was steady, reliable, and good at recognizing and employing people.
During his 37-year reign, the Great Qian Dynasty reached its zenith, stretching from Japan in the east to Damascus in the west, from the East African coast in the south to the Arctic ice cap in the north.
Later historians referred to this period as a continuation of the Qianwu Prosperity, while Yang Qian's thirty-seven-year reign was hailed as the reign of Emperor Taizong.
In the same year that Yang Qian ascended the throne, Consort Mu Nianci, Yang Kang's wife and the mother of his second son Yang Guo, passed away.
Mu Nianci's illness did not come suddenly; she had been ill for several years before she passed away.
She was the quietest person in Yang Kang's harem, unlike Yang Miaozhen who was fiery and passionate, or Cheng Yaojia who was gentle and graceful.
She simply stayed quietly in her own bedchamber, occasionally visiting Yang Guo and sometimes copying a few pages of scriptures for Yang Kang.
She never vied for favor, never for power, and never for anything.
She didn't even want to compete for the martial arts that could extend her lifespan.
Yang Kang sometimes even felt that she was too quiet, so quiet that when he occasionally walked into her bedroom, he would be in a daze and think that no one was inside.
Mu Nianci never felt wronged; she clearly knew her place.
She was neither an empress nor a favored concubine; she was simply a woman brought into the world by the right person at the right time.
She didn't want to know how much sincerity Yang Kang had for her; she was content to marry the man she loved and bear his children.
That's enough for her.
She gave her most intense emotions to Yang Guo throughout her life. Her only worry was that her unconventional son might commit a terrible disaster one day after she was gone.
Mu Nianci passed away on an autumn evening when Yang Kang sat by her bedside, holding her hand.
Her hands were very cold, as cold as autumn dew.
"Your Majesty need not remain here."
"I have had a very good life."
Mu Nianci said softly
Do you regret it?
Yang Kang suddenly asked.
"You are a hero to the world, and my hero too. What do I have to regret?"
"My only worry about going there is that our son will cause trouble in the future."
Mu Nianci suddenly felt a pang of sorrow, and Yang Guo, who was standing nearby, immediately knelt down with Xiaolongnu in his hand, crying and admitting his mistakes.
For the sake of that woman from the martial arts world who was nearly ten years older than him, whom he had met by chance in the Zhongnan Mountains when he was a young man.
At the age of twenty, Yang Guo gave up his long-cherished new name, Yang Zhen, which means "earthquake" in Chinese.
Yang Tiexin arranged a marriage between the Guo and Yang families for him, abandoning Guo Fu, whom he had disliked since childhood, and venturing into the martial world alone, all for the sake of being with the woman he loved.
If Yelü Chucai's son, Yelü Qi, hadn't stepped in to take over, this matter would have been almost impossible to resolve.
The Guo family was, after all, the core of the Great Qian Dynasty. Yang Guo's willful act immediately turned the Guo family into a laughing stock of the world, to the point that Yang Kang had no choice but to take action and revoke Yang Guo's title.
"Guo'er hasn't done anything wrong, why are you worried?"
Yang Kang said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Yang Guo suddenly looked up at his father.
"He simply did what he thought was right, and that's what I hoped to see."
"It is precisely because of this pure and kind heart that he was able to become the first Xiantian among the royal family's descendants. Isn't that a good thing?"
Yang Kang said with a smile.
Yang Guo did not become a feudal lord, but he became a master of innate martial arts in this era who was even more noble than a feudal lord.
"I am relieved that His Majesty did not blame him."
Mu Nianci thought for a moment, then smiled slightly.
Her eyes slowly closed.
Yang Kang sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her face.
Mu Nianci passed away peacefully, with even a faint smile on her lips.
Throughout her entire life, she only had this one smile, and it never changed from beginning to end.
That woman who lived a quiet life eventually passed away peacefully.
From that day on, the world seemed to enter a countdown, and people began to wither away one after another.
Yang Kang silently watched as his old friends left one by one.
First, some of his old ministers who had followed him in his early years, Yelü Chucai, died in his sleep at the age of seventy-three.
Wanyan Chenheshang suddenly departed while demonstrating martial arts to his descendants in the snow.
Zhang Rou retired to her hometown in Hebei and passed away peacefully there.
They left their names in history books, but they could not leave their mark on the world.
Huang Rong stayed by Guo Jing's side until he was seventy years old and his life was in vain.
She died on Peach Blossom Island, in Guo Jing's arms.
In this life, they grew old together, free from the constraints of family, country, and the sorrow of dying a heroic death. Huang Rong felt she had no regrets. If there were any, it would be that she had to leave Guo Jing behind.
"Brother Jing, I'm sorry!"
"I should have let you marry several wives, so that I wouldn't leave you alone when I'm gone."
Huang Rong said with a puzzled expression, and then sadly took her leave.
Guo Jing was left alone on Peach Blossom Island, and from then on, he never left the island until his death.
When Yang Kang was 150 years old, Yang Miaozhen, the only woman left by his side, also passed away.
Their innate vitality is incredibly strong, but their innate martial arts in this world are still in their initial stages.
The theory of innate martial arts in the Great Qian Dynasty is not perfect. After the innate stage, the inspirational role of each martial art becomes less and less.
Apart from Yang Kang, all other innate martial artists have imbalances in their essence, energy, and spirit.
They could vaguely sense the strength of their own life force, but the growth of each person's lifespan was different, and their innate paths were also biased.
Most people don't experience a significant increase in perception and spirituality because they are not skilled at cultivating their will and spirit.
Only Yang Miaozhen's understanding of spirit and consciousness preceded her physical body, thus entering the innate realm.
After entering the Innate Realm, her spiritual power grew stronger day by day, but it was always difficult to nourish her physical body. Finally, under this powerful pressure, her physical body could no longer bear it.
Yang Kang tried everything, but to no avail.
In the mausoleum of Emperor Taizu, which was completed when Yang Kang was sixty years old, Yang Miaozhen lay in her bedroom, looking at Yang Kang.
Her hair was completely white, but her eyes were still bright.
"You cried."
"So you can cry too?"
"I'm not dead."
Yang Miaozhen couldn't help but laugh when she saw a tear slide down Yang Kang's cheek.
"You're about to die."
Yang Kang sat by her bedside, his voice very soft.
"So what?"
"In my life, I've killed those I should have killed, fought those I should have fought, and married the man I should have married. What haven't I done?"
"Throughout history, which woman has achieved my military exploits, my martial arts skills, or my luck?"
"People should always be content."
Yang Miaozhen looked at Yang Kang and couldn't help but offer words of comfort.
Yang Kang remained silent for a long time.
Do you think people have a next life?
Yang Kang asked.
There is no next life.
Even if I had one, I wouldn't want it.
"My life has been rich enough; I don't need another mundane one."
Yang Miaozhen said with absolute certainty.
She reached out and grasped Yang Kang's fingers.
Her hands were already weak, but she was holding them tightly.
"Yang Kang".
As Yang Miaozhen spoke, her aura rapidly dissipated, and her once taut skin began to age quickly.
"Um."
A hint of sadness flashed in Yang Kang's eyes.
"If I die, will you turn back into a god?"
Everyone says you are a god descended from heaven to save the world.
"Now that you've turned back into a god, go back to the Celestial Realm as soon as possible."
"It's not good for a person to live too long; it gets boring."
Yang Miaozhen smiled and closed her eyes.
"it is good."
Yang Kang held her hand and said softly.
A cold notification sound suddenly rang in Yang Kang's mind.
System notification: Historical scene - Farewell My Concubine reenacted.
[Xiang Yu template integration rate: 100%]
System notification: The next cycle can be started at any time. The host can choose to leave voluntarily or leave naturally after death.
Yang Kang silently closed the panel.
"With Yu Ji dead, how many days can Xiang Yu live?"
"What's the point of being a god?"
Yang Kang smiled, walked into his coffin, and closed his eyes.
The next moment, a beam of white light shot into the sky from the imperial mausoleum outside Yanjing.
When the imperial family of the Great Qian Dynasty sent people into the place, they only found the body of Empress Zhaowu, Yang Miaozhen, while the body of Emperor Taizu Yang Kang had disappeared.
The pillar of light lingered in the sky above Yanjing for three consecutive days, and news of the passing of the Emperor Taizu and his wife spread throughout the known world at an unbelievable speed.
Some knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, some looked up to the sky and roared, and some remained silent.
For most people in the world, Yang Kang was more than just an emperor.
He was the one who ended the chaos, the one who unified the world, and the one who ushered in a new era of martial arts.
He is also a living deity blessed with miracles.
Was Yang Kang really dead? No one was sure.
Inside the imperial mausoleum, only the body of Empress Zhaowu Yang Miaozhen and an empty coffin remain.
There were no bones, no bloodstains, no traces whatsoever of a warrior's passing.
The white light shot into the sky and lingered for three days, a phenomenon unprecedented in any ancient text.
The high-ranking officials in the court remained tight-lipped about the matter, but the common people were abuzz with discussion.
Some say he ascended to heaven, others say he entered the next cycle of reincarnation.
Some say he was simply tired of the world and went to some unknown place by himself.
But many people believed in a simple judgment: the founding emperor was not dead.
The reason is simple: a primordial martial artist who has lived for a full 150 years, and a god surrounded by holy light.
Why is he destined to die?
Many innate masters during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Great Qian Dynasty have mentioned a detail in a subtle way: in the days before Taizu's death, his vital energy and spirit never showed any signs of decline within the range that they could perceive.
His physical body was so young that he didn't look like a centenarian, and his mind was so sharp that he didn't look like an old man on his deathbed.
This conjecture has been repeatedly mentioned and debated in later generations, but it has never been able to be confirmed or disproven.
It is precisely this uncertainty that has quietly changed the course of the world over the next thousand years.
Over countless years, the martial arts of the Great Qian people gradually permeated every corner of civilization, and the entire civilization of the Great Qian was evolving in a direction that was gradually becoming more fantastical.
As the culture of the Great Qian Dynasty collided and merged with the ancient cultures of Western countries, the martial artists of the Great Qian Dynasty displayed an unprecedentedly overwhelming force from the very beginning.
Although almost every civilization in this world has its own martial arts tradition.
But only the Great Qian Dynasty made martial arts an indispensable part of its civilization.
By the time other civilizations realized the crucial role of martial arts, it was already too late.
Countless profound martial arts techniques have long been lost in the chaos of war and the dark religious struggles, and those chaotic countries and backward systems are no longer able to organize a systematic study of martial arts theory like the Great Qian Dynasty.
Ultimately, driven by the fear of falling further behind, they had no choice but to abandon their own civilization and actively learn from the culture of the Eastern Great Qian Dynasty, absorbing its martial arts heritage.
Centuries later, when the Yang family of the Central Plains was on the verge of its demise and Emperor Yang Qian still had not appeared, the world gradually began to believe that the legendary martial arts emperor had passed away.
By then, the Great Qian civilization had almost completely covered the world.