#989 - One last thing before leaving

On the fifth day of the seventh month, the enthronement ceremony was held as scheduled.

A myriad of radiant lights hung over the Secret Pavilion, and the sacred colors filled the Dragon Tower.

As the most solemn ceremony in feudal society, Su Qi's enthronement was naturally extremely dignified and solemn.

Most importantly, under a series of meticulous arrangements, the ceremony successfully completed all the planned procedures.

There were no "remnants of the previous dynasty" causing trouble, nor were there any uncooperative "troublemakers".

Although, compared to Ning Yu Ke's self-proclamation as king in Shu, the expressions on the faces of everyone attending the ceremony today, whether officials, soldiers, or commoners, were not quite so "sincere and heartfelt", at least they didn't do anything "inappropriate".

Thus, a ceremony that wasn't exactly "perfect" was, all in all, "smoothly" completed.

From then on, the "Great Qian" completely withdrew from the stage of history, and the "Great Han" made its debut.

As the founding emperor of the new dynasty, Su Qi also put on a brand-new dragon robe and sat on the dragon throne at the hour of Shen (3-5 pm), receiving the court's homage for the first time.

When the cries of "Long live the Emperor" echoed through the Golden Luan Hall, he finally could no longer see a trace of hesitation or guilt in his eyes.

The great waves of history rolled forward, and from this moment on, the fate of tens of millions of people living in this territory was completely changed.

Great Han, Great Chu, New Feng, Great Ning, Great Shu.

From then on, the five dynasties spanning tens of thousands of miles east to west would, under someone's influence, form an extremely solid "strategic alliance", and then enter an unprecedented period of rapid development.

Shared writing system, trade, marriage, and even governance.

In the coming years, Wei Changtian used his "absolute control" over the royal families of these five dynasties to establish a kind of "federal" community of interests between the five countries, and gradually became a political entity that could occupy a place in the world.

Later historians generally referred to this political community as the "Five Nations Alliance", or more directly as the "Wei Alliance", and conducted extremely detailed research on this form of national alliance, which was clearly different from previous forms.

Of course, all of the above is a story for later.

At least for now, Wei Changtian not only had no intention of using the EU model of his previous life to transform the feudal imperial system, but he didn't even show his face at today's ceremony.

Not only him, but also Yang Liu Shi, Xu Quan, Li Zi Mu and others never appeared at the enthronement ceremony or the subsequent state banquet.

As for what they were doing...

Near the small courtyard, countless eyes stared from daybreak until nightfall, until finally, at the end of Xu hour (7-9 pm), they saw the tightly closed courtyard door slowly open.

Then, as if they had discussed it in advance, the spies sent by various forces disappeared into the night, turning into streaks of black shadows and shooting off in the same direction.

Using wolves to devour tigers.

As one of the best inns in the city, Dongli Tower can accommodate hundreds of people at the same time when it is full. Even on ordinary days, it is not too deserted, and you can always hear the sound of guests drinking and making merry.

However, today's Dongli Tower seemed a bit silent.

Although there were still candles lit behind many wooden windows, very little noise could be heard, and the occasional miscellaneous sounds could not even cover up the chirping of insects outside.

"Creak~"

"Foster father, your son has returned."

At the end of the second floor, in the last guest room, Lin Zhi, dressed in night clothes, walked into the room as the door was gently pushed open, and went straight to Guan Kong, who was sitting at the table.

"The state banquet at the palace has not yet ended, but the Tiangou Army has been withdrawing from the city one after another."

"It seems that the rumors are true, Wei Changtian should be leaving tomorrow."

"Foster father, in that case, should we also leave tomorrow?"

"..."

While speaking, he turned up the candle on the table a little brighter.

After a long while, Lin Zhi, who had not received a response, realized that Guan Kong seemed to be a little strange.

"Foster father? What's wrong with you?"

"... Did you notice anything unusual on your way back?"

Raising his eyes to look at Lin Zhi, who looked puzzled, Guan Kong finally asked slowly: "Did anyone follow you?"

"Your son did not notice..."

Lin Zhi's eyes froze, and his expression instantly became tense: "Foster father, do you feel that something is wrong?"

"..."

Without immediately answering Lin Zhi's question, Guan Kong just took a deep look at the scenery outside the window, which was no different from usual, and then sighed softly:

"It's nothing, maybe I'm overthinking it."

"What about Wei Changtian? What has he been doing today?"

"Reporting to foster father, Wei Changtian has not left his door all day today..."

A strange look flashed in his eyes, Lin Zhi did not delve into the question just now, and quickly replied truthfully:

"Your son thinks he may be explaining things after leaving Great Qian."

"Hmm."

Guan Kong nodded slightly, but his face was still a little unnatural.

He didn't continue to ask questions, nor did he decide whether to follow Wei Changtian to leave Great Qian tomorrow.

He was silent for a long time, and then took out a pair of jade pendants from his arms, presumably preparing to send a message to someone.

But before he could heat the jade, the sound of a carriage approaching from far away rang out outside the window.

"Glug-glug"

The sound of wheels rolling over the road was not loud, but it was particularly clear in the extremely quiet night.

Dongli Tower was, after all, an inn, and it was perfectly normal for travelers to return by car late at night.

But when Guan Kong heard the sound of the carriage, the inexplicable unease in his heart became strong again, even causing him to slowly stand up and walk to the window in a few steps.

"Foster father..."

Frowning slightly, Lin Zhi didn't understand what was wrong with Guan Kong tonight, and followed him to the window to look out.

Under the bright moonlight, a very ordinary black carriage was parked at the entrance of the inn, but no one got out of the carriage for a long time.

"This..."

Suddenly, a trace of cold sweat broke out in his palm, and Lin Zhi's eyes widened little by little.

Deep in his heart, the "omnipotent" sixth sense of the Son of Heaven finally erupted at this moment, and an indescribable sense of crisis instantly enveloped his whole body.

In this second, Lin Zhi only felt as if there was a ethereal and real voice constantly repeating the same word in his ear with all its might.

"Escape!"

"Escape!!"

"Escape!!!"

"..."

"F-Foster, foster father!!"

Suddenly taking half a step back, Lin Zhi opened his mouth wide, wanting to say the warning from the Heavenly Dao.

But before he could say even a single word, all the windows with candles lit in Dongli Tower turned dark in an instant, and even the moonlight and starlight overhead, as well as the myriad of lights in the distance, disappeared strangely at the same time.

As if falling into a chaotic abyss, all the light around him disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Lin Zhi couldn't even see Guan Kong's expression at this moment.

He could only hear the latter's voice, which seemed to be trembling, in this endless darkness.

"Illusion, illusion array..."

"But how, how did he do it..."

"This is impossible..."

"No, impossible..."

(The first day after Yang Yang, update one chapter first, it should be back to normal tomorrow!)