249 Extra The Golden Man Part I
‘The Chu dynasty shall be maintained by the blood of The Bai family.’
This was a prophecy only known to the emperor or the heir of Da Chu. The prophecy might sound horrible, but it was not a grave matter. Still, there was a complication… No one had the surname Bai in Da Chu!
In this world, there were only a handful of surnames, and finding those unrelated to the same surname was a simple matter. Yet, strangely, there was only one Bai family in Da Yang.
This was the reason why Chu Zhaoran had started investigating the women of the Bai family and continued to do so over the years. At first, he had planned to marry one of them as a consort in order to fulfill the prophecy. However, a simple mission became difficult when he fell in love with the Bai woman who never took a glance at him, even though his status was rivaled by none… None except her husband, whom he had to partly yield to.
The thought of it infuriated him!
“Your Majesty, we have arrived.” The voice of Yin gonggong was heard at last after multiple days of travel. Finally, he had reached his destination.
Every ten years, Da Chu’s emperor would travel to the divine valley to receive a prophecy. This prophecy could only be known by the son of heaven and no one else. Da Chu was the nation that had broken away from another. Its territory bordered the divine valley, which the three-eyed seer ruled over. The people of Da Chu always believed and revered the prophecy of the seer.
“No need to follow.” The tall figure in a gold robe matching his golden hair raised a hand to stop his servants from following him inside. The divine valley was not the place where anyone could traipse into easily. Chu Zhaoran knew well of its rule. He produced a carved jade that carried the dynasty’s emblem before sending his magic into it to open up the path into the valley.
Crystal stairs slowly appeared, starting from the peak and stopping in front of him. Chu Zhaoran stepped onto each crystal stairway to the astonishment of his followers, who could not see the sacred stairs.
.....
Throughout the reign of the former emperor, Chu Zhaoran was never allowed to know any of the prophecies. However, a few years before, he had been summoned by his father before leaving for the station at the border. He told him of this prophecy while at the same time giving him the right to decide what he would do… This meant that the future rested all on his palm.
Though Chu Zhaoran did not completely believe the prophecy, he did not want to disappoint his father. He searched for a woman with the surname Bai until he found Bai Yu. The incidents that had happened before he ascended the throne all proved to him that a woman of the Bai family could indeed maintain the Chu dynasty. Regrettably, though, that woman was already taken. And Chu Zhaoran was enough of a gentleman not to steal other men’s women. Furthermore, he had sent his older sister to marry into the Ouyang royal family to strengthen the alliance.
Da Yang was Bai Yu’s motherland. He would never destroy it like his ancestor. After over ten years, they both remained good friends, as the relations between Da Yang and Da Chu had bettered.
Chu Zhaoran had been on the throne for fourteen years. He was the ‘Golden Emperor’ who brought peace and prosperity to Da Chu. Still, he had yet to take an empress, no matter how much his courtiers tried to urge him to.
Chu Zhaoran could not marry an empress, as he could not be certain whether the woman surnamed Bai in the prophecy was truly Bai Yu or not. In his first ten years as an emperor, he was busy governing the nation, and the divine valley was not yet ready to reveal a prophecy. Time passed until it was his fourteenth year on the throne, and now he had come to receive the first prophecy of his reign.
“Blessings to the Emperor. May you live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years.”
“Relax.”
Chu Zhaoran, at the age of thirty-four, was still as dignified and youthful as ever. The hardship he had faced over a decade did not reflect on his appearance at all due to the golden-level magic that protected him from the test of time.
“Lead the way.”
“This way, Your Majesty.”
While he was the emperor of Da Chu, he did not want to act haughtily while in the divine valley. He intended to only come here for a prophecy and leave. There were royal affairs and beauties waiting for him in the royal palace.
“It has been quite a while, Your Majesty.” The silver-haired man casually greeted him after they were left alone in a room. Jiuxian would return to the mortal world as the three-eyed seer to continue his duty as long as the vessel lived.
“Indeed, three-eyed seer—no, Master Yue.”
“I do not dare.” Yue Nan slightly bowed his head in a gesture of apology for concealing his true identity. He should not have to apologize, except his identity was tied back to Da Yang and had created trouble for Chu Zhaoran when the man’s magic hare was stolen.
“You are not here?” Chu Zhaoran felt only a faint current of magic from the person in front of him. Though the three-eyed seer had intense magic energy, the aura surrounding him was strangely thin.
“It seems I cannot hide anything from Your Majesty.” Yue Nan maintained his calm expression while his eyes reflected satisfaction. The Golden Emperor was leaps and bounds more terrific than when he was the second prince. Or, he might have always been this way, only hiding his true nature to play in Bai Yu’s little game.
“Forget it.” Chu Zhaoran waved his hand, uninterested in Yue Nan’s doing. Whatever was happening within the divine valley was not his matter to meddle in. And wherever the ruler of the valley truly was would not concern him as long as he received his prophecy and no crisis befell Da Chu to the point of needing the seer’s assistance.
Yue Nan was pleased with Chu Zhaoran’s thoughts as well. If the man had asked him where he was, he would have had difficulty answering.
“Then, I shall reveal the prophecy to Your Majesty.”
Chu Zhaoran nodded in agreement. He leisurely walked along the corridor that led up to the platform for performing the prophecy. He seemed as if he had repeated the same ritual over ten times, while in truth, this was his first time standing on the platform. The Golden Emperor was a fearless man. He could easily discard the probability of being lured in by the promise of prophecy and assassinated.
Furthermore, the current seer was Yue Nan, Bai Yu’s older relative. Chu Zhaoran had nothing to be suspicious of.
His tall figure stood on the high platform surrounded by a fountain filled with silvery water that smelled of Yue Nan’s strong magic. Golden eyes gazed down at the water and saw blue glimmers, conjuring the image of a silver sky dotted with countless blue stars… This must be the famous sacred fountain.
“I need one drop of Your Majesty’s blood in the fountain,” Yue Nan spoke from where he stood next to the water. Hearing his words, Chu Zhaoran pressed on his ring to activate its secret blade. There was no hesitation when he used it to slash his own finger and let blood fall into the sea of stars before calmly healing himself with his magic.
As soon as the red drop hit the water, Yue Nan extended his hand forward to send his silver magic, with the power of the goddess of fate behind it, into the fountain. One drop of blood slowly formed a prophecy on the silver backdrop. Only one character appeared… Bai.
Bai, the same surname that appeared in the latest prophecy.
Chu Zhaoran immediately understood.
Da Chu still needed the blood of the Bai family. However, he could no longer take Bai Yu as his. Where could he find someone else with the blood of the Bai family?
“Would Your Majesty care for a stroll?”
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience