Xie Nandu said, "His Majesty the Emperor only has three princes."
The Great Liang emperor only had the Empress alone in his harem. The Empress had always been in poor health. Hence, after giving birth to three princes and two princesses for the Great Liang emperor, she never had any more children. Among the three princes, the third prince was only about ten years old, so it was most likely that either the eldest prince or the second prince would become the crown prince.
As for these two princes, the Emperor's attitude toward them had always been unclear. He did not favor either of them and seemed to treat them equally. But, everyone knew that the eldest prince stood a better chance.
Chen Chao asked, "Why?"
Xie Nandu looked at him and said calmly, "Because the eldest prince is going to get married soon."
Chen Chao frowned and said, "Getting married doesn't necessarily mean that he will be made the crown prince, right?"
"The prince consort that the eldest prince will be marrying is the daughter of that Great General of the North."
This matter was still very secretive. Not many people knew about it.
Chen Chao nodded his head, understanding the situation. There have been rumors on the streets that the Great Liang Dynasty had two pillars, one internal and one external. The external pillar was the Great General, while the internal one was Lord Warden. In fact, to some extent, that Great General from the Northern Frontier was even more important.
There were too many factors influencing the succession of the Great Liang Dynasty's throne, but this would definitely be one of them.
Chen Chao sighed and said, "The Warden doesn't have a daughter. Otherwise, I reckon that she'll be vied over fiercely too."
Xie Nandu said softly, "Since the eldest prince is marrying that Great General's daughter, it's natural that the likelihood of him ascending to the throne is higher. Moreover, that prince is extremely outstanding too. If he becomes the emperor, it may not necessarily be a bad thing for the Great Liang dynasty."
Chen Chao furrowed his brow and said, "All men are competitive by nature." Ordinary households, despite their appearance of brotherly harmony and filial piety, could still fall out over family inheritance. Moreover, this was the whole empire we were talking about. Furthermore, there was a fifty-fifty chance of sitting on that throne. It was not unusual for the Second Prince to want to fight for it. But if he wants to claim the throne, shouldn't he be marrying you?
The suddenness of this statement caught Xie Nandu off-guard. She furrowed her brows and did not speak.
There are not many Nepenthe cultivators in the Great Liang Dynasty, but the dean was definitely one of them. Furthermore, the dean's influence in court was definitely not inferior to those two.
As his disciple, if Xie Nandu were to marry the Second Prince, the effect would probably be similar to that of the Eldest Prince marrying the daughter of that Great General. Moreover, she still had the backing of the Xie Family.
"If I don't want to marry, no one can marry me."
Xie Nandu glanced at Chen Chao, pushed the door, and walked into the courtyard.
Chen Chao followed behind, his smile not fading.
Although political marriages like this often occurred between prominent families, a girl like Xie Nandu with her destined bright future naturally did not have to care about such things.
No one was willing to send their talented juniors to another family.
The two sat down in the courtyard and Chen Chao asked, "Want to roast sweet potatoes?"
Xie Nandu shook her head. "No."
Chen Chao nodded his head and dropped the matter.
He casually put that wooden box aside, as if he did not care too much about what was inside.
The moon was bright tonight, it was actually very suitable for chitchating.
Xie Nandu was silent for some time before opening her mouth to say, "A few months ago, you were still worrying about money and skygold currency. But now, as long as you're willing to nod your head, even the best spirit medicines to use until Nepenthe Realm probably won't be lacking. Furthermore, they will definitely be the best. The Second Prince would be very happy to give you these things."
Chen Chao said, "When I went to the Warden Office before, I was after these things. Of course, on the condition that I would win first place in the Myriad Willow Convention."
"I actually really want to know what you want." "Maybe you can talk about your dreams."
Xie Nandu's eyes suddenly lit up. She seemed to really enjoy this topic, hoping to get the answers she wanted here.
Chen Chao said helplessly, "Although I really want to say something like world peace or save people from suffering, I'm sorry, but that's really not something I want to do."
Xie Nandu's eyes dimmed slightly, but she still said, "It's okay."
Chen Chao glanced at her and smiled, "Actually, you can talk about your dreams and such. I'm sure it's related to the desolate north and the Demon King's Court."
Regarding this matter, Xie Nandu had never told anyone about it. Since coming to the Divine Capital, she had been studying and had not talked about these things. Even at the White Deer ancestral shrine, she did not mention it either. But in fact, she had this dream a long, long time ago.
After looking at Chen Chao for a long time, the girl smiled and said, "Perhaps this dream seems ridiculous to others, but for me, it's something I want to spend my whole life doing."
Chen Chao said seriously, "I won't laugh no matter how hilarious it sounds."
"Before I tell you, I want to share a story first."
Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao. The young girl's eyes lost their cheerfulness and became somewhat heavy instead.
The story was about the entire human world.
Many years ago, the academy was not located by South Lake.
For thousands of years, the academy had never relocated, and wherever there was the academy, it was the capital city of that dynasty. However, on a certain day several hundred years ago, the academy was forced to move south. The common people living in the north had no choice but to move south as well. At that time, the dynasty was called Great Cloud.
That day was an absolutely shameful day for the entire human race.
In fact, from that day until now, it had been shameful for the human race.
It was unknown when it started, but those demons have always been in the north. They established the Demon King's Court, and there was constant friction between them and the human race who were in the south with casualties on both sides. Although the Demon King's Court would march south on a grand scale and slaughter humans from time to time, they only devastated one or two provinces from start to end. Although this made people angry, there was nothing they could do about it.
This situation persisted for many years until the Great Cloud Dynasty hundreds of years ago. The demon race launched a massive invasion southward and the entire north of the human race was occupied by the demon race. Countless civilians died at the hands of demons. It was a hellish landscape; truly terrifying.
"Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, countless white bones, and the land soaked in fresh blood. Not even a blade of grass could grow for thousands of miles." "The demons ravage while the humans were nothing but lambs waiting to be slaughtered."
Xie Nandu was very calm. Although she had never witnessed those scenes with her own eyes, she had read about them repeatedly in books and could imagine the horrific sight, empathizing with the people.
It was indeed a disaster for the entire human race.
Chen Chao remained silent. He knew about this matter too, although not as clearly as Xie Nandu.
Xie Nandu said calmly, "That emperor of the Great Cloud Dynasty at that time had the reign title of Yong'an. Now that we mention this reign title, it's really ridiculous to the extreme."
Yong'an was naturally a beautiful vision, but now, it could only be ridiculed by others. [1.Yong'an means eternal peace.]
The shame of the human race during that time was called the Upheaval of Yong'an by historians.
During the Upheaval of Yong'an, the academy migrated southward to the Divine Capital. Many surviving people fled to the south.
The Demon King's Court continued to move southward. Finally, the Great Cloud Dynasty signed several treaties that required an annual offering of human sacrifices to the demons in order to halt their southward advance. From that year on, countless humans would be sent northward every year to become food for the demons. In the entire Great Cloud Dynasty, humiliation lingered in the hearts of every civilian.
No one could forget that painful day, and no one wanted to experience that pain again.
Not long after, the Great Cloud Dynasty collapsed and a new dynasty was established. But it still appeared so gloomy and hopeless. When facing the demon race, they groveled and begged for peace, only seeking to stay safe. Fortunately, the human race had some stable days.
Chen Chao asked, "Those foreign cultivators didn't take action?"
Xie Nandu looked at him and said, "Most of the foreign cultivators established sects in the southern regions that were more suitable for cultivation. There weren't many sects in the bitterly cold desolate north that spanned 80,000 miles. Besides, that was the academy's range of influence back then."
Chen Chao nodded and said softly, "I think the reason why the demons were willing to stop the war was also because they had to take into consideration that continuing southward would force those foreign cultivators to join the war as well."
Xie Nandu nodded. Indeed, although most of those cultivators did not join that war back then, they did have some deterrence. It could also be considered as indirectly contributing to the human race in that war.
This kind of days continued until more than two hundred years ago, when the founder emperor of Great Liang rose up and established the Great Liang Dynasty. Then, he began building the Great Wall at the northern frontier, firmly keeping the demon race that threatened humans outside of that Great Wall for hundreds of years.
That is also the reason why the Great Liang Dynasty dared to claim that it was the most peaceful dynasty in the world for hundreds of years.
They indeed had this qualification.
Chen Chao said, "It has already been hundreds of years, but there are still many people who dream of heading north one day, crossing the desolate north and exploring even further north."
Xie Nandu was one of those people. Back when she was born, her father named her Nandu, to let her remember the humiliation that the human race had suffered. Later, she read about this story in books and since then, she had made this her lifelong dream. [2. Nandu loosely translates to going southward.]
She wanted to drive the demon race back to the north and reclaim the eighty thousand miles of desolate north and wash away the shame of the human race!
It was a grand vision, but one person alone could not achieve it.
Even a generation might not be able to accomplish it.
Chen Chao suddenly felt a deep admiration for the young girl in front of him. He had never experienced this feeling before.
Chen Chao said, "I suddenly remembered those four lines by Mr. Zhang."
As someone who had read many books, Xie Nandu naturally knew which four lines he was referring to. She smiled slightly and said, "It's a pursuit that most scholars have at the beginning.
"How admirable. Your ambitions are truly lofty.," Chen Chao said sincerely.
Although he had felt such emotions many times before, he guaranteed that this time, it was genuine.
Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao and said, "So I'm also very curious about your... dream."
Chen Chao looked at her and thought for a long time. There were some things he had never told anyone before. Only now, did he slowly say, "In the Tianjian Year 11 of the Great Liang Dynasty, there was a great flood in Wei Prefecture..."
Many things happened in the Great Liang Dynasty that year. That great flood in Wei Prefecture submerged countless homes and farmland on both banks of the river. Hence, people began dying from that day on.
Death was really a very common thing, there was nothing strange about it.
How could there not be any deaths in this world?
Chen Chao seemed rather reluctant to recall that story. He said with some pain, "People dying is actually a very common thing. Being hacked to death, dying from illness, or drowning, it's actually all not too painful. But, starvation is truly the cruelest way to die."
Hunger would sap a person's strength, then erode their will. After that, you would hallucinate. The feeling of helplessness and weakness would make people never want to experience the same thing again.
Eating grass, eating tree bark, eating kaolin clay, and then having nothing left. The surrounding area was empty with nothing left to eat. Hence, people started exchanging their sons and daughters, and cooking them in pots. At that time, this kind of thing was no different from other animals.
Cannibalism had in fact appeared in history more than once.
However, no matter how explicit the language, it could not describe the cruelty of such things.
Chen Chao said, "I haven't seen how the Upheaval of Yong'an was back then, but I believe that the great flood in Wei Prefecture back then was actually the same as the Upheaval of Yong'an. That was a real hell on earth. By the end, there was nothing that could be changed by the so-called principles, reason, or morality."
"The only thing that could save people was food."
Xie Nandu looked at him and suddenly asked, "How old were you at that time?"
Tianjian Year 11, how old was Chen Chao?
Chen Chao looked at Xie Nandu and thought about it before saying, "Around 12 or 13 years old. I could carry a saber."
Xie Nandu asked, "Your family lived next to the Wei River?"
Chen Chao nodded.
Xie Nandu asked again, "Then have you eaten humans before?"
This question was very straightforward.
It cut straight to the heart.
Chen Chao did not answer.
More details about Chen Chao's past will be slowly unveiled~
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