Martial Cultivator

”My surname is Chen.”

After a moment of silence, the young emperor suddenly spoke, with a hint of expectation.

Chen Chao nodded. “Surnamed Chen.”

The young emperor smiled happily. “Of course. How could someone like you not be surnamed Chen?”

“We were not wrong, right?”

“Of course not.”

“And those who come after, those surnamed Chen, how are they?”

“All of them are very good.”

“And the world?”

“Every day after is a little better than the day before.”

“Then that’s truly good.”

At this point, the young emperor reached out and patted Chen Chao’s shoulder, then walked off alone into the distance.

Chen Chao suddenly called out to him, saying, “Actually, I know, that’s only something I imagined. That’s not you.”

The young emperor did not turn around, only saying to himself, “If I am the same as you imagine, then the me you see now is me. There’s no difference.”

After saying this, the young emperor disappeared.

At this moment, snow suddenly began to fall across heaven and earth. Goose-feather-like snowflakes drifted down, landing on Chen Chao’s head. After a short while, his head was covered in snow.

He was somewhat absentminded.

When he came back to his senses, the heavy snow had vanished, and the imperial city before him had also disappeared. He found himself in a courtyard.

That courtyard was very large, extraordinarily so.

In fact, that courtyard was called the Eastern Palace. [Eastern Palace is traditionally the name of the palace that the crown prince will live in]

The master of this Eastern Palace was a gentle and modest man. He was regarded as the most outstanding crown prince of the Great Liang Dynasty in over two hundred years. From the day he became crown prince, everyone knew that the throne of the Great Liang Dynasty would belong to him.

He was simply too outstanding, outstanding in every aspect. Thus, whether it was the court officials or the other princes, all believed that he was the most suitable choice for heir apparent.

The only one who could possibly stand alongside him, the Fourth Prince, also held this elder brother in the highest respect.

Ever since he had been conferred as Crown Prince, that man had been constantly learning how to handle state affairs. After some years, that Emperor Lingzong had also handed many governmental matters over to him to manage, and he did not disappoint expectations, handling those matters very well. His reputation grew better and better.

Later, one day, he married his concubine. It was hard to say whether it was because of affection, or because that woman also came from the General’s Office and had that Northern Frontier Great General behind her.

Marriages within the imperial family were often like this, whether there was affection or not did not seem to matter much.

Soon, that concubine became pregnant with imperial blood, and ten months later, the child was born - a son.

The Crown Prince would one day become emperor, but this son of his had little possibility of becoming Crown Prince, because he was not born of the principal wife.

Perhaps because of this, he rarely came to see this son of his.

But someone was still willing to believe that he was simply too busy.

The heir to a nation was always very busy.

But though he was so busy, he still often went to instruct his legitimate son in his studies. It seemed he regarded that child as the successor of the dynasty.

Chen Chao sat on the roof of the Eastern Palace, watching what had happened there over the years, watching that child who was often held in his mother’s arms.

But in truth, what he watched more was that woman.

After marrying into the Eastern Palace, she had lived a very hard life these years. She had wanted to become Empress, but clearly she had no chance in this lifetime. With some luck, perhaps she might be conferred as Noble Consort in the future, but that would already be her limit.

But it seemed her luck had never been very good. The mistress of the Eastern Palace did not like her, and often made things difficult for her. She rarely saw her husband, so even if she had grievances, she had no way to speak them.

Chen Chao looked at her, his eyes slightly reddening.

He felt some heartache.

In truth, if she had not married into the Eastern Palace, with her family background, even as an illegitimate daughter, she would have been well treated by her husband’s family no matter where she married into.

But she had ended up marrying into the one place that cared least about her background and she just happened to be an illegitimate daughter.

Chen Chao suddenly felt some coldness on his face. It had started to rain.

A heavy rain fell over the Divine Capital.

Outside that not-so-large courtyard, a man hurried over. He carried a weary smile and looked at the woman holding the child.

The woman was very happy. The man said a few words of concern, looked at the child, and teased him for a while. At that moment, he finally showed a bit of what a father should be.

The rain was heavy, and his time was limited. After about half an hour, the woman said she would personally make some food for him. He did not refuse. After holding the child and looking at him for a while, he handed him to a nearby palace servant and turned to leave the courtyard.

Chen Chao watched this scene. After thinking for a moment, he still came down from the rooftop, walked to the man’s side, and calmly said, “Can’t you wait a little longer?”

He truly did not want his mother to be disappointed, even if it was only in a dream.

The man looked at this uninvited guest with some confusion. After seeing the young man’s face and sensing something on a deeper level, he broke convention and did not leave. Instead, he stood together with him under the eaves, watching the heavy rain.

“This imperial highness is very busy. There are many matters in court that need handling, they cannot be delayed.”

The man spoke slowly, as if offering an explanation.

Chen Chao said, “You have time to often visit your other son, yet no time to see this son of yours and his mother.”

The man frowned. “He is not only this imperial highness’ son, but also the legitimate eldest son. He is the future heir of the Great Liang Dynasty. This imperial highness’ concern for his upbringing is a necessity of the state.”

Chen Chao pointed at the “himself” being held by the palace servant in the distance and asked, “What about him?”

The man said, “He is also this imperial highness’ son. He bears no responsibility and does not need to be so burdened.”

Chen Chao sneered. “Does that mean he no longer bears the surname Chen? When the imperial court faces trouble in the future, can he just stand by and do nothing?”

Hearing this, the man was momentarily at a loss for words.

After a long while, he only said, “To be born into the imperial family, this is the fate.”

Chen Chao smiled. “If you treat him this way, then when you need him in the future, if he does nothing, can you accept that?”

“Nonsense! As a member of the imperial bloodline, no matter when, he cannot do nothing!”

The man was somewhat angry.

Chen Chao asked, “Then he has never received anything, yet one day he has to give so much, is that fair?”

The man said, “To be born into the imperial family, there is no such thing as fairness.”

Chen Chao smiled again. “Was it his choice to be born into this so-called imperial family?”

The man said nothing and fell silent.

Chen Chao continued on his own, “Everyone in Great Liang says you are the best Crown Prince, the one the imperial court needs. You have handled those matters very well too, but I don’t like you.”

The man looked at the heavy rain, not knowing what to say.

“As a subject of Great Liang, I am glad that the realm has a Crown Prince like you. But as a son, I am disappointed to have a father like you.”

Chen Chao took a deep breath and said with self-mockery, “Is it just because he is the son of a concubine that there are many things he doesn’t even have the right to contend for? That part actually isn’t important. But as his father, can’t you simply treat your son as a son?”

“He doesn’t need that much either. The world, glory, he can give all that up. He only wants his father’s love. Is that too much to ask?”

Chen Chao looked at the man before him. The two of them bore some resemblance, but in many ways they were different.

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