novelapdf Chapter 65: Can Fate Be Changed?
Chapter 65: Can Fate Be Changed?
A few days later, in Xianyang.
At the city gate, bustling with carriages and horses, crowds thronged.
"They're back."
Zou Yun pushed open the car window, his gaze falling on the familiar city gate, a hint of reminiscence flashing in his eyes.
He originally thought that the next time he would return here would be after Ying Zheng's death, but he did not expect to return here again in just a few months.
"Great Master, is this Xianyang?!"
Wei Shuqing stood close to Zou Yun, looking around.
This was his first time visiting the capital of the Great Qin, and naturally his face was full of longing.
"Um...yes...that's right..."
Zou Yun gave a perfunctory reply.
"Uncle Qing, Xianyang is a wonderful place. There are many novel things you've never seen before. I'll show you around when the time comes."
Feng Zhixue smiled broadly, while Zheng Ze, standing on the other side of them, remained silent.
"Wow, really?!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Shuqing's eyes instantly lit up with a bright light.
Just as Feng Zhixue was smiling and about to respond, a voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
"Gentlemen, His Majesty has ordered me to immediately escort the Grand Master to Zhangtai Palace for an audience. Perhaps you should return to the Immortal Temple to settle in first?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the scarred man, Jia Rong, appeared silently beside them.
Feng Zhixue's smile faltered slightly, and his gaze quickly shifted to Zou Yun.
"Since Lord Jia has said so, then you should go to the Immortal Temple and wait there."
Zou Yun remained calm, as if he had expected this.
"only!"
Feng Zhixue and Zheng Ze exchanged a quick glance, instantly understanding each other.
Xianyang, after all, was the absolute home ground controlled by the inner court, and the group moved through this heavily fortified city without any hindrance.
Shortly after entering the city, the group split into two.
Led by Jia Rong, Zou Yun rode straight towards Xianyang Palace, while Feng Zhixue, Wei Shuqing, and Zheng Ze, escorted by several guards, headed to Xianren Temple.
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Zhangtai Palace.
It was still that familiar hall of power, and Zhao Gao's face was still plastered with a fawning smile.
However, Zou Yun, who was standing at the foot of the palace steps at this moment, was no longer the sorcerer who had to rely on clever words and flattery to seek a chance of survival.
In a daze, Zou Yun seemed to see a figure overlapping in front of him.
That was me a few months ago, seemingly calm and composed, but actually anxious and uneasy inside.
"......ha!"
Zou Yun shook his head and chuckled. He straightened his clothes and stepped calmly into the heart of the empire's power.
Inside the main hall, the light remained dim, with only a few bronze palace lamps casting a hazy yellow glow.
The entire vast space was cut into fragments of interwoven light and shadow.
Ying Zheng remained kneeling alone on the imperial throne, his figure still appearing exceptionally tall in the flickering candlelight.
However, the oppressive feeling that once suffocated Zou Yun has now completely disappeared.
Zou Yun even had the leisure to take a good look at this magnificent Qin central government building out of the corner of his eye during the intervals between entering the hall.
"Your subject, Zou Yun, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
Upon reaching the foot of the steps, Zou Yun, his face calm as still water, bowed and said...
On his throne, Ying Zheng's gaze was fixed on Zou Yun, silently scrutinizing him.
The other person's composure, emanating from within, was clearly quite different from the image he remembered.
After a moment of silence, Ying Zheng slowly spoke, his voice low and unreadable.
"Professor Zou, it's been so long..."
"yes."
Zou Yun raised his eyes and his gaze fell on Ying Zheng's face, which was noticeably more haggard and withered than it had been a few months ago.
A layer of weariness has settled over those once sharp eyes.
Zou Yun understood, but still smiled and said, "His Majesty's health seems as good as ever."
"Oh!"
Ying Zheng chuckled, neither responding to his compliment nor pointing it out.
Zou Yun didn't seem to care about this at all. After a brief pause, he immediately got to the point.
"Your Majesty, the Mandate of Heaven has been found!!"
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted. Even though he already knew, his heart was still restless the moment Zou Yun spoke.
As he spoke, Zou Yun gave Zhao Gao, who was standing to the side, a wink.
Zhao Gao understood immediately and quickly withdrew from the hall amidst Ying Zheng's sudden surge of intense desire.
"Destiny..."
Ying Zheng murmured softly, the two words seeming to weigh a ton, as if they were being squeezed out of his mouth with great difficulty.
Just two words, yet they are filled with complex and indescribable emotions: hope, fear, possession... but above all, a burning desire!
In the eyes of this emperor who was unparalleled in history, it burned fiercely!
Soon, heavy footsteps broke the silence in the hall.
Zhao Gao and Jia Rong together carried a huge, gray, irregularly shaped meteorite into the hall.
The surface of the meteorite is covered with honeycomb-like holes, which are traces of being burned by celestial fire.
On that uneven surface, several powerful Qin seal characters pierced the eye like a curse.
"After the First Emperor died, the land was divided."
When Ying Zheng's gaze fell upon those seven words, his mask-like calm, which he had been trying so hard to maintain, vanished.
It was instantly torn open with a gash.
Her eyes twitched uncontrollably, as if pierced by invisible needles.
His originally deep voice quickly turned cold, carrying a harbinger of an impending storm.
"What the Grand Master means is..."
Ying Zheng spoke slowly and deliberately, each syllable seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth.
"This... nonsensical... prophecy... is the destiny of my Great Qin?!"
"good!"
Zou Yun's answer was resolute and without the slightest hesitation.
Those two short words struck like two heavy hammer blows into everyone's hearts. Zhao Gao's neck jerked back, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
This also completely shattered the facade of calm that Ying Zheng had maintained.
"...Heh...ha!"
Ying Zheng's chest heaved violently, and he almost forced out a furious laugh from the bottom of his throat.
The nine tassels on his head, symbolizing imperial majesty, swayed violently as his body trembled.
His facial muscles were contorting uncontrollably, and the veins on his forehead were bulging. His imperial composure was rapidly crumbling.
It felt as if it would completely collapse at any moment.
Moreover, the more Ying Zheng tried to suppress his anger with reason, the more ferocious and terrifying the distortion on his face became.
quiet!
Deathly silence!
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
In the vast Zhangtai Palace, only the sound of burning candle wicks and Ying Zheng's heavy breathing, which he was forcibly suppressing, could be heard.
But... in the end!
Ying Zheng swallowed his anger and said expressionlessly.
"Could it be... that a mere stone could sway the fate of me... and even the Qin Dynasty?... How laughable!"
His voice was flat, as if he didn't care at all.
Zou Yun, of course, would not provoke Ying Zheng. He simply responded calmly, as if stating a universal truth, "Heaven's mandate is clear, like the movement of the sun and moon. Since the predetermined course has been revealed, what can be done about it?"
The drawn-out tone seemed to carry an almost compassionate sense of fate.
However, right after this unavoidable conclusion, Zou Yun suddenly paused.
His deep eyes suddenly lifted, his expression inscrutable yet fearless, meeting the gaze of the increasingly somber emperor on the throne.
"Indeed!"
Zou Yun's voice suddenly rose, and with just one word, it struck Ying Zheng's taut nerves hard.
"Fate...can be changed!"
These words were like a thunderbolt.
Ying Zheng was stunned for a moment. He did not expect Zou Yun to say such a thing, but this moment of distraction was only for a moment.
The next second, the imperial majesty on his face completely collapsed.
Ying Zheng suddenly stood up and bowed deeply.
"I beg Master Zou... to instruct me!"
His voice trembled slightly with extreme urgency, even carrying a hint of pleading that he himself was unaware of.