Chapter 2048: The Curtain Falls on an Era!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The night was cold and bleak, and even the bamboo in the garden was withering, suffused with a somber energy.
Beneath the sign that declared ‘With Great Virtue, One Can Take the World’, Imperial Physician Shen was preparing to leave, his medicine chest on his back.
“Your Highness, Duke Jiu just woke up. He has been waiting for you! Hurry on inside!”
Imperial Physician Shen sighed and quickly brushed past Wang Chong.
Passing through the main hall, Wang Chong once more saw his grandfather.
His grandfather sat motionless on the wide armchair. If one discounted his slightly pale complexion, one would think that he was even more energetic than normal, a tinge of ruddiness on his cheeks.
But his grandmother solemnly stood at his side, constantly wiping away her tears.
When he saw this, Wang Chong’s heart instantly sank.
Wang Chong was no stranger to this situation. This was a soul echo, just like he had seen with the Sage Emperor.
“Grandpa!” Wang Chong called out, his voice trembling, and walked closer.
“Chong-er, you’ve come.”
Upon hearing Wang Chong’s voice, Duke Jiu looked over, a gentle and affectionate smile on his face, but his pale complexion could only elicit sorrow.
His grandfather’s hair had so quickly become mottled with white, and the wrinkles had increased in number. The sight of him becoming so much older made Wang Chong’s heart ache.
His grandfather looked at his grandmother, and his grandmother understood as she wiped away her tears.
“Talk with each other. I’ll take my leave!”
She quickly departed, leaving Wang Chong alone with the Old Master.
“Grandpa!”
Wang Chong walked over and got down on one knee. He grasped his grandfather’s hand, and upon sensing how weak and withered it was, he felt a great pain in his heart.
Whether in his last life or this life, each time he lost one of his family members, he felt as if his heart was being stabbed.
His heart felt like it was going to shatter!
Wang Chong had changed a lot about this world. In the Consort Taizhen incident, King Song did not fall out of favor and the Wang Clan did not begin its decline. But even after returning to the apex, the Wang Clan was still forced to go through this stage.
Wang Chong had never imagined that he would still lose his grandfather.
This was the first time he was losing a member of his family!
Tears rolled down his face, and his shoulders trembled, but he did not break into sobs.
He had never imagined that he would lose his two most important people in a single day!
Pills, ginseng, natural treasures… he had thought of every possible way to extend his grandfather’s lifespan, but it had still come to this point.
Why?
Was this simply fate?
If this was fate, he would crush fate into dust.
Wang Chong fiercely raised his head and earnestly said, “Grandfather, there’s still a way. I still have a way… I’ll definitely think of a way to save you and extend your life!”
“There’s no need!”
Wang Chong suddenly felt the wizened hands in his grip tighten.
Wang Chong looked at his grandfather in surprise. His grandfather looked back with a kind expression, holding his hands as he smiled and shook his head.
“Child, your grandfather knows that you can do it, but there’s no need. After living until now, your grandfather has experienced everything that he ought to experience and has no more regrets.
“And… our era is already over!”
His grandfather had appeared aloof and indifferent to all things. His expression carried nostalgia for the past and anticipation for the future.
Wang Chong was startled, but as he saw the white mourning scarf on his grandfather’s sleeve, he suddenly understood.
The Sage Emperor was gone!
The curtain had fallen on the era that the Sage Emperor and his grandfather had created together, and its resplendence had faded!
His grandfather had not been afflicted by some illness, nor were his old injuries flaring. It was simply that he no longer had the desire to live!
When a person had experienced all the glory that they could, all the rises and falls, then once they lived a life without regrets, they no longer had anything to keep them.
“Grandpa!”
Wang Chong wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. His mind was overcome by unbearable sadness.
“Chong-er, your grandfather wishes to ask you something. Can you tell your grandfather the truth?” Duke Jiu said, his voice rather weak.
“Grandfather, your grandson will tell you whatever you wish to know!” Wang Chong said.
There was a rather long moment of silence before the Old Master spoke.
“Like His Majesty, you have seen the future, right?”
Bang!
Duke Jiu did not speak loudly, but Wang Chong immediately trembled in alarm at these words, as if he had been struck by lightning.
Wang Chong had never imagined his grandfather would ask a question like this in the final moments of his life.
This question was like a long needle that pierced through Wang Chong’s defenses and punctured the most secretive place in his heart.
To Wang Chong’s shock, his grandfather, who spent all his time in Four Quarters Embassy and was almost isolated from the world, had asked this kind of question.
Wang Chong instinctively wanted to deny it.
But when Wang Chong raised his head and saw his grandfather’s eyes, he hesitated.
His eyes were bright and deep, but they did not carry any sort of threatening sharpness. Rather, they held a soft and gentle power, like a gentle breeze.
Wang Chong saw no rebuke or blame in those eyes.
Wang Chong had never brought up his reincarnation to anyone, not even his closest confidants. This was his personal secret. But when he saw the kind and gentle expression on his grandfather’s face, Wang Chong nodded.
“Yes!”
“I knew that my guess was right! Truly, truly!”
Just when Wang Chong was growing uneasy, the Old Master softly chuckled and nodded.
“Child, you are truly a good grandson for your grandfather!
“I know what you are thinking, but what is important about where you came from? As long as you are virtuous and have a clear conscience, you are your grandfather’s good grandson, a good descendant of the Wang Clan. Your grandfather is proud of you!”
The Old Master smiled.
“Furthermore, your grandfather also knew that you were different from the Sage Emperor, that you were truly my grandson, because you always looked at your grandfather as only a member of the family could!”
“Grandpa!”
Hearing this, Wang Chong collapsed onto his grandfather’s knee and began to cry.
He knew!
He had known from the start!
He thought that he had deceived the world, but this elder who rarely left his home, his most respected and beloved grandfather, had known and understood everything.
But they were already at the end.
The Old Master said nothing, simply looking with pride at Wang Chong and gently stroking his hair.
Wang Chong felt pain and endless remorse in his heart. If he had known this, he might have told his grandfather everything far earlier.
“Tell your grandfather: you struggled so hard because you saw danger in the future, yes?”
“Yes!”
Wang Chong had no hesitation this time.
“Tell your grandfather: can you deal with it?” the Old Master asked.
“I can! I can! …I definitely can!” Wang Chong said, speaking both to his grandfather and to himself.
“Heh, then your grandfather can rest easy!”
The Old Master smiled.
“Your grandfather has no more regrets in this life!”
His grandfather’s breathing grew weaker and weaker, and finally, those shriveled hands lost all their strength and slowly dropped from Wang Chong’s head.
Even in his final moments, the Old Master still had a content smile on his lips.
“Grandpa!”
Sensing the body slowly grow cold, Wang Chong began to spasmodically sob, his body trembling. He could no longer suppress his emotions, and began to wail.
As the rest of the Wang Clan tearfully rushed in, on the other side of the wall, a figure leaned against the wall and gripped his cane, staring into the gloom.
“Haaah…”
As sobs and wails came from the other side, a long sigh drifted through the darkness.
“Wang Bowu, we fought for a lifetime until finally reaching this step. Our era is over, and you won against me again!”
The room was lit by a single dim lantern. Yao Chong raised his head, his elderly voice devoid of sorrow or joy, carrying only loneliness.
This punctuated the end of an era.
Winning or losing was no longer important.
“Guangyi, did you remember everything your father said to you?” Yao Chong said to the kneeling figure of Yao Guangyi nearby.
“Your child remembers!” Yao Guangyi respectfully said.
“Good, very good!”
Old Master Yao vigorously nodded, his elderly face once more displaying the demeanor of a renowned minister of a generation.
“The clan, the country, the world! No matter what, the private concerns of the family can never be put above the welfare of the country. This is the last thing your father can tell you, the summation of a lifetime’s worth of knowledge!”
Old Master Yao seemed to have used up all his strength. His hands gripping his cane and his expression solemn, he slowly closed his eyes.
In the final moments of his life, he was no longer the calculating and scheming elder of Four Quarters Embassy, but the Minister Yao who had been praised throughout the Great Tang!
“Your child bids farewell to Father!”
Upon sensing the flame of life in his father’s body completely going out, Yao Guangyi could no longer hold back his tears, his head dropping to the ground.
Buzz!
At the same time, deep in the starry sky, where no one could see, two mighty stars that burned with crimson flames suddenly descended from the sky, and the mountains of the Central Plains buzzed and shuddered.
With the shift in the heavens, the veins of the earth responded in kind.
“Haaah…”
Amidst the rolling mountains, astrologers and hidden ascetics could only sigh at this sight, turning to the capital and bowing.
In their own way, they honored these two renowned officials who had contributed so much to the Great Tang!
Bong!
Bong!
As the eastern skies brightened and the first ray of sunlight broke over the horizon, two death knells rang out over the realm.
Not long after the Sage Emperor’s passing, Duke Jiu and Minister Yao, the two most dazzling ministers of the Great Tang’s golden age, had also passed.
Announcements were posted throughout the realm.
This was the darkest moment in the history of the Great Tang!
As this news spread, countless people began to sob and wail. Everyone knew that the curtain had finally fallen on that most resplendent, glorious, and prosperous era!
The common folk garbed themselves in white mourning clothes and began to head to the capital to pay their respects.
Some people wept so fiercely that they even fell unconscious!
Duke Jiu and Minister Yao had raised countless pupils, and they began to travel to the capital to offer their respects.