Surviving In The Ancient Times With Limitless Supplies
Chapter 340: Zhao Jue’s Grief

Chapter 340: Zhao Jue’s Grief

After leaving the oral imperial edict, Zhao Jue got up from the dragon throne and left the Benevolence Hall. Seeing him walk away, the chief eunuch hurriedly shouted: "The morning court is adjourned!"

All the generals and ministers quickly knelt down and shouted in unison: "Long live the emperor for ten of thousands years!"

Now that the emperor had issued an oral imperial edict, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Because the emperor did not say who should do it, nobody spoke for a long time. No one wants to take the responsibility of killing the common people, but they are also afraid that if they don’t obey the imperial edict, the ones who will lose their heads are themselves.

While the generals and ministers were still pushing the responsibility to each other, Zhao Jue was already standing in front of the royal family’s ancestral hall. He didn’t take a step inside, just standing under the rising sun, looking at the coffin in the middle of the ancestral hall.

The chief eunuch glanced at his face for a second, but only saw Zhao Jue’s indifferent expression. After standing motionless for an hour, he said, "Leave."

The chief eunuch quickly signaled the eunuchs and maidservants, and left the ancestral hall. After everyone left, the chief eunuch closed the door and stood outside the ancestral hall quietly. Standing alone in the open yard of the ancestral hall, Zhao Jue took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the coffin.

Standing by the coffin, he looked down and saw his mother lying there peacefully. He stretched out his trembling fingers and gently stroked his mother’s cheek. Feeling the cold body temperature, he gasped in pain. A few seconds later, tears dripped down his chin, wet the cold pale cheeks.

Seeing his tears staining his mother’s cheek, Zhao Jue quickly wiped them away with his sleeve. Then he knelt beside the coffin and whispered hoarsely: "Mother, even you have abandoned me."

Zhao Jue held his mother’s cold hand tightly and asked desperately: "Why? Why did you do this? Why? Did I do something to make you angry again? You can just tell me! Why would you... Why would you..."

He couldn’t finish the sentence, because his voice was lost with grief. He cried for a long time and kept asking. But unfortunately, no matter how many times he asked, his mother would never be able to answer his questions anymore. Zhao Jue cried silently for a long time before he wiped away his tears and stood up.

He looked down at his mother’s pale face and angrily asked, "Do you think you can save them by killing yourself? Mother, you are so naive. I let them live only because of you. Since you abandoned me, don’t blame me for abandoning you in return. Don’t you like my elder cousin more than me? Then you should be happy that he can escort you to the underworld, right? Xiao Shao... I will send him to you."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Jue sneered and coldly said, "Since you don’t say anything, I will take it as you agree with me. Mother, you should wait for them and you can all leave together. I don’t need you anymore! From today onwards, your son Zhao Jue has already died with you. Only Emperor Ming of the Shang Empire remained."

He closed his eyes and said through gritted teeth: "Close the coffin!"

Hearing his words from the outside, the chief eunuch hurriedly said, "Quickly close the coffin!"

Zhao Jue stood motionless, watching the eunuchs close the coffin lid. When the last nail was nailed to the coffin, he turned around, walked out of the ancestral hall, and coldly said, "Bury the Empress Dowager in the imperial mausoleum today."

The chief eunuch lowered his head in fear and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

As soon as Zhao Jue walked out of the ancestral hall, he turned back into the cold and indifferent Emperor Ming. That day, the procession that was sending the Empress Dowager to the imperial mausoleum was accompanied by the screams and wailing of the common people, as the procession were walking on the blood-stained road.

Zhao Jue sat on the roof of the highest place of the imperial palace, looking sadly at the long procession in the distance. He held up the wine jar, took a swig, and laughed like a madman.

He laughed for a while and muttered under his breath: "... It’s just me now. Even my mother abandoned me. No one likes me. Someone like me... I should have died long ago. I wonder why I have been struggling and still alive till now."

He took another sip of wine and sighed, chuckled in depression, then softly said, "Then let’s all die together. There is no need to preserve this rotten empire any longer."

Unlike the Shang Empire, which was shrouded in terror and stained with blood, the atmosphere of the Shen Gu Village is full of joy. Today is the day they can harvest the crops again. After planting trees, shrubs and vegetables all day yesterday, Xu Xiang noticed that the temperature had dropped by one degree today.

While she was still walking up to the mountain to check the surrounding temperature, A Lu Ge came to find her.

"Xu Xiang."

Hearing someone call her name, Xu Xiang turned around and saw A Lu Ge. She looked at him with a smile and asked, "Why are you here?"

A Lu Ge looked at the device in her hand and asked curiously: "What are you doing?"

"I’m checking the surrounding temperature."

Hearing what she said, A Lu Ge didn’t quite understand, so he said, "We’re going to harvest the crops today. Do you want to come with me to watch them?"

Xu Xiang looked at his excited face and asked, "Are you short of people to harvest the crops? Do you need my help?"

A Lu Ge shook his head and said, "We have more than enough manpower to harvest crops.The refugees volunteered to help us harvest and process crops today, with food as payment. They used to be farmers, and my fourth elder brother said that they should work for us if they want to eat. My fourth elder brother said that he didn’t want to give away the food for nothing."