Transmigrated as the Princess Consort of a Fallen Nation-Chapter 93
On an auspicious day chosen by Song Heqing and the other old ministers, they planned to enter the imperial tomb to retrieve the weapon.
Upon learning that they were concerned he couldn’t lift the Fangtian Ji made of wrought iron and wanted to make a replica for him, Chu Chengji coldly declined.
That evening, when he returned home, Chu Chengji found two stone pedestals in the courtyard.
Chu Chengji asked the old servant, “What are these placed in the courtyard for?”
The old servant replied, “The Princess Consort said, Your Highness might need them for martial training.”
Chu Chengji thought to himself, Were they afraid I couldn’t lift the Fangtian Ji, so they want me to practice first?
Once inside, he saw Qin Zheng writing and drawing at the desk and said indirectly, “My strength is still adequate.”
He didn’t need to practice lifting stone pedestals.
Qin Zheng, feeling anxious, said, “I heard the Fangtian Ji weighs around 180 catties. Just to be safe, shouldn’t you practice?”
She wasn’t very familiar with weapons, but after looking at the illustrations in the weapon manual, she learned that the Fangtian Ji had a flat, sharp spearhead in the middle and crescent-shaped blades on both sides of the long handle.
If there was only one crescent-shaped blade on one side, it would be called the Qinglong Ji.
Chu Chengji stared at her for a while and suddenly said, “Will you practice with me?”
After looking at the drawings for a while, Qin Zheng’s eyes were a little sore, but she nodded, “Sure.”
She had thought Chu Chengji would be the one practicing, while she watched, but as soon as she stood up, Chu Chengji picked her up like a little chicken and placed her on his bent arm.
Qin Zheng was startled and quickly hugged his neck, “What are you doing?”
With one arm around her, Chu Chengji found a book from the bookshelf and started reading without lifting his head, “Building arm strength.”
It was like an adult carrying a child, and Qin Zheng happened to sit on his forearm, so he was supporting her entire weight with his left forearm.
Qin Zheng couldn’t help but say, “Is this how you practice arm strength?”
Chu Chengji never looked away from the book and replied seriously, “The stone pedestal is unstable on the arm. This method is more effective.”
Qin Zheng: “...”
It sounded reasonable, and she almost believed him.
Unable to argue, Qin Zheng finally had to let him hand her the book to read.
Chu Chengji insisted that practicing arm strength was indeed practicing arm strength.
Qin Zheng acted as a human stone pedestal, hanging from his left arm for half an hour, then switched to his right arm for another half hour.
Chu Chengji didn’t feel tired, but Qin Zheng’s bottom started to ache from the discomfort, and she refused to be his human stone pedestal anymore.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day to enter the imperial tomb.
To boost morale, tens of thousands of soldiers went to the tomb to watch.
Song Heqing was still worried about potential mishaps, so despite Chu Chengji’s refusal, he secretly had a replica of the Fangtian Ji made, thinking that if the Crown Prince couldn’t wield Emperor Wu’s weapon, they could use the fake one instead, and the soldiers wouldn’t know the difference.
Accompanying Chu Chengji into the tomb were trusted ministers, so there was no fear of gossip.
Before the departure, Dong Cheng noticed Song Heqing secretly sent a long box onto the carriage.
During a rest along the way, he dismissed the guards of the carriage, opened the box, and sneered when he saw what was inside.
It was indeed a fake Fangtian Ji made of wrought iron, weighing just over thirty catties.
Having crossed swords with Chu Chengji before, Dong Cheng knew he wasn’t just for show, but throughout history, there were only a few formidable generals who could wield weapons weighing over a hundred catties on the battlefield.
The Crown Prince’s attempt to embellish himself in this manner disgusted Dong Cheng even more, strengthening his resolve to expose the hypocrisy of the Crown Prince and his faction before the army.
Upon arriving at the tomb of Emperor Wu, before the altar, it was necessary for Song Heqing to recite Emperor Wu’s accomplishments and then elaborate on the current difficult situation.
Finally, he would mention how Emperor Wu had entrusted a dream to the Crown Prince, instructing him to enter the tomb and retrieve the divine weapon to pacify the world.
Emperor Wu’s military achievements were legendary, and not just the weapons he used during his lifetime, even the horses that accompanied him in battle had many legends associated with them.
Therefore, when the soldiers heard about Emperor Wu entrusting a dream to the Crown Prince, asking him to enter the tomb and retrieve his weapon, they were all extremely excited, believing it to be a manifestation of Emperor Wu’s divine intervention.
As Chu Chengji and his ministers entered the tomb, the soldiers outside crowded around, craning their necks to catch a glimpse inside, whispering and praising endlessly.
Only Dong Cheng’s face showed a sneer as he said, “I’ve heard that the Fangtian Ji wielded by Emperor Wu, made of wrought iron, required the combined strength of two ordinary soldiers to lift it.
If the Crown Prince intends to use Emperor Wu’s Fangtian Ji to conquer the world, he would indeed inherit Emperor Wu’s divine power.”
He deliberately said this to raise the soldiers’ expectations of the Crown Prince.
When he eventually exposed the Crown Prince’s true face, the soldiers would be even more indignant.
The soldiers immediately exclaimed, “Since the Crown Prince’s birth, he has been said to have the same destiny as Emperor Wu. I dare say, our Crown Prince might be the reincarnation of Emperor Wu himself!”
Dong Cheng’s smile became even colder.
As a martial artist himself, he had always respected Emperor Wu instinctively.
When he came to Qingzhou pretending to defect, the Crown Prince’s side did not attack Hu Prefecture as agreed, but instead dug up the imperial tomb.
Dong Cheng was angry when he learned about the desecration of Emperor Wu’s tomb, but later, when he found out that it was the Second Prince’s men who had obstructed it, he realized that the Crown Prince might not be foolish enough to bear such infamy, so he let go of his prejudices against the Crown Prince’s faction.
Now, hearing others say that the Crown Prince was the reincarnation of Emperor Wu, Dong Cheng’s first thought was: Does that incompetent Prince of Chu even deserve it?
......
After the death of each emperor, along with the usual burial items, objects favored by the emperor during his lifetime would also be buried in the tomb.
As the most humble imperial tomb, compared to the boxes of gold and silver treasures in the nearby tombs of other emperors’ descendants, Chu Chengji found that there was indeed nothing valuable to see in his own tomb.
He had rushed to Meng County before his tomb was completed, so he only learned about the contents of his tomb from the list of burial items counted by Lin Yao.
At that time, Lin Yao hardly took anything from his tomb.
Chu Chengji thought it was because Lin Yao was too respectful of him, but now seeing it with his own eyes, Chu Chengji realized that it wasn’t that Lin Yao didn’t take anything, but that there was simply nothing worth taking.
The burial items were all made of bronze, and no one would want them, whether they were taken to the Western Regions or circulated in the black market.
Song Heqing and the other ministers dared not enter the main tomb chamber.
They knelt at the entrance, weeping and explaining that they did not intend to disturb Emperor Wu’s peace, but circumstances forced them to resort to this plan.
Chu Chengji found his Fangtian Ji from a pile of worthless items in the ear chamber.
Holding it in his hand brought back a familiar feeling of weight, but for a military commander, this weight was reassuring.
A handy weapon was their second life.
After obtaining the weapon, he casually glanced around his main tomb chamber and found nothing valuable.
Finally, his gaze fell on a string of bodhi beads hanging on a high pedestal.
Unless one was a monk, there was no tradition of burying bodhi beads along with the deceased, so after his death, this string of bodhi beads was placed in the main tomb chamber as a burial item.
After three hundred years, the beads still shimmered with light.
Seeing this old item, Chu Chengji didn’t feel much sentimentality.
Instead, he subtly felt that his tomb finally had something valuable.
These bodhi beads were made of diamond bodhi seeds, capable of warding off evil and disasters, and were extremely rare.
He naturally pocketed the bodhi beads, then walked out of the main tomb chamber and said to Song Heqing and the others who were kneeling outside, “Let’s leave.”
Seeing him effortlessly carrying the Fangtian Ji out, Song Heqing thought he was carrying a fake one.
The fake Fangtian Ji that Song Heqing had people make was secretly placed in the ear chamber while he was praising Emperor Wu’s merits earlier.
He was afraid that Chu Chengji wouldn’t be able to lift the real Fangtian Ji, so he prepared the fake one just in case.
However, it was not the time to ask whether the Fangtian Ji Chu Chengji was carrying was real or fake. In front of all the ministers, Song Heqing naturally had to be mindful of the Crown Prince’s dignity.
Following Chu Chengji out, Song Heqing planned to wait until after boosting the morale of the army and withdrawing from Longgu Mountain before secretly having the real Fangtian Ji transported elsewhere and hidden.
Then, the matter would be seamless.
As the group appeared at the entrance of the imperial tomb, Chu Chengji walked at the forefront, clad in black armor, his scattered hair falling over his forehead, and his eyes dark and deep.
The strong wind on the mountain caused the cloak behind him, the same color as his, to flutter high like a banner.
In his hand, the Fangtian Ji was shining black all over, perhaps due to its history of being stained with blood, just looking at it sent shivers down one’s spine.
The crowd had already erupted into cheers in a small area.
Chu Chengji stood firm, raising the Fangtian Ji high in his hand and shouted, “Crush the rebels, drive away the invaders, pacify the four seas!”
The location where this imperial tomb was built had been carefully chosen.
Chu Chengji stood on the high platform, his black armor reflecting the dazzling sunlight, as if a god of war had descended.
The soldiers below boiled with excitement, raising their weapons and shouting along with him, “Crush the rebels, drive away the invaders, pacify the four seas!”
Dong Cheng watched Chu Chengji from afar, listening to the surrounding tide-like cheers, and thought to himself that this former prince indeed had a way of playing with people’s hearts.
Everyone was shouting, but Dong Cheng remained aloof.
After the cheers subsided, he spoke loudly, “Your Highness, this humble one has heard that the Fangtian Ji used by Emperor Wu was made of wrought iron, weighing over one hundred and eighty catties. This humble one dares to request to see it.”
Song Heqing and several advisers exchanged glances, seeing from each other’s eyes that something was amiss.
Song Heqing immediately stepped forward and shouted, “Who is this brat! Today, we have set up the altar to invite out the divine weapon used by Emperor Wu in his lifetime. How dare you make light of this?”
Dong Cheng sneered inwardly but maintained the appearance of a meek young man. “This humble one was just curious for a moment and wanted to see for himself how heavy the rumored Fangtian Ji made of wrought iron truly is.
Your Highness possesses innate divine power, and holding the Fangtian Ji made of wrought iron is as light as a feather. This humble one truly envies Your Highness!”
His words were just short of directly saying that the Fangtian Ji Chu Chengji was holding was definitely not Emperor Wu’s.
Among the soldiers, some thought Dong Cheng was speaking nonsense, while others seriously evaluated Chu Chengji’s Fangtian Ji.
Wrought iron was over ten times heavier than ordinary iron, so although the Fangtian Ji was heavy, it didn’t look bulky except for its color, and it didn’t seem much different from other ordinary weapons.
Song Heqing was so angry that his beard quivered, about to order someone to drag Dong Cheng away, but Chu Chengji spoke up, “Young General Dong’s courage is commendable. Come up and take the Fangtian Ji.”
Song Heqing was frantic with worry that Dong Cheng would mess things up, but since Chu Chengji had spoken, he couldn’t disobey Chu Chengji’s orders.
He could only watch helplessly as Dong Cheng ascended the high platform, giving countless warning glances during the process, but Dong Cheng turned a blind eye to them.
Thinking back to what Cen Daoxi had said earlier, Song Heqing couldn’t help but feel a chill.
Could it be that Dong Cheng was really going to harm His Highness?
Chu Chengji’s indifferent manner of letting him take the Fangtian Ji also made Dong Cheng somewhat suspicious.
However, he had already seen the fake they had made on the carriage earlier, and the more he thought about it, the more Dong Cheng felt that Chu Chengji was playing psychological warfare with him.
He just wanted to scare him off, making him miss the opportunity to expose his true self in front of the army!
Seeing Chu Chengji hand over the Fangtian Ji with one hand, Dong Cheng didn’t think much of it and reached out with one hand to receive it.
However, the weight that landed in his hand caused him to stagger and almost fall to the ground.
Dong Cheng widened his eyes in disbelief.
How could it be so heavy?
Seeing him unable to hold it steady, Chu Chengji kindly reached out to help him hold the shaft of the weapon. “Young General Dong?”
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Dong Cheng hastily steadied his footing and exerted all his strength.
Finally, he managed to lift the Fangtian Ji with one hand, barely swinging it halfway before handing it back to Chu Chengji. “This Fangtian Ji is indeed heavy, and I was too presumptuous.”
As he descended from the platform, the hand that had held the weapon still trembled uncontrollably.
The soldiers below burst into laughter, and Dong Cheng hung his head, letting them laugh.
Song Heqing and the other advisers were puzzled.
Song Heqing even suspected that Dong Cheng was deliberately provoking trouble by causing a scene on the stage to make the soldiers more convinced.
Unexpectedly, Chu Chengji immediately said, “Is there anyone else who wants to try how heavy this Fangtian Ji is? You’re welcome to come up.”
Song Heqing was so shocked that his beard trembled three times.
He thought to himself, Could it be that His Highness not only found Dong Cheng as a pawn?
He was indeed considerate.
“Your Highness, I also want to try!” a burly man walked up to the stage, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.
Initially, Dong Cheng’s suggestion to try the Fangtian Ji had a somewhat aggressive tone, but now that Chu Chengji had proactively invited others to try, no one laughed at Dong Cheng anymore.
Dong Cheng understood that Chu Chengji’s words were a way to help him save face and not feel overly embarrassed.
Although he couldn’t help feeling a bit ashamed on the surface.
However, his heart was even more confused.
He had clearly seen a fake Fangtian Ji, so how could the one the prince took out be real?
Thinking of this, Dong Cheng broke out in a cold sweat.
Could it be that the prince already knew that he was sent by the Crown Prince’s side to feign surrender, and today’s actions were a test for him?
Was the prince’s current assistance meant to give him a chance to reform?
Dong Cheng’s heart trembled.
Looking up at the high platform, he saw the burly man exerting all his strength with both hands just to lift the Fangtian Ji.
When the man came down, facing the questioning of the soldiers, he just shook his head repeatedly. “Such a heavy thing! His Highness has great strength!”
There were other soldiers who wanted to come up and try how heavy the Fangtian Ji was, and Chu Chengji gave it to them all a try.
He maintained a stern face without smiling, and the soldiers, who usually feared him, now felt that the prince was not so unapproachable.
He stood there like an unscalable peak, inexplicably making people convinced and willing to entrust their lives to him.
Dong Cheng tightly gripped the sword at his waist, looking at Chu Chengji with a particularly complex gaze.
Song Heqing watched as one soldier after another went up to the stage to try the Fangtian Ji, seeing them all turning red-faced and bulging veins on their foreheads.
He thought to himself that the pawns His Highness had found were really not bad at acting!
Finally, after waiting for the ceremony to end, Song Heqing hurriedly led people to transport the real Fangtian Ji, intending to hide it elsewhere.
“Be careful, this Fangtian Ji weighs one hundred and eighty catties, it’s quite heavy!” he reminded the soldiers carrying the box.
The two soldiers exerted all their strength to lift the box containing the Fangtian Ji, but it was unexpectedly light inside.
They used too much force and ended up falling down. Looking at the fake Fangtian Ji that fell out, Song Heqing finally realized that something was wrong.
Could it be that the prince had taken out the real one from the beginning?
