Longzang

Chapter 324 A Closer Look at the Nation's Fate
For the next two whole days, Wei Yuan had nothing to do, the King of England's troops had nothing to do, and the border troops continued to scavenge for food.

There's not much trash left.

All three parties ignored the central vault, and then two hundred naked men wandered into the vault area and were surprised to find that the two vaults were still there.

As for their fifty cavalrymen companions, they had died silently at the hands of the Liao people in the chaos of the previous days, their armor turned into other people's clothes.

In the main hall of the camp, the Prince of Jin kept his eyes downcast and never mentioned the end of the autumn hunt.

If the Prince of Jin didn't move, no one else could either. Fortunately, everyone possessed cultivation, so they all kept their eyes down and quietly began their preparations. After all, the chessboard of heaven and earth was filled with Wei Yuan's face all day long; everyone could practically count Wei Yuan's eyebrows, so there was really nothing else to see.

Only Prince Fu, being young, couldn't stand sitting for more than a day and started complaining about wanting to eat and drink. Prince Jin, annoyed by his noise, ordered him to be taken out of the main hall. Upon hearing the news, Wang Qian rushed over, picked up Prince Fu, and took him back to the palace, where he fed him and gave him water.

But when Consort Yuan arrived after receiving the news, she asked what had happened, but without saying a word, she slapped him across the face!

The slap was so hard that a handprint instantly appeared on Prince Fu's face. He immediately burst into tears, crying, "You dare hit me! I'll tell my father!"

Wang Qian stood to the side, wanting to offer advice but also hesitant.

Ignoring the crying and fussing Prince Fu, Consort Yuan said to her maid, "Prince Fu is so ignorant; someone must be instigating him. Guards, arrest all the eunuchs and maids who serve Prince Fu personally and drown them in the pond."

After giving her instructions, she turned and left, giving Wang Qian no chance to say a word.

Prince Fu jumped up and down, crying and making a scene, but those who remained were all Consort Yuan's maids, who completely ignored him and dragged away the palace maids and eunuchs around Prince Fu one by one.

Wang Qian sighed and could only turn and leave.

On the morning of the third day, the feeling of being spied on finally disappeared, and Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Maintaining a perfect appearance for two days and two nights in a row had left him with some back and waist pain.

Wei Yuan had just stretched when he suddenly felt a hot, sticky, and heavy liquid poured over his head. An indescribable smell of decay, decay, and the re-fermentation of rotten things rushed to his nose, up to his palate, then through his palate to his brain, and through the top of his head, making Wei Yuan feel as if he had swallowed a mouthful of corpse fluid mixed with wasabi.

His senses were incredibly sharp, almost supernatural, but at this moment, they became a disaster. Ordinary people might not even be able to perceive the taste, but Wei Yuan could sense the subtle layers within it and detect the minute changes, understanding every single one clearly.

It's like taking a bite of excrement and then instinctively discerning its age, origin, whether it tastes like vegetables or ribs, and whether the producer has any hidden illnesses, etc.

Wei Yuan could no longer bear it and knelt down, retching and vomiting both clear and yellow fluid.

The invisible, viscous substance continued to fall endlessly. In desperation, Wei Yuan's primordial spirit transformed into a Devouring Toad, tilted its head back, and swallowed the remaining viscous substance in one gulp. Then, it violently shook itself a few times, severing it from the large viscous substance high in the void.

"It's finally over." Wei Yuan's face was frighteningly pale. He truly felt weak and vomited so much that he couldn't even stand up.

Xu Yi came over and helped him up. The knights raised their guns and stood guard around them, not understanding where the enemy had come from.

Wei Yuan waved his hand weakly and said, "It's nothing, it's just that my body... has encountered a slight problem, I'll be fine in a while." At this moment, the sky over the vast land was no longer deep darkness, but was shrouded in a layer of surging dark red. It was like a pool of viscous liquid, covering the sky of the vast land. If you didn't look closely, it resembled the afterglow of a setting sun, poignant and despairing.

The dark red sky was a reflection of the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty. Looking at the pervasive atmosphere of decay and decline, Wei Yuan sighed.

The Western Jin dynasty's fate was an aid, a resource for achieving enlightenment, even as it neared its end. It made the vast land more complete, providing the foundation for wind and rain, and bringing the entire foundation of the Dao closer to the real world. This is a step that should only occur after the reign of Emperor Jing.

In other words, Wei Yuan now possesses some of the divine abilities of the Imperial View True Lord.

But it is also a constraint and a shackle. The entire national destiny transforms into the sky, inverted over the vast land, connecting into one at the edge of the earth, seeping into the vast land in every strand. At this moment, the vast land is like a wild beast caught in a spider web. Although it will not fall, its movements are hindered. Without completely reversing and refining the national destiny, it is impossible to achieve the world of the mind and the imperial landscape.

Wei Yuan's understanding of the Qi and fortune was already quite profound. After the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty fell to the vast land, he observed the fluctuations of the Western Jin Dynasty's fate in the outside world and had a clear idea in his mind: this dark red area actually accounted for one-tenth of the entire Western Jin Dynasty's fate!
Fortune is an intangible thing, present everywhere yet absent everywhere. Whether it is in the high heavens or across the vast land, it is the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty, an integral part of the whole. It's just that this part is bound to Wei Yuan; if it prospers, the Western Jin prospers, and if it suffers, so it does.

However, once it falls into the hands of the vast land, it differs from the overall fate of the nation. If Wei Yuan refines it further, he will enjoy most of the benefits alone, with a small portion shared among the entire Western Jin Dynasty. Even if Wei Yuan transforms it into the flourishing prosperity of the early years of Emperor Taizu, he will still reap at least half of the benefits, and vice versa.

However, judging from the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty, Wei Yuan felt that the country was not far from its demise, and that no matter how much he acted perversely, he would not be much different.

Therefore, this national fortune is currently nothing but a burden for Wei Yuan, and it does nothing to resolve the karmic curse. If the Wu Clan were to unleash a karmic curse at this moment, the Western Jin Dynasty would surely suffer natural disasters and widespread death, but the resulting karmic backlash would definitely give Wei Yuan a hard time, far more terrifying than the karmic curse itself.

At that time, Wei Yuan was practically a king who had lost his country, and history would surely record a part of that for posterity to scorn.

But the nation's fortunes have turned, and the autumn hunt is over?

In the main hall of the camp, Prince Jin put down the large golden cup in his hand and picked up a small golden spoon from the table, no bigger than a thumbnail. Prince Jin gently scooped up some unknown substance with the spoon, then went to the sand tray and poured the contents of the spoon into it.

Suddenly, Lü Wenbai, the military governor of Yunxiang, felt his breathing rise sharply. He was both surprised and delighted. He rose from his seat and knelt down, repeatedly saying, "Thank you for the Holy King's grace!"

However, as his aura surged, a pallor crossed his face, indicating he had also tasted the benefits of being blessed with good fortune. It's just that he didn't possess the innate supernatural abilities of Wei Yuan, and his perception wasn't as refined.

At this moment, Lü Wenbai was still somewhat dazed, not understanding how his family had become second place, when there were still the Prince of Ying and the border troops. He glanced at the golden cup, a hint of regret in his eyes; that cup was truly enormous, more than ten times the size of a small spoon.
Wei Yuan, in a last-minute attempt to cram, recalled various pieces of knowledge about the fate of the nation.

The rise and fall of a nation is influenced by multiple factors, not just the monarchy. A nation's fortune is partly dispersed within its territory, partly based on the common people, and partly rooted in officials, celebrities, and aristocratic families—these people are also known as the foundation of a well-governed nation.

Proportionally, the Jin royal family accounts for about 30% to 40%, with the Prince of Jin naturally taking the lion's share. Now, Wei Yuan has suddenly received 10% of the nation's fortune, which also comes from the royal family. With this shift in power, although he is not as powerful as the Prince of Jin, he certainly far surpasses the Crown Prince.

Wei Yuan fell into deep thought. Judging his relationship with the Prince of Jin by the fate of the nation, it seemed that he should really become the Prince's godfather.

The thought of Consort Yuan is rather strange.

(End of this chapter)