Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

Chapter 231 Good times and beautiful scenery
you……

Li Xingyun swallowed hard. Well, you can't really blame Li Maozhen and Li Siyuan. Didn't you see that the other lords and soldiers were also kneeling on the ground?

Those still standing on the field, besides Li Xingyun, are the two Corpse Ancestors, Hou Qing and her sister; the two uncles, Li Cunyi and Zhang Zifan; the two siblings, Empress Li Maozhen and her sister; the stunned fake Li; and Ji Ruxue, who has already grasped the hilt of the Suxin Sword and is ready to deliver a vicious blow to Yuan Tiangang from behind at any moment.

Previously, they only knew that Yuan Tiangang was very strong and terrifying, but they did not have a clear enough understanding of how strong and terrifying Yuan Tiangang was.

It's true.

It's hard to imagine that they and the two guys in front of me are the same species.

"Why force him?" Just as Li Xingyun was being held back by Yuan Tiangang and didn't know what to do, Luo Su, carrying the Qi Wang Sword, also approached Yuan Tiangang's side, threw the sword back to his brother-in-law's hilt, and then picked up the Longquan sword from Yuan Tiangang's hand and threw it back to him under Li Xingyun's grateful gaze.

“Since you have already set up the stage, wouldn’t it be a waste of your efforts if I didn’t use it?” Yuan Tiangang sighed and stood up with Russell’s help. He seemed to be used to Russell’s behavior and showed no emotion whatsoever.

"I put on this show to amuse you," Russell said helplessly. "How come you came back so quickly? I've calculated the time. Even if we start counting from the day the coronation date was set and Mirror Heart Demon set sail, you've only just received the news."

"How could you possibly control my plans?" Yuan Tiangang chuckled smugly.

The truth is that when he cast a divination on the deserted island, he found the heavenly secrets to be completely chaotic. He immediately guessed that Russell had reappeared. He hurriedly used a dry branch as a boat to return as fast as he could, and managed to get back before everything became a done deal.

“Heh…” Russell curled his lip.

As I said before, this is also an impact of information asymmetry.

Yuan Tiangang knew of Russell's existence, but Russell was unaware that Yuan Tiangang knew of his existence. This was a case of the future self in the past timeline betraying the present self.

According to Yuan Tiangang, going back two hundred years would be the time of Wu Zetian's reign, so it's not hard to deduce the period when Yuan Tiangang encountered himself.

The only thing that intrigued Russell was how he traveled back in time.

“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Russell pressed on Li Xingyun’s shoulder and said sincerely, “Believe me, I really did want to help you escape your predicament and retire to the countryside.”

"And now?" Li Xingyun's lips twitched.

“Of course we’ve messed up now.” Russell spread his hands nonchalantly: “It’s fate, not a fault of the war. Old Li, why don’t you just give in?”

I started from you***
"Isn't there any other way?" Li Xingyun looked at Li Maozhen with unwavering determination: "I think Brother Qi Wang would be quite suitable, or else..."

I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.

Upon hearing Li Xingyun's words, Li Maozhen immediately responded with a three-part combo. Then, he saw Yuan Tiangang staring at him. With just one glance, he felt the Life-Destroying Gu within his body tremble.

"Your Majesty, please do not joke. The Li family has received great favors from the royal family, which we will never forget. For generations, the people of Qi have been willing to go through fire and water for the Li family."

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Maozhen made a decision based on instinct.

He lifted his robe and knelt down on one knee with a thud. His sincerity and determination were so profound that anyone who saw him would have to praise him as a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty!
"Hehehe, Your Highness, what's done is done, there's no going back now." Yuan Tiangang's laughter was deep and unrestrained.

His long-cherished wish of three hundred years has come true today. It's just a pity that he can no longer taste the flavor. Otherwise, he would definitely go to Li Chunfeng's tomb and have a hearty drink with him.

“Brother Li, as the Bad Commander said, now that all the lords are celebrating and all the people are honored, this matter cannot be settled in a few words. It would be better to agree to this matter first and discuss it further in the future.” Zhang Zifan leaped onto the artificial hill, paid his respects to Luo Su and Yuan Tiangang, and then came to Li Xingyun to speak.

Zhang Zifan is to Li Xingyun what Li Chunfeng is to Yuan Tiangang; they are close friends. With Zhang Zifan by his side, Li Xingyun will not panic or lose his composure.

"That's all we can do." Li Xingyun sighed and turned to look at Ji Ruxue. Ji Ruxue smiled at him, and Li Xingyun felt much better.

Zhang Zifan immediately turned around, focused his energy, and began to persuade Li Cunli: "Let's set off and return to the palace!"

"By order of the Emperor, we shall return to the palace!" the armored soldiers shouted in unison.

Yuan Tiangang vanished in a flash, arriving at the emperor's carriage and personally driving over: "Your Majesty, please."

As Li Xingyun and Ji Ruxue boarded the imperial carriage and slowly proceeded, the feudal lords on the bridge followed them.

Soon, apart from the Bad Guys who were finishing up and counting the Longquan Treasure, only a few people remained on the artificial hill.

Take, for example, the fake Li.

He stayed there, but Li Xingyun forgot about him, Li Siyuan ignored him, and Yuan Tiangang completely disregarded him.

A short while later, amidst the thumping sounds, the Corpse Ancestor Drought Demon rushed out of the Dragon Spring Underground Palace and followed the scents of Hou Qing and his elder sister to the artificial hill.

"Is everything resolved?" the drought demon asked.

He was down below when he heard a lot of noise upstairs. If Li Xingyun hadn't instructed him to control the gunpowder down there, he would have come up to investigate long ago.

"It's resolved." Hou Qing nodded, then teased, "Now, you can go and keep your Princess Shangrao company."

"Princess Shangrao?" The elder sister blinked her big eyes and looked at Hou Qing curiously, while Luo Su also cast a glance at her.

Therefore, in this timeline, the drought demon also crossed paths with Princess Shangrao.

"Yes, I met her when I accompanied Li Xingyun to seek help from the King of Wu. The princess has rather unique taste," Hou Qing explained.

"Princess Shangrao?" The Empress remembered. King Wu did indeed have a beloved only daughter, whom she had even met. But she remembered Shangrao being only that young. And now, the drought demon…

"Blessings, blessings..." Russell rubbed his forehead. It wasn't that he had a problem with his thinking, but the size difference between the two of them made it hard not to overthink things.

"Don't worry about the princess, what's the situation now?" Hanba scratched his head. "A group of people just came down and told me that Longquan doesn't need to be blown up anymore, and that Li Xingyun has ascended the throne. Is that true?"

“It’s true.” Russell nodded. “There were some unexpected changes, but in short, things are basically over.”

"That's good." The drought demon breathed a sigh of relief: "At least I was of help."

"What are the plans of the three Corpse Ancestors next?" Russell looked at the three of them. He was planning to go to the Northern Desert, and if possible, he would like to team up with these three.

“I promised Princess Shangrao that I would make fireworks for her.”

"I might go to Raojiang. I have a master there, and I just did some calculations. She might need my help." "Wherever my brother is, I will be there."

Three people, three answers. Since that was the case, Russell did not insist on keeping them. He simply commissioned Hanba to make a batch of gunpowder and prepared to return to Taiyuan with Empress Li Maozhen and the other woman.

The imposter, who had been silent all along, suddenly called out to him: "Mr. Li, this is different from what we initially agreed upon."

"Different?" Russell turned around and chuckled, "Then let me ask you, have you ascended the throne? Has the State of Qi supported you? Have the feudal lords come to offer congratulations? Has the Dragon Spring Treasure been opened? Answer me!"

"But now it's Li Xingyun sitting on the throne!" the fake Li roared hysterically. "You, all of you, are you all laughing at me?! I've been manipulated like a fool by you all, and all of you only have eyes for Li Xingyun! It's me who's ascended the throne! It's me!"

“Don’t be silly, kid.” Russell flashed over and kicked the fake Li in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. “Yuan Tiangang didn’t kill you just now, which means he doesn’t intend to do anything to you again. So, don’t pretend to be betrayed here to gain sympathy.”

"..." Fake Li stopped speaking, and the expression on his face disappeared.

Yes, he's pretending.

From the moment Yuan Tiangang arrived and Li Xingyun agreed to become emperor, he had been searching for a way to save himself.

Russell was the only chance he could find for himself.

"Is he really that kind?" After a long while, Fake Li finally managed to utter this question.

He wasn't afraid of death, but he still harbored a glimmer of hope.

Yuan Tiangang was his god. If one day he had to die for him, he wouldn't even flinch. But he was unwilling to die as a pawn.

He was still fantasizing that one day Li Xingyun would be unable to hold onto his position and would be rejected by Yuan Tiangang. In the end, he would step forward to prove that he was stronger than Li Xingyun, to prove that Yuan Tiangang's ideas had always been wrong, and to make Yuan Tiangang truly acknowledge him.

“As human beings, we must live for ourselves.” Russell was well aware of what the fake Li was thinking, but he had no way to distort the other’s established worldview. All he could do now was give the other a chance to see if he could get out of it on his own: “I will find a way to help you restore your appearance. After that, I will give you two choices: leave the Tang Dynasty or stay in the Qi Prince’s army to gain experience.”

"I'll stay." Fake Li chose the latter without hesitation.

He knew that even if Yuan Tiangang didn't kill him, he would never leave him as a threat. Apart from the two choices Russell gave him, he could only spend the rest of his life under the watchful eyes of the Bad People.

"Let's go then, or we'll miss the banquet." Russell waved to Duan Chengtian and the others from the Sanzenin Academy, and soon, several fast horses were led to Russell and his companions.

……

That night, in Taiyuan City.

When the emperor ascended the throne, Taiyuan celebrated for three days without a curfew, and the emperor and the people rejoiced together.

The streets and fields were decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and fireworks were constantly rising into the sky, exploding into dazzling patterns.

Meanwhile, in the emperor's temporary palace, all was peaceful and serene, filled with music and dance.

Li Xingyun, dressed in a dragon robe, sat beside Ji Ruxue, who was stirring a soup with her delicate hands. Her face was flushed with the rosy hue of drunkenness, giving her the air of a tyrannical ruler.

The dancers moved gracefully to the beat of the drums, their silver bells jingling at their waists.

Yuan Tiangang and Russell were not present at the table.

The former, accustomed to a quiet life for two hundred years, is not used to this lively atmosphere, while the latter is simply caring for lonely elderly people.

The two stood side by side in the shadows of the highest floor of the palace, their eyes reflecting the distant sparks of iron exploding in the air.

"Thinking of Qiao'er?"

Russell glanced sideways; Yuan Tiangang had removed his mask, revealing a ferocious and terrifying face beneath.

"The dead are gone, what's the point of thinking about them or not?" Yuan Tiangang's eyes saw the flying iron sparks collide and bloom, turning into thousands of lights: "What we should do now is to continue this hard-won new Tang Dynasty for a hundred years, a thousand years."

"A thousand years later, we'll really be turtles." Russell picked up his wine jug and clinked it with Yuan Tiangang's. If nothing unexpected happened, many years later, the two of them would still be partners.

"Heh." Yuan Tiangang silently shook his head, saying nothing. He simply took out a brocade box from his robes and tossed it aside. Luo Su curiously caught it, opened it, and found a pill emanating a strange aura: "This is..."

"The elixir of immortality," Yuan Tiangang said calmly, "is the last one in the world. Use it with caution."

"If we have the prescription, we can just refine it again if we want," Russell said, puzzled.

“It’s not that easy.” Yuan Tiangang chuckled softly. “Throughout history, there have been many extraordinary people and people, not just me, Yuan Tiangang. If the elixir of immortality could be made so easily, wouldn’t the world be full of old things from thousands of years ago?”

"Is there something strange about the prescription?" Russell guessed.

“Not bad.” Yuan Tiangang nodded slightly, his tone extremely smug: “The secret to longevity is nothing more than using elixirs to solidify the life force of heaven and earth for one’s own use. Times change and the laws of the universe are not the same. The formulas for longevity elixirs are different at different times. Although I, Yuan Tiangang, am not the only one in the world who can come up with the right formula at the right time, only I, the commander, have survived to this day.”

I initially thought the ingredients for the elixir of immortality were hard to find, but it turns out there's another reason...

"Don't you want to die?" Russell joked.

“With you here, I don’t have to die.” Yuan Tiangang glanced at him and asked, “Speaking of which, where have you been for the past two hundred years?”

“He wasn’t born yet.” Russell made no attempt to hide anything. “For me, today is the first time we’ve truly met. All the other times, it’s just that I know you, and you know me.”

“Just as I thought.” Yuan Tiangang showed no surprise. He had already seen the clues from their previous exchange. Now he was simply certain of what he had in mind: “No wonder I have mobilized countless manpower and resources over the past two hundred years, yet I have not been able to find you.”

"What did I do two hundred years ago that makes you so infatuated with me?" Russell couldn't help but wonder.

“It can’t be anything good anyway.” Yuan Tiangang rolled his eyes at Russell and didn’t continue the topic. In matters like this, too much talk is bound to lead to mistakes, and no one knows what irreversible consequences it might cause. He simply said, “You should take this elixir of immortality now. I will protect you. With your skill, you will surely be able to withstand the backlash from the elixir.”

“There’s no need for that.” Russell raised his hand to refuse: “Even without this elixir of immortality, I won’t need to worry about my lifespan for the next few hundred years.”

"Born to live forever? How enviable." Yuan Tiangang said wistfully, patted Russell on the shoulder, his figure trembled and disappeared. The next moment, a stunningly beautiful figure appeared in Russell's field of vision.

"Such a beautiful day, and you're just sitting here alone in the cold wind?"

(End of this chapter)