Chapter 256 – Sarcasm
Li Lao, who was surprised, also got near to Ye Wuchen. He shook his head and gave the same conclusion as Li Lao. Long Yin sighed, and he tried to comfort Ye Wuchen, “Wuchen, there’s nothing to worry about. There’re so many gifted people in the world. There must be a way to make you recover. It does not only matter to your life, but Ye Family and Tianlong Country. There is no way I will see you like this.”
Ye Wuchen thought, how well-trained, and how easy to get people admiring him. He replied, “thank you, Emperor, for your kind intentions. May I ask if that’s the only reason for your visit?”
“Hey, there is one more thing, and this is something big.” Long Yin then put on a serious look.
“Please tell me.” Ye Wuchen smiled and waited for what was following, although he knew entirely what Long Yin was going to tell him.
“When you came back, have you heard about the treasures left by Emperor Taizu?” Long Yin frowned and stared at his eyes.
“Oh?” Ye Wuchen asked, and he was baffled.
Long Yin and Lin Kuang were looking at each other, and they didn’t notice any hint of fear or nervousness in Ye Wuchen. Long Yin asked again, “then, do you remember stealing the iron sword in the treasury?”
“Of course. May I know why the Emperor asked about this?”
“Is the sword still with you?” Long Yin’s breath naturally became a bit heavy, and Ye Wei and Ye Nu were also surprised. They had no idea about it at all.
Ye Wuchen shook his head and said plainly, “of course it’s not with me. It’s just an ordinary iron sword, why would I need it?”
Long Yin suddenly squinted, and asked with a low voice, “is it not with you? Then why did you steal it back then among all the other treasures?”
“This is very simple.” Ye Wuchen smiled a little, and looked casually, “as the emperor said, there were all kinds of rare treasures, and those who could enter the treasury were all worth millions. Strangely, a rotted iron sword was put together with all of them, it seemed too weird for me, so I had to have a look. After observation, there’s nothing special about the sword, so I discarded it.”
“You discarded it?” The whole of Long Yin’s body went stiff. He tried very hard to stay calm and asked, “where did you discard it?”
Ye Wuchen shrugged, “It’s an unremarkable iron sword. I don’t remember where I put it. Emperor, what’s so important with it?”
Long Yin’s eyes flickered, he answered thoughtfully, “Li Lao, you brought him to the treasury. Tell him yourself.”
“Yes.” Li Lao stepped forward and said, “the Emperor of Taizu left the iron sword. It was strictly ordered that the descendants could never discard it unless our country comes to an end. The Emperors in Tianlong Country have been obeying this order, and have been storing all the important things in the Treasury. We all have inspected its state out of curiosity, and we didn’t find anything so unique about it. When time went by, we thought that Taizu Emperor probably used it in his battles on the desert. Since it had helped the country, it would be a bad sign to Tianlong if someone lost or discarded it.”
“However, just ten months ago, the Tomb of Emperor Taizu was invaded by a group of mysterious wicked people. All the guards were killed on the spot, and there was no one left alive. When we arrived, the Tomb of Emperor Taizu had been looted. Numerous treasures buried in the funeral were gone, and even the coffin of the Emperor was missing.”
br>“When this happened, the Emperor was furious, and he wanted to undergo a thorough investigation. Strangely, those wicked people didn’t leave any trace, and even after a whole month of investigation, nothing was found. Right at this moment, this was shocking news in Tianlong Continent; someone discovered a message inside the robe of the Emperor, the one he was wearing when he passed away. On the message, it says that when the Emperor Taizu established the country, he took away all the fortunes found in the society, and he accumulated a large amount of wealth. After the country was established, the Emperor Taizu wanted to prevent people from merely staying at home, doing nothing, he hid this great sum of money in somewhere inside Tianlong Continent, and ordered an ironsmith to forge an iron sword. Then, he hid the map inside the sword and ordered his descendants never to lose the sword. They must not ruin it before the end of the country. And, even if the country comes to its end, anyone can revive it with this sword.”
“This rumor was crazily spread in Tianchen Continent in one month. Almost everyone knew about it. Also, because of this incident, many talented people who had bad intentions were all killed when they tried to sneak in the Palace. Although none of them succeeded, troubles still existed. And the sword in which the Emperor’s message was hidden happened to be the same one that you took away!” After Li Lao finished, he retrieved back and got behind Long Yin.
Ye Wuchen was listening carefully, and he slowly nodded, “I see, it turned out to be an astonishing rumor. I can see that the Emperor is paying this visit to get back the iron sword.”
“That’s right. My ancestors told us never to lose the sword. And this is not just a rumor. If Tianlong Country can get hold of this sword, we will have big progress in our military, agricultural and industrial aspects. At that time, we won’t be worried about Big Wind Country anymore.” Long Yin said so seriously.
“It makes sense. However, I don’t have the sword anymore. If I knew how precious it was, of course, I would never throw it away.” Ye Wuchen shook his head regretfully.
“Nonsense, you must have hidden the sword yourself, since you knew that it’s a wealth left by Emperor Taizu!” Lin Zhan pointed at him furiously.
Ye Wei and Ye Nu were glaring at each other, and their facial expressions changed. Long Yin didn’t say anything either, and he was waiting for Ye Wuchen to react. Ye Wuchen turned his gaze to Lin Zhan and replied, in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner, “General Lin, although you’re older than me, I have to say something. It has been three years since we met each other and it seemed to me that you had not made any improvement in your personality. While I was talking to the Emperor, you interrupted us, and this is not respectful to the Emperor. Also, you’re giving an accusation without any proof, and this is called rudeness and ignorance. I am disabled, and even if I get hold of limitless wealth, it’ll be no use for me. There will be no benefits aside from being attacked by all parties. This is something easily understandable. Didn’t you see how stupid it sounded when you made such a judgment without any ground?”
Soon after Lin Zhan started talking, he began to regret. Every time, whenever he tried to argue with Ye Wuchen, he ended up being the one insulted. Although Ye Wuchen was crippled, he was still bright, and he knew exactly what he was talking about. Apparently, everything that Ye Wuchen said made sense, and Lin Zhan felt as useless as he had described. He had no way to fight back. He lost his mind, “it’s true that I am not a significant person, and I didn’t improve. But you, as a disabled person, are not even qualified to give me this lesson.”
Ye Wei was stunned, and Ye Nu was furious, he was making sounds with his fists, and was ready to punch Lin Zhan on his face. Suddenly, they heard Ye Wuchen laugh, “haha! Great, this is Lin Zhan. Only you have the guts to say it. I’ve heard that you were the main General of Zhennan, may I ask how many enemies you’d killed? As far as I know, you had killed none. Twenty years ago, when my Tianlong Country was at war with Big Wind Country, you happened to be sick and didn’t even show up on the battlefield. As for whether it was just a coincidence or you pretended to be sick, only you know for yourself. Although I am not that talented either, at least I killed tens of thousands of soldiers and hurt Big Wind Country badly. So how am I not qualified to criticize you? Lin Zhan, General Lin, I am going to say something that you’re not willing to know, when you’re at your middle age, and you’ve achieved nothing, you can be described as useless. If it’s not for the wealth of Lin Family, you might as well end up being a beggar on the street, and no one will give you a penny…”
“Shut up!” Long Yin angrily interrupted Ye Wuchen. “Have you ever respected me as the Emperor?”
Lin Zhan was stunned by Ye Wuchen’s words, his whole was trembling out of anger, he hated Ye Wuchen so much, and he wanted to yell on top of his lungs.
Ye Wuchen turned his gaze toward Long Yin, and he squinted, “Emperor, if you don’t want to see us argue, why not say something when Lin Zhan offended me? And when I defended myself, you said that it’s an interruption? Don’t think you that this kind of preference is a little too obvious?”
Soon after Ye Wuchen said this, the whole atmosphere changed. Nobody had expected him to say such daring words. Ye Nu frowned and reminded his grandson, “Chen’er, mind yourself.”
After he said this, Ye Wei slightly pulled his clothes and shook his head. Ye Nu stopped talking. Ye Wuchen was not an impulsive person, he thought carefully before doing or saying anything. There must be a reason why he did this to the Emperor.
br>Lin Zhan was glad. He thought, Ye Wuchen was indeed disrespectful by telling this directly to the Emperor.
Instantly, Long Yin was offended, but he tried to control himself, “Wuchen, what exactly do you mean?”
“It’s obvious what I mean, since the Emperor should be intelligent enough. By the way, I haven’t been home for three years. I was even a little moved when the Emperor visited me. Now I understand, the main purpose to ask about the iron sword. Now that all is clear, Emperor, I think you can leave now.”
Although he sounded plain, he shocked the hell out of everyone on the spot. Even Li Lao and Liu Lao were stunned. After three years, no one had ever expected Ye Wuchen had the guts to send the Emperor away.