Zhao Hu was so excited he started spinning in place. "Great, great, I knew it, how could she possibly hand power back to that Little Emperor, hahaha, hahaha..."

Seeing Zhao Song’s expression starting to darken, Zhao Shen couldn’t help coughing twice. Zhao Hu didn’t care, hands on his hips as he kept laughing.

Zhao Shen stuffed a cup of tea into his hand. "Seventh Uncle, you must be thirsty. Have some tea first."

"I’m not thirst... fine, I’m thirsty."

Zhao Hu avoided Zhao Song’s gaze, walked to the side and drank tea, but excitement was practically pouring off him from head to toe.

Who was Guo Pu? He was the most famous alchemist in Great Jin, hailed as a Demi Immortal—half an Immortal, the person closest to the gods in heaven.

Things he divined, ten out of ten came true, so when he asserted that a Human Emperor would emerge from the Zhao Family, to Zhao Hu and Zhao Song that was as good as settled fact.

Only Zhao Shen, who also knew how to divine, understood that divination used present numbers to calculate future fortune—but numbers change, and fortune changes with them; when fortune changes, fate changes.

So "a Human Emperor will emerge from the Zhao Family" was calculated from the current numbers and heavenly signs, but the world is full of variables. Once those variables accumulate to a certain degree, destiny shifts.

His gaze flickered slightly as he looked toward Guo Pu.

Guo Pu turned his head as well, looking back at him with a faint, ambiguous smile. Zhao Shen made up his mind in an instant and pressed this thought down.

Zhao Song had already thought it through and accepted it, but this was something that had not yet happened, so he shot Zhao Hu a warning look. "Once this matter leaves this room, no one is allowed to mention it again."

Zhao Hu was about to speak when Zhao Song said coldly, "Unless you want Third Lady to die halfway before her great work is done."

Zhao Hu shut his mouth at once.

Zhao Hanzhang’s life and death directly concerned the life and death of the entire Zhao clan.

Guo Pu smiled faintly and turned his head away.

Zhao Song did not ask Guo Pu to keep it secret. He simply stood and made him a deep bow. "Many thanks, sir, for saving my life."

Guo Pu stepped half a pace aside. "Mr. Zhao, there’s no need to thank me. I merely let you figure it out a bit earlier. Even if I hadn’t reminded you today, you would have come to understand it one day." It was just that by then, how long he could still live would be uncertain.

Zhao Song certainly knew that as well, so he remembered Guo Pu’s favor and told Zhao Shen to treat him well.

He had only just coughed up stagnant blood; though his heart felt lighter now, his body was still tired, so he planned to go back to his room and lie down while waiting for the medicine.

Zhao Hu quickly followed. After personally helping him lie down, he leaned to his ear and asked in a low voice, "Fifth Brother, should we tell Zi Nian about this? Also, this Guo Pu knows way too much. Should we just..."

He drew a finger across his neck.

Zhao Song: "...Since Mr. Guo is skilled in divination, tell me, do you think he has already calculated that he will not die by your hand today?"

That sentence had two negatives and was phrased as a question; Zhao Hu had to mull it over a bit before he understood.

"Don’t worry, people like him are the most quick-witted. They know how to keep their mouths shut. I’m not worried about him, I’m worried about you."

Zhao Hu immediately said, "Fifth Brother, now you’re underestimating me. This concerns the future of our Zhao Family. Beat me to death and I still won’t let a single word slip."

Zhao Song gave a soft snort and lay back on the pillow. "Let’s hope so. As for Mr. Guo, don’t concern yourself. Leave him to Shen’er to handle."

Zhao Hu still trusted Zhao Song’s ability and judgment, so he answered in the affirmative.

The two brothers fell silent, one lying down, one sitting, each sinking into his own thoughts.

Zhao Song’s heart at this moment still felt as if it were floating in midair, with nothing to hold on to. Was he really just going to acquiesce like this, even take part in such a world-overturning affair?

The histories truly did not deceive him—people change. How many loyal ministers and good generals in the chronicles ended up as rebels and traitors? And those dim and tyrannical monarchs recorded in history—were they vicious from the very beginning?

They had merely changed their minds amid the dust of the mortal world.

He too had changed his mind.

Zhao Song felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t because he had cast aside his former loyalty and righteousness to support Zhao Hanzhang in remaking heaven and earth, but because if he could change his aspirations today for these reasons, would he change his heart again in the future for something else?

Zhao Song was a little afraid, afraid that in the end he would become the very sort of person he had always despised most.

While he was wallowing in this sorrow, Zhao Hu, sitting turned sideways to him, couldn’t hold back a laugh.

He turned his head and saw delight all over Zhao Hu’s brows, his face full of smugness. That expression was really irritating. "What are you laughing at?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Fifth Brother, Guo Pu said our Zhao Family will produce a Human Emperor. Doesn’t that mean our Zhao Family is the true Imperial Family? Then Ting Han counts as a son-in-law married in, right?"

Zhao Song’s vision went black; he felt the road ahead turn pitch-dark. All thoughts of the future or of his aspirations flew out of his mind—he had better focus on staying alive first.

If a matter this huge were exposed before it came to pass, it would be a catastrophe.

Right now, Zhao Hanzhang held great power in her hands, but if she had no intention of seizing the throne at this time and Zhao Hu made a fuss about this, in order to allay the suspicions of the great clans and Jin Ministers, would she kill Zhao Hu outright?

In the past, Zhao Song would never have thought this way, but now, he was no longer sure.

Anyone fit to be an emperor could not be a soft-hearted person—at the very least, they would not sacrifice the larger picture for minor scruples.

Zhao Song could no longer lie still; he pushed himself up to "teach" (scold) his younger brother.

Meanwhile, Zhao Shen was inviting Guo Pu to bathe and change clothes. He personally rolled up his sleeves to help Guo Pu wash, and only when Guo Pu repeatedly refused did he regretfully sit at the table, drinking tea and talking to him through a screen.

Zhao Shen was mainly interested in his divination tools, his understanding of the Book of Changes, and matters of occult techniques.

Guo Pu hadn’t bathed in a long time. With a pageboy’s help he washed his hair, then after bathing once he had the water changed and soaked again.

Sitting in the hot water, his whole body relaxed, and at some point the topic shifted. "When King Langya asked you about the Way, how did you answer him, sir?"

Guo Pu, leaning his neck back against the tub’s rim, snapped his eyes open. He glanced back and realized that Zhao Shen had at some point come around the screen and was now standing with arms folded, leaning against it and watching him.

Guo Pu said gloomily, "Young friend, moving about without a sound like this is quite frightening."

Zhao Shen said, "Mr. Guo is someone who can commune with spirits and gods—are you still afraid of people?"

"People are far more frightening than spirits and gods," Guo Pu said. "I will not die at the hands of spirits or gods, but I will die at human hands."

Zhao Shen smiled faintly, walked around the screen, brought in a bucket of hot water just delivered by the servants, picked up a wooden ladle to add hot water for him, and, staring at Guo Pu through the steam, let his gaze grow sharper. "You still haven’t said how you answered King Langya. My skills are shallow; I rarely have the chance to divine for others, so I’m very lacking when it comes to communication."

Guo Pu looked at him for a while, then suddenly laughed. Resting his hands on the rim of the tub, he spread them wide. "Just tell the truth. People like us merely relay the voice of heaven and earth—we must not lie."

Zhao Shen dropped the ladle. "So the answer you gave King Langya was?"

Guo Pu enunciated each word. "The Great King bears Heaven’s Mandate."

Zhao Shen’s face turned cold at once.

Guo Pu snorted with laughter, picked up the wooden ladle and scooped water over himself. "And Mr. Zhao is already displeased—do you want to kill me, or kill King Langya?"

Zhao Shen smoothed his expression and smiled at him. "You think too much, sir. With talent like yours, how would I dare be disrespectful? It’s just that I’m puzzled—heaven does not have two sovereigns. You say the Mandate is with him, and yet you say our Zhao Family will produce a Human Emperor. Isn’t that a contradiction?"

Guo Pu said, "What’s contradictory about it? He ascends the throne tomorrow, you kill him the day after, and the day after that your General takes the throne. Would that not still mean the Mandate is with him, and your family produces a Human Emperor?"

Zhao Shen: ...That’s so reasonable I can’t even find a way to argue.

Zhao Shen withdrew and left.