The Wheel Of Transmigration - Chapter 13: 01.12: Weimin Ru

The empire of Fan held a somber mood as their beloved emperor had suddenly passed away without any warning.

The people grieved as their easygoing and joyful emperor had already been taken away by the god of death. Nobody expected such an outcome, but that didn’t stop them from kowtowing in front of the palace’s doors.

“Your Majesty!” An old woman sobbed as she remembered the emperor from his young days, “How could you leave us? How could you go to the underworld before your servant?”

“Your Majesty! Your humble servants dare call you selfish for leaving us so soon…”

“Your Majesty!” Many people cried as they continued to kowtow in white clothing.

“Your Majesty, your benevolence will no longer grace us…” A woman in her thirties, Emperor Fan’s last concubine, tearfully cried as she held her beloved husband’s final gifta hairpin.

Empress Fan had been the most hysterical of all.

The man she had married from a young age had died so suddenly. The man she had loved from a young age had abandoned her like so. “Your Majesty…” Empress Fan wept as she clenched on his yellow robes, “Oh, Your Majesty…” cherry blossoms blew in her direction as more tears clouded her eyes once she remembered the first time they had mether, the right prime minister’s mischievous daughter, and he, the scholarly prince with the gentle smiles.

Their wedding had been a simple one. She had been crowned crown princess and his wife. She had expected for him to treat her coldly, but his genuine smiles never failed to make her flustered with emotion. Such a man… Empress Fan knew such a man would never surrender to death easily. Her husband had been poisoned and there was no way of discovering the culprit.

Her former rosy yet aged face was pale as she had aged a decade overnight. Empress Fan gripped her white hanfu and kowtowed one last time in front of her husband’s casket that was draped with his yellow robes. “Your Majesty… chenqie will join you very soon, but for now, chenqie has to protect our sons before the claws of the imperial harem and the corrupt officials.”

Knowing that her husband didn’t have time to write a decree or will of some sort to declare who would be the next emperor, Empress Fan took matters into her own hands. She had secretly written a few imperial decrees in the place of her husband before as a way of helping him, with his knowledge but without the knowledge of the imperial court, but now, she would write a decree for her son.

Deeming Fan Yishin as the best candidate, she used Emperor Fan’s seal and firmly pressed down at the bottom of the paper after the black words that declared Fan Yishin as the new emperor.

Once she was satisfied with the results, Empress Fan grabbed the decree and walked in the imperial courtroom, where tens if not hundreds of people were standing, waiting for the proclamation of their next emperor. Not only officials, but concubines, princes and princesses wanted to know who the next emperor was.

Empress Fan cleared her throat and wiped her red eyes, “His Deceased Majesty has left this imperial decree…” and she began reading the words she had written merely thirty minutes ago as she passed them off as the words of her deceased husband. “…the new emperor is Fan Yishin.”

Murong Feili smiles victoriously as she pushed her fianc forward to accept his decree. She had visited her future husband in an attempt to support him, but she never expected to get such a nice surprise. “And since the emperor is dead and we need an emperor quickly, my son’s wedding will also be his imperial coronation, along with his new empress next week.” Murong Feili has to bite down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from smiling. Who knew she was going to get married a week earlier than intended?

But she didn’t mind as the thought of all the power an empress held swirled in her mind. It seems like in this lifetime, she was destined to be at the very top of the pyramid.

Fan Yishin accepted the decree with empty eyes, nobody noticing the darkness that surrounded him nor did anybody notice the darkness surrounding his heart.

***

“This servant bears urgent news from the Fan empire!” Only a day after their departure and it seemed like something urgent had happened. They were currently camped in the forest where Murong Jieli’s attempted assassination happened, taking a break from their journey. Murong Jieli glanced at Ru Weimin as he read the paper containing the news, and before she could help herself she blurted, “What’s wrong?”

Ru Weimin’s eyes flickered to her face and he expressionlessly explained, “Emperor Fan is dead.”

Murong Jieli widened her eyes in horror, “How? He was so healthy at the banquet!?” Realization struck her as she mumbled, “Poison…”

Ru Weimin solemnly nodded, “Most likely.” His short responses didn’t bother Murong Jieli as she didn’t know him that well. Sure they ate lunch with each other, but to a certain degree, they were strangers, no matter if they were the current protagonists.

Ru Xueling stared at their awkward behavior and joked, “You both don’t seem exactly ready to be husband and wife.”

Both Murong Jieli and Ru Weimin stared at him, silently acknowledging his words. Truly, Ru Weimin didn’t know why he suggested such words anyways. Why did it bother him for her to be married off to someone else? He had seen the way Emperor Fan and Empress Fan shared looks as though she was going to be their daughter-in-law in the future. He didn’t want her to be married to someone else as that would be a waste for her and her talents.

Besides, Ru Weimin pegged his behavior as being attracted to the female protagonist. By now, he was almost one hundred percent sure she was the female protagonist and he was the male protagonist. So it was natural for them to marry each other, right?

”’Master, are you making excuses?”’

‘Xiao Meng, I think you should go and rest.’ Ru Weimin quietly and discreetly snapped his fingers and blocked Xiao Meng from his thoughts. Currently, he was not in the mood to deal with his pet and her antics.

“Didi, ” Ru Xueling spoke, interrupting his train of thoughts, “I think it is only right if we send our condolences once we reach the empire and also send the new emperor, whomever it may be, our blessing.” Ru Weimin nodded as he motioned for the servants to pack everything up for them to leave. Their short break had extended longer than necessary, anyways.

He needed to get back to the empire… he had been away for too long. ‘Besides, ‘ Ru Weimin mused, ‘I need to prepare for my wedding anyways.’