“What other marriage do you want?”

Wei Lian leaned against the soft pillow, raised his eyes slightly and replied with a smile, “All right.”

“If the assassins did not come.” Ji Yue asked, “How long did you plan to hide it from us?”

Wei Lian shared, “I did not plan to hide it from you. I was going to tell you.” After my birthday. 

“Really?”

“Really.” Wei Lian sighed helplessly, “Shifu once read my fate. He said I needed to conceal my strength until my coming of age, or face my death. I cherish my life and have been doing well. Yesterday was my birthday. This predestined fate should be passed and there should be no need to take it to heart…Ji Yue?”

At first Ji Yue was smiling, but when he heard Wei Lian’s words, his smile gradually faded.

Conceal strength before coming of age, or face death…

Face death…

The word ‘death’ is equivalent to loss. It was a chink in Ji Yue’s scaled armour. 

Wei Lian pulled out the guard’s sword in public yesterday and displayed his sharp edge. But yesterday was his birthday. The timing was perfect and should leave it like that. 

Ji Yue knew it was not as simple as that. 

He did not learn of Wei Lian’s ability yesterday. 

It was as early as the day he encountered assassins during the spring hunt, he learned how powerful Wei Lian was. Even earlier, in the first month on the roof where he fought the man in black. He suspected that Wei Lian was not as powerless as he appeared to be. That night, he sent Shou Feng for a thorough investigation, that was when he became well aware. 

He knew beforehand. 

Therefore, Wei Lian did not succeed in concealing his strength and biding his time until he reached twenty. 

An indescribable panic suddenly aroused in his heart. Ji Yue had to care about the so-called predestined fate. 

Would Wei Lian be fine?

…He had to find out what the younger man had done before!

Wei Lian did not know what Ji Yue was thinking, but he could feel the older man’s sudden uneasiness and soothed, “It’s all right, hasn’t it passed? I am fine.”

Wei Lian was well aware that he actually did not do well. 

He left many flaws in the mountain forest. 

But there was no need for more upsetting news. 

Wei Lian even cracked a joke to relieve the tense atmosphere, “Maybe the death Shifu mentioned meant last night. I really thought I was going to die on the bed.”

Ji Yue smiled. His heart was still heavily pinned down with a stone, but he did not show it. 

He could tell that Wei Lian did not want to make him unhappy. 

* * *

The matter of fate was like an unimportant episode and neither of them ever brought it up again. 

But privately, imperial astronomers came and went, all were summoned to the imperial study in secret. 

Ji Yue asked them to take measurements and calculate Wei Lian’s destined fate. 

The imperial astronomers read the stars, produced calendars, deduced the fate of the nation, and measured luck based on astrology. Some imperial astronomers that were able to enter the imperial court were naturally ones that possessed real skills, unlike those Jianghu quacks. However, after many took on the task, they all said that they could not read Wei Lian’s destined fate. 

Ji Yue asked in a deep voice, “Why?”

A young imperial astronomer replied solemnly, “Maybe Gongzi’s destined fate is extremely important. None of us could get a glimpse of it.”

This was not an excuse. The more important a person’s destined fate was, the more that destined fate was protected from prying eyes. As the saying goes, mysteries of heaven must not be revealed. Ordinary insignificant people’s fortune could be told, but prying into a figure that could implicate the whole world? It was something out of their power. 

This young man was already the most outstanding imperial astronomer in this generation. He usually could see people’s fortune and divination very clearly and with accuracy. When looking into Wei Lian’s fate, it was like his eyes were covered with a layer of fog. If he wanted to break through with force, he would feel a stabbing pain in his head, as if a warning from heaven. 

Ji Yue said, “Summon the head imperial astronomer.”

If the minions could not do it, then let the top come. 

The official replied bluntly, “The head imperial astronomer has been watching the stars at Zhaixing Tower for five days and ordered not to be disturb by anyone.”

As soon as he finished, he received many meaningful looks from his colleague. 

You brainless fool! Don’t drag us into your recklessness. Do not consider his Majesty in the scope of ‘anyone’!

Ji Yue asked without any expression, “We cannot disturb him?”

Official: “...”

One of his colleagues immediately saluted, “I will call the head imperial astronomer right away!”

* * *

When an old, grey bearded man was rushed from Zhaixing Tower’s nine layers to the imperial study, he was gasping for breath and nearly lost half of his remaining life. 

Ji Yue’s conscience was still there. He ordered someone to provide tea and a seat for the old man, not planning to continue to torment this small old man who had been living in the tower for five days and nights. 

After tea was served, Ji Yue dismissed the rest from his study and then said, “We summoned your expertise to deduce someone’s destined fate.”

Without a reason to disobey his Majesty’s order, the head imperial astronomer asked, “Who is your Majesty asking about?”

Ji Yue said, “Wei Lian.”

The old man nodded and inquired about Wei Lian’s birthday and Four Pillars of Destiny八字 Also known as its pinyin, bazi, is ‘eight characters of birth time’. As an important component of Chinese fortune telling, the 'four pillars' refers to the year, month, day and hour pillars of a birthday in the Chinese solar calendar and each pillar has two characters, making it eight characters in total. Two characters in each pair are made up of one character from the Heavenly Stems and one from the Earthly Branches.
. Then put the copper coins into the tortoise shell with a serious face.

After the time to finish a cup of tea—or fifteen minutes, the head imperial astronomer stared at the tortoise shell with a serious face. 

After the time to burn one incense stick—or thirty minutes, the head imperial astronomer stared at the tortoise shell with a more serious face. 

Two hours laterSorry. Couldn't resist......

The head imperial astronomer stared at the tortoise shell with an extremely serious face. 

Ji Yue’s eyes were turning dry from watching. 

Because this was related to Wei Lian’s safety, he did not dare to be distracted. He could not work through his memorial to pass time and did not dare to disturb the old man’s deduction. Only thing to do was to quietly wait. 

Ji Yue also respected Wei Lian’s mysterious Shifu. It was true that the other party helped Wei Lian on many things, so he must take heart to the master’s predictions. 

When it came to Wei Lian, Ji Yue refused to neglect a point. 

Four hours later, the old man was shocked as his face turned pale. He accidentally knocked over the already cool tea on the table. 

The head imperial astronomer trembled and as he was about to apologise, Ji Yue was up from his seat at a faster speed. “What is the result?”

The head imperial astronomer stammered, “Your Majesty, gr-grav-grave news—”

Ji Yue’s heart sank and mumbled, “...How grave?”

The old man said in shock, “Lian Gongzi’s destined fate is actually…”

Too helpless to resist?

Ji Yue was in a trance and his complexion was slightly white. He sat back down as veins and bones were visible on his hands from how tightly he was clenching on his arm rests.

He messaged the corners of his forehead. 

Why did he want to know the details of Wei Lian so soon…If something was really going to happen to Wei Lian, he simply…did not want to know.  

The head imperial astronomer continued to exclaim, “Destined to be a True DragonRecap from chapter 23. In ancient times, True Dragon was the equivalent of emperors as they were recognised as dragons descended from heaven. !”

Ji Yue: “...”

Ji Yue put his hands down without changing his expression. 

He raised his head, maintaining that same wooden expression. 

Said without a trace of emotion, “Could you finish everything all at once?”

Being a True Dragon wasn’t that bad. As long as Wei Lian was not going to die anytime soon, he would even take something as crazy as Wei Lian is the reincarnation of violet star emperor, someone who was destined to rule. 

As long as Wei Lian would not die. 

The head imperial astronomer was shocked and repeated, “Your Majesty, this is a destined fate to be a True Dragon!”

The imperial energy was so strong that it could be said to be the master of the seven lands. 

Bu-but this clearly belonged to his Majesty! Why would it appear for Lian Gongzi?!

Lian Gongzi is his Majesty’s Guijun. Even if Gongzi became an empress, his fate would show a phoenix, not a dragon. 

Could it be that Lian Gongzi would rely on his Majesty’s favour, plot against his Majesty, seize the throne and return this great country to Chu?

The more he thought, the more terrified he became. 

The most frightening part was that his Majesty did not show anger at all when he heard Lian Gongzi possessed the destined fate of a True Dragon. Instead, he looked relieved. 

What was going on! Had his Majesty been bewitched and was willing to give up this county!

The old man was so angry that he wanted to shout ‘Your Majesty, wake up from Lian Gongzi’s spell’, but he was afraid of losing his head and did not dare to speak. 

He just got a new grandson. What if he braved death to advise his Majesty that resulted in his Majesty's rage and have him and his family killed, what then…

Ji Yue asked with deep seriousness, “Is there nothing else except this?”

The head imperial astronomer uttered, “...No.”

Was this not enough???

Ji Yue finally relaxed his frown and said, “That’s good.”

He then warned in a low voice, “If even one of today's affairs leaks out…”

The old man immediately said, “This old subject never went to imperial study today.”

Ji Yue was very satisfied with the other’s acknowledgement. “You are dismissed.”

After a long internal struggle, the head imperial astronomer reported another matter, “Your Majesty, this old subject has another matter to report.”

After Wei Lian’s affair, Ji Yue finally had the mood to pick up a memorial to read. He said without looking up, “Speak.”

Under Ji Yue’s rule, the Qin Empire’s politics were well-ordered, the county was calm, and the people’s livelihood recorded on the memorials were peaceful and prosperous. He also frequently received good news at the front line against the Chen Empire. Xie Chen sent news of capturing many great generals and victory should be expected within a month’s time. 

Ji Yue read very rapidly. 

The old man bowed and reported, “This subject observed some strangeness in the stars five days ago and had been observing in Zhaixing Tower since then. I found that there was movement in the Tianrui Star天芮星 Problem star., it was going towards the sign of a big calamity. There may be diseases breaking out in the southeast.”

Tianrui Star is a famous ominous star. In ancient times, whenever the star moved, there would be disease and disaster. Once in the previous dynasty, smallpox broke out and prevention failed in time, which affected tens of thousands of people. Many crops were not harvested and people died of starvation everywhere. It could be called purgatory in the human realm. 

This was not a small matter, but he did not hear any ominous news in the court, so he stayed and observed for five days before he dared to draw a conclusion. 

“Disease? Southeast?” Ji Yue repeated aloud and suddenly flipped out two copies of memorials he scanned before. 

There are two major districts in the Qin Empire that are located in that area. Jiang Province and Qing Province, and the memorials presented by these two districts were all favourable weather and no major events. 

He glanced at the implied meaning between the flattering words, hard to pick up his thoughts. 

“Are you sure?”

“This old subject will never dare to speak false.”

“...” Ji Yue closed his eyes. “We understand.”

* * *

That night, Zhongling Palace… 

Wei Lian turned his head to look at Ji Yue, who kept his hands behind his head and gazed at the ceiling. Lost in his thoughts for an unknown time. 

Wei Lian called out, “Ji Yue.”

Ji Yue: “...”

Wei Lian tried again, “Ji Yue?”

Ji Yue: “...”

Wei Lian could not bear it any longer. He turned over and lay on top of Ji Yue. There was blush still lingering at the edge of his eyes. “Why are you so distracted today?”

They actually only had one round tonight. Was there a change in nature?

Had the wolf changed his diet to veggies?

Wei Lian found the whole thing strange the more he thought. 

Ji Yue came back to his senses and saw the beautiful young man lying on his chest. He moved his hand from behind his head to around the young man’s waist. 

He was thinking about two things. 

One, Wei Lian’s destined fate as a True Dragon. 

Two, the so-called disaster in the southeast. 

To be honest, Ji Yue did not care very much if Wei Lian was called ruler or Emperor in the future. A dragon should fly freely in the sky, not be trapped in the shoals. Wei Lian was so talented that he should not waste his life in the back palace. 

If they could always be together, it did not matter what status Wei Lian has. At worst, they married and Wei Lain gained the title of Empress…

If Wei Lian was to be a ruler, he would be a famous Emperor for generations, one that would be no less than the older man. 

Since it was a True Dragon fate and not death, this naturally brought Ji Yue joy. 

He never thought that they would have the possibility of opposing each other. It was impossible. He must have this confidence.

So he did not brood on the first one much. 

The biggest headache for Ji Yue was the movement in Tianrui Star. 

Since ancient times, there have always been natural and man-made disasters. However, since Ji Yue ascended the throne, there had been many turmoils and the chaos of war as well as schemes, so there were many man-made disasters, but never a natural disaster. Because of his outstanding political achievements, the people of the Qin Empire called him ‘heaven’s will’. 

If there was a disaster, it would be the people who suffered. 

What was worse, he did not receive any news in Yongping. 

Today, as soon as the head imperial astronomer left, Ji Yue sent someone to the two provinces on a secret mission to find out the truth first hand. The two places were far away from Yongping, and it would take more than a month in a roundtrip. It was unimaginable how far things could develop during this period. 

The more Ji Yue thought, the worse he felt. 

Wei Lian picked it up. 

Ji Yue said, “Wei Lian.”

Wei Lian replied, “Yes, I am here.”

Ji Yue lowered his eyes and looked at him, “Do you want to leave this place?”

Wei Lian mumbled, “Huh?”

“To Ganquan Temple at Bailu Mountain, just outside of the city.” Ji Yue said, “Go and seek for an inscribed bamboo籤 Used in divination, gambling, drawing lots, etc. stick, we heard they are very accurate. Such as a marriage predestined by fate…”

Wei Lian's eyes dangerously narrowed, “What other marriage do you want?”

Ji Yue chuckled and pinched the other’s earlobe, “Kidding. We want to request a wellness reading for you.”

Master Jing Chen, the abbot of Guanquan Temple, was the one who performed ceremonies to help his mother’s soul to find peace. He was a person of good moral standing and reputation with profound skill as a senior monk. 

There was something that Ji Yue wanted to ask him.