Ithought he was regretting his actions, but I later realized that I was mistaken.” Tie Bu Tian’s voice was very soft, as if he was in a dream, “At the time, I asked myself: If he was the one who killed my mother and sisters, why would he cry? Is he miserable? He deserves to be miserable!”
“Even now, I still hate him! However, after many years, especially when I started to understand this situation, I found it more difficult to hate him.” Tie Bu Tian continued to clasp his hands behind his back as tears ran down his cheeks. His eyes reflected conflicting feelings.
“It was not until these past few years that I realized my father’s heart is filled with agony. As a father, the sufferings he has to bear; as a man, the responsibilities he has to take; especially as an emperor, the burdens he has to endure are even more so.”
Tie Bu Tian took a deep breath, “As for me… I was always under Second Uncle’s unrelenting pressure to learn everything. There were countless times when I had to learn so much that I could not bear it and just cried. I continued to cry like that and Second Uncle would use the whip or the fist to get me back to my senses… I kept going like that. As the days went by I had to learn not just philosophy, but mental fortification, tactics, martial arts, and ruling strategies. Second Uncle carved those words father said to me on my table, hung them on my bedroom wall, and many other places that I went to. I was forced to recite these words before every meal…”
“Second Uncle fought in the battlefield and planned strategies; he was the deciding factor in victory or defeat. At the same time, he held control of the entire nation. During that time, he was so busy he could barely open his eyes; he did not even have time to talk to me. However, he always saved time to talk to my teachers about what I learned; and afterward, he would give me a beating, as if he would never be satisfied with me…”
“In the end, I did not dare to slack off anymore…” There was a gulping sound from Tie Bu Tian’s throat like he swallowed something. He continued, “I hated father, and I hated Second Uncle even more… But one day, I accidentally saw Second Uncle using Dark Flower Juice to dye his hair. At the time, he was only thirty-two years old. Second Uncle was extremely valiant; in Iron Cloud, he was famous for being handsome. But since father became ill, white hair began to appear on his head, until there was more white than black. Therefore, Second Uncle had to periodically dye his hair.”
“At the time I looked down on Second Uncle. What kind of man worried about his looks and dyed his hair? Later, I realized, because father was sick and I was still young, Second Uncle alone bore the weight of Iron Cloud Nation! His good health was Iron Cloud Nation’s greatest hope! If the soldiers found out that his head was full of white hair, it would be an immeasurable shock to the military!”
“Every day, Second Uncle was either on the battlefield or training soldiers. He looked powerful; he only needed to yell once and the hearts of hundreds of thousands of soldiers trembled. But every night when he came home, he could not even lift his legs! Even talking was difficult. His hands shook while he ate… He was a Revered Martial Artist at the time! But each day he was exhausted to that point…”
“After I understood father and Second Uncle’s suffering, I began to put all of my efforts into learning. Each time he came home from a battle campaign against Diwu Qing Rou, he would go over them with me a few dozen times! About three years ago, I finally started to grasp everything and began my life as a true prince. That’s when I discovered that all the decisions Second Uncle made before were in my name. All of Iron Cloud Nation, even the whole world, knew that there was a heaven-born ruler in Iron Cloud! All of Iron Cloud was filled with hope!”
“However, no one knew how such a heaven-born ruler came into being. How could there be such a thing as a heaven-born ruler? How many people know that the path of a ruler is full of cruelty?” Tie Bu Tian’s voice became sorrowful and cynical.
“When I first took control, nothing was done well. Luckily, there was Second Uncle; he was my angel. Every day he stood by me when the royal court convened. Anyone who disrespected or questioned my authority, he immediately had them dragged out and beheaded. Second Uncle became even worse than tyrants; but after I had a firm grip on Iron Cloud, Second Uncle did not bother to get involved in royal court affairs any longer.”
“I heard that after he continually watched over me for three months, he went home and said to Second Aunt, ‘I am relieved.’ Afterward, Second Uncle immediately went to sleep for three days straight, giving everyone at home a fright.”
Tie Bu Tian sighed and continued, “The military and politics of Iron Cloud were finally on the right track. I then founded Bu Tian Pavilion to gather heroes. I have always hoped to find someone to help me carry some of this weight.”
“For the stability of Iron Cloud, for the livelihood of six hundred million people, the pain that those of us at the top have paid with is unimaginable!”
“I am too tired! Second Uncle is too tired!” Tie Bu Tian said lightly. His tone was really casual, but Chu Yang could hear the fatigue hidden in it.
“Second Uncle had recommended you to me.” Tie Bu Tian still did not turn around but his voice was firm, “I trust my uncle’s judgments, so I will trust you! You need Bu Tian Pavilion, I can comply! However, you can only get the position of Adjunct Minister. I cannot directly give you a higher position than this. I am sure you can understand.”
“Only when you have earned the respect of everyone, can I give you full access of Bu Tian Pavilion! If there is mistrust, then there is no working together; if we’re already working together, then I will trust you!” Tie Bu Tian finished and walked out without turning back. He glided on the water surface like a cloud in the wind. He gently touched the water a few times and created little ripples on the surface of the lake. After that he disappeared from Chu Yang’s view.
He did not turn around because he did not want Chu Yang to see the tears that covered his face…
…
Chu Yang slowly sat down and was silent for a long time. He was still digesting Tie Bu Tian’s words. They were truly sincere, honest and moving.
Chu Yang did think that Tie Bu Tian’s motive in telling him these things was to win him over, so he could lay down his life for Tie Bu Tian! Chu Yang was someone who was seasoned with two lifetimes of experience. In his previous life, while Chu Yang was in Upper Three Heavens, he inadvertently learned Deep Spirit Principle. Now was the perfect time to use it to carefully evaluate everything that was said.
Deep Spirit Principle was a really strange technique. It did not have any power, but could detect all falsehoods! This technique was a legacy of the Heavenly Three Star Clan. It ensured that the person with this technique would not be deceived by anyone.
But under the analysis of Deep Spirit Principle, Chu Yang discovered that all of Tie Bu Tian’s words were true!
In his words, there were many holes and many things that could not be explained. But that was the strangest part. Anyone would have seen these holes in Tie Bu Tian’s words, but his words were one hundred percent true!
For example, why did the emperor of Iron Cloud, after his great injury, kill his wife? Why did he kill his six daughters and their families? Why did he order a blood purge on the royal court?
All these things had no clear explanations! But they were the truth!
Chu Yang also did not know what had happened. Even after he reviewed the history of his previous life, he could not figure it out. In any case, Tie Bu Tian died too early in his previous life, before Chu Yang had a chance to help.
This whole thing was filled with layers of fog! Chu Yang felt that there was some great hidden secret, as forceful as a mountain and as burdensome as an ocean!
Chu Yang sat and thought for a long time only to discover that his mind was as foggy as ever! He stopped bothering to give it more thought. The royal family is too complicated. If I want to figure out the mind of an emperor, it’s even more so. I tried to guess but there are really no clues. There’s really no more hope on that end.
Chu Yang only needed to know that Tie Bu Tian met his conditions for collaboration.
In this process, Tie Bu Tian did not even bother to haggle. Of course, this was because Tie Bu Tian was an open-minded person. Plus, Chu Yang was a useful person and that certainly helped the ruler to be magnanimous. Besides these things, Tie Bu Tian had the mind to take a gamble on this collaboration.
However, there was a very important factor that Chu Yang understood full well. It was Icy Heart Jade Bone Saintly Technique. This type of technique and Deep Spirit Principle were slightly different but had similar results. Even though Icy Heart Jade Bone Saintly Technique was not capable of discovering lies, it helped seeing through people’s hearts. This gave Tie Bu Tian an incredible intuition!
