Burma.
Dostic capital.
In Kundun’s study.
"Whoosh whoosh... Boom..."
Watching the torrential rain outside the window and listening to the thunderclaps beside his ears, his heart also throbbed intensely from ti to ti. He took drag after drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaling, his mind completely occupied by Lang Cai’s illness.
He knew clearly.
He was walking a tightrope.
One wrong step would lead to irreversible doom.
But he had no choice, power was a slow poison, and he was deeply addicted, his situation growing ever more critical. The continual grasp on power was the dicine to alleviate his pain, and Lang Cai’s position was the antidote.
He needed the antidote.
Now.
Lang Cai had already awakened.
But he no longer had the capacity to work.
Due to his age, his illness had hit him like a falling mountain, and his lucid monts were diminishing by the day. This made many people’s minds active, as doctors told them that Lang Cai’s condition was very unstable.
Every day was actually a race against death. Although he wouldn’t die at any mont, his condition could deteriorate unpredictably at any ti.
"Lang Cai, you forced my hand; I didn’t want this. You could have retired peacefully, enjoying your latter years after handing over the reins smoothly next year. But you wanted to shatter my dream, so I have no choice but to see you off on this journey," Kundun muttered to himself, his voice so soft that only he could hear it.
"I hope you’re sensible; apart from , do you have any other choice now?" Kundun scoffed, Lang Cai had not publicly announced the revocation of his status as his successor. In this critical condition, Lang Cai no longer had the ti to choose.
To maintain the stability of Burma’s upper class.
Lang Cai was likely to let him continue to hold this status.
Of course, Kundun’s actions were not limited to this.
A series of traps.
That was just a part of the plan.
...
Suburb of the dostic capital.
A military sanatorium under strict guard.
This was where Lang Cai usually went for check-ups, equipped with the most advanced detection and dical devices in the country, on par with those large hospitals abroad, dedicated to serving Burma’s high-ranking officials.
Fifth floor.
Inside the critical care surveillance ward.
Lang Cai lay with a respirator on, his eyes open, gazing at the ceiling, his gaze no longer as piercing as in the past, but still very bright. Even ill, Lang Cai exuded a trace of majesty.
Each breath caused a slight pain in his chest.
He did not expect his condition to worsen so rapidly. His doctors had long ago told him not to smoke, or he could beco ill at any mont. Therefore, Lang Cai was prepared.
It had started with coughing up blood a year ago.
He knew his condition; modern dicine could only alleviate it, not cure it.
"You, I told you not to smoke, but you insisted on doing so. Now look at you, you can’t even smoke if you want to, can’t even sll it. Father, I think we should send you abroad for treatnt to see if there’s a way," said his youngest daughter, who had rushed back from abroad, wiping her tears at Lang Cai’s bedside.
"I know the level of those doctors. If a cure were possible, I’d have gone long ago," Lang Cai said weakly, not because he was running out of breath, but because speaking loudly would make his throat itch.
And an itch.
Would lead to coughing, lung pain.
"Then let’s try so of those local ancient redies; maybe they’ll be effective," his daughter rushed to suggest. If Father retired, that would be fine, but if he fell ill and died, their family’s power would truly hit rock bottom.
Her brother-in-law was still a junior official and hadn’t risen up yet.
If Lang Cai passed.
It would be a huge blow to their family.
Lang Cai shook his head.
"What ancient redies, illustrious doctors? As soone with broad experience, you should know that if these things really worked, they’d be on the rich list of every nation already. Those people, they’re just making money off the last hopes of the common folk. Don’t deceive yourself and add to the joke, given who I am."
"But..." his daughter wanted to continue.
"There are no buts, who doesn’t fall ill? Through ancient and modern tis, who has achieved immortality? You should see things more clearly. Besides, I might not necessarily die yet; why the tears and sobs?" Lang Cai chided.
"We’re worried about you. If sothing happened to you, what would we do?" Lang Cai’s wife said with tears in her eyes.
Lang Cai was never gentle in speech. "You should eat well, drink well, what else would you do? Without , will the world stop turning? Don’t speak as if I’m about to die."
Both sons-in-law stood at the bedside.
They hadn’t left these past few days, staying here with him.
Seeing every person coming to visit him, Lang Cai knew in his heart that they were viewing his authority. He had just stripped Kundun of much of his power, and many thought they had a chance.
So their visits beca unusually frequent.
Hearing ssages from all sides, Lang Cai clearly understood one thing: he must quickly determine a successor.
Otherwise, if things dragged on, Burma’s upper class would enter into a power struggle, and even with his high authority, he would not be able to suppress the progressively erging and growing ambitions from all sides.
This was giving Lang Cai a huge headache.
Such an important decision, how could it be made quickly? The face of each vice leader flashed before his eyes as he analyzed whether their abilities were sufficient to take on the role and command the respect needed.
Then, based on this, he reasoned out Burma’s future.
The result.
Only made his headache worse.
Because none of them could completely satisfy him, making it impossible for him to predict a perfect future. They all had various problems, and in the end, Lang Cai had to abandon perfection and rank them based on an overall assessnt.
The outco was this:
Ling.
Kan Qin.
Kundun.
This was the order after discarding the ’impossible,’ which of course, could not be used, due to lack of ’practical’ possibility. If ’impossible’ was added as a condition, it would beco:
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