Ziqing hovered high in the air, looking down upon Prince Nanzhao, as noble and commanding as a war goddess descended from the heavens.
Every arrow that shot toward her was struck down by Jun Beiyue’s wind blades, each and every one snapping and falling to the ground.
Jun Beiyue cleared away every threat for Ziqing, while she stared coldly at Prince Nanzhao—today, she intended to lay everything bare, to demand every answer.
Whether Prince Nanzhao wanted to explain or not, he would have to.
“What, planning to kill to silence me and cover the truth, just like you did back then, continuing to fool your officials and your people?” Ziqing said, arching an eyebrow, her eyes fixed on Prince Nanzhao’s utterly darkened face, filled with nothing but cold contempt, no pity at all.
“You’re lying! There was never any way to undo it back then!” Prince Nanzhao roared in denial.
“There was! My own son has already had his human-Gu constitution undone—how could there be no way? Let me tell you: when the Meng Clan’s bloodline merges with a direct isolated-island bloodline, the human-Gu constitution can be undone, and moreover, one can gain blood that’s immune to all poisons!”
The moment Ziqing said this, all three clan heads froze in shock!
At the same instant, both the Beast Clan head’s and the Medicine Clan head’s shock caused all the white tigers and poisonous creatures around them to suddenly fall silent, lying prostrate on the ground!
Prince Nanzhao’s face filled with terror. “No, impossible!”
“Was it that the Nanzhao royal house couldn’t find a way to undo it back then, or that they never even looked for one?” Ziqing pressed further. “So many innocent lives, the fate of every single person on that isolated island—wasn’t the Nanzhao royal house being far too careless with human life? If destroying the isolated island and keeping the secret was truly for the safety of the people, then tell me—how could you claim to hold your people’s welfare dear in your heart while erasing one innocent life after another, letting an entire people vanish for three hundred years? How utterly cruel!”
As Ziqing spoke, tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t even imagine the scene of that massacre back then, let alone imagine what it must have been like for that small, isolated community, trapped on a tiny island no outsider could ever reach, for three hundred years—how had they survived those days?
“We searched!” Prince Nanzhao blurted out. “The Nanzhao royal house searched back then, but we never found a way to undo it!”
At this, all three clan heads exchanged glances—they knew very little about the isolated island’s affairs, so whether a search had actually taken place, they had no way of knowing either.
“Of course we searched, we just couldn’t find it, unfortunately!” Prince Nanzhao immediately defended himself.
“You searched? For how long did the Nanzhao royal house search?” Ziqing pressed on.
Prince Nanzhao found himself momentarily speechless. Back then, there had been no search at all—how could he possibly answer? A lie, once told, had to be maintained with more lies.
If he kept lying, he’d only have to keep patching the story, and how could that possibly fool the three clan heads for long?
Only then did Prince Nanzhao realize he’d fallen straight into Han Ziqing’s trap, and could only stammer out an excuse. “The situation was urgent at the time—there wasn’t much time to search! Once the secret of raising Gu got out and people with the human-Gu constitution were discovered, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”
Seeing Prince Nanzhao unable to answer, Ziqing pressed further, “Since the isolated island wasn’t entirely destroyed, only cut off from the world—during these three hundred years, has the Nanzhao royal house ever continued searching? Has it ever sought a way out for the isolated island’s innocent people? Has it ever considered that one day, those innocent people might return to Nanzhao once more?”
At this question, Prince Nanzhao couldn’t even manage an excuse anymore. Everyone present who knew the truth understood that the Nanzhao royal house had not only failed to continue searching for a way to undo the human-Gu constitution, but had instead tightened its guard over the isolated island’s secret—even implementing a policy of complete isolation three hundred years ago, nearly cutting Nanzhao off entirely from the outside world.
Ziqing gave Prince Nanzhao a moment to respond, and seeing that he couldn’t, she smiled coldly. “Let me answer for you, then. I don’t know whether the Nanzhao royal house ever made any real effort to find a way to undo the human-Gu constitution. But I do know the true reason the Nanzhao royal house destroyed the isolated island—it was because the isolated island’s great Gu master threatened the royal house’s rule! Once a human-Gu appeared, none of the three clans could stand against them, so they were destroyed to eliminate the threat entirely. That is the real reason you destroyed the isolated island—don’t dare invoke Longyuan or the people’s welfare as your excuse!”
Prince Nanzhao clenched his fists, no longer bothering to argue. “Those who threaten the stability of the realm, ministers who plot rebellion—they deserve death! Their deaths are of no consequence!”
Ziqing smiled!
That was exactly the answer she wanted. Of course she understood that in this ancient world with such rigid hierarchies between ruler and subject, imperial authority was heaven itself, the emperor was the son of heaven, and anything that threatened imperial rule deserved to die.
She hadn’t come today to condemn the three clans for their blind loyalty, nor did she intend to persuade them to switch sides.
Today, she simply wanted the Nanzhao royal house to say those words out loud, to state it clearly.
The isolated island was destroyed not because it threatened the safety of all Longyuan’s people, but because it threatened the rule of the Nanzhao royal house.
She had come to Nanzhao today to clear the isolated island’s name.
“Very good. So the Meng Clan suffered the same fate, then?” Ziqing asked.
“Yes!” Prince Nanzhao said decisively—he had no intention of wasting more words on this.
Ziqing smiled, turning to the three clan heads. “A war must have a clear reason. Today, on behalf of the isolated island, I declare war against the Nanzhao royal house, to condemn three hundred years of hypocrisy and deceit. The Nanzhao royal house has lost the dignity and authority to rule over Nanzhao’s various clans!”
At these words, all three clan heads looked utterly at a loss. For so many years, they had defended the Nanzhao royal house, had helped keep its secrets—only to discover the truth was something like this all along!
There had been no grand cause for the world’s people, no great righteousness for the realm—it had all simply been a struggle for imperial power.
Centuries ago, the Nanzhao royal house had earned the support of Nanzhao’s various clans and become the ruler of this region precisely because of its virtue and benevolence.
In a land of Nanzhao where strange arts ran rampant, the Nanzhao royal house had no particular skill of its own to speak of—what won people over was moral character.
Having won the throne through virtue back then, over time it had gradually transformed into worship of imperial power, loyal service to the crown.
And now, such a scandal had come to light!
Even the Medicine Clan head and the Jiaoren clan head, watching Ziqing’s forthright bearing, couldn’t help but admire her.
This woman was more upright, more willing to take responsibility, than most men.
War wasn’t necessarily wrong—but the reason for fighting it had to be made clear.
Yet admiration was one thing; centuries of ideological control, centuries of entrenched tradition, the belief that royal authority was supreme and that when the king fell the state fell too—these were deeply rooted in the minds of Nanzhao’s various clans.
Even with the truth exposed today, they would still stand on Prince Nanzhao’s side.
The three great clan heads did not waver, and Prince Nanzhao turned a cold eye toward Jun Beiyue. “Prince Yao, what about you! Is Da Zhou declaring war on Nanzhao?”
After all, Han Ziqing condemning the royal house on behalf of the isolated island, and Da Zhou declaring war on Prince Nanzhao, were two entirely different matters.
Yet Jun Beiyue said coldly, “This king represents the Meng Clan!”
By right, he had every standing to do so.
Prince Nanzhao drew a sharp, cold breath. “You people! Very well! Someone, pass down the order—all clans stand ready, prepare for battle! I will make Da Zhou pay the price!”
With that, Prince Nanzhao turned and walked away, and at the very same moment, the three clan heads closed in together, surrounding Jun Beiyue and Ziqing.