Prince Ping’s mouthful of blood was far from finished – he would have to continue spitting more.
What happened in the prince’s mansion couldn’t be hidden from anyone, because early the next morning, the Ji Kingdom delegation openly went to court on behalf of their princess to submit a formal protest. They exposed everything from the previous night, saying that Prince Ping, over a small disagreement and to vent anger for his cousin, had invited the Ji Kingdom princess to his mansion under the pretext of an apology. The princess, being magnanimous and unsuspecting, had gladly gone with only her consort and a few guards. Who knew Prince Ping harbored malicious intentions and secretly set traps in the water pavilion, destroying it and severely injuring the princess, causing her disfigurement. Such conduct was despicable and shameless. Ji Kingdom would issue a stern statement demanding that Meng Kingdom and Prince Ping provide an explanation for this. Otherwise, all of Ji Kingdom would consider this a great humiliation, and their million-strong camel and sheep army would not hesitate to march south!
Once the protest was issued, the entire court was in uproar. Although most of the court supported Prince Ping because he was courteous to the worthy and had an excellent reputation, there were still truly loyal and upright officials. Prince Ping’s conduct had a terrible impact on diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms and was indeed difficult to explain. Immediately, a round of verbal and written condemnation erupted in the court.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Then Duke Meng, who had long been absent from court, suddenly appeared in the hall, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded with His Majesty to seek justice and revenge for his grandson Meng Hu. He accused Prince Ping of designing to frame and imprison Meng Hu under house arrest in order to seize power, forcing the Meng family to support his secret rebellion to usurp the throne. When Meng Hu fought desperately to resist, he was burned to death by the deranged Prince Ping!
This accusation was even more shocking than the Ji Kingdom princess’s protest earlier. The entire court was in uproar, and Prince Ping, standing in the ranks, had an iron-gray complexion. Old Duke Meng tremblingly produced a secret persuasion letter the prince’s mansion had sent him, claiming that Prince Ping’s mansion was in great chaos last night, with the entire Baoxi Courtyard burned down – exactly where his grandson Meng Hu had been imprisoned. The Great King need only send people to investigate to know of someone’s audacity and the Meng family’s grievous injustice. After speaking, he repeatedly kowtowed.
Everyone looked at the old duke, who had long been absent from court, his face covered in tears, his white hair trembling, and couldn’t help but feel pity. Moreover, these people who had weathered the seas of officialdom all knew very clearly that such a major incident absolutely couldn’t be fabricated unilaterally, nor would anyone dare to fabricate it. They all looked at Prince Ping with strange gazes.
The Great King of Meng Kingdom had a profound gaze, hiding his secret admiration for Her Majesty the Queen in his heart – impressive, truly impressive! Worthy of being the terminator of royal houses. In just one night, she had managed to deal with this son of his who was smooth on all sides and had never left any handle to be grasped, turning him into this state. He wondered how she had managed it. When she didn’t act, she remained still, but once she acted, it was a shocking crime. Moreover, it seemed she had even beaten someone – look at that unswollen handprint and those weak, powerless legs.
The Great King of Meng Kingdom immediately demanded that the Feathered Forest Guards go investigate Prince Ping’s mansion. This was the most loyal force he could deploy from his side. Prince Ping naturally refused, finding many reasons to object. But unfortunately for him today, his usual faithful ally, his uncle General Ji, who controlled most of the military power and voice in Meng City, surprisingly did not stand up to speak for him today, but remained completely silent instead.
General Ji stood in the ranks, head slightly lowered, not accepting the pleading gaze from Prince Ping’s direction, a faint bitter smile appearing on his face.
He couldn’t speak up.
Because Ji Xiang’er was in someone else’s hands.
He had received a letter at dawn today. The letter contained nothing but a finger, with a ring on it that belonged to Ji Xiang, and the finger’s blood had already frozen and congealed.
From that blood he knew the finger was his daughter’s. In the Ji family, she was the only one with abnormal blood, or rather, exceptional talent. A master who had passed through Meng Kingdom had once taken notice of her, saying she was born with an ice constitution, most suitable for his sect’s inheritance. He had taught her some martial arts and cultivation methods, saying he would return to guide her again when the opportunity arose.
The Ji family had only Ji Xiang’er as a daughter of suitable age. They had long ago reached a marriage agreement with Prince Ping – there could be no mistakes. Moreover, General Ji vaguely guessed what kind of identity that master who had taught his daughter martial arts might have, which made his heart burn even hotter. He was determined to establish a connection with that transcendent Heavenly Gate, so how could he let his daughter come to harm?
Of course, he didn’t know about the internal changes within the Heavenly Gate, that the incredibly noble master was now not what he used to be. But this didn’t prevent his admiration for the Heavenly Gate’s martial arts. As a general who needed to fight on battlefields, the temptation of high-end martial power and powerful martial sects was great.
Although the letter contained no content whatsoever, as soon as he attended court today, he knew what they were threatening him with.
If he didn’t keep quiet, they would kill.
When Meng Hu brought Miss Ji back to the Meng family, the Meng family immediately convened an emergency meeting. The Meng family was also a military household, so naturally they wouldn’t be soft-hearted in handling matters. One finger as one warning was already showing restraint.
Prince Ping’s expression changed drastically, his mind in complete chaos. He had ways to resolve the court’s attacks and Ji Kingdom’s protests, after all, he had already grasped most of the voice in Meng City. But this voice was also built on the foundation of military power. If General Ji suddenly changed his attitude at this moment, that would be the greatest blow to him.
Unfortunately, while in court, he kept making eye signals until his eyes were nearly cramping, but General Ji persisted in staring at the ground as if flowers had suddenly grown there.
The accusations against Prince Ping were too fierce, and the others held all the moral high ground, which left Prince Ping’s faction momentarily at a loss. They waited for His Highness to speak, but he was only staring absent-mindedly at General Ji, which unconsciously weakened their counterattack efforts. By the time Prince Ping finally reacted and gathered his wits to prepare a counterattack, the court matter had already been decided. The Feathered Forest Army’s investigation of the prince’s mansion was now inevitable, and because of the Ji Kingdom affair, the Great King demoted him one level in princely rank, stripped him of command over the Yao Mountain Army, and required him to personally apologize to the Ji Kingdom princess.
Prince Ping didn’t care about losing command of the Yao Mountain Army. The army from top to bottom had long been completely controlled by his trusted associates – it wasn’t as simple as removing him would completely return control to the court. What he cared about was General Ji. He needed General Ji’s army to coordinate inside and outside at the crucial moment.
However, he had ultimately lost this battle today.
After the court session, Prince Ping experienced the taste of being cold-shouldered for the first time. The ministers who used to crowd around him after court and couldn’t be driven away now avoided him like tigers and wolves, either leaving early or lingering behind. His uncle, who used to walk arm in arm with him affectionately after court and often shared the same carriage, today walked away quickly, pretending not to hear his calls from behind.
Looking at the empty square before him and his own long, lonely shadow stretching across the square, Prince Ping, who had always been successful and proud, tasted for the first time the flavor of “though caps and carriages fill the capital, this person alone is haggard.”
Some people become discouraged when they encounter setbacks; others react quite the opposite.
At this moment, his desire to seize power suddenly expanded to its highest peak.
As long as he ascended the throne, as long as he became king, such cold treatment and such fickleness would never happen again!
A human figure slowly walked up behind him, its shadow slightly curved, seeming somewhat hunched.
Prince Ping didn’t turn around. He squinted at the newly risen sunlight, his gaze as needle-sharp as those golden rays.
War had already begun. Soft-heartedness was a meaningless emotion. Either you die, or I live.
After a long while, he said softly, “Then let us begin.”
…
The autumn night sky was dark and gloomy. The majestic palace halls cast shadows in the pale blue sky like ink wash paintings. A thin, curved moon hung among several remaining stars in the western sky.
Starlight flickered on and off, floating uncertainly.
Supervisor Kou of the Great King’s bedchamber, the Qianxi Palace, emerged from within the hall, carefully closing the palace doors behind him without daring to make the slightest sound.
The lights in the bedchamber were very dim. The Great King’s sleep had been very poor lately, partly due to his physical condition, partly mental. Years of accumulated toxins made his energy aged and weak like a candle in the wind. But that wasn’t the end of it. That person whose reason and conscience had been blinded by lust for power was still spreading rumors, undermining royal authority, spreading groundless matters with certainty. Real poison and verbal blades worked together, slowly torturing a person’s endurance and vitality.
Tonight, because of a new rumor that “the Great King takes forbidden drugs seeking immortality and longevity, but instead suffers backlash. To save his health, he doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice to shamans, personally killing his sons to extend his life, which is why none of the princes meet good ends,” the Great King had been depressed for a long time before finally falling asleep.
Supervisor Kou walked slowly, thinking it was fortunate the Great King didn’t know the second half of that rumor. The second half didn’t sound like a rumor but rather like a malicious curse – “A ruler who acts perversely harms heavenly harmony. Heaven gives warning, and there will surely be present-world retribution.”
To speak of present-world retribution to a ruler was utterly chilling.
Supervisor Kou shook his head, thinking that ghost and spirit talk was truly the most baseless thing. What present-world retribution? A son wanting to usurp his father’s position, not hesitating to poison and slander him – that was already present-world retribution!
Before this thought was finished, he suddenly felt cold all over, and at the same time heard a sharp scream: “Ah!”
Loud noise was strictly forbidden around the Great King’s bedchamber. Who was violating the rules! Supervisor Kou angrily lifted his head, preparing to drive away that ignorant little eunuch from Qianxi Palace. However, as soon as he raised his head, he immediately froze.
Ahead, between the dark shadows of the palace halls, countless pale lights suddenly floated by. At first glance, they seemed like palace lanterns held in human hands, but looking again, where were the people behind those lights? Moreover, the color of those lights was particularly eerie – pale white and ghostly green, huge masses floating and swaying uncertainly in mid-air. From a distance, they seemed like wandering spirits drifting.
Complete silence fell before the palace, everyone frozen in place, staring straight-eyed at those suddenly appearing cold fires, their faces even whiter and more ghostly green than the fires.
Supervisor Kou felt his heart contracting into a ball, his entire body rigid and unable to move. At this moment he felt extreme terror, yet vaguely remembered this scene must not be seen by the Great King in the palace. Just as he was about to force himself to speak and scold everyone to disperse immediately and make no sound, he heard a miserable scream: “Ghosts!”
From under the courtyard wall ahead, a little eunuch came rolling and crawling out. He had apparently gone to relieve himself earlier and was suddenly confronted by this thing. He hadn’t even fastened his pants properly and was stumbling forward on his hands and knees: “Ghost fire! So much ghost fire! Ghosts!”
Behind him, a huge mass of blue-white ghost fire was leisurely following. Wherever he ran, the ghost fire followed. White fires ran chaotically all over the courtyard. Everyone looked up with pale faces and saw the entire royal palace filled with large masses of cold light floating up and down – all ghost fire!
The royal palace had fallen into the underworld!
“Ah!” The scream everyone let out together shook heaven and earth, and the entire royal palace seemed to be awakened.
In the midst of the screaming, those eunuchs scattered with a whoosh, shrieking and running wildly, stretching out both hands as they fled toward the dark depths. Those originally masterless floating ghost fires seemed to have found their targets and followed closely behind these people, as if countless ghosts were pursuing them – infinitely eerie…
Supervisor Kou stood straight at the bottom of the steps, his hands trembling as if having an epileptic seizure. He opened his mouth wanting to shout, to scold, to stop this, wanting this scene not to be seen by the Great King. But his throat was hoarse from tension and fear and couldn’t make a sound. Then he heard the thunderous sound of palace doors opening behind him.
He stiffly turned around and saw the Great King, whose face was even more pale than the cold light illuminating him.
Not like a human color.
Supervisor Kou’s heart beat like a drum as he hurried back to provide support.
The old king had already raised his finger, tremblingly pointing at those ghost fires pervading the entire royal palace. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but ultimately couldn’t speak. With a bang, he fell straight down.