"The Great General Lanye has been conspiring with enemies?""Impossible! Why would he fight so many battles then?"
"He saved my son. I refuse to indict my benefactor!"
The capital was in an uproar as news of Da Lan"s imprisonment spread. The Great General who was renown for his military prowess and loyalty to the country was imprisoned for allegations! Everyone knew the current Emperor was a conniving backstabber. How else had he gotten the throne?
The Crown Prince disappearing and the previous Emperor dying had been too much of a coincidence. The Empress Dowager had committed suicide out of nowhere. She wasn"t even affectionate with the Emperor as it was purely a political marriage.
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"Where is the Princess?"
"She is at a tea party in the Tan Palace", Shen casually stated with complete disregard for the connotations behind such circ.u.mstances.
The Emperor fumed. At this critical moment, this brat had sent the Princess to a neighboring country!? With the military weakened, they could easily hold her hostage and demand a hefty ransom. Of course, he would not agree to it as he had no love for his niece however she could be used for an alliance and was best friends with Da Guang, the Great General"s Daughter.
Somehow Da Guang had gone missing which made him suspect that Da Lan had been suspicious of him and had been planning a revolt for a long time. The first factor was the brigands attack which Da Lan had somehow been prepared for and used to gain the public"s favor. The second was the constant conquests which restored his status to his former glory. The final nail in the coffin was that the Great General had actually brought back the long lost Crown Prince who was supposed to have been dead and rotting along with his foster parents.
The Emperor could not accept that the Crown Prince was back and since he was affiliated with Da Lan, he was likely an accomplice. He was about to order for the execution of this d.a.m.ned accomplice when a metal rod protruded through his abdomen. He had been stabbed!
With his spleen punctured, excruciating pain shocked him as he began to feel mentally and physically impaired. His right-hand man had deliberately backstabbed him. They had been together for decades and had even planned for the a.s.sa.s.sination of his brother together. As his vision blurred and his life began to fade, he stared in disbelief at the one person who he almost considered a friend.
The aide then swiftly ran away while screaming, "The Crown Prince has killed the Emperor!!".
Shen sighed heavily. To implicate him into their schemes was the worst mistake they"ll ever make.
"If they want to frame me, I might as well actually do it"
Shen leisurely walked up to the Emperor before swiftly decapitating him with his Sharp Knife. It truly was a Sharp Knife as it even cut through the metal of the Imperial throne.
The palace guards" footsteps could be heard as they hurriedly marched to a.s.sist the aide in subduing the killer. Regicide was quite common in this era and even more common in this country. This was the 4th time an Emperor was slain and with each regicide, the more treacherous the royal family would become.
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"What!?", Da Lan had exclaimed in his prison cell.
The report seemed exaggerated. His plan had succeeded and the Emperor had lured in Shen, however Shen didn"t even flinch at the sight of the Emperor being a.s.sa.s.sinated. He even joined in and murdered the Emperor with the same countenance as when he had killed all the servants in the Princess" kitchen.
A crucial part of the plan had to revised now that Shen"s grief couldn"t be accounted for and that Shen also went missing.
Regardless, the plans had commenced. As soon as word of the Emperor"s death spread, his troops would immediately storm the palace and usurp the throne. Clashes of swords could certainly be heard but the battlefield remained outside of the palace.
The invaders were fierce and unrelenting. With every invader downed, 5 guards would follow. After all, one side always resided on the edge of life and death while the other side stood in front of "important" buildings and dragged people like baggage.
As the clangs of swords and the war cries increased in volume, the prison"s gate burst open. The jailers had already ran as it was quite obvious that the opposition would be victorious.
This was the prison for political prisoners. With the Emperor"s rise to power being too sudden, many ministers and officials had opposed him. He was not very upright though so he ordered for the detainment of all dissenters. Everyone left was either emaciated or part of the newly established rebellion.
"General Lanye, it is time!", the soldier stated. He had breached the palace and clearly had commendable skills. He lead the Great General away along with everyone who had been a part of the rebellion. The political prisoners were left to rot as they had lost the will to fight a long time ago bringing them along is the same as carrying dead weight.
Da Lan watched pridefully as his troops ma.s.sacred the remaining palace guards. The former palace had been warped into a h.e.l.lscape. Corpses and severed limbs littered the halls and courtyards while the soil had been dyed a deep red. The once clear and blue ponds were now tainted and had the hue of murky brown. He had finally taken down the Royal Family and now it was time to cement his rule. For generations, his family had been inhibited, impeded, and executed for refusing to follow the depravity of the royal family. Each regicide would lead to unending deaths with both commoners and the army suffering. Now that the Emperor is dead and Princess Riri was detained at a foreign palace, he could breathe new life into the land and allow it to prosper without the influence of the Dragon Blood.
Da Lan then remembered, "How did Shen decapitate the Emperor when the Emperor had Dragon Blood? The metal rod was specifically made to counteract Dragon Blood"
Before he could savor his victory, a horn sounded and five thousand troops rode into battle. At the forefront was Shen, leading the enemy swarm as a commander and he could be heard using the Dragon"s Roar.
Impossible, Lanye thought. Shen had never left for long enough to ama.s.s an army of this size nor properly ally with someone who had this much resources. How then had Shen become a commander that could contend against him?
All of a sudden, Da Lan heard laughter to his right. Shen had emerged after slaughtering his guards.
Two Shens were present on the battlefield and both had seemed to acknowledge and permit each other"s existences. One was valiant, a commander, and bound to be recorded in the annals of history while the other was ruthless, hidden, and haunt the memories of those he interacted with.
"You truly are a demon", Da Lan laughed. "Who else could have caused this much chaos even though we planned for 20 years?"
"You"re quite the fiend yourself, poisoning someone the first day you meet them"
Da Lan flinched. How could he have known about the poison? The first day they ate, the hard bread he had given was poisoned as he had a.s.sumed Shen was the Crown Prince. The poison was undetectable but extremely lethal with the poison in his body acting as the trigger.
"Since you already know about it, I won"t let you go", Da Lan immediately swallowed a pill which caused an extreme chemical reaction in his body. His stomach churned and his throat began to burn but it paled in comparison with Shen"s poison.
Shen began to cough up blood and Da Lan knew he would feel immense pain. To his surprise though, Shen began to grin and snicker uncontrollably.
Poisoned to death a third time, he thought. His Poison Immunity would definitely soar to unprecedented heights if he was poisoned this often with poison this powerful. In fact, that was why he had been consuming poison while using Princess Riri"s lessons as an excuse so he wouldn"t bring attention to himself.
"Don"t expect to live long, Lanye", Shen said as a firm resolve supplanted the playful look in his eyes.
[Rank Quest:
Objective: Kill General Lanye
Reward: Phoenix Heart and 10000 points]