Chapter 245: Shocking News
Within the hall, lanterns and candles burned brightly, they heated up the room and caused it to feel rather comfortable. Several people were seated, but remained silent. After all, the Crown Prince would take some time since he was called to the Imperial Palace. An hour later, the announcement of the arrival of the Crown Prince rang out, as he strolled in through the strong winds.
Everyone present paused in shock, as they looked up at the Crown Prince’s frozen and ashen face. As soon as the Crown Prince entered the hall, they could feel the air around them become much colder. The eunuch hurriedly served him a cup of warm tea.
"King Lu has finally been demoted…" The Crown Prince took a sip of the tea to warm himself, as he chased the eunuch away. He rubbed both his hands together for warmth, he stood up and took several paces. After sometime, he exhaled, "King Lu has been demoted to a Canton Prince."
The Grand Princess sighed. King Lu was a widely celebrated and popular figure within the entire nation. After he had been the target of their ploy, he had been reduced to such a state within less than twenty-four hours. The effectiveness of it and the speed of action was too startling!
Pei Zi Yun bowed, "Congratulations Crown Prince. This demotion in rank isn’t just a mere demotion. It’s an announcement to everyone, that King Lu has been kicked out from the ranks of possible successors to the throne."
"This edict would truly change the impressions of everyone within the capital city. People will now cast their support for the Crown Prince."
"All those people are just sideliners. You are the person who truly came through for me. This time, you’ve done something immense. I shall not forget this!" The Crown Prince’s eyes glowed as he spoke, "What should we do now?"
"Now that we’ve hunted the boar down, we have to cook the boar until it’s crispy and roasted well. The Crown Prince doesn"t have to do much. After all, without King Lu in the line of succession, you are the only possible heir to the crown."
"And yet it’s not there’s nothing to be done. Last time, the Crown Prince executed a great deal of servants and turned them into snow people. I am actually rather suspicious about the matter, and highly doubt it was just motivated by greed. It also isn’t the fact that they wanted to betray their masters to achieve fame and glory."
"Besides, betraying one’s master does not necessarily bring glory. If something should happen to the Crown Prince, what good can ever happen to them?"
"Are you trying to say someone cast a spell on them?" The Crown Prince heard this and frowned, "Dark Altar Sect?"
"That’s hard to say. But I am certain there are indeed several individuals who are trying to exploit this situation for personal fame. They are trying to drive a wedge between yourself and King Lu. There’s a Daoist in the imperial court who’s able to trace spells casted recently. The Crown Prince can openly conduct an investigation and weed out these people. This would be extremely beneficial to the Crown Prince and also make the Emperor happy."
"If not, the arrows shot in the dark are hard to defend against."
When the Crown Prince heard this, he recalled the incident several weeks ago. Someone had framed him and said that he was involved with one of the Emperor’s concubines. He recalled the shock, fear, and humiliation. The Crown Prince nodded his head, "What you’re trying to say, is that we have to investigate about this matter, especially those who are close to King Lu."
When the Grand Princess saw the Crown Prince thinking this way, she sighed silently.
Pei Zi Yun knew that this was the right time and decided to leave without saying more. When he left the palace, an oxcart arrived and greeted him before it took him back to Pei Mansion. Since something major had just happened, and it snowed heavily, the streets were relatively empty. The sounds of hooves clattering could be heard.
"King Lu has been demoted and this is a great setback for him." Pei Zi Yun then thought to himself before calling out, "System!"
A white plum blossom appeared before his eyes as it started to become larger and transformed even faster into a transparent system interface. It bore with it faint light as several words came into view.
"Mission: a.s.sist the Crown Prince, defeat Dark Altar Sect (Incomplete)"
(E/N: Chapter 230 "Mission: a.s.sist the Crown Prince, Defeat Holy Jail Sect" mission changed)
"Not only has King Lu suffered a huge loss, the Dark Altar Sect will be implicated by this as well." Pei Zi Yun laughed coldly, "Especially after I told the Crown Prince that, he would have to act against Dark Altar Sect."
"It looks like Dark Altar Sect’s men within the capital city will all be weeded out soon."
"Now all I have to do is to wait and the mission shall be accomplished."
The snow fell gently onto the tarpaulin of the oxcart and sounded like sand. Pei Zi Yun finally relaxed and laid down, since there was a pillow he could use to sleep on.
"Right, I haven’t used the Legacy which I obtained from the previous dynasty. I can use it now."
Thinking this way, he retrieved the pearl which was a treasure from the previous dynasty, He looked at it before he placed it under his pillow and laid his head on the soft pillow, before he drifted off to sleep.
The s.p.a.ce within the hall was rather cramped. A picture of a map rested on a table, as two men looked at it.
One of them was a middle aged, third ranked official, who spoke out, "The dynasty is becoming weaker by the day, and the Imperial Qi is becoming useless. Everything under the heavens is chaotic. I am a subject of the Imperial Court, and earn good money by sharing the burdens of the Emperor. But I wish for you to seek out the latent dragon and destroy it. Are you willing to do it?"
The Daoist fell into silence before he spoke, "Foster-father, you took me in many years ago, so that I could exact revenge for my family. I would never be able to repay my debt. But with such a request, I find myself torn."
"But Foster-father, destroying the latent dragon would incite the wrath of heaven and earth, divine retribution will befall us sooner or later if we do it. Regardless of whether I did it personally, or you did it, no good will befall the entire family."
"If I were to bear the consequences alone, I would do it, since I have no sons or heirs. But Foster-father, you have a family!’
The middle-aged man sighed, "His majesty bears great grat.i.tude for me. With everything in ma.s.s chaos, how can I stand by idly?."
The scene changed and it was now atop a mountain. The sky was dark and foggy, with heavy rain and mist abound. The wind that blew was extremely strong and caused robes to flap violently. A pair of young Daoists who were eleven or twelve years old followed an older Daoist.
The pair of young Daoists had soft, childish faces which were red from the cold winds.
"Master!"
"You must not call me master."
"But Master, you took us in, and taught us so much."
"You must not call me master, for the things I’m about to do would entail severe consequences. If you call me master, you will be implicated as well."
The Daoist held up a compa.s.s in the wind, as he looked down at the terrain around him. The shoes which he wore had been destroyed beyond recognition, and his face revealed the lines of the hardships he had been through.
The scene changed once again, and snow fell from the sky onto the ground.
The Daoist was around fifty years old. He walked with a steady gait, but his hair was white. His face was lined with wrinkles, a pair of young Daoist teenagers followed behind him.
The Daoist halted as he looked around before he sighed, "After walking and searching for eleven years, I’ve finally found the latent dragon!"
He looked at the undulating mountainous terrains, and could almost see a crouching dragon on the ground.
Imperial Tutor’s Mansion
When he was of the third rank, he had already become an Imperial Tutor. He had a full head of white hair then and sunken cheeks. His old age was becoming very apparent, and yet his eyes still gleamed with sharpness, as though he could see right through the heart of people.
A Daoist knelt before the tutor.
"You’ve finally succeeded. I’ve been waiting for this day for decades. It seems like the Imperial Qi of the dynasty is becoming weaker and weaker, it’s not going to hold out for much longer. Cough cough." The tutor coughed as he spoke.
"Tutor, thankfully I didn’t lose my life. This dynasty is already in its 270th year, it is frail and weak. The Imperial Qi has been leaking out over time." The Daoist pointed to a map, "After walking under the heavens for decades, we finally located the position of the latent dragon, and its within Qin Prefecture."
"It’s just that, tutor, just because the Imperial Qi’s source has been destroyed doesn’t mean that it’s dead. Destroying the source of it, doesn’t mean it will completely vanish. Instead, it started to leak out and became dozens of little dragons, causing havoc and pandemonium under the heavens for years to come. I wonder how many lives will be lost from this, but I know that there will be retribution for us"
The tutor paused for several moments as he scrutinized the drawing of the latent dragon, "Breaking these Dragon Veins will surely bring retribution down upon us. But that also means we won’t have a monarch ruling over us for many years."
"I am an official of the first rank and I can still hold out. After breaking the primary dragon, if the Imperial Court did their utmost best, they would be able to clean up all the little dragons. We would then have another hundred years of peace. I am an official, taking salary from the Imperial Courts. How can I ever be afraid of death and cling onto life?"
Mountainous roads
"Dig, dig all of it out!" From a distance away, the mountain seemed to resemble a dragon. Several thousand farmers and civilians dug the neck of a dragon out from under the earth, having crushed its head.
The Daoist supervised the workers, when a huge gust of wind and rain broke out. Thunder and lightning abounded within the skies.
"Haha, the Imperial Qi is being destroyed and the heavens are reacting to this. Quick, send someone to search thirty kilometers away from this place. The Imperial Qi can feel that it’s being harmed and is responding. If you see any pregnant women, we have to kill them all." The Daoist laughed as he ordered.
"Yes, Your Excellency." Several armed soldiers listened to his orders before they rode off on horseback, killing intent emanated within the sky.
"Quick, my wife is about to deliver. I wonder why the infant is coming out earlier than expected." A village a short distance away, a student carried his heavily pregnant wife.
"The rain is so heavy, ai, I’m afraid now, and I can’t do it. Who else can take over me?" The midwife spoke.
As soon as they reached the door, the pregnant woman screamed out in agony, "Oh no, my wife is about to deliver. Midwife, hurry up please."
The student persuaded the midwife to a.s.sist in the delivery. Several moments later, the wailing of a baby could be heard, as the student rejoiced in his newborn child. At this point, several armed guards appeared.
"Fire!" A shower of arrows appeared within the sky and descended down like rain. The sounds of agony rang out, before all was silent again.
When they walked into the room, they saw the student protecting his wife, who was shielding the newborn child. Both the parents had been killed by arrows. Strangely enough, the child wasn’t hurt, and didn’t cry at all. If they hadn’t checked, they would’ve a.s.sumed that the child had died as well.
"Are they dead?"
The soldier laughed out sinisterly as he swung his blade down onto the infant and killed him.
"Boom doom!"
The shadow of a dragon snaked across the sky, as it screamed out. The Imperial Qi broke apart and scattered into many tiny dragons as they fled in all directions. Soon after, a torrential rain appeared, with thunder and lightning streaking across the sky.
At the exact same time, the Daoist was on the ground and clutched his yellow bag, he was unmoving. One of the workers noticed this and was rather surprised, he stepped forward and whispered, "Daoist leader, Daoist leader?"
It rained heavily, and yet the yellow bag which the Daoist clutched had started to burn. The yellow bag contained the imperial edict within it. The roar of thunder rang out once again.
"Boom!"
The thunderbolt struck the Daoist, which caused blood to seep out of his orifices. A pair of teenagers ran towards him from afar, "Master, Master."
The Daoists had blood ooze out from his ears, nose, and mouth, as it dripped down. A certain black aura surrounded him, as he struggled to speak. "Don’t call me master, or you will suffer the effects of the backlash as well. I am going to be utterly destroyed, and yet I have no regrets. I discovered a fresh dragon vein some time ago. However, this dragon vein cannot produce an Emperor, and can only produce Immortals. Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s… Report this to the Imperial Court…."
Before the words were finished everything disappeared.
"Boom!" Pei ZI Yun felt thunder ring in his ears as well, as he struggled to get up. He then realized he was still within the oxcart, but the thunder and lightning felt all too real.
"The spring thunder has come!" Pei ZI Yun used his hands to wipe his face, and realized blood was oozed out from his orifices as well.
"Backlash?"
"It’s been decades ago, and I wasn’t absorbing memories, but I’m still affected?"
The most important thing however, was that he gained some useful information. The Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s were the result of a dragon vein which produced Immortals?"
"Am I so lucky to obtain this crucial piece of news from the previous dynasty’s treasure room?"
"Something doesn’t feel quite right!" Pei Zi Yun’s face turned ashen as he looked up and saw that the clouds hung low overhead. The wind and rain was still upon them, as he searched his memories intently. However, he couldn’t find what he was looking for, why was there the Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s, what is their purpose?
"Although they’re supposed to be extremely talented, I don’t see anything extraordinary about them, except they can cultivate fairly quickly."
"And yet if we speak of possible implications, this somewhat makes sense?"
"Paradise is the result of Earthly Qi congealing together. Although there are several distinctions between the Earthly Qi and the Dragon Veins, a strong cultivator would aspire to claim both."
"Could it be that Xie Cheng Dong was looking for this Immortal Dragon Vein? Then what role do the Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s have here?"
"The other things might not be as important, but I have to get to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible."
He got out his handkerchief and wiped the blood off his face. He could then see his own place some distance away, but changed his mind, "Turn around, we’re going back to the Crown Prince’s Palace!"