115 Her Majesty the Empress

The Second Prince took a half step back. “Are you deceiving me? Or just stalling for time?”

The Crown Prince leisurely switched to a third teacup and continued sipping his tea, smiling silently.

The Second Prince turned his head and whispered, “Axi, send someone out to take a look.”

Axi obeyed and went out, returning shortly. “Your Highness, we have absolute control over the area outside the main hall.”

“Very good.” The Second Prince turned his gaze back to the Crown Prince seated upon the Golden Throne. “Imperial Guards, obey my order: escort the Crown Prince to the dungeon for rest!”

Though the words were phrased with some delicacy, the gesture that accompanied the command was ruthless and decisive — no mercy!

“Yes, sir!” The Imperial Guards responded thunderously, raising their spears as they surged forward.

Luxi stepped forward with a furious stride and shouted, “Who dares!”

Behind him, the Crown Prince, taking advantage of Luxi’s blocking figure, swept his long sleeve along the inner side of the Golden Throne’s armrest. “Luxi, you’re blocking my view.”

Luxi immediately stepped aside. The Crown Prince’s index finger, hidden beneath the sleeve, hooked onto a circular object and pulled.

Click, click, click — the sound of a mechanism activating.

Axi was the first to realize and shouted for everyone to retreat quickly. But his voice was completely drowned out by the tremendous rumbling that followed overhead.

The Imperial Guards instinctively looked up as a massive cage, large enough to cover the entire center of the main hall, descended from above.

Bang! The cage hit the ground, trapping the Imperial Guards inside before they could react.

The Crown Prince tapped his teacup, tilted his head, and smiled at Luxi. “See? It’s fortunate you didn’t block my view, or I would have missed such a splendid scene.”

“A cornered beast still fights!” The Second Prince sneered coldly and gave another order, “Imperial Guards, use your spears as arrows—shoot!”

Though the cage appeared to be made of wood, the guards soon found that this wood was as hard as iron after trying to hack and chop it with swords. They couldn’t break out anytime soon. But the cage had gaps; though trapped, they could still obey orders to kill!

The spears, infused with inner power, shot toward the Crown Prince seated on the Golden Throne, the deadly aura whistling sharply.

Luxi stepped forward to block the attack for his master but was kicked back into place by the Crown Prince’s outstretched leg. “I told you, don’t block my...”

The fastest spear had already flown past the steps.

“View...” The Crown Prince leapt up, pulling Luxi with him as they executed a backward somersault, landing behind the Golden Throne.

“String!” After landing, the Crown Prince slapped a round protrusion on the floor.

Clatter, clatter — another familiar mechanism whirred to life. Immediately followed by the sharp sound of arrows flying.

From the wall behind the Golden Throne, arrows with tips glowing a faint blue shot forth.

Trapped inside the cage with nowhere to hide, the Imperial Guards became living targets. Within moments, they were all pierced by the rain of arrows.

The Crown Prince returned to his seat on the Golden Throne, triumphantly settling down. “What other tricks do you have?”

Axi half-shielded the Second Prince as he retreated toward the hall’s entrance. “Guards, escort the prince!”

No response came. No one appeared.

The Second Prince’s face twisted in disbelief. “Impossible!”

Though Axi was merely a low-ranking soldier among the Imperial Guards, he secretly commanded allegiance from at least thirty percent of them. Adding to that, the thirty percent more who obeyed him when Liantang Cheng was their instructor, they had almost seventy percent loyalty. This was why they dared to launch this bold plan to storm the palace and eliminate the Crown Prince in one stroke—they believed their chances were high.

And he had not come alone.

“Jinhua Chi, come out!” Outside, Mu Zhi Jin was stabilizing the situation.

Still, no response followed his call.

The Crown Prince lazily gestured for Luxi to pour another cup of hot tea. “Shouting like that sounds quite grand, doesn’t it? Very well, I shall try it myself. Ahem. Minister Xu, come forth!”

“Yes.” Xu Zhenglin appeared as called.

Not only him, but from three directions outside the main hall, more Imperial Guards emerged like sprouting bamboo shoots.

They too carried spears, but their spear tips were stained with fresh blood.

Leading them was Dai Chuan, commander of the Imperial Guards. At his feet lay the barely breathing Liantang Cheng.

Axi screamed, “Father!”

Liantang Cheng lifted his head with effort, his eyes dimmed. “Son, the Lian family will never...”

He twisted his neck, forcing Dai Chuan’s blade to slash across his throat.

Blood gushed forth. Dai Chuan released his grip; Liantang Cheng’s body collapsed with a thud, his fist still raised straight up. “Never! Surrender!”

“Father!” Axi cried out in agony but stood frozen. His father chose death rather than becoming a hostage used to force him to disarm. How could he let his father’s will be in vain?

Dai Chuan wiped the blood off his blade. “He was clever. And you?”

He beckoned to another figure behind him. Another prisoner was dragged forward. Dai Chuan pressed his blade against him in the same threatening manner. “Mu Zhi Jin? Master Mu? Will you also follow Instructor Lian’s example and die heroically?”

“I don’t need to!”

“He doesn’t need to!”

The two spoke in unison: Mu Zhi Jin and the Second Prince.

Mu Zhi Jin looked at the Second Prince — he could afford to lose.

The Second Prince looked at Mu Zhi Jin — but he absolutely could not die.

One misstep in this game of chess means defeat; no one is invincible. But death is final defeat.

The Second Prince turned back to the Crown Prince seated on the Golden Throne. “I offer the imperial jade seal in exchange for Mu Zhi Jin’s life.”

Dai Chuan glanced at Xu Zhenglin. “Your son has quite the skill—he can even make the Second Prince give up the jade seal for him!”

Xu Zhenglin ignored the sarcasm and respectfully suggested to the Crown Prince, “Your Highness, I think it unwise. The man is already captured. If Your Highness grants me some time, I am certain I can extract the location of the jade seal and retrieve it swiftly.”

The Second Prince interjected coldly, “Aren’t you curious about Guan Shiyin’s whereabouts?”

The Crown Prince’s eyes burned with intensity. “At the Qitian Taoist Temple!”

“I suppose you must have laid an ambush there as well. So tell me, who do you think will win or lose at the Qitian Taoist Temple?”

If the Crown Prince’s side won, he would have no reason to worry about the jade seal now — the enemy forces would be defeated, and the seal’s location would be revealed in time. But what if Guan Shiyin won? Holding the jade seal would give him leverage to negotiate for the Second Prince’s rescue, wouldn’t it?

The Second Prince bet the Crown Prince wouldn’t dare take that risk.

“Lock them all in the dungeon!” the Crown Prince ordered.

Xu Zhenglin tried to protest. “Your Highness, releasing the tiger only to let it return to the mountains is...”

“Rest assured, Minister Xu, even if it is a tiger, it won’t have the chance to return to the mountains,” the Crown Prince interrupted with a wave of his hand. Then he commanded Dai Chuan, “Confine the Second Prince to the lowest level of the dungeon. Liantang Cheng and Mu Zhi Jin as well.”

Without martial prowess, once isolated, who could possibly rescue the Second Prince and return him to the mountains?

“Minister Xu, with the palace matter concluded for now, you shall go to the Qitian Taoist Temple on my behalf.”

“Yes.”

“Luxi, let’s go. We’re heading out as well.”

“Eh?” Xu Zhenglin, who had not yet moved, stopped in his tracks. The Crown Prince was going too?

The Crown Prince passed by him in a good mood. “I have no time to see a bunch of old men. I’m going out to receive the Sixth Princess back to the palace.”

“Sixth Princess?”

“Yes. This morning, I sent her to invite the future Empress to stay temporarily in the palace.”

— End of side note —

Next update at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.