Chapter 1924

Qiu Xian Guang had long been ready in formation; when Li Chen Zhou launched his attack, Qiu Xian Guang went out to meet him. As the current master of the Sword Palace, his martial arts and swordsmanship were naturally not ordinary. The two swords clashed in midair; the tremendous force transmitted from Li Chen Zhou's sword blade made Qiu Xian Guang's arm shake violently, forcing him to retreat a step to dissipate the impact.

Li Chen Zhou's sword shook Qiu Xian Guang back, his confidence grew stronger; he wanted to carve a bloody path and slay Xue Daoming. Yet at that very moment, a Sword Palace disciple nearby suddenly acted—this person had only one left arm. While Li Chen Zhou focused all his attention on Qiu Xian Guang, the disciple launched a lightning-fast sneak attack, a lan-colored light in his left hand stabbing toward Li Chen Zhou's right rib.

Li Chen Zhou reacted in time, twisting his body clockwise to dodge the sneak attack as much as possible, but the opponent's sword came too fast; Li Chen Zhou secretly thought 'not good.' Still, beneath his armor he had tough inner armor, believing the opponent couldn't easily pierce it. However, the opponent's lan-colored short sword was extremely sharp, easily cutting through Li Chen Zhou's armor; even the rare inner armor he wore underneath could not block it. Li Chen Zhou's skin felt the icy, cold sword aura invading, and at the critical moment he strained, contracting his chest to the limit.

Although Qiu Xian Guang had retreated a step, it did not mean he was completely defeated by Li Chen Zhou, thereby giving the opponent a road to escape; in fact, Qiu Xian Guang had already made up his mind—today he would not yield an inch, he must kill Li Chen Zhou in the court. After retreating a step, the light of his sword flashed—it was the Chasing Wind Thirty-Six Swords. He had once personally taught this sword technique to his son Qiu Mu Bai, and it was this very sword art that made Qiu Mu Bai famous throughout the world. Thinking of Li Chen Zhou's cold-hearted indifference, refusing to save a dying man, Qiu Xian Guang's sorrow welled up from his heart; cold light flickered, sword energy crisscrossed. One sword after another, swift as chasing wind and lightning, nets of light spread across heaven and earth toward Li Chen Zhou, enveloping him and blocking his path forward.

After being stabbed by the one-armed assailant, Li Chen Zhou's body twisted, its momentum disrupted, and Qiu Xian Guang's interception forced him to unwillingly slow his pace.

At this moment Shi Kuan had quietly caught up, throwing a punch at Li Chen Zhou's back. Li Chen Zhou made no evasive move, actually allowing Shi Kuan's punch to hit him; he used the force of that punch to gather his whole body's strength, like an arrow released from a bow, he lunged leftward. With his long sword he deflected the long blades of two Golden Scale Guard who tried to block him, then thrust his sword into each of their chests, escaping desperately through the gap between them. At that moment his mind held only the two words 'escape for his life'; he could no longer think of anything else, let alone his earlier vow to surely slay Xue Daoming and Dong Bing Tai.

Seeing Li Chen Zhou flee, Qiu Xian Guang followed behind, pursuing relentlessly. The one-armed person who had just stabbed Li Chen Zhou with a sword stopped and did not advance; after Shi Kuan's punch struck Li Chen Zhou, he was instead taken advantage of by Li Chen Zhou, his mood seemingly affected as well, and he too did not continue the pursuit.

The personal attendant warriors Li Chen Zhou brought were not few in number, but facing these suddenly appearing martial masters they had no power to fight back; moreover, seeing the Emperor suddenly appear, they were all frightened, hearts trembling. If they continued to oppose the court, there would only be a dead end; now laying down their weapons might still offer a slim chance of survival. Furthermore, their leader Li Chen Zhou had already fled the scene—who would still dare to persist in rebellion? They fell to their knees with a thud, shouting 'Long live!' and claimed they had been deceived by Li Chen Zhou, that treacherous villain.

Xue Daoming watched the scene before him, his heart unable to contain its excitement; he had not expected this extermination of rebels to go so smoothly—indeed everything was unfolding exactly as his maternal uncle had calculated. His gaze turned to the lofty imperial throne ahead; Xue Daoming involuntarily clenched his fists. Although he could not recall how many times he had sat upon that dragon throne before, none of those occasions had been free from the shadows of Li Chen Zhou and Princess Xue Lingjun. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Princess Xue Lingjun; this aunt of his had actually chosen to stand by his side at the critical moment—women are indeed fickle, yet judging by her appearance she must be under tremendous pressure, otherwise she would not ruthlessly abandon her lover.

Beside him, Dong Bing Tai smiled and reminded Xue Daoming: 'Please, Your Majesty, ascend the throne, quell chaos and restore order, purify the court's discipline!'

Upon hearing Dong Bing Tai say that, the surrounding civil and military officials all dropped to their knees, vying with each other to say: 'Please, Your Majesty, ascend the throne, quell chaos and restore order, purify the court's discipline!'

Xue Daoming nodded, drawing a deep breath of blood‑scented air; his joy and excitement were beyond words. From today onward he was finally the genuine emperor of Da Yong; from today onward he no longer needed to watch others' faces. He would revive the court's discipline, he would bring Da Yong back to glory, he would inherit his father emperor's legacy, dominate the Central Plains, and unify all under heaven.

As Xue Daoming, full of eager ambition, walked toward the dragon throne, he heard a cold, familiar voice say: 'What right does a scoundrel who personally killed his own elder brother and colluded with others to drive away his paternal uncle have to sit upon that dragon throne?'

Everyone's hearts shook violently; of course, if speaking of shock, Xue Daoming was the first to feel it, for he had already recognized that the voice was none other than that of his paternal uncle, Prince Yan Xue Shengjing.

Dong Bing Tai's face also changed dramatically; he had thought he had fully controlled the situation today, yet he did not expect another twist at the last moment—when had Prince Yan Xue Shengjing sneaked into the Tianhe Dian?

Behind the screen of the dragon throne in Tianhe Dian appeared a slightly plump yet stalwart figure, wearing a python robe and a gold crown, with a face as big as a silver basin, mung‑bean‑sized eyes, a countenance that seemed to smile yet not, looking amiable but his gaze hid a chill that made one's heart go cold; his steps were slow, yet each was firm and solid as he came to stand before the throne, hands clasped behind his back, his small eyes looking down on everyone, his aura deep as mountains, and everyone present had to admit that Xue Shengjing possessed an awe‑inspiring presence.

Dong Bingtai angrily shouted, "Xue Shengjing, you plot rebellion, murder the empress dowager, kill the former emperor, collude with the Black Hu, and bring chaos to Da Yong! Seize this traitor!" He gave Shi Kuan a look; the warriors at his sides prepared to rush forward to capture Xue Shengjing, but before they had taken a few steps, the one‑armed warrior stepped forward, his short sword thrusting repeatedly and cutting down several warriors on the spot.

Shi Kuan strode to the center of the court, waved his hand, and the Golden Scale Guard stationed around Tianhe Dian shifted formation: part formed a human wall blocking Xue Shengjing and the crowd, while another part surrounded Dong Bingtai and Xue Daoming.

Not only the civil and military officials, but even Princess Xue Lingjun stared dumbfounded; she had originally been threatened by Dong Bingtai, the letter Shi Kuan had given her was written by Dong Bingtai's own hand, and Xue Lingjun had always thought Shi Kuan was superficially a confidant of Li Chen Zhou but had in fact already turned to Xue Daoming's side, never expecting that Shi Kuan's true master was her own imperial elder brother, Prince Yan Xue Shengjing. Just now Dong Bingtai had meticulously laid his plot, she herself had assisted from the sidelines, shattering Li Chen Zhou's scheme to seize power and exposing Li Chen Zhou; she had thought the situation was settled and Xue Daoming would finally gain control, but she did not anticipate the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind— the true architect of this scheme was actually Xue Shengjing.

Xue Shengjing still stood there, his gaze falling on his sister Xue Lingjun's face, full of warmth he said, "Lingjun, you are my own sister; with your second brother here, you need fear nothing, no one will dare utter a single idle word about you!"

It sounded like a warm, heartfelt sentence, yet it made Xue Lingjun's inner self twitch involuntarily; the meaning of her second brother was clearly hinting that he knew all about her shameful past—indeed, Dong Bingtai might be the only one who knew her privacy, but he had found a turncoat messenger, and how could Shi Kuan not tell that secret to his true master? Thinking of how her tragic fate had become a weapon for these conspirators to coerce her, Xue Lingjun felt all hope die; she wished she could die on the spot rather than be repeatedly threatened by this gang and forced to act against her will.

Xue Shengjing said, "That night, in Cien Garden, what exactly happened? I'm afraid many don't know—how did my mother empress die? How did the Emperor die?" He glared at Xue Daoming and said, "Xue Daoming, tell us plainly before the whole court of civil and military officials!"

Xue Daoming was startled, but as the ruler of a state he quickly steadied himself and coldly said, "Imperial Uncle, even now you still persist in Bu Wu."

Xue Shengjing chuckled and said, "You young man, you truly won't shed tears until you see the coffin."

Dong Bingtai angrily shouted, "Xue Shengjing, you are utterly shameless, having done every wicked deed, you now spout slander, intending to defame the Emperor—how can you face the former emperors?" He looked around at the crowd and said, "We are subjects of Da Yong, receiving the ruler's stipend and enjoying imperial grace; with the nation in crisis, must you all silently endure and remain unmoved?"

Xue Shengjing sighed, gave a glance, and a warrior lifted two heads from a wooden box and threw them down; the two heads rolled clattering to Dong Bingtai's feet, and when he stared he saw they were the heads of his two sons, Dong Tianbing and Dong Tianjun; seeing his sons' skulls before him, Dong Bingtai felt his heart torn apart, let out an anguished cry, bent down to clutch the heads, and tears poured down like rain.

Xue Shengjing said, "Who plotted rebellion? Who killed the empress dowager? Who personally slew the Emperor?" His gaze fell again on Xue Lingjun's face: "Imperial sister, is that so‑called last edict real or false? Now it can be made clear to all under heaven!"

Xue Lingjun felt her mind empty and hollow, her whole body turned into a soulless shell; she felt she had become a puppet entirely at others' mercy, and living like this was worse than death.

Dong Bingtai clutched his sons' heads and wailed bitterly, cursing the treacherous villain.

Unexpectedly, Shi Kuan strode forward, seized his head in one grip, and before the assembled officials there was a crack as he twisted and broke Dong Bingtai's neck bone.

The crisp sound of breaking bone chilled everyone's hearts.

Xue Shengjing smiled at Xue Lingjun and said, "Imperial sister, you no longer need to worry about anyone spouting nonsense; just speak the truth—what exactly happened that night in Cien Garden, and who really killed the Emperor?"

Suddenly realizing it was Double Monthly Ticket period, Zhangyu felt a bit slow on the uptake; of course it's embarrassing to ask for votes over such a minor update, we're not competing, the series is almost finished, but Zhangyu can't curb his curiosity—do you all really have no Monthly Tickets left for Zhangyu? Which brother will throw a few Monthly Tickets to test it out!:)