Chapter 301

Oh, why did he do that? Tang Luo also stood up and went out with Kongming, pushing the door together.

The Flying Banner Commander refers to A Fei, who now holds the position of Banner Commander in the Youyi Qi Cavalry.

Since it was A Fei who got into trouble, Tang Luo naturally wanted to go see as well.

"The reason is simple." Kongming said while walking, "Zhao Yan hasn't grown old yet, the Crown Prince, and those princes have 'grown' too fast."

Originally, the Great You had internal troubles and external threats, and everyone was too busy to consider this matter.

Now the situation is different, the course of history has changed, and of course we must begin our personal struggle.

Although Zhao Yan suffers from a hidden illness, he has acquired the dual cultivation technique of the Huansi Temple, and after years of effort, his health has improved considerably.

Anything is possible in ancient times.

If he wants to remain emperor for a longer time, he must suppress the restless hearts of those sons.

The imperial family knows no warmth, and their methods are naturally cruel beyond compare.

"Oh, I see now." Tang Luo is not stupid; Kongming's hint was enough for him to understand.

Father and son slaughtering each other for the throne is not unprecedented in history, but...

"It feels a bit too harsh." Tang Luo said, "A warning would have sufficed; now it's common knowledge, and so many people have died—it's practically wiping the imperial family's face."

Some things can only be understood, not explained.

The filth inside the palace, no matter how it's done in private, causes no trouble—but once brought to light, it's different.

Brother fighting brother, mutual slaughter—such a reputation is hardly praiseworthy.

Given Zhao Yan's position, he could have handled things more properly; he is emperor, and the world values filial piety above all—disposing of a few unfilial sons would be simple.

Although these princes are jumping about happily, none of them possess the ability to stir up a "Xuanwu Gate Incident."

There's no need for Zhao Yan to make such a big move, causing turmoil throughout the city.

"He probably has other ideas." Kongming said.

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the front courtyard, where A Fei was being carried in—more precisely, A Fei's corpse.

Blood soaked through his black clothing, one arm missing, the other hanging from the door panel, blood mostly congealed at the fingertips.

His eyes wide open, his face marked with several deep wounds down to the bone.

But the true cause of death was the numerous wounds on his body, inflicted by sharp weapons—over ten or so, nearly piercing his chest to ruin.

Those who carried A Fei over were two Youyi guards, their faces covered in blood, also bearing some injuries, though not serious, yet their bodies trembled—clearly terrified to the extreme.

"What happened?" Kongming gestured for the two to carry A Fei to the main hall, lay down the corpse, take the two outside, close the door, then asked.

Tang Luo excels at saving lives; if he can save someone, then it can be done.

If even Tang Luo cannot save them, then Kongming sees no point in watching.

In the room, Tang Luo's Merit Jade Lotus appeared on A Fei's body, and the power to heal through enlightenment poured forth.

A Fei's terrible wounds began to heal bit by bit, the intersecting scars on his face fading, yet no new arm grew where the arm was severed.

Moments later, A Fei's wide-open eyes suddenly moved—he leapt up and shouted loudly: "Die!"

He jumped less than half a meter high, immediately crashed to the ground, panting heavily, his eyes full of killing intent and anger instinctively scanning the surroundings, then turning to bewilderment.

"I... how did I end up here?"

He rolled over and sat up, reaching out to feel his body; the blood on his clothes hadn't dried yet, and he could still wring blood from it.

"Master—"

A Fei immediately realized what had happened, turned and stood up at once, though his body swayed twice before collapsing to the ground again.

"You just came back to life; you need to rest for a while before you can recover." Tang Luo said.

"Thank you, Master, for saving my life." A Fei said—this was already the third time Tang Luo had saved him.

Unlike the previous two close encounters with science missions, the Lanruo Temple affair was different.

This time, A Fei clearly remembered being pierced by an incoming lance, his heart crushed into a bloody mess.

The opponent's face, shifting from panic to a savage grin, is etched in his mind—the last thing he saw before death.

Such injuries should have been impossible for A Fei to survive, yet now he lives.

Bones regrowing flesh, returning from death—Master's enlightenment healing technique has actually reached a miraculous degree!

"Your arm..." Tang Luo said, "If the severed arm were still here, I could help you reattach it."

"Probably trampled into meat paste." A Fei chuckled, his laughter filled with unspent viciousness.

At that moment, the door was pushed open; Kongming re-entered, closed it, and asked: "The two Youyi guards didn't explain things clearly—did you clash with the prince?"

"Hmm." A Fei nodded, his remaining hand resting on the chair beside him, refusing to sit down.

"Sit down." Kongming said, "Tell us what happened."

Upon hearing the commotion in the room, he had first sent the two Youyi guards aside, then combined both accounts to obtain more detailed and complete information.

"I encountered a beast outside the city..." A Fei said.

The capital has high walls, inner and outer cities; beyond the outer city is certainly not a barren wasteland—it's bustling, with many towns and villages.

A Fei was in a small village not far from the capital, where he passed during routine patrols, when he came upon a vile act.

The Ninth Prince Zhao De of Great You, praised as accomplished in both literature and martial arts yet known for his cruelty, was forcibly abducting a pretty village girl to make her a toilet person.

A "toilet person" refers to someone who cleans the private parts with mouth and tongue after defecation.

For noble heirs, the coarse toilet paper of today would obviously damage their delicate buttocks.

Usually, they use silk cloth assisted by clean water for cleansing.

Moreover, some people use a "measured person."

Although A Fei was angry, he didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, knowing they had only five days left to complete their mission and return.

Many tasks, however, are completed by others, and A Fei felt he hadn't contributed much.

He had clung to the powerful; if he ruined the current favorable situation and momentum, he would feel uneasy inside.

However, Zhao De was utterly without virtue; he first used the village woman's young son, who could barely walk, to threaten her into agreeing, then smashed that child to death on the spot.

He then moved to kill the village woman's husband, driving her to the brink of collapse.

Zhao De laughed loudly and declared: "Servants are tools; tools should look like tools — they need no family, and they need no thoughts."

The enraged A Fei could not contain the fury in his heart and struck out with hatred.

Unfortunately, Zhao De's own strength was extraordinary; even without Xuan Qi protecting his body he would not lose to A Fei, and on top of that he had Xuan Qi body protection plus the thirty-odd personal guards at his side.

Until his death A Fei never reached Zhao De; he was pierced through by the long spears of the imperial guards in mid-air.

Zhao De did not kill the two Youyiwei who had come with A Fei and were scared pale; he merely taught them a lesson, then took the village woman and left.

Those two Youyiwei were not fools either; after reacting they brought A Fei to the National Preceptor's Mansion.

They vaguely knew that this young Zongqi seemed to have a not-shallow relationship with the Left National Preceptor.

"I see. It really is 'the tree wishes to be still but the wind will not cease,'" Kong Ming said with a frown.

"You suspect this isn't a coincidence?" Tang Luo asked.

"It's possible," Kong Ming said, "but I can't think of who would want to provoke this kind of conflict."

The behind-the-scenes manipulator of this succession struggle, Zhao Yan, used ruthless means to secure his throne, showing everyone who was truly the father.

And this struggle ended ten days ago when he pressed the princes down outside the palace gates and gave each twenty heavy strokes of the board.

Everything returned to calm; Zhao Yan no longer had any reason to stir up trouble.

Even if he still wanted to kill with a borrowed knife, he could not possibly use this method — using Tang Luo and his group's hands to kill Zhao De.

This would be even more radical than the succession struggle he pushed; if the succession struggle counted as radical and lost the imperial family face, then this borrowed-knife killing would be foolishly bringing fire upon oneself.

How terrifying Tang Luo was, Zhao Yan certainly had a clear idea in his heart; it was hard to imagine this man — who might not count as an enlightened ruler but was unquestionably a qualified emperor — would employ such a terrible scheme.

"Stop thinking about it; just ask directly." Tang Luo stood up. "That Zhao De — you ran into him on the way back to his mansion?"

"Returning from a hunt," A Fei said.

Being beaten twenty heavy strokes publicly, mainly as admonition and warning, they wouldn't really lay on heavy hands; with Zhao De's strength plus precious herbs, he could recover in three to five days.

But the trauma in his heart would not recover so easily; these past few days Zhao De often went out hunting to vent.

"Then let's go to his mansion," Tang Luo said.

"Be careful." Kong Ming did not stop them, and in his heart he "mourned" for that behind-the-scenes black hand for 0.1 seconds.

Whoever was plotting in the dark had provoked the wrong person.

If it were ordinary gods and demons walking, with the mission about to be completed, most would choose to settle things quietly.

A Fei was the weakest in strength, and they were a temporarily assembled team; their bond was merely that of allies, not life-and-death partners.

Why would they create extra trouble for A Fei and provoke the imperial clan?

This is human nature.

To tell the truth, even Kong Ming would, after weighing the strength comparison and the gains and losses, choose to compromise and let go — if not for Tang Luo.

But with Tang Luo present, the situation was completely different.

"Wait..." Kong Ming pondered, suddenly thinking of a possibility, vaguely guessing a bit; he abruptly stood up, as if wanting to do something.

Then he sat back down and laughed: "Right, Tang Luo is personally going to 'ask' at the door; what do I need to investigate for."

He suddenly felt a wave of ease.

"You're weak to a rather severe degree?" Walking out of the National Preceptor's Mansion, Tang Luo looked at A Fei and asked.

"My destiny pattern is already gone," A Fei said.

The current him, having lost the destiny pattern fragment, was so weak he was inferior to even ordinary people.

"You no longer have a destiny pattern fragment?" Tang Luo recalled the conjecture he had previously mentioned to Kong Ming, and never expected it to be verified on A Fei this time.

A Fei nodded.

"It's fine; besides us, no one else can 'sense' a destiny pattern fragment," Tang Luo said. "Settle the matter first, then go get it back."