Chapter 756: Blessing

One word spoken, and the audience was stunned.

The crowd was silent, yet in this silence, it seemed as if thunder were rolling.

Miao Taihou was as if struck by lightning, her mind going blank for a moment.

To tell the truth, her demeanor all along the way had been very strange; anyone could see the flaws. In fact, they were intentionally revealed. She had let word slip out: the Emperor was ill.

Then, two days later, the Emperor would conveniently die, and Prince Xing would conveniently ascend the throne; these were all logical progressions.

To be honest, in every dynasty there is no lack of emperors dying unexpectedly, the news being kept secret, and then someone else quietly ascending the throne. Most of the time, as long as the bigwigs in the Imperial Court have coordinated, there won't be much turmoil. The Imperial Court has the State Preceptor to hold the fort, and by controlling a few key figures, there is usually plenty of room for maneuver.

But as luck would have it, the Emperor's arrangement for the various feudal lords to enter Jingshi was originally a long-planned scheme, intending to resolve a portion of the scourge of feudal separatism during this Lantern Festival—never mind whether it could be resolved, that was how the plan was planned.

At the time, the Emperor was present, and these feudal lords were the targets to be resolved; now that the Emperor was absent, these people were a massive problem. Once they could not be resolved, the situation in Jingshi could instantly spiral out of control. Ambitious men plotting rebellion would be a problem for later, but as soon as this group of feudal lords caught wind of the collapse of the imperial situation, they would return and immediately act independently, and the Great Jin Dynasty would disintegrate.

Therefore, Miao Taihou brought Prince Xing to Jindinglou, to this place that was originally the center of the plan. She took over the grand plan left behind by the Emperor, preparing firstly to promote Prince Xing, secondly to deal with the insubordinate, and thirdly to intimidate the feudal lords—three goals in one stroke. Thus, she had already prepared for someone to question whether the Emperor was dead; she would not admit it on the spot, but would let some rumors out. Then she would deal with a batch of troublemakers to pave the way for the new emperor's ascension.

Even if she were seen through, it wouldn't matter, because she was the Empress Dowager. Her status was here, she held power, and she had the State Preceptor backing her. Even if she did some excessive things, it didn't matter; it could always be suppressed. After all, many excessive things were done in that political struggle ten years ago.

Only...

She did not expect that someone would clearly and explicitly call out that she had killed the Emperor!

With her greatest secret exposed, in this instant, it was as if her heart and lungs had been pierced. Her ears were buzzing, and the hand gesture she had already prepared to signal the killers stiffened in her sleeve; for a moment, she couldn't even pull it out!

In fact, was she the only one shocked on the scene?

Prince Shun accusing Miao Taihou of killing the Emperor in open court truly shocked the entire audience. But most people's first reaction was: Has Prince Shun gone mad? How dare he say such crazy things? How could that be possible?

Miao Taihou is the Emperor's own mother!

But... Miao Taihou's performance increased his persuasiveness!

Miao Taihou didn't collapse, but seeing her dazed and pale appearance, it clearly served as a footnote to Prince Shun's words, and the crowd was already shaken to the core:

Holy crap, did you really kill him?

Holy crap, this is bad, we're done for!

The hall full of dignitaries didn't have a second to spare to grieve for the Emperor's death; they immediately thought of their own predicament.

Is this kind of palace secret something we should be hearing?

Even if someone knew, they should pretend not to know. Prince Shun actually blurted it out in public; there was no room for maneuver now. Was he not afraid of Miao Taihou going mad?

He must have a backup plan, right? He didn't just bring his mouth, did he?

So is he issuing a challenge? Is he going to start a big fight next?

While the crowd was suspicious and cold sweat flowed, Miao Taihou finally came to her senses, pointed at Prince Shun, and roared:

"Take him!"

At this moment, flowery explanations were unnecessary, and elegant, secret signals for action seemed redundant, finally turning into a roar: Take him!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Countless Sword Light emerged from nowhere, shooting toward Prince Shun in the center!

On the roof, on the steps, in the corridors... those places with absolutely no space to hide people shot out Sword Light, the speed of which surpassed human thought. Those Sword Light shot from all directions, dense and precise.

There were quite a few people standing in the trajectory of the Sword Light. Most were bypassed by the precise Sword Light and remained unscathed, while some unlucky ones were stabbed, blood splashing everywhere. But at this moment, everyone's attention was not on them; everyone was staring only at Prince Shun!

Chi, chi, chi—Rip!

Prince Shun had already been covered by the Sword Light, and even his figure was buried, but after the Sword Light struck, there was no sound of flesh being cut, nor were there any screams. Instead, there was a ripping sound; it was a friction sound, born after some kind of power collided with the Sword Light.

Uh... this power, it sounds very familiar, doesn't it?

While the crowd was suspicious, the first round of Sword Light had ceased and gradually extinguished, revealing Prince Shun's unscathed body.

His body was covered in a layer of lightning. The originally violent lightning was as tame as water on him, hanging on him like armor, blocking the incoming Sword Light for him. He lifted his head slightly, his expression arrogant; clearly, he hadn't taken the attack just now seriously.

Everyone felt their breathing stop, with only two words in their minds:

Lightning!

That was lightning!

Prince Shun blocked Miao Taihou's first wave of attacks, which was not strange. Since he dared to speak, he couldn't have just come here to die. But the lightning flowing around his body made everyone suspicious and reminded them of one person.

Could it be that Prince Shun had obtained the support of that person?

Then it wouldn't be strange for him to suddenly launch an attack!

Miao Taihou's face turned ashen, and she said, "You, you actually..."

Since Prince Shun had blocked the thunderous blow, he naturally won a second chance to speak. He glared and shouted, "Miao Taihou, you have already confessed without being asked! Even if you kill me, it cannot change your poisonous act of killing your own child for power! This is truly worse than a beast; even a tiger does not eat its cubs! As early as last year, you killed the Emperor, then forged an edict to summon the feudal lords from all over to Jingshi, intending to wipe us all out at the Lantern Festival, then install an ignorant child as emperor, continue to be your regent Empress Dowager, and even imitate the previous dynasty to ascend the throne as a female emperor!"

Miao Taihou was furious. Prince Shun was wantonly splashing dirty water on her. The Emperor was killed by her, but it was an accidental killing, and it wasn't last year, but on the seventh day. The feudal lords were not summoned to Jingshi by her, let alone any "wiping them all out." After the incident, she was also at a loss and only wanted a smooth transition; how could she still be thinking about being a female emperor?

But because she demanded an attack the first time Prince Shun spoke, she lost the right to argue.

Moreover, she was also flustered at this time because she saw the power of the lightning.

That was the State Preceptor's power.

Logically, she was doing things according to the State Preceptor's instructions and shouldn't be suspicious at this time, but she thought of how the State Preceptor hadn't appeared for these few days, and the messengers she sent had also disappeared without a trace, so she couldn't help but lose her composure.

But at this time, she still braced herself and shouted, "Prince Shun, stop spouting nonsense! Iron Guards!"

At this moment, the surrounding pillars moved, and eight Iron Guards wearing armor and carrying swords suddenly appeared, surrounding Prince Shun together.

These eight people had an imposing aura; they were actually eight Sword Heroes!

After all, this was the top-tier confrontation in the Human World; as soon as they appeared, they were Sword Heroes. The Sword Heroes didn't even have names, only the title of Iron Guards.

Prince Shun shouted, "Iron Guards, you are the Iron Guards of the Great Jin, protecting the safety of my royal family. How can you listen to the orders of this woman who killed the monarch? To set things right and restore the sun and moon—it all depends on you!"

Although he shouted righteously, these people were all loyalists carefully selected by Miao Taihou; how could they be stopped by his few words? Sword shadows flickered, and eight streaks of Sword Light emerged together!

Although there were only eight streaks of Sword Light, each of these eight streaks was the full-force strike of a Sword Hero, surpassing the countless Sword Light from before!

And the lightning light screen around Prince Shun, although it seemed indestructible, could not hold up when facing truly powerful force; it shattered suddenly, revealing Prince Shun's true self.

And at this moment, Prince Shun was not afraid at all; the Sword Light reflected on his face, turning his face silver-white.

The next moment, his complexion turned from white to gold!

A golden light erupted from his body, molding him into a golden statue!

That golden radiance was magnificent, solemn, vast, and noble, beyond compare! Everyone present immediately felt the urge to prostrate themselves in worship!

"Great Ancestor Protection!"

Within the crowd, Chun Wang let out a low shout.

This was the method of protection left by the Great Ancestor of the Great Jin for his bloodline, preventing blades and swords from easily harming the royal family. Although this was a Sword Technique, it was connected to the Great Jin's national treasure and National Fortune; as long as the National Fortune did not decline, this Law would not be broken.

As for the fact that the Great Jin's National Fortune had already declined, was the Imperial Court not still the Imperial Court? At the very least, it was the Imperial Court in name, the throne still bore the surname Yuan, and the capital had not fallen, so the National Fortune was still there. Even when the Turtle Bandits invaded Jingcheng back then, they were still able to trigger the National Fortune Stele to relocate many members of the royal family; where is the Great Jin now compared to that?

But there was one point...

This kind of bloodline protection did not protect just anyone.

"Ha... Hahaha!"

At this moment, with golden light protecting his body, Shun Wang was even more smug than when he was protected by lightning just now, and he actually threw his head back and laughed, "Do you see? The Great Ancestor is protecting me! This is the first time in my life I have received Great Ancestor Protection. The legacy left by the Great Ancestor has always only protected the Emperor and the Crown Prince, only protecting the orthodox ruler on the throne. I am merely a vassal king, so why did the Great Ancestor protect me too? Because there is currently no Emperor, nor is there a Crown Prince!"

"The Emperor was killed by you, and Xingwang—" He pointed at Xingwang, who was cowering timidly on his seat, "Xingwang is not the Crown Prince. Without name or status, he is not even the eldest imperial brother, so how could he possibly be the orthodox ruler? How would the ancestors acknowledge him? How would the people of the world acknowledge him?"

"Naturally, I will not say that I am the only orthodox ruler. Because there is no sovereign or heir, all close-kin princes have received protection; we are all candidates for succession recognized by the ancestors. Today, all the close-kin princes are here. If you all release your Qi, you will naturally be enveloped by the Great Ancestor's spiritual light. Anyone who possesses this spiritual light has the Mandate of Heaven upon them. The affairs of the Yuan family shall be decided by the Yuan family; there is no need to listen to the dictates of this sinful old woman!"

Wang Fei moved his body, and Chun Wang immediately turned his head and glared at him, his gaze full of warning.

Wang Fei felt helpless; he was just feeling uneasy, not wanting to release any spiritual light. At a time like this, whoever released it would be dragged into this treacherous dispute and forced to take Shun Wang's side. Never mind whether they would win right now; even if they did win, as long as one did not ascend the throne oneself, when the new emperor ascended in the future and remembered that so-and-so was also one of the orthodox candidates, what would happen then?

The various kings were very sensitive to such matters, and no one would wade into these muddy waters...

Suddenly, a streak of spiritual light surged!

Someone had entered the game!

This is... Wang Fei looked over, his eyes widening—

It was Shou Wang!