Chapter 666

The commoners grew ever more indignant as they spoke.

"Prince Su, Your Highness, although he resides in the State of Chu and is still the Chu emperor, but he alone possesses the backbone that we DaLiang people must not lose!"

"Moreover, he helped us retake the city; Your Highness still holds DaLiang in his heart."

"I've heard as much. Back then, many in the court wanted to drive Prince Su, Your Highness, to death, even secretly sending assassins; he had no choice but to feign his death and escape to find another way."

"Furthermore, when the former crown prince rebelled, Your Highness rendered great service; if he hadn't suddenly abandoned Jinling and that easily seized position… what business does this crown prince have now?"

"Shush—are you looking for death? You dare to spout such nonsense?"

"Anyway, Jinling has long become a foul, miasmic place where they fight their sorcery; die if you must—dead for eighteen years, then you're still a brave man!"

"Now that I think of it, if it weren't for our own DaLiang driving Prince Su, Your Highness, into desperation back then, DaLiang wouldn't be so humiliated by the Western Regions and still dare not retaliate."

"Today, it ought to be our State of Liang that attacks the Western Regions!"

"DaLiang is no longer the DaLiang of the days when the Pei family army still existed…"

The common folk have long lost all hope in the entire Duan imperial dynasty.

Yet the court is still rushing to seize power and profit, paying no heed to the restless popular sentiment stirred by Duan Rongshi.

Grand Princess Xiyue and Crown Prince Duan Rongjue are both eager to settle the succession once and for all.

The crown prince's refusal to mobilize troops ultimately vexed the Grand Princess.

The Grand Princess secretly contacted the Panqi forces she had long been colluding with, stormed the palace one day, intending to seize the barely clinging-to-life Emperor Yan and launch a full rebellion.

But when she burst into the sleeping quarters, she was dumbfounded.

The Emperor Yan, whom she had kept under strict guard, now had no trace of a person.

Not a palace maid or eunuch remained.

The entire sleeping quarters lay empty, as if no one had ever lived there.

And the guards stationed at the gate knew nothing of any of this!

Xiyue panicked and hurriedly searched the palace.

Because her father the emperor was her only remaining bargaining chip!

If she could not control her father's life or death, she would lose her last trump card!

However, the crown prince had long made preparations; he sent the Imperial Forest Army to encircle the princess and the rebel forces: "Imperial Sister, where are you headed?"

"Hand over the father emperor at once!"

Xiyue stared at her third brother, Duan Rongjue, her teeth grinding with hatred.

"Duan Rongjue! It's obvious you kidnapped the father emperor, and now you're trying to turn the tables!"

"The father emperor cannot leave my palace's shaman‑doctor; you wouldn't dare kill me and then kill the father emperor to rebel, would you? You've got the gall of a bear!"

Duan Rongjue walked toward Xiyue with a cold smile: "I just want to ask, Imperial Sister, what exactly you intend to do?"

"The father emperor loves and trusts you so deeply, even granting you the honor of DaLiang Grand Princess—yet it still isn't enough to satisfy you."

"You, a mere woman, dare to covet the father emperor's realm."

"By clinging to the father emperor's last breath and refusing to let him pass on, you merely seek to threaten me so that I cannot act against you."

"Even the court has been turned into a muddy mess by you! You form factions for personal gain, collude with powerful ministers, and seek to drag me down from the crown prince's position."

"If the father emperor truly favored you, he would have long since deposed me and made you heir apparent."

"Don't you understand yet?"

"Imperial Sister, I am the legitimate heir, while you are nothing but a rebel and traitor!"

"You now have only a single path—death!"

The two of them have been locked in struggle for several years.

Even to this day, they have not yet determined a clear winner.

Nowadays, nobody has any patience left.

We must seize the throne quickly in order to secure the realm.

Otherwise, when the border garrisons attack again, that will be true internal trouble and external threat!

The Imperial Forest Army and the Panqi forces fought for three days and three nights inside and outside the palace.

In the end, Duan Rongjue, who was far more scheming and had prepared thoroughly, narrowly prevailed.

The princess fled the city with a few hundred remnants of the defeated Pan Shi forces, her whereabouts unknown.

Naturally, Duan Rongjue sought to exterminate her, so the outskirts of Jinling City were once again awash in a rain of blood and a stench of carnage……

Yet after a full ten days, not only was there no trace of the Grand Princess, but the Emperor Yan's whereabouts had vanished completely.

Along with them, naturally, the Western Regions' shaman‑doctor also disappeared.

The crown prince suspected that the person had been hidden away again by Xiyue.

In his fury, he had the entire princess's residence slaughtered to the last person.

Including the prince consort and the two princesses' sons.

He even arrested the three clans of the prince consort.

"No living person, no corpse—it seems the father emperor has been hidden away."

"That Xiyue is a wicked woman whose evil heart never dies!"

"Since the father emperor has vanished without a trace, I cannot lawfully ascend the throne."

"Search, keep searching!"

"But if after another ten days we still cannot find the father emperor… I will have to take the next step on my own!"

The next step the crown prince spoke of was to fabricate a corpse of Emperor Yan.

A corpse already rotting and crawling with maggots, whose face is utterly unrecognizable.

Clothed in yellow robes, he declares it to be Emperor Yan—who would dare say otherwise?

In secret a death order was issued again: if any more news of Emperor Yan appears, they will be slain without exception!

Conveniently, he can also use this to bring out Xi Yue, and then kill two birds with one stone, completely eliminating the great trouble on his mind!

Power ultimately drives people to complete madness.

The Third Prince, who once swore to never submit to the Lotus Sect, has now been corrupted by power, completely abandoning humanity and morality.

Yet, just as the Crown Prince, clad in a dragon robe, stepped toward the throne of the Nine‑Five Sovereign, a step away, the gates of Jinling were easily breached from outside by the Wan Family Army.

"Crown Prince treason!"

"His Majesty is still alive; the Crown Prince forged the death of the True Dragon to ascend the throne, which is the crime of plotting to usurp the throne!"

"The Wan Family Army, following His Majesty's decree, shall capture the Crown Prince!"

"Crown Prince, quickly submit to judgment and confess—"

Upon hearing the name of the Wan Family Army, the Crown Prince fell hard onto the steps leading to the throne.

The day the Crown Prince first plotted treason was the very day the Wan Family Army set the grand scheme.

Later, after achieving its goals, the Wan Family Army withdrew and returned to garrison the northern frontier.

These years, it has kept a low profile, barely making a sound.

To win over the Wan Family Army, the Crown Prince even married the legitimate granddaughter of General Wan Lao as his side consort.

Even so, the Wan Family Army has remained neutral toward the Crown Prince, but he assumes that with the marital tie, the Wan Family Army should now count as his own faction, right?

Yet now the Wan Family Army has back‑stabbed him!

"General Wan Lao Dog!! You have betrayed me!!"

The Crown Prince, enraged, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

When he hurriedly summoned the Imperial Guard to protect the carriage again, the Imperial Guard instead surrounded the court in a circle.

Commander Wu Wei stepped forward.

"Your Highness, submit to judgment and confess."

Only then did the Crown Prince realize that even the Imperial Guard never truly belonged to him!

"You—"

"Wu Wei, don't forget, I married your own sister!"

Wu Wei: "If you hadn't forced the marriage, why would my sister have to become a concubine?"

"It was you who wanted to fully win me over, doing such disgusting deeds, and you think the Wu family should be grateful to you?"

"My sister originally had a good marriage as a proper wife! Your arrogance ruined her whole life!"

"Rest assured, after Your Highness atones, I will use all my merits to secure safety for your sister."

"My lord will promise this!"

Having said that, Wu Wei waved his hand grandly.

The Imperial Guard surrounded everyone in the Crown Prince's faction.

The Crown Prince, his face pale, stood up and drew his sword from the side, pointing at Wu Wei.

"If you want to take me, then step over my body!"

Wu Wei, of course, would not let him die.

After a fierce battle, Duan Rongjue still could not match the Inner Palace's top martial master; his disheveled hair was left sprawled on the ground.

The Wan Family Army burst into the palace and swiftly took control of the situation.

"Welcome His Majesty, return to the palace—"

Emperor Yan, gasping for breath, was carried back into the palace.

Beside him, the attendant was the very witch doctor who had vanished together.

Duan Rongjue then realized that this witch doctor was never a follower of Xi Yue.

Has he betrayed?

Or was he never truly a pawn of Xi Yue from the start?

But now, without an answer, he could only shout resentfully, "You are the traitors!"

"You are the false rebels claiming the late emperor's decree!"

"The late emperor could not speak long ago; how could he give you a decree?"

"It is you who deceived the world—"

General Wan Lao let out a cold laugh: "Crown Prince… oh no, Third Prince, please watch your words."

"Your plotting to usurp the throne is a fact; His Majesty's restored proclamation is also a fact."

"The old minister personally serves His Majesty; how could that be false?"

Duan Rongjue, eyes full of hatred, shouted, "General Wan Lao Dog!! Do you think that by sowing discord among the Duan clan's descendants and having them kill each other, you can place my young son on the throne and control the nation?"

"You dare not!!"

"Duan Rongshi will certainly not stand by; he will return to kill, leaving you, old dog, headless, while DaLiang remains peaceful—"

General Wan Lao: "You also know Prince Su will return."

"Why forcefully expend effort to vie for that position?"

"Third Prince, rest assured."

"Even if my legitimate granddaughter, under your scheming, bore your offspring, that child will never sit upon that lofty, cold perch."

"As for your side consort, she is my granddaughter."

"She will later follow me back to the northern frontier to live a good life with her mother."

"She will never return to Jinling for all eternity."

"Third Prince, you may stay peacefully in the celestial prison, awaiting your fate!"

General Wan Lao gave a domineering wave, and the shocked, bewildered Duan Rongshi was immediately dragged down.

"Then who exactly are you for?"

"Who exactly are you loyal to—?"

"Wan Lao dog— you shall not die peacefully—"

General Wan Lao's eyes were filled with contempt: "You still can't figure it out, truly foolish beyond measure!"

"If Your Highness didn't urgently need troops, there would be no need to lay your cards so early. Letting you stumble for another two years—what of it?"

"Power truly can ruin a person beyond recognition."

"Now DaLiang's rivers and mountains have become like this, yet they spend all day here quarrelling, fighting for an empty shell that fails to win the people's hearts, and isn't that leading to an early downfall of the nation?"

"If the Duan family didn't still have Prince Su, it would be utterly hopeless."

"Come, men—"

"Quickly assemble the three armies, mobilize troops and dispatch commanders, send a force of three hundred thousand to the frontier!"

"The Western Regions are heartless, heaven lacks humanity! To betray DaLiang, to insult DaLiang's marriage princess, is an unforgivable evil, the two peoples have forged a hatred that cannot coexist!"

"Today Your Majesty's spoken command is to dispatch troops to subdue the Western Regions—"

"Avenge the nation's humiliation—"

"Bring back—Prince Su—"

This war, fought from last winter to this spring, then continued into autumn.

In the blink of an eye, winter arrived again.

Although winter in Mantu City is hard to endure, Li Qingluo has lived here for a year, and now she is already accustomed to it.

Returning from outside, Dong Er immediately stepped forward and took off her cloak for her.

"Lady, a letter from Your Highness has arrived."

Since three months ago when Duan Rongshi led troops to proactively invade the Western Regions, Li Qingluo has been solely defending Mantu City.

Now Mantu City is tranquil.

The entire city is governed in orderly fashion, with prosperity everywhere.

And a month after Li Qingluo gave birth to a princess, Duan Rongshi held a relatively simple coronation ceremony for her in Mantu City.