Chapter 97 - 77: Interfering with Imperial Power
Chapter 97: Chapter 77: Interfering with Imperial Power
The Imperial Palace was a scene of devastation. Countless jade towers and marble halls had collapsed, and even the waters of Taiye Lake had dried up.
Early in the morning, a Seal Master was in the palace, ordering eunuchs and the Imperial Guard to clean up the mess and repair the buildings.
Su Chen stretched lazily.
Assuming his guise as Xu Ge, he returned to the Library Pavilion.
It was as if all the chaos of the previous night had nothing to do with him.
No one would have ever imagined it.
That the magnificent Wind Snow Little Grandmaster had been hiding in his old haunt, the Library Pavilion, all along.
Inside the Library Pavilion, everything was peaceful and quiet.
Perhaps because it was so remote, the chaos of the previous night had not reached the Library Pavilion in the slightest.
Rare flowers and exotic plants emanated a sweet fragrance.
Only the Little Turtle in the water tank lazily crawled out to sunbathe, exposing its belly to the sky.
BURP.
It was stuffed.
The little turtle couldn’t eat another bite.
Cyan Sparrow, as always, was still on the roof of the Library Pavilion, cultivating day and night with extraordinary diligence.
Su Chen left the gift he had brought for her at the door.
’Such a huge commotion in the Imperial Palace, and the Regent Crown Prince was killed.’
’The Flame Emperor can’t keep playing dead after this. It’s just not plausible anymore.’
’It’s about time he came back.’
So Su Chen thought.
However, seven days passed, and the Flame Emperor still had not returned.
News arrived from the Western Depot in Jinjiang City, claiming the Flame Emperor’s condition had worsened and that he needed to continue recuperating.
Then, the Flame Emperor appointed another prince—the Second Prince—to assume the title of Crown Prince and temporarily oversee the duties of the Regent.
He offered no response whatsoever regarding the great upheaval in the Imperial City seven days prior.
Rumors swirled throughout the land.
Some said the Flame Emperor was afraid!
But others claimed that the ambitious Flame Emperor was plotting a world-shaking scheme.
When Su Chen learned of this news, he was in the Library Pavilion, burying seven azure Immortal Stones in the medicinal field, loosening the soil, and fertilizing the newly planted seeds.
"Is the Flame Emperor truly unwell?" Su Chen asked, looking at Yu Zhong, who had brought the news.
Yu Zhong had been absent for some time, seemingly sent to Jinjiang by Xuan to handle some business.
Watching Su Chen tend to the medicinal field, Yu Zhong seemed to be in a daze.
For a fleeting moment, he felt that Captain Xu before him was the very same Lord Su he had served years ago.
But soon, he shook his head.
’Lord Su was a man of peerless cultivation, free to roam the Human World as he pleased. How could he possibly remain here, toiling away in the depths of the palace?’
’Captain Xu is twenty-seven or twenty-eight, while Lord Su would be thirty-eight. How could they possibly be the same person?’
For all these years, the East and West Depots had been searching for the elusive Lord Su.
’How could Lord Su be right under the Western Depot’s nose, in his old haunt at the Library Pavilion? It’s impossible.’
"Unwell?"
Yu Zhong sneered.
"That ’Your Majesty’ of ours spends his days lingering on tower ships and painted boats, indulging in carnal pleasures and forgetting all thoughts of return."
"He’s as lively as a dragon and fierce as a tiger. He’s probably terrified of Lord Su and only feels a sliver of security while protected by the hundred thousand soldiers in Jinjiang."
Yu Zhong held the Late Xuanlong Emperor in the highest esteem, but his disgust for the Flame Emperor was palpable.
And he wasn’t alone.
The Old Liang powers all felt the same way.
This was because the Flame Emperor had never treated the Liang People as human.
Even now, he still insisted on his "First-class Zhou, Second-class Liang" policy. Across the land, officials continued to enforce the Flame Empire’s decrees, driving the Liang People to their deaths.
Even after the Wind Snow Little Grandmaster sealed the heavens over the Imperial City with his sword wind, intending to reconcile the Zhou and Liang, and even went so far as to sacrifice a Liang Grandmaster for this cause, the Emperor remained unrepentant.
Anyone who disrespected Lord Su—even the Emperor—was an enemy of their Western Depot!
"Is there still no news of Chief Steward Ye from the Imperial Mausoleum?" Su Chen asked.
"None."
"The Military Supervision Bureau is falling apart."
"Only three of the Eight Tigers are left. They’re clamoring every day that Chief Steward Ye is dead, and they want to carve up the Western Depot and go their separate ways."
"Furthermore, the three red robes of the Military Supervision Bureau have switched their allegiance to the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Seal, Sikong, just to save their own skins. As for the other First-Grade Tributors, many who participated in the upheaval seven days ago have fled for their lives."
"Urged on by the various First-Grade masters of Great Zhou, the newly appointed Regent Crown Prince has been making moves against the Military Supervision Bureau, both openly and in secret..."
Yu Zhong’s voice grew hoarse.
After the great upheaval in the Imperial City, the political landscape had been turned upside down.
The conflict between Old Liang and New Zhou was now completely out in the open.
The struggle had begun.
Now, the Military Supervision Bureau existed in name only.
The Western Depot would soon follow.
’Chief Steward Ye is rumored to be dead. With only Captain Xu, a man with no cultivation to speak of who just holes up in the Library Pavilion, how could they possibly lead the Western Depot?’
’How could he prop up the Military Supervision Bureau?’
’The Western Depot is finished!’
’If not for their fear of the Wind Snow Little Grandmaster, the butcher’s knife would have fallen long ago.’
There was no way around it.
The Western Depot and the Military Supervision Bureau were simply too close to the seat of Great Zhou’s imperial power.
The only reason the Western Depot hadn’t completely fallen apart was that its members were still clinging to a sliver of hope: the hope that they could find Lord Su and have him take charge.
Then, not even the imperial throne would dare to treat them with contempt.
"Do you want to replace Xuan and lead the Western Depot?"
Su Chen seemed unconcerned with the volatile situation in the Western Depot.
In the Western Depot, he only knew two people.
One was Han.
The other was Xuan.
Oh, right.
And half a person—Yu Zhong, the man standing before him who had brought him back from Jinjiang.
"Captain Xu, you must be joking."
"Heh."
"I am only at the Third Grade Gang Qi Realm, not a First Grade True Essence Minor Master. I can’t carry the banner for the Western Depot."
Yu Zhong gave a bitter smile.
He looked at Xu Ge, seemingly lamenting how the captain of the Western Depot could ask such a foolish and naive question.
’Ask me to take charge? Could I possibly handle it?’
The Western Depot, in its current state, was the first prey targeted by Great Zhou’s imperial power.
’Even with more First-Grade masters, the Western Depot couldn’t be saved. It has already reached a dead end!’
"And what if you had this?"
Su Chen stood up, casually handed Yu Zhong a brocade box from the table, and then went back to trimming the leaves of the Heart-devouring Withered Leaf Vine.
A distant look came over his face.
’The last time I handed over a brocade box... how long ago was that?’
’It must have been three years ago.’