Chapter 39: Who’s in Favor, and Who’s Opposed? (Part One)
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Chapter 39: Who Is in Favor, and Who Is Opposed? (Part One)
Faced with Yu Xian’s escalating demands, the Princess Consort looked utterly bewildered.
“A cultivator? What is a cultivator?”
“You do not know what a cultivator is, Your Highness?”
Yu Xian clearly did not believe that the woman at Prince Fu’s side could be unaware of cultivators.
The Princess Consort pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
“I do not. The Prince does not tell me everything.”
Yu Xian noticed that even her heartbeat had not changed in the slightest. If she was truly acting, then her performance was far too convincing.
In any case, he would have plenty of time to investigate later. There was no need to hurry.
To be honest, the Princess Consort’s inexplicable trust in him had saved him a great deal of effort.
He did not press her further. Instead, he asked as casually as he could, “I heard Eunuch Li say that the Prince’s funeral was held with your approval. Yet since the Prince’s body has not been found, there is still a chance that he may be alive. Why were you in such a hurry?”
The Princess Consort smiled bitterly. “I would have liked to continue searching for the Prince, but Chief Historian Cui and the others urged me to settle the matter as soon as possible. They said that the Prince’s prolonged disappearance had already unsettled the people.
“The palace’s strength should now be devoted to dealing with the rebel army.
“The Prince disappeared together with the Grand Consecrated. If they are still alive, then with the Grand Consecrated protecting him, there should be no danger.
“Still, I cannot help feeling that they are acting rather hastily.
“But I am only a woman, and it is difficult for me to speak on matters concerning the household and the state. All I could do was secretly order people to continue searching for traces of the Prince.”
“The Grand Consecrated?”
Yu Xian had long heard of this Grand Consecrated. He was the chief of the palace’s Hall of Consecrated Experts and lived in the Number One Heaven Residence, yet Yu Xian had never once seen him. It was said that he guarded Prince Fu day and night.
From Chen Xiao, however, Yu Xian had learned that it was this very Grand Consecrated who had summoned a wall of water to block his killing blow. He had even seized the opportunity to injure him with a water arrow, though its power had been mediocre. The man was merely a low-level cultivator.
That was also why Yu Xian was certain that the palace possessed a cultivator’s inheritance.
The Princess Consort nodded. “The Grand Consecrated is the person the Prince trusts most. He is extremely powerful, but he never reveals his true face. Even I have encountered him only a few times by chance.”
Yu Xian thought in silence.
Had Prince Fu heard some rumor and faked his death to escape, or had the Lin family’s cultivators been so formidable in their assassination that not even a corpse remained? Either possibility seemed plausible.
Fortunately, whichever the truth, the Lin family’s cultivators had already accomplished their objective.
Changning Commandery had visibly descended into chaos.
Everyone was fighting over the power vacuum left by Prince Fu’s death. Even the Princess Consort had sensed the threat. In her desperation, she had actually sought help wherever she could, entrusting her life and fortune to him.
Under such circumstances, the Lin family’s cultivators certainly would not waste another late-stage Energy Refinement cultivator watching over Prince Fu’s palace.
“I understand. Please rest assured, Your Highness. As long as I remain here, this palace will not fall into disorder.”
Yu Xian gave Jade Orchid a gentle smile.
“Jade Orchid, you and Her Highness have not seen each other for several months. Stay here and keep her company.”
Yu Xian took his leave.
The moment he turned around, a trace of murderous intent appeared in his eyes.
He had always known when to yield and when to act with force.
Originally, he had intended to proceed slowly and gradually seize control of the palace. But now that the Princess Consort had voluntarily placed the blade in his hand, there was no need for him to remain courteous.
…
Prince Fu’s coffin was soon buried in the royal mausoleum.
On the day of the burial, the entire city came out to see him off. The procession stretched for dozens of miles, while white funeral paper drifted through the air and lingered for a long time, like the first snow of the year.
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This was not because Prince Fu had been especially beloved by the people.
Rather, the authorities had issued a proclamation requiring every household to send someone to the funeral. Constables and patrol officers had been dispatched to supervise them. Thus, the entire city formed a grand procession and gave Prince Fu a funeral of great magnificence.
In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed.
In the spacious courtyard before the main hall of the palace, Yu Xian sat leisurely in a grand armchair, idly turning a red leather wine gourd in his hand. Inside was medicinal wine newly prepared for him by Physician Huang, though its effects were already far weaker than before.
He now possessed the cultivation of the eighth level of Energy Refinement. Nourished day and night by his abundant spiritual power, his physical constitution was comparable to that of an Innate martial artist.
Even without using spiritual power, he could be considered a match for a hundred men through physical strength alone.
With such a body, dealing with Jade Orchid alone was more than easy enough, and his cultivation had grown steadily stronger as a result.
Still, even if he had enough, supplementation was never a bad idea.
Yu Xian took a small sip of the medicinal wine. Its potency slowly spread through his abdomen, leaving a faint sweetness lingering on his tongue.
Standing before him was the palace guard force, more than a hundred men in all. They were divided into three companies, each composed of hardened, highly skilled martial artists.
Every one of them wore light armor and carried standard military weapons. Their captains were all peak-level Acquired martial artists, only one step away from becoming Innate grandmasters.
Of course, many people could never cross that step in their entire lives.
Each company here could hold off an ordinary martial arts grandmaster. They could be regarded as pseudo-Innate experts.
If Chen Xiao had not possessed such vicious poison arts, which happened to counter group attacks, and if he had not caught them by surprise, he would never have been able to force his way through the palace gates.
Aside from them, there were also the many consecrated experts of the Hall of Consecrated Experts.
Yet at this moment, they were all standing while Yu Xian sat at his ease, as though he were the master of the household. This immediately aroused the displeasure of several of the consecrated experts.
“Was it not the Princess Consort who summoned us here? Why are you the one sitting up there, Consecrated Yu?”
“Consecrated Yu, do not forget your place.”
“Consecrated Yu, please do not overstep yourself.”
They were all consecrated experts. Although Yu Xian ranked one level below them, they were not in a superior-subordinate relationship, nor were they under his command. Yet his manner made them seem like servants.
Yu Xian smiled and said mildly, “Allow me to inform everyone that, under Her Highness’s instructions, I am now in charge of the palace’s internal affairs. In other words, every matter within the palace falls under my authority, including all of you.”
“Today, I summoned you here in Her Highness’s name because I wish to ask everyone for a favor.”
“I see. Then what is it that you want us to do, Consecrated Yu—no, Chief Steward Yu?”
The speaker was a young gentleman with charming, peach-shaped eyes and an exceptionally handsome face. Although spring was only halfway over and his robes were still firmly fastened, he already held a folding fan in his hand.
His name was Xia Zhu, the youngest son of the wealthy Xia family in the city. The palace had accepted him as a consecrated expert because of his outstanding talent in painting and calligraphy.
His family possessed immense wealth. The reason he had become a consecrated expert was to use the palace’s influence to make a name for himself.
Everyone knew that the palace’s Hall of Consecrated Experts accepted only those with the most exceptional skills. Thus, becoming one of its members was equivalent to acquiring a prestigious seal of approval.
By now, Xia Zhu was famous throughout Changning Commandery. He no longer cared whether he possessed the palace’s title, and consequently spoke without much restraint.
Yu Xian said slowly, “I presume everyone knows that the Prince was assassinated and killed not long ago. I happened to learn that his death was connected to one of the spies among us.
“It was precisely this person’s betrayal of the Prince’s whereabouts that brought about his calamity.
“I would like to ask everyone to help uncover him.”
The matter concerned the assassination of the Prince. Everyone held their breath and dared not say much, afraid of being branded a spy.
“How does Chief Steward Yu intend to investigate?”
It was Xia Zhu who asked again.
At his age, he cared deeply about his reputation. He had been the one to answer before. If he now became so frightened that he dared not speak, he had no idea how people would mock him afterward.
Hearing this, Yu Xian shook his wine gourd with a troubled expression.
“I have not yet decided how to investigate. That is why I asked everyone to wait.”
“What?”
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The crowd erupted in an uproar.
“Are you making fun of us, Chief Steward Yu? You tell us there is a spy among us, yet you do not know how to investigate? Are we supposed to stand here waiting for you every day until you think of something?”
One hot-tempered consecrated expert cupped his fists and took his leave.
“Chief Steward Yu, I have urgent matters at home. I will not indulge in this farce any longer.”
His name was Yan Hongfei, master of the Yan Family Martial Academy. He possessed the peak Acquired martial arts cultivation and had countless disciples throughout Changning City. He had even served for a time as an instructor in the city defense camp.
He turned to leave.
“If you walk away, I will take it as proof that you have a guilty conscience.”
Yu Xian tapped the armrest of his chair. His voice remained calm and unhurried, yet a chill crept down everyone’s backs.
Yan Hongfei halted. He turned to face Yu Xian and forcibly suppressed his anger.
“Chief Steward Yu, what exactly do you want?”
Yu Xian sighed. “Why are you all so impatient? Very well, very well. We shall adopt a compromise.”
He flicked a finger.
A tiny black pill shot through the air and stopped precisely in front of Yan Hongfei.
“This is the Seven-Day Death Pill. Once swallowed, if no antidote is taken within seven days, your intestines will rupture and your organs will rot until you die.”
“If the investigation proves that Consecrated Yan is innocent, I will naturally give you the antidote.”
The Poison Scripture contained few methods for dealing with cultivators, but it possessed an astonishing variety of techniques for dealing with ordinary martial artists.
Some of its poisons were even said to be capable of bringing down martial arts experts at the peak of the Innate realm.
They were said to be capable only because even the cultivator who had written the Poison Scripture had never seen a martial artist at the peak of the Innate realm.
The Seven-Day Death Pill was originally called the Blood-Feeding Gu in the Poison Scripture. It was an extremely tiny venomous insect known as a Blood Eater, which fed on blood. After special refinement, it could become a gu worm that devoured the flesh and blood of martial artists.
Yu Xian had obtained it through Physician Huang.
Although Physician Huang appeared docile and fearful before Yu Xian, outside the palace he was known as a strange physician. He loved using bizarre patients as subjects for his medical experiments.
His methods of treatment were always unconventional. If a patient died under his care, then so be it. Only those who had exhausted every other option were willing to place their lives in his hands and take a gamble.
Even so, he had never been short of trouble.
After all, before a person died, their family would say, “Doctor, treat him however you like. If you cannot save him, I will accept it.”
But once the person died, their words became, “You quack! Give me back his life!”
After Physician Huang joined the palace, however, such trouble was essentially eliminated.
To return to the matter at hand, because he had seen so many strange illnesses, Physician Huang also possessed a great many strange things.
The Blood Eater was one of them.
Martial artists had not yet developed spiritual awareness, and therefore possessed very few ways to deal with a gu worm hidden inside the body. Even an Innate martial artist who swallowed the Blood-Feeding Gu would grow weaker day by day until every shred of flesh had been devoured.
However, taking a special medicine could suppress the Blood-Feeding Gu’s activity.
Faced with the Seven-Day Death Pill, Yan Hongfei laughed in fury.
“Chief Steward Yu, I have always conducted myself honorably. Even Constable Zhou has yet to reach a conclusion regarding the Prince’s death, yet you intend to force me to swallow a poison pill on such a ridiculous pretext. You are being far too tyrannical!”
“I will not swallow your poison pill. But I am leaving. If you truly believe that I am some kind of spy, then take my head and report to the Princess Consort!”
Yan Hongfei turned and walked away.
He had taken only two steps when the sound of something slicing through the air came from behind his ear.
Before he could react, pain exploded in his foot. He fell forward onto his knees. Great beads of sweat rolled down his forehead from the agony, yet he stubbornly refused to make a sound.
His bloodshot eyes first turned toward Yu Xian, who had not even risen from his chair, and then toward the middle-aged swordsman who had attacked him.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
End of Chapter
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