The Emperor sat on his golden chair inside the throne hall and loudly banged his armchair as the tension spread through the room. The officials attending the morning court knelt on the floor with pale faces while General Fu, the bearer of the bad news, remained unfazed.
"He died… Huang Zi Feng is dead? How?" A vein in the Emperor's forehead bulged.
?
General Fu sneered in his head. The Emperor didn't ask about his own daughter but seemed more concerned about another person's son. It showed the disparity between Huang Zi Feng and Ming Ru Yi in the Emperor's heart. General Fu didn't need more confirmation on the relationship between the Emperor and Huang Zi Feng.
"Master Huang infuriated the Lord of Hei Shen Sect. It was inevitable…" General Fu acted like he was sorry.
The Emperor went limp in his chair with a somber expression. It was not because he lost his son, but because Huang Zi Feng was his only healthy male heir. It was part of his agreement with the Heavenly Jade Pavilion. The Heavenly Jade Pavilion's leader was a meticulous man who didn't completely trust the Emperor. He forced the Emperor to abide by the agreement. Huang Yi Yi, the Emperor's wife who lived away from the palace to hide their relationship, was also a very jealous and cruel woman.
The concubines the Emperor was slightly fond off would die from illness or an accident every time Huang Yi Yi got to learn this. The Emperor couldn't control her since he solely depended on the Heavenly Jade Pavilion's power. He used them to carry out his plan against the previous Emperor. He was no more than the puppet king for the Heavenly Jade Pavilion.
"And the sacred tree…?" The Emperor hissed the question.
"The ancient tomb collapsed. The tree is gone," General Fu looked down to seem more remorseful.
The Emperor shot General Fu an indescribable look before leaning back in his chair with exhaustion. His heir was dead and the tree was gone. Why was everything going in a downward spiral? The first, officials who had let their sons follow the third Princess, were anxious. They wanted to ask about sons' wellbeing but they didn't dare open their mouths as they looked at the Emperor's grim face.
A young eunuch interrupted them as he rushed to the Emperor's personal eunuch with a distressed look. The old eunuch's face turned red then white as the young eunuch whispered into his ear. The mostly calm experienced eunuch looked like a sheep in a slaughterhouse as his hands shook slightly inside his sleeves.
The officials could tell something really bad had happened. They all wished they were absent from the morning court. The old eunuch slowly moved toward the Emperor and leaned closer to his ear. The Emperor was at first stupefied before being anger.
"WHAT?!" The Emperor roared. He abruptly pushed the old eunuch who rolled down the throne's stairs. The eunuch was so terrified to even groan.
"Find the first Princess, NOW!!" The Emperor screamed. The eunuch scrambled around in haste as the Emperor pinched his temples. The officials were flabbergasted as they were unsure of what was happening. The distraught Emperor clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"General Fu, this… Hei Shen Sect dared to hurt the honorable son of Heavenly Jade Pavilion. Why didn't you do anything?" The Emperor directed his anger at General Fu.
"Your majesty, my job is to protect the Liangzu royal family. Why would I protect someone from the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, not mentioning they all had higher cultivation. I don't think they needed this humble servant's protection," General Fu feigned innocence but there was nothing wrong with his words. He was a Liangzu Kingdom general. He did not need to protect anyone but the Liangzu Kingdom royalty. The officials silently agreed with General Fu's argument.
"That..." The Emperor forgot no one in the room knew Huang Zi Feng's real identity. General Fu's innocent words almost trapped him as he almost blurted out the truth. He clenched his jaws and swallowed his words.
"How about my daughter, Ming Ru Yi?" The Emperor used the second scapegoat to push his agenda.
General Fu remained unperturbed, "The reason is the same as Huang Zi Feng and his sister. She irked the demon Lord, Long Ming."
"Why couldn't you stop him? Didn't you say your job is to protect the royal family?" The Emperor asked with sarcasm.
"I did, your majesty. I begged Lord Long Ming to spare the Princess or she would have burned into ashes like Huang Zi Feng or had her limbs cut off to be the beasts' food like Huang Ni Yang," General Fu's words stunned everyone in the room. How much stronger was Long Ming than Huang Zi Feng?
Huang Zi Feng, one of the most talented young men of his age, died easily by Long Ming's hands while Huang Ni Yang was known for her peerless beauty and many admirers was also dead. Every man on the continent fought to be her husband but Long Ming cut her limbs and fed her to the beast. It was unbelievable.
"What irked Long Ming for such a punishment?" The Emperor was curious.
"They harmed Long Ming's fiancée…" General Fu answered bluntly.
Everyone was shocked even more by this revelation. The fact he had a fiancée was shocking news. Long Ming was known to be a cruel, cold, and indifferent man who never got close to any woman. The women who brave enough to seduce him always had bad ending.
The Emperor wanted to question General Fu further but a soldier rushed into the hall. He kneeled on the floor and cupped his fists, "The Heavenly Jade Pavilion emissary has come to seek an audience, you're majesty."
The Emperor closed his eyes with exhaustion. More problems kept knocking on his door but there was nothing he could do. He sighed, "Let them in!"
"Yes, your majesty!" The soldier rose from the floor and left. Five men with white robes entered the room not long after with strong steps. There looked smug and arrogant. It was plain to all they did not respect anyone there, including the Emperor.
"My name is Zu Gong. Our sect master, Huang Si Yun, asked us to come and inquire about the young master and young miss. We want to know what happened?" Zu Gong carelessly cupped his fist. He was one of the few people who knew about the Emperor and the Heavenly Jade Pavilion's cooperation. To him, the Emperor was nothing more than his sect master's lackey and had zero respect for him.
Although the Emperor hated Zu Gong's overbearing attitude, he did not say anything about it as Zu Gong was one of the young elders of the Heavenly Jade Pavilion. Zu Gong was a King Level at peak stage cultivator yet he was only forty. This made him the third strongest person in his sect thus the Emperor couldn't provoke him.
"General Fu, tell master Zu what happened since you were there…" The Emperor sifted the responsibility to General Fu.
General Fu smirked at the Emperor's shameless and cowardly behavior. He wondered why he had never realized it before. The current Emperor was so different from the previous Emperor but it was no surprise since they were not related. General Fu rose from the floor and stood tall before Zu Gong without any fear.
"Long Ming killed them," General Fu said without an ounce of sympathy.
"WHAT!" Zu Gong was bewildered. He couldn't believe it. "Long Ming is here? We didn't hear anything about him being in Liangzu!"
General Fu scoffed and mocked Zu Gong, "Do any of us know where Long Ming comes from or where he has been?"
"You… Are you sure he was the real Long Ming?" Zu Gong wanted to blame the Liangzu Kingdom or General Fu for Huang Zi Feng and Huang Ni Yang's deaths since he didn't want to provoke the Hei Shen Sect.
"Who dares pretend to be Long Ming in this world?" General Fu snickered. Zu Gong acted big yet he was also a coward. "It's up to you to believe it or not. Your young miss tried to kill Long Ming fiancée so the Hei Shen Sect will knock on your doors soon or later. You can then tell if what I'm saying is true or false."
"General Fu!!" The Emperor chided.
"Did you threaten me? Also... since when did Long Ming have a fiancée?" Zu Gong was enraged by General Fu's rudeness. However, he was most afraid of what General Fu said as he knew Huang Ni Yang's temperament. It was not the first time Huang Ni Yang killed other women to snatch their men.
"This general won't dare..." General Fu bowed his head politely but his face told another story. "I'm only stating the obvious. How would we know if Long Ming truly has a fiancée or not? What we all know is Long Ming's bad temperament… He not only killed Huang Zi Feng and Huang Ni Yang but also hurt the third Princess."
"What!! This is not right. We can't let the Hei Shen Sect go on a rampage. We should report this to the other sects and make Hei Shen be accountable for their mistakes!" Zu Gong righteously said. He thought of dragging other sects to gang up against the Hei Shen sect as he couldn't go against them alone. General Fu held back the urge to clap at Zu Gong's cunningness.
"Sure but how? We don't know where the Hei Shen sect headquarters is or where the King Palaces are. We also don't know where Long Ming is or anything else about him?" General Fu mocked Zu Gong. It seemed the Heavenly Jade Pavilion members only increased their cultivation but not their intelligence. It was disappointing to learn.
"That…" Zu Gong's face turned red with embarrassment but he refused to give in. His face lit up as he thought of another idea. "Rumour has it that Zhao Li Xin, Jiang Wei Kingdom sixth Prince is Long Ming's real identity. We can ask the Jiang Wei Kingdom to take responsibility!"
General Fu scoffed and shook his head with exhaustion. It seemed the Heavenly Jade Pavilion not only lacked brains but information too.
"Didn't you hear what happened during the Jiang Wei Kingdom's martial art tournament banquet? Long Ming's people killed the general and the soldiers inside the palace. The bloodstains from the day still haven't been erased completely. Long Ming also made the Kingdom bankrupt. The Kingdom has yet to recover from its financial trouble."
Everyone in the hall, including Zu Gong and his people heard this rumor but they didn't completely believe it as the rumor was too spectacular. What kind of man could solely put a country on its knees? It meant Long Ming was indomitable if the rumor was real.
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