Chapter 1624 - The Dust Settles!

Asura had never imagined that his foe would be so crafty. He had scouted out the area before and seen that no one was around. Otherwise, he would have never walked into the trap in the first place.

But it was clear that his foe had outplayed him. They had positioned men even farther off and waited until now to close the net.

If this tight encirclement had not been enough to make Asura yield, if he still wanted to try and break out, at this moment, even more torches appeared as the various consorts appeared with their maids, eunuchs, and servitors. Asura’s face instantly turned ashen.

“This consort can’t believe it! To think it was true! Someone really was trying to kill Jade Consort Xiao!”

“How despicable! They even tried to frame Jade Consort Xiao and the Fifth Prince!”

“Just what sort of person was behind it all? We must have the Sage Emperor investigate this! Seize that assassin, quickly! Don’t let him escape! We might be able to find a clue on him.”

“Everyone, hear my order! Seize that assassin, and this consort will richly reward you!”

The voices of the various consorts caused Asura’s heart to sink. When evil grew one foot taller, the righteous would grow ten feet. Anything he did now would be pointless.

Even if he turned back around and killed Jade Consort Xiao, it would still be pointless.

After tonight, whether Jade Consort Xiao lived or died, Fifth Prince Li Heng would be walking out of the Imperial Clan Court.

And he was the crucial piece that would allow Li Heng to go free!

King of Foreign Lands!

Asura looked up, only one name on his mind. Although he had no evidence, Asura was sure that the King of Foreign Lands had planned all of this.

He had lost, utterly and thoroughly.

And he had brought the First Prince down with him!

……

“What? Asura was captured?”

The Eastern Palace resounded with furious roars that shook its very foundations.

“How could this be? How could this be?! It’s impossible!!”

The First Prince raved and bellowed.

He had just gone to deal with a weakling consort, and Asura was a peak Brigadier General, but he had been captured? How could that be?

He would never believe it!

The First Prince’s eyes were bulging in rage and disbelief.

“Your Highness, this news is confirmed! We also didn’t think that Jade Consort Xiao would get in touch with the other consorts. Even the Assistant Minister of the Imperial Clan Court was called over,” a kneeling guard reported.

Around him, Zhu Tong’en and the other Eastern Palace aides were also kneeling, panicked looks on their faces.

This development was too sudden, and not even they had expected it!

“Impossible! This can’t be! I transferred away all three Grand Marshals! Just who else in the inner palace could be so powerful that they could heavily injure Asura with just one axe strike!?”

The First Prince gnashed his teeth, his last few words unleashed in an infuriated roar.

His previous subordinates had all been killed by Zhao Fengchen and Wang Chong’s joint operation, and Asura had been his sole loyal and reliable subordinate left.

He could still find powerful subordinates, but how could he find ones as loyal and reliable as Asura at such a critical time?

“Your Highness, we don’t know either!”

Everyone was pale, their minds in disarray.

While assisting the First Prince, they had assisted him diligently in defeating numerous foes and planning many operations. There had never been any sort of error, but in this rather simple operation, one flaw after another had emerged, and even their colleague Asura had been captured. This made all of them panicked and uneasy.

“Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!”

The First Prince was even more enraged by his terrified advisors.

“How could it be like this? Impossible, impossible! This prince doesn’t believe that Jade Consort Xiao would be this shrewd. Wang Chong, it was you! It was definitely you!!”

The First Prince furiously paced within his palace, his voice tearing from his enraged bellows.

“Wang Chong, things won’t end like this! This prince won’t let you go!”

……

Whoosh!

As the First Prince bellowed, a carrier pigeon took flight from the Imperial Palace and landed several thousand meters away in the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

Within the resplendent hall, Xu Keyi received the pigeon, glanced at the letter it had delivered, and then smiled as he walked up to Wang Chong and bowed.

“Your Highness, the fish that escaped the net last time, Asura, has been captured. Just as you predicted, the First Prince really did walk into the trap.

“In addition, the consorts and concubines were all there to serve as witnesses, as was the Assistant Minister of the Imperial Clan Court. With so many people as eyewitnesses, the Fifth Prince’s departure from the Imperial Clan Court is certain.”

Wang Chong silently listened, his eyes half-closed and his face expressionless.

The entire incident from start to finish had been basically as he had predicted. From the moment he learned the news, he knew that the First Prince was involved.

The First Prince was vicious and willing to resort to any method, so Wang Chong could only respond with his own trick.

The revival of ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ had completely upset the First Prince’s tempo.

The First Prince would never know that Wang Chong’s every action from the moment he had departed his residence to the moment he had returned had been deliberate. He had even left the First Prince’s scouts unmolested so that they could see it all.

The First Prince was just too vigilant, particularly after the Public Order Squad and border incidents. Wang Chong knew that the First Prince regarded him as a major threat and would be watching his every movement, and anything he did would draw the First Prince’s suspicion.

Thus, Wang Chong let his foe see all of his actions. Only this would allow the First Prince to disregard his subordinates in the shadows.

“Your Highness, should we eliminate the First Prince’s scouts outside the residence?” Cheng Sanyuan asked.

“There’s no need.”

Wang Chong waved his hand.

“Let them do as they please!”

What was true was false and what was false was true. This was the only way he could prevent the First Prince and King Qi from seeing his true goals.

Wang Chong paused for a moment before adding, “In addition, Xu Keyi, write a letter of gratitude for me to Consort Taizhen.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Xu Keyi bowed.

Outside officials were forbidden from entering the palace after the Xu Period (7-9 pm). This was an iron law that not even Wang Chong could defy.

The number of experts in the palace that could heavily injure an expert like Asura with one blow could be counted with one’s fingers, and Consort Taizhen just happened to have one. This was a secret Dragon Guard that the Sage Emperor had dispatched specifically to guard Consort Taizhen.

Dragon Guards had a special status and Consort Taizhen herself had a very sensitive status, so Wang Chong had the Dragon Guard wear a suit of black armor and a black mask to conceal his identity.

Thus, Consort Taizhen had played no small part in the success of this operation.

……

Time flew by. Jade Consort Xiao had been attacked and made to seem like she had committed suicide, and after she survived this tribulation, another assassin had made an attempt on her life. The consorts of the palace and their numerous maids and eunuchs had all witnessed this, and the entire palace quaked. All the one-hundred-thousand-some Imperial Army soldiers in the palace were mobilized to scour the place for any more assassins.

Three days after this massive operation had begun, outside the Imperial Clan Court…

Boom!

The gate opened with a boom, and Fifth Prince Li Heng and Li Jingzhong walked out together.

“Finally out!”

Fifth Prince Li Heng couldn’t help but emotionally sigh as he looked at the sky outside the Imperial Clan Court.

Although this trial had only lasted for a few days, it had felt like years for Li Heng.

This was the closest he had been to death. It was also the first time he had ever been imprisoned within the Imperial Clan Court, and it had even been for the charge of meddling with the harem!

This was something that he had never imagined possible.

If not for Wang Chong, he would have truly become a prisoner with no right to inherit the throne.

“Your Highness, the First Prince is willing to go to any lengths to obtain victory. We can’t back down anymore!”

Li Jingzhong took in a greedy breath of air. As he basked in its freshness, he found this chance to once again see the light of day even more precious.

Only when one lost something would one realize how precious it was. Even though he had left the Imperial Clan Court alive, just the thought of his experience had him sweating in fear.

Power was the most fundamental thing in the world, that which allowed one to control one’s own fate. Without power, he would be manipulated by others as they pleased, and he would end up in the Imperial Clan Court again.

After a few moments of silence, Li Heng spoke with an entirely different tone in his voice.

“Uncle Jing, I understand!”

A stunned Li Jingzhong subconsciously turned to look and saw Li Heng looking forward with a profound light in his eyes. Li Jingzhong saw a determined look in Li Heng’s eyes and a luster and radiance on that young face that he had never seen before.

“I won’t yield again! Since First Imperial Brother wants to fight, then we’ll fight to the end!”

After a few moments of stunned silence, Li Jingzhong understood what was happening and became ecstatic.

Li Heng’s eyes were sparkling. Well-behaved men were bullied, and well-behaved horses were ridden. The War of the Princes had always been a cruel affair, and this experience had finally made Li Heng understand that he could show no compassion in the War of the Princes, nor could he back down.

On this point, master and servant were in complete agreement.

……

With the Fifth Prince’s release, this incident that had riled up the palace and even drawn in the harem finally came to an end.

Meanwhile, after the series of ‘frights’ she had experienced, Jade Consort Xiao began to get weaker and weaker. Half a month later, she tripped and fell into a lake, where she ‘drowned’. But this time, Jade Consort Xiao’s death did not cause much of a stir within the palace.

Not long after the death of ‘Jade Consort Xiao’, a carrier pigeon flew into the King of Foreign Lands Residence.