Chapter 772: The Other Side’s Turn
The Immortal Questioning Bell could be used to assess the heart. When truth was expressed from the heart, the bell would toll, as it had just now in response to Ningyan’s declaration.
Ningyan’s act of standing was part of the process of an internal transformation. Then he struck the bell. As it tolled, his soul experienced a baptism. It was a brutal baptism, like that of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Blood oozed out all over him. His five yin organs and six yang organs trembled, and it was only with great effort that he managed to look up in the direction of the palace hall. He could just barely see the emperor seated inside, his face completely expressionless.
“I didn’t do it,” Ningyan said hoarsely. As everyone looked on, he slumped and then passed out.
Xu Qing grabbed him before he fell and gently lowered him to the ground. Xu Qing’s heart was pounding. Despite whatever evidence pointed to Ningyan as the culprit, Xu Qing didn’t believe that Ningyan was responsible. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the ability or opportunity to prove that. He felt certain that the emperor wouldn’t overlook important evidence, and yet... the emperor’s actions were clear.
That said, based on everything Xu Qing had experienced in life, he felt certain that in most situations, there was more than met the eye. And that was definitely the case with the emperor’s actions here. Xu Qing then recalled the imperial edict sent to Ningyan after the death of King Heaventide. Although that edict had seemed harsh, there was actually deep meaning in it. What was more, the emperor had used the words ‘stubborn and mischievous.’ [1]
What if this is the emperor’s way of protecting Ningyan?
Xu Qing thought back to some things his Master had told him about how to analyze things. By putting himself in the emperor’s shoes, he could evaluate the situation from a different perspective.
If I was the emperor, and the evidence implicated my son, what would I do...? The emperor is not just an emperor to a single person. He’s the emperor of all humankind. Nor is he simply a father....
There’s something else to consider. When the chief minister came out, it happened to be exactly at sunrise, when the Immortal Questioning Bell appeared. Was that done on purpose, to hint to Ningyan to use the bell? Were they intentionally provoking Ningyan into being decisive?
Of course, there’s another possibility. Maybe it’s true that the emperor thinks of Ningyan as being dispensable. The evidence points one way, so the emperor focuses on that. Maybe Ningyan is being framed, but that doesn’t exculpate him from involvement. And maybe there are more clues pointing toward him or people he knows. Perhaps that’s why I was summoned as well. There’s also the possibility that something else entirely is going on, and I just haven’t thought of it.
No amount of pondering on Xu Qing’s part would reveal what the emperor was actually thinking.
As the sound of the bell dissipated, the chief minister stood in front of the palace hall with his head bowed as he waited for an imperial edict. He didn’t have to wait long. Moments later, the emperor spoke in an emotionless voice.
“Everyone connected to the Creation Division incident will be imprisoned in the Celestial Earthly Prison. Guyue Bixuan and Guyue Ningyan will be imprisoned in the palace’s Heavenly Prison.
“The imperial capital will remain on strict lockdown. Keep all the spell formations active at the highest level. Shut down all teleportation portals. Impose a curfew starting tonight. Everyone from the Five Greater Celestial Divisions will perform independent investigations. In twenty hours, I want full reports from everyone. Find out who stole the Dawning Sun!”
The Celestial Earthly Prison was located outside of the imperial palace, and was operated by the Swordsage Division. Normally speaking, only the most violent and dangerous criminals were locked up there. The palace’s Heavenly Prison was very different from the Celestial Earthly Prison, as it was designed for members of the imperial clan.
As the imperial edict was uttered, thunder crashed, and the imperial guards sprang into action to take Ningyan and everyone else away.
Xu Qing couldn’t stop that. Nor did he have any reason to. He watched Ningyan being led away, and came to the conclusion that the pessimistic take would be to say that this was going to be a deadly catastrophe for Ningyan. But if he was being optimistic, then... it was a protection.
As people were being led away, the chief minister suddenly said, “Region Lord Xu, His Majesty would like you to enter the hall.”
Face expressionless, Xu Qing walked over to the stairs. Stopping in front of the chief minister, he clasped hands and bowed.
The chief minister nodded, then turned and led him up the stairs and into the hall. The people who had previously come into the hall now left, and even the chief minister backed up several paces, waved his hand, and sealed the hall.
In the blink of an eye, the only people present inside were Xu Qing and the emperor.
Looking at the emperor, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed at the waist. “Well met, Your Majesty.”
The emperor sat on the ninth step, emanating a powerful pressure that caused the air to ripple and distort. That made the emperor impossible to see clearly, except for his eyes, which shone like bright pearls. They were as cold as winter, such that anyone he looked at would feel the urge to shiver.
“Xu Qing, take out that Emperor’s Sword from your secret trove and use it to attack me!”
As the emperor’s voice echoed in the hall, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He would never have been able to guess that the emperor would summon him for a private audience and then say something like that. He looked at the emperor’s eyes.
A moment later, he called out to the Emperor’s Sword from his secret trove. The sword... didn’t respond.
The emperor sat in place just like before, his energy fluctuations the same as before. Without any change to his gaze, he calmly said, “Do you know why the Emperor’s Sword won’t respond?”
Xu Qing shook his head.
“Because I have a clear conscience when it comes to humankind, and I have a clear conscience when it comes to the Grand Emperor. You and I are not enemies!”
After that, the emperor closed his eyes. He was done chatting with Xu Qing.
A moment passed, and then Xu Qing bowed again. He turned to leave, and just before he was about to push open the door, the emperor said one more thing from behind him.
“Ningyan chose you. So going forward, I’m putting him in your hands.”
The door opened.
Xu Qing stood there for a few breaths of time, then nodded. He walked out of the hall and into the plaza. Standing beneath the huge statues that formed the entrance, he looked back at the palace hall.
Just what kind of person is the emperor really?
There was no answer to the question.
Xu Qing looked away from the palace hall and walked out into the rain. He didn’t return to the mansion. Instead, he went to the Swordsage Division to offer his help with the investigation into the disappearance of the Dawning Sun.
The Swordsage Division accepted his help. Their investigation was carried out with lightning swiftness. And the first place they focused on was the ancestorial cemetery! Specifically, they went to the ancestorial cemetery, not the ancestral graveyard! The latter was where emperors were interred after death. The former was where other members of the imperial clan were buried.
That was where the Swordsage Division checked on one specific tomb. It was... the tomb of Eleventh Prince, who was Ningyan’s twin brother! [2]
After all, the only hard evidence in play was the image of Ningyan and his energy which had been extracted from the past. Then Ningyan used the Immortal Questioning Bell to prove the truth of his words. That meant there was only one other possibility. And that was that the person who had appeared in the Creation Division was someone who looked like Ningyan and had the same energy as him, but wasn’t Ningyan.
There were magical techniques and other ways of altering one’s physical appearance and aura. Even mortals could do things like that. But in Revered Ancient, only someone with an astounding cultivation base could possibly fool the magical technique of a heavenly king, plus the imperial capital’s grand spell formation. There was little need to mention that the emperor had personally observed the time magic being used.
As a result, Ningyan’s twin brother was first on the list to be investigated. They needed to find out if that specific imperial prince had actually died. Although the death of Ningyan’s brother was an old case, they still had to dig up the details.
The result came in quickly enough. By means of a variety of techniques, they were able to confirm that Eleventh Prince really had died, and was interred in his tomb.
One of the Swordsage Division investigators suggested that they look into Eleventh Prince’s original cause of death, thinking that it might provide them with some new clues. However, the division lord prohibited it.
“It relates to secrets of the imperial family,” he said gravely. “And it has nothing to do with this case. Unless the emperor himself gives orders, we don’t want to get near that.”
As one of the investigators, Xu Qing looked closely at Eleventh Prince’s tomb and thought back to what Ningyan had told him about his older brother and mother dying. It related to secrets of the imperial family, which meant that getting more details was going to be difficult. That line of investigation came to an end.
But there were other angles to explore. Next, the Swordsage Division investigation focused on Ninth Prince and the Creation Division itself. The division lord himself went to the Heavenly Prison to interrogate Ninth Prince.
Meanwhile, other divisions were carrying out their own investigations. In some cases, the investigations overlapped. In some cases they didn’t. Regardless, the results needed to be reported to the emperor, who would make the final judgment. There were ups and downs to that method of running the investigation. But in the end, the downsides weren’t very numerous. The most important thing was that it made it almost impossible for anyone to practice favoritism and engage in cronyism. Every detail needed to be investigated.
Ten hours passed.
During that time, the entire imperial capital was locked down tight. Imperial guards and members of the Five Greater Celestial Divisions looked closely into everything. One clue after another started accumulating.
“Three months ago, Second Prince went to the Creation Division looking to strengthen his personal taboo treasure. He wanted to borrow the power of a Dawning Sun, except his petitions were all rejected. He expressed anger on numerous occasions. According to our investigation, his taboo treasure can inflict large-scale casualties.”
“Grand Prince left the city in a rush yesterday on a diplomatic mission to the Firemoon Darkheaven people. The Firemoon Darkheavens have repeatedly requested that we humans give them a Dawning Sun as tribute. The fact that Grand Prince left when he did is something that should be taken into consideration.”
“People from Seventh Prince’s mansion have repeatedly been seen in the vicinity of the Creation Division over the course of the last month. What’s more, he’s secretly been in correspondence with Fifth Prince, who is currently with the heavenly king securing the border region....”
“The aura of a Dawning Sun was recently detected in the mansion of Tenth Prince.”
“Seven days ago, some nonhumans approached Eighth Prince and proposed a secret deal to acquire a Dawning Sun. We’re not sure of the final result.”
“Ten days ago, Third Prince paid a secret visit to the Creation Division and had an hour-long discussion with Ninth Prince.”
The clues might have seemed benign individually, but when looked at more closely, they revealed some shocking truths. There was a lot going on behind the scenes! Questions started to rise up in the minds of Xu Qing and everyone else involved in the investigation. Other than Fourth Prince and the playboy Sixth Prince, all the other imperial princes were connected to the case in some way or another. It couldn’t be explained away as a coincidence.
It seems like someone is manipulating things from behind the scenes, as if using this investigation to reveal a lot of previously private matters.
Xu Qing found himself thinking back to the day he’d first come to the imperial palace and seen the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan. Someone had made a move on the Go board, and now... the other party was about to make a move.
In the end, the division lord of the Swordsage Division shook his head. “A war of succession is being carried out in secret. But now the details are being forced into the open. And someone is using us to do it. His Majesty is being forced to make a choice. If he doesn’t... then everything will blow up in his face. Maybe someone is trying to push Twelfth Prince into the limelight. Or maybe they’re using him as a threat.” The division lord looked at Xu Qing. “Xu Qing, do you want to go pay a visit to Ningyan?”