Chapter 189: All people around are enemies ###
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Our father died…” With his right hand shivering, looking up at the royal city under thunder and lightning, the Fourth Prince muttered to himself with mixed emotions which he couldn’t tell were anger or sadness, relaxation or happiness.
He had thought the riot was caused by Devil Empress who was blocked by the Right Chief Minister when she forced her way into the palace. It turned out that his father was poisoned by the Left Chief Minister who was appointed by Crown Prince to do so.
Sword Emperor’s breath was slow and long. He was neither angry nor surprised and waited for Meng Qi’s description. If he believed Meng Qi just based on his words, he and the Fourth Imperial Prince might have been cheated by others.
The breath of surrounding guards and swordsmen became heavy, which seemed to simmer for the eruption of a volcano.
The Fourth Prince looked at Meng Qi directly. He seriously asked, “Is that true?”
“The emperor accepted Young Lad of Jiang Clan and had planned to use the remains of the Demon Venerable to lure and kill the three Great Grandmasters. However, Crown Prince knew his intrigue and appointed the Left Chef Minister to kill the emperor. The left Chef Minister felt that he was abandoned, so he risked to poison the emperor’s food to accelerate his absorption of vitality. As a result, the emperor died when he took in the remains of the Demon Venerable. The Left Chef Minister was afraid to be killed by Crown Prince, so he told it to Evil Prince. Evil Prince arranged the seventh prince to leave the capital and launched the insurrection in the southeast, while he himself was killed by me.”
Meng Qi described the events briefly without omitting any key information. The Fourth Prince and Sword Emperor could understand the details based on their findings and tell whether Meng Qi’s words were true or not based on the logic.
Meng Qi was involved in it too. If he had not kidnapped Ba Tu and Zhangsun Jing, Young Lad of Jiang Clan would have fallen into the hands of one of the Imperial Princes, and the Great Grandmasters would have been trapped, while Demon Venerable Stone would have been sent out and become a lure. The next morning, he would have had nothing to take in, so he would not have died. Therefore, things would have been completely different. Everything was under Meng Qi’s control. What he needed to do was try to thwart the talking, which was more difficult.
“Hey, he was imposing…” Sword Emperor sniggered and said. He was clear about the situation. If the emperor had been still alive, he would have stabbed him too.
The Fourth Prince was serious but calm. He said, “My seventh brother left the capital. The country would be chaotic… My eldest brother was completely cruel and unscrupulous. He dared to kill his father, the emperor!”
The swordsmen had waited for these words for so long. They all drew their swords up to the sky. Unrelenting clanks were heard:
“Crown Prince killed the emperor. Prince, please save the country and the people in danger and kill all the treacherous evil!”
“Prince, please save the country and the people in danger and kill all the treacherous evil!”
Their shouting was aggressive. They meant to push the Fourth Prince to lead them to fight for the throne.
The Fourth Prince strongly put his right hand down and shouted angrily,
“As a son and vassal, I’m committed to killing the treacherous evil!”
“We would fight for you!” The guards and swordmen yelled.
Meng Qi was unhurried. After they calmed down, he stepped forward and said, “My Royal Highness, you should do three things immediately.”
Having the answers of “Sword of Sovereign”, he changed to call him Royal Highness.
“What are they?” Things happened out of his expectation, so the Fourth Prince was unprepared. He had to pretend to ask Meng Qi.
Meng Qi calmly said, “The seventh prince has left the capital, so we don’t need to worry about him. What we must do now are: First, send people to Courier Hostel to find General Lu and tell him Crown Prince killed the emperor. In this way, we can move him to go with us to the military camp to force the West Conquering General to submit to us.”
“It’s the most important thing!” The Fourth Prince nodded and said, “With General Lu’s help, I’m not worried.”
The Iron Mountain Army was strong before. The followers of Lu Guan were all good soldiers. After he was degraded, the emperor divided the Iron Mountain Army. About 30 percent of soldiers were listed in the imperial army which was in the charge of the West Conquering General.
Normally, under powerful royal authority, no matter how the soldiers admired Lu Guan, they did not dare to create chaos nor defy the emperor’s orders. Even though Lu Guan tried hard to fawn over them, it did not work out. Lu Guan deprecated himself that he had no army and no power. There was no need for princes to favor him.
But the emperor died, and the situation was in chaos. If Lu Guan was surrounded by the Fourth Prince who represented the imperial power, with the excuse of Crown Prince’s killing the emperor and the departure of the seventh prince, these soldiers would probably follow Lu Guan and dismiss the demands of the West Conquering General. This was the reason that these imperial princes all wanted to have Lu Guan on their sides. They just wanted to win him for a rainy day.
At the time, when the Iron Mountain Army, which covered about twenty percent of the imperial army, launched a riot, it was hard for the imperial army to distinguish who were enemies in darkness. They would be blocked, and the West Conquering General Xu Jin was totally unable to repress the Iron Mountain Army.
Lu Guan, in the name of the Fourth Prince, could win the soldiers without the Fourth Prince’s suspicion afterward.
The West Conquering General was a martial pro who had reached the peak of Kung fu, so “Heaven Sword” Song Ming and others should also help them. Otherwise, it would be a big joke if the West Conquering General killed the Fourth Prince and Lu Guan.
Meng Qi slightly raised his head and said, “Second, please order your followers to make it widely known that Crown Prince killed the emperor. We should make sure that everyone knows about it, so we have a fair reason for waging war.”
The most important thing was to make Right Chief Minister hesitate when he made the choice. When everything went well as we imagined, he had no other alternative.
“Well, I would not wage a war without a good reason.” The Fourth Prince knew it was an emergency for he feared that he would be accused by Crown Prince in turn. “Minister Meng, what is the third thing?”
He changed the way he called Meng Qi too.
Meng Qi’s left hand pressed on the hilt of the long sword. He disguised himself as a swordsman who used the sword with his right hand and wielded the blade with his left hand. He coldly said, “Kill Prince Xiao and Crown Prince in chaos.”
Prince Xiao was the designated name of the Third Prince.
Except for Sword Emperor, the others were all shocked. They had not expected that God-petrifying Sword Little Meng was so bodacious and straightforward!
“I could block Old Lin, but could you kill Crown Prince?” Sword Emperor asked calmly.
As for the Third Prince, he was absolutely not as important as Crown Prince. Even though Meng Qi did not kill him, he had lost his momentum for he was slower.
Meng Qi said confidently, “If you could block Royal Advisor, I can definitely cut down the head of Crown Prince.”
“Good.” Sword Emperor did not ask more in the way he wielded his sword.
Pointing at Luo Shengyi, Meng Qi said to Sword Emperor, “My friend Luo Shengyi followed Prince Xiao before, but Prince Xiao did not trust him. So he chooses to forsake darkness for the light now, and he was committed to killing Prince Xiao for you, my highness.”
“Perfect, you are righteous!” After he heard of these three things, the Fourth Prince was relieved. He saluted Meng Qi, Sword Emperor, and Ruan Yushu and said, “Please help me deal with the matter of my big brother. When you succeed, my sword room will be open for you.”
He began to give demands in an orderly way such as informing the officials on his side, blocking off the main roads, winning the support of the neutrals…
…While Meng Qi, Luo Shengyi, Ruan Shuyu, and Sword Emperor went out of the Fourth Prince’s mansion and headed to Crown Prince’s mansion, which was also in the Prince District.
When they almost reached Crown Prince’s mansion, Luo Shengyi continued on his way for he had to kill the Third Prince before Devil Empress returned.
Because of the delay in the Fourth Prince’s mansion, Crown Prince had heard the news. He ordered the guards to guard all key entrances and open the middle door widely. The informers were in and out. It seemed to be an upcoming big war.
Although the guards of Crown Prince’s mansion were not stronger than that of the royal city, it was well-organized. It was hard to break through them, but Meng Qi had already thought up a plan.
He observed for a while and was ahead of his companions. He quietly knocked out a soldier, who had returned for report. He removed the soldier’s clothes and headgear and then put them on.
“How can you get in since you don’t know the passwords?” Sword Emperor asked him. Unlike Evil Prince, he had good command of mental illusion.
Meng Qi answered with a smile, “Don’t worry. We will launch our attacks and lead the Royal Advisor off in the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea later.”
Ruan Yushu would stand by as they did in the royal city in case anything unexpected happened.
Sword Emperor nodded. He clenched his sword ready to fight with Prime Maester.
Bent and hidden in the shadow of the lane, Meng Qi jumped out and secretly followed another guard just when he returned to report.
The guard seemed to know he was followed, so he turned back. He did not notice Meng Qi but observed far away.
“Nobody…” He felt that he might be nervous that he had illusions so he quickened his pace and ran to the door.
“Password!” The captain who guarded the door yelled.
The soldier immediately replied, “Today’s candles.”
The password was right, so the captain nodded and let him in.
With his head down, Meng Qi closely followed the soldier and entered the door.
They were so close that the captain thought that they were companions. Therefore, he did not say more or block Meng Qi. The soldier who had the right password did not feel abnormal so others thought they were together. Since they went out for the information together, there was no point repeating the password when they came back.
Seeing this, Sword Emperor was a little surprised. He slightly lifted his eyebrows.
Thanks to the “cover” of the real soldier and his five different passwords, Meng Qi successfully passed five checkpoints and approached the hall. Inside, Crown Prince was giving orders while Prime Maester and the Left Chief Minister were sitting at ease. They were protected by Ruyi Monk and surrounding dozens of top-class or potential martial pros.
They could see through Transformation Strategy, but Meng Qi was safe thanks to the real soldier. He was thought to be a real soldier. How could the big shots inside know all the soldiers?
Crown Prince was well-guarded for assassination. The normal soldiers and Meng Qi could not enter the hall as they would just inform them inside of the information at the stairs. The inside then passed on the message to these big shots.
“The Fourth Prince went to military camps in the city,” Meng Qi said to the inside in a hoarse voice.
The soldier heard his words and looked at him in surprise. “When did this companion come here? Has he been here for a long time, or did he just get here?”
“His Lightness Skill was not bad since I did not hear his steps at all!”
He did not think too much about it. He just thought that he was careless. He laughed at himself and waited for the message from the inside.
The inside moved back and forth in an orderly way. He reported the message to Crown Prince and informed the orders of Crown Prince to the soldiers. Crown Prince sent Meng Qi to seek more information about the Fourth Prince.
Meng Qi slowly stepped down the stairs. Taking advantage of their loose guard, he prepared to run and hide when he got into the shadow in front.
At the exact moment, nonstop screams were heard. Although the sounds were far away, Meng Qi could feel a strong momentum which contained the Dharma and Logos and imposing Sword Qi.
It was beyond the mortality’s description of the realm of Sword Principles…
Meng Qi praised it in his heart. At the same time, Prime Maester stood up ready to fight with them. He could not let Sword Emperor approach them. Otherwise, if Sword Emperor risked his life, he would probably kill Crown Prince.
“Old Lin, take my sword!” After a breath, they met in the backyard. The old voice of Sword Emperor was heard by everyone.
The voice of Prime Maester was old too but with a sense of decay. He said, “The momentum of Crown Prince has founded, and your efforts are useless.”
The strong sound disappeared suddenly. Bright stars began to shine in the dim sky. It lightened the Prince District and made it cold and dreamlike.
“They fight with each other in Qi and fully used their strength at the very beginning…” Meng Qi knew it was the Prime Maester’s interaction with the heaven.
The roaring punctuated the air. A rainbow traversed the sky. The colors of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple were brilliant.
Meng Qi gently inhaled and suddenly turned around. Quickly drawing his sword and placing his strength beneath his feet, he jumped into the hall quickly like a wind.
On entering the hall, he shouted,
“BOOM!”
The sound of thunders shook these Top Class and potential Top Class Master Pros, and they became dizzy. Only Ruyi Monk looked well. In his right hand, there were his blood-like Buddha beads, which seemed to swell to about twice the size of the original. He smashed his beads into Meng Qi’s chest.
Suddenly, he was surprised that this guy in front of him did not defend at all. Instead, Meng Qi slipped and dashed against his palm as if committing suicide.
Boom!
The dark golden glow shone, but quickly it turned dim again. It was about to break up, but Ruyi Monk was scared to step backward.
The sixth level of Golden Bell Shield, which was close to consummation, was extraordinary in defending shocks and attacks!
With the strength of Ruyi Monk’s big palm, Meng Qi quickened his moves and jumped upon Crown Prince behind the Ruyi Monk. He wielded his long sword and intended to kill Crown Prince with Yama’s Invitation. The surrounding master pros, repressing their dizziness, all besieged Meng Qi.
The sword light was so bright and grim that it made them shiver.
Crown Prince was also a martial pro but faced with such aggressive attacks, his momentum was repressed. Moreover, he was shocked, so his moves became very slow.
The light disappeared. Crown Prince took several steps back. A dark red point appeared in his mid-brows, and he fell down on the chair. His head facing down, he appeared dead.
Clank!
The surrounding master pros arrived. Their blades, swords, and palms all struck Meng Qi who had no time to change his moves.
Meng Qi protected his key positions well.
The dark golden glow shone again and broke up inch-by-inch with the big noise like the burning of beans. Meng Qi’s wig fell down, and his true figure shocked all these master pros.
At the same time, he spat out the blood directly at the Left Chief Minister, which made the Left Chief Minister pockmarked in no time.
Since he had passed the test of the Golden Bell Shield, he was not seriously injured. He stood at someone’s blade. With force, he rebounded to break through the roof. Before being attacked by Ruyi Monk and others, he broke the siege.
The dead: Da An Crown Prince.
The cause of death: Killed by one sword aimed at his mid-brows under layers of protection.
The killer: “God-petrifying Sword” Little Meng, also known as “Blood Vajra.”
Comment: All People Around Are Enemies.