Chapter 21: The New Emperor Ascends the Throne
It was simply too easy.
The Second Prince found it utterly unbelievable.
The remaining Imperial Guards had been caught off guard by the doors being suddenly flung open.
Within just two short hours, his n had completely taken over the imperial palace, so smoothly that not the slightest mishap occurred.
“This is… the power of an Immortal?”
The Second Prince was a little dazed.
The sky had not even brightened, yet he already controlled all the paths leading into the palace.
Even the rear imperial gardens were now filled with his n.
“Your Highness, just as you guessed, the Emperor has already passed away. According to the palace maids, he has been dead for several days.”
Everything ca too unreal, like an illusion.
So many of the worries he had feared never ca to pass.
Most importantly, the Third Princess, whom he had been most wary of, never appeared from beginning to end.
Not only that, but the greatest threat of all—the National Preceptor who held the Primordial Mirror—never showed his shadow.
Most of the preparations he had made beforehand had not even been needed.
“Ha! Haha!”
The Second Prince began laughing, standing in the majestic palace, laughing so hard he almost lost his breath.
It was actually this simple.
But he quickly sobered up: “Where is Fourth Brother?”
He had to eliminate all uncontrollable factors as early as possible—especially that seemingly lazy yet deeply calculating Fourth Brother.
“Your Highness, we couldn’t find him. There was no one in his residence.”
“Find him! Find him!” The Second Prince raised his hand.
“Wait—have the National Treasury, the Armory, and the Hall of Supre Harmony all heavily guarded. Yes, yes! Tell General Long to seal off the entire Upper Jade Capital, quickly!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“And summon Yuan An to swiftly draft an imperial decree… Say that I, in dire tis, was forced to take the throne in order to resist the Immortals’ havoc! I… no, We, We must drive out the Immortals for the sake of the people of Upper Jade Capital. The Immortals have already disturbed the peace and livelihood of our citizens!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Once everyone was sent to their duties, only then did the Second Prince feel the burning heat in his chest calm a little.
Step by step, he walked toward the dragon throne and sat down.
He had not slept the entire night, and indeed he felt sowhat exhausted.
Yet the dragon throne dug into his waist painfully.
So this was the feeling.
The dragon throne, carved with rivers, mountains, sun, and moon, was astonishingly hard and unyielding to sit upon.
Elder Zhen walked into the hall, performing a ceremonial bow: “Your Highness… no, Your Majesty, the Young Palace Master said she will co visit you later.”
The Second Prince suddenly widened his eyes: “Of course, the Young Palace Master is welco at any ti.”
Elder Zhen nodded.
“Then I shall stand guard outside the hall for Your Majesty, in case those few traitorous consecrators return.”
“We… thank you, Elder Zhen.”
The sun reluctantly rose from the east, scattering a faint light, rudely kicking away the moon.
But perhaps because it had just driven away the moon, it seed drained of energy—the morning glow was dim and gray.
“Awake? If you’re awake, co and eat sothing.”
Lu Changyuan sat on the rocking chair in the courtyard, munching on pastries.
These were chestnut cakes from the northern part of the city, delivered by soone knocking at the door early that morning.
He did not know who had sent them.
In any case, free breakfast—why not eat?
Xia Lianxue walked slowly to the Buddhist Pine tree.
Just awakened, her face still carried traces of drowsiness, like the first bloom of a flower, delicate and soft.
Back in the Jade Palace, nightly rest was usually in the form of ditation.
Rarely did she completely lie down and sleep with eyes closed.
So this ti, she had accidentally overslept.
Lu Changyuan pushed the plate of pastries toward Xia Lianxue.
“How did you sleep last night?”
Xia Lianxue did not reply.
Instead, she returned inside, fetched a small stool, and set a little tea table in front of Lu Changyuan.
Then she began brewing tea.
The tea leaves were already in the room—fine **Runyu Tea**.
Xia Lianxue watched as the teapot bubbled with steam, the fragrance of tea gradually spreading, refreshing and soothing, carrying with it an oddly peaceful air of tranquil years.
But how could that be?
Last night, many people had died, blood flooded the long streets, the citizens of Upper Jade Capital dared not open their doors, and danger lurked everywhere.
Yet in this strange little house, no one had co to disturb them.
Seeing Xia Lianxue staring dazedly at the teapot, Lu Changyuan asked again: “How did you sleep last night?”
“Sir… ah, mm, I slept… alright.”
In truth, Xia Lianxue herself was not sure if she had slept well.
It seed she had dreamt last night—dreamt of heavy snow falling, and soone bowing to her.
But she could no longer recall what exactly the dream was.
After filtering the tea, Xia Lianxue served a cup to Lu Changyuan.
“Sir, last night… did many people die?”
Lu Changyuan took a sip, the warmth flowing down his throat into his belly, soon filling his limbs.
“Many cultivators died, and many mortals too.”
By now, it seed quiet outside.
No sound could be heard.
Lu Changyuan continued, “The ones who seized the pill have not yet left Upper Jade Capital.”
So—
Things were not over yet.
“Last night, the Glazed Dynasty changed emperors. The Second Prince took advantage of the Crown Prince being absent from the capital, and with the Emperor’s passing, launched a coup.”
Xia Lianxue gently stroked the tea bowl, her jade-like fingers trembling lightly.
“The Second Prince truly chose the best ti.”
“Yes.”
Lu Changyuan chuckled softly.
“The dragon vein is trembling. Because the dynasty has changed its ruler, and it was not through rightful succession, this is when the dragon vein is at its weakest.”
“Sir, the dragon vein… is weak?”
Xia Lianxue did not understand what Lu Changyuan ant, and he had no intention of explaining.
Taking advantage of the immortal fairy’s opened mouth, Lu Changyuan picked up a piece of pastry and stuffed it into Xia Lianxue’s mouth.
“Mmph!”
“Is it good?”
Xia Lianxue covered her mouth, carefully chewing and swallowing before she finally spoke: “It was alright, sir.”
“Then co with to see this Glazed Dynasty that has changed its heavens.”
Xia Lianxue found a silk handkerchief, wiped her mouth, nodded, and followed Lu Changyuan out the door.
The streets were desolate, but remnants of last night’s lantern festival still lingered.
Red lanterns still hung from the trees beside the Lake of Lingering Affection.
Soone seed to be posting a notice.
The soldier who was putting it up turned his head and was startled: “The two of you?”
Lu Changyuan pointed at the posted notice: “What’s written on it? Tell simply.”
“You two dare co out at this ti, you must be Immortals. Best not to read this notice.”
“Speak.”
The soldier pulled a bitter face: “An imperial decree ca from the palace last night, saying the Immortals are to be driven out.”
Lu Changyuan nodded.
“They should have been driven out long ago. Running amok in Upper Jade Capital—what kind of propriety is that? Last night, they even went as far as blowing up the lake. Mm. So then, what do you plan to do?”
The soldier lowered his voice: “Do nothing. Immortal Master, please don’t be angry. The decree from the palace is just for show.”
Lu Changyuan was not the least bit surprised.
Xia Lianxue asked in puzzlent: “Sir, why do they not respect the Emperor’s decree? Isn’t it said that in the mortal world, the authority of the dynasty is supre?”
“That’s because the Emperor himself intends to do nothing,” Lu Changyuan sneered.
“The Second Prince seized the throne last night with the help of the Blood Demon Palace. How could he kick away the ladder that helped him climb up?”
“Then why post this notice?”
Lu Changyuan spoke indifferently: “The purpose of the notice is not to expel the Immortals, but to make the citizens of Upper Jade Capital believe their new emperor is working to protect them. Even if the emperor only speaks empty words and does nothing.”
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed—soone was running across tiled rooftops toward the city outskirts.
Lu Changyuan withdrew his gaze.
“Co, let’s go see sowhere else.”
“Sir?”
“No need to mind it, follow .”
The palace of the Glazed Dynasty lay along the central axis of Upper Jade Capital.
Not far away stood the Stargazing Pavilion, where the National Preceptor usually resided.
In front of the Stargazing Pavilion were two stone lions.
No one knew what had happened last night, but both lions were destroyed—one had lost its head, the other had half its stone body shattered.
Lu Changyuan squatted and stared at the stone lions for a while.
“Using this spot as the midpoint, the palace and the Lake of Lingering Affection form a straight line of three points. The dragon vein lies beneath, and at the sa ti, this place is the formation eye of the national protection array.”
Xia Lianxue blinked her beautiful eyes repeatedly, unsure of what to say.
“Why does sir know so much about the Glazed Dynasty’s affairs?”
Lu Changyuan slowly stood up but did not answer her.
Instead, he sighed.
“Soone has cut off the dragon vein.”
“Then what should we do, sir?”
Xia Lianxue grew sowhat anxious.
She had felt this way since the morning.
The most troubleso thing in this world was when the situation was out of one’s control, slipping beyond reach.
“Wait.”
The immortal fairy turned her head, unsure what to say.
Lu Changyuan repeated: “Wait.”
The atmosphere in all of Upper Jade Capital beca deathly quiet and strange.
Aside from the soldier posting the notice, Lu Changyuan and Xia Lianxue did not encounter a single person on their return.
Xia Lianxue felt a chill crawl up her spine.
She did not know where this feeling ca from, but it was undeniably there.
Lu Changyuan sat back down on his rocking chair, looking at the sky.
Dark clouds gathered, as if a storm was about to break.
“Lend it? Not lending? Truly stingy.”
“Sir?”
“Nothing. Go brew another pot of tea. Today, we’re going nowhere—we’ll stay right here.”
She had already been with Lu Changyuan for several days, perhaps even longer.
In any case, she had more or less figured out his behavior.
This was Lu Changyuan brushing her off.
And whenever he brushed her off, it ant he wanted her to see for herself.
That ant sothing would soon happen.
Gululu.
Gululu.
Sure enough, before Xia Lianxue could turn back into the house to fetch the tea, she suddenly heard a surging sound.
The sound of water seed to be rising from the direction of the Lake of Lingering Affection.
The immortal fairy instinctively felt sick, her head spinning.
It was just like the ti when the Desire Demon’s corruption had stained her.
Her delicate body tensed, as if petrified.
“Relax a little, I’m right beside you.” Lu Changyuan patted the immortal fairy’s fragrant shoulder.
“It might rain soon.”
No sooner had he spoken than a sudden thunderclap split the sky, and a torrential downpour fell violently.
Then—
From the bottom of the Lake of Lingering Affection suddenly rose a heaven-covering tentacle, staining the falling rain, as if it would destroy the entire Upper Jade Capital.
Wrath!
Resentnt turned into ghosts, desire turned into sin.
The desires of the mortal world surged forth, overwhelming all!
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