Imperial Capital, South City District.
As one of the most bustling of the lower five districts in the Imperial Capital, the South City District’s architecture boasted modern characteristics with tall buildings erging everywhere, a stark contrast to the upper three districts.
If it were anywhere else, the prosperity represented by the South City District would suffice to serve as the center of a city.
However, within the Imperial Capital, this place of wealth was instead where the lower-class citizens resided.
The seven-day solar eclipse had already sealed the district both high and low, and not a single car was to be seen on the spacious streets.
Guards Commander Hoe Shao led a thousand golden armored cavalry through the desolate streets of the South City District. The troops who patrolled the area stopped and saluted at the sight of Hoe Shao.
The cavalry made swift progress, quickly nearing their destination--the Heaven Traversing Princess Mansion.
This was a vast estate with luxuriously styled buildings and gardens, yet it stood out oddly amidst the surrounding high-rises at the heart of the South City District.
The selection of the South City District for the Heaven Traversing Princess Mansion largely reflected Emperor Xia’s barely concealed disgust towards the princess.
To the elite of the Imperial Capital, it was Emperor Xia’s way of actively pushing the Heaven Traversing Princess out of the power center.
However, after averting disaster during the eting with the Netherworld, the Heaven Traversing Princess earned the recognition of many elites and ministers within the Imperial Capital, with several high officials even taking the initiative to visit her mansion.
But with the advent of the eclipse and the Netherworld Demon Gods venturing into the Secret Realm Square-Inch, Emperor Xia stripped the princess of all her positions. The once sought-after mansion now saw no visitors.
And today, Hoe Shao ca by Emperor Xia’s command to thoroughly pursue and annihilate.
Thinking of this, a hint of helplessness flashed across Hoe Shao’s eyes.
Arriving at the mansion’s gate, golden armored cavalry had already subdued the mansion’s guards, and Hoe Shao proceeded straight towards the main hall inside.
Inside the hall, Xia Yunqiu, dressed in black phoenix-patterned garnts, reclined in the primary seat. She showed no surprise at the sight of Hoe Shao, clad in armor, striding in like a dragon and tiger.
After leaving the Imperial City, Hoe Shao led the cavalry directly to the South City District without any concealnt, so naturally, Xia Yunqiu was well aware of his movents early on.
In fact, during the ti Hoe Shao reached the Heaven Traversing Princess Mansion, Xia Yunqiu had ample opportunity to flee. However, she had not left.
She understood that if she took the chance to flee without facing Emperor Xia’s Imperial Edict, she would directly lose the protection of humanity fate and fall into Emperor Xia’s trap.
On the contrary, if the Imperial Edict was unjust, confronting it face-to-face with the humanity fate might provide a glimr of survival.
Hoe Shao, holding the Imperial Edict, entered the main hall and, seeing Xia Yunqiu who had not fled, a trace of disappointnt flickered in his eyes. He loudly proclaid to Xia Yunqiu:
"Heaven Traversing Princess, receive the edict!"
Xia Yunqiu slowly rose and bowed to the Imperial Edict in Hoe Shao’s hand with graceful bearings, showing not the slightest impropriety.
"By heaven’s mandate, the Emperor decrees:
The Heaven Traversing Princess Xia Yunqiu has conspired with the sect in secret, disrupting the Capital City God’s grand ceremony, shaking the foundations of the Great Xia Dynasty and humanity fate, truly an act of treachery against the Human Clan.
Though Xia Yunqiu has the Imperial Family’s bloodline, as Emperor of Great Xia, it is improper to protect descendants with blood ties at the expense of destabilizing the nation’s foundation.
Effective imdiately, Xia Yunqiu is stripped of her title as Heaven Traversing Princess, her Enlightennt Pavilion destroyed, and is bestowed a cup of poisoned wine!"
As one of the Nine Ministers, Hoe Shao himself represented the Great Xia Dynasty.
As the decree of the Imperial Edict fell, it was as if a blade ford by the dynasty’s fate slashed into her Spirit Soul, completely stripping her of the title of Heaven Traversing Princess bestowed by the dynasty’s fate.
Xia Yunqiu’s face imdiately turned pale, the auspices of the dynasty’s fate that enveloped her began to wane, and the blazing fire of humanity fate that surrounded her now dwindled like a rootless duckweed, most of its flickering flas nearly extinguished.
After Hoe Shao finished reading, an Imperial eunuch donned in brocaded red robes and a sullen face stepped forward holding a cup of poisoned wine, his voice shrill as he spoke:
"Your Highness, please drink this wine!"
Xia Yunqiu’s gaze shifted towards the cup of poisoned wine.
The poisoned wine was a secret dicine of the Great Xia Imperial Family, which, when accompanied by the Imperial Family’s crafted Dragon Tiger Pill, could greatly enhance the power of one’s Spirit Soul.
But without the accompanying Dragon Tiger Pill, the wine would beco the most deadly poison in the world, capable of destroying one’s Spirit Soul, a force that even those who had achieved Spirit Transmutation could not withstand.
The Emperor’s bestowal of poisoned wine clearly demonstrated his intense desire to kill.
Xia Yunqiu did not reach for the wine cup. Instead, her gaze intense, she looked at Guards Commander Hoe Shao. A solemn seriousness the likes of which had never been seen before adorned her pale, beautiful face.
"I dare to ask Guards Commander Hoe Shao, what cris have I committed?"
Guards Commander Hoe Shao stuttered, attempting to reiterate the cris listed on the Imperial Edict, but the words failed to leave his lips.
Everyone knew that Xia Yunqiu had long been a thorn in the side of the sects and had remained inside the Heaven Traversing Princess Mansion since the solar eclipse, without any contact with the sects.
The charge of conspiring with the sects to disrupt the Capital City God’s grand ceremony was utterly baseless.
Yet the Imperial Edict had been decreed, leaving no room for reversal.
Thunder roared over the Princess Mansion’s outer skies, and heavy rains poured down like a deluge. Hoe Shao, holding the Imperial Edict, fell silent for a while. In the end, he slowly replied:
"An unfounded charge!"
At the fall of these three words, all officials within the Imperial Capital felt their hearts tremble, the Empire’s fate stirred violently, as if an invisible edifice were collapsing at that mont.
Especially cultivators who were fortified with the dynasty’s fate sensed their foundations shudder and experienced instability in their realms.
Moreover, the energy of humanity above the Imperial Capital surged like a tidal wave. The golden dragon ford by the humanity fate that converged over the Imperial City began to collapse, scattering towards other parts of Jing Province.
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