Chapter 14: The Third Prince: Exterminate Another Evil Aristocratic Clan!

In the Eastern District of the capital, at the Zhao Residence,

the once-bustling Zhao estate, where guests had once crowded the gates, was now completely surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guard in their Flying Fish Robes.

Among them stood six figures in black Flying Fish Robes, proud and motionless.

Their auras were tightly gathered, yet not released.

They were none other than the Pacification Commissioners of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, all peak Third Rank!

At the very front of them all stood their Commander, the Third Prince Xu Yong, clad in a dark crimson Flying Fish Robe.

At this moment, he sat astride his horse, one hand resting on the hilt of the blade at his waist.

His gaze was fixed unblinkingly on the gates of the Zhao Residence.

The tension here was taut as a drawn bowstring, on the verge of snapping at any moment.

But in the distance, things were far livelier.

The taverns, the rooftops, even the walls were packed with commoners who had come to watch the spectacle.

“What happened?”

“No idea! The Zhao Family may be overbearing, but they definitely aren’t stupid. How could they have provoked the Embroidered Uniform Guard?”

“Six Pacification Commissioners. Even if they’re all only Third Rank, their battle strength is monstrous. Together, they can even contend with the Second Rank! What has the Zhao Family done to deserve this…?”

“I heard about it! The Zhao Family has been feeding an evil fiend, tainted by the Blood-Drinking Flower, and using evil corruption to raise their strength. That is what brought the Embroidered Uniform Guard down on them.”

“Blood-Drinking Flower? Isn’t that rebellion? No way! They can’t be that stupid.”

“It’s true! The news has already spread all through the academy. His Highness the Prince of Qin is leading the Confucian cultivators here right now. They’ll arrive at any moment.”

The moment those words were spoken, the surroundings erupted into even greater uproar.

“If even the Confucian cultivators have moved, then this matter cannot be wrong! The Zhao Family truly has run wild without restraint.”

“I heard His Highness the Prince of Qin converted to the Confucian Dao. Is it true?”

“I heard the same thing! He stepped into the Third Rank in a single stride. His aptitude in the Confucian Dao is even more terrifying than his martial talent!”

“His Highness the Prince of Qin built so many academies to support the Confucian Dao even while walking the martial path. A man with such breadth of heart is naturally favored by Heaven…”

“They’re here, they’re here…”

“Where? Where? Where is His Highness the Prince of Qin?”

“I meant the Zhao Family has come out…”

“Damn it…”

……

Before the gates of the Zhao Residence.

Creak—Zhao Tiande, the head of the Zhao Family, led dozens of household servants and estate guards out through the gates in a long file.

“Is this not Your Highness the Third Prince?”

Zhao Tiande hurried down the steps and gave a deep bow to Xu Yong on horseback.

“Our Zhao Family has always upheld the law and served the court with utmost loyalty. This great show of force… could there perhaps be some misunderstanding?”

“A misunderstanding?”

A grim curve rose at Xu Yong’s lips.

“Zhao Tiande, at a time like this, are you really still pretending to be a fool?”

Xu Yong leaned forward slightly and stared fixedly at Zhao Tiande before him.

“I truly never saw it coming. You, a born-and-bred man of Great Xia, actually learned from those barbarians and started consuming Blood-Drinking Flowers and worshiping an evil fiend? You’ve truly cast aside every shred of face.”

Zhao Tiande’s expression changed drastically.

He straightened at once, his face filled with grief and indignation.

“A false accusation! A monstrous false accusation!”

Zhao Tiande raised one hand and pointed to the heavens, his voice trembling.

“Your Highness the Third Prince, my Zhao Family is of Great Xia’s orthodox line. How could we possibly touch such filthy things? Someone must be framing us!”

“Yes! That must be it! Someone saw that my Zhao Family had prospered and resorted to such vile means. I beg Your Highness to investigate clearly!”

As he said this,

Zhao Tiande’s voice suddenly rose, making certain everyone around could hear him:

“If my Zhao Family is ruined, then so be it. But my Zhao Family has always been working for Her Majesty the Empress! If Your Highness acts so rashly, then the consequences will go far beyond my Zhao Family alone…”

At the moment the Zhao Family brought up the Empress, Xu Yong laughed from atop his horse.

“Kekeke… Zhao Tiande, you still do not understand.”

Xu Yong’s face turned cold, and he gave Zhao Tiande no further chance to argue.

He pulled a bloodstained secret report from his robes and held it high.

“Word has arrived from the Northern Frontier. Three hundred jin of Blood-Drinking Flowers have been intercepted.”

“The buyer of that shipment was none other than your Zhao Family’s legitimate son, Zhao Wudao! Every ledger entry and every private seal is recorded here in absolute detail!”

“Worshiping an evil fiend, colluding with foreign powers, and smuggling Blood-Drinking Flowers.”

Shing!

Xu Yong suddenly drew his blade.

The brilliant arc of steel traced a shrill line beneath the sunlight, pointing directly at the center of Zhao Tiande’s brow.

“Zhao Tiande, your Zhao Family’s audacity truly knows no bounds! Today, let alone Chu Lan—even if the King of Heaven himself were to descend, he would not be able to save you!”

His elder brother had said before, that if there was no evidence, then one should seize the culprit first. Once the bad people were taken down, the evidence would always appear eventually.

But if there was evidence, then one should make the matter known to all under Heaven and arrest the culprit in broad daylight, openly and righteously.

Otherwise, what was the use of having evidence at all?

“How did it come to this?”

Zhao Tiande stared blankly at that scroll of secret intelligence.

He knew it was over. Completely over.

Back when Xu Tian had still been in power, Great Xia had enjoyed good trade relations with neighboring countries for the sake of economic development, and some merchant ships were exempt from inspection. The army seldom interfered.

That was when the Zhao Family had scented opportunity.

But ever since Xu Tian had stepped down, the heavens over Great Xia had changed completely.

Even the frontier army had been affected.

He had wanted to stop, but the changes had come far too quickly. There had simply been no time.

So why?

Why did Xu Tian have to be forced down from power?

Zhao Tiande staggered backward and collapsed onto the ground.

Boundless regret and confusion erupted within him, and he could not help but let out a wailing cry:

“Why? Why?!”

He beat his chest and stamped his feet, weeping until snot and tears covered his face.

“I, Zhao Tiande, lived my whole life in spotless honor. How did I ever raise such unworthy descendants?!”

“Why did they have to strip His Highness of his position as Crown Prince? Why?! Everything had been perfectly fine before…”

Seeing this scene, even Xu Yong frowned slightly.

Had the old thing gone mad?

Why was he suddenly crying out injustice for Big Brother?

And the regret and bewilderment on his face were absolutely impossible to fake.

In that very instant, a sharp gleam suddenly burst from Zhao Tiande’s previously clouded and despairing eyes.

Boom!

An incomparably obscure aura exploded from within his body.

His figure instantly turned into an afterimage, and at some unknown moment a pitch-black dagger had appeared in his hand.

It stabbed straight for Xu Yong’s throat upon the horse!

Too fast!

This was absolutely not the speed a pampered clan head should possess. It even surpassed that of a Third-Rank Martial Grandmaster!

And yet, not the slightest aura leaked from his body.

His strike was decisive to the extreme.

Huff! Huff!

The distance was too short.

Zhao Tiande could even see the surprise in Xu Yong’s eyes.

Savagery flashed through his heart. Things had already come to this. As long as he could seize the Third Prince as a hostage, his family would still have a way to survive!

Just as the dagger came within three cun of Xu Yong’s throat—“Suppress!” With that single word,Zhao Tiande saw only a flash of golden light before his eyes.

An incomparable suppressive force descended from above.

All the strange power throughout his body was completely suppressed.

In an instant, he became as ordinary as a common man.

Then

he saw Xu Yong slowly raise his hand, lifting it high, blotting out the sunlight like a shadow that covered the sky.

It’s over!

I can’t move!

A trace of terror flashed through his eyes.

He wanted to evade, but his body had become slow as a turtle.

He could only watch helplessly as that sky-covering slap came crashing toward him.