Chapter 8: Now That Great Xia Has Lost Xu Tian, Does It Truly No Longer Have Any Law Left?

“Urgh…”

Chu Hao took only a single glance before he could no longer hold back. Clutching his chest, he retched.

“Shadow Ghost… It’s Shadow Ghost!”

He pointed at the severed head with a trembling hand, his voice already thick with tears.

“I only told him to go fetch a cauldron… just to fetch a cauldron! He was not even supposed to hurt anyone. How did it end up like this? How did it become this?”

Hearing Chu Hao’s words, Chu Lan closed her eyes in pain.

The matter was already perfectly clear.

Everything had happened because of that so-called Heaven and Earth Mountain and River Cauldron.

Chu Hao had sent Shadow Ghost to steal it, and in the end, he had been beheaded by the people of Prince of Qin Manor.

But was that cauldron really so important?

Why make such an unnecessary move?

He truly was worse than useless, spoiling more than he accomplished!

“Elder Mo, I’ll have to trouble you…”

The Empress slumped back into her seat and waved a hand, no longer caring to conceal anything.

“As you command, Your Majesty.”

Elder Mo crouched down and carefully examined the severed head, relaying one piece of information after another.

“Shadow Ghost, peak Third Rank. With the support of a treasure, he specialized in concealment and assassination. His movement technique was agile…”

“There are no signs of resistance. His soul is intact. He died cleanly, killed in a single blow… or rather, he did not have time to resist.”

Elder Mo fell silent for a moment, then slowly voiced a terrifying guess:

“Or perhaps… he did not dare resist at all!”

“The one who struck was most likely a Second-Rank expert—perhaps even a being capable of rivaling a First-Rank expert.”

“Great Xia’s First-Rank Xia Emperor is in seclusion. As for the other one…”

His voice caught in his throat. His face was full of terror as he looked toward the Empress.

The Empress gathered herself once more, opened her eyes, and slowly uttered a single name:

“Li Lianying!”

The moment that name was spoken,

it was as though an invisible mountain had appeared in the room, making it difficult for everyone to breathe.

In present-day Great Xia, the existence people feared most was not the Xia Emperor, who possessed First-Rank cultivation.

It was the Grand Eunuch… Li Lianying, a mere Second Rank!

After all, the former was the Emperor. Though he was a First-Rank Heavenly Man, his status was what it was, and so his actions still had to observe certain rules.

But Li Lianying, though only Second Rank, had once, when fighting with his full strength, slain a First-Rank Heavenly Man by force!

Even more terrifying was the fact that

this man was bound by no rites or laws, cared nothing for reputation, and was merciless beyond compare when he struck.

One man and one sword were enough for him to wipe out an entire nation.

“Thank Heaven the Xia Emperor is in seclusion…”

Elder Mo’s voice had become incomparably dry, and his old face was full of wariness.

“Li Lianying should only be protecting Prince of Qin Xu Tian. If he were to cast off his restraints, then people like us would most likely…”

He left the sentence unfinished, but the meaning was obvious.

The sleeping chamber fell into a deathly silence.

“There is no need to panic so much. My Chu Family is not without a First Rank of its own.”

Chu Lan slowly let out a long breath.

She was the Empress, after all, and quickly sorted through the matter.

“If a First-Rank expert truly takes action, Great Xia will descend into chaos, and all the other nations will inevitably rise together to attack it. Li Lianying does not dare strike at will.”

“The fact that Xu Tian did not use this matter to make a public issue of it, and merely gave us a warning instead, proves that he understands this principle.”

She cast a cold glance at Chu Hao on the ground and warned,

“Do not speak of what happened tonight to anyone. We will proceed according to our original plan.”

“Tomorrow’s morning court will be our true battlefield.”

Chu Lan rose to her feet, a fierce light flashing in her eyes.

“Xu Yong killed so many people tonight and broke so many rules…”

“I refuse to believe that now Great Xia has lost Xu Tian, it truly no longer has any law left!”

……

The next day, in the Golden Luan Hall.

The civil and military officials entered the court.

Chu Lan sat behind the beaded curtain, looking down at the assembled officials below, and felt a deep sense of satisfaction in her heart.

So this was what power tasted like.

But the moment she saw Xu Tian and Xu Yong still chatting and laughing together, her expression immediately darkened.

“If any ministers have memorials, present them. If not, the court is dismissed.”

The shrill voice of the eunuch had only just fallen silent when—“This minister has a memorial to present!”

A man in crimson robes, a Censor-in-Chief, suddenly strode out from the ranks. Dropping to his knees, he cried out in grief and indignation, “This minister impeaches the Third Prince, Xu Yong! He has treated the law with contempt and abused private punishment…”

“Last night, without authorization from the Ministry of Justice or review from the Court of Judicial Review, he mobilized the Embroidered Uniform Guard on his own authority and bathed Drunken Immortal Tower in blood, slaughtering dozens of commoners and merchants…”

“The capital is now gripped by fear. This is an act that shakes the very foundations of the state! I beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly and severely punish the culprit!”

The Censorate was one of the few places the Empress still controlled.

It held no real power, but it was able to supervise the officials.

Normally, its members would not attend court sessions at all. He had come today for this matter specifically.

The Third Prince merely stared blankly for a moment, then continued chatting and laughing with Xu Tian as though none of this concerned him in the slightest.

Seeing Xu Yong’s utter indifference, Chu Lan could no longer endure it.

“Third Prince!”

Chu Lan’s voice rang out:

“The accusation raised by the Censorate—do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“Something to say? What is there to say?”

Only then did Xu Yong lazily turn his head. Looking toward the beaded curtain, he let out a mocking laugh.

“That group were Arcane Dao fiends, colluding with foreign enemies and plotting rebellion. This prince killed them for the peace of Great Xia.”

“How about it?”

He turned to look at the kneeling Censor-in-Chief, the corners of his lips curling upward.

“You cry injustice for rebels. Does that make you a rebel too?”

“Nonsense!”

The Censor-in-Chief trembled with rage.

“You say they were plotting rebellion, but where is the evidence? Without witnesses or physical proof, this is nothing but wanton slaughter!”

“Evidence?”

Xu Yong suddenly took a great step forward, murderous balefulness surging from his body.

“Those people told me so themselves last night.”

“If you do not believe me, this prince can send you down below, and you may ask them in person.”

“That is enough!”

Chu Lan slapped the armrest, cutting off Xu Yong’s threat.

“Third Prince, even if they were traitors, your conduct last night did indeed overstep the bounds of proper procedure.”

“The power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is too great. Without corresponding restraints, everyone will live in fear. That would be detrimental to Great Xia’s future development.”

Chu Lan’s voice softened, carrying a tone that allowed no refusal.

“To prevent such incidents from happening again, this palace proposes…”

“that Left and Right Inspectors be added to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, with the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice each appointing personnel to serve in those positions and assist the Third Prince in handling cases.”

“What do you all think?”

The moment those words were spoken, the court fell silent.

This was a move to seize power!

Everyone knew that the Censorate belonged to the Empress’s faction, while the Ministry of Justice belonged to the Confucian faction.

Chu Lan was trying to drag the Confucian Dao in with her and use them together to restrain the Third Prince’s authority.

“Now this is interesting…”

Xu Yong narrowed his eyes as he looked at the beaded curtain upon the high dais, then suddenly laughed.

“Inspectors? A fine proposal. A fine proposal indeed.”

He licked his lips, his hand settling onto the hilt of his blade with a crisp click.

“If Your Majesty wishes to send people, then by all means do so. But there is something I must say first…”

“When the Embroidered Uniform Guard handles cases, it is work done with one’s head hanging by one’s belt.”

“If, when the time comes, these worthy Inspectors should happen to die in the line of duty, Your Majesty had best not be too heartbroken.”

“Just like… that Captain from last night. What was his name again? Zhao Wuji?”

At the mention of the name Zhao Wuji, the Empress narrowed her eyes.

The Third Prince was threatening her openly, without the slightest attempt at concealment.

Had he truly thrown away all thought of reputation?

“Third Prince, may I take this as a provocation against the laws of the court?”

Suppressing the fury in her heart, Chu Lan turned her gaze toward the other side of the court.

There stood the Confucian officials led by Prime Minister Li Hongru.

In the past, if any prince had made even the slightest misstep, those civil officials who revered Confucian rites and laws would already have leaped out to condemn him.

But today, those people were as silent as the dead, without the slightest reaction.

And yet she had clearly already offered benefits to the Confucian Dao!

Left with no choice, she spoke up and tried to drag the Confucian Dao into the mire:

“Prime Minister! My worthy ministers!”

“The Third Prince is being so tyrannical. Are you really going to stand by and do nothing?”