Chapter 47: The Scapegoat Princess Is Sentenced to Death (47)

"What you said actually makes quite a bit of sense!"

After listening to his eldest son's reasoning, Emperor Tianwu pondered for a moment and decided it sounded reasonable. So many bizarre events had already occurred, so he obviously could not limit his thinking to the assumption that the culprit must simply be a rebel.

"However, if we follow this line of reasoning, we would have to admit that certain myths, legends, and ghost stories are true. Yet, as things stand now, neither the Celestial Masters' Mansion, the Bureau of Astronomy, nor the White Horse Temple seem to possess any supernatural abilities. It is rare for the Celestial Masters of the Celestial Masters' Mansion to live past ninety; most barely reach their seventies, and some die in their early fifties. The Bureau of Astronomy and the White Horse Temple are much the same, and none of them have any countermeasure for this situation."

Emperor Tianwu paced back and forth beside his desk as he spoke.

"Logically speaking, these places with thousands of years of heritage ought to have some tricks up their sleeves. Surely they cannot be surviving entirely on empty boasts, flattery, and deception."

"Furthermore, in past legends, weren't those who obtained fortuitous encounters always descendants of Patriarch Lü or True Warrior? In their daily lives, they were either immortals in demeanor or devoted to saving the world and aiding the people. I have never seen anyone like this, raising the banner of acting on behalf of heaven while exacting personal revenge. How could such a person be qualified to receive a fortuitous encounter?

Does the Son of Heaven hold no deterrent power over her whatsoever?

Isn't it said that the Son of Heaven is protected by imperial dragon qi?"

At this point, Emperor Tianwu could not help but think of the pig-like tail growing out of his backside. Although it was extremely inconvenient, he dared neither cut it off himself nor let anyone else do so, fearing the secret would leak out or that unskilled hands would cost him his life.

"Imperial Father, where there are immortals and gods, there are also demons and monsters.

What the other party obtained might be a fortuitous encounter with some malevolent spirit or monster. However, none of that matters now; at the very least, we are currently helpless against her, and she has already made her move against the Eighth and Ninth Princes while issuing us an ultimatum.

You witnessed with your own eyes the Thirteenth Brother's soul being scattered into nothingness.

Although the Eighth and Ninth Princes have now been turned into deformed monsters by her, their souls at least remain intact. But if we do not do as she demands, I fear their souls will ultimately not escape her clutches either.

Since souls exist, then perhaps the underworld of reincarnation is not mere nonsense; perhaps these things are truly real.

If their souls are scattered, nothing of them will remain.

They won't even have the chance of reincarnation!"

The Crown Prince genuinely believed that they might have to heed the words of this unknown entity. If they obediently executed his Eighth and Ninth Princes by slow slicing, they could at least barely cover up the truth and proclaim to the outside world that the imperial family was executing justice for the greater good, thereby preventing the souls of the Eighth and Ninth Princes from ultimately being scattered.

If they refused, the scene would only become far uglier.

The reputation of the imperial family would inevitably suffer even more as a result.

However, it was not appropriate for him to openly urge his imperial father to execute his eighth and ninth younger brothers by slow slicing, so he could only express it so tactfully, emphasizing how much more miserable it would be if his brothers' souls were scattered.

"Indeed, it seems the one behind this is truly a demon or monster, otherwise how could she have turned your eighth and ninth brothers into such bizarre shapes. Alas, how could my heart bear it? I am not a heartless man like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, who killed three sons in a single day."

Emperor Tianwu was in genuine agony.

No matter how unworthy his sons were, they were still his flesh and blood.

Crown Prince Zhu Quan was quite tactful and understood propriety, directly avoiding the conversational trap. For in this situation, urging his imperial father to kill the Eighth and Ninth Princes was bad, and urging him not to kill them was equally bad. If he urged killing them, his father might later regret it and believe he had been manipulated by the Crown Prince; if he urged sparing them, and the princes' souls were ultimately scattered, his father would blame the Crown Prince entirely. Shifting the blame was something his imperial father was far too practiced at.

Therefore, as for how to make the specific decision,

he had better leave it to his imperial father to decide for himself.

Not only the Crown Prince, but most of the civil and military officials in the court now dared not offer any suggestions to Emperor Tianwu. Because if one offered advice and the matter was successfully resolved, it was attributed to his sagacity and brilliant discernment of talent; but if the matter went poorly, it would undoubtedly become the fault of the person who gave the advice.

At the very least, it meant banishment.

If the outcome was worse, it meant losing one's head.

Who would dare casually offer him advice under such circumstances!

Let him make his own arbitrary decisions; whether good or bad, the consequences would stem from his own choices. No matter how much he wished to shift the blame or shamelessly vent his anger, he could not be entirely devoid of shame.

After a long while, Emperor Tianwu finally made up his decision and commanded, "Transmit my decree: the Prince of Han and the Prince of Qi have behaved quite improperly in their fiefs. They are ordered to return to the capital, and after a thorough investigation, they shall be strictly punished according to the law."

That was right; he still intended to stall for time.

He figured that since the unknown entity wished for him to make his sons' crimes known to the world and execute them by slow slicing, he would simply follow the wishes of that unknown entity. However, since he did not know whether his sons' crimes were true or false, it would naturally take time to investigate slowly. Taking three, five months, or even half a year would be completely normal. Logically speaking, the other party should not make a move during this process, which meant he could buy another half a year.

"In addition, Quan'er, recently I am handing over a portion of the authority of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to you. You must investigate thoroughly what people your thirteenth brother, the Prince of Lu, harmed during his lifetime, whether there are any omissions, and what the situation of their family members and relatives is. Also, investigate those people I had killed to cover up his criminal traces.

I believe your previous speculation made a great deal of sense.

The mastermind is very likely an enemy of Qin'er.

The most important thing right now is to figure out who that demon or monster actually is, and only then can we deal with her in a targeted manner. If a person possesses the ability to override imperial power, I dare not imagine how arrogant and domineering she might become. Who knows what kind of chaos she might stir up in the future, or what she might do simply because she dislikes the sight of us.

I will never tolerate the existence of such a being.

Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, even if I die in the process, you must find a way to destroy her after you ascend the throne in the future.

Do you understand, Quan'er!!"

Emperor Tianwu obviously could not truly compromise—did he want to throw away his pride completely? Everything he was doing right now was merely buying time and playing along for the moment; victory or defeat would ultimately depend on the final outcome.

He refused to believe that the might of an entire nation could not deal with a mere demon. Emperors of the past had dared to smash mountains and level temples, exterminate Buddhism and Daoism, and even sever the communication between heaven and earth to cut off the path between mortals and gods. Could it be that he couldn't even handle a single demon?

"This son obeys the decree!"

Crown Prince Zhu Quan was not nearly as optimistic, but aside from obeying the decree, he had no other choice. After receiving the mandate, he quickly withdrew to get to work, temporarily dealing with matters as they came.

Meanwhile, the relevant news had basically spread throughout the Ministry of Personnel, and many high-ranking officials in other departments were also in the know.

Some sneered, waiting to watch the imperial family make a fool of themselves.

Others, however, were somewhat worried about whether this matter would spread.

Would it spread from the imperial family to the nobility, officials, and even ordinary families of local gentry who had committed countless misdeeds?

Very soon, they discovered

that their worries were not unwarranted.

Six hours later, an urgent dispatch from the fief of the Prince of Jin was delivered, and at the same time, a supplementary urgent dispatch from the fief of the Prince of Qi was rushed at top speed into the hands of the Ministry of Personnel.