Chapter 275: Heaven's Will or Man-Made Disaster?

For Wu Wang, this period was an agony, even more so after learning of Li Mushu’s disappearance, especially since a group of skilled experts had vanished along with him.

Jin Wang’s frequent actions made Wu Wang’s faction restless and uneasy. Sometimes, they could clearly see their opponent making move after move, while they themselves remained inactive, which made them feel extremely passive psychologically.

Although several old ministers strongly advised Wu Wang to remain calm, and Wu Wang knew he should, the timing was simply too delicate.

Upon closer consideration, these changes began precisely after the old eunuch Han Baishan was granted death.

Even some of Wu Wang’s close confidants among the old ministers had to admit that Jin Wang’s sudden series of actions, after a period of quiet, likely stemmed from learning through some channel that the situation had shifted in their favor.

If Wu Wang could have informants in the palace, there was no reason Jin Wang could not, and it was not strange for him to receive special news as well.

Furthermore, Jin Wang actually possessed a significant potential advantage: Consort Ren. Wu Wang’s birth mother, Empress Zhang, had long passed away, so it was possible Consort Ren was Jin Wang’s source of information.

Under these circumstances, timeliness of information became critically important. Wu Wang dispatched a large number of people and expended considerable effort gathering various news. Many capable civil and military confidants under his command also sent their own people to keep a close watch on every move made by Jin Wang’s mansion, while only daring to monitor the outer perimeters of the Imperial Palace.

During this time, they even captured one or two experts who previously served Jin Wang’s mansion. However, under secret interrogation by Wu Wang’s subordinates, they consistently refused to divulge any valuable information.

September 23rd, another cloudy day.

Wu Wang sat in the hall, wiping the blade of his treasured sword with a white cloth. Beside him were four confidants—two civil and two military—who had just rushed over and had barely settled down. There was a private banquet at the mansion that evening.

A servant from the mansion slowly entered the hall.

“Your Highness, that man has confessed. He said Jin Wang gave them resettlement money and told them to disguise themselves as ordinary citizens and live in the city for a period. If they weren’t recalled by the year-end, they were to take the money and leave the capital…”

Wu Wang frowned deeply, looking up to ask,

“Leave the capital to do what?”

The servant looked at Wu Wang’s expression, hesitating before replying,

“Leave the capital, return to their hometowns to start a family and establish a career, and no longer be involved in court affairs…”

“Hmm?”

Wu Wang paused his hand movements and looked around. The other four also frowned tightly.

“Then, did he know anything about Li Mushu?”

“We asked, but Li Mushu’s disappearance occurred afterward, so that man did not know.”

An old minister at the side pondered for a long time before cautiously speaking,

“Your Highness, it seems Jin Wang knows he no longer has a claim to the throne and is dismissing his subordinates?”

No sooner had the old minister finished speaking than a military official immediately refuted,

“That’s not right! Didn’t that man say they might be recalled before the year-end? That must mean Jin Wang is preparing for some major move, or knows something we don’t.”

“Precisely. Why no action before, and only after the Double Ninth Festival? If he were admitting defeat, why wasn’t there any movement earlier? Why keep the option of recalling them? And why didn’t he come to seek His Highness Wu Wang’s help?”

These words left the old minister from the Department of State Affairs unable to argue, and he merely frowned in silence.

“Your Highness, I have checked the armories of the Imperial Guards within the city. Aside from some damage, there are no missing armaments.”

The old minister of the Department of State Affairs immediately glared at the military official who spoke.

“Who told you to do that?”

“It was I.”

Wu Wang answered first.

“Lord Zhang need not worry too much. Lord Zhou’s elder brother is the Chief Military Advisor of the Imperial Guards in the Capital Region. A casual inspection of the armaments would suffice. A casual drink and conversation among family members when he returns home tonight, and no one will know.”

The old minister opened his mouth but said nothing further.

“Your Highness! Your Highness! Li Mushu has appeared!”

Another servant from the mansion rushed in from outside. Wu Wang immediately stood up.

“Where?”

Li Mushu was an old fox. With his intelligence, he could have become a high official, but to conveniently assist Jin Wang, he had willingly remained a Prince’s Tutor by his side. Li Mushu’s movements could almost be understood as Jin Wang’s movements.

The messenger naturally dared not conceal anything and immediately reported the news.

“He appeared outside Jin Wang’s mansion about an hour ago, in a plain carriage, without any escorts. He has already entered the mansion. Shortly after, Jin Wang and Li Mushu together took a carriage into the palace. It seems they were summoned to the palace.”

Upon hearing this news, the two military officials behind him both stood up.

“Any more news?”

Wu Wang’s fists clenched inside his sleeves, and he asked again in a low, deep voice.

“None for now!”

The servant looked at the situation in the hall and answered cautiously.

Wu Wang took a deep breath and waved his hand.

“You may leave.”

“Yes!”

After the servant left, Wu Wang turned to look at the four people in the hall. He said nothing, returning to his seat at the head of the table.

In the carriage heading into the palace, Jin Wang looked at Li Mushu with a complex expression.

“Teacher, why did you come back?”

Li Mushu, meanwhile, looked relaxed.

“My family has been entrusted to others, so I returned midway. I am old and don’t have much time left to live, so what is there to fear? Better to accompany Your Highness Jin Wang and see the outcome.”

Jin Wang merely gripped his teacher’s hand tightly, saying no more.

The carriage entered the palace. When it was time to have an audience in the Imperial Study, Li Mushu and Jin Wang entered together, as per the Emperor’s request.

Behind the imperial desk, the elderly Emperor, uncharacteristically in good spirits, was personally writing something with a brush.

After Jin Wang and Li Mushu entered, they exchanged glances and bowed together.

“Your subject, Li Mushu.” “Your son, Yang Hao.”

“Greetings, Your Majesty!” “Greetings, Father Emperor!”

The old Emperor looked up at them, remaining expressionless for a while. When the backs of the two men began to burn, he finally chuckled, but said nothing, continuing to write on the table.

After finishing his writing, he glanced at Eunuch Li, who, receiving the signal, took the imperial seal and pressed it onto the yellow silk.

“Hao’er, your recent pitiable act was quite diligent!”

Jin Wang maintained his bowed posture with clasped hands, and his palms immediately grew sweaty upon hearing this.

“Your… Your son…”

“Alright, take this.”

Emperor Yuande gestured to the old eunuch beside him, who took the scrolled yellow silk from the imperial desk and presented it with both hands to Jin Wang.

Jin Wang looked at his father, then at the old eunuch, and carefully accepted the imperial decree.

He was unsure whether its contents brought him disappointment or joy.

“What? Not happy?”

“Your son dares not… Your son is, very happy…”

“Oh… Good then. Go on. Isn’t this what you were worried about? Go out and smile more, understand?”

The old Emperor smiled, waving his hand.

Jin Wang and Li Mushu exchanged glances, took a deep breath, and bowed again.

“Your son bids farewell!” “Your subject bids farewell!”

Watching Jin Wang and Li Mushu depart, Emperor Yuande’s smile faded. He threw the wolf-hair brush in his hand onto the ground.

With a *clack*, the sound of the ivory handle hitting the ground struck the old eunuch’s heart, making it pound.

“Li Sizhe.”

“This old servant is here!”

The old Emperor turned to look at the old eunuch, then at the brush he had discarded on the ground.

“Hao’er is truly good to Li Mushu, and Li Mushu is loyal to Hao’er, even willing to die… Tell me, is it that I am too heartless, given Hao’er’s efforts?”

“This, this old servant dares not make arbitrary comments! Your Majesty has his own judgment!”

“Haha… Hehehe… Yes, my own judgment. It was that judgment that cut off my path to immortality. It seems my own judgment might not have been correct…”

The old eunuch was so frightened he immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

“Your Majesty! This old servant meant no such thing, absolutely not!”

The old Emperor looked at the eunuch and said coldly,

“Get up.”

“Yes!”

“Quietly spread the news that the imperial decree I just gave Jin Wang contains an edict of succession. Oh, and after those people finish spreading the news, send them on their way.”

“Yes!”

The old eunuch swallowed, then left after receiving the order.

At this moment, Jin Wang and Li Mushu walked through the palace, holding the imperial decree.

Since his father had told him to smile, Jin Wang wore a joyful smile throughout the journey back, or perhaps he was genuinely smiling deep down.

Although the decree guaranteed his life after Wu Wang’s succession, recalling his father’s words after leaving the Imperial Study felt somewhat special, and might even save Jin Wang from some other arrangements.

At Wu Wang’s mansion, Wu Wang Yang Qing was extremely bothered by Jin Wang’s palace visit, but he did not lose his composure.

Besides the four ministers already present, a special guest was also on his way.

In the main hall of the mansion, there were many conflicting opinions regarding Li Mushu and Jin Wang’s visit to the palace. Wu Wang listened distractedly to the discussions and rebuttals.

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

A servant ran in from outside with a loud voice, which made everyone in the hall instinctively jump.

“Your Highness, urgent messages have arrived from several palace informants!”

Given the current situation, Wu Wang rarely contacted his palace informants unless the matter was important to a certain degree.

Wu Wang immediately stood up and personally took the various notes to read them.

His face grew paler with each line he read. After he finished, he remained silent for a long time. Once the notes were passed around to everyone, the hall became dead silent.

“Your… Your Highness, it only mentions succession… but it might not mean…”

“Lord Zhang… The Third Prince came out of the Imperial Study smiling all the way out of the palace…”

Wu Wang clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. He gazed blankly at the garden outside the hall, and just then, he saw a servant leading a long-bearded old man with an immortal aura and bearing into the hall.

The old man entered, finding Wu Wang and his ministers silent. He felt an inexplicable chill but quickly bowed.

“This old man, Du Changsheng, greets Your Highness Wu Wang.”

This man was one of the few remaining Celestial Masters in the capital, regarded by many nobles as capable. Now that the Emperor was no longer obsessed with immortality techniques and elixirs, Celestial Masters had fallen out of favor.

“Master Du, I hear you can perceive a person’s aura and foresee their fortune or misfortune?”

“Uh… This old man can indeed see some things, but my meager skill is insignificant compared to true immortal masters. And auras are ever-changing, differing in various periods…”

Wu Wang, who had been looking at the garden, turned to him.

“Then, Master, can you tell me what my aura reveals?”

Du Changsheng instinctively looked at Wu Wang, subtly using his mystical energy to observe. He saw a purple aura mixed with gray mist, obscure and unclear, with alternating thunderous resonance.

“Your Highness currently… seems to be in great turmoil, so much so that Your Highness’s Imperial Star aura is muddled…”

“Imperial Star aura?”

“Indeed, the Imperial Star aura is a manifestation of the Imperial Star’s destiny. Those with this aura have the fate of an emperor!”

Wu Wang nodded.

“Then, Master Du, have you seen Jin Wang? What is his aura like?”

“This…”

Du Changsheng shivered under Wu Wang’s cold gaze and spoke,

“His Highness Jin Wang, being a prince, also possesses some Imperial Star aura, but it is far less prosperous than Your Highness Wu Wang’s!”

“Hehe, is that so?”

Wu Wang chuckled, turned back into the hall, and picked up the treasured sword from the desk. This action made Du Changsheng instinctively recoil slightly.

Fortunately, Du Changsheng saw Wu Wang merely wave his hand, and a servant then led him to the banquet hall.

After Du Changsheng left, an old minister spoke worriedly,

“Your Highness… you…”

Wu Wang turned to the sky outside the hall. He closed his eyes, then opened them after two breaths, all his chaotic and agitated thoughts reined in. He opened his mouth, gritting his teeth, and declared,

“Dispatch assassins from all the mansions to ambush and kill Jin Wang on his way!”

“At the same time, notify Zhang Jianying’s camp, the Southern Army, and the Northern Xuan Camp to prepare for an uprising… to force the Emperor!”