Martial Cultivator

Another piece of news shook the Divine Capital and even the world.

The second son of the Great Liang Emperor had been sentenced to death by His Majesty on the night when the court officials tried to force an abdication, dying in his own residence. That same night, many court officials were found to be colluding with the foreign lands, having long been embedded within the court, and the second prince was among them.

Throughout history, it was not uncommon for imperial families to experience conflicts between fathers and sons, but for an emperor to make such a thunderous decision on his own son's life and death in a single night remained rare.

In fact, following that night, the detainment of several influential court officials stirred public resentment in many parts of the Divine Capital. However, once this news emerged, all voices fell silent.

If His Majesty had executed even his own son for colluding with the foreign lands, how could anyone else hope to escape punishment?

While people were still absorbing this information, another decree was issued.

"The second prince colluded with the foreign lands, he shall not enter the royal mausoleum after death. All titles and rewards granted in his lifetime are hereby revoked, and his name shall be removed from the imperial family tree."

When this decree was announced, everyone fell silent.

All felt the Emperor's resolve, sensing the iron will of His Majesty.

……

Outside the Second Prince's manor, the scene was bleak and desolate.

A beautiful woman dressed in mourning white hung two snow-white lanterns at the main gate of the Second Prince's residence using a bamboo pole. The front door, which had been broken that night, had not yet been repaired. As for the stewards and guards within the residence, those found unrelated to collusion with outsiders were released after a thorough investigation by the Court of Judicial Review. However, after leaving the Court of Judicial Review's prison, they quickly packed their belongings and left the Divine Capital, not daring to remain in the prince's manor.

The Second Prince had not taken a consort, he had neither a primary nor secondary wife, only a few concubines, who had also long since fled this manor. Only this one woman remained, not leaving, but instead setting up a memorial tablet within the manor.

Not far away, a carriage was parked at the street corner, with occasional sounds of coughing coming from inside.

A plain-looking middle-aged man approached the carriage and said softly, "During this period, no officials have come to pay respects at the Second Prince's manor."

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, revealing the First Prince's sickly face. He glanced into the distance, his eyes showing some sorrow. "This is the nature of people."

"That foolish Second Brother... he truly went mad. Imperial Father might have allowed competition for the throne, but how could he ever tolerate collusion with the foreign lands?"

The First Prince sighed. On that night, as he had parted ways at the palace gate, he had faintly sensed that his younger brother might not survive the night, yet there was nothing he could do.

"But since we were brothers, as his elder brother, I should at least send my younger brother off on his final journey."

The First Prince sighed, preparing to step out of the carriage and head to the Second Prince's manor to pay his respects.

“Your Highness, perhaps you should reconsider this matter. His Majesty punished the Second Prince so harshly, likely as a warning to others. If Your Highness rashly appears now, it might provoke His Majesty's displeasure...”

The middle-aged man frowned, advising the First Prince, hoping to dissuade him.

The First Prince rebuked, “What are you saying? Second and I share the same mother. What's the issue with lighting incense for him?”

Hearing the First Prince's reprimand, the middle-aged man lowered his head. “This subject misspoke. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”

The First Prince stepped out of the carriage and looked at the impoverished Second Prince's manor, adorned with only two white lanterns, and murmured, “With the surname Chen, it's difficult to be a good brother, and even harder to be a good son.”

Meanwhile, in the distance, another carriage came to a stop. The Third Prince stepped off the horse carriage with a complicated expression. Looking at the manor that was not far away, he slowly walked over.

In this family, the four children of this generation - the Princess and her three brothers - had closer ties on the surface, at least on the surface. Yet, the bond between the brothers was notably distant.

Still, no matter how estranged they might be, a brother was still a brother, and an elder brother remained an elder brother. Some things were hard to change.

Lighting incense was something within reason.

……

……

Chen Chao returned to the academy, passing by the lakeside. Seeing this young martial artist whose true identity had recently been revealed, the students looked at him with complicated expressions. The full story of that night had not yet spread, but the students knew that Chen Chao was the son of the late Crown Prince Yiwen and that, on that night, he had personally killed his own brother.

Beyond that, they knew few details.

Though it was confirmed that the Deposed Emperor had survived the fire that once ravaged the palace and had fled to the foreign lands, lying in wait for years before returning with forces from the foreign lands to reclaim the throne, he was still Chen Chao's biological brother. Having killed his own brother was hard for these scholars who studied the teachings of the sages daily to fully reconcile.

So it was understandable that their feelings were more complicated when they looked at Chen Chao now than they had been before.

Chen Chao ignored the academy students and headed straight back to his small courtyard by South Lake.

Seeing Chen Chao, Xie Nandu got straight to the point and asked, “Did you go to kill the Second Prince that night?”

After the Deposed Emperor's death and the end of that night's events, Chen Chao was the first to disappear, and no one knew where he had gone. Then news broke that the Second Prince had been executed. Most would not connect the two events, but Xie Nandu had her suspicions. After pondering about it, she still felt that Chen Chao should have gone to kill the Second Prince that night.

Chen Chao rubbed his cheeks and said, “Can't hide anything from you. You guessed right.”

In truth, Chen Chao had not planned to hide this matter from the girl before him. Although if the world were to learn of it, it would undoubtedly become another earth-shattering incident, he felt no hesitation about telling Xie Nandu.

“He was just another pawn. What he wanted was to reveal your identity and force His Majesty to have no choice but to kill you. But in reality, he was merely an easily manipulated piece for the foreign lands. In this game, he was the simplest part - a bit clever, but ultimately too clever for his own good."

Xie Nandu said, "You could kill the Deposed Emperor with a single blow, but the Second Prince was His Majesty's own son after all. Weren't you concerned before you made your move?”

Chen Chao replied, “If I didn't kill him, he would be thinking about killing me day and night. I have countless things to handle every hour of the day. I can't be watching him every second, so killing him was the only option.”

Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao without saying anything.

“Fine. Between us, I killed him simply because he wanted me dead and went to some effort to make that happen.”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow as he said, “After killing so many demons, I can't change my ways. It's either they die, or I live.”<

Xie Nandu asked, “Did the Deposed Emperor really treat you like that back then?”

Chen Chao nodded. It had all happened when he was very young, things he originally could not remember. But after meeting that girl in the coffin, he remembered everything.

From the very first moment he opened his eyes and saw the world, every memory was as clear as day.

But whether was it because of the white mist or that girl, Chen Chao could not quite be sure.

However, thinking of that young girl, Chen Chao really wanted to know where she might be now. Back at those ruins, she had awakened, taken the immortal herb he found, and then helped him drive off that Chief Enforcer of the Infatuation Daoist Temple. After that, she had disappeared without a trace, her whereabouts unknown.

Perhaps she was in Ying Prefecture?

Chen Chao wondered silently. After all, there had been rumors that immortals once descended there.

A figure like that girl in white, was she not exactly what ordinary people would call an immortal?

Seeing Chen Chao lost in thought, Xie Nandu did not say much, simply waiting for him to return to his senses.

When Chen Chao did, he muttered to himself, “Speaking of that great daoist sage, someday I should go to the Infatuation Daoist Temple and show him my saber.”

Xie Nandu asked, “Now that you're already the Commander of the Left Guard, can you still roam around like that?”

Chen Chao grinned, “I've already appointed Weng Quan as Deputy Commander of the Left Guard. He'll handle the affairs of the office.”

Xie Nandu frowned, “Do you have that authority?”

Chen Chao shook his head, “I requested for an imperial decree.”

“It's not that I don't want to work, but after wasting so much time, I'd like to settle down and cultivate for a while.”

Chen Chao rubbed his head and sighed, “By now, Yu Xiyi might have really become a sword immortal, though I wonder if he's managed to resolve his inner conflict.”

……

……

The Chief Enforcer of Infatuation Daoist Temple was in closed-seclusion in name, but the few old daoist sages with high enough seniority knew the truth - this great daoist sage had been placed under house arrest. Since returning from the ruins of the Sublime Bright, he had not left his secluded quarters in the back mountain.

Disciples of the temple were forbidden to go near that area.

However, although he was said to be in secluded cultivation, the Chief Enforcer was not entirely cut off, as information from within and outside the temple continued to reach him without fail.

Sitting under an ancient pine tree several centuries old, the Chief Enforcer calmly brewed tea from pine needles, gazing at the sea of clouds ahead.

Not far in front of him lay a bored black ox.

“Sage, you really have a good temper. You've been confined here for years, yet you're not even angry. If it were me, I'd have charged out and fought that whatever Temple Master by now. Even if I died, at least I wouldn't be stifled to death like this.”

The black ox spoke in a human voice, sounding as if it were voicing some grievance.

It was an exotic beast the Chief Enforcer had encountered back at the ruins. After the Chief Enforcer's defeat, he had not expected to ever see the black ox again, but somehow, it had managed to find its way to the Infatuation Daoist Temple.

The Chief Enforcer replied calmly, “What's with all this nonsense? You lack for neither spiritual herbs nor elixirs, so what are you worried about?”

The black ox sighed, “Sage, this idle life of eating and waiting to die can't go on forever. Someone of your stature ought to be worshiped by the world! As a disciple under Sage, I'd be honored by association...”

The Chief Enforcer held his teacup and smiled. “Let the world come and see that I took an ox as a disciple?”

The black ox looked completely serious. “Sage, don't I possess wisdom? Why can't I be your disciple?”

The Chief Enforcer fell silent.

The black ox stared at him. “Sage, would you reconsider?”

“What’s an ox doing thinking about all this?”

The black ox wailed, “Sage, the Great Dao shouldn't be so narrow!”

The Chief Enforcer replied calmly, “Just eat your grass.”

Whether the G was narrow or the world was vast, who could really say?

The Chief Enforcer crushed the teacup in his hand, saying calmly, “Senior Brother, there's a long road ahead.”