Chapter 13: Chapter 13

“Your Majesty, I think that Clan Dugu may be trying to put you to a test to determine if the grand ancestor is still alive,” the old eunuch who was standing by his side said.

The emperor turned to look at the one who he called great friend, opening his mouth to speak but finding himself tongue-tied.

They both stayed silent for quite a long time.

The emperor finally spoke, “That d*mned chancellor…hit them one at a time…? How could anyone possibly discuss something like that in court in front of everyone else? Doesn’t he realize just how many lapdogs of the noble clans there are in court? If we hadn’t put a stop to the conversation, he would probably have gone on to discuss planning about how to hit them one at a time. What I lack most now is time.”

“Your Majesty, if the grand ancestor is still around, I’d say that none of this would be a problem if he were to just make an appearance.”

“Yeah, I’d definitely be able to deal with things if I had the grand ancestor by my side. You can take your leave now, great friend. I’m just going to take a stroll around here by myself.”

As soon as the old eunuch left, a sinister look appeared in the emperor’s eyes.

“That old fart just couldn’t keep himself from bringing up the grand ancestor, could he? Is he trying to peer into the secrets of the royal family? Seems as if my great friend isn’t that much of a friend after all.”

He then scratched his head.

A tinge of despair could be seen in his eyes.

He’d once thought that he would gain command of all manner of formidable ones as soon as he sat on the throne.

Now, he’d come to realize just how naïve he had been.

Training warriors requires resources.

Only noble clans, which all had access to vast resources, would be able to feed these resources to the warriors in a seemingly endless capacity.

There was also the thing of training manuals being monopolized as well.

Warriors were being generally reduced to being bouncers serving the noble clans.

He, an emperor, was nothing in the eyes of those people.

Clan Dugu had had their own agenda when they backed him up and made him emperor.

At present, he had two choices: he could continue being a puppet to Clan Dugu, which meant that he would have to fight a losing battle against all the other noble clans, in which Clan Dugu would show up to pick up all the spoils. Or, there was also the option of turning against Clan Dugu, which would eventually lead to the other noble clans getting an advantage over them.

What troubled him the most at this moment was that he had no control in the matter.

Whether he’d agreed to it or not, the court was undeniably in Clan Dugu’s pocket.

Things had gotten so severe that even his so-called great friend was scheming against him.

One could tell just how dire the situation had become.

“If only the grand ancestor was still around.”

Is he though?

He closed his eyes, and a streak of tears could be seen at the corners of his eyes.

He had learned that they had had a seemingly invincible grand ancestor on the very day he’d ascended to the throne.

That grand ancestor had already been dead for over a century.

The old man was probably reduced to dust by now.

What kept his enemies at bay were the warriors serving the regime.

If even his great friend were to start behaving like this, he feared that the warriors of the palace would all be divided.

If it hadn’t been for that gray-robed warrior in the palace all those years ago, I’d have probably been kicked off of the throne then, he murmured to himself.

Hold on.

Where is that gray-robed eunuch?

Sigh~

He probably wouldn’t be able to turn the tables of the state of affairs around here anyway.

“Serves me right, I guess.”

He looked up to the sky as he sighed, as tears streaked down his cheeks.

He’d murdered his brothers in order to ascend to the throne.

And now, at present, he was all on his own.

He felt a sorrow like no other welling up from the depths of his being.

He began to miss his family all of a sudden.

“Where’s Ruirui?”

The only person who could bring him joy in the palace was his own daughter.

Outside Jingning Palace…

The laughter of a child and the off-tune noise from instruments could be heard.

The emperor wore a smile on his face.

He stepped into the palace.

Jingning Palace was immediately rendered silent.

Then, as the sound of a bamboo flute was heard, the palace gradually became lively again and laughter could be heard.

Now, for several days, the emperor would often accompany the little princess to Jingning Palace for the purpose of hearing music.

Six months later, the plaque outside Jingning Palace was changed to one saying Shouning Palace.

Despite the name change, the palace still remained a “cold” palace.

Shouning Palace…

A name befitting the residence of a concubine of the previous emperor.

Due to her current status, she would naturally not gain any attention from those in the palace.

Furthermore, things were getting very unsettled in the world outside.

People were getting increasingly antagonistic to each other.

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Li Mu’s bottleneck loosened a bit early in the spring of that year.

However, before he had finished celebrating, there was news from the border saying that Lord Ning, the emperor’s uncle who was supposed to be guarding the palace, had revolted.

The incident with the noble clans had yet to be settled, and now the emperor’s own kin had made the first move.

Li Mu was dumbfounded.

The entire court was equally as dumbfounded.

Just what the h*ll is happening here?

In the Jinluan Hall…

The emperor was laughing out loud.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, great job indeed. A good war is being fought in my stead. Time to show the noble clans what the royal family is made of after all.”

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“What is there to celebrate, eh? My uncle has revolted and, on paper at least, he is going against me. It would be best if the turn of events would force that fox, Dugu Xin, to just kill himself.”

People were all arguing with each other at court the next morning.

Representatives from the clans stationed in the capital city requested the emperor to execute Dugu Xin, in order to quell Lord Ning’s wrath.

Dugu Xin flapped his sleeves and left while the meeting was still ongoing.

The emperor was having a great time playing with his daughter in the Imperial Gardens.

A huge army appeared outside the city all of a sudden.

The shocking news spread far and wide before long.

“Clan Dugu has revolted!”

Boom~

An army of countless warriors had attacked the city walls from outside.

Everything looked pitch-black as far as the eye could see.

The general garrisoning the city at the wall sported a severe expression.

“We can’t hold the fort for long. It is only a matter of time before the city walls are breached. Notify His Majesty. I’ll buy us some time as best as I can for the next two days. Tell His Majesty to think of something.”

“Yes, sir.”

Silence loomed over Jinluan Hall.

“Dugu Xin, how dare he do such a thing? An army of 500,000 men. Where did he get all those men?” The emperor yelled as he paced about in the hall.

He couldn’t figure out how Clan Dugu had managed to amass an army of such a staggering size.

“Your Majesty, it is now time to think of ways to stop the advance of Clan Dugu’s army,” the left chancellor said.

“That’s a 500,000-man strong army! How do we stop something like that?” A court minister commented with fear in his voice.

That minister had never been to a battlefield since he was an administrative official.

He stood at one of the towers of the walls in the morning, looking outside from curiosity.

What he saw frightened him no end.

“It is not the army of 500,000 that is terrifying. The truly terrifying ones are the four Higher Heaven warriors from Clan Dugu. If they were to make a move, I’m afraid there’s no one in the city capable of stopping them.”

“You think that they’re the only ones with Higher Heaven Realm soldiers fighting for them? We too have a lot of formidable warriors here in the city. There will still be a chance of taking them on, so long as we can assemble those warriors. What I’m truly afraid of is that there may be Spirit Manipulation Realm fighters on Clan Dugu’s side.”

“Clan Dugu wouldn’t dare to revolt without being prepared at all.”

“Clan Dugu knows things that are going in and out of the city like the back of their hands. The cunning fox Dugu Xin wouldn’t have dared to revolt if he wasn’t sure that he would win. Your Majesty, I propose that we move the capital at once. We need to be decisive about this one.”

……

“Move the capital city? Boy, you really make it sound easy. Where could we move the capital to, huh? To Clan Zhao’s turf or Clan Yuan’s turf, eh?”

The emperor was panting.

There was no avoiding the territories controlled by the noble clans if they were thinking of moving the capital elsewhere.

Their hands were tied one way or another.

“Your Majesty, I think we should make a call to Sovereign’s Rescue. Some clans who are unwilling to see Clan Dugu claim superiority would definitely come to our aid,” the left chancellor advised.

“We’re now surrounded by a 500,000-strong army from Clan Dugu. Don’t you think it would be too late to do something like that now?”

……

Back in Shouning Palace…

Li Mu gathered the leaves with his broom.

A delicate little girl was squatting beside him.

The little girl looked like she was about four years old and holding a yellow leaf in her hand. She had a worried look on her face that shouldn’t ever show up on someone of such a young age.

The concubine sat on the stairs of the palace behind her.

She looked at the girl and Li Mu before her and wore a faint smile on her face.

“Xiaolizi, my father was very unhappy yesterday. Do you know of any way to make him happy again?” The little girl asked.

“Your father is unhappy because there is a 500,000-man army surrounding the city right now. I’m just a puny eunuch from the palace. It’s not something I could do anything about.”

Li Mu shook his head.

“You definitely could do something!” Ruirui pouted.

“Nope.”

“You could. You made me laugh, so you definitely could make Father laugh.”

“I really couldn’t do anything.”

Hmph~ “I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Ruirui pouted and she turned around, standing with her legs apart and wearing a face that said “I’m very angry now”.

“Well, it’s not like I could actually do anything anyway.”