At those words, Ji Song, who had been sitting before Li Zhu's coffin, snapped suddenly awake.
He pushed himself painfully off the ground with both hands and stood, sweeping his murky gaze around the room in a hoarse voice, "Who is there?"
The mourning hall breathed with a faint draft, the white funeral cloth drifting, and that distant voice rose slowly with it, "There is no need for Minister Ji to know who I am. Only answer my question."
At those words, Ji Song stopped searching for the figure and let his stooped body draw itself slightly upright. He looked toward the entrance of the mourning hall and said, "Do you also have a grudge against the Eighth Prince?"
"I have no grudge against him."
The voice spoke with calm indifference, then said quietly, "However, there are far too many people whose position stands opposed to his. More than could ever be counted."
At those words, Right Minister Ji Song's expression of grief, which had been written plainly across his sunken face, began gradually to settle.
After a long moment, a sudden gleam of sharpness flashed in those otherwise dim eyes, and he seemed to come back to himself. He murmured, "These past days of grief have dulled my mind entirely."
Then, as though speaking to the empty air, he asked, "What do you want with me?"
The distant voice was perfectly flat, as though speaking of something perfectly ordinary.
Ji Song was quiet for a moment, and then gave a cold snort. Within his aged frame there surged, for a brief moment, the authority and dignity of a man who had once stood at the top of the court.
"In the struggle for the heir's seat, all six of the other princes stand against this Li Musheng. In the clash between court and martial world, the Great Li sects stand irreconcilably opposed to him. And in the rivalry among the five nations, the other four kingdoms equally view him as a thorn in the eye and a blade in the flesh."
Ji Song's dry, hoarse voice rose slowly as he asked, "And which side do you belong to?"
At those words, the mourning hall fell silent for a moment before that distant voice came again, "Minister Ji need not seek my identity. It is enough to know that we share a common purpose. And moreover, if Minister Ji wishes to have his revenge, an opportunity will present itself before long."
"What opportunity?" Ji Song narrowed his eyes toward the entrance of the hall and asked.
"When the time comes, the Minister will know."
The distant voice drifted with the air, then added, "Minister Ji holds enormous influence in the Great Li court, and would be a great asset in dealing with that Eighth Prince. It would be best to tend to your health. If the man is gone before the day of reckoning, that day can never come."
As those words finished, the distant voice faded gradually away, and only the faintest trace of a final sound carried back, "When there is need, I will come to see the Minister again."
The mourning hall fell still. Ji Song stood in silence for a moment, then slowly turned to look at the coffin behind him.
After a long while, he drew a slow and measured breath, "Yes, Zhu'er. We still have a chance."
...
The imperial capital, Second Prince's residence.
Li Que, dressed in fine brocade robes, sat at the head of the hall. Seated below him was the gray-robed Elder Zhe.
Beyond them, the hall also held a number of Li Que's trusted confidants, as well as several remarkable martial world figures he held in high regard.
At that moment Li Que's brow was heavily furrowed, his expression noticeably grave. He swept a look over everyone present and said, "I have just received word that the Eighth has returned to the capital, and is now in the Tianjin Guards headquarters."
At those words, the expressions of everyone in the hall immediately shifted, and every one of them understood at once why the Second Prince had summoned them in such urgent haste.
At that, a slender young man in a green robe stood and clasped his hands in a bow, "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince's return is certainly a significant matter, but there is no need for excessive alarm. After all, we have no direct grievance with him."
At those words, several of the other martial world figures seated nearby shook their heads, "Azure Jade Scorpion King, you only just came out of closed-door seclusion and are not yet aware of the situation."
Someone then informed the man about the attempt Li Que had sent against Li Musheng.
"The Formless Elder went to assassinate that Eighth Prince, but to this day there has been no word from him."
A middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance but a dark scriptural character tattooed on his forehead spoke, and threads of black energy flickered at the corners of his eyes, "If the Formless Elder truly made his move, he is probably a corpse by now."
At those words, the assembled martial world figures in the hall all fell into quiet.
The Formless Elder had a fearsome reputation in the martial world, and his martial cultivation had been beyond reckoning. When he had first come to the Second Prince's residence, a casual display of his ability had been enough to overawe every martial expert in the compound.
Yet even so, measured against the Falling God Peak grandmaster, the man had fallen well short in every regard.
And that grandmaster, who had held the top of the Great Li martial world as one of the four great sects' supreme figures, had still been cut down single-handedly by the Eighth Prince.
Moreover, from what was said, the grandmaster had even joined forces with several honored elders at the time. That alone spoke to what the Eighth Prince's martial cultivation truly was.
In the entire Great Li martial world as it stood, probably only the two Martial Saints and the Alliance Under Heaven's Grand Alliance Leader Yu Xiongbatian could hold their own against him.
That said, the Great Li martial world now had only one Martial Saint left.
...
At that point, Second Prince Li Que suddenly spoke from his seat at the head of the hall, breaking the silence with a very grave expression, "Honored guests, I ask that the matter of any assassination attempt against the Eighth never be raised again, in case word reaches his ears and brings disaster down upon us all."
At those words, everyone who had been speaking immediately caught themselves, a chill running through all of them. They quickly apologized in unison and swore they would never mention it again.
Second Prince Li Que gave a slow nod, then looked toward the Elder Zhe in the seat below him. The two exchanged a brief and quiet glance, and for a moment a flicker of killing intent passed between their eyes.
But in the end, Li Que did nothing.
He had invested enormous effort into gathering this assembly of powerful martial world figures. Unless he was left with absolutely no other option, he did not want to see all of that come to nothing.
And besides, these people were ultimately in the same boat as him. He was fairly sure none of them would dare open their mouths and bring Li Musheng's attention down on themselves.
"What does the Elder Zhe think our approach should be going forward?"
Second Prince Li Que sent the question through a thread of true qi, keeping his voice inward.
In truth, they had discussed this many times, and Li Que had sought the opinions of several of the advisors in his household.
But now that word had come of Li Musheng's return, with things actually upon him, the unease in his heart would not be suppressed.
After all, he had previously sent the Formless Elder to try and kill the man.
And though the Formless Elder was almost certainly dead now, what if the man had already given him up before dying?
"Your Highness need not be troubled. Now that the Eighth Prince's name shakes the world and he stands at the height of his power, we should naturally avoid his edge, hold back, and wait quietly in the shadow."
The Elder Zhe, at least, was relatively composed. He sent back a quiet reassurance.
At those words, Second Prince Li Que let out a sigh, and a desolate look crossed his face as he reflected aloud, "I know it is our only choice right now. But what I fear is that in backing down now, I am very likely backing down for life, and after this I may never have another chance at the throne."
The Elder Zhe glanced at him, then shook his head slowly, "The tide has not yet turned, Your Highness. Do not lose heart. As long as nothing is settled, all things remain possible."
"As the old saying goes, the tree that stands above the forest is first to catch the wind. Right now that Eighth Prince is the tallest tree. The higher he stands and the more attention he draws, the more every force in the world will want to blow him down."
At those words, something shifted in Second Prince Li Que's expression. After a moment's thought, a faint light of fighting spirit seemed to kindle again in his eyes.
Seeing this, the Elder Zhe gave a quiet nod, "Strength in one moment is not true strength. Acting with patience, enduring, and building in the shadows until the time comes, that is the right path."
...
The Great Li imperial palace.
The Empress sat upright on her golden phoenix throne. An elderly eunuch drifted in from outside the hall, came to a stop before the jade steps, and bowed, "Your Majesty the Empress, the Eighth Prince has returned."
At those words, the Empress, wearing her everyday imperial yellow robes, raised her eyes for a brief glance, then paused slightly with her tea cup before resuming her usual expression, "Where is he now?"
"The Eighth Prince went directly to the Tianjin Guards headquarters upon entering the capital."
"Has the Tianjin Guards notified the palace of his return?"
"As of this moment, apparently not." The elderly eunuch lowered his head.
The Empress drank a sip of tea, her expression revealing nothing. She said, "He leads the Tianjin Guards to destroy Falling God Peak single-handedly, earns this enormous merit, and yet returns as quietly as a whisper. This Eighth Prince is quite modest."
At those words, the elderly eunuch raised his eyes slightly, looked at the Empress on her throne, and said, "Your Majesty speaks truly. The Eighth Prince spent his years adrift in the common world of a distant border city, and though it is unclear how he cultivated such terrifying martial ability, he appears to have kept an extremely low profile from the very first day he arrived in Shangyang City."
"Before he acted against Falling God Peak, the entire capital and the martial world at large considered him to have no natural gifts at all. And yet even now, with his name shaking the world, the Eighth Prince still appears to carry no edge or ambition whatsoever."
The Empress gave the eunuch a look and narrowed her eyes, "I understand what you mean. You are suggesting that perhaps the Eighth Prince is simply that sort of person, and that it has nothing to do with how deep his martial cultivation is."
The elderly eunuch gave a quiet nod, bowing, "Your Majesty sees all clearly."
But the Empress set down her tea cup and said quietly, "Consort Jing raised quite a son."
Then she let out a quiet sigh, "Even so, sometimes what appears to be making no contest is in fact the greatest contest of all. In a world where five nations vie for supremacy and the martial world holds tremendous power, absolute control of force is the greatest bargaining piece of all."
"Given the Emperor's thinking, once he emerges from seclusion, this Eighth Prince will likely be installed as Crown Prince."
At those words, the elderly eunuch immediately lowered his head and did not dare say a word.
On any matter touching the throne, a single careless remark could cost a person their life.
"Enough. I have heard what I needed to know. You may withdraw and continue watching the Tianjin Guards. Report to me immediately if anything changes."
The Empress waved a hand, dismissing the eunuch.
He acknowledged the instruction with a bow, took several steps backward, and then his figure disappeared from the hall.
Before long, the Eunuch Director of Ceremonies and Imperial Attendant Li Tianyi arrived outside the hall.
He wore robes of gold-threaded python brocade, his hair entirely silver, yet his face was fair-skinned and showed no age. When he came before the Empress and bowed in greeting, he said in a low voice, "Your servant pays respects to the Empress. What does Your Majesty wish to ask of this servant?"
Before learning of Li Musheng's return, the Empress had already sent someone to find Li Tianyi. He had simply arrived after the news.
Even so, the Empress made no mention of Li Musheng's return, and simply sat on her phoenix throne and looked down at Li Tianyi below her, then suddenly spoke, "I return to the question I asked you before. Is there any evidence that Consort Ji died by the Eighth's hand?"
At those words, Li Tianyi raised his head. His expression was completely unmoved, clearly not surprised by what the Empress had asked.
He clasped his hands lightly and shook his head, "Your Majesty, this servant said before, the person who entered the palace and killed Consort Ji possessed extremely high martial cultivation and acted with clean precision, leaving behind no evidence whatsoever to establish their identity."
At that, the Empress suddenly struck the table at her side, her gaze sharp and stern, "Perhaps before we had no leads, but now the Eighth's strength is known to the entire world. With cultivation like his, he is entirely consistent with someone who could come and go through the Great Li imperial palace at will."
"Furthermore, he had a close relationship with the Marquis of Cangyuan's daughter. He had motive to act in the Cangyuan Marquis's case. Given all of this, are you intending to look the other way?"
At those words, Li Tianyi, standing in the hall, lowered his head and fell silent.
Only when the Empress's temper had somewhat eased did he bow and venture to speak, "With the utmost respect, this servant dares to ask, has Your Majesty truly thought through what is being asked? To name the prince who single-handedly cut down the Falling God Peak grandmaster and four honored elders as a murderer?"
As he said this, he raised his eyes slightly toward the Empress on her throne, the look in them speaking for itself.
"Insolence!"
The Empress's voice went cold, and she looked at the head eunuch Li Tianyi without expression, "This Empress simply wants those responsible to be brought to justice according to the law, to give Consort Ji and the Cangyuan Marquis's household what they are owed. What does it matter who the culprit turns out to be?"
At those words, Li Tianyi looked at the Empress before him and shook his head, "This servant asks for Your Majesty's understanding. This is not a matter this servant can decide alone, and the risk involved in this affair is not something this servant alone can bear."
He seemed to let out a quiet sigh, then bowed his head, "With respect, Your Majesty would do well to consider the Emperor's thoughts on this. Everything should wait until His Majesty emerges from seclusion."
Faced with those words, the Empress, who had been sitting upright on her golden throne with an expression of irritation, suddenly went oddly calm.
She said nothing more, simply waved a hand, and said evenly, "Withdraw."
At those words, Li Tianyi raised his eyes to look at the Empress, and the light in them shifted slightly.
Even so, he said nothing more, only bowed in farewell.
After leaving the hall, Li Tianyi suddenly stopped, looked back for a long moment, and murmured to himself, "There is not a simple soul in this entire imperial palace."
With that, he shook his head and left.
At the same time, the Empress sat on her phoenix throne, and spoke slowly toward the empty hall, "The eunuchs of the Ceremonial Directorate will always side with His Majesty. That is beyond any question. And their stance, in large part, reflects His Majesty's own."
Her voice drifted through the hall, light and weightless, whether speaking to herself or intending her words for ears she knew were listening.