"A Huo family girl of barely fifteen managed to reduce my son and Dugu Yan to this state, and nearly killed you too?"
Dugu Changkong's cold voice rang in the blue-robed elder's ears like thunder. His terrifying martial pressure bore down, and the elder let out a choked sound and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The assembled Dugu family elders all showed unusual expressions. Having heard the blue-robed elder's account, none of them could quite accept what they had been told.
"There was probably... a hidden expert helping her. My own strength was insufficient... that is how I came to be injured..."
The blue-robed elder struggled to explain. One of the Dugu family's senior elders furrowed his brow and asked with disbelief, "You have walked the divine realm for more than ten years. If someone was truly helping that Huo family girl through her, striking you down in the process, how formidable would that person have to be?"
At those words, the other Dugu family elders exchanged a glance, and someone's expression shifted as he suddenly said, "Could it have been Champion Marquis Huo Xian who acted?"
"Impossible. Huo Xian's martial arts were fully destroyed. It was verified and confirmed by countless people at the time. He has long been a cripple of no consequence. It could not have been him."
A white-haired Dugu family elder shook his head and flatly dismissed the possibility.
If Huo Xian truly still had his martial arts, the Huo family would never be in the situation they were in now, and Emperor Yuanwu would never have let a Champion Marquis of such incomparable military genius and martial cultivation sit idle and waste away.
At those words, everyone in the room fell silent for a moment.
"If not Huo Xian, then in all of this capital, who would come to the aid of a family that has been in decline for years?"
Someone voiced the question, while Dugu Changkong gave a cold snort that made no effort to conceal his killing intent, saying in a sharp voice, "Whoever they are, for reducing my son to this state, the Dugu family will never let it go. We will make them pay a hundredfold."
Right at that moment, the figure of a white-robed girl appeared at the door of the room.
"I know who acted to help Huo Mu."
The white-robed girl stood at the doorway biting her lip, her gaze moving over the assembled Dugu family elders and Dugu Changkong.
At those words, every eye in the room turned toward her. Dugu Changkong's eyes narrowed to points as sharp as blades, looking at the girl, "So you saw who acted. Tell me. Who was it?"
The white-robed girl met Dugu Changkong's gaze, and immediately lowered her head, drawing a slow deep breath.
"The person was actually present throughout. It is simply that none of us noticed him act."
The white-robed girl looked at the blue-robed elder kneeling on the floor, "The one who acted was the young man with the big black cat. And I only learned his identity from overhearing their conversation."
As she said this, she raised her head and looked at Dugu Changkong, and her expression became difficult to read, "He is the current Eighth Prince."
...
The moment the white-robed girl said those words, the entire room went so quiet that a pin dropping would have been heard.
The kneeling blue-robed elder immediately looked at the girl, his expression going through a rapid series of changes. He kept turning over in his mind the figure of Li Musheng in the courtyard building.
Gradually his face began to drain of color.
He knew the girl would not dare lie in front of Dugu Changkong and the elders. And he could confirm that the young man in his memory matched that Eighth Prince precisely.
"I had the nerve to raise a hand in front of the person who single-handedly destroyed Falling God Peak?"
The blue-robed elder's whole body went cold in an instant, and then he suddenly realized that having escaped from the Huo family with his life, he had been extraordinarily, almost impossibly fortunate.
At the same time, the assembled Dugu family figures including Dugu Changkong all fell equally silent.
Everyone's brow furrowed tightly, and the color on every face became quite unpleasant.
"You are certain it was the Eighth Prince who acted to help the Huo family?"
Dugu Changkong's figure suddenly shifted, and in an instant he was standing directly before the white-robed girl.
Threads of sword intent radiated from him with a suppressive force, making the girl tremble slightly despite herself.
"I heard it with my own ears. Champion Marquis Huo Xian was also present at the time."
The white-robed girl's face was pale, and she forced herself to hold her ground under the pressure as she spoke, "Only I suddenly lost consciousness after that, and know nothing of what happened afterward."
At those words, Dugu Changkong stared hard at the girl for a long moment, then immediately summoned someone, giving the instruction, "I want to know every movement the Eighth Prince made today."
The person acknowledged the order and immediately withdrew. The Dugu family's influence in the capital was immense, and they naturally had their own intelligence channels.
Before long, a Dugu family manager hurried over and presented a short report into Dugu Changkong's hands.
After reading the report's contents, Dugu Changkong passed it to the assembled elders in the room, letting it circulate.
At that, Dugu Changkong paid no further attention to the white-robed girl or the blue-robed elder. He moved to stand before the blood-soaked one-armed young man.
Then, with a deeply complex expression, he spoke, "Elder uncles and cousins, what do you all think should be done about this?"
At those words, the assembled Dugu family elders, having read the report, exchanged looks with each other, every face showing an expression that was quite unpleasant.
After a moment, one elder considered briefly and then spoke slowly, "That Eighth Prince conducts himself without restraint. He returned to the capital and immediately killed Second Prince Li Que, then proceeded to the Huo family's residence where he covertly injured our people. Clearly in his eyes, no faction and no person in this capital merits any consideration."
At those words, another Dugu family elder furrowed his brow in a nod, then looked at Dugu Changkong and said, "Speaking plainly, compared to the fact that he killed the Second Prince outright, what the Dugu family has experienced is actually a lighter outcome."
At those words, Dugu Changkong whipped around to look at the elder, killing intent flooding from his eyes as he said through nearly clenched teeth, "Are you saying my son's injuries should simply be left at that?"
The assembled Dugu family elders exchanged looks, though no one answered Dugu Changkong's question.
They naturally understood the man's feelings. But what they were dealing with was Li Musheng, a rising Eighth Prince at the height of his power.
The man's identity was exceptional, his martial cultivation astonishing, and more importantly, he had killed his own Second Prince without a moment's hesitation. If the Dugu family went against him, the Dugu family would be treated the same way he had treated Falling God Peak, eliminated outright.
And the Dugu family was nowhere near Falling God Peak. It would cost Li Musheng almost nothing to wipe them out.
"We understand your anger, Changkong, but we strongly advise you to go and consult the Martial Preceptor first."
The group of senior Dugu family elders spoke up. Though they also knew this meant swallowing a humiliation, they could not gamble the entire Dugu family's existence on this.
After all, the Eighth Prince's name was feared throughout the capital, for both his fame and his infamy. Honestly speaking, there was almost no faction in the entire capital likely to dare provoke him.
And so regarding the serious injuries to Dugu Yan and the others, the Dugu family's thinking was that they would have no choice but to swallow their fury and live with it.
Dugu Changkong heard the elders advising him to consult the Martial Preceptor, swept a look over the assembled group, and said nothing.
Though he could not read the thoughts of that supremely powerful figure of the Dugu family, even without asking, Dugu Changkong already knew the Martial Preceptor would never allow him to simply strike against a member of the Great Li imperial family.
Let alone the Eighth Prince, who was precisely the person the Dugu family could not afford to provoke.
"Very well."
After a long time, Dugu Changkong finally lowered his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, "I will not pursue the Eighth Prince over this matter. For now."
But then Dugu Changkong's tone shifted, and he looked at the assembled group with a sharp voice, "But the Huo family is something else entirely. I will never forgive them. They will pay for this."
At those words, the assembled Dugu family elders exchanged glances, and none of them moved to stop Dugu Changkong.
They already knew of the connection between Li Musheng and the Huo family, but compared to confronting Li Musheng directly, the Dugu family going after the Huo family was within an acceptable range.
And furthermore, the Dugu family was the wronged party in this matter. There was even the opportunity to use this as leverage to finally obtain the Huo family's spear manuals. That was something beneficial for the Dugu family.
At that, Dugu Changkong swept a look over everyone and continued, "Furthermore, from this day forward, have the Dugu family's agents watch the Eighth Prince without pause. I want to know everything about him."
"I cannot avenge my son today. But that does not mean the opportunity will never come. This grudge, I have noted it."
...
At that moment, the number of people watching Li Musheng in Shangyang City was considerable.
And after Li Musheng's visit to the Huo family's residence, the sight of Dugu Yan's group being carried out and returned to the Dugu household was naturally also caught by hidden observers.
In short order, word of Li Musheng acting against the Dugu family spread through the various capital factions via their respective intelligence networks.
At the same time, in the Great Li imperial palace.
Within the Empress's Fengyi Hall, four Great Li princes had gathered in one place for a rare occasion. The First Prince Li Xuan, Fourth Prince Li Zi, Fifth Prince Li Qing, and Sixth Prince Li An were all present.
And these four princes had not arranged this gathering in advance. Each had come under the pretense of visiting their respective mothers. But by court protocol, any prince entering the palace first had to pay respects to the Empress as mistress of the inner palace, and so they had all happened to be in the same place at the same time entirely by coincidence.
"Sixth Brother, I last saw you on the first day of the New Year. Quite the rare occasion to run into you here."
Fourth Prince Li Zi wore gold-trimmed purple robes with a jade crown, and carried himself with considerable bearing.
Across from him stood a young man whose clothing was nothing particularly grand, his head slightly lowered, looking quiet and reserved. He clasped his hands in a bow, "Elder Brother surely knows I am not one for social occasions. I generally stay in my residence with books for company. I came to the palace today mainly because I have not seen my mother in many days, so I came to visit."
At those words, First Prince Li Xuan and Fifth Prince Li Qing, standing side by side in the hall, exchanged a glance. Li Qing let out a soft laugh, "There is no need to pretend, Sixth Brother. We all know perfectly well why every one of us is here today."
At those words, Sixth Prince Li An's face flushed slightly, and he immediately clasped his hands, "Please forgive this brother's foolishness. I am simply rather easily frightened. I happened to hear that the Eighth Prince returned to the capital, went to the Second Prince's residence, and even... actually..."
As he said this, the Sixth Prince Li An seemed genuinely unable to continue, and simply let out a long and heavy sigh, his expression full of sorrow.
At the same time, Li Qing and the other princes also showed expressions that were rather uncomfortable. Fourth Prince Li Zi wore an expression of shock and fury, "The Eighth is truly reckless and lawless. To kill his own blood and his own elder brother is the most outrageous possible transgression. This matter must be reported to Father and the Empress, and he must be properly punished."
Fifth Prince Li Qing gave a quiet nod, his expression grave, "Indeed. Otherwise I have no doubt the Eighth will eliminate us one by one to secure the position of Crown Prince. And who among us could possibly withstand his terrifying martial cultivation?"
First Prince Li Xuan, whose appearance was that of a refined and scholarly man, also had his brow deeply furrowed, "What the Eighth did was truly excessive. Even if the Second had done something wrong, he should have brought it before Father and the court. To take matters into his own hands and end a life so casually and without regard for the law was completely unacceptable."
"If everyone in Great Li and the martial world conducted themselves as he does, the people of Great Li would be living in ceaseless turmoil with never a day of peace."
At those words, Sixth Prince Li An raised his eyes to look at the First Prince briefly, then lowered them again, "Elder Brother always keeps the common people at heart. This younger brother is ashamed. I myself have no great ambitions, only wishing to read, write, paint, and wander among the mountains and rivers. I have no desire for the throne and would never stand in anyone's way."
As he said this, he bowed low, "If any of my elder brothers should see the Eighth Prince, I would ask you to convey these words to him, and tell him to have no murderous intent toward me."
At those words, the other three princes all looked at Li An with somewhat unusual expressions.
As expected, the Sixth was still the Sixth, as reliably timid and soft as ever, apparently wanting to stay completely out of everything and avoid being touched by any of it.
"Sixth Brother, there are things in this world that will not leave you alone simply because you choose not to contest them."
Fourth Prince Li Zi narrowed his eyes and looked at him, "If you do not want to end up like Second Brother, killed by the Eighth through that incredibly brutal method, you had better stand with us."
"Otherwise, if the Eighth truly becomes emperor, it will surely be the reign of the most tyrannical ruler in history."
At those words, the entire Fengyi Hall went still.
The Sixth Prince Li An kept his head lowered, visibly struggling and wavering, as though he could not decide how to choose.
Right at that moment, the Empress, dressed in her elaborate court robes, walked into the hall surrounded by a procession of ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs, and settled into the golden phoenix throne.
"This son pays his respects to the Empress!"
"Your servant pays respects to the Empress!"
...
First Prince Li Xuan and the other three princes all immediately bowed, and the Empress waved a hand.
Her gaze swept over the four princes, and then she raised a hand to her forehead and said, "Xuan and all of you princes, I already understand why you have come."
"The matter of Second Prince Li Que has already been set in motion. As for that Eighth Prince..."
She paused here, then shook her head, "Do not provoke him for the time being. Wait until His Majesty comes out of seclusion. If any of you are truly frightened, this Empress can arrange for you to stay temporarily within the palace, which should keep you safe for the moment."