Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1152 Undercurrent
These words seemed to be agreeing with him and telling the major families to behave themselves, but upon closer examination, they were actually letting the matter slide, even giving the families a pretext to cleanse themselves of villains and evil spirits...

What they would do, didn't Prince De know perfectly well? Naturally, he would consider all those who criticized him to be heretics and petty villains!
How could this be? !
The Prince of De was very confused. He had thought that Xuan Mingyu would take this opportunity to teach these lawless aristocratic families a lesson and take back some of the power they had seized. But now, how come he, one of the young emperor's staunchest supporters, didn't understand the other party's thoughts at all?
Is there... anything more to come?
But then, the young emperor on the throne fell silent, as if lost in thought, leaving everything to his ministers to decide.

The Loyal King and the Virtuous King exchanged a glance. The Virtuous King could not discern anything from the seemingly calm and gentle gaze of the Loyal King.

To be honest, the Prince of De had never quite understood what the Prince of Zhen, who had served the Emperor earlier than him, was thinking... His brother had been chosen as the Prince of Zhen since childhood and had always been loyal. After the young Emperor was chosen by the Imperial Court to become the current Emperor of Xuantian, he moved away from his town with the Prince of Jing and personally guarded him on both sides.

Loyalty, without a doubt, according to human principles, this is the ultimate loyalty. Even the King of Virtue himself cannot leave the town for long. If he does not take good care of the town's veins and human energy, he will not be able to improve his strength. The King of Loyalty's actions have undoubtedly cut off his own path forward. Whether for the king or for the martial artist, this is a kind of...torture.

But are there really people who are that loyal?
The Prince of De asked himself honestly, did he support the Emperor because the Great Chen Dynasty needed him? The Great Chen Dynasty needed a stable court. The great era had arrived. In the last Blood Sea Calamity, the Great Chen Dynasty had already performed very poorly. Some people even believed that the Great Chen Dynasty was deliberately supporting the Blood Sea Demonic Sect. Such public opinion was circulating throughout the Ten Continents.

Prince De knew that this was because the Emperor had not yet assumed personal rule, or perhaps... it was due to some actions of the ancestors in secret, as the Emperor had said?
He was unclear about the situation, which is why he supported the Emperor even more. If the Emperor could become the backbone of the Imperial Court, the current chaotic situation and contradictory decisions would surely be resolved.

His loyalty was to the imperial court, believing that if the court was stable, the world would be at peace.

This is 'virtue'.

But what exactly is the loyalty of the Loyal King?
The Prince of De couldn't see through it; he found it hard to understand, and even... felt a bit of fear.

At that very moment, a barely perceptible spiritual sense entered his mind; it was a private message from the young emperor.

Let's wait and see, Uncle Wang. Our destiny will surely give these people a pleasant surprise.

Is that so?
Prince De took a deep breath, suppressing his anger and confusion.

Although it seems incredible, perhaps... His Majesty really does have a far more profound plan.

But... in that case, what about justice for those people?
Should those lives that died silently, those lives that were manipulated at will by the Yuan family, or rather, by the various powerful families, be ignored and forgotten?

Prince De looked towards the outskirts of the city, his gaze piercing through the many palaces of Xuantian Palace.

His eyes were filled with reluctance as he murmured to himself, "This kind of thing always needs to be explained to the world."

There must always be an explanation for 'Virtue'.

at the same time.

Outside the northern gate of Shenjing, the refugee camp that was once shrouded in despair and death is undergoing tremendous changes.

After Cang Linzu left, the refugee camp witnessed a massive battle. At first, they were filled with hope, or perhaps fear—no matter what Cang Linzu's purpose was in fighting the Great Chen Dynasty, these refugees would likely not have a good outcome in the end.

But surprisingly, nothing happened.

Things haven't gotten better—the relief food still hasn't arrived.

Nothing had gone wrong—the garrison remained completely still.

Without any instructions or sound, the refugees seemed to be invisible, ignored by everyone.

Whether this is good or bad, no one knows, not even the refugees themselves, whether they should be happy about this neglect or sigh.

But soon.

The morning after Canglinzu was imprisoned, new people took over the refugee camp.

It was a young girl wearing a black straw hat, concealing her face. She didn't disturb anyone, but quietly took over the order that had been maintained by the saturated granaries. She brought a troop and an astonishing amount of supplies, ensuring the entire refugee camp received rations. In the two days while the court was still embroiled in verbal disputes, under this girl's iron fist, the entire refugee camp quickly returned to order. Neat, uniform tents replaced the original thatched huts, colorful flags were raised, and various functional areas were clearly demarcated.

If someone familiar with the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect were here, they could instantly identify the origin of this process. However, the problem is that the current garrison is completely ignoring and dare not pay attention to this refugee camp. Moreover, most of the refugees are loyal officials within the Great Chen Dynasty. How could they possibly identify the 'demonic path' that is flourishing in this frontier region?

"Yes, I'm here, everything's alright now."

"If you want to thank someone, there's no need to thank us... just thank An Tianming and An Jing."

Walking through the refugee camp, Bai Qinghan calmly accepted the refugees' worship. Her expression remained unchanged, her eyes slightly lowered, and no one could see the girl's expression behind the veil, nor could they hear the emotions behind her cold and indifferent tone.

She calmed each of the excited, emotional, and tearful refugees with a tone that was almost completely flat. This calm was exactly what the refugees needed most. Under the influence of this emotion, most of them regained their confidence, began to follow the instructions of the team, and started to live normally and maintain order.

The numbness is gone, and the fire in my heart is rekindled.

Although everyone knew that both Canglinzu and the woman who wished to remain anonymous but was respectfully called a goddess by the others in the group had come because of the teachings and guidance of 'Anjing Tianming', people still couldn't help but look up to the girl with admiration.

Because the Mandate of Heaven is too distant, too high, too majestic and grand, too solemn and awe-inspiring, and the things that the Mandate of Heaven is to do, although related to all people, are too far removed from the specific individuals involved.

"Perhaps... this is what Senior Brother wants."

Bai Qinghan was well aware of this. Standing on the newly built watchtower in the refugee camp, she looked around at the now exceptionally peaceful and stable refugee camp, and then gazed at the magnificent, sleepless city in the distance. Her dark eyes reflected the fire in the sky as she murmured to herself, "For so many years, I have dreamed... dreamed of coming here, but I have never been able to fulfill my wish."

"Now that my wish has come true, why does my heart feel like rainwater flowing into a deep pool? There is a feeling that is constantly gathering and rising, but... there is no excitement?"

at the same time.

In the capital city, in the imperial prison, an unusually calm interrogation began.

The Heavenly Prison is not a dark and damp dungeon. On the contrary, it is suspended in the sky among the clouds and constructed in a way similar to the cloud vortex of the Dragon Clan. The entire space is bright and clean, with abundant spiritual energy. The tables, chairs and beds are all made of cloud jade. There is even a huge window that allows you to see the light and shadow of the outside world. Rather than being a prison, it is more like a place to relax.

General Gu Yunzhi, the General Who Guards the North, is imprisoned here. He even has the leisure to brew himself a pot of fine tea.

The person interrogating him was none other than Yin Gujin, the Grand Commander, who was the number one martial artist in the Great Chen Dynasty and the holder of the Martial Emperor's Throne.

This man, who looked like an ordinary, burly fellow with three scars on his face, was scratching his head in a rather undignified manner, looking at his old subordinate with considerable distress.

"Xiao Gu."

Yin Gujin spoke, his voice as loud as ever: "His Majesty has spoken, so I won't make things difficult for you. Just tell me where Prince Jing's 'Heavenly Martial' is hidden. If you tell me, I will release you and Xiao Cang immediately."

"Why didn't you ask last time? Why do you have to ask now?" Gu Yunzhi smiled, while Yin Gujin slapped his thigh and laughed loudly: "Isn't it because we know you're not actually childless? Everyone knows you're a confidant of the Prince of Jing, and your family line also has the inheritance of the Tide Mist True Dragon. If we use it as a blood sacrifice, the Northern Frontier will really respond."

"But who knew that after we spent so much time performing the ritual, we found that none of your bloodlines were of any use."

"Back then, everyone guessed that it was you who was ruthless, severing your family's bloodline and completely cutting ties with Prince Jing. Everyone was helpless and there was nothing they could do. Besides, Prince Mingjing was still alive, and Tianwu would reappear sooner or later, so it didn't matter. We thought we'd just wait until Prince Mingjing came back to deal with it."

At this point, Yin Gujin changed the subject, grinned, and revealed his white teeth: "But now, we all know."

“Your Gu family bloodline has not been severed at all... You have simply given all the ‘authority’ to your last descendants!”

(End of this chapter)