Frost for a Thousand Years

The moment the sword emerged from the golden cudgel, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

Because everyone's attention was focused on Sun Wukong, who was leaping and somersaulting, and they were captivated by his every expression and movement.

And because they are not online readers, they all understand the story very well.

Throughout the entire Journey to the West, the only weapon Sun Wukong used was this Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff that stabilizes the sea).

This stabilizing needle definitely doesn't hide a thin sword inside.

Therefore, everyone reacted instantly—assassination!

The two people closest to the emperor on the left and right sides were the crown prince and the King of Changsha.

Next, symmetrically positioned to the left and right are the King of Jin and the King of Qin.

The furthest was King Zhongping, Wei Yiyuan.

Yet he reacted the fastest from the furthest distance.

With one hand propped on the table, he immediately tried to get up.

But his knee slammed directly under the table with a loud bang, making him wince in pain.

This was already the fastest person to respond among the emperor's entourage.

Anyone who has ever used tatami mats knows that it's difficult for anyone to stand up from a sitting position.

"!" Wei Wusheng, who had been expressionless while humiliating the emperor, suddenly widened his pupils as he watched helplessly as the assassin thrust his sword towards the emperor.

"Father!"

The crown prince recently withdrew, and just then, for some reason, the eunuch Xi beside the emperor, in a fit of rage, grabbed a plate from the emperor's table and smashed it at Sun Wukong, who was charging towards him.

Sun Wukong quickly turned his head and dodged the wooden plate that was still carrying sliced ​​pieces of lamb leg meat when it came crashing down.

It was the crown prince's reminder that snapped the startled emperor out of his daze, causing him to immediately shrank back.

Because of Xishan's attack, Sun Wukong's sword missed its mark.

In his panic, he prepared to jump onto the table, grip the sword with both hands, and kill the emperor.

However, before he could jump, two Imperial Guards behind him came from the left and right, directly using their spears to pierce and choke him on his left and right shoulders.

"Father!"

Wei Yiyuan charged at him savagely, grabbed him by the waist, and tackled Sun Wukong to the ground.

Completely pinned down, Sun Wukong struggled frantically.

More and more soldiers surrounded them, completely blocking them in the middle.

"Don't kill him!" Duke Li stood up and immediately shouted.

The soldiers reacted quickly and captured him together.

But the moment he was pinned down, Sun Wukong spat out blood.

A member of the Imperial Guard came over and quickly pried open his mouth with his hand. But the poison he had hidden in his mouth beforehand, intending to swallow it after the assassination failed, had already been swallowed.

"Who ordered you to kill him!"

"Tell me quickly, who ordered you to kill him!"

Before he died, the Imperial Guards gripped his arm tightly, roaring as they tried to find out who was behind it all.

But the monkey merely gave a disdainful smile, then glanced at the prince...

This completely baffled the crown prince.

At the same time, all the actors in the 'Journey to the West' opera troupe were arrested when the assassin was captured. They knelt on the ground, holding their heads, their faces pale and trembling, too frightened to speak.

Their employer shook his head repeatedly, stammering, "This humble one doesn't know...this humble one doesn't know..."

"Escort!"

The Prince of Jin, who was the slowest to react, rushed to the emperor's side, supported him, and shouted loudly.

"Go away!"

He was immediately driven away by the emperor in a fit of anger.

Then, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

The emperor was indeed in a sorry state just now, but once he was safe, a murderous look suddenly appeared in his eyes, slowly sweeping across the front, making everyone tremble with fear.

Among the princes, only Wei Wusheng's face showed not fear, but utter shock. He rested one hand on the table, knelt on one knee, and propped himself up on one leg, ready to stand up.

There is no doubt that he knew nothing about it.

Because there is no fear.

Why is there no fear?

Because I don't care that much.

He was closer than the Prince of Zhongping, and being a martial artist with exceptional physical strength, he hesitated even about whether to intervene to protect the prince when he was attacked in the middle.

The King of Changsha would absolutely not know.

He is still crying loudly, as if he has lost his soul.

The crown prince reacted quickly, and was also still feeling fear because of what had just happened.

Furthermore, he had a reason to send someone to assassinate him.

why?
At this moment, the King of Jin was filled with pure fear; terror overwhelmed everything else.

Because he will be implicated.

Finally, he dedicated this grand performance to his own Wei Yiyuan.

He did indeed pounce on him.

However, that was after the first sword strike.

Furthermore, both Imperial Guards' spears were embedded in the assassin's body; had it not been for his sudden embrace, the assassin would have been subdued.

At the same time, a member of the Imperial Guard ripped open Sun Wukong's skin, revealing a bloodied human face.

"come over!"

After being sternly rebuked by the Imperial Guards, Sha Wujing, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, the White Bone Demon, and others were brought over.

Pointing at the human face on the corpse, he asked in extreme anger, "Is this one of yours?!"

“This, this isn’t one of our people.” Pigsy quickly shook his head and explained, “We’re not with him.”

"I didn't ask you that!" the Imperial Guard shouted sternly. "Has this person been replaced? Was he originally part of your opera troupe?"

"There's no replacement, it's him." Pigsy hurriedly said in a panic.

The others nodded fearfully, afraid that if they spoke too slowly they would be suspected of having bad intentions, and dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Once it was confirmed that this Sun Wukong was the original Sun Wukong, and there was no temporary substitution or replacement of the assassin, the Imperial Guard turned his head, knelt on one knee facing the emperor, and clenched his fists.

Wei Yiyuan, who had just slowly gotten up from the ground, swallowed hard.

The next moment, two Imperial Guards, one on the left and one on the right, pinned him to the ground.

Even though he was a prince, at this moment, he had no dignity whatsoever.

The officials, filled with fear, watched as soldiers surrounded the entire platform—or rather, everyone at the banquet.

The grand assassination attempt on the emperor has actually taken place!
"Father, it wasn't me! I didn't know!"

Knowing he was doomed, Wei Yiyuan loudly begged the emperor for mercy.

But the emperor's gaze was not on him; he continued to scan the area.

The woman named Xinyue was now standing beside Song Shi'an. But at the moment of the assassination attempt, the emperor remembered, and she also stood up, but she spread her arms to protect Song Shi'an behind her.

Her reaction was the same as Wei Wusheng's; she felt it was very abrupt.

Song Shi'an, who remained seated, stared blankly as he summarized everything.

Then, just like myself, I observed everywhere and summarized the current situation.

The fire in the emperor's heart was ignited.

Anyone with a brain knows that Wei Yiyuan would never order an assassin to kill me.
He killed me, what did he want?
what?
but……

With such compelling evidence laid out before them, even the emperor, without concrete proof, could have already sentenced Wei Yiyuan to death.

Song Shi'an couldn't help but smile to himself.

This was indeed somewhat accidental, as if it were driven by fate.

But this actually doesn't seem out of place at all.

Because the troupe that performed Journey to the West was secretly formed by him.

Wukong, one of his own loyal followers, was killed by his father and brother. His father and brother were conscripted for labor and died while building the emperor's tomb, without receiving any compensation or tax exemption.

Death is death.

Therefore, he was extremely grateful for the opportunity to kill the emperor.

Yes, Song Shi'an planned this Western-style game class to make money. At the same time, it was also so that one day it could become his trump card.

Kill the emperor.

Kill the crown prince.

As for Wei Yiyuan buying it, that was a strange accident.

Of course, many people saw the value of the "Journey to the West" IP, and many powerful and wealthy people were interested. But when a man claiming to be the Prince of Zhongping appeared among the buyers, Song Shi was overjoyed.

At that time, purchasing this opera troupe for seven thousand taels of silver was undoubtedly a gift to the emperor.

Then, I'll take it, my King of Zhongping.

However, you also helped me discover one thing—this assassination seems unlikely to succeed.

Your Majesty, go and investigate!

The people were bought by your seventh prince, the opera troupe was trained by him, and the gifts were presented by him. How can you not kill the seventh prince?
The Seventh Prince has no chance of seizing the throne. After killing you, he will disrupt the situation and become the biggest victim because of his close ties with powerful families. The Second Prince was the Seventh Prince's master before, so how could he not be affected?

Although the fourth prince is the crown prince and there is no problem with his smooth succession, the second prince you want to protect is a major concern for him. If you orchestrate a scene, you can have a reason to get rid of him smoothly. How can the crown prince not be a suspect?

As for the Sixth Prince, the person you despise the most, you probably wouldn't even blink if he died. If you want to kill the Sixth Prince, then let him die.

However, that depends on whether you can actually do it.

"Your Majesty, they're from Beiliang..."

The Imperial Guards, who were waiting outside the banquet table to announce the news of the Northern Liang rebellion at the appointed time, were completely dumbfounded when they arrived.

Eh?
Is it not Your Majesty who told me to speak directly, and then I would spread the news widely, and finally take the opportunity to remove the Sixth Prince from his military power?

Why is it that the person being held captive is a person, the Prince of Zhongping...?

"Get down," Eunuch Xi immediately whispered to him.

The Imperial Guards were stunned, and then looked at the Emperor again.

Because Shen Kang told him that this was what the emperor wanted to do, he didn't understand exactly what it meant...

"Get off!"

Only after being rebuked by Eunuch Xi did he leave tremblingly, so as not to spoil the atmosphere.

However, all the princes and officials heard the words "Northern Liang".

What happened to Northern Liang?

The crown prince was also dumbfounded. How did a Northern Liang emerge from here?

Song Shi'an actually guessed it.

The emperor did not agree to the promises the crown prince made to himself.

The emperor planned to directly replace the crown prince as the shadow emperor, help him solve everything, and then completely bear the burden of darkness.

If that really happens, then Xiao Wei will really have to step down.

To avoid suspicion, he could no longer serve as an official.

Otherwise, a single sentence from a political enemy could choke him to death—"Why is Lord Song still an official? Is he training rebels again?"

But Sun Wukong's sword changed everything.

Although each number is its own.

However, the emperor could not afford to continue weakening them at this point.

The sixth prince's men are rebels.

But this sixth prince was personally promoted by the fourth prince.

The assassins kept by the seventh prince were spies.

This seventh prince was once a henchman of the second prince.

This incident has caused quite a stir, leaving all the officials dumbfounded.

If the princes are all such oddballs, how can the country remain stable?

Can these four places still be managed?
Suddenly, the emperor realized.

With this incident, the biggest beneficiary, besides the crown prince, was...

There are also Song Shi'an and Wei Wusheng.

It's not impossible that if a theatrical troupe were recommended to Wei Yiyuan, and then the director pulled this stunt.

"Am I out of your sight because I'm alive?"

Slowly raising his head, the emperor spoke with an air of authority, though not angry.

"Father! Your Majesty, I have failed in your duty to protect me! I deserve to die!"

The crown prince was the first to prostrate himself down.

Then the other princes, except for Wei Yiyuan who had been captured, also knelt down one after another.

The officials rose, walked to the center, prostrated themselves before the emperor, and said in unison, "Your subjects are incompetent."

Werewolf is here.

The emperor felt that everyone was a bad person.

But none of them seemed like bad people.

Not a single person dared to look up at them. They all lowered their heads to the dust, terrified.

When an emperor is enraged, corpses float for miles.

How majestic I am!

But some of you want to kill me!
Perhaps, he is one of my sons.

But the one who hurt him the most was not anyone else.

It was Wei Wusheng.

He was the only one capable of stopping the assassin.

But seeing his father killed, he chose to stand by and watch.

The emperor's eyes gradually reddened.

With immense sorrow, he looked up at the sky and shook his head.

However, in the next instant, the emperor seemed to have become a different person, and looked sharply at Eunuch Xi beside him: "Xi Shan, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is under your full command. Begin a thorough investigation into the assassination. Whoever it is, you can investigate. Whether it is the Crown Prince or a prince, whether it is a general or a minister."

"The slaves obey."

Xishan quickly responded to the emperor, her tone firm.

Yes, the rest may benefit.

But they were ultimately drawn into the vortex.

Xishan was the only one who was unaffected and even gained the most benefits.

His performance just now has made him stand out in the emperor's eyes, surpassing Chen Bao.

Of all those present, he was the only one the emperor trusted.

Xi Shan can manipulate everyone.

Use the Embroidered Uniform Guards in his hands.

Slowly, the emperor, supported by a eunuch, rose to his feet, his face contorted with rage.

He looked down at these treacherous officials with disdain; he was no longer kind.

After he left, it was Xishan who inherited his disdain.

To be honest, the person Xishan most wanted to work with was Song Shi'an.

But there was nothing they could do; no matter what they did, they couldn't trace it back to him.

Therefore, without the emperor's additional instructions...

There was a person who was very, very close to death.

Wei Yiyuan fainted on the spot. (End of Chapter)