Chapter 15: Twisting Off the 'Steering Wheel'
Su Xiao put away the black crystal, and the image disappeared. The young duke, who had remained silent, snapped back to reality, looking somewhat reluctant to let go.
"Such matters cannot be proven by a fabricated image and a few words. Besides, Duke Kukulin, the previous issue hasn't been settled yet. The one qualified to appear in the Imperial Council is Princess Pedeira, not you. The four of us invited Princess Pedeira as well. This point... is very important."
Blumer was clearly trying to brush off the matter concerning Duke Silverfeather. The four of them were now united against a common foe.
"That's right. Words alone are meaningless. As for having Maggie Verily come to testify, that would be an insult to the character of Duke Silverfeather and Lady Maggie."
Princess Shayeto also threw her support behind Duke Silverfeather. At the same time, she glanced at the young duke, noticing his wandering gaze, and tapped the council table in front of him.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right."
The young duke snapped out of it, shrinking back in his chair. The kid was clearly a bit precocious.
"Shayeto is right. This is an insult to my character and my sister's. Kukulin, you're not planning to have my sister come here to prove it, are you? What absurd nonsense is going through your mind?"
Duke Silverfeather was no pushover either. Seeing Su Xiao getting serious, he immediately bit back. As for having his sister come here to prove whether she was pregnant, that was simply impossible.
"Duke Silverfeather, how do you know what I'm planning to do?"
Su Xiao snapped his fingers as he spoke. Several soldiers entered the main hall from the main entrance, followed by Number Ten in full black armor, his footsteps thudding heavily.
"Guards!"
Princess Shayeto shouted, but not a single Holy City Guard rushed into the hall. Nine hundred elite soldiers were already holding back those Holy City Guards.
Today, if Duke Silverfeather didn't 'fall into the oil cauldron,' Su Xiao would write his own name backward from now on.
"You..."
Blumer, the old fox, immediately caught on, staring at Su Xiao in disbelief.
These four had a mistaken belief: that power struggles always happened within the system, and even assassinations had to be done in secret.
Su Xiao wasn't about to play by those rules with these power-grabbers. Every one he could kill was one less competitor. As for the throne, his goal was to find the violator and Dead Silence City, thereby obtaining the final piece of the Black King Set.
These four usurpers were deeply entrenched in the empire's system. Toppling one would require digging up a mountain of dirt (officials). But Su Xiao's current method was to saw through the tree at the roots. As for the backlash from the root system below, Su Xiao feared assassination the least.
Several soldiers led a woman in a blue dress, adorned with luxurious makeup, into the hall. She was Maggie Verily.
"Kukulin, are you sure you want to do this?"
Princess Shayeto scrutinized Su Xiao with a half-smile. Things had reached a point where it would end in mutual destruction. Even if Duke Silverfeather had committed incest with his sister, he wouldn't die from it. As for being stripped of his royal status, Duke Silverfeather's supporters wouldn't betray him over something like this.
"Very sure."
Su Xiao's plan was two-thirds complete, and it was going smoothly.
"..."
"..."
Blumer and Shayeto both looked like they'd been kicked in the teeth.
"Whether Maggie Verily is guilty isn't for me to judge alone. Everyone here is a witness. Regardless, Maggie Verily is a member of the royal family. I have no right to threaten her personal safety. Fortunately, determining whether someone is pregnant isn't difficult."
Su Xiao crooked his finger, and a soldier quickly stepped forward. Su Xiao whispered something to him.
Soon, three bewildered doctors entered the council hall.
"These three are well-known physicians in the Holy City. No one should doubt their judgment. One of them is even a Light-element transcendent."
"..."
This time, neither Shayeto nor Blumer spoke.
"Three of you, today's matter concerns imperial law. You must make an absolutely fair assessment. Especially you, Doctor Nois, as a Light-element transcendent, lies are surely foreign to you."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the three doctors exchanged glances, none of them moving.
*Clang!*
A gleaming longsword was drawn from its sheath. With no other choice, the three doctors approached Maggie Verily. Moments later.
"I cannot be certain."
One doctor shook his head and stepped back. Seeing this, another doctor also shook his head and retreated.
"I sense a new life being nurtured."
Doctor Nois said solemnly. Light-element transcendents were mostly stubborn mules; making them lie was almost as hard as killing them.
Hearing this result, Shayeto and Blumer both looked at Duke Silverfeather in surprise.
"I want to bring in doctors I trust for verification."
Blumer spoke. It was clear this matter could no longer be brushed aside. Shayeto agreed.
Soon, the doctors they trusted arrived. They didn't announce their findings but whispered into the ears of the two.
"Duke Silverfeather, you should tell your sister to be more discreet."
Blumer sighed. This wasn't him admitting that Duke Silverfeather had an affair with his sister. The doctors couldn't prove that the child in Maggie Verily's belly was Duke Silverfeather's.
"How could you..."
Duke Silverfeather looked at his sister in anguish. Maggie Verily bit her lip tightly, her breathing growing rapid.
*Clang!*
A dagger was knocked away. Maggie Verily clutched her wrist, stumbling back a few steps. Her suicide attempt had failed.
"What a farce."
The young duke said with an air of maturity, just coming out of his daze from the 'door to a new world.'
"So, it really is true. Silverfeather, it seems I misjudged you. The one having an affair with your sister must not be you."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette, pulled the black crystal from his pocket, and tossed it onto the council table in front of Duke Silverfeather.
Though Duke Silverfeather was also extremely intelligent, he couldn't immediately figure out what Su Xiao was up to.
Duke Silverfeather threw the black crystal to the ground, where it shattered with a crack.
"I'll explain the origin of this to you later."
Su Xiao exhaled a plume of smoke, a smile on his face.
"Then I thank you."
As Duke Silverfeather said this, he wanted to slap himself several times, but his sister was indeed pregnant, so he had to say it.
"Since this matter has nothing to do with Duke Silverfeather, let's talk about Maggie Verily's problem. A royal member becoming pregnant before marriage, while not a violation of imperial law, is hardly honorable. And who the father is, that's a question worth investigating."
Su Xiao changed the subject, no longer pursuing Duke Silverfeather's issue.
Several soldiers withdrew from the hall. Within half a minute, dozens of Holy City Guards rushed in.
Duke Silverfeather's face was grim as he sat in his seat. But soon, a hurried servant entered the hall and whispered something in his ear. Duke Silverfeather's expression gradually relaxed. Maggie Verily had been secured and would be sent out of the Holy City within half an hour.
Duke Silverfeather felt a wave of relief. His sister was being taken away, the human witness was gone. The crystal he had smashed, the physical evidence was gone. Yet even so, a nagging unease lingered in his heart, as if something bad was about to happen.
*Pfft!*
A spatter of blood sprayed out. Duke Silverfeather looked down at his chest. A dagger was embedded in his heart. He turned to look at his most trusted servant, who was also stunned.
"D-Duke? I, I..."
The servant stumbled back several steps. His pupils, which had seemed to burn with flames, gradually returned to normal. A wisp of black energy dissipated.
Su Xiao's hand was hidden inside his sleeve, gripping the [Abyssal Jar]. Bubu Wang had made the servant inadvertently absorb demonic energy in three separate instances. The effect was significant, allowing Su Xiao, holding the Abyssal Jar, to briefly control the servant. Bubu Wang, blending into the environment, simply handed over the dagger—a dagger coated with alchemical poison.
Before the servant could recover, a long halberd pierced his body.
"Don't kill him!"
Princess Shayeto shouted. The other Holy City Guards immediately stopped.
Three pairs of eyes simultaneously turned to Su Xiao, filled with wariness, anger, and gravity.
Shayeto stepped forward, grabbed the servant by the back of the neck, lifting him as easily as a chick.
A crimson energy invaded the servant's body. His eyes turned crimson, and a foolish grin spread across his face.
"Who ordered you?"
"Hah, hahaha, no one, ordered me, haha. Why would I stab the Duke? It wasn't me. I didn't do it."
The servant grew more agitated.
"Where did the dagger come from?"
"I-I don't know. I've never done anything wrong. Those things were the Duke's orders. It has nothing to do with me. The deaths of those 106 women weren't my doing. I didn't do it."
The servant's expression grew more dazed. Princess Shayeto threw him aside.
"Kukulin, today's matter cannot end here."
Shayeto dragged over a metal chair weighing over three hundred jin, sat down beside Su Xiao, and fixed her red eyes on his profile.
"What did I do?"
Su Xiao rested one arm on the armrest of his chair, turning his head to meet Shayeto's gaze.
"You earlier..."
Just as Shayeto was about to interrogate Su Xiao, she realized with surprise that while everyone could guess Su Xiao was behind Duke Silverfeather's assassination, where was the evidence?
As for Su Xiao accusing Duke Silverfeather of incest with his sister, that matter had been turned over at a critical moment. Su Xiao hadn't pursued it, hadn't made an issue of Maggie Verily or the child in her womb. Instead, he had allowed Duke Silverfeather's men to take Maggie Verily away.
In this affair, Su Xiao had at most exposed Maggie Verily's scandal. There was no actual physical harm. Moreover, Su Xiao's soldiers had even prevented Maggie Verily's suicide attempt.
Besides, Su Xiao wasn't someone they could just arrest. Five hundred and forty thousand troops were under his command.