Chapter 26: The Scheme
Difficult!
If he were to enter the royal palace, Linley would have to find an opportunity to administer poison. And inside the palace, he would need to interrogate Clayde and then kill him.
"Even if I don't care about concealing my identity, killing Clayde and then escaping the palace would still be extremely difficult." Linley's mind kept churning through every possible scenario.
In the end, Linley concluded—
"To poison someone inside the palace and still hope to escape is nearly impossible." Linley rejected this approach. After all, there were quite a few experts in the palace. Unless he entered his Dragonform state, he wouldn't be able to fight his way out.
But the secret of Dragonform was something Linley didn't want to expose.
"It has to be outside the palace." Linley's head ached.
Outside the palace, how could he get Clayde to be alone with him in a secluded place? No matter what, Clayde was still the king. Even if Linley had business to discuss with him, he would have to go to the palace for an audience.
He couldn't very well send someone to tell Clayde, "The king should come see me," could he?
Linley had never heard of a subject sending someone to summon the king to meet him. That clearly went against all reason. Even if Clayde gave him face and actually came, Clayde would probably be suspicious and on guard.
Once he was on guard, the chances of successfully poisoning him would plummet.
"I need to find an opportunity to be alone with Clayde, and it can't be inside the palace." Having been in Fenlai City for so long, Linley had never once been alone with Clayde.
Usually, it was at banquets that Clayde would meet with him.
But Linley couldn't very well make a move against Clayde at a banquet, in front of a crowd of people.
"What do I do?"
Linley was starting to get frustrated.
As December arrived, the temperature in Fenlai City plummeted. The first snow of winter had fallen, blanketing the entire city in silver white. The biting cold kept many nobles cooped up inside their homes, too lazy to go out.
Still wearing a loose robe, Linley strolled along the snow-covered streets, protected by two guards.
"Crunch, crunch." The sound of footsteps pressing into the snow echoed around him.
After the snow, Fenlai City looked especially enchanting. On both sides of Green Leaf Road, icicles hung from the gates of noble estates. The morning sunlight refracted off the icicles, making them even more dazzling.
The branches of the row of towering pine trees in front of the estates were covered in white, incredibly beautiful.
The scenery was stunning.
But Linley's mood was not.
"Clayde is already a rank 9 warrior. Although it's very difficult to go from rank 9 to the Saint-level, who knows if Clayde might break through one day? If he does, I'll have even less hope." Linley truly couldn't afford to wait.
The sooner he dealt with Clayde, the better his chances.
But he needed an opportunity.
"Boss, look. Most of the estates around here have been renovated. There are a lot of decorations too." Bebe's voice rang out in Linley's mind.
Linley had been walking absentmindedly and hadn't noticed. After Bebe pointed it out, Linley saw that the estates on both sides of Green Leaf Road were indeed different from before.
"What's this…?" Linley was puzzled.
"Hold it steady, yes. Move it a little to the left." The servants of a nearby estate were hanging decorations in front of the gate, while someone else directed them.
"That's… a magnolia flower!" Linley noticed the pattern on the decorations hanging by the gate. It was a magnolia flower.
Only then did Linley realize.
"Right. It's already December. In just a few days, it'll be the Magnolia Festival. And this is the ten-thousand-year Magnolia Festival!" Linley knew how important this festival was.
January 1st of the year 10,000 of the Magnolia Calendar would probably be the most boisterous day on the entire Yulan continent. No wonder every noble estate was being renovated and decorated.
"Crack!"
The ladder one of the servants was standing on suddenly broke at one rung. The servant's foot slipped, and he fell. He hit the ladder on the way down, then his head struck the stone ground. Blood immediately stained the ground red.
The other servants panicked.
"Are you alright?" Several people immediately helped the injured man up.
"A little… a little dizzy." The injured man's voice was weak. Fortunately, the ladder wasn't very high. The impact when he hit the ground wasn't too severe, so his life was spared.
"Alright. You can go back and rest for today. Cole, take care of him. Honestly, falling from such a low height and ending up like this." The steward shook his head helplessly.
The servant named Cole immediately helped the injured man up and led him back to their quarters.
Linley watched this scene, stunned.
"L-Linley, Lord Linley?" The steward finally noticed Linley and immediately came forward to bow. This estate belonged to Duke Bonner. Linley had been here before, so the steward naturally recognized him.
"Lord Linley, good morning." The steward bowed.
Linley snapped out of his daze, a look of excited realization spreading across his face. Seeing the man in front of him, he chuckled and said, "Oh, good morning to you too. Haha, let's go. We're heading back."
Linley turned around excitedly and headed home with his guards.
"Hey, why is the lord so happy all of a sudden?" the two guards muttered to each other.
They had seen Linley at a loss all day. Why was he suddenly so excited?
"Such a simple method, and I didn't think of it! Haha…" Linley couldn't help but slap his forehead and curse himself for being so muddled.
Now, Linley was confident he could make Clayde come to him. The method was—getting injured!
"I'll just pretend I injured my internal organs while training my battle qi. I'm injured. Given how Clayde treats me, there's a ninety percent chance he'll personally come to visit."
Linley was overjoyed.
As long as it was in his own estate, scheming against Clayde would be much easier.
"I don't care about status or wealth in the Sacred Alliance. Once I find out about my mother and kill Clayde, I'll use the Dawson Chamber of Commerce's channels to escape the Sacred Alliance's territory." Linley was resolute in his decision.
The Sacred Alliance held no appeal for Linley whatsoever.
His only remaining family, his little brother Wharton, was in the O'Brien Empire. The Sacred Alliance had no hold on him.
Killing Clayde without revealing his identity was nearly impossible. Linley would have to make a small sacrifice. After all, the Sacred Alliance meant nothing to him anyway.
Linley's estate, Spring Water Garden.
Linley sat cross-legged on the grass, cultivating his Dragonblood battle qi. The Dragonblood battle qi surged within him like roaring waves, crashing through his meridians.
In truth, training this way would normally be too much for even a rank 7 warrior. But Linley was different. He had drunk living dragon's blood. Usually, pouring dragon's blood over the skin would make the body's defenses incredibly strong. By swallowing the dragon's blood, Linley had made his meridians incredibly tough as well.
"Pfft!"
Suddenly, Linley spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned pale.
"Ah…" A low, pained groan escaped Linley's throat.
The maids and guards outside the Spring Water Garden's gate faintly heard Linley's low groan. They pressed their ears against the gate, listening carefully.
"Lord Linley… he sounds like he's in pain?" one of the thinner maids said doubtfully.
"It seems so." Another, plumper maid nodded.
But they didn't dare barge in.
"Lord Linley?" the thinner maid called out.
"Come… come in." Linley's voice sounded.
The two maids exchanged a glance, then immediately pushed open the gate and ran inside. But when they reached the grassy area, they were shocked. A large pool of blood stained the ground. Linley, his face pale, was lying on the ground.
"Help me back to my room." Linley said hoarsely.
"Yes. Yes."
The two maids, flustered, each took one of Linley's arms and helped him to his private bedroom.
"My lord, should we call a light-style magician?" the thinner maid asked hurriedly.
"No need. I'm injured internally. A magician won't help. I just need to rest and recuperate." Linley took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the bed, and closed his eyes. "You two may leave now."
"Yes, my lord." The two maids bowed respectfully and left.
Whether it was light-style, water-style, or any other healing magic, they were all restorative magics that repaired injuries. But they were useless for internal organ damage.
In Linley's room, only Linley and Yale were present.
"Third bro, you're not injured?" Yale asked, puzzled. "Why are you pretending to be injured? And why did you call me here so urgently?" Before pretending to be injured, Linley had sent someone to fetch him.
Linley lowered his voice. "Big bro Yale, this involves my revenge. I can tell you that Clayde is very likely the one who killed my mother."
"Killed your mother?" Yale's eyes widened. "Third bro, you're going to…?"
"Yes. Revenge." Linley didn't hide anything from his good brother.
"But Clayde is a rank 9 warrior! How are you going to get revenge? And he's the king of the Fenlai Kingdom!" Yale said anxiously, worried for Linley.
Linley said calmly, "Don't worry. I have a foolproof plan to deal with him. But once I kill Clayde, even if the Radiant Church spares my life, things will be very difficult for me. So I've decided to leave the Sacred Alliance immediately after killing him."
"Leave the Sacred Alliance?" Yale was stunned for a moment, but then he understood. "Right. You should leave. Leave this to me. The Dawson Chamber of Commerce has business networks covering every major city in the Sacred Alliance. Getting you out of the Sacred Alliance without anyone knowing will be a piece of cake."
"And we have disguise and makeup masters at the Dawson Chamber of Commerce." Yale was full of confidence.
Linley knew how powerful the Dawson Chamber of Commerce was. As one of the three major chambers of commerce on the Yulan continent, it was no joke.
"I know. So, big bro Yale, I'm counting on you to send someone to wait for me at the inn at the end of Green Leaf Road. Once I get there, you'll arrange for me to leave the Sacred Alliance."
Linley was confident that after killing Clayde, he could easily make it to that inn.
"Don't worry." Yale nodded.
"Third bro." Yale frowned as he looked at Linley. "Be careful."
Linley smiled at Yale. "Big bro Yale, have some faith in me."
News of Linley's injury spread quickly. The first to receive the news wasn't the king of the Fenlai Kingdom, but the Radiant Church's Red Cardinal, Guillermo.
But soon, King Clayde and many nobles also learned that Linley had been injured while training. Training injuries, though rare, did happen. Usually, they occurred when someone trained too hard, pushing beyond their body's limits, causing their body to break down or even damaging their internal organs.
"Now I just wait for Clayde to come." Linley, wearing a loose robe, sat on a chair in his bedroom, his face pale.
Bebe crouched on a nearby chair.
"Lord Linley." A maid ran in from outside.
Linley's eyes lit up, but he quickly resumed his weak appearance. Looking at the maid, he said calmly, "What is it?"
"Lord Red Cardinal Guillermo has arrived," the maid said hurriedly.
"Oh?" A flicker of worry arose in Linley's heart.
He had expected Guillermo to come. But Linley suddenly thought… if Guillermo was here when Clayde arrived, dealing with Clayde would be much more troublesome.
After all, Guillermo was a rank 9 Grand Magus. The Hemolytic Poison Powder weakened warriors but had no effect on magicians.
"Linley!" Guillermo's voice rang out from outside the door.
Notification!
Recently, over the past dozen or so chapters, Tomato feels that the writing hasn't been in the right groove. The passion and intensity from before just haven't been coming through. Tomato is very dissatisfied with the recent chapters.
Tomato would like to take a day off to seriously think about how to write the story going forward.
Tomato knows that taking a leave might invite criticism again. But Tomato won't make excuses. All I'm trying to do is make "Coiling Dragon's" plot even more exciting and gripping.
As for the missed chapter, Tomato will definitely make it up. That's a promise.