Chapter 634: The Seventeen Rebel Kings
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The sunrise river flowers are redder than fire.
It was still deep in the night, yet a vivid red flower was quietly blooming amidst the vast expanse of blue waves.
Two people stood at the prow of a boat. One was a man dressed in scholar's robes, with a small red flower—whether real or silk—tied to his little finger. The other was a Taoist nun of indeterminate age, her features fairly clear and beautiful, but with a hint of repulsive malice between her brows. The fly-whisk resting on her arm exuded an aura of silent, terrifying destruction, yet also carried a sense of discord.
Chen Changsheng recognized the Taoist nun; he knew she was Boundless Bi from the Eight Directions of Wind and Rain.
During the ten-thousand-li journey back to the capital from the Cold Mountain, he had also seen that small red flower. Since the scholar stood beside Boundless Bi, he was naturally another of the Eight Directions: Uniquely Red.
Boundless Bi had once infiltrated the capital, sneaking into the National Academy to kill Xuanyuan Po, only to be driven back by Su Li's letter. Tonight, she and her husband were entering the capital together, and in a sense, they were coming to save him. This was why Chen Changsheng's emotions were now so complicated.
"This fool actually dares to come to the capital."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress looked at the large ship in the image and said expressionlessly, "A snap of the fingers would crush her. Her husband is better, though—worth at least three of her."
Chen Changsheng didn't know what to say. Whether it was those two men on the northwest official road or that couple in the southwest canal, all cultivators in the world regarded them as divine beings. But in the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress's words, aside from Uniquely Red, not a single one could make her feel even a hint of vigilance.
But she was, after all, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress.
Chen Changsheng's feelings were naturally different from hers.
Four of the Eight Directions of Wind and Rain had arrived.
Tonight, the capital would surely be stormy and dark, with heaven shaking and earth moving.
This was merely a grand opening. Immediately after, countless others would take the stage one by one.
On the official roads around the capital, which spread out like a spiderweb in all directions, many processions suddenly appeared. These people seemed to have been hidden in the night all along, only waiting for those four peerless experts to appear before tearing through the darkness and revealing themselves to the world, just as they had been doing for over two hundred years.
The official roads led from the various prefectures and commanderies of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the capital.
Those people had always lived in those remote prefectures and commanderies. They shared one thing in common: they were all surnamed Chen, all descendants of Emperor Taizong.
Chen Changsheng watched the constantly shifting images and silently counted in his mind, confirming that fifteen processions were currently heading toward the capital through the night.
The numbers from each princely manor in the various prefectures weren't large, but they were all experts. The manor experts walking outside the carriages were at least at the Star Gathering upper realm. The Chen imperial clan had been virtually silent for over two hundred years, especially in the last twenty, but tonight, they finally revealed their incredibly deep hidden strength!
Fifteen prefectures, fifteen princes, fifteen carriages.
Dust gradually rose on the official roads in the night, like wind and clouds converging, sweeping in and surrounding the capital.
The Great Zhou capital had no city walls, but it had city gates and a Gate Command Office, commanded by the Eastern Imperial General Xu Shiji. Yet... how could the carriages of these princes from the various prefectures be stopped by the Gate Command Office? Who knew which adjutant in that office was a disciple of which prince, or whose father among those colonels served as a senior clerk in the Luling Prince's manor?
At several city gates, intense fluctuations of energy erupted, faint sword lights visible, before quickly fading away.
The Chen princes had finally returned to the capital they had been away from for so long.
The experts accompanying the princely carriages stared resolutely at everything in the night, ready at any moment to face the suppression of the Great Zhou army. To describe these experts, one could use a phrase: the heroes of the world. They had sufficient confidence in their own realms and abilities, and they believed what they were doing was right.
"Heroes gathering in the capital, intent on slaying the demon empress on an autumn night, sacrificing their heads, spilling their blood, dying for their country?"
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress looked at those images in the night, not hiding her mockery. "History books tens of thousands of years from now might write it that way. What an absurd thing."
Chen Changsheng watched the images of those experts, their faces full of righteous fervor, and after a moment of silence, asked, "Then how should it be written?"
"In the twenty-first year of the Great Zhou Dynasty's orthodox reign, seventeen rebel kings entered the capital. Annihilated."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress said calmly, lightly flicking her sleeve, as if to sweep all of this into dust and ashes.
Chen Changsheng thought to himself, where were the other two rebel kings?
In Luoyang City, hundreds of li from the capital, there weren't many clouds tonight. The stars shone as usual, illuminating the world—both the stinking alleys where the poor lived and the northern city filled with vermilion gates.
The gates of the princely manor slowly opened. The Xiang Prince emerged from the manor, shifting his obese body, laboriously descending the stone steps. With the help of his subordinates, he spent a long time climbing into the not-very-high carriage. Even such a simple action left him panting heavily.
Once seated, the fat on his belly flowed over his bright yellow belt, squeezing uncomfortably.
The Xiang Prince reached out, untied the bright yellow sash at his waist, and rubbed the rolls of fat. Suddenly, a profound sense of sorrow welled up inside him.
Living in Luoyang all these years, eating and drinking frantically to make his mother empress stop paying attention to him, he had gotten this fat. If he ever ascended to the throne, how could he receive the court's homage looking like this? Still, at least he wasn't like his seventh brother, who, to feign madness and stupidity, actually grabbed donkey dung and shoved it into his mouth. Bah, what a lunatic!
Everyone from the manor—concubines and officials alike—came out and knelt in a dark mass along the long street, saying in unison, "Congratulations to Your Highness on returning to the capital."
The Xiang Prince looked at the crowd and sighed. "What's there to congratulate? Who knows if I'll even make it back alive."
The street outside the manor fell silent. The favored concubines exchanged glances; some even began to weep sorrowfully, though it was hard to tell how genuine their feelings were.
The Xiang Prince waved his hand in annoyance. "Starting the mourning already? Fine, fine. If I don't come back, all of you should kill yourselves and accompany me."
Hearing this, there was a moment of silence outside the manor, followed by a burst of loud wailing. This time, it was clear that the concubines and officials were crying quite genuinely, utterly grief-stricken.
...
...
On the main street of the Jiangnan Prefecture capital, a similar scene was unfolding, but not exactly the same.
The Zhongshan Prince walked through the kneeling crowd. His pale cheeks showed no expression, but deep in his slightly bloodshot eyes, a hint of madness could faintly be seen.
As he walked, a clear footprint was left on the ground outside the manor gate—a footprint of blood.
He seemed to have walked through a sea of blood.
In fact, the Zhongshan Prince's manor had already become a sea of blood. The officials sent by the court lay in pools of blood, their bodies and heads separated.
The Zhongshan Prince had killed them all with his own hands.
Only one person remained alive: an old eunuch leader, who was being held on his knees behind the manor gate.
This old eunuch was very old, his face covered in wrinkles. Knowing he was about to die, he still remained calm. He looked at the Zhongshan Prince about to board the carriage and said, "Your Highness, since you haven't killed me, it seems you don't wish to completely break with Her Majesty. The journey to the capital is long; you might proceed slowly and see how things develop before acting."
This was a very clever piece of persuasion. First, it excused the Zhongshan Prince, then offered him advice—and indeed, it was mature and prudent advice.
The Zhongshan Prince ignored the old eunuch, jumped onto the carriage, and said, "I'm not sparing you to leave myself an escape route. I just want you to taste what I've felt all these years."
Hearing this, the old eunuch's face changed color; he could no longer remain calm.
Escorted by dozens of elite manor guards, the Zhongshan Prince's carriage entered the night, heading toward the capital.
Only the prince's bone-chilling voice still echoed through the long street.
"Don't let this old dog die. Don't give him food. Only feed him donkey dung. Remember, fresh, the freshest."
...
...
Wind and rain, dark and dreary, converged.
Seventeen rebel kings entered the capital.
Watching the images in the night, Chen Changsheng knew he was witnessing the most important event on this continent since the National Academy massacre.
He was the cause, or rather the trigger, of this event. Thinking of how many people might die tonight, and how many commoners would be displaced or killed in the ensuing chaos, his heart churned with agitation and unease. A wave of nausea rose in his chest, and he couldn't help coughing. Each cough deepened his pain, and his face grew paler and paler.
"This absurd drama is quite interesting. Watch a bit more before you die. Don't die too soon."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress heard his coughing but didn't turn around, speaking expressionlessly.
With these words, Chen Changsheng suddenly found he could move.
He understood her meaning. He thought about whether he could do something else.
In his arms was still Su Li's letter. In his scabbard were still many swords, the Heavenly Book Stele, and many other things.
Yet her figure was so towering, there in the night sky, yet seeming to be above the night sky.
He reached into his arms but didn't take out the letter. Instead, he pulled out a small porcelain bottle.
Inside the bottle was medicine.
He poured out several dozen pills from the small bottle. Without distinguishing them, he directly put them into his mouth, chewing them like candy beans, making a crunching sound.
After arriving at the top of the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, the Holy Empress hadn't looked back at him until she heard this sound and turned to glance at him.
Chen Changsheng paid no attention to her gaze. He then removed the golden needles wrapped around his fingers and deeply inserted them into several dangerous energy points on his neck.
His face grew even paler, and his body trembled slightly, as if unable to withstand the autumn wind.
As time passed, the trembling gradually subsided. Two patches of unnatural redness appeared on his cheeks.
...
...
The Holy Empress's enemies emerged from the night one after another, not because this was their best chance, but because it was their last.
If she killed Chen Changsheng and completed the third heaven-defying fate alteration in a thousand years, then perhaps no one would ever be able to remove her from the Great Zhou throne.
The peerless experts who had lived in seclusion, the imperial princes who had endured humiliation for years, the heroes of the world who had swallowed their pride—all gathered in the capital. But this wasn't everything, because the world was vast, and the Holy Empress still had many enemies. On the southern official road, figures gradually appeared. The Li Mountain Sword Sect hadn't come, the Holy Maiden Peak hadn't come, the Huai Academy hadn't come, the Eternal Life Sect hadn't come. But the head of the Qiushan family and that old elder had come, the old matriarch of the Mutuo family had come, and the cunning patriarch of the Wu family had also come. Three of the four great clans had arrived. What about the Tang clan?