Chapter 46 Hesitation and the Leaked News-A Grande Ming: Defendendo as Fronteiras na Guerra de Jingnan, Dominando o Mundo(Demônios surgem por toda parte)

Zhu Houzhao flicked his wrist, tossing a golden token representing "His Majesty's Personal Presence" directly into Lu Xiaofeng's hand.

"I grant you the authority to act expediently."

"The two directorates and the embroidered guard—you may mobilize them as you see fit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your profound favor." Lu Xiaofeng caught the token without showing excessive emotion. Counting this one, he now possessed two golden tokens, representing both the Prince of Su's estate and the Emperor.

Such a supreme honor was unprecedented throughout the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Before that, there is still one matter in which I require your assistance."

"Your Majesty, please give your command."

Knowing he had no choice, Lu Xiaofeng nodded decisively.

"I want you to help me arrange a meeting with the Prince of Su. I need to have a serious talk with him."

Arrange a meeting with the Prince of Su?

Lu Xiaofeng looked at Zhu Houzhao in astonishment, wondering if he had misheard.

Zhu Houzhao nodded lightly. "Go. I believe the Prince of Su will understand."

"Understood!"

Lu Xiaofeng felt this was an extremely hot and troublesome potato, yet he knew even better that he had no room for refusal; he could only brace himself and accept. Inwardly, he prayed fervently that the Emperor and the Prince of Su would not resort to violence or encounter any accidents the moment they met.

Otherwise, he, Lu Xiaofeng, would truly become a dead Lu Xiaofeng.

After Lu Xiaofeng departed, Zhu Houzhao's gaze suddenly turned icy.

As the Son of Heaven, burdened by his unique experiences, Zhu Houzhao trusted no one other than himself. Lu Xiaofeng was no exception, and naturally, the Prince of Su, Zhu Jinzhen, was no exception either.

"Tell me, will the Prince of Su come to see me?"

"Since Your Majesty has issued a summons, as a subject, he ought to present himself."

"Do you believe those words?"

"Heh, Your Majesty merely desires an answer, is that not so?"

"If Zhu Jinzhen has nothing to hide, he will naturally come."

"Then does Your Majesty hope that the Prince of Su will attend the banquet, or stay away?"

"I do not know."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head. He had not yet made up his mind. For one thing, he lacked absolute certainty; no matter how brilliantly he spun his words, without his tacit permission, those rumors could never have spread so rampantly throughout the capital.

Even though he had intended to turn the tables by playing along, he could not deny that the thought of eradicating the Prince of Su's estate had crossed his mind.

Secondly, he was still unable to weigh the choices and the price of such an action.

As an emperor, the gains and losses he calculated were not merely short-term, but a matter of fundamental choice.

What would he gain by executing the Prince of Su, and what price would he have to pay?

He could not act blindly.

Otherwise, emperors scorned by history such as the Jianwen Emperor, Hu Hai, and Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen would serve as his cautionary tales.

"Your Majesty, sometimes hesitation in making a decisive cut... leads to endless chaos instead!"

"Talk too much." Zhu Houzhao glared at him. Though it was a reprimand, there was little genuine anger in it.

Instead, the shadow's words plunged him into deep contemplation.

...

Great Song, Sword-Forging Manor.

Having lived through hundreds of years, personally witnessing the rise and fall of several dynasties, and observing countless cycles of prosperity and decline, Yin Zhong received a piece of news that greatly surprised him.

"The Water and Fire Dragon Pearls have appeared?"

"Is this news genuine?" Yin Zhong asked, gripping Yin Hao tightly by the arm.

"It remains uncertain for now." Yin Hao glanced at his reddened wrist and shook his head. "There is no smoke without fire. Although the news is extremely concealed, my calculations suggest a seventy percent probability that it is true."

"Seventy percent?" Yin Zhong asked doubtfully.

"Yes, seventy percent." Yin Hao nodded, sharing his deductions: "Although the one who succeeded to the throne on the side of Northern Yuan is not one of Kublai's sons, Temür is his grandson."

"As the Emperor of Northern Yuan, and given that this rumor reportedly originated from an imperial edict passed in secrecy with a prince of the Ming Dynasty, even if part of it is false, the core of the matter should be true."

Yin Hao's voice carried a hint of excitement.

Though he was the master of the Sword-Forging Manor with formidable martial arts cultivation—possessing the peak Mysterious-Profundity realm of a Grandmaster, leaving him virtually unrivaled in the Great Song save for a handful of ancient freaks, Heavenly Phenomenon figures, and Terrestrial Immortals—the Water and Fire Dragon Pearls were tied to the legendary realm of Terrestrial Celestials.

And to eternal life!

Who in this world did not yearn for immortality?

Since antiquity, emperors, generals, and ministers alike had all pursued it, and Yin Hao was naturally no exception. Had it not been out of his reach, he would have dispatched all the disciples of the Sword-Forging Manor to search for the whereabouts of the dragon pearls the very moment he received the news.

"I once read about the Water and Fire Dragon Pearls in an ancient text."

"Legend has it that two divine dragons are sealed within them. Once the Water and Fire Dragon Pearls are fused together, one's internal energy will increase manifold, and true immortality can be achieved. I wonder if that is actually true?"

Yin Zhong's voice trembled slightly. "It is true."

The Water and Fire Dragon Pearls originated from the Dragon Clan. Their earliest source was indeed the primordial spirits of two fallen divine dragons merging into their inner cores, endowing them with extraordinary power.

At the same time, they were the key to whether the Dragon Divine Skill could truly reach perfection and transform into a dragon.

"The Water and Fire Dragon Pearls are in the Ming Dynasty?" A smile appeared on Yin Zhong's face, yet the depths of his eyes emitted a chilling, bone-piercing gleam. "Whether it is to cure this body's injuries, or for the Dragon Divine Skill I stole and learned from the Dragon Clan—"

"Those Water and Fire Dragon Pearls, I am determined to obtain them!"

Yin Zhong's greatest wish in life was to exact revenge on the Tong clan of Water-Moon Cave. Now that he sensed the opportunity right before him, how could he possibly let it slip away?

"As long as I advance the Dragon Divine Skill a step further, or cause the spells of the Tong clan to undergo a qualitative change, I may have the chance to ascend above the Terrestrial Celestials and forge the immortal, indestructible body of a divine demon."

"By then, even if Long Teng were to be resurrected, he would no longer be able to stop me!"

...

The next day, Tiance Manor.

Unaware of the news regarding the dragon pearls—which had already spread far and wide before he even received that imperial edict—Zhu Jinzhen met Murong Fu, who was covered in blood and in an utterly disheveled state, inside Tiance Manor.

"Murong Fu, descendant of the Xianbei vassal state and the emperors of Yan, born into the Murong clan of Gusu, given the name 'Fu' to shoulder the sacred mission of restoring the Great Yan and claiming the imperial throne?"

Murong Fu remained silent.

He had not expected Zhu Jinzhen to unearth his detailed background overnight, uncovering even the Murong family's most concealed secrets and origins. His heart sank deeper and deeper.

"Murong Fu, how about I make a deal with you?"

"What do you want?" Surprised by this sudden turn of events and feeling a surge of hope, Murong Fu hastily replied, "As long as it is something I possess, I will agree to anything."

As the fish and the cleaver, he was at the mercy of others.

The only way Murong Fu could think of to extricate himself was to lower his posture, preserve his life first, and consider everything else later.

Zhu Jinzhen did not find this strange at all; he had already witnessed too many cowards and sycophants willing to do anything to stay alive. "Your cousin, Wang Yuyan, possesses beauty that could topple a state. I am quite fond of her."

With that, Zhu Jinzhen cast his gaze toward Wang Yuyan, whose face had drained of color in utter terror at his words.

Murong Fu was stunned: "Cousin?"

He had considered many possibilities, including handing down his family's ultimate martial arts techniques or pledging his allegiance to Zhu Jinzhen, but he had never imagined that Zhu Jinzhen's target would be his cousin, Wang Yuyan.

A flurry of thoughts raced through Murong Fu's mind. "Could it be that this world-renowned Prince of Su of the Ming Dynasty is also a lustful debauchee?"

Realizing that Zhu Jinzhen was barely in his early twenties and at the prime age of hot-blooded youth, Murong Fu felt that this was indeed a distinct possibility.

Since ancient times, even heroes have found it difficult to pass the test of beauty.

And his cousin Wang Yuyan possessed truly peerless beauty!