THE HUMAN EMPEROR

1571-1590

The letter he had received in the northwest had said nothing regarding the capital or the court. It had been about the Fifth Prince.

Based on the information levels the two of them had previously agreed on, the letter Old Eagle had sent was a matter of absolute urgency. If it weren’t serious, Old Eagle would have never sent it using the method he had.

“Lord Marquis, the story is rather long. Not long ago, when I was still observing Ü-Tsang and the Turks while also managing the communications between the capital and the borders, the Fifth Prince’s personal eunuch, Li Jingzhong, came to me. With a worried face, he said that he had an extremely important matter to discuss with Your Highness, a matter which the Fifth Prince’s life hinged on.”

Now that no one else was present, Old Eagle’s face turned grave as he began to recount the events of that time.

“I found it rather strange. With Your Highness’s help, the Fifth Prince should have gained a firm footing in the capital. Moreover, Xu Keyi is the one responsible for these matters, so there was no reason for Li Jingzhong to find me. He said that the matter was extremely urgent and that he couldn’t even get close to the Wang Family Residence, nor was he able to. There was a deep apprehension in his tone. Before leaving, he gave your subordinate a letter!

“This is the letter!”

As Old Eagle spoke, he took the letter from his sleeve and offered it with both hands. Wang Chong said nothing as he opened the letter and began to read through it.

Old Eagle didn’t dare to say a word for fear of interrupting Wang Chong.

After a long while, Wang Chong finally put down the letter, and his brow began to crease.

Li Jingzhong’s letter was faltering and vague, as if he was worried that the letter might fall into the wrong hands. Reading the letter had only added to Wang Chong’s questions.

“I understand!”

Regaining his composure, Wang Chong waved his hand and dismissed Old Eagle. Once he was alone, Wang Chong placed a hand on his brow and began to think.

When he was receiving Old Eagle’s letter back in the northwest, he had heard the Stone of Destiny speak.

“Warning! User’s mission ‘Plan of the True Dragon’ is under grave threat and is on the verge of failure! Once target Li Heng dies, user will be deducted 300,000 points of Destiny Energy.

“Notice: As Li Heng is an important individual for this world, his death will have severe consequences that could lead the world’s history down an unpredictable path, producing many unknown variables. Note: For mission failure, user will be deducted an additional 1,000,000 points of Destiny Energy!”

……

“What is going on here?”

Wang Chong’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He had concluded that after the last incident in the palace, Li Heng should have been able to slowly establish his own prestige and recruit his own comrades that could help him plan and strategize. The Fifth Prince was maturing by the day, and not even the First Prince could deal with him that easily. Moreover, the status of Prince was extremely important. The Third Prince Li Ju, for his crimes of framing Li Heng and deceiving the sovereign, had only been jailed in the imperial prison.

Why had the Stone of Destiny mentioned that Li Heng would die?

“This shouldn’t be…”

Wang Chong muttered to himself as he searched through his memories. Based on what he knew, nothing important was happening around this time that could threaten Li Heng.