Song of Silent Promise

15. Conspiracies

Despite the outwardly peaceful looking dynasty, the inner power play had begun to shift. The Taishan Emperor, Min Yuguan, had ruled for more than three decades. His most two capable sons had reached adulthood but neither one had yet been named as heir.

Min Qiheng lamented, "Us two brothers, had to show Imperial Father and the world that we don't get along. In fact, we have nothing but gratitude towards Mother Empress who have raised us since little. All in order to hide our teeth and claws from the woman who played Imperial Father as though he is but a puppet in her hands."

As Min Qiheng mentioned about the Empress Dowager, Xu Yejing's gaze dimmed slightly, remembering the beautiful woman who had appeared in the prison cell. The woman was definitely not just a normal human. To be able to change her appearance, she would be quite an able cultivator.

"We still don't know which Sect is the Empress Dowager's backer," Min Yunfan added, "But now Empress Mother and our sisters are in her hands. I just hope Imperial Father remembers Empress Mother's dedication all these years, and loves his daughters."

The rumor that had been circulating in Xinlu City turned out to be false. Min Yunfan and Min Qiheng presented themselves as two Princes who did not get along to each other, each having their own agenda. The Empress also presented herself to not be a caring mother towards the two Princes, which sounded reasonable, as she was not their birth mother.

The Empress had been with the Imperial Family for decades, from the old rule before she ascended the phoenix throne, to the current one. Whatever she had seen or experienced inside the palace compound, had made her to be wary towards the Empress Dowager. However, her husband, the Emperor himself, was thoroughly filial towards the Empress Dowager, causing the Empress to be limited in her power.

The Left Prime Minister, Min Lizhang, was married to the Emperor's younger sister, thus there was no wonder to guess why he would camp behind the Emperor. However, some of his blood sons were now inside this very room, indicating their support for the two Royal Princes. Whatever benefit provided by Min Yunfan and Min Qiheng must be enough for Qin Zhe's cousins to break familial ties.

Yet again, this was completely normal in powerful clans. Fortunately, Duke Qin was supportive of the two Royal Princes as well. Perhaps that was why Qin Zhe and Qin Qiu could so blatantly rescue Xu Biyao from prison.

Xu Yejing could more or less guess the reason behind them rescuing Xu Biyao first. Xu Biyao was the heir of the Xu clan, and Marquis Xu was one of the higher-ranked officials. If the Royal Princes wanted to have a solid standing in the future throne, some of the older officials must also extend their support for their ascension. As to who exactly among the two would become the future Emperor, that was way too early to tell.

If something untoward really happened to the Xu clan, and Marquis Xu perished in the prison cells, at least the Royal Princes still had the gratitude and relationship with the Xu clan's heir. If the Royal Princes managed to seize the throne, the Qin clan would benefit from their superiors and from Xu Biyao's debt of gratitude. The Qins definitely was making a big gamble, but it would yield a hefty reward.

Xu Yejing glanced towards the pair of siblings; the three pairs of eyes met and broke contact almost immediately. On this moment, Xu Yejing knew her deduction was correct.

A guard called from the door, kneeling, "My Lords, Young Master Xu has arrived."

Xu Yejing turned to see Xu Biyao walking in. Before she could greet her brother, a few more people followed Xu Biyao.

Marquis Xu walked in, followed by a few male of the Xu clan. Xu Bijie and Xu Biyao stood straight, their gaze unwavering, despite the former's state of unkempt and his coarse prison robe.

Upon seeing the First Prince and the Second Prince, Xu Bijie dropped into a kneel, soon followed by the rest of the Xu clan. "This official cannot even express my gratitude towards Your Highnesses and Duke Qin. From this day onwards, the Xu clan's lives are for Your Highnesses to use and dispose at will."

Xu Biyao bowed towards the two princes and Duke Qin, "Someone wanted the Xu clan dead after all. I thought they would still bide their time, looking as how they did not murder the rest of us when we were admitted to prison. But when I took some guards and Flaming Cauldron Sect's disciples to rescue Father and the men of the Xu clan, the prison was already on fire."

No wonder all of the rescued men had some charred hair and their robes were covered in soot.

Duke Qin, "What about Madame Xu and Sixth Young Miss Xu?" He was referring to Lady Jin and Xu Birou.

Xu Biyao's face was contorted in fury, "The official who kept the list of exiled slaves and their destination had been killed by someone. The list had also either gone missing or disposed of altogether. At the moment, we don't know where my mother, my sister, and Wu-niang have been sent to," he glanced at Xu Yejing, "... or if they are still alive."

After all, Wu-niang - Gu Yuan - was Xu Yejing's birth mother.

Xu Bijie was truly a versatile man. Either he was heartless or he hid it well, "My family matter must not preside over the state's matter. The Emperor and the Empress are now also missing, the court is but an empty throne. More than half of the Imperial Palace has been damaged by fire, even the throne room was not untouched. It will take a long time to convince the old officials and the people to shift the reign to... ," he carefully looked at the two Royal Princes and his words became lower, "... the rightful heir."

He was being cautious. The two Royal Princes seemed to be working together at the moment. Seniority wise, the First Prince would be the first person the officials would back. But who would know the future? Before two days ago, Xu Bijie could never have thought he would be shoved into a prison cell and even almost burnt to death.

Min Yunfan did not seem to notice Xu Bijie's wary words and asked the Saint instead, "Sect Leader, the Vice Leader left suddenly, merely a few moments before you arrived. What might have been so urgent? He led a number of your own people to the Imperial Palace, and as quick as he had gone, he returned. Then, he left again."

The Saint's expression was stiff for a moment, looking as though he did not know to laugh or cry. He turned to look at Xu Yejing briefly, before looking idly at his fan, mumbling something Xu Yejing could not quite hear.

Fu Yan grinned and whispered, "Do you want to know what Master was saying?" Being a cultivator, Fu Yan's sense of hearing exceeded that of normal people. Without waiting for Xu Yejing's reply, he said, '"That's because he didn't wish to show himself towards a certain someone. Like I always say... he has the heart of a maiden, feeling all shy.'"

"Wait," the Saint hold his hand up, "That guy is sending me a qi message."

He performed a series of light finger movement, beckoning a mist trailing in from an opened window. The mist turned gradually into blue, then to bright cerulean as it then solidified on the scholarly Saint's index finger. In front of everyone's eyes, the cerulean mist turned into crystal, then as it cracked and burst into tiny blue fragments, the voice of a man could be heard.

The voice was low but somewhat cold, the vibration of the qi imbued message brushed over Xu Yejing's heart like a feather gliding over a cool river.

"Fu Yan and Xu Yejing will leave in two days time, the details of the mission will be transmitted privately to Fu Yan later. Fu Chun shall dispatch a few more disciples to look for the missing Xu clan's members." The voice paused, then it turned threatening, "Huo Bai, if you say anymore nonsense about me, do you believe I will cause you misery for at least the next century?"

Fu Yan and Fu Chun snickered. The Saint sharply glanced at them causing them to immediately stand prim and proper once again.

Xu Yejing, "That's... the Master Uncle's voice?"

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Runexi's note: this... is turning so much more complicated, isn't it?