Chapter 53 Each of Their Promises
“Your Highness, you’re really straightforward. In that case, I won’t beat around the bush.” Ding Hao smiled and continued, “I need the book in the royal library…”
“A book?” Crown Prince Rong Fu was taken aback, unable to react in time.
Military Counselor Wusun seemed to remember something. He raised his gray eyebrows and asked, “Brother Ding, are you talking about the book about the Heart of Heaven and Earth that I told you before?”
After seeing Ding Hao nod, Military Counselor Wusun muttered a few words to Prince Rong Fu in a low voice, as if he was describing the ancient book.
After listening to the military counselor’s explanation, Crown Prince Rong Fu said, “So it’s that book. No problem, no problem.”
Looking at Ding Hao, Crown Prince Rong Fu laughed and said, “Brother Ding, you have my permission.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” Ding Hao smiled and thanked him.
Just like that, the two sides reached an agreement.
.....Next, Ding Hao began to discuss the following matters with Crown Prince Rong Fu and Military Counselor Wusun.
Right at this moment, a wisp of golden light suddenly shot over from the horizon, and it was like a shooting star that drew out numerous afterimages as it descended directly into the Crown Prince’s Mansion.
Ding Hao also noticed the golden light, but he did not take any action, because he knew that this was how the Crown Prince’s Mansion pa.s.sed on messages.
Sure enough, a man soon ran in with a beast skin letter in his hand.
After handing the letter to Crown Prince Rong Fu, he left the inner hall.
Opening the letter and reading its contents, Crown Prince Rong Fu seemed to have seen something and his expression turned heavy.
Wusun Liuce’s gray brows knit together when he saw this, and he asked Crown Prince Rong Fu, “Your Highness, what happened?”
Crown Prince Rong Fu did not say a word as he handed the letter to Wusun Liuce.
After Wusun Liuce received the letter and glanced at it, his expression became as grave as the Crown Prince’s.
Ding Hao stood there and did not say anything, nor did he disturb them.
“Phew…”
Crown Prince Rong Fu suddenly exhaled. He looked at Ding Hao and said, “Brother Ding, we have to speed up the plan we just proposed. My father’s condition has worsened, and my three royal younger brothers have begun to take action. I’m afraid that they will seize power forcibly in less than half a month.”
Ding Hao nodded. For him, it was also a good thing to take action as soon as possible. Anyway, the people he had to deal with were the three guarding experts.
After thinking for a while, Wusun Liuce faced Crown Prince Rong Fu and Ding Hao and said slowly to them, “Your Highness, Brother Ding, since the plan needs to be sped up, we… and here… should make some changes…”
At the same time, the ones in several mansions in the Nine Spirits City, like the Crown Prince’s Mansion, were also planning something.
Crown Prince Rong Fu paid the most attention to Third Prince Rong Si, who was also the only one that could pose threats to him.
The Third Prince’s manor was an enormous mansion with numerous buildings, corridors, artificial hills, and streams, and all of them revealed the vast imposing aura of the prince’s mansion.
Furthermore, there were a lot of guards. The mansion was tightly guarded. Furthermore, many powerful tactical deployments were set up in the entire prince’s mansion.
There were four people in the study.
One of them was sitting behind the table, while the other three were sitting opposite him.
These people were none other than Third Prince Rong Si and his three guards.
The Third Prince was wearing a gold crown, jade clothes, and holding a folding fan. He was also extremely handsome. He had bright eyes and beautiful eyebrows. His forehead was slightly round and plump, and his fair skin was slightly blood-red. There seemed to be a ball of purple Qi hidden in his skin. At first glance, he looked naturally n.o.ble.
As for his three guardian experts, the one on the left was called Zhu Yubo. He was thin and wore white Confucian clothes. His cultivation level had reached the peak of the True Immortal Realm.
The old man on the right was called Ying Gaoxuan. He had three strands of gray beard and was dressed like an advisor. His cultivation level was at the peak of the True Immortal Realm like Zhu Yubo.
The most powerful person, who had reached the Semi Eternal Realm, was naturally the middle-aged man sitting in the middle. His name was Qian Jianwen. He was wearing a black close-fitting robe. His face was square, and his eyes were fierce. He had an imposing manner even though he was not angry.
These three were the Third Prince’s most powerful trump cards, as well as his strongest guardians.
Ever since they found out that the patriarch was sick, the four of them had gathered together to discuss plans.
Today was the same.
However, after today’s discussion, their plan would be more or less set.
…
“Elder Qian, Elder Zhu, Elder Ying, that’s more or less the plan. I’ll have to trouble the three of you then!” Third Prince Rong Si smiled faintly.
Qian Jianwen, who was in the middle, waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. With the three of us taking action, there won’t be any problem.”
The other two nodded, indicating that they would handle it.
“I’m naturally at ease with your strength.” The Third Prince smiled lightly before he stood up, and then he looked out of the window and muttered. “Now, all we have to do is wait!”
…
During this period, Nine Spirits City seemed to be calm, but undercurrents were surging and chaos was about to break out. It was like the calm before a storm, making people feel depressed.
Some smart people who knew the current situation had already noticed that something was wrong. In order to avoid the war and getting into trouble, they all left the Nine Spirits City and fled to other places.
Of course, most of the ordinary citizens went to work at sunrise and rest at sunset as usual, and their daily routine was the same as before.
In this way, another five or six days pa.s.sed.
On this day, Ding Hao was meditating in the room, while Evil Moon was lying on one side, its little claws reaching into a silver plate from time to time. It grabbed one or two peanuts and threw them into its mouth to chew.
As soon as Ding Hao opened his eyes, Evil Moon asked, “Human Pet, when will the Crown Prince take action?”
Ding Hao exhaled slightly. He then looked at Evil Moon and said, “If there is nothing unusual, it will be a few days later.”
“I’ll have to wait so long…” Just as Evil Moon was about to complain, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Ding Hao’s expression changed slightly. He stood up, opened the door, and looked at the man who came over.
“Your Excellency, His Highness invites you over. He has something important to discuss with you.” The person who came was a servant. When he saw Ding Hao coming out, he immediately saluted respectfully and then told him why he was there.
“Something important?” Ding Hao raised his sword-shaped eyebrows. He then nodded and said, “Okay, let’s go!”
“Meow!”
As soon as Ding Hao stepped out of the door, a white shadow behind him suddenly jumped onto his shoulder with a whoosh.
“Your Excellency, this way please!”
The servant was not surprised to see Evil Moon follow Ding Hao as they went together.
“Don’t you usually hate this the most? Why do you want to go with me today?” Ding Hao asked Evil Moon through the Secret Voice-transmitting Technique.
Evil Moon grinned and said to Ding Hao, “You’ve finished planning, haven’t you? Now that he’s asking for you for something important, it means that he’s taking action. How can I be absent from such an interesting thing as seizing the throne?”
“When did you become so smart?” Ding Hao shook his head and teased.
Evil Moon curled its lips and replied, “You don’t need to state the obvious fact, Human Pet. I’ve always been very smart, very smart, okay?”
“Your Excellency, the Crown Prince is waiting for you inside.” After arriving at the destination, the servant stopped and didn’t walk in.
After hearing that, Ding Hao stepped forward and walked in with Evil Moon.
They pa.s.sed through the hall and arrived at the inner hall.
At this moment, Crown Prince Rong Fu and Military Counselor Wusun were inside.
“Your Highness, now that you’ve asked for me, does it mean that we’re carrying out the plan?” Ding Hao asked when he saw the Crown Prince.
Crown Prince Rong Fu slowly said, “Just now, Father’s verbal decree came from the palace. He wanted me and my three royal brothers to enter the Imperial Palace early tomorrow morning.”
“That is to say, Patriarch Rong Zun is…” said Ding Hao thoughtfully.
Crown Prince Rong Fu nodded and said, “Yes. Tomorrow, Father will pa.s.s on the position of Patriarch.”
“Did he say that he will pa.s.s on the throne to you, Your Highness?” Ding Hao asked.
“Well, Father’s verbal decree did not mention it. We would only know about it when we reach the Imperial Palace. Father surely would not pa.s.s on the throne to my second brother or fourth brother, so my third brother and I both have a fifty percent chance of inheriting the throne. However…” Crown Prince Rong Fu shook his head and a cold light suddenly flashed in his eyes. He continued, “No matter who Father plans to pa.s.s on the throne to, tomorrow will be a good opportunity…”
“So we’re going to take action tomorrow morning…” Ding Hao paused and continued, “As long as the Third Prince is killed tomorrow morning, Patriarch can only pa.s.s on the position to Your Highness. But there are eight gates to the Imperial Palace. Do you know which door the Third Prince will enter through?”
There were eight gates in the Imperial Palace, namely, the Azure Dragon Gate, the White Tiger Gate, the Vermilion Bird Gate, the Mysterious Martial Gate, the Martial Telling Gate, the Yin Yang Gate, the Four Symbols Gate, and the Eight Trigrams Gate.
The eight palace gates were all connected to different corridors, leading to different palaces. They were all heavily guarded, and the generals stationed there were all experts in the True Immortal Realm. The security was extremely tight.
There were so many palace gates. If the Crown Prince and his men didn’t know which gate the Third Prince would pa.s.s through, even if they were prepared, their effort would be in vain.
Wusun Liuce, the military counselor, suddenly said, “Brother Ding, don’t worry. I have already thought of this problem. The Third Prince will enter from the Martial Telling Gate tomorrow.”
“The Martial Telling Gate?” Ding Hao was slightly stunned and asked, “How did you know that, Military Counselor?”
“Even though there are eight gates to the Imperial Palace, only General Mo Yingbiao, who is stationed by the Martial Telling Gate, was promoted by the Third Prince, so the Third Prince will definitely enter through this gate tomorrow,” Wusun Liuce said confidently.
“I see.” Ding Hao nodded. After thinking for a while, he soon raised another question in his mind. “But since the general guarding the Martial Telling Gate works for the Third Prince, how can we arrange manpower there? Your Highness, is that general already your man?”
.....“No.” Crown Prince Rong Fu shook his head and said, “The general of the Martial Telling Gate is indeed my third brother’s man. I have tried to rope him in many times, but I failed.
“However, there is not only one general by the Martial Telling Gate but also a deputy general, and this deputy general is the informant I planted there. As long as Mo Yingbiao doesn’t open the city gate tomorrow, Wei Ye will kill him and then open the palace gate for us. At that time, we will wait for Third Brother there…”