Chapter 409: Bait (1)
After finishing the conference with Gu Yangpae and Dao Yuechen. Mujin returned to Dongting Lake.
Behind the scenes, he remained keenly alert to the imperial family’s movements, but outwardly, he went about his days no differently than usual.
As always, he ate breakfast with his wife, Liu Xuehua, and the three children they had together.
He went to work at the Zhengmu League, began with Zhuge Muhuan’s report, and handled various tasks.
After finishing his afternoon workout, he returned home and spent another harmonious evening with his family.
Several days passed like that.
Today as well, after finishing his work at the Zhengmu League, Mujin left the League and headed somewhere.
However, the place he was heading was not his home.
A place with a signboard reading [Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic].
It was the clinic operated by Mujin’s wife, Liu Xuehua.
And the reason he had deliberately come here was not to see his wife, Liu Xuehua, even a little earlier.
Today was the day a special guest who visited this place regularly was scheduled to come.
A guest with whom they had formed a connection several years ago, and who had now become a complete regular here. It was the day Prince Ying had reserved for treatment.
How long had Mujin waited in the treatment room with his arms folded?
“Hmm?”
Even though the appointed time had passed, Prince Ying had not appeared.
Since the Central Plains boasted such a vast territory, it was not particularly rare for people to fail to keep an appointment on time.
However, Prince Ying was an exception.
Perhaps because the treatment here had made his body considerably more comfortable, he greatly enjoyed coming to this place.
In other words, he had not been late even once over the past several years. If anything, he arrived early.
Was it because of the ominous developments of late? Feeling an inexplicable unease, Mujin left the treatment room.
Then he left the county where the clinic was located and headed somewhere.
When Mujin reached the official road Prince Ying had to use to travel here from the place where he normally resided, an ominous noise reached his ears.
Clang.
It was a very faint sound, but it was the sound of metal colliding. Mixed in with it were people’s voices and sounds resembling screams.
Realizing that his ominous suspicion was taking form, Mujin gathered natural energy and performed the Mountain-Shattering Divine Step.
BOOM!!
The official road °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° burst apart, and Mujin’s body tore through the air as he surged forward at tremendous speed.
And when Mujin arrived at the source of the sound, what entered his eyes was Prince Ying’s carriage.
It was cracked and broken in several places, and the horses that had pulled the carriage lay collapsed and bleeding.
Around it, Prince Ying’s guards were fighting a group dressed in black, and several among them had already been struck down.
Prince Ying, who was being protected among the guards, had gone deathly pale, while the guards were somehow buying time but were clearly being driven into an inferior position.
Had it dragged on even a little longer, Prince Ying might have died.
Greatly alarmed, Mujin attacked the moment he landed on the ground.
“How dare you cause such a disturbance before the Zhengmu League!”
And to think they had even attacked Prince Ying, a member of the imperial family. It was something no sane person would ever dare attempt.
As expected of those who sought to assassinate a member of the imperial family, each of them was a martial artist skilled enough to be called an expert in his own right.
More than twenty such men had gathered to carry out the assault.
However.
BOOM!!!
There was no one present who could possibly block even one of Mujin’s punches.
“.......”
Prince Ying watched the attackers being swept away by Mujin with emotions mixed between admiration and emptiness.
The men who had overwhelmingly driven back the guards trying to protect him were no different from toys before the Leader of the Zhengmu League.
Because he had only ever seen Mujin treating him, Prince Ying had never truly grasped just how profoundly powerful the Leader of the Zhengmu League was.
While Prince Ying belatedly realized Mujin’s martial prowess and stared in astonishment, Mujin, who had already dealt with the attackers, approached and paid his respects to Prince Ying.
“I apologize for arriving so late, Your Highness.”
“N-No. Rather, I find myself wondering how you managed to come here at all.”
“Let us go to the clinic first. You must have been badly startled, so how about we speak while loosening your body?”
“Let us do so.”
Just as the two were finishing their conversation. One of the nearby guards hurriedly shouted.
“Your Highness! It is dangerous! Would it not be better to return to the prince’s residence instead?”
He was someone who had accompanied Prince Ying to the treatment clinic from before, and he was the leader of the guards.
However, at his suggestion, Prince Ying wore an incredulous expression.
“You saw what happened just now, yet you can still say such a thing? In Our opinion, the safest place under heaven is beside the Leader of the Zhengmu League.”
“But.......”
The guard tried to add something, but Prince Ying was firm.
***
The treatment room of the Muscle and Bone Treatment Clinic.
Unlike usual, even the guards had been kept out, leaving only the two of them together in the treatment room.
While loosening Prince Ying’s muscles, Mujin spoke in a calm tone.
“Your Highness. Is your body all right?”
“Other than being somewhat startled, there is no serious problem. More importantly, is the League Leader all right?”
“.......”
At Prince Ying’s question, Mujin hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Before long, it seems a great bloodstorm will sweep through the Central Plains.”
Judging by the course of events thus far, there was a high probability that this attack had been orchestrated by the emperor.
To frame martial artists for attempting to assassinate a member of the imperial family.
And Prince Ying possessed enough intelligence to realize that fact as well.
“It seems the reason His Majesty spared this foolish younger brother was not merely because of this leg after all.”
Prince Ying had been a chess piece intended for use as a sacrifice.
That meant Emperor Taiping had been planning to use Prince Ying in this manner since before ascending the throne.
“To think he even devised such a move amid the civil war over the position of Crown Prince. It seems he did not become emperor for nothing.”
“What will Your Highness do? Even if you return to the prince’s residence, I do not believe your safety can be guaranteed.”
Now that his usefulness had ended, there was no reason for the emperor to keep Prince Ying alive.
“The deed has already been done. Would he truly bother targeting me again?”
That was half correct. Although they had failed to kill Prince Ying, there was no great problem in obtaining justification.
The mere claim that martial artists had attempted to assassinate a member of the imperial family provided more than enough justification.
Of course, it would be difficult to use this single incident as grounds to purge every martial sect and family.
However.
'If they only intend to implicate our Zhengmu League, or perhaps one or two great families or sects, it would be entirely possible.'
With the justification of attempted imperial assassination, the moment anyone else interfered, they would become rebels.
In other words, it became possible to defeat them one by one.
This time, they would use Prince Ying as justification to deal with several places, and afterward, they would undoubtedly produce some other justification.
By the time the martial factions understood the imperial family’s objective and tried to unite, they would already have suffered considerable losses from being defeated individually.
Had they not prepared in advance.
“Since the attempt failed, it will be difficult for them to use the same method again. However, would His Majesty the Emperor truly go out of his way to spare someone connected to the scheme?”
“.......”
Toward Prince Ying, who seemed to have fallen into thought, Mujin added.
“In my foolish opinion, only two choices remain for Your Highness. Pretend not to know it was a conspiracy, stand on His Majesty the Emperor’s side, declare that those who attempted the ambush were martial artists, and pray that His Majesty shows mercy.”
“.......”
“And the other is to rise by your own strength instead of hoping for His Majesty the Emperor’s mercy.”
“.......”
When Mujin finished speaking. Silence settled over the treatment room.
The two men in the treatment room stared at one place without saying anything further.
Prince Ying’s leg, which Mujin had been in the middle of loosening.
***
Several days later.
Beijing’s Forbidden City.
A young man came to the Forbidden City to receive an audience with Emperor Taiping, who lounged upon the imperial throne with a relaxed expression while dressed in imperial yellow dragon robes.
The man limped toward the imperial throne, then performed a full prostration with awkward movements and spoke.
“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! May the Emperor live ten thousand years!! This subject greets Your Majesty!”
The emperor seated upon the imperial throne looked at his half brother, who had performed a full prostration, with eyes whose emotions were difficult to read.
“We heard that you were attacked. Is there anywhere you are unwell?”
Despite the seemingly concerned question, no emotion was contained within those words.
“Thanks to Your Majesty’s concern, this foolish younger brother is unharmed.”
“I see. Then why have you come all the way here with that ‘inconvenient’ body of yours?”
“Because there is an important matter I must report to Your Majesty.”
“Speak.”
Only then did Prince Ying raise his head and speak with a devastated expression.
“Though this foolish one is lacking, after investigating the attack from several days ago in various ways, I learned who ordered it.”
“Oh?”
At the emperor’s show of interest, Prince Ying swallowed once in nervousness before speaking.
“It was the work of a man named Mujin, the leader of an organization called the Zhengmu League.”
“We heard that it was that very League Leader who protected Our younger brother during the attack. Furthermore, We understand that after the attack, Our younger brother remained together with that man. What do you mean by this?”
At the emperor’s observation, Prince Ying once again bowed deeply as though he had committed a grave sin and shouted.
“I too was being deceived by that man! That attack was also instigated by him from the beginning! It was a scheme to pretend to save me from danger and then use me like a puppet!”
“Hahahahaha!”
At Prince Ying’s desperate cry, Emperor Taiping burst into hearty laughter.
Strangely, however, his eyes were not laughing at all.
“So what Our younger brother is saying is that the man dared humiliate a member of the imperial family and attempted to control him like a puppet?”
“That is correct.”
“To dare humiliate a member of the imperial family. He is an unforgivable man.”
The moment the emperor finished speaking, the officials around him all lowered their heads and shouted over one another.
“This is a crime equivalent to rebellion, Your Majesty!”
“His nine clans must be exterminated!”
“The authority of the imperial family must be restored by holding him accountable for the crime of humiliating a member of the imperial family!”
As the high and low officials each shouted similar things, the corners of the emperor’s mouth rose in a cold smile.
Strangely, the area around his eyes remained expressionless.
“Make that so-called Leader of the Zhengmu League pay for his crime.”
After giving the order, Emperor Taiping turned his head and looked at Prince Ying, who remained prostrate on the floor.
“You must be exhausted from being attacked and traveling such a long distance, so remain in the Forbidden City and rest for a while.”
“Your grace is boundless.”
At the emperor’s consideration that was not truly consideration, Prince Ying rose stiffly, then limped away.
***
Several days later.
The war in the north had ended, and the military forces that had each returned to their original posts began moving once again.
The military commands in every region entered an emergency state and began maintaining their weapons and making preparations.
At the same time, shocking news spread throughout the Central Plains.
The Leader of the Zhengmu League attempted to threaten and control Prince Ying.For the crime of humiliating a member of the imperial family, the Leader of the Zhengmu League will be judged for a crime equivalent to rebellion.Surprisingly, these were not mere rumors. Official notices sent down by the imperial family had been posted on walls in every region.
And as befitted the wording that called it a crime ‘equivalent’ to rebellion, strange details had been added to those notices.
This punishment applies solely to Mujin, the individual who styles himself the Leader of the Zhengmu League.Anyone who protects the Leader of the Zhengmu League or obstructs the imperial family’s actions will be judged guilty of the same crime as the Leader of the Zhengmu League.However, should they refrain from doing so, no punishment will be imposed upon anyone other than the Leader of the Zhengmu League.Unlike rebellion, which was known to result in the extermination of nine clans, they declared that only Mujin would be held accountable for the crime.
It was the emperor’s scheme to eliminate the focal point of the orthodox faction first.
Furthermore, he intended to induce the orthodox forces, once deprived of their focal point, to fight like dogs in a mud pit over the position of Leader of the Zhengmu League.