Protect Our Chief

"This..."

The several commanders of the Personal Guard Camp and all the soldiers were shaken in their hearts. For a moment they were somewhat at a loss, even their formation and discipline became a bit disordered.

By rights, each of them had once sworn a vicious oath, taking the Great Emperor and the Emperor’s Sons as the object of their loyalty.

Yet today, the one giving the order was the Grand Marshal. All these years, they had followed the Grand Marshal on the battlefield, and knew his temperament and character all too well. Naturally, they believed in the Grand Marshal without the slightest doubt.

Moreover, this time the order was to "answer the Emperor’s call and slay evil"!

Seeing the Personal Guard Camp falling into a bit of confusion, the Grand Marshal Xiao Limo, who had been silent all along, finally spoke in a calm voice: "With the Great Emperor absent, Emperor’s Son An’s orders are naturally the highest orders."

"However, first, there is evidence that Emperor’s Son An has already fallen under the control of the Wang Family demons; second, for this campaign, Your Majesty once bestowed upon this Grand Marshal the authority to restrain Emperor’s Son An. Now that Emperor’s Son An is deeply bewitched by the Wang Family demons and has repeatedly made decisions contrary to reason, we, as loyal and outspoken ministers, should naturally cut down the fiends and wake Emperor’s Son An. For this, even if our bodies are shattered to dust, it is not to be regretted."

As soon as the Grand Marshal said this, the commotion in the Personal Guard Camp stopped at once.

One commander at Middle Stage Purple Mansion cupped his hands toward Emperor’s Son An and said in a deep voice, with a tone of firm resolve, "Your Highness, once we have slain the fiends, we will certainly come to you bearing thorns in atonement for our crimes."

"Good, good, good. The Grand Marshal truly has fine methods! Today, I shall watch with my own eyes." Emperor’s Son An was so enraged he laughed instead, yet his face had gone deathly pale, and even the fingers hidden in his sleeves were trembling slightly.

That matter, he had originally not believed at all, nor dared to believe. Later, he was half-believing, half-doubting. Until now, seeing the scene before his eyes, he already believed it eight or nine parts; the last one or two parts only awaited verification.

"This is an internal affair of our Daqian, the specific reasons cannot be spoken of to outsiders. Clear out all foreign races." Prince Dexin waved his hand and directly gave the order. "Don’t let the Wang Family crowd escape."

What?

The members of the Saint Gu Worm Race all erupted in shock and anger.

These Qian Kingdom people were far too arrogant! This was their territory, and moreover it was in front of the sacred ancestor sacrificial altar, yet they actually wanted to clear them out instead!

Just as some Elders and hot-blooded youths were preparing to put up a desperate resistance—

Wang Luojing suddenly spoke: "Everyone, this matter arose because of our Wang Family. Don’t worry, our Wang Family is definitely not Demon Dynasty demons. The Grand Marshal will surely prove our innocence. Once our innocence is proven, I will then come to inherit the Saintess position."

"Saintess Jing!" Elder Chan’s expression was shifting unpredictably. "This matter, I fear..."

"Listen to Saintess Jing." Former Saintess Dai’s eyes rippled slightly as she too spoke. "This is an internal matter of Daqian. Our Saint Gu Worm Race cannot interfere."

With both the previous and current Saintess speaking together, and under the urging of the Grand Marshal’s Guard Camp, the scene was quickly cleared out thoroughly. Even the clay pot containing the Celestial Silkworm Gu was escorted away under Saintess Dai’s protection. Only internal personnel of Daqian remained at the scene.

By this time—

Prince Dexin finally turned his attention to Wang Shouzhe, and said coldly, "All soldiers of the Personal Guard Camp, seize the demon Wang Shouzhe and the Demoness Wang Luojing."

Just as the Personal Guard Camp was about to make a move—

"Wait!"

Wang Shouzhe finally spoke.

He slowly rose to his feet and said unhurriedly, "Your Highness, as the saying goes, catching adulterers requires both parties, catching thieves requires stolen goods. If I am a Demon Dynasty fiend, then your seizing me would naturally be justified."

"So long as you bring out evidence, I, Shouzhe, will have nothing to say. But if you cannot, hehe~~ then what you are doing is rebellion."

"Wang Shouzhe, you’re at death’s door and still want evidence?" Prince Dexin sneered. "If you obediently come with us, the Grand Marshal will naturally judge you, and you will see the evidence. Right now, it is not your turn to speak."

Prince Dexin had no evidence to bring out at all and naturally intended to use brute force.

"Nonsense!" Emperor’s Son An shouted in anger. "Dexin, you keep claiming the Wang Family are people of the Demon Dynasty, yet with not the slightest shred of evidence you want to seize them. Do you truly take this Emperor’s Son as a mere decoration? Soldiers of the Personal Guard Camp, listen up! I have already recorded everything that happened today on a Recording Disc."

As he spoke, Emperor’s Son An directly took out a Celestial Secret Recording Disc and said, "If it is proven that Wang Shouzhe is a Demon Dynasty demon and he is taken away, I too will have no objection. But if you cannot even produce evidence, then what all of you are doing today is no different from rebellion! All participants are traitorous thieves to the state! At that time, Your Majesty will naturally uphold justice for us!"

With that, Emperor’s Son An handed the Celestial Secret Recording Disc to Prince Desun, and said coldly in an angry voice, "Ancestor Desun, if the Personal Guard Camp and the Grand Marshal dare, without evidence, to disobey this Emperor’s Son’s orders, it is definitely rebellion. Take this Recording Disc and break through at all costs, and ask the Great Emperor to uphold justice. Of those who participate in the rebellion today, not a single member of their families shall think to escape!"

"Rest assured, even if this king dies, I will die in front of the Great Emperor." Prince Desun said in a voice of ’tragic resolve’.

The other Emperor’s Son’s personal guards responded one after another: "We are willing to use our lives to protect Prince Desun’s escape."

They now confirmed that the mysterious guard was indeed Prince Desun.

For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat grand and stirring.

???

Emperor Longchang, who was similarly disguised as a personal guard, was staring with a head full of question marks.

Others might not know he was present, but would Emperor’s Son An and Desun not know? The two of them were putting on a duet, acting with such vigor—just what play were they performing here?

If I merely lift off my helmet, wouldn’t this matter be settled on the spot? Why the need to fiddle back and forth like this?

"Your Majesty, wait for me to smash the cup as the signal." Wang Shouzhe sent a voice-transmission reminder once again.

Emperor Longchang paused.

He already felt something was off.

There was a scheme here~~~ a huge scheme. Just what was this kid Shouzhe plotting?

Sure enough, this move once again triggered commotion on the Personal Guard Camp’s side. Everyone turned their eyes toward Prince Dexin and the Grand Marshal. With not a shred of evidence, to outright defy Emperor’s Son An’s orders and kill people and seize people right before his eyes—how was that any different from rebellion?

Every member of the Personal Guard Camp came from a military clan. If they got branded with the word "rebellion"... their entire families would be implicated.

Prince Dexin had not expected Emperor’s Son An to still have this trick waiting for him. If that old immortal Desun really managed to escape carrying the Celestial Secret Recording Disc to Your Majesty and file a complaint, it would be a huge problem.

He could only speak with a blackened face, "Emperor’s Son An, of course there is evidence, it’s just that this matter involves too deeply and too widely, and is a disgrace to our Daqian—how could it be made public in front of everyone?"

"You may not trust me, but do you not even trust the Grand Marshal?"

"Those words are somewhat reasonable. If it involves too many secrets, it indeed cannot be made public." Emperor’s Son An actually agreed, and after a brief ponder, continued, "How about this: for this expedition, thanks to the Great Emperor’s concern, I was granted the National Guardian Secret Treasure passed down by the Wu Family ancestor, [Ancestor Panpan’s Protection], which can block all prying. Let this Emperor’s Son, Wang Shouzhe, Prince Dexin, and the Grand Marshal enter the [Ancestor Panpan’s Protection] space together. Within, Prince Dexin will present the evidence directly to this Emperor’s Son, either proving Wang Shouzhe’s crimes, or proving his innocence."

[Ancestor Panpan’s Protection].

Though this was not the first time Wang Shouzhe had heard of and come into contact with that Secret Treasure, he still couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He hadn’t expected the Wu Family to possess a spatial protection Secret Treasure left behind by the famous big shot of the Divine Martial Dynasty era—Wu Panpan.

"Wu Panpan" was a name Wang Shouzhe was naturally as familiar with as thunder in his ears. She was the one who held the highest record in the entire Divine Martial Dynasty era for the new soldier training camp graduation assessment... until the Wang Family appeared and broke her record.

However, Wu Panpan had reached the Celestial Human Realm at just sixteen years old and then set the overall training camp record, far more impressive than the Wang Family’s Ancestor Wang Chuanwu.

Our Wang Family merely took advantage of the age gap to break her record.

So long as this girl did not die prematurely, she was most likely a terrifying existence at the True Immortal Realm.

However, Wang Shouzhe strongly doubted Emperor’s Son An’s claim that "Wu Panpan" was the Wu Family’s ancestor.

Judging from himself, Wang Shouzhe felt that the Wu Family had probably dug up Wu Panpan’s True Immortal Relics, gotten rich off them, and then recognized her as their Ancestor.

It was even highly possible that the Wu Family had not originally been surnamed Wu at all, and only changed their surname to climb onto Wu Panpan’s coattails.

...