Chapter 127: Hateful Person
In the cave, the firelight flickered, and Gao Guangning’s voice wavered uncertainly.
“The late emperor, seeing that Heavenly Master Zhang refused to help, contacted Taiping Dao and promised many conditions. Sun Yuanlang finally wavered and entered the capital alone to secretly meet with the late emperor. The two sides reached an alliance, and Taiping Dao sent elite experts secretly into the capital to assist the late emperor in eliminating the Xiahou Clan and other die-hard noble clans.”
“At that time, no one knew about Sun Yuanlang entering the capital; the various clans were still kept in the dark.” Gao Guangning said with a face full of regret: “If Your Majesty could have waited a little longer until the group of Taiping Dao experts arrived in the capital, instead of just having Sun Yuanlang, the result might have been very different.”
Lu Yun had also heard Lu Xin mention that the Qianming Emperor acted too hastily, leading to failure to achieve success. Hearing Gao Guangning say this, he couldn’t help but ask in a deep voice: “Then why did the late emperor act ahead of schedule?”
“This is also the part that puzzled me greatly.” Gao Guangning sighed lightly and said: “It was one day in the twelfth lunar month when the late emperor returned from the Empress and flew into a rage. At that moment, someone secretly requested an audience, so the late emperor had me withdraw and met that person alone.”
Lu Yun frowned slightly; he vaguely remembered that at the time, his father emperor came in with a dark face and had someone carry him away. Later, when he returned to his mother empress’s sleeping palace, he saw her full of tears, looking extremely sad…
Lu Yun knew that matters of the inner palace could not be learned from Gao Guangning. So he asked in a deep voice: “Who exactly was that person?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know.” Gao Guangning shook his head and said slowly: “But for someone to make the late emperor believe them without evidence, they obviously carried great weight. Counting them up, it could only be those few families?”
Pausing for a moment, Gao Guangning continued: “After that person left, Your Majesty called me back and said that Xiahou Ba had already mobilized troops into the capital and was about to launch a coup to replace Prince Ping! I advised Your Majesty to verify before acting, but Your Majesty firmly believed that person’s words and said there was no time. He decided to strike first, using the opportunity of paying respects to the Empress Dowager as bait, and at Baoen Temple, wipe out the Xiahou Clan in one fell swoop!”
“To avoid leaking the news and to minimize harm to Great Xuan as much as possible, Your Majesty at that time only gathered his most trusted clan members, as well as people like Sun Yuanlang and me—ministers who appeared absolutely unlikely to betray—and secretly planned the action at Baoen Temple.” Gao Guangning said with a face full of pain: “All actions at the time were extremely cautious; aside from the imperial guards who were supposed to protect Your Majesty, not even the army was mobilized. It should not have alerted those noble clans at all…”
“Who would have thought that the news still leaked out. Your Majesty’s meticulously secretive plan, at that point in the eyes of the Xiahou Clan and Prince Ping, was no different from seeking his own death… Moreover, Zhang Xuanyi also arrived in the capital at that time. No one knows what method Xiahou Ba and Prince Ping used, but they actually got him to join in. On the morning of the incident, my family was kidnapped by the White Ape Society. They used my children to threaten me into mobilizing the imperial guards outside Baoen Temple, giving Zhang Xuanyi, the White Ape Society master, the Xiahou Clan, the Pei Clan, and a group of grandmasters the chance to secretly infiltrate.”
“In the end, at Baoen Temple, just as the late emperor was about to act against the Xiahou Clan and Prince Ping, more than ten Heavenly Rank Grandmasters suddenly appeared, defeated the five grandmasters loyal to the late emperor, drove off Sun Yuanlang, and finally surrounded the late emperor, forcing him to write an edict of abdication!” At this point, Gao Guangning said with tears streaming down his face: “The late emperor refused to yield even in death and slit his own throat on the spot…”
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It took a good while for Lu Yun to recover from Gao Guangning’s description.
Looking at Gao Guangning with tears streaming down his face, Lu Yun suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He clearly remembered that the two previous targets of the Soul Seizing Finger had become increasingly dazed in expression until they turned into complete idiots. Why was Gao Guangning’s expression becoming more vivid?
“Have you already recovered your senses?” Lu Yun suddenly asked.
“This…” Gao Guangning was momentarily stunned.
Just this stunned reaction was enough to show that he had indeed recovered his senses!
“You dare to toy with us!” Uncle Bao immediately flew into a rage and was about to draw his blade to sever one of Gao Guangning’s arms, but was stopped by Lu Yun.
Seeing that he could no longer pretend, Gao Guangning nodded with a bitter smile and said to Lu Yun: “What Your Highness just used on me was a cultivation method from the Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill, right?”
“You have considerable insight.” Lu Yun tacitly confirmed: “Have you seen this cultivation method before?”
“No, I haven’t. This cultivation method is the imperial family’s supreme secret art; how could an external minister like me see it?” Gao Guangning said softly: “I only heard that the Taiping Sutra has a lost Soul Seizing Great Method, similar to the method Your Highness used. Moreover, when the late emperor secretly met with Sun Yuanlang, this criminal was right there beside them. Hearing Sect Leader Sun say that the final scroll of the Taiping Sutra was seized by the imperial family, I guessed that the Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill was the Gui Scroll of the Taiping Sutra.”
“You’re quite good at guessing.” Lu Yun responded noncommittally, but in his heart, he believed Gao Guangning’s explanation. He remembered that back at Funiu Mountain, when he used the Soul Seizing Finger on Lu Feng’s subordinate, another person had shouted that he was using the Soul Seizing Great Method from the Taiping Sutra!
“I heard that the Soul Seizing Great Method can only be used on those who have not opened the Ren and Du Meridians, because once one becomes a grandmaster, their meridians and mind become ten times stronger, rendering any mind-interfering cultivation method ineffective.” Gao Guangning continued to explain to Lu Yun: “This criminal became a grandmaster more than ten years ago; otherwise, Your Majesty would not have had me lead troops. These years, though trapped by my inner demon and with my cultivation regressing rather than advancing, the fact that Your Highness could control this criminal for a dozen breaths also shows that Your Highness’s cultivation already far exceeds that of an ordinary Earth Rank…”
“Your Highness is not yet seventeen this year, right?” Gao Guangning said, looking at Lu Yun with fanaticism on his face: “Truly a heaven-sent prodigy; avenging the late emperor is not impossible!”
Lu Yun couldn’t help but exchange a glance with Uncle Bao; both were somewhat baffled by Gao Guangning’s attitude. They didn’t know if this guy was influenced in his mind by the Soul Seizing Finger or if he was scheming to stay alive.
Gao Guangning saw through Lu Yun’s thoughts at a glance and smiled sadly: “I knew Your Highness wouldn’t believe me, so this criminal wanted to pretend to be affected by the Soul Seizing Great Method and tell Your Highness everything I know, exactly as it happened.”
“Would you be so kind-hearted?” Uncle Bao said disdainfully: “You cowardice, treacherous dog!”
“Yes, compared to your loyal and righteous Du Mao, I am a dog deserving ten thousand deaths…” Gao Guangning smiled sadly: “The most painful thing in my life was harming the Qianming Emperor for the sake of my family.” As he spoke, he looked up at the cave ceiling, full of anguish: “Not only did the latter half of my life become like a dog, scorned by others, but I also completely destroyed the hope of our commoners rising up…”
“What’s the use of saying that now?” Uncle Bao sneered: “Do you dare say that if it happened again, you could act like a man and die for the late emperor?!”
“I…” Gao Guangning lowered his head and met Uncle Bao’s gaze for a moment, ultimately shaking his head dejectedly: “I’ve asked myself this question countless times, and the answer is always the same… I would still betray the late emperor…”
“That’s it, you damned traitor!” Uncle Bao spat a thick glob of phlegm onto Gao Guangning’s face. He hated these traitors even more than Xiahou Ba.
“Hehe…” Gao Guangning let the spit dry on his face and smiled, suddenly shedding two streams of tears: “If only Xiahou Ba had threatened me with my own life, that would have been so much better. But he used my four children, and my elderly parents; I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t…”
As he spoke, Gao Guangning, who had always appeared calm and composed, suddenly broke down sobbing uncontrollably: “Late emperor, I couldn’t do it, I really couldn’t. You showed me the grace of recognition; I would willingly die for you a hundred times, but I couldn’t let my parents, wife, and children die for you…”
Seeing Gao Guangning like this, Uncle Bao’s expression also changed; the hatred and killing intent on his face were covered by the guilt he had deeply buried in his heart…
He also had a wife, children, and parents…
