Chapter 293: Altar
Thinking of this, he burst into loud laughter.
“Crown Prince, there’s no need for you to enter the palace. We now have so many troops; we can directly beat those rebellious officials and traitors until their asses are leaking piss.” Yu Yun said this with brows dancing and eyes sparkling.
“No, we still must enter the palace.” Wei Chang said coldly, his face stern.
Yu Yun’s smile froze on his face.
Yu Yun was originally a rough man to begin with, and with this expression, Jiang Ruanxi found it a bit funny and couldn’t help laughing out loud.
“What are you laughing at, you…” Yu Yun was fuming when suddenly someone laughed; he reflexively cursed in anger, but halfway through, Wei Chang’s intimidating gaze made him shut his mouth.
Yu Yun sulkily poured himself a cup of tea and gulped it down cup after cup.
Jiang Ruanxi stopped smiling and poured a cup of tea in front of Yu Yun. “General Yu, don’t be angry. It was my fault just now. This cup of tea is my apology to you.”
Yu Yun looked at the tea in front of him, then glanced up at her. Feeling Wei Chang’s subtle gaze, he picked up the tea and drank it straight down.
Jiang Ruanxi breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a time of turmoil now. She didn’t know the friendship between Yu Yun and Wei Chang, or what agreements they might have, but she didn’t want their relationship to crack because of her.
“General Yu has been stationed in the southwest for years and may not be familiar with the situation in the palace. The Jiang Family has been extremely powerful in the capital for years; I’m sure General Yu has heard of it. But does General Yu know what reason makes His Majesty trust them so much?”
Yu Yun was stunned, a bit doubtful about her sudden question, but thinking of fighting with Jiang Minghuai for so many years, he had long been holding back a breath in his heart.
“Isn’t it because their Jiang Family’s eldest son used tricks to deceive His Majesty?” Yu Yun said irritably.
Jiang Ruanxi had long known that Yu Yun and Jiang Minghuai were at odds, so she wasn’t surprised by his attitude.
“Since the general knows, he must realize that if Jiang Kui didn’t have real skills, Father Emperor wouldn’t trust him so much, and he couldn’t have sat steadily as Imperial Advisor for so long. So we must enter the palace this time: first to check on Father Emperor’s condition, second to see what Jiang Kui really wants to do.” Jiang Ruanxi reasoned logically and appealed emotionally.
She didn’t state the main reason: to figure out the Jiang Family’s exchange fate situation with her, and also to see what motives Jiang Kui had for what he wanted to do tonight.
Yu Yun had originally thought Jiang Ruanxi was just an ignorant woman, like those shortsighted ones in deep manors who only knew petty tricks. Hearing her objective, the look in his eyes toward her held less contempt.
“The palace must be extremely dangerous now. You might be discovered before even entering, which would be sending yourselves to your deaths.” Yu Yun’s gaze shifted back and forth between Jiang Ruanxi and Wei Chang.
Over these years in the southwest, he wasn’t completely ignorant of outside affairs, and he had some understanding of Wei Chang.
Physically weak, and without real power.
So his foundations in the imperial palace should not be deep.
“No matter. We have other ways. We must go to this imperial palace.” Wei Chang said faintly.
But his words carried an unquestionable firmness.
After a moment of silence, Yu Yun said no more, tacitly agreeing.
Wei Chang took out the city defense map and briefly explained it to Yu Yun. Suddenly, his finger pointed to a spot, and he said something quietly. Yu Yun’s eyes suddenly lit up, looking at Wei Chang with full admiration.
Laughing loudly, he said, “Crown Prince, this general didn’t misjudge you.”
Wei Chang faintly raised the corners of his mouth.
**
Imperial Palace.
After Jiang Changjun learned that Jiang Ruanxi had escaped, he angrily swept the books, brush, and inkstone off the desk onto the floor.
Still not venting his anger, he took out the long saber beside him and swung it at the air a few times. Guards fell, and the pillars and tables in the palace collapsed with a crash, leaving a scene of chaos.
Jiang Minghuai had been using his internal energy to block, so he wasn’t injured, but seeing the broken things everywhere on the ground, he frowned tightly and shouted coldly, “Have you made enough noise?”
As soon as he spoke, Jiang Changjun appeared like a ghost in front of him in an instant, glaring ferociously at him. “Shut up. It’s all because you couldn’t get things done. If not for you, Jiang Ruanxi wouldn’t have escaped.”
Looking at Jiang Changjun, who seemed like a demon crawled out from hell, even he, who had been immersed in the battlefield for years, felt very afraid, his eyes uncontrollably spilling with fear.
Jiang Changjun didn’t let him off, pressing the blade tighter against his neck. “In the future, speak to me with less of that tone. I am not your son. To me, you are just my slave.”
Jiang Minghuai was scared by his actions, his teeth clenched tight.
He knew Jiang Changjun was ruthless. If he showed any disobedience, he would certainly be killed with one slash.
“Yes, yes.” Jiang Minghuai nodded tremblingly.
Jiang Changjun used his internal energy to slap him aside with one palm. Jiang Minghuai was flung onto the shards of the porcelain teacup, but he didn’t dare make a sound, enduring the pain as he stood up.
Jiang Changjun looked at him ruthlessly. “I can’t wait any longer. Tonight is the night of the Seven Stars Alignment, exactly at midnight. So go find Jiang Ruanxi now, and have people prepare the things for the ritual. Be quick, or after tonight, no one in your Jiang Family will live.”
“Yes.” Jiang Minghuai walked out tremblingly.
Jiang Changjun turned his wheelchair and went toward the cabinet on the left, reaching his hand to the left side.
Suddenly, a five-meter-high, two-meter-long, three-meter-wide altar appeared in front of him.
Jiang Changjun stared crazily at the altar, a sickly smile on his lips. “Haha, I’ve finally waited for this. Once the Seven Stars Alignment arrives, I can achieve eternal life, and from then on, the world will be mine.”
After Jiang Changjun finished speaking, he burst into loud laughter.
Night.
The weather was dimly dark, with only a few stars, but the sky was still overcast with dense clouds, making those faint stars seem abruptly placed there.
In an open area of the imperial palace, there was a very large and tall altar, with cylinders beside it containing flowing red liquid that emitted light in the dark night, looking very eerie.
And from the side came various cries from fear.
“Imperial Advisor, the blood of the nine hundred and ninety-nine people you wanted has already been collected over nine hundred. We’re short fifteen to complete it. Shall we start now?” asked a guard dressed in black clothing.
Jiang Changjun lifted his eyes to glance at the sky, then looked at the dozen people huddled together in fear, and ordered coldly, “The time is almost here. Kill them immediately.”
“Yes.” The guard immediately turned toward the crowd. Seeing him, the people trembled in fear as if the King of Hell had come to demand their lives.
They were originally palace maids and eunuchs in the palace. They didn’t know how, but they were grabbed and brought to the Imperial Advisor’s palace. Seeing those altars, they were already afraid, but before they could react, the guards grabbed them like chicks and slit their throats with one slash.
And the usually cold and aloof Imperial Advisor looked even more cold and aloof, like a demon opening its bloody mouth toward them.
