The Deaths of the Three Princes

A prophecy fulfilled.

At the end of July, they had just seen Prince Chu's family off, and in early August, news broke of Prince Han's assassination attempt.

Emperor Yongxing was furious, and the Imperial Guards surrounded Prince Han's residence.

The royal uncles from the Court of the Imperial Clan couldn't even get an audience with Emperor Yongxing, as the Embroidered Uniform Guards strictly guarded Shangyang Palace.

It would have been one thing if Prince Han had obediently surrendered, but he actually led his retainers in resistance, ultimately dying in the Imperial Guards' siege.

The court officials, royal relatives, and nobles linked this matter with the case of Prince Chu, making it hard not to suspect that Emperor Yongxing had orchestrated it himself to eliminate the three princely houses.

The suspicion was quickly dispelled when Emperor Yongxing broke two of his fingers.

The dynasty valued appearances when selecting officials, and they couldn't have any physical disabilities, let alone the Emperor!

"Prince Han's household shall be exterminated!"

The officials were silent.

Heavenly Prison.

Cries of injustice, wails of grief, curses, and muffled sobs filled the air.

Prince Han's leading a crowd to fight the Imperial Guards confirmed his crime of treason, and anyone with even the slightest connection had to take a trip to the Heavenly Prison.

The methods of dealing with prisoners in the prison meant that whether you were guilty or not, you had to sign and stamp a confession!

Captain Lu interrogated people until late at night, so exhausted that he was almost collapsing, and he obtained a large stack of confessions.

"Old Zhou, you really need to watch your mouth more often!"

"Sir, there must be something fishy about this!"

Zhou Yi had been diligently cultivating the Theory of Nourishing the Spirit, and his spiritual perception was becoming increasingly sensitive. He had just gone to see Prince Han's heir, and his grievances did not seem feigned.

Just then, a prison guard hurried over and whispered, "Just got word that the convoy escorting Prince Chu was ambushed by bandits not long after leaving the capital. Only a few Imperial Guard captains escaped back."

Captain Lu asked, "What about the brothers who were with them?"

The prison guard said in fear, "They're all dead."

Captain Lu muttered, "Counting those escorting Duke Who Pacifies the Nation last time, more than twenty prison guards have died in just two months... Old Zhou, is even the Heavenly Prison not safe anymore?"

"I only deliver food, I don't escort prisoners."

Zhou Yi shook his head slightly. There's no such thing as a completely safe place in the world.

Even delivering food in the Heavenly Prison could be dangerous. Back then, when Li Wu used the Azure Sky King as bait to lure and kill martial arts experts, none of the Imperial Guards or prison guards knew anything in advance.

The schemes of great figures never considered the lives of small pawns!

Individual interests must be subordinate to overall interests, and no more can be said.

October.

Prince Jing rebelled.

A real rebellion, in broad daylight, leading a crowd to storm the East Gate of the Imperial City.

The Imperial Guards rained down arrows, and the rebels suffered heavy casualties.

"I am a son of the former Emperor, I would rather die in battle than sit and wait to be slaughtered!"

Prince Jing shouted loudly, still fighting to the death, and finally died from more than a dozen arrows.

This matter shook the capital!

The officials and nobles privately said that the current Emperor was unkind and ungrateful, and did not seem like a ruler!

New prisoners were brought into the Heavenly Prison, including the chief retainer of Prince Jing's residence.

A top expert with two hundred years of inner strength, the abbot of Limitless Temple in Jiangnan, with the Daoist name Xuan Ling.

"Limitless Temple, Xuan Ling, how come I've never heard of this name?"

Zhou Yi was quite interested after learning about it. A Marrow Cleansing Realm expert or someone with two hundred years of inner strength would be famous in the martial world; there wouldn't be more than a hundred such people in the entire Fengyang Kingdom.

Having stayed in the Heavenly Prison for nearly thirty years, he had interacted with many experts captured from various places.

Zhou Yi could recognize heroes from all over the world without leaving the prison!

Cell A-2.

Zhou Yi pushed the door open and saw an old man in a tattered Daoist robe, who at first glance looked to be over sixty years old.

White hair, wrinkled face.

"Greetings, Senior Xuan Ling."

Zhou Yi cupped his fist and said, "I have long admired your name, and today I finally have the opportunity to meet you."

Xuan Ling raised his eyes to look at the person who had arrived: "Who are you?"

Zhou Yi said, "Blood Prison Old Demon, Zhou Yi."

Xuan Ling said coldly, "An unknown nobody, never heard of you!"

A glint flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes, and his interest in Xuan Ling grew. The other man didn't seem like a martial arts expert.

The name of the Blood Prison Old Demon was even more resounding than that of a typical top expert.

After all, the number of martial artists who died at Zhou Yi's hands was more than the number killed by the leader of a demonic cult.

Even if Xuan Ling usually cultivated in seclusion and didn't fight with others, so his name wasn't well-known, how could anyone who had been in the martial world not know the Old Demon's name?

"You're not from the martial world!"

As Zhou Yi spoke, he carefully observed Xuan Ling's reaction, and sure enough, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

"So, you deliberately infiltrated Prince Jing's estate..."

A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Zhou Yi's mind, and he continued, "Not only did you bewitch Prince Jing to rebel, but the deaths of Prince Han and Prince Chu are also related to you or the people behind you?"

"Nonsense!"

Xuan Ling flatly denied it, closed his eyes, and ignored him.

"Recently, I've been wondering, Prince Chu and Prince Han weren't fools either. Throughout history, how many emperors have ascended to the throne through assassination? Yet they repeatedly did so."

"So the assassinations weren't the original intention of the two princes, but you wanted to use their failed assassinations to kill with a borrowed knife!"

"As for Prince Jing, he was stimulated by the extermination of the two princes' families and thought he had no way out, so he simply rebelled directly!"

"All three royal estates have become pawns, your only goal can only be that position!"

"Emperor Hongchang has six sons, and now four are dead, leaving only... that deposed Crown Prince!"

Zhou Yi's thoughts became faster and faster, and many doubts suddenly became clear. He looked up in the direction of the palace: "Before, the deposed Crown Prince didn't understand the situation and colluded with the Li family in private. With such a personality, he definitely doesn't have the ability to carry out this plan!"

"The only one who can control the overall situation is... Chancellor Zhang!"

"Just who exactly are you?"

Xuan Ling suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Yi with a horrified expression.

"There's another question in all of this. Where did Chancellor Zhang get so many elite assassins? If they were truly just martial vagrants, they wouldn't listen to him so obediently."

Zhou Yi frowned slightly, flicked his finger, and a wisp of mana entered Xuan Ling's body.

The mana circulated through the meridians, clearly detecting the aging of Xuan Ling's internal organs. He was already on the verge of death without needing torture.

"I've also cultivated Daoist techniques. The inner Qi is upright and peaceful, and it's best for nourishing the meridians and internal organs, making one stronger with age. When practiced to a very high level, it can delay aging, giving one the appearance of a crane's hair and a child's face."

"Your internal organs have deteriorated to this extent, it's more like..."

Zhou Yi pried open Xuan Ling's mouth and checked the degree of aging of his teeth, which were as white as a young man's.

"Heaven Devouring Demon Art!"

As Zhou Yi had guessed, Chancellor Zhang was creating experts through the Heaven Devouring Demon Art.

"Most of the experts recruited by the three princes are Chancellor Zhang's people, so they would frantically assassinate the emperor... No, the palace also recruited many martial arts experts, could they also be Chancellor Zhang's people?"

"In the past few months, the value of martial arts experts in the capital has soared, could that also be Chancellor Zhang's doing?"

Zhou Yi wouldn't think he was smarter than the ancients just because he had transmigrated. In terms of conspiracies and schemes alone, he couldn't even compare to the corrupt officials in prison.

The only thing he was confident in surpassing them in was a more scientific way of logical thinking.

Now that he had witnessed Chancellor Zhang's methods, starting from inconspicuous details and stirring up a storm that shook the foundation of the country, he lowered his pride in his logical thinking a bit.

If it weren't for the Longevity Dao Fruit, which allowed Zhou Yi to firmly remain hidden and unshaken, he would have unconsciously fallen into Chancellor Zhang's trap!

"Such a person, in the past, I could probably only comment on him on the trending searches."

Zhou Yi had no evidence to point out that all the schemes came from Chancellor Zhang, but based on circumstantial evidence, whoever benefited the most was the culprit.

"This is just the situation in the capital, Chancellor Zhang's plans are definitely not limited to this..."

"Two months have passed since Fengyang Kingdom and Great Yong negotiated for peace, and there has been no progress at all. The armies of various prefectures and states are stationed on the Northern Frontier and cannot return to the capital. Emperor Yongxing's last lifeline is gone!"

"The best warriors have no outstanding achievements, that's probably this kind of person!"

"In this case, I have to ask for leave and go out again..."