It was late at night.
The Crown Prince's Mansion was still ablaze with lights, its eternal lamps burning day and night.
In a shadowy corner of a nearby street, several dark figures gathered, gazing toward the Crown Prince's Mansion. Mysterious glints flickered in their eyes.
"Purple qi swirls around it, its colors shifting through the five hues. It bears all the signs of a king!"
An old voice rang out, tinged with an emotion that was hard to distinguish as envy or jealousy. "Look at how firmly his fortune is established, steady as a rock. There isn't the slightest flaw to be found! That shows not only that his foundations are secure, but also that he has deeply won the Emperor's favor. Outsiders will find it near impossible to shake him!"
"Heh... 'near impossible' is still just 'difficult,' that's all! No matter how deep the Emperor's favor, it can't withstand a thousand mouths grinding iron into dust. Have you forgotten how many examples there have been in past dynasties?!"
Another voice spoke with a cold laugh.
"In any case, the Crown Prince's fortune is firmly established for now. We shouldn't act rashly. We ought to strike from the outlying regions instead, so that this thousand-mile dyke will be destroyed by an ant's nest!"
"Even though the Great Wu Dynasty won the realm through a hundred battles and is at the height of its fortune, if calamity rises within its own walls and the Four Barbarian Tribes rebel once more, it might yet be overthrown!"
As these men spoke, one wicked scheme after another took shape, each steeped in venom.
The Great Wu Dynasty had established its rule in the Central Plains and unified the realm. Naturally, the process had involved no shortage of bloodshed.
The chosen successors of many