Moonlight Pavilion In the morning mist, the fragrance of orchid and the sound of piano have long disappeared.
Sandalwood mixed with the faint smell of blood lingered between the carved beams and pillars. There were still a few dark brown blood stains that had not been wiped off on the originally smooth and mirror-like marble floor, which were hastily covered by the maid with a thick Persian carpet.
The maids who once had smiles as bright as flowers were now standing in the corner with their heads lowered, their eyes pure black without pupils, like puppets without souls.
Tang Yuehua was leaning on the soft couch in the elegant room on the second floor, and his fingertips were carelessly turning the Wraith Soul Ring, which was as black as ink.
The dark red lines on the surface of the ring slowly squirmed, and countless small resentful souls struggled and roared in the lines, but they couldn't make any sound.
There was still a little wet blood on her fingertips, which was left when she broke the neck of a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect shopkeeper with her own hands last night, and she didn't even bother to wipe it off.
"Bang--"
The wooden door of the elegant room was pushed open with such force that the door latch groaned harshly.
Xue Qinghe stood at the door dressed in white, the hem of his clothes wet with morning dew. There was no smile on his usually gentle and jade-like face, and his face was so pale that water dripped from his face.
He closed the door with his backhand and waved away all the maids. Only he and Tang Yuehua were left in the entire private room, and the air instantly solidified like a piece of ice.
"Tang Yuehua!"
Xue Qinghe's voice was extremely low, but with irrepressible anger, it hit Tang Yuehua's ears word by word. "Tell me, was it you who did what Heaven Dou City did last night?"
Tang Yuehua raised his eyelids and didn't even sit up. He still slowly turned Wraith Soul Ring in his hand, with a cold smile on his lips, "I did it. What? Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is here to investigate?"
"Invoke troops to investigate?"
Xue Qinghe took two steps forward and looked at her condescendingly, his chest heaving violently. "Do you know how big of a trap you have created?! Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's industry is connected to the Heaven Dou Empire's economic lifeline! Their grain store manages the food supply for half of the empire, and the salt road controls the salt distribution in the three northern counties. Even 30% of the royal family's annual tribute must go from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's bank!"
"You burned down eight of their shops and three inns overnight, and killed 137 people! Now the price of food in Heaven Dou City has increased by 30%, the price of salt has doubled, and the entrance of the bank is crowded with people running for money! If this continues, within half a month, the entire economy of the Heaven Dou Empire will collapse!"
Tang Yuehua sneered and finally sat up straight. Wraith Soul Ring suddenly shrank in the palm of her hand, and the surrounding candlelight instantly turned into a strange dark green. "They are going to kill me and everyone." Brother, can't I take advantage first? Ning Fengzhi wants to send people to the Clear Sky Sect, isn't it just to eradicate the roots? I just paid them some interest first."
"A little interest?" Xue Qinghe was shaking with anger and pointed at her nose, "Do you know what Heaven Dou Empire is like? It is not my Xue Qinghe empire alone, but dozens of hereditary noble families., an empire that hundreds of sects defend together! What is the identity of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? He is the country-protecting sect of the Heaven Dou Empire! He is the money bag of all the nobles! How many nobles have their net worth bet on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's business?"
"Of the one hundred and thirty-seven people who died last night, twenty-three were the children of the nobles who were attached to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! Now the entire Heaven Dou Empire nobles are in a panic. They are all blocking the entrance to the palace, forcing me to give them an explanation! How do you want me to explain? Tell them that it was I, Xue Qinghe, who allowed you to bloodbath Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's industry?"
He took a deep breath, suppressed the surging anger, and said with a hint of exhaustion and helplessness in his tone, "It took me five years to finally overthrow Xue Haizang and Xue Luochuan, and secure the position of crown prince. Now that the foundation is not stable, it is time to win over all forces. Your fire has destroyed all my arrangements!"
"So what?" Tang Yuehua waved his hand indifferently, and the resentful soul on Wraith Soul Ring let out a shrill scream, "The thing has been done, there is no turning back. At worst, I will use the power of Rakshasa God to attack Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect directly, kill Ning Fengzhi and those two old guys, and it will be over."
"You're crazy!" Xue Qinghe shouted sternly, "Do you think you are invincible just because you inherited a little bit of Rakshasa God's regrets? Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect With Chen Xin and Gu Rong two Titled Douluo in charge, Gu Rong can You can come and go freely in the palace, and Chen Xin can split the walls of Heaven Dou City with one sword! And that Xiao Chengu who just came back from Slaughter City, he crawled out God Slayer stepping on the bones of tens of thousands of people, and the murderous aura in his body will make your dead soldiers unable to even hold a knife!"
"If they really ignore it and bring the elite of the sect to attack Heaven Dou City, do you think you can stop it? Let alone revenge, you and Clear Sky Sect will be razed to the ground, and I will not be able to keep my position as the prince! The entire Heaven Dou Empire will have their names changed!"
These words finally made Tang Yuehua's expression change.
The madness and paranoia on her face faded a bit, and the hand holding Wraith Soul Ring tightened suddenly, her knuckles turning white. "They... they won't do anything to my eldest brother, right?"
She is not afraid of anything, not afraid of death, not afraid of being criticized by thousands of people, not afraid of being the enemy of the whole world.
But she was afraid that something might happen to Tang Xiao. That was her only relative in this world.
Xue Qinghe looked at her reaction and felt relieved, knowing that he had finally hit her weak spot. He slowed down his tone and said in a deep voice, "Now Ning Fengzhi still thinks it was Tang Xiao who did it, and has already sent Chen Xin to the Clear Sky Sect. If Chen Xin discovered your traces in the Clear Sky Sect, or Tang Xiao refused to hand you over, do you think Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will let Clear Sky Sect go? By then, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will be able to wipe Clear Sky Sect off the mainland without us having to do anything."
Tang Yuehua's face turned completely pale.
She finally realized how much trouble she had gotten into.
She was really too impatient.
The power of Rakshasa God made her go to her head. She thought that as long as she had the inheritance of Evil God, she could do whatever she wanted.
But she forgot that she was still in her infancy and had not fully controlled the power of the Heaven Dou Empire, let alone the strength to compete head-on with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Then... what should we do now?" Tang Yuehua's voice was filled with panic for the first time, "The matter has become serious, and Ning Fengzhi will definitely not give up."
Xue Qinghe walked to the window, looked at the gray sky outside, and was silent for a long time.
He had long expected that Tang Yuehua would lose control one day, but he did not expect that she would be so stupid and choose to take action at this most critical moment. At this point, there was no use getting angry, he could only find a way to remedy it.
"There's only one way."
Xue Qinghe turned around and looked at Tang Yuehua, his eyes extremely firm. "Find a substitute to die for you."