Southern Wu.
The imperial palace.
Li Bi awoke and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Your Highness?"
Beyond the bright yellow curtains came a gentle voice, sweet as an oriole's song.
Li Bi sat up. Palace maids immediately dressed him in a python robe, placed an eastern pearl crown upon his head, and hung a dragon-patterned jade pendant at his waist—
As the sixth prince of the Wu Kingdom, such extravagance and privilege were only natural.
He thought again of what the Earth Lord of Void-Nether Profound Baleful Intent had said in Profound Void Heaven, and it felt as though a ball of flame had lodged in his chest. "The grand situation has rotted to this extent—no matter how diligently one governs, once the great figures above give the word, one will still become a slave of a fallen kingdom—"
Li Bi was filled with grief and indignation, yet he had nowhere to vent it. He could only let the maidservants arrange him like a puppet, then muddle through the court session. As he watched the Three Excellencies and the ministers argue until their faces turned red and their ears burned, he looked on coldly, feeling that it was all nothing but a farce.
"Sixth Prince, please wait!"
Once court had adjourned, an inner attendant immediately hurried after him and bowed. "By His Majesty's verbal decree, the sixth prince, seventh prince, and ninth princess are requested to accompany His Majesty to the White Gold Garden—"
Li Bi naturally accepted the order with due respect. He went to the rear palace, met up with his younger brother and sister, and then saw his imperial father.
Compared with several years ago, his father's temples had frosted slightly white, and his figure had grown much more stooped.
"Greetings, Imperial Father."
The three