A detached palace stood beside Azure Sea Lake. It did not bear the name of a Dragon Palace; only a plain plaque hung above its gates, inscribed with the words "Spring Excursion Palace."
This was the residence of the Second Prince, Gu Rui. He had no palace built upon Azure Sea Lake, only this single traveling palace to serve as his home.
Gu Feng also had his own private palace at the heart of the lake. Gu Rui alone had not so much as a dedicated courtyard anywhere across the vast Azure Sea Lake.
Though the Spring Excursion Palace was spacious and fully equipped with imperial kitchens, alchemy furnaces, medicinal chambers, spirit-beast stables, and horse pens, its grandeur and resources ultimately fell far short of Gu Xing's Tai Chi Hall!
When the Tai Chi Hall had been completed all those years ago, resentment had gathered in Gu Rui's heart, yet he had no grounds to object-he was not the eldest legitimate son, and under Azure Sea's rites, such treatment was entirely proper.
Today!
The gates of the Spring Excursion Palace bustled with noise. Members of the Nine Great Clans waited in separate groups below the steps, carriages and horses coming and going until the entrance resembled a busy marketplace.
Yesterday's upheaval at the Azure Sea Dragon Palace had already spread throughout the nine clans: Marquis Changze and the Fragrant Consort had openly thrown their support behind Gu Rui, and the Third Prince, Gu Xing, had suffered an assassination attempt. Every last incident had become common knowledge.
Those among the nine clans who harbored hidden ambitions had already begun speculating about the situation at the Jianmu Assembly.
Undercurrents surged within the Nine Great Clans.
The balance between Azure Sea Lake's three princes had now shifted. At yesterday's Dragon Palace banquet, Xie