Outside the simulation, Zhou Qing's gaze was calm.
If he revealed his identity as a cultivator first, then brought up the Fourth Prince's rebellion, his words would carry much more weight.
And this way, he would not have to do the work himself. As long as the Qian Emperor was no fool, with so much advance warning of the Fourth Prince's rebellion, even a pig would know what to do, wouldn't it?
If the Fourth Prince was eliminated ahead of time, ensuring that the Eldest Prince could pacify the Barbarian Tribe in the north and return to inherit the throne smoothly, the Zhou Family would not end up being exterminated.
Zhou Qing continued looking at the illusory text.
[You displayed the Fireball Spell, shocking your parents and brothers.] ["A cultivator? Qing, you're a cultivator?" Zhou Shizhong's pupils suddenly contracted as he asked in disbelief.] [From Zhou Shizhong's tone, you could tell that he certainly knew cultivators existed.] [You were not surprised by this. The Qi Introduction Art you had obtained came from the Lin Household in the capital.] [Even you knew that an Immortal had appeared among the Lin Household's ancestors. The capital's powerful factions surely knew as well.] [Moreover, in the first simulation, when your mother, Madam Zhou, and your eldest and second brothers were taken to the marketplace to be beheaded, you had faintly sensed fluctuations of spiritual energy, confirming that the Fourth Prince had cultivators under his command.] ["So that's it. Qing, you disappeared for all this time because you went off to cultivate..."] [Zhou Shizhong filled in the gaps himself, delight spreading across his face. "Hahahaha! To think our Zhou Family would produce a cultivator too!"] [The Zhou Family already stood at the pinnacle of worldly power. With Zhou Qing becoming a cultivator, the family's last unfulfilled wish had been realized.] ["Third Brother, they say cultivators can soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth. Can you fly too?" your second brother, Zhou Wu, could not help asking.] ["I can't." The corner of your mouth twitched as you answered honestly.] [Only cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm could soar through the heavens and burrow through the earth with their own bodies.] [Qi Refining Stage cultivators? They could fly using Flying Magic Tools, but those consumed too many spirit stones, and the Flying Magic Tools themselves were expensive. You did not currently own one.] ["Right, there's something I need to tell you."] [Your expression grew solemn as you turned to the matter at hand.] ["I learned from some fellow cultivators that the Qian Kingdom's Fourth Prince intends to take advantage of the Eldest Prince's expedition north to pacify the Barbarian Tribe, launch a rebellion, and seize the throne."] [You looked at Zhou Shizhong and spoke gravely.] ["The Fourth Prince? Launch a rebellion?"] [Zhou Shizhong froze briefly, then shook his head repeatedly. "Even if the Fourth Prince has treasonous intentions, he couldn't carry out a rebellion."] [Because of Zhou Qing's identity as a cultivator, Zhou Shizhong patiently explained, "The Fourth Prince has no power base. Even if he dared to try, he couldn't succeed."] ["What if he colluded with the Barbarian Tribe in the north?"] [You voiced your conjecture.] [In the first simulation, the Fourth Prince's rebellion had occurred precisely when the Eldest Prince departed for the Northern Frontier.] [If the Fourth Prince had indeed relied on outside forces, the Barbarian Tribe was his only option.] ["Colluded with the Barbarian Tribe?"] [Zhou Shizhong's brows knitted tightly, and he gave Zhou Qing several more looks.] [Had anyone else said this, Zhou Shizhong would never have believed it.] ["Then should I go speak to His Majesty?"] [Zhou Shizhong was uncertain, but since this involved rebellion, he had to inform the Qian Emperor, however unlikely it might be.] ["Yes."] [You nodded. This was precisely your goal.] [You wanted to use the Qian Emperor's power to deal with the Fourth Prince.] ["All right."] [Zhou Shizhong departed immediately.] [You returned to your room in the Zhou Residence and quietly waited for the result.] [Before you knew it, night had fallen.] [Zhou Shizhong still had not returned.] [Though puzzled, you could understand why.] [After all, the Fourth Prince's rebellion was a scandal within the imperial family. Even Zhou Shizhong would suffer some repercussions for rashly reporting it. Until the matter was settled, he would certainly be kept under guard.] [In the stillness of the night, you sat cross-legged and took pills to cultivate.] [Just then, your senses as a cultivator faintly detected numerous presences approaching the Zhou Residence.] [Violent sounds of impact followed.] [Then came the sounds of fighting.] [Finally, a deep voice rang out.] ["Zhou Shizhong has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the kingdom. Spare no one in the Zhou Residence!"] ["How is this possible?" Your heart shook, and you could scarcely believe it.] [You had experienced this scene in the previous simulation as well.] [But that had been over a year later.] ["Cultivators' auras?"] [Compared with the previous simulation, you sensed more this time. You could faintly detect several cultivators' auras rapidly approaching.] [In the flash of a spark, you made your decision.] [Run.] [Escape immediately, before those cultivators surrounded the Zhou Residence.] [You successfully left the Zhou Residence.] [No one discovered you along the way.] [Inside another Secret Base, you frowned as you pondered what had caused the scene just now.] [Could the Fourth Prince truly have such far-reaching influence?] [Zhou Shizhong had barely told the emperor about the Fourth Prince's rebellion before the Fourth Prince immediately gained control of the imperial palace and moved to silence the Zhou Family?] [No, if the Fourth Prince really had such capabilities, why would he have needed to wait over a year before acting in the previous simulation?]
Reading this, Zhou Qing's gaze deepened as a conjecture surfaced in his mind.
All along, Zhou Qing had been certain that some faction was supporting the Fourth Prince. Otherwise, he could not have purged the court and ascended the throne so easily.
Originally, Zhou Qing had thought that faction was the Barbarian Tribe in the north.
But now...
It was the emperor.
The Qian Kingdom's emperor was supporting the Fourth Prince.
Other than the Qian Kingdom's emperor, Zhou Qing simply could not imagine any faction capable of going this far.
Of openly grinding an influential, noble family like the Zhou Family into the dust within the Qian Kingdom's capital.
"The Qian Emperor..."
Once he identified the Qian Emperor as the mastermind behind the scenes, many of the questions Zhou Qing had been unable to make sense of found their answers.
During the first rebellion, the Fourth Prince had gained control of the court too quickly, and the Eldest Prince's faction had been purged far too easily.
"A father
strong, a son weak..."
Zhou Qing sighed inwardly, faintly understanding why the Qian Emperor had done this.
The Eldest Prince's prestige was too great. So great that everyone, both at court and beyond, believed he was certain to take the throne.
Many ministers had even begun choosing sides in advance. Whenever the Eldest Prince's views conflicted with the Qian Emperor's, they chose to follow the Eldest Prince.
How was the Qian Emperor supposed to view that?
If the Eldest Prince went north this time, pacified the Barbarian Tribe, and returned with even greater prestige, wouldn't that force the Qian Emperor to abdicate early?
Thus, the Qian Emperor had developed the intent to kill the Eldest Prince.
Such things had happened many times on Blue Star before Zhou Qing transmigrated.
For example, Qin Shi Huang and Fusu.
For example, Emperor Wu of Han and Liu Ju.
For an heir apparent, a crown prince, the greater his prestige, the sooner he died.
[You stayed in the Secret Base for several days and discovered that this time, your mother, Madam Zhou, your eldest and second brothers, and the other members of the Zhou Family had not been taken to the marketplace to be beheaded.] [You surmised that the Qian Emperor had learned of your existence as a cultivator and was wary of smashing the vase while striking the rat.] [Perhaps the Qian Emperor was waiting for you to sneak into the prison to rescue your parents and brothers.] [You did not do so.] [Instead, you left the capital directly and returned to Black Mountain Market.] [As long as you did not appear or show yourself, your parents and brothers could remain alive. They would merely be imprisoned and deprived of their freedom.] [But if you appeared to rescue them, you might fall into a trap and end up entirely in the Qian Emperor's hands.] [In the second year, you were seventeen. Pill Master Yun visited again, hoping to continue exchanging insights on alchemy. You readily agreed.] [In the third year, you were eighteen. With your help, Pill Master Yun became a High-Grade Pill Master, a full three or four years earlier than in the first simulation.] [Pill Master Yun was deeply grateful to you. He invited you to take a stake in the Yun Clan Pill Workshop, promising you twenty percent of its profits.] [You declined, knowing that Pill Master Yun was repaying a favor. This was not your goal.] [In the fourth year, you were nineteen. You discreetly expressed to Pill Master Yun your hope of becoming a High-Grade Pill Master. After some thought, Pill Master Yun began searching for a suitable alchemy inheritance for you.] [In the fifth year, you were twenty. Pill Master Yun found several high-grade alchemy inheritances for you, and you gained a great deal from them.] [In the sixth year, you were twenty-one. After a brief period of secluded cultivation, you faintly sensed that you were already halfway through the fifth level of qi refining.] [In another six or seven years or so, you would reach the peak of the fifth level of qi refining and attempt to break through to the sixth.] [A little over a decade to go from the beginning of the fifth level of qi refining to its peak? This cultivation speed was even faster than that of someone with ordinary mid-grade spiritual roots.] [You could achieve this mainly because you took pills so frequently.] [You possessed the Pill Poison Bane talent, and as a pill master, you could take several Qi-Nourishing Pills every day.] [Ordinary cultivators at the fifth level of qi refining generally took only one every five or six days to prevent pill poison from accumulating.] [In the seventh year, you were twenty-two. You still spent most of your time cultivating and studying alchemy.] [In the eighth year, you were twenty-three. You felt that you had reached a bottleneck in alchemy.] [In the ninth year, you were twenty-four. Your alchemical attainments reached the peak of mid-grade.] [In the tenth year, you were twenty-five. While passing the Yun Clan Pill Workshop, you spotted a familiar figure.] [It was Maple Leaf.]