The beggar paused briefly. Seeing He An's doubtful expression, he continued, "When word reached Great Chen again, the Former Emperor was grief-stricken, and his health grew worse by the day... little did he know that the Second Prince had already bribed the Imperial Physician and the eunuchs to lace his meals with a strange poison concocted by the Unknown Island Fiends.
"Before long, the Former Emperor passed away. During that time, the Vertical Sword Sect also backed Liu Jingtian, the governor of Yangzhou, in founding the Eastern Yang Kingdom, plunging the realm into chaos once more... a country could not go a day without a sovereign. Li Xingzhi of the Knowledge and Practice Institute nominated the Second Prince to succeed to the throne, and at last, he became emperor, just as he had wished...
"The supreme expert from the Knowledge and Practice Institute who had come to the Eldest Prince's side was named Bai Xiang Shou. He was Li Xingzhi's second disciple, and his mastery of divine abilities surpassed even that of his fellow disciples who served as Academy Heads... rumor had it that his heart belonged to Xiao Zhuo, but Xiao Zhuo and the Eldest Prince were in love. After the Eldest Prince married, Bai Xiang Shou withdrew to the distant Western Regions, and no one knew where he went... later, when the Eldest Prince held a banquet in Qin Prefecture City to celebrate his son's first month, Bai Xiang Shou heard the news and went there alone, only to encounter the villains washing Qin Prefecture City in blood...
"He risked his life to rescue the Eldest Prince's infant son and wandered through the wilderness. Eventually, he concealed his identity in a remote mountain village and raised the child to adulthood on his own..."
At this point, the beggar