The secret chamber was silent, the tranquil lamplight illuminating the hint of surprise on Xu Yuan's face.
This surprise was not feigned; the eunuch's response before him had genuinely caught him off guard.
Mi Tian—a third-rank Grandmaster, an inner court official of lower fourth rank—could certainly be considered a prominent grand eunuch even within the imperial palace.
Yet did his life or death matter?
Not at all.
Even having cultivated to the level of a Grandmaster, to the entire Great Yan imperial court—no, even just to the Crown Prince's faction—Mi Tian was merely an interchangeable cog.
Thus, Xu Yuan was not surprised that the Crown Prince's senior attendant was unwilling to pay a steep price to save him.
What surprised him was that Wang Lingchi had proactively chosen to frame the matter as an assassination attempt.
After all, Mi Tian was his godson. Calling it an assassination—wasn't that strapping a baseless blame right onto his own head?
After a moment of silence, staring at the man's effeminate face, a smile tugged at the corner of Xu Yuan's lips.
"Oh? You knew he intended to assassinate me?"
Wang Lingchi shook his head, his tone solemn.
"Third Young Master jests. This servant knew nothing of the sort."
Xu Yuan gave him a deep look, taking slow steps forward to press closer, patting the torn fabric over his chest.
"He calls you godfather. If you didn't know, does that mean the Crown Prince gave the order personally, bypassing you?"
As he spoke, Xu Yuan seemed to recall something, his gaze sharpening.
"In that case, the assassination attempt Qingyan and I faced previously..."
"Third Young Master, pray watch your words."
Wang Lingchi interrupted him, his pitch dropping slightly. "Her Highness is His Highness the Crown Prince's own blood sibling. He has no reason or standing to do such a thing."
Xu Yuan walked up close to him, lifting a finger to point at Mi Tian sprawled on the ground.
"Then how do you explain this godson of yours?"
Wang Lingchi glanced back at Mi Tian, his voice soft, slow, and completely devoid of urgency.
"He was likely put up to it by someone. It is just that this person was neither this servant nor His Highness the Crown Prince."
An amused smirk appeared on Xu Yuan's face.
"Castrato, don't tell me someone bypassed you to command your godson?"
Wang Lingchi shook his head, his tone tinged with a touch of wistful regret.
"Third Young Master, at a glance it is obvious you are unfamiliar with palace affairs. For eunuchs like us, taking adoptive fathers and godsons is hardly as solemn as an adoption outside the palace walls; it is merely a manner of declaring allegiance.
"When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Today Mi Tian might be Wang Lingchi's godson; tomorrow he might become Li Lingchi's or Zhang Lingchi's.
"Back when Qian Jinchen was sentenced to death by His Majesty for bribery, this servant saw that Mi Tian was sharp and took him in as a godson. But looking at it now, ties were never fully severed..."
Qian Jinchen—the former Chief Steward of the Inner Court before the Throne, a possessor of meritorious service in aiding the ascension, an official of the principal second rank who addressed himself as a subject before the Sovereign, a bona fide grand eunuch.
Within the Palace City, he had been second only to the Chief Steward of the Palace.
However, rumors among the common folk had it that this man had an affair with the Second Prince's mother, Noble Consort Qin.
Of course, that was merely street gossip.
Xu Yuan did not believe anyone would dare cuckold that Sovereign inside the imperial palace.
The imperial bed in this world was hardly an easy place to sleep.
Setting aside detection arrays, a Saint's immensely formidable perception alone was more than enough to blanket the entire palace. If someone truly dared to engage in illicit rendezvous... one could only say they had one hell of an appetite.
Nevertheless, the former grand eunuch's execution was presumably tied to the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, though Xu Yuan did not know the exact secrets.
Recalling this, Xu Yuan roughly understood Wang Lingchi's drift, and smiled.
"You mean to say this was directed by remnants of Qian Jinchen's faction?"
Wang Lingchi nodded, unabashed and unhurried, quietly guiding the narrative:
"Third Young Master might as well think carefully. At the critical juncture when this servant came to pay respects to Her Highness Wuyuan, having someone who is this servant's godson attempt to assassinate you—who stands to gain the most?"
"..." Xu Yuan.
Well, look at that—he tied it all together.
Worthy of a grand eunuch; he spun a tale even faster than Xu Yuan himself could.
With a sigh, Xu Yuan clicked his tongue.
"Put that way, Eunuch Wang's words do make some sense."
With that, Xu Yuan walked right past Wang Lingchi, stepping slowly up to Mi Tian, who was embedded in the wall. Scanning him up and down and finding that the man was actually still conscious, he murmured with a smile:
"A Grandmaster's vitality truly is astonishing.
"Eunuch Wang, since this man attempted to assassinate me, there shouldn't be any problem if I kill him now, right?"
"..."
Hearing this, Mi Tian subconsciously looked toward Wang Lingchi, his gaze tinged with urgency.
Wang Lingchi did not avoid Mi Tian's gaze, but the look in his eyes was utterly cold and indifferent.
If this godson had not fought back, he could have saved him.
Unfortunately, he had fought back, and even left behind traces of his cultivation technique.
Under such circumstances, rescuing him would require a price dictated entirely by Xu Changtian's appetite.
Back then, he truly had taken him in as a godson because the fellow was sharp, but now it seemed he had misjudged. What a waste of all those cultivation resources...
Chuckling softly, Wang Lingchi cupped his hands toward Xu Yuan's back. His calm voice pronounced Mi Tian's death sentence directly:
"This man dared to attempt assassination on you, Third Young Master. Even ten thousand deaths could not expiate his crime."
"..."
Mi Tian's breath hitched, the urgency in his eyes instantly turning to rage.
He wanted to say something, but with the words on the tip of his tongue, catching Wang Lingchi's icy glare made him silently swallow them back down.
The anger in his eyes was soon replaced by powerless despair.
Climbing step by step to this position, he had seen many people cast aside by Wang Lingchi—many of whom he had disposed of with his own hands. He had never imagined the day would come when it would be his turn to be discarded...
Watching the despair in Mi Tian's eyes, Xu Yuan narrowed his gaze.
This Crown Prince's senior attendant was ruthless. It had been ten years since Qian Jinchen was put to death.
Ten years of loyal service, yet without even asking what price it would take to spare him, he threw him away just like that...
At that thought, Xu Yuan suddenly chuckled under his breath.
"Mi Tian, do you have anything to say?"
Mi Tian's voice was faint, devoid of emotion.
"Nothing."
The smile on Xu Yuan's lips turned playful.
"Really nothing? If you confess who is behind this, I won't kill you. And... I won't let anyone else kill you, either."
"..."
Hearing that, Mi Tian immediately glanced up at him, then lowered his eyes again. His gaze lost its luster, and embedded in the wall, he showed no intention of speaking.
Quite loyal.
No, perhaps he was simply terrified of Wang Lingchi's tyranny.
With that in mind, Xu Yuan gave a soft chuckle and raised his hand flat, roughly a centimeter in front of Mi Tian's face.
*Gurgle, gurgle...*
A tooth-grating rustling and squelching arose from inside Mi Tian's body as the fungal carpet clinging to his insides began to boil.
Not far away, Wang Lingchi saw this, and a trace of gravity instantly entered his eyes.
From the start, he had guessed that Xu Changtian had subdued Mi Tian by relying on some external aid, but he had never expected that prior to Xu Changtian taking action, he would fail to detect the slightest trace of this thing...
What was this?
In the silence of the hidden chamber,
Countless strands of blood-colored substance surged out from Mi Tian's wounds, flowing like silken ribbons toward Xu Yuan's raised palm.
The moment the blood-colored substance touched Xu Yuan's skin, it vanished without a trace, as if dissolving directly into his body.
Gone...
Wang Lingchi narrowed his eyes. Yet he soon realized Xu Yuan's actions were not meant to kill Mi Tian; rather, he was extracting the restraints from within the man's body.
"..."
With his blocked meridians cleared once more and his Source Qi beginning to circulate again, Mi Tian looked at Xu Yuan with a hint of confusion in his once-hopeless eyes.
Meeting his gaze, Xu Yuan chuckled softly.
"This young master admires loyal people most of all. So I won't kill you. Step down."
Mi Tian remained stuck in the wall, unmoving.
Xu Yuan's tone turned cold. Without speaking aloud, he sent a voice transmission:
"What? Not coming down now—do you want this young master to apologize to you?"
Hearing this, Mi Tian immediately cast his eyes downward.
"This slave would not dare..."
Amidst a rattle of tumbling rubble, Mi Tian landed on his feet, bowing low with cupped hands, his voice carrying the faint relief of having survived a brush with death:
"Thank you, Third Young Master, for sparing my life."
With that, amidst the dead silence of the hidden chamber, Mi Tian walked briskly toward the shattered stone door.
As he moved, he kept his head lowered, not daring to look at Wang Lingchi.
He had already realized what the Third Young Master was trying to do.
Sowing discord.
Between life and death, a rift had already formed.
Even if he were willing to continue following his godfather, would his godfather ever trust him again?
Yet the moment Mi Tian passed by Wang Lingchi, he suddenly realized something.
His current identity was Qian Jinchen's godson, the Second Prince's spy, and an assassin sent to sabotage the alliance between the Crown Prince and Princess Wuyuan.
Although everyone present knew full well that this so-called assassination was merely a fabricated charge, no one could break the pretense.
In other words, once Wang Lingchi framed his conduct as an assassination, this adoptive father had to see the act through.
His steps abruptly halted, Mi Tian's face turning ashen.
The Third Young Master releasing him... did not seem to be simple discord.
Because no matter what, one part of his identity remained: he was Wang Lingchi's godson.
The Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Manor could generously spare him, but Wang Lingchi could not.
To clear himself of suspicion, Wang Lingchi had to make a move against him.
Just as this thought struck him, the qi sense of impending doom swept through Mi Tian's entire body.
Wang Lingchi's calm, effeminate voice drifted softly through the chamber:
"Third Young Master is merciful, but after all is said and done, this man is also this servant's godson. Since this has happened, it falls upon this servant, as his father, to clean house."
As the words fell, Wang Lingchi raised his hand and struck directly toward Mi Tian's crown.
The red eunuch robe traced an arc through the air, and the vast Source Qi surging atop it plunged Mi Tian into an icy abyss.
He could not dodge it.
*Clack.*
A crisp, subtle sound echoed.
It was very light.
To his surprise, Mi Tian found that his head had not burst open like a melon.
Li Qingyan, who had been spectating from the side all along, appeared at Wang Lingchi's flank, gripping his striking wrist.
Wang Lingchi narrowed his eyes and glanced at his restrained wrist. The tremendous strength prevented his palm from advancing even a fraction of an inch. His voice remained respectful:
"Your Highness, what is the meaning of this..."
Li Qingyan released her grip, turned around, and walked back toward the chair behind the desk, her voice indifferent:
"Spilling blood here is too filthy."
Wang Lingchi frowned, but before he could speak, Xu Yuan chimed in with a grin:
"Eunuch Wang, even I, the target of the assassination, said I'd let him go. Why are you in such a hurry to kill your godson? Are you trying to silence him?"
Saying so, Xu Yuan looked at Li Qingyan, giving this chest-bound princess a silent thumbs-up with his eyes.
Li Qingyan could not be bothered with him, rolling her eyes at him before sitting back down in her chair.
Everything was understood without a word.
Wang Lingchi looked at the scene before him, his brows knit tightly.
He had not expected Xu Changtian to be so deeply calculating.
If his earlier abandonment had left a sliver of hope for reconciliation between him and Mi Tian, then after striking to kill, that path was completely severed.
The entire matter had originated merely as an attempt to stall Xu Yuan from reaching this secret chamber, yet this fellow had immediately seized the opening and turned it to his advantage.
Forcing him to abandon a Grandmaster as compensation wasn't enough; he actually wanted to openly plant a pawn right beside him!
Wang Lingchi glanced at the woman who had already returned to the head seat.
However, she did not look at him, sitting there with calm composure and lightly tapping the desk, seemingly waiting for his response.
He sighed inwardly. It seemed his petty tricks behind her back had already earned him the princess's deep displeasure...
Taking a deep breath, Wang Lingchi bowed in a salute toward Xu Yuan:
"Since the Third Young Master has spoken, this servant shall temporarily spare his life."
With that, he shot a sideways glare at Mi Tian and snapped coldly:
"What are you standing there for? Get out! I'll settle accounts with you later."
Mi Tian kept his eyes lowered, responding in a low voice:
"Yes, Father."
"..."
Watching the figure in the purple eunuch robe disappear past the stone entrance, Xu Yuan casually retrieved a chair from his Sumeru ring, placed it beside Li Qingyan, sat down, and said:
"Alright, that little interlude is over."
Standing alone before the desk, Wang Lingchi looked at Xu Yuan seated behind it and chuckled softly:
"Third Young Master truly possesses formidable methods. To capture a Grandmaster alive with a mere Soul Condensation body—it seems the rumors regarding you in the Imperial Capital are entirely unfounded."
Xu Yuan frowned slightly at his words, then chuckled:
"Merely some external aids. Traveling abroad, my father naturally had to grant me a few life-saving means. Well, Eunuch Wang, you invited Qingyan and me here, so it surely wasn't to talk about my affairs."
At this, Xu Yuan glanced at the woman seated beside him and asked:
"Qingyan, when I was held outside and suffered an 'assassination attempt,' where had the two of you left off?"
"Some military affairs regarding the Northern Border," Li Qingyan said plainly, making no attempt to conceal anything. "The sects have mobilized tens of thousands of martial apprentices trained in military arrays to enter the Northern Border."
Xu Yuan's gaze tightened slightly. He looked up at Wang Lingchi across from him:
"Oh? It seems His Highness the Crown Prince's intelligence network is remarkably well-informed, to unearth such classified secrets."
Wang Lingchi fell silent for a moment before nodding:
"Young Master, what this servant wished to discuss with the Princess is not just this matter. There is another, even more critical issue."
A smile touched Xu Yuan's lips as he murmured:
"Does this matter happen to be the so-called unforeseen turn of events in the imperial court?"
Wang Lingchi's expression turned solemn, his eyes heavy as he replied in a low voice:
"Yes. It concerns the Second Prince."
Xu Yuan wasn't surprised; Li Zhaoyuan had probably pulled off some major headline.
"Let's hear it."
Wang Lingchi glanced at Li Qingyan beside him, lowering his voice:
"Today, His Majesty personally presided over the imperial court—all to address a memorial submitted by His Highness the Second Prince."
Chapter 351