As the ruler of a nation—and a foolish tyrant at that—Zhao Shun possessed no fewer than six bedchambers. Four were located within the imperial palace, one at the Summer Palace in the western suburbs of the capital, and one at the Sheep Palace in the southern suburbs. The Summer Palace was used to escape the summer heat, while the Sheep Palace served as a lodge for hunting and leisurely excursions.
The four bedchambers within the palace were likewise built to suit the needs of the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The Summer Palace was erected beside an artificial lake nestled among lush greenery, while the Winter Palace was the bedchamber currently ablaze, facing south to catch sunlight all day long.
The Spring Palace stood beside the imperial gardens, and the Autumn Palace was perched on a low hill in the Western Park, offering an ideal vantage for enjoying autumn scenery.
Now that the Winter Palace had been burned, it was obviously uninhabitable. The Imperial Guards of the Imperial City Division escorted Zhao Shun in grand procession toward the Summer Palace by the artificial lake.
Originally, the commander of the Imperial Guards had objected. The assassin who had just fled was clearly a Water Ghost; lodging right beside a lake was practically baring one's neck to the enemy—far too dangerous.
Yet His Majesty was bent on having his way, and as subjects, they could only obey.
In a bedchamber bathed in bright candlelight and rivaling the Winter Palace in luxury, Zhang Yuanqing lay with his hands pillowed behind his head, staring blankly at the crisscrossing ceiling beams.
He reviewed the dungeon's current plotline from the beginning.
After subduing the nomadic tribes of the steppe, the Northern Dynasty had launched a massive southward invasion in an attempt to annihilate the Southern Dynasty. In this hour of peril, the foolish tyrant Zhao Shun doted on the Empress, disregarding the opposition of the established maternal clan—the Zheng family—to appoint Yang Ce as commander-in-chief.
This made the Zheng clan feel immensely threatened. After all, Empress Dowager Zheng had been dead for years, while Empress Yang basked in imperial favor. If Yang Ce successfully held Linxia City and returned to the capital bearing astronomical military glory, the positions of the Zheng and Yang clans would undoubtedly be reversed.
Consequently, they chose to collude with the Northern Dynasty's Grand Marshal, Tuoba Guanghe, plotting regicide and usurpation.
So long as the Zheng family helped Tuoba Guanghe crush the Southern Dynasty's last defenders, the Southern Dynasty would become meat on the chopping block. At that point, whoever Tuoba Guanghe backed would be the emperor of the Southern Dynasty.
Yet doing so carried immense risk—it was tantamount to placing their lives in the enemy's hands. What good end could come from bargaining with a tiger for its hide?
Although Zheng Longtu claimed Tuoba Guanghe wanted to preserve an enemy to heighten his own importance, even Zhang Yuanqing found that explanation flimsy, let alone the head of the Zheng clan, who had weathered decades of court politics.
Thus, the Zheng family had to possess some other backing that gave them the confidence to collude with Tuoba Guanghe.
That backing was likely the Imperial Preceptor.
"The main quest is clear enough now. The enemy on the battlefield is the Northern Dynasty's army, while my enemies here are the Zheng family and the Imperial Preceptor. I just don't know what the Imperial Preceptor's background is."
Still, there were things he had yet to puzzle out. Why had his teammates turned against him? Was it merely the dungeon's way of ratcheting up the difficulty?
Zhang Yuanqing doubted it. High-difficulty dungeons usually had solid plotlines.
*Well, it could also be that the tyrant stirred up so much popular outrage that the rebel factions behind them wanted him assassinated... If that's the case, I hope those rebels are just background lore. Otherwise, this will be way too hard...* Zhang Yuanqing sighed.
Pulling his thoughts together, he sat up, summoned a palace maid, and instructed, "The night is long and We find sleep elusive. Go invite Beauty Wan over; We wish for her to attend to Us tonight."
"Beauty Wan?" The personal maid froze for a moment, then cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, Beauty Wan attempted an assassination today and was rescued by her accomplices..."
"Not her." Zhang Yuanqing waved a hand. "We mean the other Beauty Wan."
The other Beauty Wan? *The other Beauty Wan!* The maid seemed to recall something. For a fleeting instant, she lost control of her expression, looking as though she had seen a ghost.
Followed immediately by the look of someone whose entire world had just collapsed.
*What kind of expression is that? Guards, drag her out to the Meridian Gate and behead her!* Zhang Yuanqing glared at her with displeasure. "Must We repeat Ourself?"
He had just survived an assassination attempt. The Imperial Guards of the Imperial City Division were stationed outside the hall, and there might well be informants for the Zheng family among them. Summoning Beauty Wan without a pretext would certainly arouse suspicion.
Bed attendance, therefore, provided a seamless excuse. Zhao Shun had once been saved by Beauty Wan; having just endured an assassination, he lacked a sense of security and naturally yearned to lean on the broad shoulders of the person who had saved his life. It was entirely reasonable.
Stammering, she replied, "Y-yes... This servant shall go invite her at once..."
Keeping her head lowered, she hurried away.
*If that maid has a big mouth, my reputation in the imperial palace is completely ruined. But whatever—my blame is Zhao Shun's blame, and Zhao Shun's blame isn't mine...*
Zhang Yuanqing yawned wearily and slipped into sleep without realizing it.
Until a muffled, resonant call sounded by his ear: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, your concubine has arrived..."
Then, a massive hand "gently" nudged his shoulder.
Zhang Yuanqing snapped awake, his gaze sharp. But when he saw the burly figure kneeling beside the bed, his tense muscles relaxed in relief, and he spoke warmly, "Ah, Beauty Wan, you've arrived!"
With her square jaw and eyes like copper bells, Beauty Wan lowered her gaze meekly. "Your Majesty, your concubine is here to attend your bed."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing quietly shifted his eyes away from Beauty Wan's "noble Oriental face"—her jawline inevitably brought terracotta warriors to mind.
"Ahem!" Zhang Yuanqing cleared his throat and projected his voice: "Everyone, withdraw! We wish to share a storm of passion with Beauty Wan."
The palace maids and eunuchs in the outer hall scrambled back in shock, beating a hasty retreat.
Once everyone had cleared out of the bedchamber, Beauty Wan pushed off her knees, strode over on her thick legs, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Zhang Yuanqing subtly shifted backward. "Beauty Wan, what are you doing?"
Beauty Wan offered an "honest and simple" grin. "Attending your bed, Your Majesty. As the saying goes, walls have ears. But if we converse upon Your Majesty's dragon bed, no one will overhear."
*Then sit at the edge of the bed and don't move. If you try anything funny, I'm screaming for the guards...* Zhang Yuanqing suddenly regretted his reckless choice, but he kept his expression calm. "Where are the three female assassins?"
Beauty Wan replied, "The three assassins have been suppressed by me beneath the lake bed behind an enchantment. Their lives are in no danger."
"Beauty Wan, walls have ears." Zhang Yuanqing reminded this tomboy of a woman to lower her voice, then asked, "Did you interrogate them about who is pulling the strings?"
Beauty Wan shook her head. "They refused to speak. Without Your Majesty's permission, your concubine dared not resort to torture. However, under my coaxing, Beauty Chu revealed why she attempted to assassinate Your Majesty."
"Out with it!" Zhang Yuanqing urged.
Beauty Wan said, "Beauty Chu confessed that she was the culprit who poisoned Your Majesty days ago. She never expected Your Majesty's immense fortune to pull you through. When Your Majesty inspected the harem the other day, she felt deeply guilty and terrified that her scheme would come to light. Thus, she planned to seize the opportunity of attending your bed to strike again."
Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment. "And what after the assassination?"
Beauty Wan shook her head. "Beauty Chu is rather thickheaded and simpleminded. She couldn't say what she was supposed to do after the deed. Your concubine fails to understand who would send someone so foolish to carry out an assassination."
*The Spirit Realm dungeon sent her...* Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he tapped his knee with a finger, lost in thought.
Beauty Chu only knew that she had poisoned the emperor, but had no idea who the mastermind was. That indicated the only background information she received upon entering the Spirit Realm was: "Beauty Chu failed to poison the emperor to death," and nothing more.
Her side quest most likely included an objective: assassinate the foolish tyrant.
Thus, when she noticed the tyrant inspecting the harem, Beauty Chu panicked. She agreed to attend his bed partly because it aligned with her side quest, and partly out of fear that if she didn't act soon, the Imperial City Division or the tyrant would uncover her guilt.
By then, death would be her only fate.
With that sense of crisis and the side quest driving them, none of the three beauties considered that the "foolish tyrant," placed inherently in opposition to them, was actually a Spirit Realm teammate.
After all, this was a cooperative team dungeon, not a faction-versus-faction confrontation dungeon. Teammates within the dungeon couldn't realistically be mortal story enemies.
It was for the exact same reason that Zhang Yuanqing had happily summoned the three beauties to attend him, only to nearly capsize in a gutter.
Jiang Jingwei's confession instantly broke open Zhang Yuanqing's train of thought, clearing up many points of confusion.
Furthermore, although the green tea Beauty Wan and Songstress Wang kept their mouths shut tight, Jingwei's confession effectively spoke for them as well. Their assassination attempt had been a concerted action, and they were all Spirit Realm walkers.
Zhang Yuanqing boldly surmised that those two had also taken part in poisoning the tyrant.
With that thought, Zhang Yuanqing suddenly remembered what Attendant Li had said: the poison Zhao Shun had ingested was an extraordinary concoction of multiple toxins. Its effects were ferocious, yet the poisons counteracted each other, preventing instant death.
And tonight, in his intoxicated arrogance, Zheng Longtu had blurted out part of the truth: *Even the extraordinary poison refined by that person couldn't kill you. Who came up with the brilliant idea of fighting poison with poison? The imperial physicians in the palace don't have that kind of skill.*
The pieces fell into place.
*That's pretty much sorted out the plot...* Zhang Yuanqing let out a long breath, feeling thoroughly reassured. The scariest thing about running a dungeon was never how powerful the enemies were, but rather not understanding the plot.
If the plot was murky, one could miss critical information; missing critical information made it easy to crash and burn.
And there was zero room for error.
"Beauty Wan—no, Consort Wan—do you know of the Imperial Preceptor?" Having untangled the plot, Zhang Yuanqing began prying for intelligence.
***
Linxia City, barracks.
Fu Qingyang jolted awake from his stupor. A splitting headache tore through him, every muscle felt ripped apart, and every single cell wailed in agony.
Enduring the pain, he sat up with a furrowed brow. He saw Xiahou Aotian squatting in a corner boiling medicine, Lingjun sorting herbs, and Heavenly King Demonic Eye standing before a map in silent contemplation.
"How long was I asleep?" Fu Qingyang asked in a frail voice.
"You should ask: 'When did I pass out?'" Lingjun glanced up at him.
Fu Qingyang searched his memory and genuinely couldn't recall.
Lingjun clicked his tongue. "After you ran Tuoba Guanghe through with that one strike, you just stood there without budging an inch. The garrison was cheering their lungs out for you! I thought you were just playing it cool, but after the Northern Dynasty withdrew, we realized you were already out cold."
Fu Qingyang remembered. He said indifferently, "If I hadn't done that, how could I have frightened Tuoba Guanghe away? Bewitching Demons are cunning and vile, and in war, all is deception. Had Tuoba Guanghe reneged on the wager, we would have suffered certain defeat."
That was why he had passed out while standing, not even closing his eyes.
Off to the side, Heavenly King Demonic Eye turned his head. "Just talk about Tuoba Guanghe. Bewitching Demons didn't do anything to you."
By the stove, Xiahou Aotian remarked, "You're not the main character, so why put on such heroics?"
With that, he picked up the scalding-hot medicine pot with his bare hands. "The brew is ready. Drink it while it's hot. I reckon you don't want to waste Life Source Fluid either."
With wifely devotion, Lingjun turned over a bowl, poured out the medicinal broth, and even blew on it to cool it down for Fu Qingyang.
Fu Qingyang did not decline. After finishing the medicine, he announced, "I seem to have comprehended a new sword technique."
*Are you a freaking monster?!* The exact same thought flashed across all three of their minds.
Lingjun sighed. "Lumping you together with three useless bums like us truly does Money Prince a disservice. From now on, the official faction only has Three Princes; Money Prince is hereby expelled."
Xiahou Aotian cast a side-eye at the prince. "Three out of the Four Princes have already advanced to Dominator. Shouldn't the one expelled be you?"
Lingjun shrugged. "I may be a useless bum, but I never rely on others. It's still far more dignified than certain people who coasted their way into becoming a Dominator."
Xiahou Aotian was incensed, feeling that Lingjun's mockery was far more despicable and grievous than Han Xin's humiliation of crawling between another man's legs.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye looked at Fu Qingyang. "To what extent has your Skill Nigh unto the Dao improved?"
Fu Qingyang shook his head slightly. "It isn't an improvement in sword technique, but in sword intent. Skill Nigh unto the Dao already rivals the rules themselves; further refinement is extremely difficult. My slashing attacks possess a fatal flaw: the intensity of my sword qi is limited. Even with the mantle's amplification, it cannot sustain me in battles across levels. Against enemies of a higher tier who specialize in defense, even if every strike lands, it fails to injure them."
Lingjun sighed with feeling. "After all, not every swordsman is named Fu Qingxuan."
Recalling the piercing sword light that had impaled Tuoba Guanghe earlier tonight, Heavenly King Demonic Eye frowned. "What is the cost of such overpowering sword intent?"
Fu Qingyang looked at him. "Burning life!"
This sword intent overdrew spiritual power and essence, burning away lifespan.
Lingjun: "..."
Heavenly King Demonic Eye clapped in admiration. "Splendid! From now on, you're the Life-Burning Heavenly King under the Lord of the Sun."
"Since when did you become Yuanshi Tianzun's lackey?" Xiahou Aotian was profoundly shaken.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye touched the sports headband on his forehead, curling his lips into a smile. "I pledge allegiance only to my ideals."
Fu Qingyang said calmly, "Before you pledge allegiance to your ideals, pledge allegiance to me first. Lingjun, what hour is it?"
"Dawn is breaking," Lingjun said.
Fu Qingyang stated without hesitation, "We rest for one day. Tonight, we launch a surprise raid on the Northern Dynasty's army camp."
Lingjun's eyes lit up. "Brilliant. Tuoba Guanghe just promised not to attack the city for three days. In the Northern army's eyes, we will definitely let our guard down and rest for three days. Striking against expectations will catch them completely off guard."
Heavenly King Demonic Eye shook his head. "Though Tuoba Guanghe was wounded by your strike, with a Bewitching Demon's regenerative power, he has likely healed by now. Defending the city is difficult enough; venturing out on our own initiative is courting death."
Fu Qingyang's expression was grim.
"Xiahou Aotian, I need you to craft an item—something capable of fastening six torches to a single wooden stave. Demonic Eye, after dark, take five thousand troops and slip quietly out of the city. Each soldier will carry six torches to strike the right flank of the Northern army camp. Remember: make a huge commotion. Make sure the Northern scouts detect you in advance.
"With thirty thousand troops seemingly marching out for a surprise assault, Tuoba Guanghe is bound to lead troops personally to meet the attack. You must buy me twenty minutes. I will lead the main force in a frontal assault on the Northern camp."
Demonic Eye pondered for several seconds before saying, "If we have to stall for twenty minutes, those five thousand troops will likely all perish."
Fu Qingyang said coldly, "Slaughter on the battlefield demands not only using troops with divine precision, but also treating troops like expendable mud when necessary. Tonight, I will make the Northern Dynasty's four-hundred-thousand-strong army suffer heavy casualties."
Next, he began laying out the detailed deployments, including but not limited to setting fire to the grain supplies, slaughtering horses, and destroying siege equipment.
Once the three had digested the plan, Fu Qingyang said, "Summon the Southern Dynasty's senior generals to the Military Council Chamber for a council of war."
Chapter 848