At sunrise, the flowers on the river were redder than fire.
It was still late at night, but there was a bright red flower quietly blooming in the Sweeping Blue Waves.
There were two people standing at the bow of the ship. One was a man dressed in a scholar's robe, with a small red flower on his little finger that was unknown if it was real or made of silk. The other was a Daoist nun whose age could not be determined. Her appearance could be considered beautiful, but there was a hint of loathsome hostility between her brows. The horsetail whisk on her arm exuded a terrifying aura of nirvanic extermination, and it also gave off a somewhat disharmonious feeling.
Chen Changsheng recognized the Daoist nun and knew that she was Wuqiong Bi of the Storms of the Eight Directions.
In the ten thousand li journey from Mount Han to the capital, he had also seen that little red flower. Since that scholar was standing at Wuqiong Bi's side, he was naturally another of the Storms of the Eight Directions: Bie Yanghong.
When Wuqiong Bi had infiltrated the capital and prepared to kill Xuanyuan Po in the Orthodox Academy, she had been forced into retreat by Su Li's letter. Tonight, however, she and her husband had entered the capital together. From a certain perspective, they had come to save him. Chen Changsheng's current rather complex state of mind was precisely because of this.
"This idiot actually dares to come to the capital."
The Tianhai Divine Empress gazed at the large warship in the image and expressionlessly said, "A single finger is enough to pinch it to death. But her man isn't bad, at least worth three of her."
Chen Chang Sheng didn't know what to say. Whether it was the two men on the official road to the northwest or the husband and wife in the canal to the southwest, they were like gods in the eyes of all the cultivators of the world, but in the Tianhai Divine Empress's words, besides Bie Yanghong, there was not a single person that could make her feel the slightest bit wary.
But she was still the Tianhai Divine Empress.
Chen Chang Sheng's feelings were obviously different from hers.
Of the Eight Storms, four had already arrived.
Tonight in the capital, there was bound to be a storm, the sky shaking and the earth moving.
This was just a grand opening. Following that, countless people appeared one after another.
Many troops suddenly appeared on the cobweb-like roads around Jingdou that extended in all directions. Those people seemed to have been hiding in the darkness, waiting for the four peerless experts to appear. Then, they would suddenly tear through the darkness and appear in front of the entire world, just like they had been doing for the past two hundred years.
The official roads led from the various states and counties of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the capital.
These people had always lived in those provinces far from the capital. There was one similarity between them: they were all surnamed Chen, and they were all descendants of Emperor Taizong.
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the constantly changing scene and silently counted in his heart. He confirmed that there were currently 15 caravans heading towards the capital in the darkness of the night.
There were not many people from the princely estates of the various provinces, but they were all experts. The experts of the princely estates walking around the carriage were all at least at the upper level of Star Condensation. The Chen Imperial Clan had practically vanished for over 200 years, and especially for the last 20 years. Tonight, they'd finally revealed their extremely deep and concealed strength!
Fifteen prefectures, fifteen princes, fifteen imperial carriages.
In the darkness of the night, dust gradually rose from the official road. Like wind and cloud crossing, it swept through and came to the surroundings of Jingdou.
The capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty did not have city walls, but it did have city gates and city gate guards, which were led by the Divine General of the East, Xu Shi Ji. However … how could the City Gate Department stop the carriages of the princes from the various prefectures and counties? Who knew which deputy general in the City Gate Department was a disciple of which prince, or which officer's father was still a senior official in the Prince of Luling's estate?
Several city gates exploded with fierce ripples of Qi. Sword glows could faintly be seen, and then they quickly vanished.
The princes of the Chen clan had finally returned to the capital that they had been separated from for so long.
Those experts accompanying the carriages of the princely estates stared at everything in the darkness with determined expressions, ready to welcome the suppression of the Great Zhou Dynasty's army at any time. If one had to describe these experts, one could use one phrase: heroes of the world. They had sufficient confidence in their own cultivation and strength, and they also believed that what they were doing was correct.
"Heroes gathered in the capital, intending to behead the Demon Empress on this autumn night, throwing away their heads, spilling their blood, dying for their country?"
The Tianhai Divine Empress gazed at those scenes in the darkness, making no attempt to conceal her ridicule. "The history books of tens of thousands of years from now might write this. This truly is an absurd matter."
Chen Chang Sheng gazed at those fervent experts on the screen. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Then how should it be written?"
"In the twenty-first year of the Great Zhou Dynasty's orthodoxy, seventeen rebellious princes entered the capital and were all wiped out."
The Tianhai Divine Empress indifferently said. With a light wave of her sleeve, she seemed to want to brush all of this into ashes.
Chen Chang Sheng thought to himself, where are the other two rebellious princes?
Several hundred li from the capital, in Luoyang, there were not many clouds tonight. The numerous stars shone as usual, illuminating the world, whether it was the stinking alleys where the poor resided or the vermilion gates of the northern city.
The gate of the princely estate was slowly pushed open and the Prince of Xiang walked out. He moved his fat body with great difficulty down the stone steps. With the help of his subordinates, he spent half a day climbing onto the carriage that was not very tall. Just this simple action caused him to gasp for breath.
Sitting down, the fat on his abdomen flowed down from his bright yellow belt, making him feel rather uncomfortable.
The Prince of Xiang stretched out his hand and untied the bright yellow belt around his waist. As he rubbed that fat, he suddenly felt a deep sorrow in his heart.
He had lived in Luoyang for so many years. In order to stop his mother from paying attention to him, he had done his utmost to eat and drink. He had become so fat that if he ascended to the throne in the future, how could he receive the worship of all the officials with his current appearance? But fortunately, he was not like his seventh brother, who, in order to feign madness, would actually grab donkey dung and stuff it into his own mouth. Pah, that was truly a madman!
Everyone in the princely estate, whether concubines or subordinates, walked out and kneeled on the long street, saying in unison, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on your return to the capital."
The Prince of Xiang looked at the crowd and sighed. "What's there to congratulate? Who knows if I'll be able to come back alive."
The street outside the princely estate became absolutely silent. Those favored concubines looked at each other in dismay. Some of them even began to weep in grief, though it was impossible to tell how much of their feelings were sincere.
The Prince of Xiang waved his hand in annoyance. "You're already starting to weep? Fine, fine, if I don't come back, all of you can commit suicide and go accompany this prince. "
At these words, there was a moment of silence outside the princely estate, and then there was a great burst of weeping. This time, it was very clear that those concubines and subordinates were crying very sincerely and in extreme grief.
… …
… …
A similar scene was taking place on the street of Jiangnan Province's provincial capital, but it was not completely the same.
The Prince of Zhongshan walked through the kneeling crowd, his pale face devoid of expression. Only a hint of madness could be faintly seen in the depths of his bloodshot eyes.
As he walked, he left behind a clear footprint on the ground outside the princely estate, a footprint of blood.
It was like he had walked through a sea of blood.
In reality, the Prince of Zhongshan's estate was already a sea of blood. Those subordinates sent by the Imperial Court were already lying in pools of blood, their heads separated from their bodies.
All of them had been personally killed by the Prince of Zhongshan.
Only one person had not been killed. It was the chief eunuch, who was currently being forced to kneel behind the gate of the princely estate.
This chief eunuch was already very old, his face covered in wrinkles. He clearly knew that he was about to die, but he still maintained a calm expression. He gazed at the Prince of Zhongshan who was about to board his carriage and said, "Your Highness, since you have not killed me, presumably you are not willing to completely fall out with the Empress. The journey to the capital is long, so there is no harm in Your Highness taking your time and observing the situation."
This was an extremely ingenious way of persuasion. He first explained the Prince of Zhongshan's situation and then suggested a plan for the Prince of Zhongshan, and it was truly a wise and prudent plan.
The Prince of Zhongshan ignored the old eunuch and jumped onto the carriage, saying, "I'm not killing you because I want to leave a path of retreat, but because I want you to have a taste of what I've felt over the years."
The old eunuch paled at these words, no longer able to maintain his composure.
Escorted by several dozen elites of the princely estate, the carriage of the Prince of Zhongshan's estate entered the darkness and headed for the capital.
Only the prince's bone-chilling voice continued to resound through the streets.
"Don't let this old dog die. Don't give him rice to eat, only give him donkey dung to eat. Remember, it has to be fresh, the freshest."
… …
… …
Despite the dark winds and rain, they met.
Seventeen rebellious princes entered the capital.
As he gazed at the scene in the darkness, Chen Changsheng knew that he was witnessing with his own eyes the most important event of the continent after the tragedy of the Orthodox Academy.
He was the cause of this event, or perhaps the trigger. When he thought about how many people would die tonight and how many more people would become destitute and homeless, dying in the chaos of war, his mood became somewhat agitated and uneasy. His chest felt vexed and he couldn't help but cough. With each cough, the pain deepened and his face grew paler and paler.
"This preposterous drama is very interesting. Watch a bit more before you die. Don't die too early."
The Tianhai Divine Empress listened to his coughs but did not turn around, her face expressionless as she spoke.
With these words, Chen Changsheng suddenly realized that he could move.
He knew what she meant. He was wondering if there was anything else he could do.
He still had Su Li's letter in his bosom, and he still had many swords in his sheath, and he still had the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, and many more.
Yet her figure was so lofty. It was right under the night sky, yet it seemed to be above the night sky.
He thrust his hand into his bosom. He did not take out the letter, but a small porcelain bottle.
The small porcelain bottle was filled with medicine.
He poured out several dozen pills from the bottle. Without distinguishing them, he threw them into his mouth and chewed them like candy, crunching and crunching.
After arriving at the peak of the Mausoleum of Books, the Divine Empress had not turned her head to look at him. Only when she heard the sound did she turn her head to glance at him.
Chen Changsheng did not care about her gaze. Next, he removed the golden needles from his finger and pierced them deeply into several dangerous Qi openings on his neck.
His face grew even paler and his body began to tremble, as if he could not withstand the autumn wind.
As time passed, the trembling gradually came to an end. Two abnormal smears of blood appeared on his face.
… …
… …
One by one, the Divine Empress's enemies revealed themselves in the darkness. It was not because this was their best chance, but because this was their last chance.
If she was allowed to kill Chen Changsheng and change fate for the third time in one thousand years, then perhaps no one would ever be able to ask her to step down from the throne of the Great Zhou.
Peerless experts that lived in seclusion, the princes of the imperial clan that had endured for many years, and the heroes of the world that had swallowed their anger and swallowed their anger, all gathered in the capital. But this was not all, because the world was very large and the Divine Empress still had many enemies. On the official road to the south, figures gradually appeared. No one from the Mount Li Sword Sect came, no one from Holy Maiden Peak came, no one from Scholartree Manor came, no one from the Longevity Sect came, but the head of the Qiushan clan and the old Guardian had come, the Old Lady of the Mutuo clan had come, and the head of the Wu clan renowned for his deep foresight had also come. Three of the Four Great Clans had come, but what of the Tang clan?
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