Chapter 22 Chapter 22 His sword protected him...

At the critical moment, the sword on Hongting's waist suddenly came out of its scabbard. In an instant of sword light, the arrow quickly turned into powder.

The next second, the long sword rose into the air, and a cold light pierced through the air. Mo Yu immediately followed the sword light, which was as fast as a rainbow piercing the sun.

In a few breaths, they arrived at a forest more than ten miles away. They shot straight at a large tree. Although the man on the tree was also a strong man in the Linhai Realm, he specialized in the art of riding and shooting, thus neglecting his physical training.

What's more, Pohong was the sword of a Free and Easy Realm Venerable. He had no time to react and fell heavily to the ground.

Seeing this, Mo Yu immediately stepped forward, put his sword to the man's neck, and asked coldly, "Who sent you?"

The man just snorted coldly: "Take me to see Mu Congmo, he will know when he sees me."

"How dare you call His Majesty's name directly." Mo Yu scolded, but he knew in his heart that the person in front of him would only reveal his purpose after seeing His Majesty, not to mention that he would hand the other party over to His Majesty for disposal after capturing him.

At the same time, Huichun in front of the city gate looked at Hongting with eyes full of respect and some envy. People who practice martial arts are naturally particularly fond of magical weapons, not to mention such a sword that can actively protect its master in a critical moment.

At this time, Hongting was still a little confused. The last time Pohong came out of its sheath was because he was threatened, but this time it was Mu Congmo who was in danger, so why did Pohong come out of its sheath?

However, the divine sword was spiritual, and it was connected to the young master's mind. Could it be that his young master also had feelings for this emperor? Hong Ting quickly dismissed his thoughts. A person as cold and aloof as Gu Shiyan could not win his favor even if a fairy from the nine heavens descended to the earth.

He looked around and happened to catch the envy in Huichun's eyes. He waved the scabbard at him and said, "This sword is my son's. It is usually sealed in a high pavilion. This is only the second time I have seen it. You don't have to be envious."

"My young master is the Yue Zun they are talking about." Afraid that Huichun didn't know, he added.

Little did he know that after hearing this, Huichun's eyes were filled with envy. "That's Yue Zun. For ordinary people, a single word of guidance from him is equivalent to years of hard training. And you are so lucky to be able to stay by his side all the time." He then complained, "There are only six Zun in Daliang, and the only one close to the capital is the Buddha Zun. But he doesn't like people like us from the court, let alone give us guidance."

Hongting touched his head and smiled a little embarrassedly.

Until Mu Congmo in the carriage said coldly: "Why, since you are so envious, why don't you go to Yunliang Qianchi to serve Yue Zun." This was what Mu Congmo thought in his heart. If possible, he really wanted to give up all his power to find the young man, but he was the emperor, and the honor and disgrace of the world depended on him.

Huichun quickly shut up after hearing this and thought to himself, why did His Majesty suddenly get angry? It's true that the power of heaven is unpredictable.

The other side.

Mo Yu held the man's acupoints and carefully checked whether he had any poison on him. Although the steps were cumbersome, they must not be ignored for the safety of the emperor.

After confirming that the other party would not pose a threat to Mu Congmo, Mo Yu picked him up and used his lightness skills to move towards the city gate.

With a thud, Mo Yu threw the man to the ground and said respectfully to the carriage, "Your Majesty, I have captured the assassin."

Hearing this, Mu Congmo opened the curtain and stepped out of the carriage. Seeing the man lying on the ground, his eyes were icy, and his tone was calm, yet it contained a great deal of murderous intent: "So it's you. Weren't you already buried alive with the late emperor? What kind of evil magic did you practice to allow yourself to be reborn?"

This man was the leader of the late emperor's secret guards, and Mu Congmo had met him on the day of the late emperor's death. Normally, the next emperor's secret guards should have been trained in advance by the late emperor, but the late emperor was incompetent and didn't realize he would die early, so he made no preparations.

Even if he had made preparations, Mu Congmo would not trust the people left behind by the late emperor, given his temperament. After all, Mu Congmo had never experienced a trace of fatherly love during his lifetime, let alone after his death. The late emperor seemed to understand this, so he left a will, ordering all the secret guards around him to be buried with him.

Mu Congmo had personally witnessed the deaths of those men, spurred by a cup of poisoned wine. The only exception was this commander of the secret guards, whom the late emperor had specifically ordered to travel to the imperial mausoleum ahead of time, supposedly to explore the path to the underworld for him. Mu Congmo hadn't thought much of it at the time; after all, the late emperor was a superstitious person. Now it seemed like he had pulled off a brilliant escape.

Although Mu Congmo hadn't dealt with him much, he had heard that he prided himself on being righteous and deeply abhorred crooked ways. He had even petitioned the late emperor for permission to lead his troops to annihilate the Demon Lord. The late emperor had no intention of settling charges against him and, naturally, would not grant his request.

So Mu Congmo made a sarcastic remark, implying that he was using a trick to escape, but he underestimated the other party's shamelessness.

"It's been many years since I last saw His Royal Highness the Sixth Prince. Who would have thought that a mere unpopular prince in the cold palace would become so aggressive now?" The man said in a joking tone without any respect.

This shows how little Mu Congmo was valued by the late emperor, to the point that even his subordinates now dared to speak rudely to him.

Mo Yu was furious after hearing this. He drew his sword and pressed it against the man's neck, waiting for Mu Congmo's order to chop off his head.

But Mo Yu did not wait for Mu Congmo's order to deal with the other party. He only heard Mu Congmo's thin lips slightly open: "Mo Yu, put down the sword."

Although Mo Yu didn't understand why, he still followed Mu Congmo's orders.

The man smiled and said, "Your Highness the Sixth Prince should release His Highness the Ninth Prince as soon as possible and then abdicate the throne. I have in my hands a will left by the late emperor, stating that your seizure of the throne is unjust and that the throne should be passed to His Highness the Prince of Huai."

"Really? It's a pity that Mu Conghao is in my hands now. I'm afraid he won't live to see that day." Mu Congmo chuckled.

"Mu Congmo, how dare you? This is the late emperor's last will. Aren't you afraid that people in the world will say you are unfilial and unbrotherly?" the man roared angrily.

The people of this world are all foolish. Now that Mu Congmo holds power, he is no longer the powerless prince in the cold palace. What does it matter if the late emperor's will is true, or if the rumors are rampant? As long as he, Mu Congmo, remains in this world, he is the true ruler of the nine provinces of Daliang.

"So what? Does my father have a good reputation?" Mu Congmo sneered, then said to him, "I won't kill you. I will let you witness with your own eyes how Mu Conghao is executed. That way, after you go to hell, you can report the good news to my good father and let him see how his beloved youngest son died at my hands."

"Take this lord to the imperial prison and serve him well. Remember to keep his life." These words were obviously said to Mo Yu, but Huichun took the man on the ground first. At this time, the aura around Mu Congmo was too cold, even far exceeding Zheng Li's Frost Sword Technique. Naturally, he didn't want to face him.

After Huichun left, Mu Congmo did not enter the carriage. He stood alone on the ground, leaning against the side of the carriage, looking up at the bright moon in the sky, his eyes full of loneliness.

This was the first time Mo Yu saw the emperor so vulnerable.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "Tell me, why are some people in this world loved from birth, while others are despised by everyone?"

Mo Yu's status as an emperor meant that he could not answer this question. Even the usually slow-witted Hong Ting kept his mouth shut.

Seeing no one answered, Mu Congmo didn't say anything more. He stood up and returned to the carriage, leaving only one sentence: "Return to the palace."

The moonlight shone on the figure of the young emperor, making Mu Congmo seem even more lonely. Everyone envied this supreme power, but how many people could endure the loneliness of being at the top?

Hongting saw all of this. He had never thought that the emperor, who was extremely majestic in front of outsiders, would have such a fragile side.

After Mu Congmo got into the carriage, he no longer felt lonely. Over the years, he had no feelings for his nominal father, so naturally, he would not be affected by him.

Before meeting Gu Shiyan, Mu Congmo's heart was as calm as a thousand-year-old ice cave. After encountering the masked boy in Jiangnan, he could no longer suppress his inner feelings, as if he was born to fall in love with him.

But Gu Shiyan still had no feelings for him, and they were thousands of miles apart. He didn't want to scare him by suddenly revealing his feelings, so he deliberately showed his vulnerability outside the carriage just now, hoping to get it to Gu Shiyan through Hongting's mouth. Poor, naive Hongting didn't know that he was being schemed by Mu Congmo, and he still had a trace of sympathy for Mu Congmo in his heart.

At the hour of Mao on the following day, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, several eunuchs emerged from the crimson palace gates. Because the Daliang Code stipulated that only the emperor's palanquin could travel within the palace, all other ministers and princes had to walk, let alone eunuchs like them. Therefore, they mounted their horses at the palace gates.

The sky was still dark at this time, with only a faint light filtering through the clouds. Figures dressed in navy blue eunuch uniforms were galloping on horseback on the empty streets. Occasionally, a few early-rising vendors would see them and quickly get out of the way.

They shuttled between the homes of the wealthy and powerful, knocked on the doors of officials' mansions, and conveyed the news that the emperor had recovered from his illness and resumed the morning court session.

Upon hearing the news, the officials hurriedly changed into their court robes, put on their fu hats, pinned on jade pendants, tied leather belts, held ivory tablets in their hands, and hurriedly got on their own carriages and drove towards the palace gate.

Today, the emperor held a grand court meeting in the Taiji Hall, a hall of unparalleled opulence and solemnity. Upon hearing the chief eunuch's call, the officials began to enter the hall. High atop the dragon throne, Mu Congmo rested his head on his hand, half-leaning, and surveyed the slowly approaching courtiers with great interest.

After the ministers had performed the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, Mu Congmo was about to throw out the case of Prince Huai and Duke Hanguo, but was interrupted by Yong Zhou who suddenly appeared.

Mu Congmo's expression became visibly worse. The Shadow Dragon Guards always worked in secret, and except for the commander Mo Yu, no one else was allowed to show up in public, not to mention that this was a grand court meeting with all the officials gathered.

Yong Zhou naturally knew the situation, but the matter was of great importance, so he had to report it to Mu Congmo immediately.

"Your Majesty, news has arrived from Jizhou that Yue Zun gained some enlightenment after his battle with the Northern Rong Imperial Preceptor. He attempted to break through to the Free and Easy Realm but failed miserably. He was... buried by a celestial thunderbolt, and not a trace of his remains remains."

After hearing this, Mu Congmo couldn't accept it for a moment and fainted on the ground.