“If I’m not mistaken, this Mu Hanyan must have possessed the art of taming beasts, secretly colluding with the Chaos Beast. While publicly sending an envoy to Shangyue, she secretly harbored evil intentions, intending to use the power of the strange beasts to invade our Shangyue capital and shake the foundation of the royal family.
"It was only because this city lord saw through her plan that she was forced to act early. Then, seeing her plot exposed, she knew it was impossible to continue, so she pretended to rescue him, gaining a good reputation for herself and thus deceiving His Majesty's trust, waiting for another opportunity to strike." Wu Ziyue said with a sneer.
After hearing Wu Ziyue's words, everyone was stunned. They didn't know how he came up with so many twists and turns.
Mu Hanyan had originally thought herself to be quite resourceful, but facing Wu Ziyue, she felt somewhat inferior. It would have been fine if he'd just returned a favor with a vengeance, but he even managed to come up with such a long excuse. It had to be said that Wu Ziyue was quite a talent.
Perhaps others don’t know why Wu Ziyue repays kindness with enmity, but Mu Hanyan can guess a thing or two.
As the lord of a city, he turned a blind eye when the strange beasts attacked the city and missed the opportunity to fight, resulting in the tragic deaths of thousands of civilians. Then he ignored the advice and went out of the city to fight without authorization. If Mu Hanyan had not acted in time, Dingbian City would have been destroyed by Chaos, and the millions of people in the city would have been killed.
Although he held absolute power in Dingbian City, such a major incident would undoubtedly be reported to the court. Even if he were the only son of the King of Sides, he would be punished. The Wu family was undoubtedly not a single-line dynasty; countless collateral branches secretly coveted the throne, and they would surely not miss a golden opportunity to take advantage of someone's misfortune. Mu Hanyan was no stranger to the open and covert infighting within powerful families. Brothers slaying each other for power was not uncommon, let alone simply taking advantage of someone's misfortune.
Wu Ziyue, desperate to protect himself, naturally sought a scapegoat, and he was undoubtedly the best choice. The unusual beasts in Dingbian City were already bizarre, and the divine beast contract he had used to repel the chaotic beasts was indeed incredible to outsiders. However, considering his explanation, there seemed to be some connection.
Of course, it doesn't matter whether there is any connection or not. As long as he captures me and takes me to the City Lord's Mansion, he will have all kinds of means to force me to surrender, or simply kill me and then say that I committed suicide out of fear of punishment. With the power of King Bingxiang in Shangyue, there will be no evidence when he dies, and who can do anything to him?
That’s right, as long as he gets rid of me, the Hanxiao Sword and the Xuanyang Fengyu Grass will naturally fall into his hands, and he can also achieve his long-cherished wish. It’s a good thing to kill two birds with one stone.
Such deep scheming, such cruel means! After understanding all this, even Mu Hanyan couldn't help but sigh again, but her disgust towards Wu Ziyue also deepened.
"Mu Hanyan, wasn't what the City Lord said right? You're quite scheming and calculating, but unfortunately, you ran into this City Lord!" Wu Ziyue said with a smile, seeing everyone was silent. It was obvious that he was quite proud of the plan he had come up with on a whim.
"You just want to find a scapegoat, but you can come up with such a high-sounding reason. You are worthy of being the prince. I admire you." Mu Hanyan smiled contemptuously.
The eyes of everyone around looked at Wu Ziyue with strange eyes. After listening to Wu Ziyue's words before, they had some preconceived ideas. The more they thought about it, the more they felt that this attack of the city by strange beasts was indeed too weird. Mu Hanyan's strange spell that sounded like chanting was even weirder. They were really skeptical about what he said.
However, after hearing Mu Hanyan's words again, they suddenly realized that Wu Ziyue was clearly trying to shirk responsibility, deliberately confusing the public, and throwing dirty water on Mu Hanyan.
"Mu Hanyan, you still dare to quibble at this point. Go ahead, take them back to the City Lord's Mansion and interrogate them strictly!" Wu Ziyue was furious when Mu Hanyan revealed his true feelings.
The black-armored guards hesitated for a moment, but still surrounded Mu Hanyan. However, although they were obliged to obey Wu Ziyue's orders, they were clearly hesitant. The leading generals even secretly winked at Mu Hanyan, signaling her to flee quickly.
Mu Hanyan felt a little touched. Although Wu Ziyue had a despicable character and was surrounded by flatterers and sycophants, most people were not bad by nature and could clearly distinguish right from wrong and good from evil.
"Stop!" At this moment, the old general of the city guard army stepped forward and stood in front of Mu Hanyan.
The old man who had spoken up for Doctor Sun earlier also took a few steps forward and stood beside him.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to collude with foreign enemies and rebel against Shangyue?" Wu Ziyue shouted in a deep voice.
"Lady Mu is the envoy of Anyun. This mission to Shangyue is of great importance. As the commander of the city guards, I must ensure her safe arrival in the capital." The old general said righteously.
"She saved the lives of the people in the city, she saved the lives of my Geng family, and even my life. As long as I am here, no one can make things difficult for her." The old man said in a loud voice.
As soon as the words fell, hundreds of people who survived the disaster gathered together and protected Mu Hanyan and his group.
Mu Hanyan guessed correctly. This old man was the patriarch of the Geng family, the most prestigious family in Dingbian City. More than half of these hundreds of people were Geng family members and bodyguards. Even if they were not members of the Geng family, they would naturally not stand idly by out of gratitude for Mu Hanyan's life-saving grace.
At the same time, the city guards also gathered together and, together with the civilians, protected Mu Hanyan and his group in three layers.
"How dare you, how dare you, do you want to rebel?" Wu Ziyue's face changed drastically.
As the only son of King Bingjian, Wu Ziyue has been arrogant and domineering since he was a child. He even looked down on royal family members like Yue Xiuming. After being appointed as the lord of Dingbian City, he acted recklessly and arbitrarily. Such a thing has never been encountered before.
The old general and the Geng family head ignored him, only looking at him with disdain. If they hadn't been concerned about the power of the King of Binding, how could they have taken a waste like Wu Ziyue seriously? Now that they had torn their faces, they had nothing to worry about.
"How dare they collude with foreign enemies and betray Shangyue? Kill them, kill them." Wu Ziyue was enraged by their contemptuous looks and roared in frustration.
As the lord of a city, even his subordinate city guards and clans in the city dared to openly oppose him. If this matter were to be spread out, how would he have any prestige left? How could he convince the people and what qualifications would he have to inherit the throne?
The old general and the Geng family head both sighed inwardly. As the lord of a city, Wu Ziyue actually issued such an order. Wasn't he afraid of provoking a civil uprising? This prince of the royal palace was also a complete idiot.
However, those black-armored guards knew the seriousness of the situation and held the hilts of their swords, but no one dared to attack.
"Even you don't listen to my orders, right? Fine, fine, if you don't do it, I'll do it myself!" Seeing that even his own black-armored bodyguards disobeyed his orders, Wu Ziyue was so angry that he completely lost his mind. He drew his sword and rushed towards the old general.
"Swish!" The city guards around drew out their swords at the same time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
