Chapter 126 Rumors are like knives, and people's hearts are like poison
When Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu returned to the capital with their elite troops, it was almost dusk.
The setting sun was as red as blood, staining the tall city walls with a strange dark red.
"Brother Xiongxiong," Ah Jiu, sitting in the carriage, lifted the curtain and whispered, "It smells so bad outside."
After his bloodline awakened, Jiu's perception of "Qi" had become incredibly sharp.
"Smells bad?" Chu Xuanyi also stuck his head out to take a look.
People were coming and going on the streets, everything was normal, except... it was too quiet.
In the past, at this time, vendors were hawking their wares, children were chasing each other, and neighbors were chatting and laughing loudly.
But now, everyone was in a hurry, with an inexplicable wariness and panic on their faces, and there was almost no communication between them.
"What's going on?" Xiao Yu frowned.
When their troops passed through the city gate, the soldiers guarding the city saw the flags of the Regent and the Imperial Master. Instead of showing awe and admiration as usual, they looked away as if they had seen the god of plague, with fear and...disgust written all over their faces.
Xiao Yu's face turned dark in an instant.
He jumped off his horse and grabbed the collar of the captain guarding the city. The captain was so frightened that he trembled all over and his legs went weak.
"Tell me! What happened in the capital?!"
The captain was trembling with fear, his lips shaking but he couldn't utter a word. He just looked at Xiao Yu and Chu Xuanyi in the carriage behind with horror, as if they were monsters.
The lights in the meeting hall of the palace were bright.
Xiao Yu sat in the main seat, his face as gloomy as water.
Chu Xuanyi paced back and forth like an angry lion.
A commander of the Black Armor Guards, who was in charge of intelligence, was kneeling on one knee on the ground and reporting with sweat all over his forehead.
"Your Majesty, Imperial Preceptor... the day after you two left, rumors began to spread in the city...
"What a bullshit rumor!!" Chu Xuanyi roared, "Tell me every word!"
"Yes..." The commander swallowed hard and said, "Rumors say... that the reason why strange things have been happening so frequently in the capital lately, with earthquakes, strange fog, and people going crazy for no reason... is all because... because you, Your Highness, and the Imperial Preceptor... are practicing some evil magic that has angered the heavens and brought down divine punishment..."
"Bullshit!" Chu Xuanyi was so angry that he almost drew his sword. "I practiced witchcraft? If I knew witchcraft, I would first turn that bastard Prince Yu into a pill!"
"The rumor also goes," the commander's voice lowered, "that the little girl you, Imperial Master, brought back from the observatory... isn't some divine fortune teller at all, but a medicine man you use to practice your evil arts... She's the root cause of all these disasters!"
"Bang!"
The teacup in Xiao Yu's hand shattered!
A bone-chilling murderous intent instantly filled the entire conference hall!
The commander was overwhelmed by the murderous aura and felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave. He didn't even dare to breathe.
"Brother Xiongxiong..." Jiu poked his little head out from behind Xiao Yu, his little hands tightly grasping his robe.
Lord Xiong Xiong must be very, very angry right now.
The bluish-white gas was about to turn black.
Xiao Yu took a deep breath, forced himself to suppress the murderous intent surging in his heart, and restrained the cold breath.
He turned around and gave Ah Jiu a soothing smile, but his voice was still cold: "Go on."
"Those spreading these rumors are all street thugs and storytellers. They confess as soon as they're caught, saying they were paid to do the job, but they can't even say who paid them. And... and these rumors spread incredibly quickly, practically overnight, throughout the capital. It's as if... there's an invisible, giant hand behind them pushing them."
"Besides this hand, there's also a mouth." Another general in charge of the city defense stepped forward and said with a bitter face, "Grand Master, that Censor Qian... the one you released earlier..."
"What's wrong with him?" Chu Xuanyi asked.
"He's gone crazy!" The general's face was indescribable. "Ever since he was released, he's been running around Suzaku Street with his hair disheveled. He grabs everyone he sees and yells, 'There's a ghost in Prince Yu's Mansion! There's a giant bug underground!' He shouts until his voice is hoarse. The people think he's been driven mad by the shock of being in Prince Yu's Mansion, and no one believes him. But his actions have only made those rumors... sound more plausible."
The people did not believe in ghosts and gods, but they believed in an imperial official who was "scared crazy."
Under the guidance of some people with ulterior motives, Censor Qian's crazy words became evidence that Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu were "guilty of crime, killing to silence witnesses, and driving people crazy."
This basin of dirty water is black and smelly, and you have no way to defend yourself!
"Good! What a great Prince Yu!" Xiao Yu laughed in anger. "Since he can't defeat me openly, he plays dirty tricks on me! Playing with public opinion and people's hearts! Who does he think he is? A civil servant who wields a pen?!"
"Your Highness, we can't wait any longer! Let me lead the troops to raid Prince Yu's mansion! Arrest that bastard Prince Yu and hang him at the city gate! I want to see who dares to gossip about him again!"
"And then?" Xiao Yu looked at him coldly. "And then prove that we're bullying others with our power and guilty consciences? Let the people of the world believe that we killed a prince to cover up the truth about our practice of evil magic?"
"What should I do?!" Chu Xuanyi grabbed his hair in frustration. "Should I just let them throw dirty water at me like this? I've never suffered such humiliation in my life!"
"Do you think they are just throwing dirty water?"
Xiao Yu slowly stood up and walked to the huge map of the capital hanging in the center of the conference room.
"Ajiu," he turned around and asked softly, "Take another good look at this 'unpleasant' smell that permeates the city. Is it the same everywhere?"
Ajiu closed his eyes and frowned again.
After a moment, she opened her eyes, walked to the map, stretched out her white and tender little fingers and tapped on it a few times.
"Here... Liuxu Alley in East City..."
"Here...Wazi Street in the south city..."
"And here... the Jinshui River Wharf in West City..."
She pointed out seven or eight places in a row.
"These are the places with the strongest smell, like... like ink dripped into clear water, and the black lines spread out from these places."
Xiao Yu and the other man's gaze followed her finger as it moved on the map.
The places Ah Jiu pointed out seemed unrelated: some were slums, some were downtown, and some were major thoroughfares. But they all had one thing in common: dense crowds of people, mixed crowds of all kinds, and extremely difficult to control!
"They are setting up their formation."
Xiao Yu's voice was so low that it seemed to come from the underworld.
"They think the Netherworld Qi is seeping through Prince Yu's Mansion's underground too slowly, so they are artificially speeding up the process!"
He tapped his fingers hard on the map, making a dull sound!
"Rumors are the sword, used to destroy our reputation and sever our hearts. And these evil arrays are the poison, used to corrode the foundation of the entire capital and take the lives of millions of people!"
"They're using this two-pronged approach to force us to lose our composure! If we send troops to suppress the rumors, they'll seize the opportunity to unleash the evil formation, causing widespread panic and casualties. Then, all the blame will be placed on us! If we deal with the evil formation first, the people of the capital will be corrupted by the rumors and their morale will be completely rotten! By then, even if we save the entire city, we'll be despised by everyone as demons!"
There was dead silence in the meeting room.
Everyone was shocked by the scene described by Xiao Yu and broke out in a cold sweat.
Prince Yu and the Wugut tribe set up a killing spree!
"Damn it...it's too vicious!" Chu Xuanyi gritted his teeth.
"Your Highness, then we..." The voice of the commander of the Black Armor Guard was trembling.
what to do?
“If they want to play, we play with them.”
A sneer appeared on Xiao Yu's lips.
"Don't they like to spread rumors and watch the fun?"
Xiao Yu turned around and swept his cold eyes over everyone present.
"Then let's... give them a bigger show."
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