“The Valley Master of Stargazing Valley couldn’t possibly be unaware that supporting the Imperial Family is futile.”
“What is your intention?”
The news had also reached Zhou Qinghai, the former Crown Prince, who had already fled.
At this time, the former Grand Princess Zhou Qingxue was with the Crown Prince.
“Big brother, is it really okay to let our younger brother face this alone?”
Zhou Qinghai was silent for a while before he said, “This is his fate…”
“Fate…?” Zhou Qingxue murmured to herself.
Big brother and herself had taken away too much strength.
With the Emperor’s death, the Imperial Palace wouldn’t actually have any power. Leaving their younger brother meant certain death; their mother had also died. Was this really okay?
Logically speaking, this kind of situation should be something the big brother should face.
The reason their father had chosen was that the big brother had the strength of a Great Grandmaster.
But that power was accumulated over time!
However, she had no solution; she only found out later that their younger brother was not among those who had been evacuated, and she didn’t have the means to enter the Imperial Palace with the power she held.
Unless big brother took action…
At this very moment, Zhou Qinghai was considering his options.
The Great Grandmaster from Stargazing Valley had actually gotten involved in the Imperial Family’s affairs; was there a way to win him over to his side?
If you think about it, he himself was the legitimate successor to the great Zhou lineage.
And he still had that thing; maybe he could really entice…
…
Even Wang Sheng, far away in Shuzhou, had received this news.
It’s not that he was particularly well-informed, but Yue had told him.
It was because Yue had sensed the national destiny.
“National destiny? How can you feel the national destiny?”
“For us in Stargazing Valley, as long as we become court officials, we can sense the national destiny. If not a court official, there’s only one way, which is for my Valley Master to become a court official, and with the Valley Master’s cultivation and capabilities, he could only become the State Preceptor!”
“Do you and your Valley Master still want to save the great Zhou?”
Yue shook her head.
“The Valley Master said, ’The great Zhou is beyond salvation!’”
“To aspire to be the Master of Destiny?”
“That’s impossible. One can only overthrow the great Zhou and start anew. Thousand-year-old rules won’t be broken so easily.”
Wang Sheng nodded, knowing it certainly wasn’t likely.
If it were really that simple, an empire would never fall.
“But the Literary Saint Shen Xuan…”
The death of Shen Xuan, one of the nine Great Grandmasters, had already spread.
Those who knew about last month’s martial contest with the Three Great Families were aware of it.
The news that came out claimed that Shen Xuan was trying to save the great Zhou to become the new Master of Destiny.
“That’s unclear, but it’s definitely not like that. The last sovereign, Zhou Tianyuan, said so, but why he did remains unknown; maybe it was to completely knock Shen Xuan down. Because he said so, if Shen Xuan didn’t die in the end, others would doubt and start targeting him.”
As long as there were doubts, Shen Xuan’s life would not be so easy.
For a sovereign, especially at his dying moment, to have said such words that were widely spread was very problematic.
Wang Sheng then said, “Some people’s motives are indeed hard to fathom, isn’t your Valley Master the same?”
Yue was silent, unable to clear his mind, wondering why the Valley Master became involved in the affairs of the great Zhou.
He always felt it wasn’t that simple.
“Mr. Wang Sheng, I feel that something truly significant is going to happen. Please be prepared.”
“Can it get any more serious?”
“It will! It definitely will!” Yue didn’t explain why; it was a feeling that came from the Valley Master.
Wang Sheng nodded and then went to look for the village chief.
Ten days later, Yue felt the national fortune disappear from her.
She knew this meant the Valley Master had directly severed the national destiny from them.
Yue’s unease grew even stronger!
This meant the Valley Master didn’t want to implicate them.
But she was powerless to stop anything.
…
Five more days passed, and the time for the Heaven Sacrifice ceremony arrived.
All officials in the Imperial City were summoned.
Everyone knew that with the arrival of the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley, the skies had changed!
The vast majority of the ministers in the Imperial City had been wiped out without stirring any commotion.
And at this moment, the young Emperor summoned them all.
Now, no one dared to underestimate the young Emperor.
The place for the great Zhou Heaven Sacrifice was a mountain called Tai Mountain.
It wasn’t very far from the Imperial City; with the power of Martial Artists, it took less than a day to reach.
The day before the Heaven Sacrifice, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley had a talk with the young Emperor.
“State Preceptor, may I do something?”
“What would you like to do?”
“I want to…”
“If you proceed, the Zhou Family will essentially be completely destroyed.”
“What do I care! I want to avenge my mother!” The young Emperor said uncaringly.
The Valley Master of Stargazing Valley sighed.
The previous Sovereign of the great Zhou had foreseen many things, but perhaps he hadn’t anticipated that his surviving younger son, Zhou Qingjiang, would harbor such deep hatred.
Hatred towards his own family!
He intended to be the last Emperor of the great Zhou and, at the same time, seek vengeance.
These days, the Valley Master had seen the truth.
Zhou Qingjiang was filled with hatred.
Why should his life be traded for his big brother’s life? And involve the life of his mother, too?
If his mother had been taken away, it would be one thing, but she too had died, and nearly been disgraced before her death.
Then no one should expect to have it easy!
Since there was favoritism, then they would have to face the repercussions.
The Valley Master of Stargazing Valley couldn’t offer consolation.
He didn’t believe Zhou Tianyuan didn’t foresee this situation, yet had left no means to protect his younger son.
And this younger son happened to have a unique ability and would naturally be backfired upon.
Truth be told, what Zhou Qingjiang wanted to do was actually in his favor.
He found even less reason to object!