Chapter 294: Chapter 294: Give Him a Stab
Heavenly Phoenix Imperial Dynasty.
With the disappearance of the Phoenix Cauldron God, Lan Xiuzhi became the center of attention. For a whole month, she had been imprisoned, and many ministers stepped forward to advise, saying, "The little princess must have conspired with Chen Pingping."
One must know that the Phoenix Cauldron is a Heaven Tao Divine Weapon, always residing within the little princess’s body, but now the God within it had vanished, inevitably leading to wild speculations.
The reigning Emperor, also deeply affectionate towards his daughter, merely imprisoned her without allowing any excessive actions to take place.
After one month, he overruled all objections and released the little princess. However, on this day, a little maid hurried into the little princess’s room, shouting, "Little princess, you must flee! The City Guard Army is coming to arrest you."
"The City Guard Army?" Lan Xiuzhi’s eyes widened, "When did the City Guard Army get the authority to meddle in this princess’s affairs?"
Although young, she was well aware of the imperial court’s structure and relations, having studied them. The City Guard Army had only one responsibility: to protect the city. They were not to take action lightly unless faced with a foreign invasion or an internal rebellion. But now, a group of City Guard soldiers had come to arrest her.
Lan Xiuzhi thought of the person behind this, and her face immediately stiffened. "Damn it, he’s staging a rebellion."
The little maid was anxious. "Little princess, run!"
She did want to run, yet a group of armored soldiers had already arrived at the residence, completely surrounding the princess’s mansion.
...
「In the quiet ancient town.」
Earth Chicken had been setting up Arrays for three to five consecutive days, each more powerful than the last, exhausting all of Chen Pingping’s resources. He turned pale and cursed, "If this doesn’t work, I’ll kill you."
The latter rolled its eyes. What does it have to do with me?
There were a total of thirty-two Arrays, both inside and out. It wanted to continue setting up more, but Chen Pingping stopped it. "Enough, that should be sufficient."
CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK. What about the several hundred you promised?
Earth Chicken gave him a sidelong glance, took a few steps, and let out a soft cluck.
Seven days went by without a stir from the outside world. The news about the three great imperial dynasties and the Purple Gold Divine Clan seemed to have sunk into the sea, with no trace to be found.
Chen Pingping was puzzled. "Where are the people?"
The thirty-two Arrays couldn’t be wasted just like that!
It wasn’t until the eighth day that a piece of news reached them—there was internal strife within the Heavenly Phoenix Imperial Dynasty, and the reigning little princess had been taken under control by the City Guard Army as a means to blackmail the Emperor.
"Eh! That little princess is indeed pitiable. The God of the Heaven Tao Divine Weapon has vanished, and she’s been made to take the blame," said an auntie nearby.
"Isn’t that the truth!"
"Most importantly, without the Heaven Tao Divine Weapon, the one deep within the Heavenly Phoenix Imperial Dynasty’s palace is akin to having lost an arm. No wonder there’s internal disorder. It’s just unfortunate for the little princess, becoming a pawn in someone else’s game once again."
"That said, is this really unrelated to Chen Pingping?" someone asked.
"Who knows?" another person shrugged. "During the month when the little princess was imprisoned, she kept on talking about this matter."
"Talking about what?" Chen Pingping leaned in.
"It’s nothing to do with Pingping..."
Although that was said, during that time, only two people had been in and out with Lan Xiuzhi: Chen Pingping and Liu Yeqing. The latter wasn’t particularly noticeable and, with no significant accomplishments, many considered her just an ordinary cultivator. But the former was different; he had hoodwinked the three great imperial dynasties, slain members of the Purple Gold Divine Clan, and even the young prodigies of two major dynasties had fallen at his hands. They speculated that Chen Pingping’s ultimate goal in approaching Lan Xiuzhi was the Phoenix Cauldron, and now, he had achieved his purpose.
"The little princess must be blind. How could she have got involved with someone like Chen Pingping?" the aunt grumbled. "If I ran into him, I’d surely give him a good stabbing."
Chen Pingping’s face turned dark. "What do you mean ’a good stabbing’?"
The aunt glanced sideways at him. "Cut off his little brother."
Chen Pingping: "..."
Although he had thought about the consequences and considered Lan Xiuzhi’s predicament, he believed that, given her special identity as the current dynasty’s little princess and the State Preceptor’s only disciple, nobody would dare to touch her. Unexpectedly, the affair had escalated into civil unrest within the Heavenly Phoenix Imperial Dynasty.
Um! Chen Pingping felt somewhat guilty.
However, he couldn’t leave this place right now, so he wrote a letter and ordered someone to deliver it into the hands of the City Guard Army.
「Several days later.」
Inside the Heavenly Phoenix Imperial Capital, a distinguished and striking-looking young man opened the letter from Chen Pingping, which contained only two words: "Release her!"
He frowned and inquired, "Where is this letter from?"
"An ancient town in the Southern Land," replied the person below.
Not a border town? Not the Thirteen Armies? It was actually from an ancient town in a distant land.
Lan Wuji laughed coldly. "Truly laughable." He had thought it was someone significant! Instead, it turned out to be a letter from an insignificant nobody.
He immediately tore up the letter.
「In the ancient town.」
Chen Pingping, having waited several days without seeing Lan Wuji release the person, his brow furrowed deeply, and he wrote a second letter: "Release her, or not?"
After receiving it, Lan Wuji was slightly angry. "Presumptuous. An insignificant nobody dares to dictate terms to this Prince?"
Below, a middle-aged general clad in armor spoke, "Your Highness, could it be Chen Pingping from the ancient town in the Southern Land?" He recalled the events that had occurred in the Southern Land before.
"Oh?"
Lan Wuji’s mouth curled into a smile. "They say that Chen Pingping intimidated the three great imperial dynasties, drove Jin Chan mad, and even stole the Phoenix Cauldron’s God from my little sister. Thinking about it, I should be the one most grateful to him."
"This man is extraordinary and strong. This general thinks we should handle the princess’s matter with caution," said the middle-aged general.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lan Wuji’s gaze was cold. "No matter how strong Chen Pingping is, he’s only one person. I command a hundred thousand soldiers, and there are many powerful men in my army. If he dares to come here, I will send him straight to hell."
He was very confident; he simply didn’t believe that Chen Pingping could intimidate the three great imperial dynasties on his own, could drive Jin Chan mad, or could cause the Purple Gold Divine Clan to be wary. It was simply preposterous.
Lan Wuji sneered, "Those old codgers have lived too long; they are overly cautious, even afraid of a mere Chen Pingping. Ha! I certainly am not afraid of him."
Below, no one spoke anymore.
Back in the ancient town, Chen Pingping, having sent two letters without receiving a response, leaped up immediately, his eyes bulging as he cursed, "Damn you, Lan Wuji! Fighting for the throne is one thing, but to not even spare your own sister and repeatedly ignore this young master’s words—you truly have the gall of a leopard!"
He was infuriated.
The three great imperial dynasties and the Purple Gold Divine Clan dared not ignore him, yet a mere Prince like you, wielding a hundred thousand soldiers, dares to disregard him?
Chen Pingping paced back and forth in the courtyard with a stern face, muttering constantly, "This is infuriating, this is infuriating!"
He certainly wanted to go there and kill them, but there were still unresolved matters on his end, with Lin Yuexin in seclusion and members of the Purple Gold Divine Clan—who knew when they would make a move.
Leaving recklessly now would pose too great a problem.
Most importantly, he couldn’t bear to leave behind the thirty-two Arrays!
In the end, Chen Pingping wrote a third letter, containing just one word, "Attack," infused with his Essence Qi Spirit and killing intent.