Ultimate Path to Heaven

Chapter 19 Turmoil in the Northern Regions?

Huizhou, the city lord's mansion.

Surrounded by high bluestone walls, with flying eaves and brackets standing solemnly.

The vermilion gate was nailed with copper nails the size of bowls, and stone lions on both sides glared angrily.

The main hall was magnificent and solemn. Inside, there was a sandalwood throne with a coiled dragon, covered with a black tiger skin. The man sitting on it was dressed in fine clothes and looked to be about twenty years old.

His brow bones were high and prominent, his eye sockets deep-set like chisels, his eyes sharp as if they could pierce the heart. His skin was as pale as if it had never seen the sun, as if covered with a layer of frost.

He seemed to be surrounded by a faint, almost imperceptible, stench of blood, but it wasn't something you could actually smell. Rather, it was a sinister aura of someone who had been through countless battles and treated human life as worthless, which made people tremble with fear and dare not approach him.

Chu Xiong, the eighth prince of the Divine Land Kingdom!

Inside the hall, a guard reported: "The village chiefs of Qingxi, Shigang, and Nanliu have all been wiped out along with their entire families... Within a radius of fifty li, three detachments of Class C Ironclad Guards, totaling 60 riders..."

Under the Eighth Prince's watchful gaze, he involuntarily shuddered before stammering, "I returned home empty-handed!"

As the words fell, she handed three eagle feathers to the Eighth Prince in a state of panic. From beginning to end, she kept her head down and dared not look at the Eighth Prince. She did not dare to make the slightest extra movement, and she did not even dare to breathe.

The Eighth Prince Chu Xiong gently tapped the feather in his hand, but he didn't look at it. His eyes darted around as if he were thinking about something, and his aura gradually turned cold!

Standing to the right of the Eighth Prince was an elderly man in his fifties—Qian Tushen, the current city lord of Huizhou City.

This man had a round face, with curved eyebrows and eyes, a rounded nose, and neatly trimmed mustache, which made the curve of his mouth appear even more amiable.

Judging from his appearance alone, one can tell that he is a person who is adept at dealing with all parties and leaves no room for error.

At this moment, Qian Tushen seemed to be speaking to the Eighth Prince, but it was more like he was talking to himself: "Originally, they were just robbing some grain and supplies from villages on the mountainside, but recently they have not only expanded their reach to Changzhou and Jinzhou, but today they are even so brazenly provoking us in my Huizhou..."

He paused there, and seeing that the Eighth Prince Chu Xiong showed no change in expression, Qian Tushen continued, seemingly to himself: "Although they are only Class C Ironclad Guards, more than ten years later, the combat strength of 60 riders is far beyond what ordinary people can withstand. This bandit..."

(The Ironclad Guards of Shenzhou Kingdom are divided into three levels: A, B, and C. The number of riders in each C-level unit is not fixed. Each unit is generally led by a fourth or fifth-rank warrior. The rest are not warriors, but they have undergone special training and are far stronger than ordinary people.)

Class B consists of 50 riders per unit, led by a sixth-rank officer, with the rest being first to third-rank warriors.

(The Class A units, though each consisting of no more than ten riders, are all around the sixth rank in strength.)

Click!

Just as Qian Tushen mentioned the word "bandit," the three eagle feathers were snapped off by the Eighth Prince Chu Xiong, leaving Qian Tushen with no further information.

At this moment, the woman sitting opposite, who had been watching the Eighth Prince Chu Xiong, frowned as if worried.

This woman appeared to be around the same age as Xiao Jin, with a delicate, straight nose and lips like cherry blossoms blooming in early March, naturally red without any makeup. Her face was as smooth and fair as if she had been raised in the deep palace, resembling the finest mutton-fat jade.

Princess Chu Wan of the Divine Continent!

Sitting three meters to Chu Wan's left was the Seventh Prince, Chu Yuan!

At this moment, Chu Yuan's cloud-patterned python robe was slightly open at the collar, revealing a hint of drunkenness.

His left arm was around a maid dressed in a light purple gauze dress. The maid's face was lowered and her body was slightly stiff, as she dared not lean on him completely.

In his right hand he held a white jade luminous cup, the amber wine inside gently swirling within. He would occasionally offer it to the maid's lips with a smile. The maid, timid and unable to avoid it, could only sip it slowly.

"Interesting!" Eighth Prince Chu Xiong said with a cold smile after breaking off three eagle feathers.

Then, Chu Xiong looked at the Ninth Princess with a mocking gaze: "I wonder what would happen if we slaughtered these three villages first?"

Upon hearing this, the Ninth Princess, who was already worried about something, suddenly stood up and glared at Chu Xiong: "Eighth Brother, you just increased the grain tax, and now a bandit has appeared. Instead of suppressing the bandit, you want to slaughter civilians. Is Eighth Brother afraid that Father Emperor is too comfortable sitting on the throne?"

"Ninth Sister, you can kill those lowly commoners, but why drag Father Emperor into it!" After saying that, Chu Yuan forcefully pulled the maid over. "Come, come, drink this cup in one gulp!" The maid choked badly as he forced her to drink it.

"You!" The Ninth Princess glared at Chu Yuan, but after saying "you," she didn't continue and sat back down with a crooked nose.

Chu Xiong smiled faintly, completely disregarding the two of them, staring ahead as if he were lost in thought...

A month ago, the Eighth Prince was dispatched to the Southern Region by the Chu Emperor. He had already killed many people due to the matter of increasing grain taxes. Recently, after recovering from a serious illness, he became even more bloodthirsty than before—massacring entire villages.

She noticed Chu Xiong's seemingly dazed expression. The Ninth Princess, having calmed down a bit, was somewhat puzzled. In the past, no matter how arrogant and bloodthirsty the Eighth Prince was, he still showed some favoritism towards her, his only sister, and sometimes even deliberately indulged her.

But after a sudden and inexplicable serious illness... he completely ignored her!

As for the Seventh Prince Chu Yuan beside him, he was indulging in wine and women and never cared about worldly affairs, but today he seemed to be speaking in favor of the Eighth Prince Chu Xiong.

Just as the three of them were each preoccupied with their own thoughts...

"Imperial edict has arrived!"

An old eunuch entered the hall and announced, "By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."

The old eunuch was over sixty years old, with a slender figure like an ancient pine tree. He wore a dark purple brocade robe with cloud patterns, and although he had no beard, he did not have any effeminate air. His voice was not loud, but it had a penetrating force like metal striking stone, and every word struck people's hearts heavily.

If Wang Suiyue were to see this old eunuch, he would immediately turn pale. If it weren't for this old eunuch back then, the eighty Blood Guards would never have suffered such heavy losses, with only six remaining.

After the imperial edict was read aloud, the old eunuch walked straight toward the Eighth Prince, showing no fear whatsoever of the intimidating Eighth Prince Chu Xiong.

"This secret decree was ordered by His Majesty to be delivered to the Eighth Prince!"

The old eunuch handed the secret decree to the Eighth Prince, Chu Xiong, and left without another word.

Upon hearing the imperial edict, the Ninth Princess's expression grew even more solemn. She muttered to herself, "Why are the barbarians of the Northern Region causing trouble?"

Even Chu Yuan, who was somewhat drunk, pushed the maid away at this moment, but as he poured himself wine and drank, he seemed not to care about the imperial edict.

The imperial edict stated that the northern barbarians had caused unrest in several cities, and ordered the Eighth Prince, Chu Xiong, to quell the disturbance...

More than ten years after the execution of Duke Xiao Dingtian's entire clan, the Divine Continent is facing another crisis. First, bandits suddenly appeared in the Southern Region, and then barbarians instigated unrest in the Northern Region. It seems that the Divine Continent is... in turmoil again!

Regardless of what Ninth Princess Chu Wan and Seventh Prince Chu Yuan were thinking, Eighth Prince Chu Xiong, who was looking at the secret decree, frowned for once.

But amidst this furrowed brow, a barely perceptible wicked smile crept onto Chu Xiong's lips.

"Lord Qian!" Chu Xiong tossed three broken eagle feathers to Qian Tushen beside him and said disdainfully, "You'll be in charge of the eagle bandit affairs, assisting Seventh Brother. If necessary... slaughter the entire village as a show of force!"

"Your humble servant obeys!" Qian Tushen said in a state of fear.

While it was said to be assisting, in reality, it bypassed the Ninth Princess and directly ordered Qian Tushen, the city lord, since Chu Yuan was never one to interfere.

That being said, Chu Wan, who had been in Huizhou City for over a year, was, after all, the only princess of the Shenzhou Kingdom, and Qian Tushen couldn't afford to offend her. However, if he disobeyed the Eighth Prince...

Regardless of Qian Tushen's intentions, Chu Xiong glanced at the Ninth Princess, whose expression was neither happy nor sad, and slowly stood up. As she walked out of the palace, he looked at the secret decree in his hand again.

"You old codger, do you still think of me as the Eighth Prince you used to be?"