Chapter 762: Identity Exposed!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
No matter how it played out, the news of the victory was circulated and reported directly to Tiantang City.
…
In the royal study, the emperor stood before a portrait of his eldest son with his arms crossed behind his back; the expression on his face was one of deep anguish.
“He’s gone now— whatever hatred and grudges you bear between yourselves should be evened out by now, right?” He whispered softly towards his eldest son.
“Yes, I knew. I always knew, yet I did not handle it well — no, I did not.”
“All of you… are my children…”
“At first I thought I could take away everything he had – his title, his glory, his pride, or even his dignity… seize them all. I would only spare his life, yet… I did not do so in the end, just like how I couldn’t save you. I shouldn’t draw such comparisons now, should I?”
“However, from the way things played out until today, you’ve already taken back whatever he owed you on your own.”
“My heart… is filled with so much pain.”
“However, if I ever face you now, I would finally feel a little more at peace; whatever that was meant for you are all in the hands of your son now.”
“Now, the nation is at peace and the people are united; the Empire of Ziyou in the west will soon fall into place in Yutang’s plans; oh, son, if only you were here to witness and handle all of this on your own — wouldn’t that be great?”
“Your Majesty!”
It was Qiu Jianhan who had barged in urgently — his voice had reached the ears first before his physical being could be seen.
Following his yell, the surrounding vicinity of the palace abruptly lapsed into a state of absolute silence.
“Marshal…” Eunuch Li, the Minister of Internal Affairs, was bent over as he chased after the marshal like his life depended on it. “O marshal, please wait— please allow this humble one to announce your presence and wait to be granted an audience with His Majesty—”
However, Qiu Jianhan had already barged in with huge and quick strides, sweating profusely.
“What happened?” The emperor was cloaked in brilliant yellow as he stood by the entrance to the royal study. His heart thumped erratically against his chest as he set sight upon Qiu Jianhan, who was coming towards him in an anxious manner.
He was not angry, and he would not be.
Qiu Jianhan had always been a man of reasonable conduct. Judging by how out of character he was, and how desperate he looked — to the point where he did not even bother to gauge his place before deciding to barge into the palace — it must be an urgent matter indeed.
And this, apparently, was some massive incident that was deemed unsolvable — even by Qiu Jianhan himself!
Reaching this inference, the emperor suddenly felt faint. His heart thumped a series of drumbeats against his chest like and he felt his mouth go dry.
The last time Qiu Jianhan was so out of character was… during the fall of the Nine Supremes!
What could this be about, now?
Matters that could not be resolved or handled by Qiu Jianhan were often matters that he could not handle as well!
“What happened? Minister Qiu, please calm down… whatever urgent matter must be addressed carefully and slowly — we should avoid panicking among ourselves.” The emperor implored worriedly. He did not forget to attempt to calm Qiu Jianhan’s emotions, but of course, this was merely more inclined towards dissolving the tense atmosphere before them.
“Nine Supremes… Supreme Cloud…” Qiu Jianhan wheezed, drawing in large breaths. He was covered in sweat, his eyes a little glazed.
The emperor felt a tight knot in his heart and nearly passed out from the anxiety. He grabbed Qiu Jianhan’s hand, imploring further, “What’s wrong with Supreme Cloud?”
They really could not be bothered about preventing panic among themselves now. Whatever that had to do with the Nine Supremes or Supreme Cloud was the most urgent matter in the world — one that could shake up the nation’s existence to the core!
Qiu Jianhan had a frantic gaze in his eyes. “Supreme Cloud’s identity has been exposed!”
“Identity exposed?” The emperor echoed in a mumble and leaped up suddenly. “Who is Supreme Cloud?”
“Yun Yang!” Qiu Jianhan’s gaze bored into the emperor. “It was the son of King Xiaoyao — Yun Yang.”
The emperor broke out in cold sweat. “How was this exposed? How could it be him… t-this… it was really him after all. I’ve always suspected it was him, but… I’ve never thought of probing deeply… how was this exposed so suddenly?”
Qiu Jianhan wiped away a handful of sweat. “As of now, the whole of Tiantang City knows about it already…”
The emperor started to move outside in large strides. “What in the world happened to trigger this revelation? Who was it that found out about this?”
Qiu Jianhan tailed behind him, twisting his torso around as he yelled, “Guards! Guards!”
He then walked alongside the emperor, wiping his sweat away. “The situation out there is in total chaos. Do take care of your noble body, Your Majesty — you must not meet with an accident in light of such circumstances…”
On the way out, a glance from the emperor of Yutang would reveal that although the people in the palace seemed nonchalantly silent, there was an ecstatic expression contained within their faces, paired with utmost surprise — there was unspeakable excitement and adoration, but of course, it was mostly… a fanatical craze as though they had finally seen a god with their own eyes!
Snippets of gossip poured in incessantly from afar.
“Supreme Cloud is Yun Yang — Young Master Yun!”
“Oh my god…”
“Sir Supreme Cloud has always been amongst us…”
“After all these years, Sir Supreme Cloud has finally appeared before us…”
“We finally got to know who Sir Supreme Cloud is — our wishes have been answered. However, its just something I would rather not know, but I have to— Sir Supreme Cloud should still have our gratitude and respect, but now that his identity is exposed, the dangers he would face would increase a hundredfold…”
“Precisely. What’s up with these people making a ruckus? Why would they suddenly disclose Sir Supreme Cloud’s identity? What could their intentions be — is there an underlying conspiracy behind this?”
“I don’t know. Let’s just say things are not as simple as they seem.”
“There’s no need to dig out the past. The current situation was chaotic — everything had descended into total pandemonium!”
…
Yes, the situation was chaotic indeed — everything had truly descended into total pandemonium!
This was the first thought that occurred to the emperor.
Rewinding the time to one day before, a party of ten or more people suddenly approached the original site where the Residence of the Nine Supremes was located. One of them produced a queer object and explored the grounds as if he was probing for something, which brought them to find the Residence of Yun.
At that fateful moment, Yun Yang was alongside the Concourse of the Underworld searching for the location of the Haunting Temple — and hence did not bump into this bunch.
Therefore, this was how the rumors about Yun Yang being Supreme Cloud emerged — and the news spread like wildfire.
“When the Nine Supremes were formed, the martial world stands strong; the Nine Supremes have come together as one, the martial world shall stand even taller. Now, we are aware that the formidable Supreme Cloud was actually Yun Yang of the Residence of King Xiaoyao all along — the Young Master Yun who was once Tiantang City’s number one fop — is this all an accidental coincidence, or does it make perfect sense?!”
“Naturally there would be evidence to claim that Yun Yang is indeed Supreme Cloud — with the first being the God-Willing Plan in my hands that would never go wrong. Although this is a secret of the school that will not be sufficient to convince everybody, with proper analysis, there is actually ample evidence lying around everywhere — just not many would think to piece them together.”
“Every time Supreme Cloud goes out for a mission, Yun Yang will not be around; and every time Young Master Yun shows himself, Supreme Cloud’s mission would surely come to an end. Also—”
Every mission executed by the Nine Supremes since the time they were formed till now was brought up as supporting evidence.
The timing was perfectly precise down to every single hour of every single day.
Everything lined up perfectly.
“Ever since the incident at Tianxuan Cliff involving the Nine Supremes, Young Master Yun did not appear for almost half a year! Where did he go to, during those times? He had gone to recuperate, of course. Eight of the nine Supremes had been buried from that incident at Tianxuan Cliff, with Yun Yang being the only survivor — but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t injured.”
“Besides, there are other evidence that… which makes this…”
Every bit of evidence was listed down — this was how the whole theory on Yun Yang being Supreme Cloud was concluded.
Throughout this whole time, the legends regarding the School of Kismet State was brought up once more in the martial world:
‘By heaven’s grace, the true ruler shall be sought out!’
‘Who does the martial world belong to? The School of Kismet State knows!’
‘Saving the world and helping the people — their virtues shall be sung for a thousand years.’
‘They surface in the midst of chaos, and retreat when the world is saved!’
‘When turmoil arises, the gates shall open once more!’
