Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Ju Chi was a guard in the royal palace of the Stone Kingdom. As a branch descendant of the royal family, he was well trusted by the King, maybe the only one trusted by the latter.
Late one night, he remembered what the Emperor had said a few months prior:
“Ju Chi, I’m not asking you as your king, but as your brother of the same lineage. I need your help. You know the royal family is at a critical moment, we may be toppled at any time. I entrust you with safeguarding the most important person of the royal family and of the entire Stone Kingdom. I hope that you’ll protect the last descendant of the Ju family.”
This “most important person” lived in the house behind him.
Like the common people in Xiaoyao Lake, Ju Chi had felt a dramatic change in the environment. The five countries of Xiaoyao Lake used to be powerful, but that just lasted briefly. Soon afterward, other powerhouses came in. In the beginning, they could manage to coexist. But in the end, they were struggling just to survive.
To avoid the suspicion from the powerhouses, the royal families of the five kingdoms even voluntarily cut down their standing armies. And finally, they could only recruit Golden Roc Fort mercenaries.
This strategy was wrong to the extreme.
As was expected, the Golden Roc Fort gradually influenced the five countries. Eventually, they completely controlled their governments, to the point where they could almost merge the five countries. At that time, the Dragon King suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Ju Chi was young, in his 20s. He hoped that the five countries of Xiaoyao Lake could unite to be independent, even if they could not compare with other powerhouses. They should no longer be held back by others.
As a descendant of the Stone Kingdom’s royal family, he naturally wanted the Stone Kingdom to be the leader of that unification.
Unfortunately, the Stone Kingdom was the weakest among the five of them. This made his dream appear to be unrealistic.
However, Ju Chi had mixed feelings about the Dragon King.
“Indeed, he and his Dragon army are invaders. He’s even more hawkish than the Golden Roc Fort. He’s recruited most of the young men from the five countries. If he fails in the war, the entire Xiaoyao Lake area will be doomed.
“However, it’s due to him that our soldiers are once again equipped with combat skills. For the first time in decades, we have a powerful military force.”
Ju Chi always dreamed that the nearly 20,000 soldiers of the five countries would break away from the Dragon Army. Under the command of the royal family, they would expel invaders, fight the Golden Roc Fort, and gain a reputation among the Norland and the Central Plains.
It was a dream that he carefully preserved. He never made it public because he knew clearly that the Dragon King’s spies were all over Xiaoyao Lake, especially in the royal palace of the Stone Kingdom.
Now, the King of the Stone Kingdom was having a son, so he felt that he was one step closer to achieving his dream.
Among the five countries, the people in the Stone Kingdom supported the Dragon King the most because he was the Emperor’s son-in-law. Everyone knew that the son of the Dragon King and the Princess would take the crown. Thus, the Dragon King’s control over the Stone Kingdom was legitimate to some extent.
However, if the court maid were to give birth to a boy, his regime would start to crumble. He could clutch to the throne, but the people would not support him anymore.
That might be a great opportunity.
Thus, Ju Chi fully understood how important his duty was. The silent court maid in the house bore the hopes of the Stone Kingdom’s royal family, and even the hope of the entire Xiaoyao Lake.
He clenched his scimitar.
Ju Chi was good in Kung Fu; however, he had little confidence. He had witnessed the Dragon King’s machete skills on a few occasions. Since then, he completely dropped the idea of fighting the latter. The Dragon King was like a man of steel, and he was just made of flesh and bone.
Ju Chi felt deeply honored that the King of the Stone Kingdom had entrusted the pregnant court maid to him. However, he still reminded the King, “Keeping it a secret is the best protection. If word gets out, I’m afraid that even an entire army won’t protect her.”
Ju Chi had not gone home for several months. He had declared that he was assigned to guard the western border.
The court maid hid in a remote courtyard. The courtyard was shabby because it had been abandoned long ago. Only a maid and an elderly woman looked after her.
Every 10 days, someone sent a sufficient amount of food and collected their garbage. In that way, the four of them did not need to leave the courtyard at all.
Even with such a daily routine, Ju Chi’s caution did not lax at all. Especially over the last few days, he often felt nervous and that someone was snooping around. However, every time he drew the saber, it only proved to be a false alarm.
He realized that he was making the three women inside nervous as well. And that could hurt the baby. He could possibly even kill the last descendant of the King of the Stone Kingdom. Thus, he calmed himself down and refrained from wielding his saber after that.
That was how the imperial guard Ju Chi felt when the assassin arrived—He needed to both fight the enemy and avoid alarming the pregnant woman inside.
Therefore, he hesitated when drawing out his saber.
The assassin was dressed in black and moved fast. Like a wild cat looking for food at night, he approached his prey quietly.
Ju Chi was one of his prey. When he had drawn out half of the saber, the assassin’s saber glided right in front of his face. He could almost see his blood splashing out, forming a red curtain of blood. Through the curtain, he saw a sword around the assassin’s waist.
That was all Ju Chi could remember.
The news that a pregnant court maid had been assassinated quickly spread throughout the Stone Kingdom capital, and then over other places at the speed of a wildfire.
The King was furious. His anger lasted from midnight until the next afternoon. Without any evidence, he already decided who the murderer was.
He strode out of his bedchamber so quickly that the eunuchs almost lost him. The eunuchs were all stunned by the Emperor’s unprecedented energy.
At the Princess’s place, he thumped on the door and scolded the puzzled maid. Pushing away Xu Yanwei, who had come out to inquire, he stormed into his sister’s bedroom. He was red in the face with anger but only blurted out three words: “How dare you…!”
The Princess had just woken up and did not have a clue about why her brother was so angry. She still remembered the smile on the King’s face when he had asked for her forgiveness the day before.
When the King finally calmed down and told her the story, she was stunned. Not knowing what to say, she collected her thoughts for a while. “Did someone see that it was the Dragon King?”
“Even if it’s not him, it must be his man.” The King of the Stone Kingdom snarled. “Who else could it be? Well, you’re happy, aren’t you? It must be what you want. My son is gone, and yours gets to take the crown. I won’t let you, I’ll tell the world what you’ve done. Even if I die and the Stone Kingdom dies, you won’t have it!”
The Princess wept bitterly on her pillow.
Overnight, Gu Shenwei woke up to find himself besieged with public outrage. The only country that considered the Dragon King to be one of their own started to turn against him.
No one dared to protest publicly yet. However, in every street, alley, and barracks, everyone was talking about the murder in the royal palace. People always tended to invent more details to add to stories. It grew scarier and scarier. Someone even claimed that the Dragon King had cut open the pregnant woman and taken the baby out to make sure it was dead.
Moreover, the baby proved to be a boy.
When it was noon, more evidence emerged to support that the murderer was the Dragon King.
First, the imperial guard Ju Chi survived. He had witnessed that the assassin was equipped with a blade and a sword, which was a feature of the Dragon King. And as for how the Dragon King had missed his target, people came up with many explanations. The most popular one was that the Dragon King had been nervous. Who would feel at ease while doing something so evil? Moreover, his target was the mother, not the guard.
Second, a eunuch was accused of having had a private conversation with the Dragon King. Then, the old eunuch confessed under pressure that he had revealed the existence of the pregnant court maid to the Dragon King.
And there was the smoking gun. Even the strong supporters of the Dragon King started to suspect him.
Zhong Heng visited the Dragon King every two hours, and each time, he brought worse news than before. The Ju family had been out of touch with the people of the Stone Kingdom for a long time, but this murder brought them back into the public eye. Everyone felt deep sadness and anger from the royal family’s perspective.
Zhong Heng did not think that the Dragon King would do something so stupid. However, when more and more evidence emerged, he became a little confused as well. He felt the need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. The fifth time he went to the Dragon King’s place, he offered suggestions. “Well, it’s getting serious, we need to react. We either capture the murderer, or prove that you’re innocent. Or… we can take measures to stop people from speculating. For example, the imperial guard Ju and the eunuch… I think I can change their minds.”
“There’s no need.” The Dragon King’s calmness puzzled Zhong Heng. “I already have a plan.”
“That’s good, that’s very nice.” Zhong Heng believed the Dragon King, but he always acted on his own—even Zhong Heng did not know all his secrets. “Last night… did Your Majesty leave the camp?”
Zhong Heng was not snooping or trying to find out the truth. He simply wanted to remind the Dragon King of the unfavorable evidence against him. And if he had noticed it, others might have as well.
The Dragon King nodded, which greatly comforted Zhong Heng. At least the Dragon King had prepared for this.
“Pay attention to the camp.” Gu Shenwei was going to the city to solve the problem. “Don’t be soft on any riot. You can execute them without my order.”
“Yes, I will.” Zhong Heng bowed to leave. He regained his confidence, and even blamed himself for having suspected the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei arrived in the city in the evening. He could feel the suspicion and vigilance from the people along the way.
He did not visit the King of the Stone Kingdom, but went directly to the Princess’s place.
The Princess had been crying since the day before, and it seemed that she would not stop. Upon seeing her husband, she dived at him and eagerly asked, “Was it you?”
Gu Shenwei pushed the Princess away. He did not answer her, but said coldly, “Where are the remaining words? Take it out.”
“It was you! You’re the murderer!” The Princess was convinced of her judgment. She had never learned how to pretend, and would pour out her emotions when she was in her deepest despair. “You already have the entire Xiaoyao Lake, isn’t that enough? Why don’t you kill us all, so you can be the King of the Stone Kingdom? Here, this is the only thing you care about!”
The Princess threw out a roll of paper and it fell to the ground without flying far. Gu Shenwei caught it.
It was the last page of the eighth chapter of the Wayless Book along with the complete ninth chapter. The very page that had been forged by Maid Lotus lay at the same place.
They had not been stolen.
