As it happened, the intelligence Fang Jiu had just given Pei Liang concerned several officials who, while out carousing, had displayed an unusually tacit understanding with the Prince Liang faction.
As one of the chief intelligence officers on Prince Liang’s side, Fang Jiu knew the faction’s makeup inside and out. The Prince Liang faction could be further divided into several groups. There were the diehards—their interests were so closely tied to Prince Liang’s that if she fell, they would be finished as well. Then there were those driven by self-interest, who had chosen to place their bets on Prince Liang but had paid a considerable price to do so; abandoning or betraying her would mean bearing enormous sunk costs, making them relatively unlikely to defect.
And then there were the opportunists who had simply followed the prevailing winds of interest and might well change sides at any moment.
Beyond distinctions based on loyalty and the closeness of their interests to the faction, there were also the so-called neutral camp, those suspected of supporting the Second Imperial Daughter, the legitimists produced by the Crown Princess’s appointment, and the opportunists who had previously been unable to gain a foothold under Prince Liang and now sought greater political rewards elsewhere.
Although Fang Jiu was the madam of a brothel, she had a crystal-clear understanding of the divisions within the court and the positions of its officials.
Among these particular officials were even some who belonged to the Prince Liang faction without having any core interests tied to it.
Yet even after the Crown Princess had been appointed, they had still believed that Prince Liang had the better odds of winning. But over the past two days, several of them had suddenly begun exchanging flirtatious signals with people from either the Crown Princess’s or the Second Imperial Daughter’s faction.
The matter was of such gravity that these people had been extremely cautious and had revealed very little. Still, those scattered hints had been enough for Fang Jiu to extract something useful.
Prince Liang was about to face an unprecedented crisis. It was coming with such ferocity that even given Prince Liang’s forceful character, it had driven these people to change their allegiance decisively within a matter of days.
Although Prince Liang’s current position was unfavorable, with the Empress gravely ill and liable to die at any moment, everyone had previously believed that the outcome was still impossible to predict.
Fang Jiu had considered the matter for a long while and decided that the Empress was unlikely to be the cause. If the Empress had truly intended to make a move, her plan would not have been so careless as to allow even officials of that caliber to learn of it.
So where did Prince Liang’s greatest hidden danger lie?
There was only one answer: on the day of the wedding, she had beaten the envoy from Xianluo Mountain, directly tearing away the dignity of the representative of that sanctified mountain sect—or rather, tearing Xianluo Mountain’s face off and throwing it to the ground before grinding it beneath her feet.
Pei Liang had anticipated that Xianluo Mountain would retaliate. That was precisely why she had beaten the holy fraud.
She simply had not expected Xianluo Mountain to be even more conceited than she had imagined.
The Empress had finished speaking and was staring at the Boss, trying to find even the slightest trace of wavering or regret in her expression.
There was none. In fact, after hearing her words, the Prince Liang’s face took on an almost amused expression.
Then she said, “And then?”
A profound look entered the Empress’s eyes. “Then I found myself in a difficult position.”
“Of the three daughters I have left, I had originally hoped that after I was gone, you would support one another and work together to protect the Great Liang Empire. Now one-third of you is to be taken away. How could I bear it?”
“But if I defy the will of Heaven and disregard the safety of the people—”
Of course, that was all nonsense. From the very beginning, the Empress had never thought that all three of her daughters would survive to the end.
Given Third’s foolishness and weakness, she might have been able to tolerate both her sisters.
But the two above her would never tolerate each other. They were destined to fight until one of them died.
Still, the atmosphere between the Boss and Third had now diverged from what the Empress had expected. The Boss’s temperament, composure, methods, and courage had all undergone an almost complete transformation overnight. A conclusion that had once been obvious at a glance had now become blurred.
The deeper meaning behind the Empress’s words was clear—
She had always intended to take Prince Liang’s life. Allowing Prince Liang to act recklessly and offend Xianluo Mountain was a worthwhile way to test her.
And now that Xianluo Mountain had issued its sentence, if she followed the tide of public opinion and “reluctantly” executed Prince Liang for the sake of the people and the common good, while Prince Liang was about to become the target of universal condemnation and betrayal, the Empress would lose nothing either.
What the Empress was saying now was that Pei Liang needed to produce a bargaining chip.
What could she offer that would allow the Empress to withstand the pressure from Xianluo Mountain?
The Prince Liang merely smiled. “I thought Mother Empress had long since seen through the true nature of Xianluo Mountain.”
“I never expected that, despite the rebellion and defiance written in your eyes, you would ultimately be tamed by some so-called divine decree.”
“If all Mother Empress wants is to bare her claws at the immortals she believes in before the end of her life, merely to emphasize how extraordinary she is, then as your daughter, I will gladly satisfy you in this final act of self-deception and dignity.”
The Empress’s eyes turned cold, and even her smile seemed to gather a layer of frost. “You truly believe I would not dare touch you?”
Pei Liang smiled. “How could I? However, if Mother Empress truly intends to do so, then before I die, there is one thing I must say.”
Pei Liang leaned slightly closer. “As far as Xianluo Mountain is concerned, Mother Empress is not even as good as Emperor Wen, whom you once regarded with such contempt.”
“At least Emperor Wen truly ignored this so-called divine decree from the bottom of his heart.”
Although Emperor Wen had ultimately been unable to withstand the pressure and had failed, she had at least resisted.
Naturally, the Empress would not be swayed by such a clumsy provocation. The Boss herself certainly did not believe that a few words would be enough to overturn the Empress’s assessment.
But—
The Empress glanced at the Boss, who was now already within arm’s reach.
The words she spoke had no credibility at all, but her actions had already made her intentions perfectly clear.
The Empress knew that if she chose to take the easy path—if she followed Xianluo Mountain’s so-called divine decree and used it as justification to eliminate the Boss—
then, in the very next instant after she made that decision, the Boss would likely smother her to death in this bed, slaughter every hidden guard in the bedchamber, and pin the blame for her death neatly on Xianluo Mountain.
Killing two birds with one stone.
No matter how thoroughly Xianluo Mountain had been deified, it had done little to establish itself openly. The common people might revere it as divine in their daily lives, but the death of an emperor would create enough shock to leave the sect in a vulnerable, defensive position.
The Boss of the past might not have been capable of such a thing. But now—
The Empress had an inexplicable confidence in this woman. She was certain the Boss could seize the advantage and press her attack.
Just moments ago, the Boss’s gaze had landed with uncanny precision on the places where the palace’s hidden guards were concealed. It had seemed like a casual glance, yet not one of those gazes had fallen pointlessly or missed its mark.
The Empress had spent her life campaigning and possessed peerless martial prowess. Her eyesight and instincts regarding such matters were beyond those of ordinary people.
Her conclusion was that the Boss could do it.
The Empress’s gaze passed over the Boss’s neck and earlobe. There were two distinctive features on this woman.
One was a tiny red mole where the neck met the jaw.
The other was a sesame-sized skin tag on her left earlobe.
Then there were the fine details of her features and the structure of her finger bones. She was indeed the Boss. Ever since the woman had entered the palace to see her after the wedding, the Empress had secretly investigated her thoroughly over the past several days.
But how was this possible?
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, the Empress had no choice but to reassess her daughter’s strength.
Then she smiled. “You make a fair point. It seems I was led astray by Xianluo Mountain. The choice of an heir concerns the continuation of the empire. How could executing a prince of the realm be considered the work of some treacherous rebel attempting to seize control of the court?”
“However, the divine decree has already been issued. According to precedent, if I refuse to take a position, the consequences of this matter will spread throughout the realm.”
“Putting everything else aside, Xianluo Mountain’s ability to predict natural disasters with astonishing accuracy is an indisputable fact established over the course of several hundred years.”
Pei Liang said, “Mother Empress, could you summon the Crown Princess?”
The Empress frowned, unsure what she was planning.
Still, she agreed to Prince Liang’s suggestion. If the one who ultimately took the throne really was Third, then there was no longer any need to keep these matters from her.
Pei Liang instructed the person sent to summon the Crown Princess, “Have her bring over the assignments I gave her these past two days.”
The Empress was even more baffled.
When the Crown Princess arrived, she was carrying a large stack of neatly organized documents.
The Empress asked, “What is all this?”
The Crown Princess had carried it over herself and was flushed from exhaustion. At the question, she turned to the Boss with a proud look and said, “These are the records of every natural disaster, plague of insects, and war since the founding of Great Liang that Eldest Sister asked me to organize.”
The Empress pondered this. Then she heard Prince Liang praise the Crown Princess. “Well done. After organizing them, what conclusions did you reach?”
Worry clouded the Crown Princess’s face. “Great Liang has had such a difficult time.”
Pei Liang smiled. “Other dynasties were no different. In this world, what is ever easy?”
Then Pei Liang said to the Empress, “As far as I know, since the founding of Great Liang, the people of Xianluo Mountain have descended from the mountain fewer than twenty times to predict disasters, excluding the founding patriarch’s predictions.”
“Third Sister, pick out those dozen or so predictions from the historical records of disasters.”
The Crown Princess had clearly done her homework over the past few days. She quickly found them.
The Empress also understood the Boss’s meaning.
Sure enough, the Boss placed the dozen or so records before the Empress. “I’m not questioning Xianluo Mountain’s accuracy.”
“It’s just that in these dozen-odd disasters, whether they involved the deposition or appointment of a crown heir, or occurred when an emperor attempted to challenge Xianluo Mountain’s authority, without exception, the motive behind their intervention was to preserve the sect’s transcendent status as the mouthpiece of the immortals.”
“Whether these disasters really occurred because Xianluo Mountain had identified them as such is beside the point. The fact remains that they accurately predicted them, and in doing so, consolidated their position.”
“But these disasters…” Pei Liang picked them out one by one, her expression both amused and sardonic. “Aside from two floods and earthquakes that affected a vast area, the rest were thoroughly ordinary.”
“The most ironic example is the locust plague predicted after Emperor Wen forcibly appointed the daughter of his favorite consort as crown heir. Judging by the scale of locust plagues in previous years, it could hardly be considered anything more than a minor outbreak.”
The Empress nodded when she heard this. “I understand what you mean. It’s something I’ve always suspected as well.”
The people of Xianluo Mountain had relied on their extraordinary ability to predict the future, using their so-called power to turn black into white and deceive the masses.
The Empress had long known this. But she had never expected the facts to become so stark and so shocking when laid out in comparison with the data.
She looked at Prince Liang. “The trouble is that Xianluo Mountain’s predictions are accurate.”
They could foresee the future. That alone placed them in an invincible position, rendering all accusations hollow.
Pei Liang said, “I know. But if we can put that ability to use, Great Liang can immediately enter a period of rapid development.”
For all her intelligence, even the Empress found the statement somewhat difficult to understand.
But Pei Liang knew that if someone from Xianluo Mountain were present, they would have understood at once.
The Empress at least understood Prince Liang’s strategy now. In the past, every emperor of Great Liang who had tried to eliminate Xianluo Mountain had ultimately been stopped by one obstacle: the fact that their predictions were certain to come true.
But the Boss’s meaning seemed to be that she had no intention of opposing those predictions in the first place.
Prince Liang replied, “Why should anyone oppose the laws by which heaven and earth operate?”
She then continued, “But it isn’t enough yet.”
“Not enough for what?” the Empress asked.
“Right now, Xianluo Mountain still stands in an exalted position. With a single ‘divine decree,’ they intend to use the disaster three months from now to eliminate me. At the end of the day, they still hold their heads too high.”
“They’ve held them up for centuries. They’ve truly started to think of themselves as immortals.”
“What do you intend to do, then?”
Pei Liang said, “Let the situation spiral out of control.”
The three of them held a confidential discussion. For the most part, it was the Empress and Pei Liang who did the negotiating; the Crown Princess still did not understand the full scope of the political issues involved.
As they were leaving, the Empress gestured for the Crown Princess to go on ahead, then kept Pei Liang behind and asked a question.
“If it comes to that… what do you intend to do with the Crown Princess?”
From the Boss’s words and preparations, as well as the merciless judgment she had made without hesitation—and the follow-up strategy she had devised instantly—during the tense moment just now, the Empress knew that with her current, thoroughly broken body, she had no way to send away this wicked daughter who had cuckolded her.
She could only live one day at a time. Second and Third were no match for the Boss right now.
Yet she did not understand why the Boss treated Third this way. Her instruction of the Crown Princess had been broader and more thorough than that of the useless Grand Tutor. If the Crown Princess were merely a pawn, there was no way Pei Liang would have allowed her to glimpse the essence of imperial power and responsibility.
That was not something one could do simply for show.
The Empress heard the Boss reply, “Having Third serve as Crown Princess is fine.”
Then, as if remembering something, she smiled. “Oh, right. I keep mixing up the titles and seniority.”
“She should technically be the Imperial Younger Sister, I suppose. Either way, it means the same thing.”
With that, Pei Liang left the emperor’s chambers, leaving the Empress alone with her tangled thoughts.
In the end, the Empress gave a laugh that was half relieved and half mocking. “How generous of her.”
The following day was the day Prince Liang returned to court after her wedding.
Although the Empress had been seriously ill and had not attended court for nearly half a year, the morning court sessions had continued as usual.
Previously, they had been presided over by the Empress’s administrative officials, Prince Liang, and the Second Imperial Daughter. But now, the person seated in the highest position was the Crown Princess.
Though at present, she was little more than a figurehead.
Sure enough, as soon as the session began, several ministers simultaneously brought up the divine decree from Xianluo Mountain.
Their target was clearly Prince Liang. They attempted to persuade the “Empress” to put the welfare of the people first and eliminate this threat.
The Crown Princess was so furious she nearly exploded. She glared at the ministers who had made the proposal, only to realize that their faces looked strangely familiar.
Then she took a closer look—and found that some were officials naturally aligned with the Eastern Palace, while others belonged to factions her Grand Tutor had mentioned and had already won over to her side.
The watching courtiers grew excited the moment they saw the Crown Princess’s faction launch an attack on Prince Liang. The Second Imperial Daughter, meanwhile, put on a worried expression as she looked at her elder sister, while inwardly praying that the Empress would take this opportunity to kill the troublemaker.
Yet Prince Liang’s usually forceful faction did not react aggressively at all.
This left the Crown Princess’s faction, led by the Xu family, feeling as though they had thrown a punch into a wad of cotton.
The Empress’s administrative official then issued a response to the matter, clearly having prepared it in advance.
The imperial decree was read aloud, stripping Prince Liang of her title and designation as a prince. The denunciation went on at great length; the Empress’s overwhelming fury could be felt through the decree itself.
General Liu looked at Prince Liang worriedly, his fists tightening. He felt that the entire scene was utterly absurd.
But as they listened to what followed, everyone began to sense that something was wrong.
Wait. Why did this decree sound like thunder with barely a drop of rain?
No, it was not merely a drop of rain. There was no rain at all.
Her position as a prince had been taken away, yet all her former privileges and provisions were to remain unchanged for the time being. What did it mean that all her official posts and responsibilities were to remain unchanged as well?
Had they stripped her title for nothing?
What was even more outrageous was that she was assigned two tasks on the spot. One was an easy and lucrative post, while the other was of considerable importance to the struggle between the two factions.
Prince Liang—no, she was now merely an Imperial Daughter, stripped of everything but her bloodline—
The First Imperial Daughter had been planted in that position, effectively choking off the rapid spread and development of the Crown Princess’s faction. It was a classic position wielding real administrative authority.
It was a demotion on paper but a promotion in reality.
Grand Tutor Xu’s faction hurriedly submitted a memorial, claiming that everything the Empress had done was an act of blasphemy against the gods and a violation of the divine decree. They fell to their knees and begged the Empress to think twice.
Prince Liang, however, said, “The divine decree merely says that ‘Prince Liang’ must be executed. What does the person executing Prince Liang have to do with me, then?”
“There is no Prince Liang in Great Liang anymore. Are we supposed to create another one just to kill her?”
As soon as she finished speaking, the Crown Princess immediately chimed in, “Imperial Sister’s suggestion is excellent.”
“If the divine decree insists that a ‘Prince Liang’ must die, then we can simply take a prisoner, grant her the title of Prince Liang, and execute her afterward.”
“Someone who is vicious and irredeemably evil would be fortunate indeed to die bearing the dignity of a prince.”
General Liu smiled and immediately understood what she meant. She stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, allow this official to explain. Even if we follow the divine decree, the title of Prince Liang cannot be bestowed upon just anyone.”
The moment she said this, Grand Tutor Xu’s eyelids twitched. She had a bad feeling.
Sure enough, that ugly monster continued, “This general happens to have someone in mind.”
“She was born into nobility, once held a first-rank office, and is learned in the classics. She even placed first in the palace examinations back in the day. She was exceptionally capable, yet embezzled for years before being discovered.”
“Her crime was insulting a first-rank official of the imperial court—namely, this general—and falsely accusing a prince of colluding with a military commander. She truly deserves execution.”
The Crown Princess was hardly unaware of what had happened. Grand Tutor Xu had been whispering into her ear about it these past few days, but the Crown Princess merely worshipped her Imperial Sister blindly. She believed everything Pei Liang said, but she was not actually a mindless fool with no opinions of her own.
Thus, she had ordered someone to investigate the matter. The Empress had directly assigned her a basic staff, and they were absolutely loyal to the Crown Princess.
After looking into it, she learned the entire sequence of events. Now, hearing General Liu—who had remained silent for two days—take advantage of the situation to strike, she smoothly followed along.
“Oh? Judging by her status and record, she does seem suitable.”
“Who is this person?”
“Your Highness, this person is Lady Du, the former Minister of Works.”
Grand Tutor Xu hurriedly shouted, “How absurd! Lady Du’s charges have not yet been thoroughly investigated. How can she be convicted so casually?”
General Liu’s eyes sharpened. “Is Grand Tutor Xu suggesting that this official is lying?”
Grand Tutor Xu was just about to use her silver tongue to wriggle free when the Crown Princess continued, “She was delivered there by my Imperial Sister’s personal guards.”
“Grand Tutor Xu may doubt General Liu’s word if she wishes, but the situation is that Lady Du committed a serious offense against her superiors and framed both an Imperial Daughter and important court officials. My Imperial Sister herself caught her in the act. Could it be that Grand Tutor Xu is suggesting my Imperial Sister is lying as well?”
Grand Tutor Xu was practically on the verge of tears.
What had she been doing all this for?
Why were the subordinates of the Crown Princess’s faction working themselves to the bone to strike at their rivals and seize power, while their leader not only refused to take action, but had defected to the enemy first?
So the real clowns had been them all along.
Watching this unfold, the fence-sitters around them had to reassess the Crown Princess’s faction yet again—particularly its reliability.
Grand Tutor Xu had originally intended to use today to peel away a layer of Prince Liang’s defenses, then take the opportunity to rescue Lady Du.
Lady Du might no longer hold an official position, but her political acumen was of vital importance to their interest group. Otherwise, the Emperor would never have spared her life back then.
Now, it looked as though they had failed to bring down Prince Liang and were instead about to sacrifice one of the faction’s most important strategists and leaders.
But they had vastly underestimated the situation.
Just as the court was engaged in a heated dispute, an urgent report arrived from the Celestial Prison.
“Report! Daoist Master Qiu, who claims to be an envoy of the Xianluo Mountain Sect, has confessed that the sect split apart decades ago.”
“Although every Xianluo Mountain Sect Master still receives guidance from the Higher God, the orthodox bloodline of the old immortal’s lineage has always been scarce. It even nearly died out entirely in several generations. The sect has long since fallen under the control of collateral branches and the descendants of those who once served the old immortal.”
“The Sect Master has become a puppet, used as a tool by the two factions to interfere with the affairs of the imperial court and pursue their own interests.”
“To prevent the Sect Master from sending any signal for outside assistance, they even locked the Sect Master away in a lightless forbidden chamber and confined her freedom from childhood.”
“The Sect Master herself is pure and simple-minded. Aside from divining the movements of the heavens and communicating with the gods, she knows nothing else.”
“Based on Daoist Master Qiu’s experience, the Xianluo Mountain Sect’s decision to violate its usual conventions and attack a prince—rather than involving itself only in the selection of an heir to the throne—must have been the work of those treacherous villains.”
The moment these words were spoken, the entire court fell silent.
Anyone who had risen high enough to attend court as an independent official possessed a mind with at least seven orifices and nine twists.
Their gazes consequently fell upon Prince Liang.
This was insane. That lunatic really intended to go head-to-head with the Xianluo Mountain Sect.
Wasn’t this exactly what rebellious ministers did when they wanted to revolt under the banner of “cleansing the Emperor’s side”?
No, seriously—how had a prince come up with a move so completely opposed to her own position?
Never mind how Immortal Master Qiu had confessed in the Celestial Prison. Given Prince Liang’s methods, the woman was probably already ruined.
And anyone qualified to serve as an Immortal Master was naturally one of the Xianluo Mountain Sect’s core figures of authority. Just this one move alone was likely enough to make the conflict irreconcilable.
The Xianluo Mountain Sect had acted coldly and arrogantly, but Prince Liang was even bolder than they were.
She actually intended to lead an army and flatten the Xianluo Mountain Sect outright.
Now that these rumors had spread, no matter how the Xianluo Mountain Sect tried to clarify matters, Prince Liang could twist their words into proof that they were lying. She could claim that the Sect Master was still being controlled and that every divine command issued in her name was not truly her own.
The more the Xianluo Mountain Sect tried to explain itself, the worse its position would become. As long as Immortal Master Qiu remained under Prince Liang’s control, she could keep using their own spear against their shield.
The Xianluo Mountain Sect had given Prince Liang far too much time—three full months, enough for her to flatten the place.
Once Prince Liang had taken control of the Xianluo Mountain Sect three months from now, those so-called divine decrees would mean whatever she said they meant.
If the Xianluo Mountain Sect did not want to sit around waiting for death, it had only one option: its Sect Master had to appear in person and prove that Daoist Master Qiu’s claims were false.
But that would still be a victory for Prince Liang. She had already dragged the Xianluo Mountain Sect down from its lofty position.
Once its mysterious veil was lifted, many of its secrets might turn out to be nothing special after all.
Of course, this was the essence of the situation—something that only the most shrewd and experienced schemers could see at a glance. There were fewer than five such people in the entire court, including Chancellor Su.
Everyone else in the imperial court was genuinely frightened by Prince Liang’s blasphemous conduct.
How dare she?
And now, after hearing the report, that woman put on an expression of grief, acting so dramatically that she might as well have been on a stage.
“The Sect Master of Xianluo Mountain never imagined that her entire life would be lived in such darkness.”
“Those treacherous villains are beyond forgiveness. With their lowly bodies, they actually toyed with everyone beneath the heavens in the palm of their hands.”
“Rest assured, Sect Master. I, this prince, will certainly rescue you.”
General Liu also declared loudly, “First Highness, please rest assured. A mere Xianluo Mountain Sect will be defeated by this general within three days.”
The Crown Princess said, “This is utterly outrageous.”
The tears in Grand Tutor Xu’s heart had already dried up from sheer misery.
Your Highness, wake up!
A moment ago, these two were accusing Lady Du of framing a prince and colluding with a military commander. Now the two of them were openly conspiring right in front of everyone.
