The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  The advisors and officials in the hall all trembled in fear.

  A kneeling guard on the floor was fearfully reporting on what he had heard.

  This effort had already caused him to break out in a cold sweat.

  Anyone could see that the First Prince was furious.

  The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. There was no question that there had been some major misstep in this plan.

  The First Prince slowly turned his icy gaze to a nearby figure.

  Thump!

  Before the First Prince could speak, the man wearing the Asura mask that covered the bottom half of his face dropped to his knees.

  “Your Highness!”

  The Asura-masked man was already ghastly pale, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. He knew what the First Prince wanted to task, and there was no question that he bore heavy responsibility for this matter.

  “Just how did you fail to kill a woman who can’t even truss a chicken?”

  The First Prince gnashed his teeth. If looks could kill, this Asura-masked man would have died countless times.

  “Your Highness, this subordinate also does not know what is going on. But this subordinate swears that he killed her, watched her take her last breath with his own eyes. She definitely cannot still be alive!”

  The Asura-masked man made his case. He had been the primary executor of this plan, but someone of his abilities and status would normally not take part in these kinds of plans. However, not too long ago, Wang Chong had worked together with Imperial Army Commander Zhao Fengchen to wipe out all his subordinates. He had been the sole survivor, and the First Prince had no one else he could use in the short term.

  Moreover, this was a matter that involved Fifth Prince Li Heng and the War of the Princes. Not wanting to leave any clues, the First Prince had sent his best man to personally eliminate Jade Consort Xiao.

  But Jade Consort Xiao’s revival left all of them dumbstruck.

  The First Prince stared at the Asura-masked man, his eyes constantly shifting between seething killing intent and frightening chill. No one could tell what he was thinking.

  Chapter 1622 - Mending the Fence After the Sheep Have Been Stolen!

  Chapter 1622: Mending the Fence After the Sheep Have Been Stolen!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  In the end, after seeing the determined expression on the Asura-masked man’s face, the First Prince managed to calm his anger.

  Hiss!

  Taking in a deep breath, he began to develop another idea.

  The First Prince turned to the guard who had reported on the matter.

  “Let me ask you… is that Jade Consort Xiao the real one?”

  Buzz!

  Everyone in the Eastern Palace was startled, and the air suddenly turned strange.

  Yes! The assassin leader, Asura, was a vicious man with profound martial arts. This was true even though the First Prince had ordered him to not leave behind any clues and ensure that Jade Consort Xiao’s death looked like suicide, restricting many of his abilities.

  But he still had all his strength. It wasn’t possible that he was unable to kill an ordinary consort.

  Everyone instantly focused on the guard.

  “Your Highness, Jade Consort Xiao had a harrowing experience and is resting in the palace. However, all the other consorts have seen her, and from their reactions, this should be Jade Consort Xiao. In addition, the imperial physician also went to see her, and there are many other factors, like the reactions from the maids and eunuchs of Shuhua Palace, that all indicate that this really is Jade Consort Xiao!”

  The guard’s answer was unexpected, and it made all their hearts sink.

  The consorts and the maids and eunuchs of Shuhua Palace had undoubtedly interacted with Jade Consort Xiao before, and were the people most familiar with her. If even they didn’t notice anything strange, it meant that this truly might be the real person!

  The mood instantly turned oppressive.

  “I don’t believe it! This prince doesn’t believe it!” the First Prince suddenly roared, his face ashen. He was apparently completely incapable of accepting this fact.

  A cooked duck had flown away. After all his painstaking effort, how could he accept such a result?

  “Such a coincidence cannot exist in this world. Eunuch Yin, this prince asks you, just what transpired at that time? How could it be that a person who had been dead for more than half a day would suddenly come to life not long after Wang Chong had left Shuhua Palace? There is no way that this was a coincidence. This prince doesn’t believe that the matter is that simple!” the First Prince resentfully spat.

  All of this was too suspicious. Jade Consort Xiao had chosen the moment of her revival to be right after Wang Chong had left Shuhua Palace. This was simply too coincidental.

  “This old slave also had the idea, but this old slave questioned a maid of Shuhua Palace. The King of Foreign Lands was in Shuhua Palace for less than ten minutes, and there were ten-some maids and eunuchs inside at the time, with at least nine of them around Jade Consort Xiao’s coffin. Although this matter is suspicious, there was no opportunity for him to try anything,” Eunuch Yin said, his expression grave.

  The First Prince was struck dumb. Eunuch Yin’s loyalty was unquestionable, and the First Prince treated him in some ways like an extension of his body. If he said that Wang Chong didn’t have the opportunity, then it had to be true.

  But now that Wang Chong had been cleared of suspicion, the First Prince didn’t know who to suspect. If it wasn’t Wang Chong, then there was only one possibility.

  But… how was that possible?!

  Moreover, the First Prince simply couldn’t accept this.

  In the end, a meticulously crafted plan had not been defeated by Wang Chong or anyone else. It had been defeated by the neglect of his own men.

  “In addition…”

  The kneeling guard hesitantly spoke up.

  The First Prince took in a deep breath and ordered, “Talk!”

  “From what we’ve just learned, when the imperial physician arrived at Shuhua Palace, Jade Consort Xiao was constantly shouting that her chest hurt. In the end, after looking in the area indicated by Jade Consort Xiao, the imperial physician found a hair-thin needle, four-some inches long. The physician said that this needle should have been stabbed into Jade Consort Xiao’s heart, but the assassin apparently didn’t know that Jade Consort Xiao’s heart was one inch to the right compared to the heart of an average person, allowing her to avoid a fatal blow. The assassin was apparently careless because Jade Consort Xiao was an ordinary person and didn’t carefully check, causing this mistake,” the kneeling guard reported.

  Everyone’s minds buzzed in understanding, and all of them looked in one direction. First Prince Li Ying’s face twisted into a nasty scowl.

  “Bastard thing! Look at the fine work you’ve done!”

  The First Prince fiercely turned to the kneeling Asura, wanting nothing more than to eat the man alive. And the man himself had turned ghastly pale, his face drained of blood.

  “Your Highness, I don’t know what’s going on. I smothered her to death. That needle… I have no idea!”

  “Bastard thing, you still dare to argue!”

  The First Prince was infuriated by Asura’s defiance and immediately kicked him over.

  “A four-inch-long, hair-thin needle—isn’t that your most commonly-used assassination weapon? Bastard thing, even now, you’re still trying to deceive this prince!”

  Asura lay on the ground, blood on his lips, but he did not dare to retort.

  Assistant Minister of Personnel Zhu Tong’en spoke up at this point. “Your Highness, now is not the time to blame Sir Asura. What’s happened has happened, and our first priority is to think of a way to fix it. Jade Consort Xiao is right now claiming that someone tried to kill her, and now she has that needle in her chest. As long as she sticks to this explanation, our attempt
to frame Fifth Prince Li Heng will come to nothing. Why would someone want to kill someone having a love affair with the Fifth Prince? Only someone with secrets would have an assassin attempt to take their life. This being the case, the Imperial Clan Court will have to reassess all their evidence, and the Fifth Prince will probably be released soon!”

  It was important to find out the truth and see where the error was, but the most important thing was to fix the source of the problem. Even if the sheep had already been stolen, it was still not too late to mend the fence.

  “That’s right! Your Highness, our first priority is to resolve the chaos caused by Jade Consort Xiao. Someone tried to murder a consort of the palace. If this matter is investigated, even the Eastern Palace might be implicated.”

  The other advisors voiced their agreement.

  “Asura, this prince will give you one last chance. Before sunrise tomorrow, clean up the mess that you left for me. I don’t care what method you use, but Jade Consort Xiao must disappear. In addition, keep a close watch on Wang Chong. This prince wants to know his every moment. Until this situation is resolved, this prince does not hope to see any more uncontrollable variables!” the First Prince coldly ordered. His first set of orders were for Asura, but his second set of orders were for the advisor in the Eastern Palace in charge of intelligence gathering.

  “Yes!”

  The two sounded off in unison.

  Following the First Prince’s words, an invisible undercurrent and killing intent began to surge through the Imperial Palace.

  ……

  Time slowly passed, and the Imperial Palace remained shaken by the news of Jade Consort Xiao’s revival for the rest of the day. But as the sun set and night fell, everything slowly calmed back down.

  “It’s about ready!”

  In an abandoned room on the western side of the palace, a window opened. A figure looked out and then flew through the window.

  No matter what, I have to fix this mistake! Asura said to himself as he hid in the shadows under a roof eave.

  The scout reports said that the King of Foreign Lands had left the Imperial Palace and returned to his residence. The laws of the court forbade outside officials from spending the night within the palace, and not even a King like King Song with actual power dared to defy this law. Without this greatest of obstacles, Asura feared nothing.

  “Let me see what’s really going on here!”

  Even Asura was still confused as to what had happened. Had he placed a needle in her chest out of habit and then forgotten about it because she was an ordinary person, or had someone else put the needle in after he had left?

  But the truth was unimportant to Asura. After tonight, the name of Jade Consort Xiao would vanish completely from the memories of the people.

  Thwish!

  A column of patrolling Imperial Army soldiers passed, after which Asura lunged forward and vanished like a puff of smoke.

  A few moments later, Asura was flying across the roofs of the Imperial Palace like a ghost, and he was soon at Shuhua Palace.

  Looking over from a nearby roof, he could see that Shuhua Palace was still brightly lit. Though it was late in the night, numerous maids and eunuchs were still moving about, and there were clearly more soldiers patrolling within.

  Given what had happened and Jade Consort Xiao’s claims that someone was trying to assassinate her, even the First Prince was forced to respond by increasing the guards around her.

  “Unfortunately, that’s no use against me.”

  Asura glanced down and then flew forward. Swish! Swish! Swish! As he did, he threw out several four-inch-long needles. Those soldiers within Shuhua Palace immediately dropped to the ground without even a groan.

  These needles had merely knocked them unconscious. He only needed to take them out as he was leaving and they would wake once more.

  After what had happened last time, Asura didn’t want to leave behind any trace of his presence.

  As long as he could kill Jade Consort Xiao while leaving these guards alive, the only news in the palace would be of Jade Consort Xiao’s sudden death. Her revival would merely be a kind of ‘soul echo’.

  Chapter 1623 - Into the Trap!

  Chapter 1623: Into the Trap!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Without the testimony from Jade Consort Xiao, the Fifth Prince would be forced back into the Imperial Clan Court, and everything would return to its normal course.

  This was the only way for Asura to express his loyalty to the First Prince and fix his mistake.

  Thwishthwishthwish!

  The numerous maids and eunuchs of Shuhua Palace fell over as Asura easily made his way into Jade Consort Xiao’s bedroom.

  “Who are you?”

  Within the room, Jade Consort Xiao was dressed in a white leisure gown and her hair was loose. She had seemingly been preparing to go to bed. The sudden appearance of Asura in her room had clearly given her a bad fright, but she was still a consort of the palace. Although she was alarmed, she did not panic. In fact, she even exuded an indifferent majesty and grace.

  Upon seeing this, even Asura had to admit that this woman whose heart was one inch to the right compared to ordinary people had other astonishing attributes.

  “Your Highness, I apologize for the offense! This lowly one must invite you to begin your journey.”

  “What journey? This consort does not understand. This consort is about to go to bed, so leave now, or else I will call the guards!” Jade Consort Xiao coldly said.

  Asura glanced at the fingers concealed in the consort’s sleeve and couldn’t help but internally chuckle. Although Jade Consort Xiao appeared very calm and composed, her trembling fingers revealed her true state of mind.

  It was obvious that this consort was far from as fearless and righteous as she appeared.

  I overestimated her. In the end, she’s just an ordinary woman!

  Asura mentally shook his head.

  He had been rather apprehensive about this whole operation, but it now seemed like he was being paranoid. Perhaps he really had thrust that needle into her out of habit, attempting to ensure that she was dead after he had finished hanging her up.

  It hadn’t been a complicated mission and he had just been killing an ordinary person, so he might have just forgotten about it.

  “Your Highness, do not panic. There will be no pain, and even if you shout, no one will come.”

  Asura smiled. Unwilling to continue conversing with this woman, he stepped forward and suddenly grabbed at Jade Consort Xiao.

  He had already used suicide by hanging, so he couldn’t use it again. This time, he would just make it seem like Jade Consort Xiao was a soul echo and shatter all her meridians!

  Buzz!

  But just when Asura snatched out with his right hand—

  In a flash of light, Jade Consort Xiao vanished from her bed and appeared several dozen feet away.

  Asura instantly paled.

  “Who are you?!”

  Asura’s pupils constricted and his heart began to thump in alarm. According to the information he had gathered, Jade Consort Xiao was just an ordinary person who should have been incapable of dodging his strike.

  “Hehe, you must be Asura? His Highness has been waiting for you for a long time!”

  Jade Consort Xiao took two steps back, a bizarre smile on her face. Asura’s eyes immediately began to twitch, his expression scowling.

  If he had just felt suspicious before, he was now absolutely sure that this had all been a trap, one specially designed for him!

  As these thoughts flitted through his mind, he felt an intense sense of danger.

  “Damn woman, you’re not Jade Consort Xiao! Who are you?!”

  Asura was both shocked and infuriated. The ordinary Shuhua Palace that was such an easy target was suddenly seething with danger.

  “Heheh, you’re still worried about that at a time like this?”

  A deris
ive smile appeared on Jade Consort Xiao’s lips. While still watching Asura, she continued to back away.

  “Hmph, foolish woman! You’re too naive! This is the Imperial Palace, not the outside. Did you think that you could deal with me as long as you drew me out? I can kill you like I can kill a chicken.”

  Asura coldly stared at the woman, his eyes gleaming with killing intent.

  No matter what sort of scheme this woman had, she was underestimating his strength too much. He hadn’t chosen this time to strike without reason. The palace gates were closed and the First Prince had ordered away all the commanders and Grand Marshals of the Imperial Army. Even if this woman did manage to find some Imperial Army soldiers, they would be no match for him.

  A person would have to pay a fool’s price for a fool’s words.

  But what Asura truly wanted to know was just who was this person that dared to pretend to be Jade Consort Xiao, causing the First Prince to lose face and him to be kicked over in front of all his colleagues.

  Buzz!

  Asura suddenly vanished like a ghost into the darkness.

  Suddenly, the room was brimming with killing intent. The calm and composed ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ also turned pale, an intense danger surging in her heart.

  She had believed that this assassin would show some apprehension after she revealed herself and try to escape, but this man was so reckless that he refused to leave even though he knew it was a trap, choosing to attack her instead.

  ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ was so badly frightened that her beautiful visage lost its color.

  As the sense of danger in her heart continued to multiply and that invisible killing intent continued to spread through the air, Jade Consort Xiao couldn’t help but call out, “Why haven’t you appeared yet?”

  Boom!

  The moment Asura appeared, accompanied by sharp bolts of Sword Qi and thin, sharp needles that converged on ‘Jade Consort Xiao’ from all sides, there was suddenly a terrific boom. The white curtains in the back of the bedroom suddenly blasted apart as a large armored figure wearing a black mask burst through a row of bookshelves.

  Boom! One of the bookshelves was obliterated, showering the room with pages of Buddhist sutras. The armored figure moved with incredible speed, instantly placing itself in front of ‘Jade Consort Xiao’.