The Palace Attendants were no strangers to the sight of Wei Xianren seizing the properties and resources of the Crown Prince’s Mansion. They simply assumed that this time, Wei Xianren was bullying the elder Crown Prince again, having extorted some Miracle Treasures from him.
The news spread like wildfire. Wei Xianren even used the incident to curry favor with the Princes and Princesses who were trying to recruit him, securing yet another reward for himself.
Soon, those who kept an eye on the elder Crown Prince, Xia Wuyang, received the news: the Miraculous Celestial Water Essence gifted to him by Emperor Xia had been mostly taken by Wei Xianren, leaving him with only a small portion.
However, the official story was that Xia Wuyang had bestowed the Celestial Water Essence upon Wei Xianren. Even if Emperor Xia were to find out, he wouldn’t punish him for it.
Although others had also coveted the Celestial Water Essence, news soon spread from Wei Xianren’s camp. He had apparently used it immediately to attempt a breakthrough to the Fifth Grade Realm, only to fail and waste most of the bottle.
As for the small portion of Celestial Water Essence left for Xia Wuyang, he supposedly consumed it as well. His health greatly improved, and he once again lost himself in revelry with a group of Qiuci Dancers, apparently paying no mind to Emperor Xia’s warning.
The outside world’s disdain for the elder Crown Prince grew. Scornful laughter echoed from the imperial court to the common streets. Even the ordinary folk knew the elder Crown Prince was becoming more wretched by the day and was surely not long for this world.
"His Majesty is truly as magnanimous as the ocean. If I had a son like that, I would have kicked him out of the Crown Prince’s position long ago. I’d never let him cling to the title like this."
"A decrepit, aging Crown Prince and a robust, majestic Emperor. Our Majesty is in the prime of his life, brimming with vitality. To think the Crown Prince would end up like this."
"This whole affair has become a joke to the neighboring kingdoms. It’s time to depose the Crown Prince."
"Perhaps, but His Majesty is merciful. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait for him to die before the position of Crown Prince is filled by another."
From the palace to the court, from the Major Sects to the common folk, everyone looked down on the elder Crown Prince.
It seemed everyone was just waiting for the elder Crown Prince to die so he could be replaced by a worthy successor who would restore the Great Xia Dynasty’s prestige and prevent it from being the laughingstock of the neighboring kingdoms.
But none of them knew that at this very moment, this elder Crown Prince, Xia Wuyang, had Qi Blood surging like a meeting of dragon and tiger as he broke through to Sixth Grade Perfection.
After consolidating and acclimating to his new strength, Xia Wuyang wasted no time and immediately began his push to the next level.
Torrential Qi Blood churned within him. Once it had gathered to a critical point, it crashed against the dam-like bottleneck.
The Qi Blood cultivated by the modified and improved Dragon Tiger Fist was both incredibly vigorous and exceptionally pure, which was like adding wings to a tiger when breaking through a barrier.
In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he broke through his shackles and ascended to a higher level, beginning a deeper tempering and refinement of all the meridians in his body.
His power surged once more, increasing by about thirty percent.
The next level up was the Fifth Grade Realm. This realm was also known as the Bone Refining Realm, or the City-Breaking Realm. As the name implied, once a cultivator reached Fifth Grade, they could easily breach an ordinary city; its gates would be as fragile as clay and tile before them.
This was precisely why Fifth Grade was also called the City-Breaking Realm. Within the Great Xia Dynasty, any Military General of even minor renown was typically an expert at the Fifth Grade or higher.
Few among the many Princes and Princesses had reached this level, and every one who had was a strong contender for the throne.
After his breakthrough came consolidation and adaptation. In the Sleeping Palace just outside his Practice Room, the bed was still filled with soft, warm bodies, but they were all Qiuci Dancers this time. Lian Xing was not among them.
The Qiuci Dancers had not awoken. After tending to Xia Wuyang, they had been enveloped by a specially made incense and had fallen into a deep slumber, completely unaware of what had transpired.
Outside Wenhua Hall, a fine, silken rain began to fall. The Palace Attendants scurried for cover, huddling in small groups to discuss how much longer the elder Crown Prince could possibly last, and whether they had all secured their own exit strategies.
Puddles on the bluestone path reflected shattered palace lanterns. Morale had collapsed; chaos reigned. This was the state of the Eastern Palace.
The former Crown Prince’s Grandmaster Tutor, now a mere Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar, Mo Qianqiu, watched this scene unfold. After a moment of hesitation, he decided against seeking an audience with the Crown Prince and instead turned to leave with his attendant.
His indigo scholar’s robe was soaked a darker shade by the rain. Its wide sleeves hung like clouds, revealing wrists as gaunt as bamboo.
His silver hair was held loosely in place by a nanmu wood hairpin, a few stray strands falling beside his gaunt cheeks, adding to his somber appearance.
"Sir, since we’ve come this far, why not go into Wenhua Hall?" his young attendant asked, confused. "Are you truly not going to see the Crown Prince?"
Mo Qianqiu sighed. "The Eastern Palace is in this state. It speaks volumes about His Highness’s circumstances and health. What is there left to see? It would only bring unnecessary sorrow."
"But..." The young attendant was at a loss for words. "I heard Wei Xianren is becoming more and more disrespectful toward the Crown Prince. He even dared to steal the Celestial Water Essence bestowed by the Emperor! Sir, aren’t you going to reprimand him?"
Mo Qianqiu gave a bitter smile. "The Crown Prince himself said it was a gift for Wei Xianren. What could I possibly say?"
He pulled a plain white handkerchief from his sleeve and stared at the faded ink plum blossom embroidered upon it, a gift from the Crown Prince’s own hand fifty years ago.
Glancing at the broken glazed tiles on the eaves of the Eastern Palace, Mo Qianqiu stared for a long while before letting out a soft, sudden laugh. "Years ago, before this very window, the Crown Prince played a game with this old man. He said he would usher in a golden age of peace and prosperity."
Rainwater trickled down the window lattice, splashing onto the game board below. The unfinished game remained, but the white pieces had long since withered away, just like the aging Crown Prince.
"Sir, please don’t be sad. No one could have known what was going to happen," the young attendant said comfortingly.
’Sad?’ Mo Qianqiu’s gaunt fingers traced the surface of the game board, his face a mask of resignation. "I just find it a shame... a shame that the young man who once burned the midnight oil has become... this."
He gazed toward Wenhua Hall, and a vision from the past surfaced in his clouded eyes.
Back then, Xia Wuyang, with his hair bound in a golden crown and dressed in a moon-white Python Robe, would stand before the throne and recite treatises on governance in a clear, resonant voice. The morning sun, filtering through the ornate windows, would frame him in a golden halo. Even His Majesty himself had repeatedly exclaimed, "This son is just like me," to the admiration of all the Ministers.
At the time, he too had been full of ambition, hoping to realize his life’s aspirations by tutoring the Crown Prince. But he never expected disaster to strike so suddenly. The Crown Prince, a mere thirty years old, was ambushed. His Cultivation Foundation was utterly destroyed, leaving him with no future prospects.
The Ministers who belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction were scattered to the winds. As the Crown Prince’s Grandmaster Tutor, Mo Qianqiu himself had suffered a series of demotions and was now just a common Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar.
Recalling the ambush from all those years ago, a chill seized Mo Qianqiu’s heart. He had investigated the matter for years afterward and had unintentionally uncovered a terrifying secret: among the Crown Prince’s assailants were members of the Shadow Guard, a unit under the direct control of His Majesty.

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