The confirmation that the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, had been made a eunuch sent an uproar through the Imperial Palace and beyond. The news threw the court and the public into a frenzy.
The greatest irony was that just one day before, the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, had been mocking the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, for his ruin and disgrace. The very next day, he found himself a similar laughingstock.
And all the cruel words he had spoken to Ah Yuela were now being thrown right back at him.
"I heard the Fifth Prince was just calling that Ah Yuela from the Eastern Palace a piece of charcoal. Who’d have thought he’d turn out to be a pale, useless capon?"
"He can’t even perform his manly duties anymore, so what’s the point of acting like a dashing lover? He’s even worse than that dying old fool in the Eastern Palace. That one might be a cripple, but at least he can still perform in bed. It’s hilarious."
"How many Eunuch Princes does that make in the palace now? Especially with the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen. Both of them were the most likely candidates for the Crown Prince’s position before. Now they can make a matching pair."
This gossip stabbed into the Fifth Prince Xia Wushang’s heart like poisoned needles, driving him to the brink of collapse.
He locked himself in his Sleeping Palace, not leaving for three days and three nights. When he finally emerged on the fourth day, he was a full size thinner, his eyes sunken and bloodshot. Though he was still alive, these past few days had been a living hell, worse than death itself.
The Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, never would have imagined that he had suffered such a terrible fate merely for mocking Ah Yuela. Had he known, he never would have been so foolishly provocative.
’All I did was mock a dark-skinned beauty. How could that have brought such a punishment down on me?’
No one else would have guessed that the great calamity that befell the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, was simply because he had said a few words he shouldn’t have.
Even the victim, Ah Yuela, upon hearing of the Fifth Prince Xia Wushang’s tragic fate, never imagined it had anything to do with her.
She only felt that the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, was getting what he deserved, suffering this terrible fate as karmic retribution. She had no idea that it was because of her that Xia Wuyang had acted against the Fifth Prince, teaching him a brutal lesson.
The true culprit, Xia Wuyang, was currently standing in the Practice Room of Wenhua Hall, gazing in the direction of the Gold and Silver Palace.
"Xia Wushang, are you satisfied with this grand gift?"
He muttered to himself, a smile playing on his lips. "But this isn’t the end. How could merely becoming a eunuch be enough? It’s better if you become a complete cripple. Otherwise, Xia Wuchen might get jealous."
The water lilies of Taiye Pool quietly closed in the night, as if foreshadowing something.
And on this night, many were destined to be sleepless.
A spring rain had been drizzling over White Jade City for three days, causing the water in Taiye Pool to rise by three feet. The tender leaves of the weeping willows by the poolside were washed by the rain to a bright, translucent green.
But the atmosphere throughout the entire Imperial City was even more gloomy and oppressive than the continuous, dreary rain.
「Inside Yangxin Hall.」
Emperor Xia sat on the Throne, clutching an urgent report from the border. His fingertips had turned white from the force of his grip.
The urgent report was from a spy in the Da Kuo Royal Court, detailing their recent movements.
After learning that Great Xia’s two most promising princes had become eunuchs one after another, that great lord of the steppes had actually laughed out loud in his own court assembly. He declared that the Yang Qi of the Great Xia Royal Family was in decline and the Dynasty’s fate was nearing its end. Otherwise, how could their two most outstanding princes both have become eunuchs?
And then there was that elder Crown Prince, who had long been a cripple and was clearly on his last legs.
The three most outstanding princes of the Great Xia Dynasty had now become its three biggest laughingstocks. Even Xia Wuyang hadn’t expected to be included in that count.
What was even more infuriating was that the Western Rong, the Southern Barbarians, and the Donghai Islands had all sent envoys to offer their "condolences."
On the surface, they feigned concern for the princes’ conditions, but in reality, every sentence was barbed, and every word was meant to twist the knife.
The envoy from the Southern Barbarians even "thoughtfully" presented a pile of aphrodisiac herbs, suggesting they might be useful for the two princes and that they should take them in large quantities.
BANG!
Emperor Xia slammed the urgent report down on his desk, and the jade paperweight shattered on impact.
The eunuchs and Palace Maids standing in attendance in the hall were so frightened they all dropped to their knees, holding their breath, not daring to make the slightest unnecessary movement.
"Useless! They’re all useless trash!" Emperor Xia’s voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot. "Those two worthless failures! They’ve utterly disgraced the Royal Family! They deserved to become eunuchs!"
He thought of the recent undercurrents surging through the Imperial Court. Many Courtiers were scrambling to realign themselves, and even many of the neutral, veteran officials were being swept up in the turmoil, swaying back and forth.
The theft from the Inner Treasury and the ransacking of the National Treasury had made the Great Xia Dynasty feel as if it were teetering on the brink of collapse. After all, if even the moneybags weren’t secure, how could the Courtiers possibly remain calm?
The most fatal blow was the wavering morale in the military. Both princes had loyal generals in the army, especially the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, who was backed by the Northern King.
Now that the princes they supported had become eunuchs and lost any chance of inheriting the throne, how were those generals supposed to position themselves?
The Northern Da Kuo Royal Court was now stirring with ambition, yet the Northern King remained completely silent, clearly harboring discontent. How to appease him was yet another problem.
In a short time, the Great Xia Dynasty, one of the three great powers of the Fallen Dragon Land, had become a laughingstock for all sides. How could Emperor Xia not be furious?
As for the mastermind behind all of this, the elder Crown Prince Xia Wuyang, whom no one took seriously, was currently embracing a woman on each arm, enjoying the service of Ah Yuela and Hanik’s Heart.
Beside them was a newly delivered Palace Maid, not even twenty years old, in the prime of her youth and beauty. The experience might have been a bit unseasoned, but she was so tender.
No one knew that this elder Crown Prince, who was immersed in the land of wine and women and couldn’t even engage in intercourse too many times, was actually the mastermind behind everything.
All the incidents that had occurred in the Imperial Palace recently, as well as the major events inside and outside the court, were all stirred up by him from behind the scenes.
Moreover, many things had not yet been exposed. If they were, the entire Great Xia Dynasty would likely be overturned.
Before long, Xia Wuyang was once again sent to the Practice Room, supposedly exhausted from his "attentions" to the new Palace Maid. He was to rest well and, once recovered, continue "attending" to the new beauties.
But what no one knew was that late at night, Xia Wuyang paid another visit to the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, to show him what it truly meant to kick a man when he’s down, and that when it rains, it pours.
Under the influence of the Soul Enchantment Technique, the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, tried to channel his grief and indignation into power, preparing to cultivate diligently. However, in the middle of his cultivation, memories of the past few days’ events flooded his mind uncontrollably.
And so, he suffered a "Qigong Deviation." He completely lost control of the rampaging Qi Blood in his body. Soon, his meridians were destroyed, his Dantian was ruined, and even his internal organs began to fail.
Following a blood-curdling scream, the surrounding Palace Attendants rushed into the Practice Room to see what had happened.
Only then did they see the Fifth Prince, Xia Wushang, collapsed on the floor, bleeding from all seven orifices. The Qi Blood within him had dispersed, and his Cultivation was completely destroyed. Recovery was essentially impossible.
His condition was remarkably similar to that of the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen. The two had once again become brothers in misfortune.

Comments

Loading...