Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 419: Chapter 405 Emperor Chengping Makes an Appearance

”The Emperor is seriously ill and needs quiet recuperation. Are you trying to disturb his rest!” The Crown Prince glowered at Prince Gong with unabashed anger.

Prince Gong’s face was as frosty as if glazed with cold hoarfrost, his eyes filled with vile and venomous intent. Suddenly, he violently drew a long knife from the waist of a guard to his side, and pointed it directly at the Crown Prince’s chest.

”Crown Prince, it is not I who disturbed the Emperor today, it is you!”

”Isn’t this the outcome you desired?”

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince’s face alternated between shades of blue and white, his chest heaving with unsteady breaths.

Was this the outcome he longed for?

Yes, yet no!

He wished to eliminate Prince Gong and Prince Cheng, and hoped they would commit some outrageous acts, but he never wanted Prince Gong or Prince Cheng to rebel with armed insurrection.

However, at this moment, he did not feel overwhelming panic. Despite the fierce commotion caused by Prince Cheng and Prince Gong, they could not turn the heavens upside down.

He was only furious that Prince Gong drew a sword against him.

”How dare you! Prince Gong, are you plotting to murder me?” the Crown Prince questioned.

Prince Gong held the blade tightly, his gaze laced with murderous intent. If possible, he would have loved to stab this bastard to death right then and there.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t. Things had not yet reached a point of no return; he still saw a glimmer of hope to turn the tables. Until the last moment, he would not give up.

”Enough, let us go see the Emperor!” Prince Cheng slowly rose, speaking calmly and unhurriedly.

Prince Gong cast a profound glance at Prince Cheng and sheathed his long knife.

Prince Cheng walked at a leisurely pace to the Crown Prince, straightened the Crown Prince’s disheveled royal robe, and said, ”Brother, you can’t blame us for this. If you must blame someone, blame the Emperor!”

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes, intently observing Prince Cheng.

Prince Cheng showed a disdainful smirk, ”The Emperor wanted us to be your whetstones, just as you are the whetstone for us brothers!”

”You should understand, Brother!”

The Crown Prince’s pupils shrank abruptly, his body stiffening.

Whetstones?

This was something he did not understand!

Seeing his rigid face, Prince Cheng’s lips curled up slightly, patting his shoulder.

”Brother, you still fail to see the truth!”

The assembled ministers had varying reactions; Li Siyuan lifted his eyelids to glance at Prince Cheng, but soon lowered them again.

Duke Ning, Zhou Mao, furrowed his brows slightly, then showed an epiphany.

The rest of the ministers exhibited expressions of surprise and confusion.

Yang Zhenshan stood amidst the row of nobles, utterly composed like a wooden statue.

Whetstones!

Haha~~

At this moment, he finally understood the reason this theatrical play unfolded.

He wondered whether the old Emperor was satisfied with this outcome!

Just then, a hunched figure emerged from Fengtian Hall at the rear.

”The Emperor arrives to hold court, my lords are invited to enter the hall!”

A shrill and resounding voice rang out, transforming the tense atmosphere into one of solemnity in an instant.

Yang Zhenshan looked up at the bent figure, his expression subtly changing.

The Crown Prince turned his head rigidly to look, shuddering slightly as he saw the familiar figure.

Prince Gong and Prince Cheng became serious, taking a deep breath.

Li Siyuan also stopped pretending to doze off, straightened his robe, and puffed out his chest.

Then, the ministers entered the hall in sequence.

Although Fengtian Hall was not the palace used for daily court meetings, it was the venue for significant ceremonies within the Imperial City. Hence, Fengtian Hall was spacious, even more so than Taiji Palace.

As the newly ennobled Marquis Jing’an, Yang Zhenshan naturally stood in the queue of nobles entering the hall, positioned behind several marquises and ahead of the lords.

After entering the hall, Yang Zhenshan looked up briefly at the figure seated on the dragon throne.

The first impression was that the old Emperor was very thin!

The second was that an aura of twilight shrouded him!

Yang Zhenshan withdrew his gaze, his heart still clear.

This illness of the old Emperor was most likely genuine, though probably not as severe as the rumors suggested.

”Long live, long live, long live the Emperor!”

The ministers knelt and chanted thrice.

”You all may rise!”

An aged voice echoed through the grand hall.

The ministers stood, and the hall lapsed into silence.

Then, a commotion arose from outside the hall, with a large number of Imperial Guards rushing into Fengtian Hall’s front plaza, encircled by the imperial guard of Brave Camp.

Marquis Wuxin, Cao Can, seeing this, flashed a look of terror in his eyes and quickly threw down his knife, kneeling on the ground.

Then, the Imperial Guard took control of the Meridian Gate and Fengtian Gate, bringing groups of officials and military generals to the entrance of Fengtian Hall.

In moments, more than a dozen pale-faced civil servants and military generals knelt around Cao Can.

Inside the hall, three elderly eunuchs with white hair stood below the stairs, their cloudy eyes scanning the assembled ministers.

Yang Zhenshan cast a surreptitious glance at these three old eunuchs, his heart skipping a beat.

Innate Martial Artists!

Holding his breath and focusing his senses, Yang Zhenshan’s ears trembled slightly, and the surrounding sounds entered his ears.

Then, his heart sank completely into silence.

The hall was crowded with many people, among whom were hidden numerous experts with slow and faint breathing. If not for his acutely refined hearing, even he might have missed those faint breaths.

It was also possible that there were experts around whom he hadn’t detected.

Innate Martial Artists!

Not just the three eunuchs in front of him, but more outside the hall, and not just one!

This is Da Rong’s pinnacle of martial power!

With such a dread-inducing scenario and so many unpredictable, powerful experts, even Yang Zhenshan felt an incomparable pressure.

Well, today this old man might as well act as a statue!

Here, his stature as the foremost below the Innate level meant nothing!