Chapter 497: Destruction of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom (Three)
“Your Majesty, while the green hills last, there’ll be wood to burn. The highest priority is that your life is preserved. If the Gesun Kingdom captures you, there will be no way that they will let you live.” The eunuch pleaded with a panicked expression as he listened to the sounds of hooves getting closer and closer.
“If you want to go, then go. This king won’t go. This king will die with the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom.” The king spoke resolutely without fear, not caring if he lived or died. Even if he died, at the very least, he wouldn’t be the king of a destroyed kingdom.
“Hahaha, your royal Highness, this is quite unexpected. You truly are a man of steel and grit that anyone would admire.” Suddenly, the loud sound of laughter could be heard as a large group of people came walking in with a twenty year old youth leading them all.
Seeing this large group enter the palace, the eunuch right next to the king instantly grew pale before muttering in dejection, “It’s over, it’s all over. There is no escape now.” The eunuch’s face was filled with despair, and although he was loyal to his king, he was afraid of death.
The king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom slowly sat back down on his dragon throne. Both arms rested on the golden armrests of his throne. His expression was grim, his eyes fierce, and his demeanor quite regal. Although soon he would be a king that died with his kingdom, in this current moment, he had regained his prestige and did not fear death.
The king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom stared down the incoming group Jian Chen was slowly leading forward. “I did not think that our move against the Gesun Kingdom would somehow lead the Qinhuang Kingdom to carry us into eternal damnation. If not for that previous affair, perhaps our Heavenly Eagle Kingdom wouldn’t have been reduced to such a state.”
Jian Chen smirked, “You speak correctly. If not for the previous matter, then your Heavenly Eagle Kingdom wouldn’t be in the state it is today. However there is no medicine for regret in this world, the time for regret is long over for you. This is the final conclusion. Regret won’t do anything to change it.”
“Indeed. There is no medicine for regret, but even regretting now is useless.” The king sighed before reclining back on his throne. “There is a question this king still doesn’t understand. Would you mind enlightening this king of it?”
“Speak then, seeing you decline to such a state, I could answer a few of your questions.” Jian Chen replied.
“Back when this king sent several experts to the Gesun Kingdom and caused a disturbance, the Gesun Kingdom did not take on any heavy losses. On the contrary, it was our experts that ate up the losses. All in all, the ones who ended up on the losing end was our Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. For such a trifling matter like this, is your Gesun Kingdom truly willing to waste the tremendous strength of the Qinhuang Kingdom to destroy our Heavenly Eagle Kingdom?” The king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom was truly very curious about this matter.
“Trifling matter? Hmph, your ten Heaven Saint Masters caused my Changyang clan to take on severe damages when they fought overhead. The entire compound had been reduced to rubble, and plenty of people from my clan had been badly injured. If not for the five Imperial Advisors from the Qinhuang Kingdom residing there at the time, my Changyang clan wouldn’t have even survived the calamity that befell them. Even the king of our Gesun Kingdom was kidnapped by you, yet you still consider this a trifling matter?” Jian Chen spoke seriously.
The king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom looked to Jian Chen, “If my guess is correct, you must be the fourth master of the Changyang clan, Changyang Xiangtian.”
“Correct, I am he!” Jian Chen replied proudly.
The king swept his eyes to the the people behind Jian Chen. “The sudden close friendship between the Gesun and Qinhuang Kingdom had to be your doing, I presume. This king wishes to know, just, what relationship is there between you and the Qinhuang Kingdom? The Qinhuang Kingdom wouldn’t so easily expend such a large amount of manpower across countless of kilometers to aid the Gesun Kingdom.”
“The amount of things you wish to know is quite a lot.” Jian Chen laughed. “If you really wish to know, I’ll satisfy your curiosity then.” Jian Chen suddenly stopped speaking for a moment before continuing, “I presume you know that the Qinhuang Kingdom dispatched several of their experts to help the Gesun Kingdom push back the four kingdom alliance and that it was due to the desire of an Imperial Protector of the Qinhuang Kingdom?”
Nodding, the king replied, “Correct, this king was told of such a thing. However, the information prime minister Che brought back overruled that.”
“Then let me tell you quite clearly, that was a true matter. That Imperial Protector is me — Changyang Xiangtian.” Jian Chen revealed calmly. Despite his tone of voice, the body of the king suddenly started to tremble. His face couldn’t help but reveal disbelief, and he did not say anything for a very long time.
The king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom sat on his dragon throne with both arms trembling on their armrest. For a long time he was speechless, but then he sighed. “How unexpected. I did not think that the person I had offended would actually be the Imperial Protector of the Qinhuang Kingdom. It is no wonder the Qinhuang Kingdom was that willing to gather up so many soldiers.” Now knowing that Jian Chen was the Qinhuang Kingdom’s Imperial Protector, the king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom felt no more confusion in his heart. Looking at the whole picture now, he fully understood Jian Chen’s identity. Only a status as illustrious as the Imperial Protector would be able to cause the Qinhuang Kingdom to send a large army, such great distance, to help the Gesun Kingdom.
“If you wish to blame someone, blame yourself for disturbing my Changyang clan. For that reason, even the Sect of Dragon and Tiger wouldn’t change a thing despite their interference today. King of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom. Today, you now understand the full story.” Jian Chen spoke with an awe-inspiring tone to his voice.
“Ai!” The king sighed. In this instant, he seemed to have aged several years and his spirit seemed to grow depressed.
Powerlessly, the king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom nodded his head, “This king understands. Everything now makes sense. Making an enemy with the Gesun Kingdom was truly a mistake. Now that this king is here, whether you wish to kill or torture me, do as you will.”
Jian Chen didn’t waste any more words and waved his hand, “Capture him and bring him out.” Immediately, two elite soldiers from the Eastern Deity Sword came forward to grab hold of the king’s arms and led him out.
After the king was led out, a single sword of fire materialized in Jian Chen’s hand. With a bright gleaming arc of fire, the sword smashed apart the dragon throne in the palace.
With the king of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom captured, the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom was already halfway destroyed.
“Qin Wuming, have the Eastern Deity Swords start a blanket sweep of the entire palace. Capture all members of the palace and don’t let them escape. Do not cause unnecessary trouble with the maids and servants.” Jian Chen commanded.
“Yes!” Qin Wuming obeyed and walked away to make the orders.
Jian Chen looked underneath the flooring with a smile of disdain. His right foot gently stepped on the ground, causing the entire palace to shudder, as if suffering from an earthquake, but the tremors soon disappeared.
Several kilometers away, in a ten meter tall passageway, a large group of the royals of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom and their guards were frantically escaping down the path. There were about 1000 people in total rushing through the quiet but cramped passageway. Occasionally, a sound could be heard from some of them. Some of these people were the concubines of the king and the members of the entire royal family.
“Hurry up, people in front, go faster! Otherwise, the invaders will catch up to us.”
“Everyone move faster. If the invaders catch up to us, it’ll all be over.”
“Wait for everyone to be safe before we slow down. Run faster!”
“Aiya, you stepped on me, you stepped on me!”
A large group of people were huffing and puffing as they charged down the dark path in an attempt to escape. The passageway wasn’t very smooth, so sometimes someone would step on an uneven part of the ground and tumble to the ground before being stepped on by the people behind them. Painful screams would escape from their mouths, especially from the daintier women. With everyone looking out for their own life, no one had the time or luxury to look after someone else.
Just at that moment, a rumbling sound could be heard from above as the entire passageway began to shake. Afterward, a terrified shout could be heard from up front.
“No! The passageway has collapsed, the front path has been blocked!”
“It’s over, with the passageway caved in, we don’t have any way to escape!”
“What, the passageway caved in? How could that be? This entire path was reinforced, just how could it cave in so easily?”
……
Within the giant halls of the palace, Jian Chen walked up to the loyal eunuch and spoke, “Who are you?”
Seeing Jian Chen turn his attention to himself, the eunuch let out a fearful sound before kneeling on the ground, trembling in fear. “Th… this… this sla…slave is the king’s eunuch of meals. I am in charge of the king’s everyday meals.”
“Tell me where the second prince has escaped off to.” Jian Chen spoke calmly and warmly, but there was an overwhelming amount of pressure delivered to the eunuch as well.
“This… this slave does not know.” The eunuch was a man who feared death so his entire body refused to stop shaking.
Jian Chen’s eyes flashed dangerously, “What a truly loyal person, but even if you don’t tell me, it’ll take an hour for me to find him. I’ll give you one chance to live. If you don’t choose your words carefully, do not blame me for being merciless.”
“Changyang Xiantian, they most likely escaped in secret already. We just need to find traces of a secret passageway.” Princess You Yue suddenly spoke.
Jian Chen shook his head, “I know what passageway they escaped into, but the second prince isn’t in it. There isn’t a trace of the second prince in the palace either.”
“How do you know he isn’t in the passageway?” The princess asked with curiosity. She had been right by Jian Chen’s side ever since they entered the imperial palace. She had not seen anyone ever come report to Jian Chen. So the fact that Jian Chen knew that the second prince wasn’t escaping in the secret passageways was a completely mystery to her.
Jian Chen smiled, “I naturally have my own methods.” Turning around, Jian Chen looked once more to the eunuch in front of him. “Now, will you tell me or not?”
Seeing the eunuch stay quiet, Jian Chen revealed a cold smile, “It doesn’t matter if you speak. I’ll find the second prince myself with some effort. Soldier, take him away to be executed.”
“I’ll speak!” As soon as Jian Chen finished speaking, the cowardly eunuch’s final line of defense crumbled away.