Chapter 657: Critical Juncture (1/2)

Chapter 657: Critical Juncture

Right when they felt that Madam Zi Yan’s decision was crazy, the Huangfu Ancestor outside of the capital spoke: “Royal Lord Zi Yan, our Huangfu Clan’s descendant suffered a sneak attack and was gravely wounded inside your imperial palace. He was your guest, yet not only did you fail to protect him, you are also shielding his assailant. Does your country wish to oppose my Huangfu Clan? I hope that you will be able to give us an explanation. Otherwise, I will have to personally take a trip to your palace!”

At this time, the huge figure of the Huangfu Ancestor appeared. Although he had yet to step inside the capital, his mountainous shadow — along with the grand, majestic Virtuous Paragon’s aura — was about to suppress the entire capital.

A Virtuous Paragon’s voice was able to reverberate throughout the capital so that every single inhabitant would be able to hear his words.

The presence of a Virtuous Paragon was boundless. The moment his voice hovered around the capital, each of his words were like hammers nailing the hearts of everyone in the city. Countless people felt the pressure and couldn’t help but stagger backward.

“A Huangfu Clan ancestor…” A Heavenly Sovereign from the previous generation exclaimed while aghast after seeing the mighty figure outside of the capital.

After knowing that the Huangfu Ancestor was personally sieging the city, countless cultivators went pale from fear. There were even those who fled the capital overnight. It was understandable that they felt fear. After all, the one who appeared all of a sudden was a Virtuous Paragon. This was too much for weaker cultivators to bear.

The sudden siege by the Huangfu Clan left many citizens thinking that a disaster was approaching.

“What is going on? Don’t we have a good relationship with the Huangfu Clan? Why are they sieging us now?” Many cultivators trembled before the anger of the Huangfu Ancestor.

One cultivator who knew a thing or two said: “I heard that something happened to their First Young Noble, Huangfu Hao, several days ago at the feast in the palace. I don’t know what happened, but he was blown away from the capital. Although he is still alive, he was seriously wounded, so he can only stay in bed. He is currently unable to stand for even half a second.”

“It wasn’t just that Huangfu Hao was seriously wounded, Qing Yu from the Qing Clan was killed inside the Imperial Alchemy Garden without even leaving behind a corpse.” A cultivator who knew even more added.

“What exactly went wrong? The party resulted in one dead and one wounded? Moreover, they are both famous young geniuses.” After hearing this information, many cultivators became aghast and felt that a storm was approaching.

Sure enough, while the Huangfu Ancestor was causing trouble outside of the capital, the Qing Clan also sent their own words of intimidation.

“Your Majesty, my son attended the royal feast and died a terrible death inside the alchemy garden, yet Your Majesty didn’t even send notice. His killer is still free and is still considered a guest by the court! For millions of years, even if my Qing Clan had no notable contributions, the blood-spent effort was still there, but now, my son is dead! Your Majesty, however, continues to harbor the killer — this will sadden everyone’s hearts and deter all the talents in this world. Your Majesty must give our Qing Clan justice!” The Qing Clan revealed its stance.

At this time, not only did they express their attitude to the court, they did so in an open manner as if they were going to inform the entire country. This indeed happened after the Qing Clan’s message came out. The entire country was sent into turmoil with rumors spreading everywhere. A wave was stirred in just a moment.

Many messages were spread across all the counties. Moreover, most of them criticized the current Royal Lord of the country, Madam Zi Yan.

“Her Majesty is famous for her righteousness and love for talents. People praised her as a wise ruler, but now, it turns out that she is harboring a killer? Wouldn’t this negatively affect her reputation?” All of a sudden, in all the streets and corners, all the inns and tea shops, everywhere was full of people discussing this issue.

This news spread way too fast, and all kinds of rumors from all over the place eventually returned to the capital.

“I heard that Her Majesty and the killer has a special relationship. Because of her protection, the killer dared to act so wantonly without a care for laws!”

“Don’t people say that Her Majesty is impartial and wise, a true virtuous ruler? How could Her Majesty protect the killer?”

“Hah, because you don’t know. These praises only act as a pretense for outsiders to see. From this matter, one can immediately conclude that it was all political posturing.”

The rumors became increasingly harsh. There were hidden helpers with unknown agendas pushing for chaos in the nation.

One messenger sneered: “Madam Zi Yan’s love for talents, humility, and impartialness are only an act so that she could climb to the throne. Hah, in my opinion, she has already viewed the country as her own property, so right now, since her rule has been consolidated, she is beginning to reveal her true colors. At this moment, she basically sees human life as trash and will do whatever she wants with no consideration for Giant Bamboo’s prosperity.”

All sorts of messages were sent. Another one stated: “Think about it, only the wise and virtuous rule the country — this was the order created by our progenitor and has been upheld for millions of years. Although the Qing Clan is not considered her direct subject, the clan is absolutely loyal to the country and has commendable contributions…