Chapter 215 - The Tiger Leaves the Mountain (1/2)

“House lords, His Majesty is summoning you!” After a six hour long wait, a guard finally came to this remote room.

The three sighed as if going to their funeral and followed the guard without any dissent.

Soon they came upon the palace’s gates. The guard bowed and gestured for them to enter. With a deep breath, the three slipped into the hall.

They saw the emperor dignified on his throne, with Sima Hui next to him. At the end of the stairs, in front of the throne, stood the tall and mighty Marshal Dugu.

The three swallowed dryly, feeling as if their hearts were in a vise when these men’s gazes landed on them.

“Valley Lord You, Hall Lord Yan, House Lord Lin, greets Your Majesty!” They showed utmost respect to the emperor.

The emperor nodded with a winning smile, “House lords, can you guess why I have summoned thee?”

“Uh…” They all shook their heads, “Your Majesty, we do not.”

Bam!

With a clang, three jade slips landed in front of them. The emperor tone dropped lower, “Humph, so you don’t know? Then do you at least know these jade slips?”

The three started sweating like pigs as they shivered a nod.

“In that case, do tell me why are you explicitly defying my edict, going into the area I deemed forbidden? Not even you, the seven houses, founding fathers of the empire have such rights!”

The emperor slapped the armrest of his throne, making the three slump into pleading on the ground in their knees, “Spare us, Your Majesty!”

This was unprecedented. The seven houses, house lords were, for the first time, on their knees before the emperor. The emperor raised an eyebrow, feeling freer than ever. As if returning to the time of his ascension to the throne, when all officials showed him utmost respect.

As a matter of fact, he was far more moved than before.

When has there ever been a case in the long history of Tianyu Empire of an emperor getting the seven house lords kneeling before them? It may very be the very first time since this nation came together.

Such honor lifted him above all other emperors before him.

However, he couldn’t let it show, or these three blokes would milk him for it!

So the emperor kept a hardened and cold face, though his tone sounded softer, “Thou are all ministers loyal to our nation. You are unlikely to resort to such disgraceful behavior without rime or reason. Please share with me your motives so I can judge if your actions were indeed unintentional mistakes!”

The three’s eyes lit up. [Is the emperor giving us a way out? All that we’ve been doing is because of that Zhuo Fan! As long as that fool dies, Luo clan and Windgaze City are of no importance.]

But before they could explain, Dugu Zhantian barked, “Speak, who’s behind you all?”

Shivering, the three choked on their words. They peeked at the emperor, only to see him sporting the same cold and calm face.

That was tantamount to saying Dugu Zhantian was voicing the emperor’s intentions. Since he couldn’t outright say it, he had Dugu Zhantian play his proxy.

The meaning was crystal clear. The emperor didn’t care why they went to Windgaze City, only wanting to know by whose orders they marched.

The emperor was aiming for Regent Estate and they were the means to an end, mere pawns.

They instantly broke out in cold sweat.

The emperor, a tiger cooped up in the palace all his life, was ready to go out and maul someone. But the problem was, Regent Estate wasn’t an easy target either, a fierce tiger on its own!

The three houses were now smack in the middle of the Regent Estate and the imperial family’s power struggle. Their only fate, sacrifices!

[Curse it to high heavens! How did we end up in this mess? If only we hadn’t listened to Regent Estate and attack Windgaze City. The imperial family would have no excuse to look for us.]

They now faced the heavy burden of choosing to let the emperor maul them or be used to maul the Regent Estate. But would the Regent Estate ever let them go afterward?

[Any choice promises death!]

The three were overwhelmed with regrets. They bit their lips, unsure what to say.

“Speak, who is behind you?” Dugu Zhantian barked and pressured them with his powerful soul.

If it were any other occasion, the three peak Profound Heaven experts could’ve stood firm, since they were on the verge of advancing to the Radiant Stage. But now, however, they were frightened, their spirit shaken. And this show of force broke through their mental walls, making their clenched jaws relax.

But then, a loud shout echoed.