Chapter 11609 — Your Majesty, You Must Not

There was no need at all for such a grand display of words.

His goal went far beyond simply swallowing up a single Nightfall Palace.

Everything done today was merely a beginning.

With the five kings on their knees, all the remaining pressure fell at once upon the Son of Heaven of Zhou.

Every faction was watching his reaction, and those savoring the spectacle were beyond counting.

The awkwardness of this puppet Son of Heaven was plain even to the common folk of the marketplace: his weight was less than that of any one of the five kings, and now that all five had knelt, he—the nominal master of the Inner Royal Court—could not possibly hold out.

But the trouble was this: the five kings had lost face yet kept substance, whereas if this puppet Son of Heaven threw away even this last shred of face, he would truly have nothing left.

In the standoff, the Son of Heaven of Zhou thought to play dead and quietly withdraw his phantom image.

Hou Chuang saw it and hurried to stop him: "Your Majesty, you must not!"

In the situation as it stood, if playing dead before the crowd could carry him through, why would the five kings have bothered to kneel and kowtow to Wei Zhao?

Surely it could not be that all five kings were less clever than this Son of Heaven of Zhou, unable to think of so brilliant a stratagem?

The Son of Heaven of Zhou flew into a rage: "And why must I not? If not for your wretched ideas, how would I have fallen into such a plight, caught between the tiger and the cliff?"

Hou Chuang was struck dumb.

It was true enough that he had urged it—but was the Son of Heaven of Zhou himself entirely blameless?

The Son of Heaven of Zhou gave a cold snort: "I am the Son of Heaven. Beneath all heaven, only the Heavenly Dao may make me kneel; who else could bear such a thing? By withdrawing now, I am leaving Wei Zhao room. He ought to be grateful—would he have the gall to turn and bite me instead?"

Hou Chuang pleaded earnestly: "The whole Inner Royal Court is watching at this very moment. If Your Majesty exits in such a manner, it will leave everyone with the fixed impression of shrinking from the field, and to reverse that hereafter would be harder than climbing to heaven."

The Son of Heaven of Zhou raged: "Nonsense! Would kneeling to this Wei Zhao change the hearts of the people and their will?"

Hou Chuang said: "With the five kings standing in front, even if Your Majesty suffers some humiliation this time, no one will say much; on the contrary, it may win over some of the people's hearts."

To put it bluntly—sympathy points.

For a puppet Son of Heaven forced to kneel before another, mockery was certain, but some portion of people would always pity so weak a figure.

Even if the effect seemed slight in the short run, for the Son of Heaven of Zhou it was, in the end, a bit of capital.

Hou Chuang paused, then advised: "If Your Majesty has the courage, you might simply issue an edict denouncing Wei Zhao. In that way, Your Majesty could, before everyone in the Inner Royal Court, overturn your former image of weakness, and standing on the shoulders of the five kings reap a great surge of popular support—this is a heaven-sent opportunity!"

"…"

The Son of Heaven of Zhou looked at him as though at an idiot: "Are you mad, or am I? What if Wei Zhao is truly provoked? Would it kill you not to offer such wretched ideas?"

Hou Chuang said hurriedly: "Wei Zhao is no reckless fool. Even if he pushes back, he would never dare lay hands on Your Majesty in the open—of this I am utterly certain."

The Son of Heaven of Zhou curled his lip. "If you truly had everything under control, would I have been driven to such a pass?"

Hou Chuang had no answer to that.

Thereupon, over all objections, the Son of Heaven of Zhou forcibly withdrew his imperial phantom.

The whole hall was struck dumb.

To be fair, had the Son of Heaven of Zhou pulled back even before the five kings knelt, it would not have been quite so speechless a spectacle.

But now every eye was upon him, and to publicly stage such a craven, play-dead retreat made the figure of the puppet Son of Heaven—never tall to begin with—seem in the eyes of every soul in the Inner Royal Court all the more base and laughable.

Boom!

With no external force to drive it, a corner of the Son of Heaven's palace collapsed of its own accord without the slightest warning.

The Son of Heaven of Zhou dropped to the ground, his face ashen.

He did not know what had happened, yet for some reason he had a vague sense that he had lost something of the utmost importance.

Hou Chuang watched this scene and shook his head, wordless.

He was no ordinary cultivator of the Inner Royal Court, but like Xiang Zikui, he came from within the Inner Royal Court itself.

He had come out this time because he had sensed a peerless opportunity, one in a thousand years, and meant to stake his life and fortune on one great gamble.

The Son of Heaven of Zhou was the target he had chosen.

Old monsters of like motive were not one or two in number; all of them hoped to leap the Dragon Gate in one bound through this chance. But the targets the others had picked were all at the level of the seven great princely estates—only this puppet Son of Heaven had been overlooked by nearly everyone.

Hou Chuang's move was, beyond doubt, picking up a bargain.

If he could but prop up the Son of Heaven of Zhou and set him truly upon the throne, making him the veritable master of the Inner Royal Court, then the returns he would reap would be beyond all reckoning!

But now Hou Chuang was so sick with regret he wanted to vomit blood.

Rotten mud will not hold up a wall.

That the Son of Heaven of Zhou had reigned so many years and remained to the end a puppet Son of Heaven in name only—there was truly a reason for it.

With conduct like this, even with Hou Chuang's wholehearted assistance, how could he ever seize real power back from the seven great princely estates and become a true lord of heroes?

And all the more so now, when he must face a Wei Zhao surging forward with even greater menace.

Back in the hall.

The five kings bowed their heads, the Son of Heaven shrank back, and wherever Wei Zhao's gaze fell, not a single soul dared meet his eyes.

The whole company of stewards of the Night's End Palace trembled with fear and prostrated themselves upon the ground as one.

Moments ago they had still believed they might turn the tables; now their one remaining wish was that Wei Zhao would keep his earlier promise and spare their lives.

Yet Wei Zhao did not so much as glance at them.

"From this day on, the Coalition Alliance is dissolved."

That one short sentence from Wei Zhao shattered in an instant the invisible covenant that had once hung over the six great princely estates.

Everyone stiffened in alarm.

The pact had broken.

In the beginning, that invisible covenant had been forged during the rite of alliance, guided into being by Wei Zhao's own hand.

It was precisely because that pact existed that the Coalition Alliance had been able to hold its differences in check and endure to this day, and by its means to press the Prince of Qin's estate beneath it.

Now Wei Zhao had erased the covenant with his own hand.

Even if the six great princely estates could afterward preserve the outward form of the Coalition Alliance, they could never preserve its substance.

Even should the Coalition Alliance continue to exist, it was doomed to be nothing but an empty name.

One word to forge a pact; one word to annul it.

Wei Zhao's bearing in that moment was etched deep into the hearts of countless people, and in their minds a single sentence echoed.

So should a true man stand!

The great lords of every faction still dared not draw a breath, waiting for Wei Zhao's next move.

Wei Zhao, however, knew when to stop while he was ahead.