Chapter 11644 — What Kind of Face Is That, Grand Preceptor?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
As a cultivator of the ancient gods, the name Wei Zhao had registered with the heavenly dao was not his own person, but the new world.
In the heavenly dao's system of measure, even a newly born independent world far outweighed any cultivator—including divine-tier powerhouses. The two were simply not on the same dimensional plane.
If the Son of Heaven of Zhou had used this little trick to frame someone else, so be it—he might well have succeeded.
But to frame Wei Zhao?
The effect was no different from "Who stands below the hall, and why do you bring suit against this official?"
The black humor fairly leaped out.
Seeing blood begin to trickle from the Son of Heaven of Zhou's nose and mouth, Hou Chuang hurriedly steadied himself, took over the situation on the man's behalf, and summoned the civil and military ministers to arrange disaster relief.
Say what one might, at least he thoroughly agreed with that line of Wei Zhao's.
The Son of Heaven of Zhou could not collapse too early.
He had staked a heavy bet on the Son of Heaven of Zhou; at the very least the man had to hold out to the midpoint before there could be any return. If the Son of Heaven of Zhou collapsed ahead of schedule now, then his stake would be utterly lost.
The Son of Heaven's royal palace was in complete chaos.
Meanwhile, the whole of the Prince of Qi's estate was on strict alert.
They had sent Wei Zhao an invitation. To an invitation so plainly warlike in nature, Wei Zhao's reply was crisp—just two words.
"I accept."
A great battle was imminent.
Yet the first to arrive at the Prince of Qi's estate was not Wei Zhao's faction, but Young Master Qi, who had returned only once before.
"The young master is back!"
Amid their surprise, everyone in the Prince of Qi's estate breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Young Master Qi's sudden return at this moment was clearly on account of the estate's invitation to Wei Zhao.
Though they had the Eight Elite Guards, a trump card cultivated over long years, and several old ancestors to back them up, if it truly came to war with Wei Zhao's faction, the senior leadership of the Prince of Qi's estate still had no confidence.
But the Prince of Qi's mind was made up: he would wash away the earlier humiliation in one battle and show the spirit of his estate!
No one could talk him out of it; the only remaining hope was Young Master Qi.
Given Young Master Qi's relationship with Wei Zhao, if he could mediate and turn swords into plowshares, that would unquestionably be the better choice for the Prince of Qi's estate as things stood.
Young Master Qi cut straight to the point. "Where is my father?"
Everyone hurriedly led him before the Prince of Qi.
But before Young Master Qi could even open his mouth, the Prince of Qi had already snorted coldly: "What are you doing back here? Get out!"
Everyone was taken aback, and hurried to chime in and smooth things over.
Young Master Qi was somewhat surprised as well. Still, to be fair, though his earlier conduct had been born of anger at his father's failure to strive, and later events had proven him right, on the surface at least he had indeed affronted his father's dignity.
The Prince of Qi's fury over it was, in a sense, only reasonable.
But he was the Prince of Qi, and the first point of departure for any consideration of his had to be, and inevitably was, the overall interests of the estate. To fly into a rage at this particular juncture seemed ill-timed no matter how one looked at it.
From what Young Master Qi knew of his father, the man's depth of scheming should not be so shallow.
Suppressing his doubts, Young Master Qi bowed and said gravely, "I'll speak plainly. The estate has no chance of victory in a war with Wei Zhao. To force this through is to court self-destruction."