OBS Chapter 10 The Great Chu Will Not Perish
Chapter 10 The Great Chu Will Not Perish
Cheng Xiao didn't say anything.
He simply accepted the tiger tally from the King of Chu, which was the best answer he could give.
Seeing Cheng Xiao put away the tiger tally, the King of Chu's tense brows relaxed.
"Ning'er was originally a gentle child, but it was the teacher... who taught her to be so heartless. If one day the teacher grows tired of her, or if the teacher gets weary of this Great Chu..."
A complex emotion flashed in the King of Chu's eyes, a mixture of relief and reluctance.
He had noticed all the changes in his daughter during this time.
From the perspective of a monarch, he certainly felt this was a good thing.
But he was not only a king, but also a father, and Chu Ning was his only daughter.
The King of Chu gripped Cheng Xiao's robes tightly, all his majesty gone: "Please, sir... for the sake of our year-long master-disciple relationship, spare her life, even if it means crippling her cultivation and locking her in the deep palace... please let her live. This is my last request as her father."
He is no longer the king of a country, but merely a father who hopes his daughter can live a good life.
"The Great Chu will not perish," Cheng Xiao replied calmly.
Any more promises are meaningless; he only needs to make this one promise.
Although Chu Ning wasn't mentioned at all in those words, the King of Chu felt as if he had heard the most reassuring assurance in the world. He let out a long sigh of relief, and the hand that was gripping the hem of his robe slowly fell to his sides.
He seemed to have finally exhausted the last bit of strength in his body.
Cheng Xiao could sense that the King of Chu was losing his life force little by little and was on his deathbed.
He walked to the door and waved to Chu Ning: "Go and accompany your father on his final journey."
Chu Ning had calmed down, but after hearing these words, tears began to fall silently again.
She bowed low, saying, "Thank you, teacher."
He then quickly ran into the palace.
Cheng Xiao had no intention of staying any longer, so he returned to the Military Council Cabinet first.
Now that the King of Chu is dead, those things hidden in the shadows can no longer suppress their restless hearts.
......
In the 432nd year of the Great Chu calendar, the King of Chu died.
The concubines, eunuchs, and palace maids in the palace cried for a whole day, and white cloths were hung everywhere in the palace.
The death knell of the Great Chu Palace tolled nine times in the dead of night amidst wind and snow.
Nine out of ten will die, the sky will collapse and the earth will split.
Amidst the nationwide mourning, the Grand Council and the cabinet remained brightly lit.
Cheng Xiao had just sat in the highest position of the Military Council, the ink on his desk still wet, when two black-clad guards rushed in and knelt on one knee.
"Report! Your Excellency, the Queen, along with members of her maternal clan, the Su family, have taken advantage of the chaos to surround the palace and seal off the late King's mourning hall, intending to rebel!"
"Report! Urgent message from the Northern Border! Upon hearing of the great loss to our dynasty, the Great Zhou Commander-in-Chief has personally led a vanguard army of 50,000 to press on the border overnight, and is less than 80 li from Luoyingjian!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of several newly promoted young officials in the cabinet changed drastically.
With internal rebellions and external enemy forces, this is an attempt to take advantage of the recent death of the King of Chu and the resulting upheaval in the court and among the people, to completely drive the Great Chu into a desperate situation.
"Your Excellency, the Su family has a private army of three thousand. His Highness is alone in the mourning hall at this moment. I am afraid that his fate is more likely to be grim!" A steward anxiously pleaded.
Cheng Xiao did not rush to give the order. He picked up a vermilion pen and drew a heavy circle on the huge map of the northern border in front of him, completely blocking the route of the 50,000-strong army of the Great Zhou.
"Pass down the order: the Grand Council will only discuss the war in the Northern Border tonight." His voice was flat, as if he didn't care at all about Chu Ning's life or death.
"But Imperial Advisor, Her Highness..."
Cheng Xiao offered no explanation, simply replying, "Those who disobey orders will be executed."
The rebellion of the imperial relatives was exactly what he had expected.
Chu Ning's cultivation has now reached the seventh rank, making him a rare and exceptional individual in this small world.
During this time, Cheng Xiao also taught her various martial arts techniques and secret manuals.
Now it's finally time for real-world application.
She has five hundred personal guards under her command, and the palace is guarded by imperial guards; these are all forces she can mobilize.
The only expert brought by the Su family was an eighth-rank master; the rest were insignificant.
The hardest part is dealing with the betrayal of one's own mother.
This is Chu Ning's tribulation, and also the test Cheng Xiao left for her.
......
Outside the mourning hall of the imperial harem.
Thousands of fully armed soldiers surrounded the palace.
At the very front of those armored soldiers stood Chu Ning's biological mother, Queen Su.
Queen Su was dressed in mourning clothes, but her eyes showed no sadness at losing her husband, only fanaticism.
Standing beside her were the head of the Su family and an eight-year-old boy from a collateral branch of the royal family.
"Mother, why are you surrounding the mourning hall with the Su family's private soldiers?" Chu Ning stood alone on the high steps, her voice carrying the last glimmer of hope.
Even now, she still hopes there's some misunderstanding and that there's still room for reconciliation.
From the day Chu Ning was born, Queen Su disliked this daughter very much.
Simply because she was a daughter, simply because she inherited royal blood, she was exceptionally beautiful.
Chu Ning had always tried carefully to please her mother since she was a child, but she never received even a sliver of maternal love.
Despite this, she harbored no resentment.
Simply because she was her mother, her only mother, her only relative in this world besides her father.
But now...
Chu Ning tried to deceive herself, but she couldn't. She knew that her mother had killed her.
"The King is gone. The land of Great Chu must not fall into the hands of a madman bewitched by a demon! In just three days, you slaughtered the nobles and turned the capital into a living hell! You are not my daughter, you are a bloodthirsty demon!" Queen Su's voice was sharp and sarcastic.
Hearing these words, Chu Ning didn't feel anything.
Because her mother was like this when she was a child.
She said even harsher things than that.
Once, Chu Ning still retained a tiny bit of motherly affection in her heart; she longed for her mother to truly love her.
But now, even that last bit of family affection has completely vanished.
"Am I a jinx?"
Chu Ning suddenly laughed, and the dark red demonic patterns under his eyes faintly appeared.
Dark red mist swirled around her.
"When Father was seriously ill, the Great Zhou army besieged the city, yet your Su family refused to come out of the gates, not even offering a single grain of rice! I killed all the corrupt officials to protect Great Chu, and now that the crisis has just passed, you want to join forces with outsiders to take your own daughter's life for the sake of the Su family's power?"
The head of the Su family suddenly drew his sword and shouted sternly, "The Great Chu has a history of four hundred years. How can a woman be allowed to become king! The Queen has already issued an imperial decree to establish a new ruler! Chu Ning, if you have even a shred of dignity as a member of the royal family, hand over the tiger tally and commit suicide before the spirit of the late king!"
Faced with the pressure from his closest relatives, Chu Ning subconsciously turned around and looked behind him.
No.
The white-clad figure who always gave her a sense of absolute security was not standing behind her as usual.
Yes, the teacher has gone back, and now she is all alone standing here.
Chu Ning was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening.
"The throne's base is made of piled-up bones."
This is something the teacher once said.
The teacher can give her martial arts techniques, and can teach her how to kill.
But this knife stained with the blood of her loved ones must be wielded by her own hand.