7: Bait and the Dead

Chapter 7 Bait and Death Squads

Late at night, Taihe Hall.

The thin figure of Emperor Zhengyong sat up from behind the spacious desk.

"What did you say? That brat still has not perceived any Internal Energy up to now?"

Wang Zhongyi chuckled and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. That brat has been following Hall of Offerings Gold Badge Emissary Yang Shaoyong for almost two months now, yet he has never perceived any Internal Energy."

"Compared to Your Majesty, his Aptitude is truly a world of difference."

"Heh, he is a mortal after all."

"Your Majesty, this servant has one more matter to report to you."

"Oh? What matter?"

"That Yang Shaoyong... seems to have discovered that person's identity."

"Yang Shaoyong... a person of the Taiyi Sect."

Emperor Zhengyong tapped on the tabletop and said indifferently, "Nanyue County is unstable there, send him to take a look."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"As for teaching the shadow in the future... rotate it by the Hall of Offerings every ten days. After he finishes practicing the Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique and his Internal Energy steps into the first layer of the Evergreen Skill, stop it."

Emperor Zhengyong said, "The shadow does not need too many thoughts."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

...

Zheng Yi opened his eyes once more, and before him were still the antiquated beaded curtains.

"Time to practice martial arts!"

For over a month now, his daily habits had been extremely regular.

Waking up in the morning, he would first Cultivate the Evergreen Skill for half an hour, followed by one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and one hundred jumping jacks each. Next came meals and morning lessons.

In the afternoon, he would stance-train and Cultivate the Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique.

As for the White Lotus Reincarnation Divine Skill, he had no way to Cultivate it at all. Let alone having someone teach it, he did not even have a chant or formula for the Cultivation Technique, and could only rely on daily Dual Cultivation with Bi He.

Therefore, every time during Dual Cultivation, he exerted all his strength, doing it at least three or four times a night.

It was worth mentioning that after Yang Shaoyong left, Wang Zhongyi brought him a new master.

Zhao Wuji.

An old man with a gloomy gaze and somewhat greying hair.

After arriving, he did not say any polite pleasantries, simply teaching the Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique and the Evergreen Skill.

After finishing the teaching, he did not want to stay a single moment longer and directly left the palace.

This left Zheng Yi without even a single person to talk to.

Speaking of which, the teachers teaching him cultural lessons had also been replaced twice.

They were simply afraid that he would become familiar with outsiders.

As for the content of the lectures, it was all about monarchs and ministers, parents, cardinal principles and constant virtues, heaven, earth, monarch, parents, and teachers.

In the view of Zheng Yi, were these not just a bunch of brainwashing rhetoric!

For ordinary people, or rather the predecessor of Zheng Yi who came from a remote mountain village, it might have been useful.

But for the present Zheng Yi... it was utterly useless!

On the surface, however, he naturally could not let others see through him, always acting completely normal.

His loyalty to the royal family and Emperor Zhengyong also grew more and more apparent.

Not only his teachers, but even the palace maids and eunuchs serving him, and the guards watching the outer doors, were frequently rotated.

This resulted in him not having a single familiar face!

One day, Wang Zhongyi suddenly sought him out.

"Do not practice the Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique these past two days; rest a bit. The day after tomorrow, we will head to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices and pray for blessings."

Only then did Zheng Yi remember that when he was first invited into the imperial palace, it had been mentioned that he would replace Emperor Zhengyong to pray for blessings at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

He hurriedly asked, "Wang Zhongyi, where is this Imperial Ancestral Temple?"

"On the west side of the Imperial City, no more than half an hour's travel from the Imperial City. What, do you have matters?"

"It is nothing, nothing."

Wang Zhongyi said, "Zheng Yi... do your part well. Wealth and glory will be yours to enjoy endlessly."

"But if you harbor secondary thoughts..."

The heart of Zheng Yi skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "What are you saying, Wang Zhongyi? How could this humble servant be disobedient?"

"It is precisely because of you that this humble servant was able to come from that godforsaken place into these grand imperial palace courtyards..."

"It is good that you know!"

Wang Zhongyi flicked his horsetail whisk and turned to leave.

In his heart, Zheng Yi continued to greet the eighteen generations of ancestors of Wang Zhongyi and Emperor Zhengyong!

zhengyong Year 3, June 1st.

Served by two new palace maids, Zheng Yi changed into a new set of dragon robes.

Five-clawed golden dragon.

Today, he had already peeled off the human-skin mask, revealing his true appearance to others.

Looking closely, he indeed bore a nine-tenths resemblance to Emperor Zhengyong.

Now wearing the dragon robe, wearing an imperial crown, and with the beaded curtains hanging down, he was practically identical to Emperor Zhengyong.

Surrounding eunuchs, palace maids, guards, ministers, and so on, not a single person realized that the current Emperor Zhengyong had already been swapped with a different person!

"By the mandate of heaven, the Emperor decrees: Heaven gives birth to the people and establishes a monarch for them; the monarch serves heaven to peacefully nurture these people... Today, We lead the civil and military officials to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer sacrifices and pray for blessings..."

Under the eunuch's reading of the decree, countless guards, palace maids, and eunuchs crowded around 'Emperor Zhengyong' as he headed to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to pray for blessings.

Behind him were civil and military officials dressed in full regalia, numbering fully over a thousand in total.

On both sides of Vermilion Bird Street, countless commoners knelt and bowed in salute, shouting long live in unison.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yi took the opportunity to look out from the carriage sedan chair, admiring the beautiful scenery of the Imperial City.

He saw that antique buildings stood like a forest inside the Imperial City, with tall buildings and guard towers soaring up from time to time, surrounded by a large number of accompanying soldiers, looking extremely prosperous.

As Zheng Yi walked out of the imperial palace, inside a secretive grand hall somewhere in Taihe Hall, Emperor Zhengyong sat alone in a corner, his gaze incomparably gloomy.

"Hehehe... This outing of Ours gives you all a chance."

"It all depends on whether you all... can seize it!"

The Imperial Ancestral Temple was located on the west side of the Imperial City, which was where the Great Yu Dynasty enshrined the ancestral emperors.

Since the founding of Great Yu for three hundred and fifty-six years, it had successively experienced twenty-one emperors.

Led by Wang Zhongyi, Zheng Yi continuously performed sacrifices and prayed for blessings like a strung Puppet, only gradually returning after more than half a day when the sky began to darken.

Inside the carriage, Zheng Yi was somewhat tired, but he still tried hard to maintain his majestic demeanor.

Right at this moment, the procession suddenly stopped, and a commotion arose ahead.

After waiting for a while, the procession still showed no sign of moving forward, and Zheng Yi felt somewhat strange.

This was an imperial procession, after all; how could the procession stop?

He lifted the curtain and asked, "Wang... Grand Companion, what happened?"

Outside, he had to address Wang Zhongyi as "Grand Companion" to show closeness.

Wang Zhongyi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, this servant has already sent someone to check."

"We ask Your Majesty to return inside the sedan chair and not show your head..."

Soon, a little eunuch came running over in a flurry of small steps.

"Reporting to Old Ancestor, the Chuyun Pavilion ahead on Vermilion Bird Street has collapsed, and the ruins occupy half of the main road of Vermilion Bird Street, so the procession cannot move forward."

"The Commander of the Imperial Guards asks whether to detour to Wenchang Road?"

Wang Zhongyi pondered slightly and said, "Very well, detour to Wenchang Road and enter the city from Wenchang Gate."

"Yes! Old Ancestor!"

"His Majesty has decreed, detour to Wenchang Gate!"

The procession directly detoured and headed towards Wenchang Gate.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yi inside the sedan chair felt that something was amiss.

"Detoured? There is an unexpected event?"

"Vermilion Bird Street leads straight to the Imperial City and is an exceptionally spacious road. The surrounding residents are all imperial relatives, nobles, wealthy tycoons, and merchants; how could the buildings possibly collapse?"

"Moreover, Wenchang Gate is located on the southeast side of the Imperial City, flanked by places like the Hanlin Academy and Scholar Tower. The roads are narrow and there are numerous houses; why go through there?"

"Besides, when the emperor travels, there are also Imperial Guards accompanying him... This is not right!"

He hurriedly looked through the curtains at the surroundings, and sure enough, the scenery around had changed.

"Dammit... Could I have actually become the bait for fishing!"

Thinking of the gloomy gaze of Emperor Zhengyong, the heart of Zheng Yi thumped with worry.

"No, I cannot stay here, but there is no way to walk away... That old dog Wang Zhongyi, I must save myself!"

Stealing a glance towards the outside, the figure of Wang Zhongyi was nowhere to be seen, and he did not know where he had run off to.

He lifted the curtain and looked outside, where palace maids and eunuchs were accompanying them.

"Puff!"

"Puff, puff!!"

Right at this moment, bursts of piercing wind suddenly came from afar, and then more than a dozen figures leaped up from the houses on both sides, rushing separately to kill the sedan chair of Zheng Yi.

"Kill the dog emperor!"

"Avenge our king!"

"Assassins! There are assassins... Puff!"

"Protect the Emperor...!"

"Ah!"

In an instant, the entire procession was thrown into complete chaos, with swords flashing, and the entire street quickly descended into disorder.