76: Chapter 76 Great Xia Dragon Riders

More importantly, he wanted to use the succession struggle to divert the attention of Crown Prince Xia Hong, Princess Xia Zhiqing, and the forces behind them away from the uncontrollable taboo of "Xuanyuan Zhanxian."

After all, compared to some ethereal threat, the throne within arm's reach was far more capable of capturing everyone's heart.

This seemingly fair decision was, in reality, the final bitter medicine swallowed by an aging Emperor to preserve the Dynasty amidst the precarious storm—every word was steeped in helplessness, every syllable stained with sorrow.

It was like a person standing on a ship about to capsize, knowing they couldn't save everyone, yet still desperately clutching at every piece of floating wood.

Princess Xia Zhiqing's figure finally disappeared around the corner of the palace gate.

The heavy carved wooden doors slowly closed, emitting a muffled "creak—" that echoed through the empty corridor.

The sound was long and oppressive, like a sigh squeezed from the depths of one's chest, shutting out the last sliver of daylight.

The shadows cast by the pillars spread across the floor like thick ink, silently crawling onto Crown Prince Xia Hong's footwear, little by little swallowing the confident smile on his face.

The smile was like a candle flame swallowed by darkness, struggling and flickering before finally extinguishing, leaving his expression with a touch of obscure gloom.

He flicked his sleeves and turned around abruptly.

The heels of his black brocade boots slammed heavily against the cold white marble tiles, making a "clack, clack" sound—one step, another, and another, echoing through the empty palace path, exuding an indescribable cold loneliness.

The sound of his footsteps seemed to knock against someone's heart, like some ominous omen spreading along with the night.

"Your Highness."

A low voice suddenly came from the darkness, sticking to the air like a shadow.

Immediately after, a scholar in black robes stepped slowly out from the shadows of the pillars, his face hidden in the dim light cast by the palace lanterns, leaving only a vague silhouette.

He bowed slightly, his tone cautious, as if testing the thickness of thin ice:

"Your Majesty's decision to split the quotas this time is likely not as simple as it appears on the surface. Your Highness needs to be extra vigilant."

Crown Prince Xia Hong did not stop.

However, a sneer curled the corner of his mouth, the arc appearing exceptionally cold in the night: "Hmph—how could I not see that?"

He paused, his voice steeped in disdain and the arrogance of someone who saw through everything: "Father is old. He lost his sharp edge long ago and is left only with the mindset of weighing this against that. Splitting the quotas? He just wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, to see clearly which of us is more worthy of trust."

"Then what does Your Highness intend to do..." the scholar pressed, his tone laced with worry, a worry as thick as the night, unable to be dissolved.

"Intend to do?"

Crown Prince Xia Hong stopped abruptly.

The fingers in his sleeves slowly curled, his fingertips digging fiercely into his palms, leaving white marks.

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes—the ruthlessness shone terrifyingly in the night, like a poisoned blade, its cold light suddenly appearing.

"Since he wants to see strength, then I shall let him see enough of it!"

He turned to face the scholar, lowering his voice; the sound was squeezed from the depths of his throat, like the low growl of a beast:

"You go and send a message to 'that side' right now. Tell them—I agree to their terms. As long as they can help me ascend to the throne, the three counties of the Western Border shall all belong to them in the future!"

As his words fell, the night seemed to freeze for a moment.

The scholar's body went rigid, as if struck by lightning.

He raised his head, his face full of unbelievable shock, his voice trembling with urgency:

"Your Highness! The three counties of the Western Border are the vital frontier defense towns of our Great Xia, the gateway to ward off foreign enemies! Ceding the three counties is akin to inviting a wolf into the house; the future troubles will be endless—"

"A wolf?"

Crown Prince Xia Hong turned around abruptly, the fierce look in his eyes surging, like two burning ghost fires.

His lowered voice was like an ice-tempered blade, exploding in the empty corridor, every word carrying a chilling cold:

"Do you think the Great Xia of today is not already surrounded by wolves?"

He stepped forward, closing in on the scholar, his Aura pressing down so hard that the other party instinctively retreated half a step.

"The Xuantian Sect covets our Great Xia's resources—they are wolves; the Great Wu Dynasty exerts pressure from above—they are tigers! Since that is the case—"

He enunciated every word, the sound squeezed through his teeth, filled with the madness of burning both jade and stone together:

"I might as well borrow another wolf to help me eat the meat in front of me first!"

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, his tone filled with unwillingness and ambition. This ambition burned like flames in his eyes, making his entire person exude a morbid fanaticism:

"When I hold power, whatever is lost today, I will take back a hundredfold, a thousandfold in the days to come!"

The night was deep, swallowing half of his figure, leaving only those eyes burning with ambition, shining terrifyingly in the darkness.

Meanwhile—

Princess Xia Zhiqing's palanquin did not return to the manor.

It bypassed the bustling palace paths and drove silently toward the northwest corner of the Imperial City.

There was a secluded palace courtyard there, long unvisited, like an old dream forgotten in a corner of time.

Ancient trees towered, their branches and leaves intertwined like a net, cutting the moonlight into pieces and scattering it sparsely upon the long-uncleaned stone steps.

The stone steps were covered in withered yellow leaves, making a faint, crisp sound when stepped upon, like time whispering in one's ear, recounting forgotten past events.

Princess Xia Zhiqing dismissed all her attendants.

Leaving only herself.

She stood before that vermilion palace door and took a deep breath.

The night wind blew, causing the hem of her moon-white palace dress to lift gently, like a white plum blossom blooming alone in the night.

Then, she reached out and gently pushed open the creaking palace door.

"Creak—creak—"

The door hinges turned, the sound exceptionally clear in the silent night, like a sigh traversing time, awakening the dust-covered past.

A scent of old books mixed with a faint musty smell rushed toward her.

This was the scent of time, the scent of being forgotten, and also—the scent of protection.

Only a single dim candle was lit inside the hall.

The flickering candlelight illuminated a hunched figure—an old man sitting at a desk, holding a yellowed ancient book, his fingertips sliding slowly across the pages.

The movement was extremely light, so light it was as if he feared disturbing the sleeping years within the book, or awakening those long-departed acquaintances.

Princess Xia Zhiqing stood at the doorway, looking at that back, her eyes suddenly stinging.

"Old Ancestor." She called out softly.

In that voice, the usual coldness and the composure from the imperial court were gone, replaced by a rare exhaustion and reliance—like a child who had been wronged while away, finally returning home, finally finding that harbor of refuge.

The old man slowly looked up.

The dim candlelight illuminated his face—thin and serene, his hair like snow, radiating a soft light in the candlelight.

Yet those eyes were as clear as a child's, bright and transparent, revealing a wisdom and clarity that belied his age.

He was the true anchor of Great Xia.

The only Soul Transformation Cultivator of Great Xia—Xia Mingxiu.

"I know of your difficulties."

Xia Mingxiu put down the ancient book and sighed lightly. The sigh was very soft, yet it seemed to traverse thousands of mountains and rivers, carrying the weight and vicissitudes of time.

"When sailing through raging waves, the most important thing is balance," he said slowly, his voice low and gentle, like the echo of an ancient bell. "Emperor Xia Quan doing this is both for self-preservation and out of utter helplessness. But for you, this is both a dangerous situation and a glimmer of hope."

Princess Xia Zhiqing knelt on the meditation cushion before the desk.

The skirt of her moon-white palace dress spread out like lotus petals, resembling a water lily slowly blooming in the dim candlelight.

She lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting a shadow beneath them, her voice filled with bitterness and exhaustion:

"Father fears the forces involved behind Senior Brother Xuanyuan Zhanxian, and even more so, he dare not offend the people behind him, so he wants to use the succession struggle to temporarily delay the current turmoil. But my younger brother... he has already..."

"He is already skinning a tiger to ask for its hide."

Xia Mingxiu finished her sentence.

His fingertips lightly tapped a blurry, ancient totem on the ancient book—the totem was hideous and terrifying, a mysterious beast roaring at the sky, its claws and fangs sharp, as if it would leap off the page at any moment to devour someone.

His eyes grew more solemn, like the calm before a storm: "The three counties of the Western Border. He is certainly willing to pay such a heavy price."

Princess Xia Zhiqing looked up abruptly!

In those beautiful eyes that were usually as calm as an ancient well, a trace of panic suddenly exploded—the panic spread rapidly like ripples, instantly drowning out all her composure. Even her voice was stained with an imperceptible tremor:

"Old Ancestor, are you saying... my younger brother has really colluded with the Dark Abyss Dynasty?"

Her fingertips gripping her skirt were white from the force, her knuckles pale.

Her nails were almost digging into the fabric, into her palms—the Dark Abyss Dynasty!

These four words exploded in her mind like a thunderbolt!

The Dark Abyss Dynasty, known throughout the world for its bloodthirst and ruthlessness, where corpses littered the fields and the people were left destitute wherever they passed!

For the sake of the throne, Crown Prince Xia Hong actually dared to invite such wolves and tigers into the country!

Once exposed, once the iron hooves of the Dark Abyss stepped onto the territory of Great Xia—she dared not think of the consequences, she dared not!

The candlelight flickered.

Xia Mingxiu's fingertips slowly rubbed across the yellowed pages, and a dark light seemed to flow between the scale patterns of the mysterious beast totem, as if it were about to break free from the constraints of the page, revealing its hideous fangs, ready to swallow this tottering Dynasty in one gulp.

He spoke, his voice as low as an ancient bell, wrapped in the solemnity precipitated by time, every word like a stone pressing on Princess Xia Zhiqing's heart:

"The 'Shadow Guards' of the Dark Abyss have already appeared on the outskirts of Xia Ning City. They hide during the day and come out at night; their movements are even more secretive than ghosts."

He paused, his eyes darkening a bit: "But every time they show their heads, they cannot avoid Crown Prince Xia Hong's sphere of influence. The three counties of the Western Border—this is the greatest bargaining chip Crown Prince Xia Hong can offer, and it is also the fat meat that the Dark Abyss has coveted for decades. How could they let go of this opportunity delivered to their doorstep?"

The candlelight flickered gently in the draft, casting the old man's hunched shadow onto the mottled palace wall.

This shadow flickered, lengthening and shortening, like a trapped beast struggling in the wind, resembling the precarious situation of Great Xia at this moment.

"Crown Prince Xia Hong thinks he is borrowing a wolf that can bite," Xia Mingxiu's tone was tempered with a bit of coldness, a coldness like winter frost that chilled one to the bone, "but he does not know that it is a fierce tiger in wolf's clothing."

He raised his eyes and looked at Princess Xia Zhiqing, his gaze seemingly able to pierce through all fog: "The Great Wu Dynasty has never wanted just the three counties of the Western Border, but the entire territory of Great Xia—they are merely using Crown Prince Xia Hong's ambition to tear open our defenses bit by bit, waiting to sit back and reap the rewards."

Princess Xia Zhiqing felt a chill shoot from her spine to the top of her head!

The chill slithered along her spine like a venomous snake, crawling over every inch of her skin, burrowing into every pore, and finally coiling around her heart, making even her breathing heavy.

Her fingertips trembled uncontrollably. This trembling was slight, yet impossible to suppress.

Her voice was full of helplessness, full of despair, full of the exhaustion of having run out of options:

"Then what should we do? My younger brother is obsessed and refuses to listen, with only the throne in his eyes; and Father... he only wants to hide in the palace and seek temporary peace..."

Emperor Xia Quan's retreat and Crown Prince Xia Hong's madness were like two great mountains, pressing down on her until she could barely breathe.

She stood between the two mountains, with no way forward and no retreat, only able to watch helplessly as the sky collapsed bit by bit.

"Emperor Xia Quan is old."

Xia Mingxiu sighed lightly. In this tone, there was regret, helplessness, and a trace of indescribable sorrow.

"He guards this broken landscape, always thinking he can hide for a while, yet he does not know that some storms cannot be avoided."

As his words fell, he raised his hand and picked up a bronze token from the desk.

Under the candlelight, the token shone with deep green verdigris—that was the mark left by three hundred years of time, the witness to the founding of Great Xia to this day.

The front of the token was engraved with an ancient totem, exactly the same as the mysterious beast totem on the ancient book: hideous, majestic, roaring at the sky, exuding a majesty and Killing Intent that had not dissipated in three hundred years.

"But the Foundation of Great Xia has never been solely in the imperial court."

He handed the token to Princess Xia Zhiqing.

The token was slightly heavy in her hand—carrying the chill seeped out by time, heavy, as if it were holding the fate of the entire Dynasty.

The chill seeped in from her palm, spreading along her Bloodline, as if it still retained the body temperature of the ancestors from three hundred years ago, as if she could still hear those long-departed voices whispering in her ear.

"Three hundred years ago, when our ancestors founded the nation, they foresaw that there would be a great disaster," Xia Mingxiu's voice echoed in the silent hall, as if coming from very, very far away, "so they specially formed the Great Xia Dragon Cavalry, letting them guard the Imperial Mausoleum for generations, hidden in the shadows. That is the final spark of our Great Xia—"

He paused, his gaze like a torch, looking straight into Princess Xia Zhiqing's eyes: "Now, it is time for them to see the light of day again."

Princess Xia Zhiqing gripped the token tightly.

Her knuckles were white from the force, the white tinged with blue, the blue tinged with red—as if she wanted to grip this token, this three-hundred-year Legacy, this last hope of Great Xia, into her bones and blood, melting it into her life.

Even her voice trembled: "The Great Xia Dragon Cavalry... those secret forces only mentioned in the 'Secret History of Great Xia'?"

She raised her head, tears shimmering in her eyes, the tears shining like stars in the candlelight: "I always thought that was just a legend left by the ancestors..."

She had never imagined that the legendary guardians truly existed.

She had never imagined that on this precarious night, what she held in her hand was the last hope of Great Xia.

The candlelight flickered.

Casting the shadows of the old and the young onto the mottled palace wall, overlapping together, like the inheritance of two generations, like three hundred years of protection, like—the final glimmer of light before dawn.

The night was as dark as ink.

In the distance, there seemed to be the howl of a wolf, long and shrill, drifting in the wind.

That was the iron hooves of the Dark Abyss, quietly approaching in the darkness.

It was also the fate of Great Xia, teetering on the edge of a blade.