Chapter 45 Imperial Guards Surround the Gate to Arrest Someone, Five-Year-Old Child Invited into the Palace

The roar of the battering ram against the gate was like a heavy hammer, shattering the afternoon tranquility of the Chen residence, and also shattering the last shred of hope in Princess Yin Rong's heart.

The leader of the Imperial Guards, Zhao Kuo, clad in black armor with a face as cold and hard as iron, stepped into the courtyard holding a royal decree.

Behind him was a dense forest of armor, the sharp edges of blades and spears merging into a cold river under the sunlight.

"By the order of the King, I invite Madam Chen and the Young Master... to move to the backyard for quiet recuperation."

Zhao Kuo's voice was without a ripple, but the words "quiet recuperation" were more piercing than a blade.

This was not protection; this was imprisonment.

"No..." Princess Yin Rong lost all color in her face, shielding Chen Yuan tightly in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.

She pleaded miserably to Zhao Kuo, "General, Yuaner is just a child! None of this has anything to do with him! Please..."

The servants in the residence had long since fallen to their knees in terror, silent as cicadas in winter.

In the entire courtyard, only Princess Yin Rong's desperate cries and the increasingly close, deadly sound of armor rubbing against armor remained.

However, in the center of this chaos, Chen Yuan, tightly held by his mother, was exceptionally quiet.

He did not even look at the wolf-like Imperial Guards, but instead kept his head down, using his small fingers.

To continue polishing the edge of the wing on the Phoenix wood carving in his hand, as if everything outside was merely noisy wind and rain beyond the chessboard.

Next-door courtyard.

"This is too much!"

Bixiao slammed her palm onto the stone table, and the hard jade tabletop was instantly covered in cracks, turning into powder.

Her phoenix eyes were bloodshot, her Killing Intent almost solidified, and the space around her began to slightly distort.

"A mere Mortal king, how dare he humiliate him like this! At worst, I will storm the royal palace and see who dares to stop me!"

"Second Sister!" Yunxiao's face was equally icy, gripping her wrist tightly, saying word by word, "Revered Master has given an order!"

"He is about to be treated as a prisoner! Who cares about some damn Revered Master's order!" Bixiao roared, her Immortal Qi surging, almost breaking through her restraints.

Just at this moment, that calm and majestic voice once again resounded in the Three Xiao Fairies' Divine Soul.

"Enter the game to protect the game."

These short six words were like the evening drum and morning bell, causing the furious Bixiao's body to freeze suddenly.

Enter the game? How to enter the game?

Yunxiao and Qiong Xiao were also deeply shaken, pondering the profound meaning of these six words. Could Revered Master's meaning be...

Before they could clear their thoughts, the situation in the Chen residence had already undergone a shocking change.

As the Imperial Guards pressed closer, about to lay hands on them to take them away by force, Chen Yuan finally stopped the movement in his hands.

He gently pushed away his mother's trembling arms. This movement was light, yet carried an unquestionable power.

Princess Yin Rong was stunned, looking at her son with teary eyes.

Chen Yuan carefully put the completed, lifelike Phoenix wood carving into his bosom. Then he straightened his slightly disheveled clothes.

He looked up, his clear black and white eyes looking towards the Imperial Guard leader Zhao Kuo for the first time.

There was no fear, no panic, not even a trace of the emotions a child should have. It was a calmness so profound it was heart-palpitating, as if he were looking at a pile of... lifeless chess pieces.

In everyone's astonished gaze, five-year-old Chen Yuan stepped forward with his short legs, alone, walking step by step toward that forest of steel made of blades and spears.

His small figure formed a stark contrast with the tall and grim Imperial Guards. Every step he took was exceptionally steady.

Zhao Kuo frowned; he was a veteran of many battles, having killed countless people, and the Evil Qi on his body was enough to make a fierce tiger bow its head.

Yet the child walking toward him not only didn't cry in fear, but instead gave him an absurd illusion. It was as if what was walking over was not a five-year-old child, but an ancient sacred mountain slowly moving, pressing down on him until he couldn't breathe.

"Stop!" the deputy general beside Zhao Kuo shouted sternly, subconsciously gripping his sword hilt tighter.

Chen Yuan indeed stopped, only three steps away from Zhao Kuo.

He looked up, gazing at the man who could decide his and his mother's life or death, his childish voice clearly resounding and spreading throughout the entire courtyard.

"My father is not guilty."

Zhao Kuo's eyelids twitched, and he did not speak.

Chen Yuan continued, "General Zhao Kuo, are you going to take me and my mother as hostages to threaten my father?"

He exposed the dirtiest essence behind this royal decree in one sentence, causing the muscles on Zhao Kuo's cold and hard cheeks to twitch uncontrollably.

"Water control is a national policy. Killing is a means." Chen Yuan's voice remained calm, yet every word struck at the heart.

"The seven great noble families of Qingyuan County monopolized grain and fodder, incited rioters, and intended to cause the mutiny of tens of thousands of water control troops and the collapse of the embankments."

"At that time, floodwaters would backflow, affecting more than a million commoners? My father held the Tiger Tally, executed the ringleaders, and stabilized the overall situation with thunderous means. What crime is there?"

This speech was articulate and logically clear, completely unlike something a five-year-old child could say.

The Imperial Guards behind Zhao Kuo all showed expressions of astonishment.

Zhao Kuo took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and said coldly, "Merits and faults will be judged by the King; I only act on orders."

"The King?" The corners of Chen Yuan's mouth curled into an extremely subtle, almost mocking arc.

"The King only saw that my father killed three people, but he didn't calculate how many people my father's actions could save for Great Shang, and how many more acres of fertile land could be gained."

He stretched out his small hand, as if measuring something.

"With the Yellow River diverted and the flood disaster quelled, there will be an additional million acres of high-quality fertile land along the coast of Qingyuan County. One acre of land can produce three shi of grain per year."

"A million acres means three million shi. How many more troops can Great Shang support? How many more disaster victims can it provide relief to?"

"The King cannot calculate this account."

Having said this, Chen Yuan took another step forward, almost pressing against Zhao Kuo's armor.

He lifted his porcelain-like little face and said word by word, "I will personally go to the royal palace and calculate it for him."

Boom! Zhao Kuo felt his mind go blank, a chill rushing from his tailbone straight to his crown.

He looked at the pair of eyes before him; there was no pleading, no fear, only a condescending scrutiny and... an order.

How is this a five-year-old child! This is a monster! A Prodigy wearing the skin of a child!

The deputy general behind him was completely dumbfounded, his mouth agape, unable to say a single word.

In the next-door courtyard, the Three Xiao Fairies were even more shaken.

The anger in Bixiao's eyes had faded, replaced by endless shock and infatuation.

"He... he is still him..."

Yunxiao slowly loosened her tightly clenched fists, her beautiful eyes shimmering with strange brilliance, whispering softly.

"This is the real him... taking the heaven and earth as a board, and all living beings as pieces. How can mere Mortal royal power trap him?"

In the courtyard, there was a deathly silence.

Fine beads of sweat seeped out on Zhao Kuo's forehead.

The royal order was to make an arrest. But the child before him wanted him to take him to see the King.

One was a dead end, the other was... he didn't know what kind of path it was, but his battle-hardened intuition was frantically warning him—listen to him!

This was a choice sufficient to change his destiny, or even the destiny of Great Shang!

After a long while. Under the bated breath of everyone watching, this commander who held the life and death of three thousand Imperial Guards actually lowered his arrogant head slowly to a five-year-old child.

"...Very well." One word, extremely hoarse.

Zhao Kuo turned abruptly and let out a heaven-shaking roar to the army behind him. "Prepare the carriage!!"

He didn't say who the carriage was for, but everyone understood.

Princess Yin Rong covered her mouth, unable to believe her eyes. A dead end that could have destroyed the Chen family, just like that, broken by her five-year-old son in a few words?

Chen Yuan did not look at anyone else; he turned and walked back to his mother's side, tugged at her sleeve, and said softly, "Mother, we are going to the palace."

Half an hour later. The Imperial Guards outside the Chen residence had not been withdrawn, but the atmosphere was already different. A luxurious royal carriage, escorted by three hundred of the most elite Imperial Guards, slowly drove out of the long street, heading toward the royal palace that represented the pinnacle of power in Great Shang.

Inside the carriage, Chen Yuan leaned in his mother's arms, eyes closed, as if asleep. Only he knew that his Divine Soul had long since turned into an invisible chessboard. On the chessboard, black and white intertwined, filled with murderous intent. And the piece he had just placed was currently prying open the entire Zhaoge City.