416: Chapter 416 She wants to be empress, but does she need to rebel?

New Emperor Jiang Hantian believed his tearful, black-and-white-reversing accusation was a flawless performance.

By dumping all the filth onto The Fourth Princess, as long as the Ancestor believed this rhetoric, his crime of patricide would be completely washed away.

However, upon hearing this "blood-and-tears accusation" from the New Emperor Jiang Hantian, Jiang Luohai, standing before him, did not show the rage or heartache he had expected.

In the quiet Imperial Study, an undisguised sneer suddenly rang out.

"Heh... Hahahaha!"

Jiang Luohai looked down at New Emperor Jiang Hantian, who was kneeling on the ground acting, his eyes filled with the mockery and contempt one reserves for a clown.

He sneered and ruthlessly pierced through New Emperor Jiang Hantian's disguise:

"That's enough, put away that nauseating face of yours."

"Do you really think that because I've been in seclusion for years, I've grown so old that my Brain doesn't work anymore?"

"Those little tricks of yours to reverse black and white are all rotten tactics that we old folks played out in the palace hundreds of years ago!"

Jiang Luohai pointed at New Emperor Jiang Hantian's nose, his words piercing the heart like knives scraping across the other's face:

"Isn't it just that you realized the throne was no longer secure, grew jealous, and thus committed the beastly acts of patricide, usurpation, and slaughtering your own kin? You dare to do it but not admit it; you had the face to poison him, but no face to acknowledge it?"

"With your cowardly nature of daring to do but not to admit, do you even deserve to wear these dragon robes?"

Having his mask torn off to his face by the Ancestor, with his deepest, dirtiest secret laid bare in the open,

New Emperor Jiang Hantian's face instantly turned shades of green and white, looking terrible to the extreme.

He waved his hands in terror, attempting a final struggle:

"Ancestor! You misunderstand, I didn't... It really was The Fourth Princess who wanted to be Empress, she is the one who..."

"Shut up!"

Jiang Luohai let out a sudden, thunderous roar, a sound like a great bell that made the tiles of the Imperial Study tremble.

He stared down at the completely panicked New Emperor Jiang Hantian and sneered, directly throwing out a lethal truth sufficient to destroy all of his logical defenses:

"You fool, you didn't know, did you?"

A trace of mockery flashed in Jiang Luohai's eyes, his tone so cold it felt like falling into an ice cellar:

"Your father had long talked with me through the night, entrusting me with his final arrangements."

"He confessed his bottom line to me back then: once The Fourth Princess came of age and her Innate Divine Ability was completely stabilized, after he passed, he would pass the throne to her."

"The late Emperor intended to appoint The Fourth Princess, who possesses an Innate Divine Ability, as the new Empress of our Great Zhou!"

Boom! This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, striking New Emperor Jiang Hantian's crown.

He stood there frozen, his Brain a blank slate.

Jiang Luohai looked at the ashen-faced New Emperor Jiang Hantian, his eyes full of undisguised contempt:

"Not only do I know this, but several elders in the Imperial Clan know it too."

"Your father doted on The Fourth Princess; I fear The Fourth Princess herself has long been aware of this!"

"The throne would be hers sooner or later! This vast territory of Great Zhou was always meant to be hers!"

Jiang Luohai stepped forward, staring intensely at New Emperor Jiang Hantian's eyes, which were trembling madly with fear, and issued a mocking interrogation that struck at the soul:

"Ask yourself, someone destined to rightfully ascend the throne and inherit the empire."

"What reason or motive would she have to risk the condemnation of the world to prematurely poison the father who loved her most?"

"If she wanted to be Emperor, would she need to rebel?"

These words were like a heavy hammer, smashing the last shred of hope in New Emperor Jiang Hantian's heart.

The color on New Emperor Jiang Hantian's face faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning as pale as a dead man's face.

His Legs went weak, unable to support his body's weight anymore, and with a "thump," his knees slammed heavily onto the cold floor tiles.

The bright yellow dragon robes, which symbolized the supreme authority of the Emperor, now looked like a ridiculous costume.

"Impossible..."

New Emperor Jiang Hantian dug his hands into the gaps between the floor tiles, his fingernails cracking and bleeding without him even noticing. He shook his head like a madman, muttering neurotically:

"The Fourth Princess is a woman! How can a woman inherit the throne! How could the civil and military officials agree to this!"

"I am the Crown Prince! I am the legitimate new Emperor of Great Zhou! This vast territory is mine, it can absolutely not be that bitch!"

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with hideous red bloodshot veins, and shrieked hysterically at Jiang Luohai: "Ancestor, you are lying to me! The late Emperor was confused, have you become confused too!"

Looking at the hopeless New Emperor Jiang Hantian, Jiang Luohai couldn't even be bothered to say another unnecessary word.

He looked down coldly at this collapsing piece of trash, having already made his decision.

The girl, The Fourth Princess, had awakened an Innate Divine Ability that the Great Zhou royal family hadn't seen in hundreds of years. With such a terrifying talent capable of suppressing an entire era, even if she were a woman, those stubborn old antiques in the Imperial Clan would have to obediently shut up and accept this decision in the face of absolute power!

The urgent priority was to immediately issue an Ancestral Edict to announce to the world, expose the ugly face of New Emperor Jiang Hantian's patricide and usurpation, and help The Fourth Princess clear her name of this treasonous grievance.

Then, mobilize the entire Great Zhou intelligence network; even if it meant digging three feet into the ground, he had to find the missing The Fourth Princess!

As for the beast before him who had poisoned his own father and harmed his kin... keeping him alive would only dirty the Great Zhou dragon throne!

A cold, murderous intent flashed in Jiang Luohai's eyes as his withered right hand shot out, wind energy condensing in his palm to form an invisible dragon claw, which lunged straight for New Emperor Jiang Hantian's throat.

At this critical moment!

"Old man, don't be so hot-headed."

"How can you be so rude to a newly enthroned Emperor?"

A voice tinged with laziness and impatience floated in leisurely from outside the broken doors of the Imperial Study without warning.

Jiang Luohai's eyes sharpened. His hand, which was reaching for New Emperor Jiang Hantian, stopped abruptly in mid-air, and he turned his head sharply to look.

At the entrance of the main hall, a chubby middle-aged man with a face full of flab was stepping in, wearing dust-covered tactical boots, his hands in his pockets, strolling leisurely across the threshold.

He was wearing a black leather jacket that clashed with the style of Great Zhou, his sleeves rolled up casually, and the metal wristwatch on his wrist reflecting a cold silver light in the dim candlelight.

It was Imperial Preceptor Wen Wangshan!

New Emperor Jiang Hantian, who had already been despairing and waiting for death, felt a surge of intense desire to survive in his dead-gray eyes the moment he saw who it was.

Like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, he scrambled towards Imperial Preceptor Wen Wangshan, shrieking loudly with absolutely no imperial dignity:

"Imperial Preceptor! Imperial Preceptor, save me!"

"This old thing is crazy, he wants to kill me! He won't let me be Emperor, and he wants to give the empire to that bitch! Imperial Preceptor, kill him quickly!"

Imperial Preceptor Wen Wangshan frowned slightly, looking at the Great Zhou Emperor who was hugging his leg and crying bitterly, a flicker of undisguised disgust flashing in his eyes.

He pulled his leg back with disdain, as if kicking away a stray dog.

Jiang Luohai stood before the Imperial desk, his gaze locked like a knife onto this strangely dressed middle-aged man.

He ignored the screeching New Emperor Jiang Hantian, instead sensing the eerie aura emanating from the other man—faint yet causing him to feel waves of palpitations—and his expression sank bit by bit.