[BL] Eternal Spring ✔️

第四十二章

A/N  a little shorter this time... but 2/3 diplomas done hehe

The Dowager was not a dense person, in fact, she was quite the opposite. Before long, she'd rooted out the rat that was the Second Consort Yan. She was quite slippery and managed to flee with minor injuries. The Dowager, upset at her own miscalculations, retreated to a temple for the winter, praying everyday and tending to the imperial ancestors. Even with her two sisters gone, the long forgotten Third Consort Hai didn't dare to try and win the king's favour. She resided in her courtyard and enjoyed a leisurely and lively life everyday. Her enthusiasm for archery and horse-riding hadn't been dampened with the cold weather. Her servants were surely getting their daily exercise in. As for being the only remaining member of the harem, she didn't try to concern herself with the king's issue of heirs. The king could love whomever he loved and if one day he did seek her out, it was to her favour.

While the chaos reigned in court, the Gongzhuan diplomat had disappeared. When his chambers were investigated, a small layer of dust had settled. It was hard to tell if he'd been gone for three or ten days and during the winter storms, it was difficult to track a person. The imperial guards could only give up and turn back, his association with Second Consort Yan and Captain Liu remained uninvestigated...though there were speculations. Liu Qingyuan himself held a precarious position in the palace, but since the incident in the prison, he'd only kept his head down and worked diligently as the king's bodyguard. It wasn't like the king allowed anyone to talk bad of him anyway.

But over in Gongzhuan, palace life was about to be the opposite of happy-go-lucky and fortunate...

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The decorations of the palace weren't dilapidated in any sense, despite the crises unfolding across the kingdom. The citizens starved everyday and the soldiers pillaged and looted in order to sustain their own livelihoods. Mo Wu didn't care about any of this. Yan Li had become useless, her cover blown and his trump card, his disciple Liu Qingyuan, had betrayed him for the son of the king who'd killed his love. He'd long since lost his ability to empathize; it seemed that the only person who could finish this properly was himself. Since it'd reached this point, he also didn't need to continue to curry favour.

The moment the doors to the throne room opened, the Gongzhuan king looked up, his very bearing lecherous. A beauty sat on his lap, feeding him a grape while another of his concubines stood slightly behind him. Morning court had long since ended so those poor officials and ministers needn't burn their eyes out. Seeing Mo Wu, the king waved his hands and his concubines retreated in haste. It was only when they were alone did he greet him.

Mo Wu bowed shallowly. "Your majesty."

"En. What brings you here today?" Those two little beady eyes glittered. "It's been a while. How did your trip to Qiangda go?" Mo Wu glanced to the side.

"Your majesty, may we speak somewhere a little more private?" The king was intrigued. Too lazy to move, he waved his hand again, dismissing the guards standing in the room. They gave each other an uneasy glance, feeling unsettled every time Mo Wu was involved. The man was a lone wolf; it was uncertain where his true loyalties lay, if any at all. In the end, they still followed orders and left.

Mo Wu smiled coldly. This was exactly what he wanted. Once they were truly alone, Mo Wu lifted his foot, approaching the king step by step. He wasn't paying attention, only reaching out to pluck another grape from the bunch that had been carefully cultivated in the palace's greenhouse, ensuring that fresh fruit would be available to eat even in the winter. It wasn't until Mo Wu's shadow loomed straight over the head that he found that something seemed to be wrong.

The king tilted his head back, squinting those beady eyes at him in disdain. "Did you forget your place? You dare stand so close to me?" A cold glint flashed in Mo Wu's eyes. The rest of his words were cut off as metal flashed before his face. He trembled faintly, raising his gaze. "You! What do you want to do?"

Mo Wu sneered, not bothering to hide the disgust in his eyes. A useless person who only knew how to play everyday; how could he be a good ruler? He'd have to be blind to truly follow a leader like this!

"This servant thanks you for his service. These years, you've truly given me opportunities."

"Wait you-!" The Gongzhuan king sat up, feeling a foreboding sense of dread. He tried to plead with Mo Wu, but at the same time, still in shock that a subject who'd been loyal for the better part of three decades would ever betray him. His words, thoughts, and speculations were all cut off in a mere second, a red line appearing between the folds of his neck. The king sputtered momentarily before letting out an ugly, high-pitched squeal. Blood splashed on a handsome face, half covered with a mask. Mo Wu curled his lips in a sneer, stepping back as the king fell off the throne and rolled at his feet, crimson blood bubbling from his neck and throat.

Hearing the commotion, the guards who'd merely been waiting outside rushed in and raised their weapons. Seeing the king's state, some felt secretly joyful. But the apprehension quickly followed; the king had no heirs so who would rule? Their gazes fell on the man standing on the dais, dressed in black, a dying king at his feet. They slowly lifted their swords.

"Halt! What are you doing?" Mo Wu ignored the group behind him, watching with great satisfaction as the light slowly died in those beady eyes. Then, he bent over, lifting the king's thick paw and directly slicing off his finger. The guards' eyes widened and they rushed forward. Mo Wu tossed that dead lump of flesh away, sliding the gold seal ring onto his own finger. He turned, blocking the approaching blade of a guard and stabbing him through the chest in a smooth motion. He fought that surging tide of imperial guards, one by one, bodies falling. The marble ground of the ostentatious palace became slippery with blood. The great General of Gongzhuan, feared by all on the battlefield, cut his way through a group of elite guards like butter. It seemed like they'd been the ones who'd underestimated his true potential.

Soon the ground was full of corpses and two individuals faced off against one another. Mo Wu approached the Captain of the guards step by step, bringing with him the heavy scent of blood and carnage as if the devil himself had reincarnated.

"General Mo..." The captain stumbled, leaning on his sword. A heavy wound on his abdomen leaked blood all over the finely woven rug in the throne room. But it didn't matter; it had long been soaked through. "Why..." Mo Wu laughed cruelly. You still want to ask? No one in this world would understand him anyway, so what was the point in saying? Anyway, he'd always viewed the palace as his pawn, patiently waiting for the day his plans would come to fruition. Unfortunately, he forgot that the shameless fickleness of humans also applied to those he trained, even if he'd tried to beat it out of them.

The Captain of the guards only saw a cold light flash in his former friend's gaze. Although Mo Wu was cold and distant, he'd thought they at least had a semblance of comradeship between them. He thought he'd known his personality; a little cold, a little callous, but still human. It turned out that at his age, his judgment couldn't be trusted anymore. He'd actually missed the fact that this was no human, it was a devil wearing human skin. Mo Wu smiled.

"It was all fake." The Captain of the guards didn't even have time to grieve for thirty years of friendship before his life ended. Just like that, as fragile as a silk string snapping.

Mo Wu stood in this room drenched in blood, chest faintly heaving. The blood on his sword weighed it down, thick and viscous, until the liquid dropped to ground with a gentle pitter-patter. Unbeknownst to himself, a trace of sorrow flashed through his eyes, quickly covered again by indifference. It was already too late. He'd chosen this path to take, and now there was no way back.