Chapter 248: Chapter 95 Something’s Not Right, Even Small Gestures Don’t Work (Please Subscribe)_3
 

Even he, as foolish as he might have been, had realized that the situation before him vastly differed from what he had anticipated.

Indeed, in the next moment, under the watchful eyes of Emperor Zhou and the Court officials, the Town-Nation Duke’s Heir approached the Queen of South Ming beside him and removed the jade pendant from around her neck.

Conflicted emotions might have crossed the Queen’s face, but she did not resist in the slightest, merely sighing helplessly towards the King of South Ming.

Although she was a split-off of the Demon Emperor, she possessed a certain degree of autonomy in consciousness. Given her current predicament, not to mention a change in personality, even if she had been tainted with the slightest filth, the Demon Emperor would never allow her to merge back into the original entity.

The consciousness of the original entity had yet to descend.

She could live a little longer.

If the consciousness of the original entity were to descend, her chances of escaping death were slim.

There was hardly any difference now whether she helped the King of South Ming or not.

On the contrary, if she helped the Town-Nation Duke’s Heir, she might survive a little longer before the consciousness of the original entity descended. If she did not help the Town-Nation Duke’s Heir, she feared she would already be gone.

This was a calculation the Queen of South Ming understood well.

After Cheng Guang removed the jade pendant from the delicate body of the Queen of South Ming, in that instant,

the pendant which had, at first, seemed ordinary with only a hint of craftsmanship, suddenly emitted a faint glow.

This glow, though not dazzling, gave off a deeply eerie feeling.

Simultaneously, the King of South Ming felt as if his body were shedding a layer of skin, or as if countless invisible hands were kneading his body.

His skin, originally smooth and fair like jade, began to lose moisture, becoming dry and wrinkled. His majestic and noble eyes also turned cloudy and blurred.

The King of South Ming, aware of his transformation, was not surprised.

Gathering up his black hair, what was once jet-black began to change to salt-and-pepper, like snow slowly losing its color in the bitter winter.

His frame shriveled, his bones became more pronounced, his muscles atrophied, and his features grew gaunt, with sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks.

He had become like an old man, one foot already in the coffin.

The Court officials, witnessing this almost eerie transformation, couldn’t help but inhale sharply, their expressions filled with shock.

Empress Dowager Li’s aged features transformed, her eyes narrowed slightly. Her bony, prominently jointed fingers clenched tightly around the cane, then slowly released.

As she exhaled a breath of relief, her previously upright posture slowly became hunched.

Emperor Zhou looked on dispassionately and with dignity at the King of South Ming as he gradually changed into the visage of the crown prince. Even though he had mentally prepared himself,

when the moment came, Emperor Zhou’s hand still trembled slightly, and he tightened it gradually.

Recalling how, over the years, all the kindness he showed to the King of South Ming had in fact gone to the crown prince,

Beyond the sorrow within his heart, there was a greater sense of humiliation.

The humiliation of being treated like a clown by the crown prince, deceived for so many years!

At that moment, the King of South Ming, or rather, the crown prince, even though his face and body had aged, still stood tall and calm, without much panic.

He looked at his pale white hair, then his gaze shifted to the Town-Nation Duke’s Heir, and to the one who, for some unknown reason, had abandoned the Demon Emperor within himself. Then he chuckled and shook his head.

“I’ve lost again this time,” he murmured.

Emperor Zhou, suppressing his emotions, responded indifferently, “Brother, you’ve never won.”

“You escaped once, but today, you cannot escape.”

As Emperor Zhou spoke, he raised a finger and a point of brilliant golden light blossomed from his fingertip.

A vast aura of the Primordial Spirit, like an incoming tide, surged from his being and permeated the surroundings.

Emperor Zhou had no wish to converse extensively with the crown prince as he was now.

If the crown prince had maintained the appearance of the King of South Ming, he would have been reluctant to act, but facing the crown prince as he was now, he had no such qualms.

The crown prince should have died years ago.

The crown prince’s slightly aged eyes stared at Emperor Zhou, observing the confident demeanor of the current Emperor Zhou, and he laughed again.

“Escape?”

“Why would I need to escape?”

“I care not for reputation, nor how the world perceives me—but you do.”

“Wu Shang, in the end, you are still destined to spill royal blood and bear the infamy. You took my throne, and I am not content; even if it means slaying these princes and princesses of yours, the Empress Dowager, and every royal supporter, I am not wrong.”

“But if you kill me, how will you face the ancestors when you return to hell?”

Emperor Zhou remained impassive. The crown prince was correct; he was the legitimate heir.

Even though he had the support of the Empress Dowager, the Duke of the State, and the citizens of Great Zhou, he wasn’t in accordance with ancient customs.

But what of it?

He would prove himself to be a worthy Emperor of Great Zhou. Even if not the eldest legitimate son, he would be a competent Emperor.

“Brother, go on your way. There’s no need for you to worry about my affairs,” said Emperor Zhou, waving his hand. As he did so, the tremendous Primordial Spirit in the void outlined divine figures. The Divine Secret Skill unfolded, divine bodies scattered with golden light, which turned into fierce sword rays shooting towards the crown prince.

The crown prince, facing the attack of Emperor Zhou, ceased fiddling with the Jade Bead in his hand and then threw his palm forward, releasing a surge of the Power of the Primordial Spirit. In the next moment, it was as if countless tongues of fire erupted from the palm of his hand.