Dragon's Origin

The Imperial City appeared normal, at least to outside observers. Everything seemed fine, with nothing amiss.

Even those in the outer city saw nothing out of the ordinary. The Emperor had convened a group of important officials to discuss significant matters for three days and nights. This wasn't unprecedented; it had happened before, sometimes for even longer. This time, he had summoned several current prime ministers, along with a few princes. It was clearly a major event, so the extended duration wasn't an issue.

In the outer city, officials were performing their duties as usual. They didn't even have the qualifications to meet the Emperor during court sessions; they were simply doing what they were supposed to do, while the ministers in charge of each department ensured the stable operation of the capital's various functions.

Beneath this stable facade, no one knew that a cataclysmic war was unfolding within the inner city.

The inner city of the Imperial City was undoubtedly heavily guarded. Especially since the start of the conference, the strongest defensive formation had been activated, enveloping the entire inner city. Ordinary guards had been expelled, leaving only the two hundred most loyal experts and some eunuchs. Besides them, there were only the Emperor and those members of the royal family and important officials.

From time to time, the inner city would send out opinions on political matters to the outer city through regular memorials. This indicated that even while in conference, the Emperor and his officials were mindful of the people's livelihoods. Although the comments were often just 'read' or 'acknowledged,' such diligence was a rare trait in an emperor!

Those outside could only see a glimpse through the inner city gate; they had no idea of the actual situation. No one knew that the inner city of the Imperial City was a completely different world.

Right outside the main hall where the Emperor usually held meetings with his ministers, two distinct factions were now arrayed. The Emperor, several prime ministers, and one or two grandmasters were inside the hall, while outside stood another group, led by several ancestral uncles from the Court of the Imperial Clan, along with the Second Prince and another group of important officials.

Not far from the inner city gate, someone was specially assigned to review the memorials in the tone of the Emperor and some other important officials, to prevent outsiders from noticing any anomalies in the short term. However, many of the memorials only had comments like 'read' or 'acknowledged,' and lacked the Emperor's seal.

The guards in the inner city were now almost all gone. After the power struggle between the two factions, out of more than two hundred guards, fewer than ten were still alive; the rest were lying dead in various places. No one cared about how to dispose of the bodies; everyone's attention was focused on the main hall.

With the main hall's door as the boundary, the Emperor and his group were inside, while the royal ancestral uncles were outside, facing each other.

"Your Majesty, a wise man submits to circumstances. As long as you issue a decree to hand over the throne to the Second Prince, you can still be the Supreme Emperor," a royal elder shouted loudly at the people inside through the hall's door.

"Spare me that nonsense," the Emperor's voice came from inside the hall. "You are clearly plotting a rebellion. Don't even think about me agreeing!"

"Your Majesty, don't blame us old officials; it's just that you've gone too far," another royal elder responded unhurriedly. "As the head of the royal family, you've favored outsiders in many matters. Are outsiders closer to you than your own relatives?"

"Nonsense!" This time, it wasn't the Emperor who retorted, but another royal prince inside the hall. "His Majesty is a genius. Finally, under His Majesty's brilliant planning, the royal family has a chance to rise. Instead of being ambitious, you want to hold us back. What kind of logic is that?"

"Uncle Ancestor, he's already like this, and you're still calling him Your Majesty!" The Second Prince outside the door was extremely impatient, complaining to the two old ancestral uncles.

The Second Prince was also furious. If the defense within the Imperial City hadn't been so tight, they wouldn't have been able to bring in many experts. While complaining, the Second Prince couldn't help but look to the right, his face filled with helplessness.

On the huge open space to the right of the hall, four figures were locked in a stalemate in the darkness. All four were dressed as old eunuchs. If Wang Sheng were here, he would definitely recognize three of them: the three great royal eunuch masters, Chief Steward Li, Steward Zhou, and Old Eunuch Shen.

The remaining one also had white hair and countless wrinkles on his face, making it impossible to tell his age. He looked frail and as if he would fall with a gust of wind.

This unfamiliar old eunuch's two fists were facing Chief Steward Li's two fists. Steward Zhou and Old Eunuch Shen were standing behind Chief Steward Li, supporting his shoulders. All four were exerting their strength, and no one could free their hands, unable to advance or retreat.

The old eunuch was too strong. Even with the three great royal eunuch masters, three experts at the peak of the Legend realm, who had been baptized in the core area of the Thousand Despair Land, working together, they could only fight him to a draw.

If either Steward Zhou or Old Eunuch Shen let go, the remaining two would be seriously injured immediately, so they couldn't let go. However, the three old masters weren't pushovers either. They barely held off the old eunuch, but also kept him from moving.

Both sides could only remain in this stalemate, unable to break it. Around the four of them lay the bodies of at least seventy or eighty guards. All of them had tried to help their own side during the stalemate, only to be killed by the backlash of the four's force fields.

At first, both sides didn't believe in this, but after each side lost nearly forty bodies, no one dared to approach within ten zhang of the four. Not only people, but even weapons and hidden weapons couldn't penetrate; once they entered the circle, they would be repelled.

Both sides could only accept the consequences of this stalemate; otherwise, the situation would be different now, with one side completely overwhelming the other.

"Is that what you should be saying?" Facing the Second Prince's complaint, the two old ancestral uncles turned their heads and scolded him in unison. "As long as His Majesty is still the Emperor for one day, he will always be His Majesty. Do you want us to call you 'little one' after you become the Emperor? If even we royal family members don't respect the Emperor, who else in the world will respect him?"

The Second Prince hurriedly lowered his head to admit his mistake, but in his lowered eyes, a rebellious light was already shining. The matter hadn't succeeded yet, so he would endure for now. Once I ascend the throne, I'll slowly deal with you old bones.

Damn it, if I had known there was no chance within the Imperial City, I should have endured for a while longer, maybe I could have persuaded the experts from the Old Monastery to take action.

Now I can only rely on attrition, to exhaust the Emperor and his group to death inside. Anyway, it's been three days, and the people inside haven't eaten, they can only drink water. Let's see how long they can last? If it really doesn't work, I'll use my trump card. This world will ultimately be mine.