Hatred rose within Lin Tianrong.

As the crown prince, not only his study was burnt, he still had to be protected from being killed right in his own residence. It was an utter humiliation to be witnessed by so many officials.

In the future…

How would he stand tall in the dynasty?

The crowd of officials was completely speechless upon seeing the crown prince surrounded by the guards for protection.

Was there really danger?

What had happened in the crown prince"s residence?

They stared at Lin Tianrong, observing his expression. They wanted to ask, but they did not. There were more urgent matters at hand.

"Careful, there"s an a.s.sa.s.sin in the crown prince"s residence!"

"Quick, arrest him!"

"Protect His Majesty!"

A few voices emerged suddenly, and the Royal Guards behind Emperor Lin Mubai reacted immediately, raising their gleaming pikes, ready to strike.

Following that, a few generals stepped forward from behind Emperor Lin Mubai, wielding their weapons.

"Your Majesty, we"ll go save the crown prince!"

"Hmm." Emperor Lin Mubai was solemnly nodded. It was just that when he saw the burning study behind Lin Tianrong, he was a little shocked.

The generals understood the emperor, and without hesitation, dashed toward Lin Tianrong, their bodies emitting rays of all colors.

And in an instant, they reached beside Lin Tianrong.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" A general asked.

"I am fine. The a.s.sa.s.sin is right behind, General Li, please see to it!" Lin Tianrong replied. With the situation at hand, he couldn"t care less.

"Alright, we"ll take him down!" General Li didn"t intend to attempt it himself. The a.s.sa.s.sin that could not be defeated by the Eastern Palace would not be an easy opponent.

The other generals nodded.

They quickly followed behind General Li and together they went around the formation of the guards protecting Lin Tianrong.

But…

Soon, they stopped.

Because they had already seen the huge depression on the ground, where the three petrified guests stood pitifully.

But there was no one in front of them. Not a single person.

"Your Highness, where is the a.s.sa.s.sin?" General Li asked.

"Isn"t he behind?" Lin Tianrong started having doubts. He stopped running and looked backward.

He saw the three guests dazed in their positions.

But what about the masked man?

He had already vanished.

This shook Lin Tianrong.

What was going on? Where was the masked man? Where had he gone to?

As the crown prince, he had totally lost his face today. From fire breaking out in the Eastern Palace, to him being unable to fend for himself, all of these still couldn"t match up to one thing.

And that was…

The criminal"s escape!

"Where is he?! Where did he go?" As Lin Tianrong was ushered to the back, he did not notice the masked man"s movements. And now that the masked man is gone, how could not be anxious?

"This…"

The three guests finally snapped out of their daze. The exchanged looks but could only see the terror in each other"s eyes.

"I am asking you, where did he go?" Lin Tianrong asked again.

"We deserve to die!" The three guests immediately dropped to their knees, looked at each other, then shook their heads and said: "We only saw him the jump into the study, and then, we…"

"The study?!" Lin Tianrong looked at the study that was almost burnt to ashes. It was impossible for the masked man to jump in there.

Suicide?

Impossible!

With his capabilities, he wouldn"t be burnt to death by the fire.

When the generals heard this, they fretted. To jump into the burning study, during all that mess, was just an illusion.

After all, if he were able to control the flames, it was unlikely that he would be burnt. But the crucial question was…

Why did no one chase after him?

The surrounding guards looked at one another, puzzled. They did not even know when did the masked man jump into the fire, hence they were not of what happened a moment ago.

"He… is missing?" The guards were surprised.

This meant that the masked man had set the Eastern Palace on fire, then left unharmed after he was surrounded by so many people.

How ridiculous!

"Get away!" Lin Tianrong looked at the bewildered guards and screamed angrily. Then he pushed the guards who still surrounded him.

What an insult!

It was a total insult!

To enter the Eastern Palace in the dead of night and set fire to a pavilion and a study, then kill a guest with the attack of others, and even scared Lin Tianrong to retreat fearfully…

And in the end…

He actually left safely?

He left!

Lin Tianrong could not stand an insult like this. Such an insult aggravated him more than killing him. In the fit of rage, he grabbed a guard"s knife.

Under the moonlight, the blade shone in a sharp, merciless gleam.

He needed to vent his hatred!

"Your Highness, don"t!"

"Your Highness, please calm down!"

"Your Highness, please calm down!"

A few officials were stunned upon seeing this. After all, Emperor Lin Mubai stood before them.

If Emperor Lin Mubai saw Lin Tianrong killing people for no reason, it would be a huge matter indeed.

Lin Tianrong stopped.

Because he heard the officials and even saw Lin Xinjue"s look of antic.i.p.ation. He was furious, but he could never let Lin Xinjue get his way.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, put down the knife!" Emperor Lin Mubai"s voice finally rose. His brows furrowed tightly while he stared sternly.

As the emperor…

He would rarely shout at someone in the presence of all the imperial officials.

And, this person was the crown prince.

But when he stepped into the crown prince"s residence, he could only smell blood. Among the crimes of hurting someone intentionally and showing disregard for human life, which of these wasn"t a major crime?

Although these people were the guards and servants of the crown prince"s residence, in the eyes of imperial laws, their lives were lives too.

"Ding!"

The knife dropped on the floor as Lin Tianrong loosened his hand. His face was full of unhappiness and rage, and a resignation to sheer bad luck.

These were two entirely different emotions.

The former was because he knew the masked man had left; the latter was because his reckless act in a moment of rage was witnessed by Emperor Lin Mubai.

As for remorse…

Of course, he didn"t have any.

To him, a guard"s life was nothing.

"You"re not going to kneel?" Emperor Lin Mubai could not help but say this. After dropping the knife, Lin Tianrong remained standing.

"Father, I was only… overcome by rage, I didn"t…"

"Kneel!"

"Father, the a.s.sa.s.sin had escaped, I…"

"Kneel!"

"Yes…" Lin Tianrong saw the Emperor Lin Mubai"s grave expression. He eventually gritted his teeth and kneeled on the ground, albeit very unwillingly.

"As the crown prince, is this how you should behave?" Lin Mubai was disappointed.

"Father, my study was burnt, yet these useless people couldn"t even catch one person, and even allowed him to escape…"

"Shut up!" Lin Mubai stopped Lin Tianrong, and at the same time, he glanced at the study. "In such a short period of time, even though the a.s.sa.s.sin had escaped, he could not have left the crown prince"s residence. Follow my orders, the Royal Guards and the Eastern Palace guards, all of you are to seal the exits of the residence and let no one through!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

The Royal Guards and the guards of the crown prince residence acknowledged the order and rushed out in various directions.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?" Lin Mubai fretted as he turned his full attention to Lin Tianrong.

In the capital, in the crown prince"s residence.

For an arson to happen here, he was shocked too.

"Father, it had been a peaceful night while I was reading, until a fire broke out in the residence, and…" Lin Tianrong quickly told him everything, and of course, omitting the bits where he killed the guards.

After he retold the events, all the officials looked at one another, flabbergasted.

"How dare he do such a thing?"

"He actually burnt two places in the residence, yet he didn"t escape?"

"Who is he? Only a few masters in Yan Capital are powerful enough to defeat three people with the Rebirth State!"

As they exclaimed in their hearts, they had their suspicions too. Names flashed in their minds.

The emperor, King Liqin, Xing Yuanguo? Chi Hou? Or Hua Fei?

Who else could do such a thing? It couldn"t possibly be the Owl Master Yan Qianli from Western Liang, right?

Emperor Lin Mubai had the same doubts.

In Yan Capital, only a few had such capabilities, and all of them held high positions, and anyone linked to them would be implicated.

"You said this person is very young?" Emperor Lin Mubai asked again.

"Yes, his age is… no more than thirty-five!" Lin Tianrong answered with certainty.

"Third Brother, how are you so sure? You must be joking, right? In Yan Capital, for such a powerful person younger than thirty-five, only the Imperial Concubine Hua Fei fit the bill. Are you saying that the Imperial Concubine Hua Fei burnt your study?"

Lin Xinjue"s voice lit up, his eyes had a hint of mockery. Yet his words are very true.

"I did not say that. Why has Sixth Brother come to create sow discord?" Lin Tianrong had already been containing his anger but triggered by Lin Xinjue"s words, his rage rose once again.

"Haha, you said it yourself, I didn"t speak nonsense. Well, does Yan Capital have a master younger than thirty-five years old?"

Of course, he could see Lin Tianrong"s anger. But he didn"t mind if he blew up in this rage.

"Well said, Sixth Brother! Well, I am only speaking the truth. Although it isn"t bright at night, I could see there weren"t any wrinkles in the corner of his eyes. Why can I not say that he is under thirty-five years old?" Lin Tianrong clenched his fist while his body stiffened slightly, but he had it under control.

"What if it was a disguise?" Lin Xinjue smiled again.

"Disguise?!" Lin Tianrong was stunned. His expression changed as he recalled the masked man"s low voice.

When the officials heard the word "disguise", they exchanged glances, then nodded. After all, for a person to defeat three people with Rebirth State so easily while being less than thirty-five years old, it could only be Hua Fei.

But if it was approached from another perspective…

The masked man would have intentionally revealed such a clue. He could have changed his appearance before he came, to mislead everyone into thinking that he was less than thirty-five years old.

It was very likely!

After all, he must have planned this beforehand to accomplish this huge task of the burning the crown prince"s residence. How could he have done this recklessly?

The officials looked at one another and nodded with certainty.

As for…

Any notion of Ping Yang being drunk and came to set fire to the Eastern Palace on a whim…

No one would have guessed so.

Well, everyone knew of Ping Yang"s capabilities.

Not to mention three people of the Rebirth State, even one would have knocked her flat on the floor.

"Princess Ping Yang has arrived!" A voice shouted from a distance. Then, a group of people arrived in front of the officials.

The person in the center wore a long, red dress, her crystal-clear eyes sparkled, her soft pink lips smiled slightly, a little proudly.

Ping Yang.

And on her right was Yan Xiu with his cold, apathetic expression, dressed in a luxurious, painted gown which bore a few red clouds.