Feiyun glanced around to see everyone’s att.i.tude and knew that the crime was not a big deal. At the very worst, it would only be fines and confiscation. So, he suddenly stood up and shouted: “You d.a.m.n thief, a parasite to the empire! If I don’t beat you today, I would be letting down my position at the Divine King!”

With that, he grabbed his King’s Order and jumped out of his seat, lunging for Xie Yao.

Beiming Moshou was sneering, thinking that he was an inexperienced child, still wet on the lips with milk - rude, rash, and improper in the court.

This Nine-gate Commander was part of his faction but he didn’t mind if Feiyun actually go and beat him. He doubted Feiyun’s audacity to do so.

“The Jin Emperor will praise me for beating a traitor and contributing to the land.” Feiyun pulled up his sleeve and immediately slammed his badge like a brute.

“Boom!” The thick, black badge struck the commander’s face, causing him to drop to the ground. His chin was cut and swollen with blood.

The commander screamed: “You actually hit me? Little brat, you won’t die a good death!”

“Oh?! Cursing the Divine King? Another crime added then.” Feiyun’s eyes flashed with a murderous glint as he activated the power of the previous Divine Kings and slammed down.

The commander realized that he had fallen into a trap. Cursing the Divine King in the court was indeed a serious crime but he wasn’t too afraid, believing that the Grand Chancellor would help him.

However, a majestic power was crus.h.i.+ng down. There was no way Feiyun would let him live. 

Feiyun activated the most powerful strike and shocked everyone. Even the Grand Chancellor couldn’t stop him in time.

“Boom!” Only a pool of blood was left behind, not even a single bone.

The entire court was astounded; no one said anything. This Feng Feiyun actually killed a high official in the middle of a meeting. This was uncommon since the start of the dynasty.

Beiming Moshou’s expression was as cold as steel with his fingers clenching.

Feiyun gave them the side-eye before walking proudly to the front of the main throne and slightly bowed: “Emperor, Nine-gate Commander Xie Yao was corrupted, I have carried out justice and killed him.”

The ones who accused him earlier felt their underwear glistening with sweat and all shut up. They were afraid that this ridiculous Divine King would aim for them next.

Moshou stood up and said: “Emperor, from what I know, Xie Yao did have bad habits but he was certainly a loyal and talented soldier. The Divine King had killed an innocent man, punishment is required or the heart of the people won’t be appeased.”

Feiyun retorted: “Then all of the evidence collected by Princess Yue is fake?”

“Princess Yue..” Moshou tried to respond.

“Grand Chancellor, you are protecting a corrupted official and were aware of him taking bribes and stealing from military fundings? You purposely hid this from the emperor?” Feiyun interrupted.

“I naturally didn’t know about it…” Moshou said.

“Anyway, it makes sense that you’re protecting him since he is directly from your faction, that’s just the way of life, isn’t it now?” Feiyun said.

Moshou has always been eloquent and crafty but now, Feiyun had the upper hand. He turned red from ear to ear: ‘No wonder why Chuanfeng chose him as the successor, this person is much more treacherous and hard to deal with.’

Feiyun’s irrational actions so far have caught him off guard.

Initially, Moshou had prepared to escalate the matter of Beauty’s Smile in order to force an abdication.

However, Feiyun took it a step further and even killed the Nine-gate Commander before turning the spear towards him. This was indeed a great move.

Jin Emperor was watching everything and asked: “Grand Preceptor, what is your opinion on this matter?”

The Grand Preceptor, Dongfang Hanlin, looked quite old and weak. He seemed to be sleeping the entire time until the emperor called for him. He opened his eyes and smiled: “His Excellency Divine King truly hates evil, that’s the right type of att.i.tude. However, he shouldn’t be accusing the Grand Chancellor who is known for his pure honesty and being the pillar of the dynasty. He definitely wouldn’t protect his people if they were in the wrong.”

He skirted around the issue in order to not offend both the Divine King and the Grand Chancellor. Quite an experienced fox.

‘This old man knows how to put on an act, even more so than that old fox Beiming.’ Feiyun thought.

The emperor pondered for a bit before speaking: “Then we’ll end this matter here. Divine King, the ruins in the southern city will be your responsibility to rebuild, same with reparation for Xie Yao’s family.”

“Emperor, who will a.s.sume the position of Nine-gate Commander then?” The Grand Chancellor asked.

This rank was in charge of the elites in the capital, perhaps even more powerful than the Martial Army. If something were to happen in the capital, the troops from the nine gates would be of crucial importance.

The Grand Chancellor had control of this force but now, he had lost this important chess piece with the death of Xie Yao so he became quite anxious.

“This matter will be discussed another day.”

The Grand Chancellor was slightly taken aback. He felt that something was amiss - the emperor purposely let Feiyun killed Xie Yao in order to weaken his power and maintain the balance.

It was a terrible sign.

The emperor went on: “I have another announcement. Divine King, you have destroyed an area and hurt innocent cultivators. This is not trivial so I am giving you a chance to redeem yourself. Will you accept?”

“Of course, I am honored at the chance.” Feiyun smiled, realizing that the emperor had dropped the issue of Beauty’s Smile.

Everyone was utterly disappointed and felt that Feiyun had escaped a disaster.

The emperor nodded: “If that’s the case, then I will leave you in charge of Princess Luofu’s groom selection, no objection, correct?”

Feiyun thought he misheard: “Hmm… I’m afraid that won’t go well?”

“I have entered a crucial cultivation period but this is also a grand matter of the royal clan, requiring an important regal member as well, and that’s you. The nine ministers will a.s.sist you so you will be just fine, pick the most excellent prodigy out of all the young heroes for her.” The emperor’s voice left no room for refusal.

Feiyun slightly glanced over at Princess Luofu and said: “But, how do I pick? There are too many excellent youths nowadays…”

“That’s your problem.” The emperor responded.

“When do I start?” Feiyun was still surprised.

“Like I said, this is your responsibility now. Alright, this session is over.” The emperor announced and disappeared from the throne.

‘d.a.m.n, what an irresponsible guy, choosing me to pick a man for your own daughter? There’s a dad like this in this world? Why did this meaningless task all on me?’ Feiyun thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Long Cangyue became excited with a flash in her eyes: “Divine King, this is the best chance to take Luofu down, do it so she’ll never be able to raise her head again. We’ll have to pick her a groom as fast as possible so that she can’t react.”

“If you are interested in this matter, then you go talk to the nine geezers. I don’t care for picking men.” Feiyun didn’t like Luofu anyway so her marriage had nothing to do with him. Plus, he was even more disinterested in the compet.i.tion for the throne.

His goal was the dao, not politics and power.

Cangyue had a scary glint in her eyes before smiling and leaving with the nine ministers to talk about the groom selection.

Feiyun was walking to the gate of the palace and saw Dongfang Hanlin. He stood there waiting with some servants next to him, seemingly in quite a good mood.

He appeared to be waiting for Feiyun and quickly shouted: “Your Excellency, you have shown off your abilities today at the court, indeed the number one hero of this generation.”

“Sir, you are too kind.” Feiyun politely returned the praise.

“Of course not, our Jingyue has praised you multiple times to me. Oh right, when you have time, you should come to our dragon lake. It’ll be Jingyue’s birthday in a few days, here, the invitation card. Remember to be on time, haha.” Having said that, he got on an extravagant carriage with seven yellow birds and left.

“Eighth of November? What a coincidence!” he shuddered and clenched on the card before putting it away.

He left the palace and got on his imperial carriage to return to the mansion. Along the way, he was contemplating about the increasingly complex situation at the capital.

The carriage suddenly stopped with a soldier kneeling outside: “Your Excellency, the Grand Chancellor has been kidnapped during his way back to his home.”

“What? Beiming Moshou got kidnapped, who is so bold…” Feiyun suddenly stopped speaking and smirked: ‘It has to be her?’