In the afternoon, inside a private room at the Sun & Moon Tower ---
Just as Margaret had predicted, after dealing
with Wenxing in the morning, Guanglong appeared at noon. And now, in the
afternoon, it was Juntang’s turn.
Three of the most powerful royal princes had
each come to visit her one after another in a single day.
Wenxing wanted her to investigate the
mastermind. Guanglong was probing whether she was the mastermind. As for
Juntang, he was testing whether she had some powerful figure backing her.
They all shared similar intentions, just with
different focuses.
Margaret could only resort to vague, evasive
responses to buy time, avoiding giving a definite answer.
After all, this kind of thing couldn’t be
admitted openly. Otherwise, even more trouble would surely follow.
Of course, she also understood that no matter
how tightly they locked down information, some word would eventually leak out
over time.
In a few more days, those three princes would
likely have pieced most of it together.
“Sigh…”
Margaret let out a soft sigh, her head aching.
Her original plan had been to seize the moment
during Dustin’s breakthrough, when the Pantheon Gods’ palace and other forces
were off guard, to eliminate the hidden threat in one decisive strike.
And the result had been achieved --- but at the
cost of drawing trouble to herself.
Where she'd once developed quietly and made
money discreetly, she had now stepped into the limelight.
It would be difficult not to attract attention
now.
“A dignified Princess of Anyang sighing over
trouble? That’s rare,” came Dustin’s voice from behind her.
Margaret turned to glance at him and said with
some helplessness, “Don’t tease me. I really am getting a headache. Now all
three princes have their eyes on me. I can’t avoid the trouble anymore.”
“So what if they’re watching? You’ve kept a low
profile for long enough --- it’s time to show some strength,” Dustin said with
a faint smile.
“I still prefer getting rich quietly. Power
struggles are best avoided,” Margaret shook her head.
“You might not fight for power, but others
will. Eventually, they’ll come for your slice of the pie,” Dustin said casually
as he sat down, picked up a pastry, and added, “Have you ever considered that
no matter which of your three brothers ends up on the throne, they won’t allow
you to continue controlling such a massive intelligence network?”
“Whether you want to or not, they’ll strip
everything from your hands. They might even place you under house arrest,
keeping someone watching you day and night just in case.”
Hearing this, Margaret fell silent.
Had she not thought of these things before?
While her father still reigned, he could safely
entrust her with power.
And she had used that power to serve the state
and help her father.
But once the throne changed hands, everything
would be overturned.
Her power would inevitably be taken back, and
the intelligence network would be completely reorganized.
These were things she could accept --- because
she wasn’t someone who lusted after power.
The problem was, even if she handed everything
over, she still might not escape unscathed.
Because her very existence would be a threat to
the new emperor.
Knowing her three brothers well, she understood
that house arrest would be the best-case scenario. They could easily throw her
into prison on trumped-up charges --- or worse, make her disappear entirely.
It wasn’t that she saw people as inherently
bad, but she had seen too much darkness and knew well the nature of those in
power.
Throughout history, most emperors were callous
and ruthless.
“Boss!”
At that moment, a trusted aide suddenly knocked
and entered the room, his expression grave. “We’ve just received news --- an
epidemic has broken out in the southern frontier and is spreading rapidly. Many
civilians have already fallen ill.”
“An epidemic?”
Margaret frowned. “There hasn’t been war or
unrest in the south --- how could an outbreak suddenly happen?”
“According to our investigation, this epidemic
may be related to the White Bone Sect from thirty years ago,” the aide replied.
“The White Bone Sect?” Margaret’s expression
changed. “Weren’t they wiped out long ago? Could there be remnants still
around?”
Thirty years ago, her father was still a
prince.
At that time, the White Bone Sect caused havoc
throughout the land. Her father was sent to lead an army of 100,000 into the
southern frontier, sealing off roads and bridges to launch a full siege that
lasted three months.
Over ten thousand cultists and hundreds of core
members were wiped out completely.
Afterward, her father dispatched elite squads
to hunt down the remaining remnants in every corner --- determined to eliminate
the threat at its root.
Since then, the White Bone Sect had completely
disappeared.
For thirty years, no news of them had surfaced.
And yet now, at such a critical moment, the
long-destroyed White Bone Sect had risen from the ashes --- once again stirring
up trouble in the south.
“We still need time to investigate the details.
The epidemic is continuing to spread, and we need to contain it fast.
Otherwise, over a dozen cities in the south will be affected,” the aide warned.
“Mobilize everyone immediately. Use all
available resources. We must contain the epidemic and minimize casualties!”
Margaret ordered, tossing her personal token to him.
“Yes!”
The aide accepted the token and left swiftly.
“Dustin, looks like we’re in for some trouble.”
Margaret furrowed her brow. “The White Bone
Sect is back and stirring up chaos. Who knows how many people will die this
time.”
“The White Bone Sect…” Dustin narrowed his eyes
slightly.
Their sudden reappearance now… didn’t feel
right at all. - Ton
Comments
Thanks Admin for the update