Chapter 41 If you fail to handle this properly, your entire clan will be exterminated.

"You said—escape—?!"

"Yes!! Let's escape!!"

"But... what if the Second Prince finds out... we'll lose our lives..."

"We have to try anyway."

One of them suddenly thought of a brilliant method.

"We can do this..."

"The Second Prince is unwilling to send people to search for the Holy Lord, but he never said we couldn't look for them ourselves, did we?"

"We'll escape in the direction of the Southern Barbarians."

"If we get caught, we'll use the excuse that we're searching for the Holy Lord and the Fourth Elder."

"At worst, we'll only face punishment, not execution."

"Besides, by fleeing toward the Southern Barbarians... we can incidentally gather news about the whereabouts of the Holy Lord and the Fourth Elder."

"If we happen to meet the Holy Lord and the others along the way, we can return with them."

"If we don't meet them, we'll just hide our way through."

"If it's confirmed that our Holy Lord and Fourth Elder are truly dead, the few of us will simply not return to Green Wood Mountain."

"Green Wood Mountain has followed the Second Prince's orders and committed so many heinous deeds; something is bound to go wrong sooner or later."

"Now, without the Holy Lord leading above us, how could a few senior disciples like us possibly stand against other cultivator sects?"

"In short, I don't want to wait here to die."

"Good—that's a great idea!!"

"In my opinion, we should stick to this plan and flee out of the Northern Ji Kingdom tomorrow before dawn."

"Good!!"

"Good!!"

...

A few nights later, within the imperial palace of the Great Zhao Kingdom.

A male cultivator dressed in a black robe arrived at the imperial study of the new emperor, Li Jiahuo, carrying a confidential letter.

"This is a secret letter sent by the Second Prince."

"Thank you for your trouble."

Li Jiahuo opened the confidential letter and read its contents.

Afterward, he burned the letter to ashes.

"Take this reply back to my adoptive father."

"I will have what the adoptive father wants prepared."

"It's just that Wu Shanggui is now crippled, and this matter was originally entrusted to him."

"Since adoptive father is in a rush, I have no choice but to assign someone else."

The black-robed male cultivator nodded and asked again, "The Second Prince asked me to request a definitive timeframe."

"Go back and tell adoptive father: within half a month at most."

"Within half a month, the tribute will certainly be presented."

Having obtained a precise deadline, the black-robed male cultivator immediately departed from the Great Zhao imperial palace, riding through the night to return to the Second Prince's mansion in the Northern Ji Kingdom.

As soon as the black-robed cultivator left, Li Jiahuo summoned a newly promoted grand general into the palace without delay.

Two quarters of an hour later, inside the imperial study.

"Your humble subject, Cai Jian, pays respect to Your Majesty."

"Grand General Cai, please rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I wonder why Your Majesty summoned this subject so late at night? Has some major event occurred?"

"Indeed, there is a major matter that I require Grand General Cai to handle personally."

"Please give your orders, Your Majesty. This subject will do his utmost."

Cai Jian had been personally elevated by the new emperor, and naturally felt immense gratitude towards him.

No matter what task the new emperor commanded him to perform, Cai Jian would obey.

Yet this time,

when Li Jiahuo finished relaying his orders, Cai Jian froze on the spot, feeling completely at a loss.

"This... Your Majesty...?!"

"This subject...!!"

For a moment, Cai Jian did not know what to say.

An outright refusal was something he could not voice.

He worried that the moment those words left his mouth, his position as grand general would be stripped away by the new emperor on the spot.

However, if he were to carry out the imperial decree...

No matter how scoundrelly Cai Jian might be, he found himself deeply conflicted and distressed by such a task...

Even if he was a petty man, he was not so depraved as to commit something this monstrous.

Yet, the balance of power ultimately prevented Cai Jian from uttering words of dissuasion.

Sensing Cai Jian's hesitation, Li Jiahuo narrowed his eyes and threatened, "Grand General Cai—!!"

"You must realize that if Wu Shanggui hadn't been crippled, this task would never have fallen to you."

With that single sentence from Li Jiahuo, Cai Jian fell completely silent, not daring to utter another sound.

He knew the new emperor was threatening him.

The moment he dared to utter a single word of refusal,

his position as grand general would vanish today.

Power and his remaining shred of conscience flashed briefly in Cai Jian's mind...

Very quickly, Cai Jian made his decision.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty."

"All the power and glory this subject possesses are bestowed by Your Majesty."

"Whatever Your Majesty requires this subject to do, I will obey Your Majesty's commands absolutely."

"I would not dare to harbor the slightest thought of defiance."

Cai Jian's response brought a broad smile to Li Jiahuo's face.

The gentle and benevolent expression returned to Li Jiahuo's face once again.

"You may rest easy..."

"Once this is accomplished, I certainly will not treat you unfairly."

"As long as you continue to obey my every command from now on just as you do today,"

"The glory once enjoyed by Wu Shanggui shall be the future of you, Cai Jian..."

"This subject understands!"

"Very well, make haste and see to it."

"Within half a month, the task must be completed to my satisfaction."

"If you fail, the lives of your entire Cai clan... will rest squarely in your hands."

"This subject obeys!"

Cai Jian accepted the secret decree and left the imperial palace.

...

Upon leaving the palace, Cai Jian returned to his own estate.

The moment he stepped through the gates, Cai Jian headed straight for his wife's courtyard.

Lady Cai hurried forward to inquire anxiously, "My Lord, the Emperor summoned you to the palace so late at night—surely nothing major has happened, has it?"

Cai Jian opened his mouth to reply, but immediately recalled the new emperor's strict order forbidding anyone from spreading word of this matter.

The words trembling on his lips were instantly swallowed back.

"Questions you shouldn't ask, don't ask!"

"His Majesty summoned me to the palace and entrusted me with a mission."

"At the break of dawn tomorrow, I must leave the estate and will likely be gone for over half a month."

"Have the servants pack my travel gear tonight."

"Why must you leave so suddenly..." Lady Cai's expression tightened as a sudden wave of dark foreboding washed over her.

She recalled how, not long ago, Wu Shanggui seemed to have experienced the exact same thing.

Suddenly summoned to the palace by the new emperor, and rushing out of the imperial city immediately afterwards.

When he finally returned, Wu Shanggui had been reduced to the wretched ghost of a man he was now.

And now, the very same thing was happening to her husband.

"My Lord, must you really go in person for this task?"

"You are now a grand general; there is no need for you to handle everything personally. Why not send your subordinates instead?"

Cai Jian violently brushed away his wife's hand and cursed angrily, "What nonsense are you blathering about...!!"

"This is an imperial decree from His Majesty! Am I supposed to defy it?!"

"But My Lord..."

"You know very well what happened to Wu Shanggui."

When Lady Cai mentioned Wu Shanggui, Cai Jian's complexion turned even uglier.

How could he not know that Wu Shanggui's current state was the price of carrying out tasks for the Emperor?

Yet, as a minister who had only just ascended to the position of grand general, where did he find the power to defy an imperial edict?

"My Lord..."

"Enough! Enough!!"

"His Majesty explicitly commanded that I must handle this mission personally."

"If you don't want our entire Cai clan to be executed down to the last relative, stop talking nonsense!"

At the mere thought of the task he was about to execute, Cai Jian felt his scalp go completely numb.