Chapter 397: The Throne

"The Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial palace?"

At this point, Li Musheng's gaze shifted toward the white-haired, withered elder. At those words, the withered elder lowered his eyes quickly and said, "This old one is nothing but an old thing who refuses to die in this palace. I wonder what brings the Eighth Prince of Great Li to visit at this hour?"

The withered elder adopted an extremely deferential posture. He was currently unable to move at all, his life entirely in Li Musheng's hands, and being anything but humble was simply not an option.

"You are asking why I came?"

Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, then raised a finger and pointed at the Great Xuan emperor beside him, "I naturally came to kill him."

At those words, the Great Xuan emperor's expression changed sharply, his eyes filling with terror. His entire body was immobilized, and even if he had wanted to flee immediately, there was nothing he could do.

He had also noticed that the Old Ancestor beside him appeared to be in the same state as himself, equally unable to move.

"Your Highness the Eighth Prince, this Emperor was wrong. This Emperor spoke without thinking just now. Please spare this Emperor's life."

The Great Xuan emperor's attitude shifted completely in an instant, his expression panicked as he pleaded directly with Li Musheng.

But Li Musheng said nothing, only looked at the white-haired withered elder before him and asked, "Your standing in this palace is not low. Tell me, can this Great Xuan emperor be killed?"

At those words, the withered elder glanced at the Great Xuan emperor from the corner of his eye, his expression shifting with unspoken thoughts. Even so, after a brief pause he said, "Of course he can be killed. His Majesty's life is entirely at Your Highness's disposal."

The Great Xuan emperor's eyes went wide with shock, staring at the withered elder in disbelief.

But he seemed to understand the man was equally helpless. Though his heart was full of things he wanted to say, in the end not a word came out of his mouth.

At that, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, appearing reasonably satisfied with the withered elder's answer.

Then his gaze shifted toward Crown Prince Zhao Kuang.

Seeing this, Zhao Kuang was about to open his mouth and say something to establish some rapport with Li Musheng.

After all, they had cooperated before. He had helped deal with his father's puppet double, and had helped Li Musheng find Daoist Qingyu. He felt there was at least some basis of mutual history between them.

But before he could say a word, he heard Li Musheng continue, "Also, I think it is time the Great Xuan throne changed hands. What do you think?"

Li Musheng said this while naturally looking toward the white-haired withered elder.

At those words, Zhao Kuang felt as though struck by lightning.

He had come tonight specifically to meet with the Old Ancestor about his throne.

With two surviving princes still holding out against him, he had not been able to finish them off, and had hoped to persuade the Old Ancestor to support him. With that backing he would have a powerful ally, and a legitimate path to inheriting the throne.

What he had not expected was that when he arrived he found his father, who had apparently not died after all, was also here with the Old Ancestor.

The atmosphere between father and son had naturally been extremely awkward.

But he found his father seemed to have suffered some serious blow and did not have much energy to deal with him.

Then, somehow, he had dozed off and had a dream. Strange as that seemed in retrospect, he had no mental energy to spare thinking about it now.

What he wanted urgently was for the Old Ancestor to say a word on his behalf.

But the white-haired withered elder naturally understood what Li Musheng meant, and did not spare Zhao Kuang so much as a glance. He simply answered in his compliant tone, "This old one believes the Eighth Prince's words are correct. Zhao Kuang committed patricide, killed his own brothers, threw the court into chaos and the imperial capital into disorder. He is unworthy of the Great Xuan emperor's seat."

As he said this, the withered elder cast an almost imperceptible look at Li Musheng, then asked on his own initiative, "This old one hopes the Eighth Prince will forgive the presumption, but might the Eighth Prince have someone in mind for the Great Xuan throne?"

As the Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial palace, the withered elder occupied a position above all others. He had always poured himself entirely into his martial cultivation and had no interest in involving himself in the competition for the throne. After all, he had lived over a hundred years, and many things had become clear to him.

The throne of Great Xuan naturally went to whoever was capable. Whether it was the imperial family fighting among themselves or outsiders intervening, as long as the one who ultimately prevailed through their own ability was left standing, he would support them unconditionally.

The world's affairs were a matter of natural selection. Only the most capable could govern Great Xuan and extend its dynasty. The future of Great Xuan could not be left in the hands of mediocrity.

But the withered elder's thinking had undergone another shift in the present moment.

The reason was that the Great Xuan emperor had presented him with the Longevity Scripture obtained from Daoist Qingyu.

This had given him a glimpse of the possibility of living another two hundred years. He had not had long to live, and had not placed much weight on his own life and death. But after obtaining the Longevity Scripture, he no longer wanted to die. He had become intensely attached to staying alive.

This was why he was being so compliant toward Li Musheng, agreeing to virtually everything the man said and even actively going along with his intentions.

Because he understood clearly that as long as he could stay alive and live another two hundred years, the matter of who sat on the Great Xuan throne, or even the rise and fall of the Great Xuan dynasty itself, was of no concern to him whatsoever.

At this point, faced with the withered elder's cooperative question, Li Musheng gave a slight nod.

With the man's life in his hands, he had no fear of any lack of cooperation.

"Originally I only came tonight to kill someone. The squabbling within your Great Xuan imperial family is of no particular interest to me."

"But since you have asked, I will go to the trouble of pointing you in a direction."

Li Musheng considered for a brief moment, his gaze on the withered elder, "Your Zhao family has a Seventh Princess named Zhao Muning."

This was not, of course, because Li Musheng had any particular feelings for Zhao Muning.

It was simply that he disliked Zhao Kuang, and of the other princes in the Great Xuan imperial family he knew none of them. Zhao Muning was the only one he was acquainted with.

And Zhao Muning's character was at least reasonably decent. Beyond that, that night she had been caught by him and brought along to serve as a guide through the Great Xuan imperial palace, and had helped him in a small way.

Since she had done him a small favor, it was only fair that he return the gesture by securing the Great Xuan throne for her. That was simply how generous a person he was.

But the moment Li Musheng said this, Zhao Kuang grew desperate, "Old Ancestor, Zhao Muning is merely a woman. How could she sit on the throne of Great Xuan? And throughout history, there has never been a precedent for a woman to become emperor."

As he said this, he turned to Li Musheng with an expression full of desperate appeal, "Your Highness, I have the deepest respect for you, and it was Your Highness who helped me to the Great Xuan throne in the first place."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. As soon as I secure the throne, I will immediately order the troops to stand down and form an alliance with Great Li, and do everything in my power to help Great Li through its present difficulties."