"Dong..." Without any warning, the needle on the divination compass suddenly stopped, pointing straight toward the city gates.
The result was out.
The Old National Preceptor staggered a step and slowly raised his head...
The Old National Preceptor's face was drained of color, as if gravely injured, yet he wore a holy and confident smile: "Your Majesty, I have not failed you. This old minister..."
"Report..."
The pounding footsteps shattered the solemn, sacred atmosphere inside the temple. The guard's loud voice drowned out the Old National Preceptor's words.
"Report... urgent military news!" The guard sprinted straight into the hall.
This concerned the fate of the nation, and with Prince Titus of Lyndaria having given prior orders, the imperial guards did not block him, letting the messenger rush straight into the hall without hindrance.
"Report... Princess Royal has rebelled! A hundred thousand troops are at the city gates. Awaiting Your Majesty's orders!" The messenger gave no chance for interruption, finished in one breath, then bowed deeply, waiting for the emperor's command.
What?!
The entire hall was stunned!
"Clatter..." Something fell. The Emperor sprang up: "What did you say?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty: Princess Royal has raised an army in rebellion. The enemy is at the city gates. Inside the city, aside from the garrison, there are no other troops. Please give the order to deploy the imperial guards for defense. If Princess Royal breaks through, the imperial city will be in grave danger." The young officer finished in one breath, his eyes full of fighting spirit. Seeing the Emperor remain silent, he urgently declared his loyalty: "This humble officer swears to protect Your Majesty to the death. Please issue your command!"
"No troops in the city?" The Emperor's eyes widened, the color drained from his face, and he staggered back.
"Your Majesty, be careful." The Empress hurried forward to support the Emperor, her own face full of panic.
If Princess Royal breaches the city, they will all die.
"Pfft..." The Emperor felt his blood surge and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolling back as he fainted.
"Someone, hurry! The Emperor has fainted..." Prince Titus of Lyndaria rushed forward, catching the Emperor and shouting for the imperial physicians.
But at that moment, everyone in the hall was still stunned by Princess Royal's army at the gates. Prince Titus called out for a long time before anyone reacted and ran to summon the imperial physicians.
The Old National Preceptor stood there in a daze, still clutching his compass, unable to react. He watched the chaos as everyone rushed out. Only after the Crown Prince, Emperor, and Empress had left with their entourage did he come to his senses. Staring at the now-empty hall, the compass in his hand slipped and shattered with a loud crack...
How did it come to this?
The Old National Preceptor staggered outside. The terrified young acolyte hurried to help: "Master, be careful."
At the acolyte's shout, the Old National Preceptor realized there were still people in the hall. He pushed the boy away: "I can walk on my own." After a few steps, he saw Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena Feng still present.
The Old National Preceptor paused, turned to stare at Serena Feng for a long moment, then shifted his gaze to Ninth Royal Uncle. His once-peaceful, wise eyes now flashed with a sharp light: "It's her. Everything happened because of her, didn't it?"
The Old National Preceptor pointed at Serena Feng and accused Ninth Royal Uncle: "Because of her, everyone's fate has changed. All my previous efforts were wasted; my calculations became a joke. And... was today's disaster all your design? Did you deliberately choose today for me to divine Princess Royal's whereabouts?"
Though phrased as questions, the Old National Preceptor was utterly certain.
There are no coincidences in this world. He had long since fallen into Ninth Royal Uncle's calculations.
Ignoring the Preceptor's agitation and outrage, Serena Feng replied calmly, "You are renowned for reading heaven's will—did you never foresee your own downfall?"
Serena Feng paused slightly, then hinted, "You must have foreseen something; otherwise, why would your chief disciple suddenly disappear?"
"What... what did you do?" The Old National Preceptor felt a metallic taste rise in his throat, quickly drew a breath to suppress it, and asked anxiously.
"If you do nothing, Preceptor, we won't do anything either." With that, Serena Feng and Ninth Royal Uncle turned and left.
Outside the ancestral temple, crowds of clueless commoners still surrounded the place, pointing and gossiping, clearly not understanding why the Emperor had rushed back to the palace.
In the private chamber, those with sharp news instincts immediately turned and hurried away—their anxious faces showed just how serious things were...
On the steps, Serena Feng turned to Ninth Royal Uncle and asked, "Where are we going next?"
"To rendezvous with the Eighteen Riders." Ninth Royal Uncle led the way, and Serena Feng had no choice but to follow. "And then?"
"Back to Eastlyn. We've finished what needed doing in Lyndaria—there's no reason to stay."
"You're just going to ignore the rebellion in Lyndaria?" Such a golden opportunity—Ninth Royal Uncle not taking advantage was out of character.
...Ninth Royal Uncle did not answer Serena Feng's question.
It wasn't that he didn't want to get involved, but reality wouldn't allow it. General Warren Yu had just switched to a civilian post and hadn't yet mastered the bureaucratic jargon. During negotiations with Northlyn, he was outmaneuvered and, in a fit of rage, killed the official who tricked him. Then...
Northlyn seized the chance to demand further concessions from Eastlyn. Naturally, Eastlyn refused, and as negotiations grew more heated, the two sides broke into open conflict.
Northlyn launched several small-scale attacks along the border—victories and losses about equal. Tempers flared, and all-out war seemed imminent.
Prince Jason, based in Chu City, announced his own uprising after learning of Northlyn's moves. Under the banner of defending legitimacy, he proclaimed himself emperor in Chu City, publicly listed Ninth Royal Uncle's ten crimes, and vowed to kill him and storm the imperial city to rescue the retired emperor.
Many responded. Prince Evan, far off on his own fief, was the first to raise troops in support—rare unity between the two brothers.
While Lyndaria was torn by civil strife, Eastlyn was hardly peaceful within its own borders.
In other words, even Ninth Royal Uncle's own backyard was on fire—he had no leisure to linger in Lyndaria and share its spoils.
Either way, Lyndaria was already in chaos. With Princess Royal's tenacity and Ninth Royal Uncle fanning the flames from the shadows, it would take at least a year or two to put down the unrest. And in that time, Ninth Royal Uncle could deal with Northlyn and Chu City—he might even seize the chance to destroy Southlyn. By then...
Once Lyndaria's rebellion was finally quelled and the situation stabilized, he could turn his attention to the rest—and clean up Lyndaria as well.
Though war had broken out suddenly, everything was within Ninth Royal Uncle's calculations. He showed no panic—while Lyndaria descended into chaos, he simply took Serena Feng and left, leaving the envoys to negotiate in his stead.
After all, no one dared harm the Eastlyn envoys. If Eastlyn were drawn into Lyndaria's civil war, both Princess Royal and the Emperor would regret it.
After stirring up a storm of bloodshed in Lyndaria, Ninth Royal Uncle left without so much as a farewell, taking Serena Feng with him. When the Emperor of Lyndaria heard the news, he nearly fainted from rage again.
"Eastlyn's Ninth is intolerable!" The Emperor of Lyndaria gnashed his teeth. If not for the civil war, he would never have swallowed this insult—he would have marched on Eastlyn at once...
Author's note to readers: Honestly, I feel like I'm setting up Ninth Royal Uncle to unify all Nine Provinces.