Assassination, Blood‑Soaked Winds Enter the Pavilion

What is the truth behind Ninth Royal Uncle's ambush? It doesn't matter. As long as Ninth Royal Uncle insists he was attacked, and no one else can prove it was all a staged act, then...

Anyone suspected must pay the price for Ninth Royal Uncle's attack. Ninth Royal Uncle has never been a kind man; his principle is always to take revenge for every wrong. Only then will the Emperor believe that he truly almost died.

Not long after, servants from each household came rushing in to report—someone had died!

As the names of the dead were announced one by one, everyone present wore expressions of fury, faces dark and hard to read, but not a single person spoke up. Felix Fuller glanced at the crowd, then stood and said, "Ninth Royal Uncle, my subordinates just reported: the guards of Prince Rowan and Prince Jason have been killed, the Wang, Cui, and Hsieh clans have each lost several guards, and every official here has lost multiple followers—only your men, Ninth Royal Uncle, remain unharmed."

His words were both a challenge and a suspicion. Everyone turned to look at Ninth Royal Uncle—except Dominic Zhai, who sat dumbfounded, staring straight at Ninth Royal Uncle's calm face, deeply shocked and then visibly excited.

Nolan's revenge was brutally direct.

Anyone trusted enough to serve as a personal guard was not only loyal and pure, but also highly skilled. Training such men was no easy feat—and now, in an instant, they'd died at Ninth Royal Uncle's hands. Prince Rowan felt a stab of pain.

With that, he walked out. Prince Rowan, agitated, rushed forward to block him, and Prince Jason, a step slower, also hurried up to bar Ninth Royal Uncle's way.

"Ninth Royal Uncle, why?" Why kill their men? Yes, they did try to seize power from him—but that's just how politics works.

"Are you questioning me?" Ninth Royal Uncle countered.

"We wouldn't dare," Prince Rowan and Prince Jason bowed their heads together, though resentment burned in their hearts. The other officials, seeing the princes silent, dared not speak up either. The Hsieh Clan Patriarch was so furious his veins bulged.

They had thought this dinner could ease the tension with Ninth Royal Uncle—never expecting him to seize the chance for a ruthless strike.

The Hsieh Clan Patriarch looked to William Wang and Holden Cui, hoping for their reaction, but both acted as if the matter had nothing to do with them.

If he didn't know that the Wang and Cui clans had actually lost even more, the Hsieh Patriarch would have suspected this was a scheme between Ninth Royal Uncle and those two houses.

So everyone stood up, wanting Ninth Royal Uncle to give an explanation. After much hesitation, Prince Rowan spoke: "Ninth Royal Uncle, I was in the Miasma Forest at that time—those who died were all my personal guards."

Prince Rowan was telling Ninth Royal Uncle he had no motive to act, and those dead subordinates had all been with him in the Miasma Forest. Even if he wanted to strike, it couldn't have been those men.

Anyone trusted enough to serve as a personal guard was not only loyal and pure, but also highly skilled. Training such men was no easy feat—and now, in an instant, they'd died at Ninth Royal Uncle's hands. Prince Rowan's heart was bleeding.

Everyone present felt the same as Prince Rowan.

The people Ninth Royal Uncle killed were their right-hand men. How could they not be furious? All eyes turned to him, waiting for his answer.

Ninth Royal Uncle looked at each person, finally settling on Prince Rowan. With a mocking tone, he said, "The Emperor investigated for a month and still hasn't found the culprit. So tell me—what should I do? I lost a whole batch of dead-loyal guards myself."

With these words, Ninth Royal Uncle made it clear: since he'd lost a batch of trusted men, they would have to pay with a batch of theirs.

Pfft... Several people present were so furious they nearly spat blood.

Ninth Royal Uncle's indiscriminate attack was shameless. They hadn't done anything—so why should they bear his wrath?

"Ninth Royal Uncle, this has nothing to do with us," Prince Rowan and Prince Jason forced down the taste of blood in their mouths, speaking through clenched teeth.

Ninth Royal Uncle had killed their men—he owed them an explanation.

Ninth Royal Uncle sneered, "Did you forget? I'm from the Eastlyn royal clan. Royals love to vent their anger on others. If you want to blame someone, blame whoever targeted me—you're suffering because of them."

With those words, Ninth Royal Uncle strode straight between Prince Rowan and Prince Jason, slamming into them so hard they tumbled aside and spat blood on the spot.

This... the blame truly belongs to the one who tried to kill Ninth Royal Uncle.

Why didn't they finish off Ninth Royal Uncle? Letting him survive and return—truly damnable!