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Chapter 485: You Dare?!

His ministers were scattered along both sides of the hall. The first row was filled with the high-ranking military officers who had participated in the expedition. General Wu Anmin was naturally sitting at the very front, closest to the emperor.

The members of the Roupu Kingdom\'s royal family were also seated at the front. They had been given a place at the Yu Dynasty\'s banquet to celebrate their own defeat.

This time, the Yu Dynasty was adamant about holding a grand celebration, so both civil and military officials as well as members of the imperial family were in attendance.

There was a table in front of each person, and palace attendants were walking to and fro placing dishes onto the tables.

During the banquet, the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty was conversing with the King of the Roupu Kingdom, attempting to appease him. That\'s when the King of the Roupu Kingdom cautiously asked if his people could all stay in the capital of Yu. Naturally, the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty stated that the capital of Yu welcomed friends from all states and said nothing else afterward.

From that, the King of the Roupu Kingdom understood that his people were not welcome to stay in the capital of Yu permanently. As a king, he could afford to buy a residence in the capital of Yu, but considering the housing prices there, the other royal family members would not be able to do the same. It was utterly impossible for him to support the expenses of over a hundred people living in the capital; that was simply a fantasy.

The Emperor of the Yu Dynasty\'s silence on assisting with their relocation made it clear they were unwelcome. They would still have to return to that island and continue fishing for a living amid battering winds and under the scorching sun.

Midway through the banquet, there was non-stop music and dance, putting on a grand display to reflect the Yu Dynasty\'s dominant status. The King of the Roupu Kingdom even took to the stage to perform a dance from his region. His movements were slightly comical, eliciting laughter throughout the hall.

The king had created that atmosphere intentionally, to present the Roupu Kingdom as a harmless and submissive existence. He knew that doing this would likely resolve any imminent threats from the Yu Dynasty. After all, the Yu Dynasty had already achieved their goal of showing off their might, so it was unlikely the Yu Dynasty would continue making things difficult for the Roupu Kingdom.

However, once the King of the Roupu Kingdom returned home, he would have to think about how to deal with the people of the Fuyao Kingdom. Those island neighbors were not as easy to negotiate with as the Yu Dynasty.

Just as the King of Roupu Kingdom relaxed, a sudden thud echoed in the hall. He turned to see his young son collapsed on the ground, convulsing and appearing to be in great pain.

Then a second member of his family collapsed, followed by a third... Numerous other members of the Roupu Kingdom\'s royal family collapsed in succession.

The King of the Roupu Kingdom panicked.

His first thought was, Could the Yu Dynasty have poisoned the food and wine? Do they want to wipe us out?

However, on further thought, he realized, If that\'s the case, there\'s no reason at all for them to do this. If they wanted to kill us, they could have done so long ago. Why bother to go through all this trouble and waste so much food and wine?

Upon noticing the situation, the emperor and ministers of the Yu Dynasty hesitated for a moment.

Then the emperor called out, "What\'s wrong with the people of the Roupu Kingdom? Quickly summon the court physician!"

Just as the palace attendants hurried to summon the physician, an unexpected change occurred.

"Huff, huff..."

The child who had collapsed first seemed unable to withstand the poison any longer. After a few muffled gasps, he suddenly sprang up! His pupils turned crimson, and black mist surrounded him as he lunged toward the nearest person!

A shrill yell rang out, "Protect the emperor!!!"

The poisoning of guests at a state banquet was already a serious matter, but now that someone had violently attacked another person, the severity of the situation quickly escalated.

A large number of palace guards rushed in, and the hall descended into chaos.

Yet, the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty\'s voice rang out like thunder, cutting through the chaos. "Don\'t panic! First, subdue all the people from the Roupu Kingdom. Just capture them; do not kill them!"

The hall instantly regained a sense of calm.

The reason the emperor was able to remain so composed was that the hall was filled with powerful figures. There were many formidable cultivators among the civil and military officials alone. Just a few of them would be enough to subdue the hundred or so people from the Roupu Kingdom.

Furthermore, if the civil and military officials were not enough, there was still the man standing in front of the emperor—Lao Santai. Even if Lao Santai were not present, the emperor himself could step up, as he was a seventh-realm Eminent One who had reached the Dao Attainment Realm... So, the emperor found it utterly unbelievable that this group of fishermen would attempt to assassinate him.

Regardless of the cause behind this chaos, the situation was getting out of control. Only a small number of the royal family of the Roupu Kingdom had some cultivation power. The rest were ordinary people, so they should have been subdued quickly. Yet, for some unknown reason, those who had no cultivation power suddenly exhibited incredible strength.

The worst part was there were so many of them, and they were in close proximity to the nobles. It meant that when the chaos erupted, they bit some members of the Yu Dynasty\'s imperial family.

Most of the men in the imperial family possessed some cultivation power, so only a small number of them were injured. However, the women of the imperial family had been seated close to the women of the Roupu Kingdom. Consequently, many of them were scratched and bitten.

Screams rang out over and over as the palace guards made a series of captures. Eventually, they managed to subdue everyone from the Roupu Kingdom.

The people of the Roupu Kingdom had all transformed into frenzied figures with crimson eyes, including the king.

Meanwhile, court physicians promptly attended to the injured members of the imperial family.

"What is going on?" The Emperor of the Yu Dynasty frowned at the appearance of the Roupu King\'s royal family. "Have they been struck by some kind of dark magic?"

"Your Majesty!" a voice called out from below the stairs leading to the emperor\'s seat of honor.

It was Li Chengfeng of the Imperial Supervisory Bureau. Before the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner left the hall, he had instructed Li Chengfeng to stay behind in his stead, so Li Chengfeng had witnessed the whole incident.

He stepped forward and said, "The people of the Roupu Kingdom have been poisoned! Someone afflicted with the same poison was brought to the Imperial Supervisory Bureau last night."

"Huh?"

Li Cheng Feng\'s words caused an uproar.

Someone poisoned the food and wine at the palace banquet...?

This shocked everyone, especially since everyone attending the banquet had consumed the same meal. If the members of the Roupu royal family had indeed been poisoned, then surely all the other attendees could have been poisoned too.

Li Chengfeng continued, "This poison is quite problematic. Anyone who was injured by the poisoned Roupu family is at risk of going berserk as well. Fortunately, there is someone in the Imperial Supervisory Bureau who can neutralize the poison. Please hurry over there for treatment."

The emperor nodded slightly. "There are indeed many capable individuals in the Imperial Supervisory Bureau."

"That person is not a member of the Imperial Supervisory Bureau. He is a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect..." Li Chengfeng said, raising his gaze. "Your Majesty may not know him, but you surely know his teacher."

...

In the Imperial Supervisory Bureau...

A young eunuch in brocade robes—a palace attendant—pushed through the crowd and asked loudly, "Which of you is Young Hero Chu Liang from Mount Shu?"

"It\'s me!" Chu Liang replied without even putting his whipping on pause. "What\'s the matter?"

For a moment, the young eunuch watched Chu Liang swing the whip, each lashing accompanied by a loud crack.

He wondered, Is this really the method for treating those who got poisoned? It\'s so violent...

The young eunuch then raised his voice and announced, "His Majesty the Emperor has passed down a decree. A disturbance has occurred in the palace, and many have been poisoned. His Majesty heard that Young Hero Chu Liang from Mount Shu can neutralize this poison, so His Majesty has requested that you come to the palace immediately to provide treatment!"

"You can see the situation here. I can\'t leave," Chu Liang replied. "There are thousands waiting for me to cleanse them of the poison. If I leave now, over a hundred people might be dead by the time I get back..."

"Young Hero Chu, the people in the palace are more important!" The young eunuch seemed quite surprised by Chu Liang\'s response. "This is an imperial command."

Chu Liang gave him a strange look.

The Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten did indeed show respect to imperial authority... but it was only respect.

He asked, "You don\'t think I\'m the same as you, do you?"

The Imperial Supervisory Commissioner spoke up. "Forget it. It\'s a critical situation here. He cannot leave. I\'ll go with you to the palace and bring the injured back here for treatment."

Then he grabbed the young eunuch by the back of his collar. Taken by surprise, the young eunuch was quickly overpowered by the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner and dragged away. In an instant, the two people vanished from Chu Liang\'s line of sight.

The palace attendants who had accompanied the young eunuch looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

After a moment, a large number of carriages and horses emerged from the palace.

Given the distance from the palace to the Imperial Supervisory Bureau, the carriages arrived in no time. The first few carriages contained the injured members of the imperial family and officials, while the rest were all from the royal family of the Roupu Kingdom. The people from the Roupu Kingdom were certainly more deeply poisoned, yet they were all placed at the rear of the line.

Before the poisoned individuals could get out of the carriages, a tall, burly, and slightly older eunuch with graying hair rushed over.

He stared Chu Liang down with a fierce gaze. "Are you the young hero from Mount Shu? The injured have been sent here. Please treat them quickly!"

"Please have them lined up according to the severity of their poisoning, and I will prioritize treating those who have been poisoned the most deeply," Chu Liang said, furrowing his brows.

If someone else were to cause a disturbance, the people from the Imperial Supervisory Bureau would surely intervene. However, they couldn\'t stop these palace officials, as it would only interrupt him further.

"I am Cheng Hu, head of the Fengyi Bureau[1] in the imperial palace. All of these injured people are members of the imperial family," Cheng Hu, the eunuch, stated in a deep voice. "There\'s no need to prioritize them based on the severity of the poisoning. Just treat these nobles first; they are more important."

Chu Liang glanced at Chen Hu indifferently and replied, "Sir, I have to ask that you please follow the rules."

He had heard of the name Cheng Hu before. Cheng Hu was the third of the Four Great Warriors, ranking after the Dragon-Keeping Eunuch Yao Dengxian and the Terrace-Supervising Eunuch Lao Santai. He was responsible for matters in the inner palace and was under the personal command of Empress Wu, so he held a high position with great power.

Nevertheless, as the saying goes... What does this have to do with me, a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect?

Chu Liang didn\'t concern himself much with these dynastic powers. Lives were at stake; he needed to prioritize based on severity to maximize the number of lives that could be saved. If everyone insisted on being placed at the front, those in critical condition would undoubtedly lose precious time for treatment and could end up losing their lives.

Seeing that Chu Liang had no intention of complying, Cheng Hu\'s expression darkened. "Follow your rules? If something were to happen to these nobles, the consequence will be something no one can bear..."

In his view, it was inconsequential if commoners died, but any harm to the imperial family would surely land him in trouble, and that undoubtedly made him anxious.

Chu Liang couldn\'t be bothered to respond.

Seeing this, Cheng Hu became furious. "So, it\'s this treasure that can neutralize the poison, right? Then you need not trouble yourself; just lend me this item!"

He could tell at a glance that Chu Liang had no divine abilities that could neutralize the poison; it was just the Poison-Expulsion Whip that was extraordinary. Since Chu Liang wouldn\'t comply, Cheng Hu would just seize the enchanted tool!

Chu Liang\'s gaze sharpened. "You dare?!"

1. The Fengyi Bureau is an institution in ancient Chinese imperial courts. With the queen being the head of this department, it was primarily responsible for managing ceremonial and ritual practices as well as in charge of maintaining the traditions of the imperial court. ☜