Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 319 : Unity In Diversity (2)

Chapter 319: Chapter 319 : Unity In Diversity (2)

In death, all heavenly creatures were the same. Wu Qingyou, the once revered Juhua Palace Master, now lay among his fallen comrades, his once radiant form indistinguishable from that of his humblest retainers.

"I can’t believe it," Li Haoran whispered as he stared at Wu Qingyou’s lifeless body.

Song Weiyang’s usually steady hand trembled as he raised it to his lips. The color of his face was not quite right, it almost looked like he was on the verge of vomiting.

Yang Jiali clicked with her tongue in regret.

Zhou Guizheng remained quiet the entire time. He observed the wounds on Wu Qingyou’s body and noticed the old as well as the new wounds.

The Juhua Palace Master was already greatly wounded when he returned from the Golden Dragon Palace. Knowing that his condition disallowed much resistance, Xie Jianzhi chose to attack Juhua Palace first.

Zhang Fengxi’s voice, laced with a sardonic undertone, echoed through the tense silence, "If I were in your shoes, I would be wondering out loud which palace is next," his words dripping with thinly veiled mockery.

The four palace masters, their faces contorted into masks of fury, whipped their heads towards him, their eyes burning with indignation.

"Watch your language, young man," Li Haoran’s face flushed with a fiery intensity, his cheeks burning like embers beneath his skin. "Don’t think that you can do and say whatever you want just because you are married to the Crown Prince."

Zhang Fengxi arched his brow at the Xiyu Palace Master.

"I don’t know why I am not allowed to say what’s on my mind, considering that Your Highnesses did not have any problems choosing your own clan over your empire."

"You!"

Yang Jiali put a hand across Li Haoran’s chest to prevent the latter from exploding.

"Zhang Fengxi, you are twenty-two years old, aren’t you?" the Ling’an Palace Master narrowed her eyes at him. "We might have done something atrocious in your eyes, but you who never bear the burden of a palace master have no right to judge us."

Song Weiyang closed his eyes.

Zhou Guizheng still had nothing to say.

"If you think that my coming here to talk to you serves no other purpose but to offend you, you are greatly mistaken."

Zhang Fengxi folded his arms before his chest and leaned against a broken pillar.

"Xie Jianzhi is just a tool that the First Demon King uses to sow discord among the nine palaces. Once we are no longer united in diversity, we become easy prey, ripe for the picking. Palace Masters, tell me, don’t you share the same understanding?"

The silence that fell among them was only interrupted by the sound of servants moving corpses around and clearing the floor from ruins to store more corpses.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Song Weiyang spoke. "Kill Xie Jianzhi?"

"For starters, yes," Zhang Fengxi looked in his uncle’s direction.

"Hmph. This is the dance of the dragons. Let the dragons fight it among themselves," Li Haoran said. "What’s the benefit for the other clans?"

"I can’t believe it."

Wu Shenxia dragged herself to her feet and glared in Li Haoran’s direction.

"Palace Master Li, am I hearing things?"

She jabbed her finger at the palace masters’ faces one by one. "Your palace! Your palace! And yours! All of your palaces are going to be destroyed! Your clan is going to be destroyed! And all you can think about is leaving this matter to the Crown Prince to sort on his own???"

The four palace masters turned quiet.

Zhang Fengxi turned to look at Song Weiyang.

"Uncle, Xie Jianyu’s mother hailed from the phoenix clan. I understand that the late First Empress was one of your close cousins. Do you not care about her sons?"

The weight of Zhang Fengxi’s words pressed down upon Song Weiyang like a physical burden, his head sinking as if an invisible hand had forced it down. A wave of shame washed over him, his cheeks burning with the humiliation of his exposed vulnerability.

After Song Weiyang, it was Yang Jiali’s turn.

"Palace Master Yang, the Second Empress was killed by Xie Jianzhi in front of your eyes. You foxes are loyal to each other. Do you not care to avenge the late Second Empress’ death?"

Yang Jiali’s face contorted into a mask of unrelenting fury, her eyes flashing with an incandescent rage that could rival the blazing inferno of a thousand suns. The mere mention of the incident was enough to ignite a tempest of emotions within her, her composure shattering like a fragile glass vessel.

Toward all four palace masters, Zhang Fengxi collectively said, "The Crown Prince did not say a word about your betrayal. His compassion allowed him to place himself in your shoes and think on your behalf. But do you know who it was who took care to send away your rescued clan members one by one?"

Li Haoran and Zhou Guizheng looked at Wu Qingyou’s lifeless body, and then at Song Weiyang.

"It was the Crown Prince," Song Weiyang then slowly said.

"The Crown Prince offered to help, allowing me to go back so that I can fight alongside Palace Master Wu."

In the aftermath of Song Weiyang’s confession, a palpable disgust permeated the air, settling heavily upon the faces of the other three palace masters. Their expressions were a complex blend of revulsion towards Song Weiyang’s inappropriate silence and a gnawing self-loathing for their own betrayal of their liege lord.

Wu Shenxia did not bother to harbor her disgust toward the craven palace masters.

"Zhang Fengxi," she called out to the alpha who stood some distance away from her, "I might not be of much help, but I would be honored to lay my life before the Crown Prince. I am going to put him on that Dragon Throne, if that is the last thing I do before I die."

Their hands meeting in a tight clasp, the two alphas exchanged determined looks.

Wu Shenxia might only be one person, but she was stronger than a thousand soldiers altogether. She was his first precious and indispensable asset that might just tip the scales of victory in their favor.