Chapter 2226: An Intervention
After all, rather than just having Shang Hongyu saying Zu An supported her, having him personally there would make a far greater impact. Thus, their footsteps quickly disappeared into the distance.
Shang Liuyu didn’t even have time to put on her clothes properly. She bit her lip, and could only give up on heading over in the end. After all, she couldn't really say anything. Could it be that she was supposed to admit that she had been listening to their conversation the whole time, which was why she knew what was going on?
...
Meanwhile, Zu An and Shang Hongyu left their palace. The maids and guards outside were a bit surprised the queen had spent quite a while inside, after all. If it were any ordinary concubine, there would have already been a scandal. But one was publicly known as a virtuous woman, while the other was the invincible regent, so no one dared to dwell on that any further.
Soon after, they entered the mourning hall. There wasn’t as somber of a mood inside as they'd expected it was actually a bit noisy. The people inside all seemed to have been discussing something, and were separated into several groups that maintained a good amount of distance from each other. The way they looked at each other wasn’t too kind either, with sparks seemingly about to appear whenever their eyes met.
There were all sorts of emotions on their faces. There were some that were angry, others that were gloomy, and yet others that were happy... The only thing that couldn't be seen on their faces was sadness.
Zu An thought to himself that the Dragon King really was quite pitiful. No one even tried to act as if they were sad after he died, even in his own mourning hall.
When they saw Zu An and Shang Hongyu arrive, the small groups of twos and threes walked over enthusiastically.
“So the regent has come.”
“The queen is here too.”
Shang Hongyu’s expression was cold. These people only maintained their respect toward her likely because of her good relationship with Zu An.
“Greetings, little uncle.” There was only one greeting that was different.
Zu An looked over, and couldn't help but smile. This was the only one of the Dragon King’s sons that he was even remotely familiar with, the ninth prince Chi Wen.
Chi Wen normally spent his time wandering the world. He was just as much of a womanizer as his father and liked to take advantage of ordinary women. But a little while back, he'd received news that something huge seemed to have happened in the Dragon Palace, so he returned in a hurry. At the time, he had some misgivings, since he shared blood relations with the Mermaid race. The Mermaid Queen’s bounty was too strange and he had been worried that it could be a trap, which was why he had always stayed in the ocean regions near the Dragon Palace.
It was only a few days earlier, when Shang Hongyu launched a great purge on the hiding alien monsters, that he could let out a sigh of relief. He'd been about to continue his travels when news of his father’s death was announced. That was why he had returned to mourn.
Meeting with this old acquaintance Zu An again also gave him quite the rollercoaster of emotions. The two of them had gotten to know each other from fighting too, which had always made him feel really embarrassed. Later, his little aunt had even sided with this outsider, making him hand over all of the treasures that his father had given him as a reward. That had really been a dark moment in history for him.
And yet now, Zu An had become an incredible figure. Chi Wen could now walk with his chin up and back straight, feeling as if he had nothing to be embarrassed about.
What dark history? That was clearly a glorious moment from my past! At first, he'd thought that his beautiful little aunt’s relationship with Zu An was like poking flowers in a pile of manure. But now, he called Zu An little uncle without feeling any sort of remorse.
“Chi Wen, it’s been a while!” Zu An greeted him with a smile. The amount of stuff he jad taken from this kid in the past was quite considerable.
The Wind Fire Wheels, Universe Ring, Violetflame Snake Pike... They had all been extremely useful.
Of course, the one I had the most fun with was the Primal Skysilk...
At first, Chi Wen was still a bit nervous. After all, everyone had been describing this little uncle’s actions during the previous day as if he were a demonic god. It would be embarrassing if Zu An completely ignored him.
Now, he stuck out his chest and looked really proud as he looked at the others, as if he was implying ‘now you all believe me, right?’.
Sure enough, the Ocean race officials all exchanged looks, seeing shock and apprehension in each other’s expressions.
So Chi Wen really did know Zu An!
Could it be that Zu An plans to support Chi Wen as the new Dragon King?
Chi Wen was the son of the previous Mermaid Queen, and was very close to the Mermaid race. His bloodline was comparatively more noble than the others.
But no one treated him as a real candidate for succession, as he was just too unreliable. Ever since he was little, he had always been playing and idling, and he also got into all manner of trouble, not acting like a prince at all. He was more like a rascal from the streets. Furthermore, he loved to travel the world, constantly fooling around with innocent people's women. There had been several times when a family head would come to protest...
Still, all that would only make him similar to the Dragon King. However, he didn’t have the Dragon King’s strength and political knowledge. Even after all these years had passed, he still hadn’t established his own faction. It was naturally difficult for someone who was always running around playing, and not minding the Ocean races' affairs, to gain support. More importantly, he was really immature and unreliable when it came to handling things. Many people had experienced quite a bit of that over the years.
The most memorable event recently was when Chi Wen had returned with a strange blue ice crystal in high spirits, and said that soaking it in some tea and drinking it would grant him longevity. He had even offered it to the Dragon King.
The Dragon King had been really gratified, feeling that his son had finally grown up and learned to show filial respect. That was why he had held a great celebration, inviting many high officials to taste the strange blue crystal tea. Of course, they had inevitably mentioned that it was Chi Wen who offered it up.
The officials had all offered fawning praise, saying that the father and son were truly an excellent pair. Even though the blue crystal-soaked tea didn’t taste that good and it even had some strange smell, how could they refuse tea that the Dragon King had invited them to drink?
After that, the Dragon King had invited them over for that tea every so often. As they kept drinking it, they all gradually experienced all kinds of different tastes. A few who were trying to curry favor had quoted the classics, saying that the blue crystal could be some ancient divine object.
The Dragon King had started smiling and laughing a lot in that time. Chi Wen had also basked in the limelight, striding with his head held high every day. He'd only wished that the ice crystal could last longer than just a single month.
At first, even though everyone who tasted it felt that the smell was a bit disgusting, they all felt that the tea the Dragon King invited them to drink was definitely no ordinary substance, and definitely had miraculous effects. That was why they had drunk it all despite frowning.
However, one day, a youngster couldn't help but propose a suggestion. If something they drank smelled like shit and looked like shit, what else could it be?
As if the emperor’s new clothes had been exposed, they all finally realized something. What ancient divine blue crystal? This was a freaking air-dried shit wrapped in a crystal! And yet, they had used it to make tea... Almost everyone had immediately thrown up on the spot, causing the smell of vomit to spread everywhere in the Dragon Palace.
The Dragon King had been even more embarrassed, so he raised his staff and beat Chi Wen until the latter was screaming for mercy. If not for the fact that the queen had just returned from the Mermaid race and stopped the Dragon King, Chi Wen could have been beaten to death right there and then. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
That whole affair had become a dark moment in history that the Dragon King and all of the Ocean races's high officials were too embarrassed to talk about. They'd all agreed to cover it up.
Normally, there was always someone who would end up leaking secrets. There was no way to hide something forever. But this situation was really strange, as only the high officials knew about it. No one among them wanted others to know what they had eaten, so none of them had been willing speak about it.
The main culprit in that affair was naturally Chi Wen, so some people even had thoughts of killing him. Who would support someone as unreliable as that becoming the new ruler? Whenever they thought about the possibility that Zu An would support this guy in becoming the king of the ocean, as well as the fact that they would then end up remembering that they'd eaten shit whenever they greeted him, their faces darkened.
After Zu An responded to Chi Wen, he walked up to the mourning hall to light incense for the Dragon King. When he saw the portrait of the Dragon King, he sighed. In the end, this guy had been quite the mediocre ruler. He'd been too lustful to the point of forgetting his original duty, thus allowing the monsters to invade so easily. That had almost resulted in the total destruction of the Ocean races.
When they saw him stand in front of the portrait silently, the other Ocean race subjects exchanged looks with each other.
It seems the regent and the Dragon King did share a friendship. Sigh, we really did misunderstand him before.
Shang Hongyu’s face reddened slightly. After all, she had just engaged in an intense match with Zu An not too long ago, and yet they were now standing in front of her deceased husband’s portrait together. It just felt a bit strange somehow.
A while later, after Zu An placed the incense, he turned around and said to the Ocean race officials, “I heard that you're all choosing the next candidate for the ocean king?”
All of the officials looked at each other in dismay, but they couldn't just remain silent. “That’s right. Now that the Dragon King has perished, the empire cannot be without a ruler for even a single day. That is why we have all decided to first elect a new ruler, so we can all be at ease.
“But the issue of finding a good candidate has produced endless quarrels. The princes all have their respective strong points.”
The great prince, second prince, fourth prince, eighth prince, and others’ supporters began to talk about how incredible their respective prince was, quoting the classics to show how suitable they were to inherit the throne.
When he saw that the mourning hall was becoming as noisy as a food market, Zu An immediately interrupted them. “There’s no need for you to argue anymore. I have a candidate.”
The Ocean races’ officials were surprised.
He's joining in the selection of the ocean king after all.
Even so, he was too strong, so no one dared to oppose him. They could only quietly ask, “May we ask who the regent has set your heart on?”
The other qualified princes and their officials all snuck Chi Wen a look.
Don’t tell me he's going to choose the ninth prince?
But they weren’t too alarmed yet, because the ninth prince really was too unreliable. Furthermore, after the blue ice affair, he had offended almost all of the important officials. Someone like that had almost no chance of becoming the ocean king. They had a proper reason to refuse him.