XH 211 - Should I thank you for the special attention?

"Su Yuen!" Concubine He cried out in distress at General Su that was missing an arm. 

"I'm fine, Tian' Er." General Su calmed his sweetheart, not showing any pain on his face to not worry her. He managed to stop the bleeding, but he had lost quite an alarming amount of blood. 

In contrast to his nonchalant appearance, his heart was far from comfortable. He had not stopped cultivating all these years and managed to increase his cultivation to the fourth rank. That was why he was confident that he would be able to kill the dog Emperor today. 

Yet the dog Emperor was also a fourth rank cultivator! General Su knew that the Long royal family were freaks that were able to cultivate faster than average cultivators, but that lazy Emperor was just sitting on the throne and never trained as diligently as him!

In the current generation, no one knew that the Long family, the vessel of Azure Dragon, had received a blessing to have faster progression in cultivation for the purpose of helping to guard Guilin, their celestial beast's hideout. It was mostly due to the fact that as the generation continues, the more incomplete the information was passed down and the truth was either buried or lost. 

"Quickly summon a doctor!" Concubine He ordered anxiously. The imperial physician that could not win against the armed soldiers have no choice but to obey. 

As for the Emperor and Long Lian, they were thrown into a private prison. It was the same prison where the Empress had thrown Long Shan's spy that had previously infiltrated as the Empress' maid. 

Those officials that attended the meeting today to denounce the Crown Prince were forced to choose their side. Those refused to side with the Second Prince were thrown into the prison as well. The remaining officials either flattered the Second Prince, offering suggestions, or pretended to side with them to remain alive.

Whatever their plan was, Long Shan does not care as long as they did not act against him. After all, they were still useful.

Inside the prison, the Emperor was bleeding heavily, and the princess' nerves suffered serious damage. No doctors were allowed to help them. 

"Tend to the princess," Long Shan ordered one of the doctors that were tending to General Su's injury. 

"Shan' Er!" Concubine He stared at him in disbelief. "Why would you care about that girl when your father is injured!"

Concubine He had only willingly look away from General Su and the Emperor's fight because Long Shan would help his father. Yet he abandoned the fight halfway to stop Liu Chu Chu from killing Long Lian that could no longer fight after the big blast.

No need to mention Concubine He, even Liu Chu Chu was angry with him. 

There was no grudge Liu Chu Chu had towards Long Lian, but the princess was still an eyesore. Long Lian had never hidden her dislike towards her for being chosen as Long Shan's wife. Killing her would also help Bin Tang, whose husband was still infatuated with Long Lian.

"There is no need to kill her."

"She is one of that scum's children. She would not just stand by when he died. It will save us trouble if we kill her to accompany that scum in afterlife!" Concubine He was confident that the Emperor will die soon. When one saw the current state of the Emperor, they would believe so as well. 

Long Shan ignored her words and have a doctor follow him to the prison. 

"Shan' Er!" Concubine He called but he continued walking away. 

"Mother, I will talk to him." Liu Chu Chu assured Concubine He and followed Long Shan. 

Even if she does not like to see him being soft-hearted, she could understand his reluctance for a tiny bit. He had grown up alongside them since young and have developed some bond with them. Even the old her, who trusted her childhood friend that fought by her side, choose to ignore the hints of her friend’s betrayal and it cost her life. 

It would be hard for him to completely broke ties with them unless the Long siblings betrayed him.

"Long Shan, you do understand its not ideal to leave behind loose ends, right?"

Stopping at the entrance to the prison, Long Shan assigned a guard to escort the doctor in. Only when they were alone did he turned to face his newlywed wife. 

This beautiful looking woman in red was the one that successfully captured his guarded heart. Her sly smile, mischievous eyes and her burning touches created a large hole on the defense he had painstakingly erected around his heart. 

Long Shan had seen how decisive she was to cut out those that would harm her. She had one it so thoroughly that it amazed him, yet a small part of him feared it. 

Will she cut him off once he was no longer useful and brought harm to her being?

His heart refused to believe so, yet deep in his mind, that small part of him doubted her. When Liu Chu Chu suggested for them to cooperate with Gu Dan, his mind told him it was not right but his heart supported her decision completely.  

Gu Dan wanted to rule the Four Kingdoms, that was what everyone knows. Even after two years, their ambition was still the same. What Liu Chu Chu promised them was they would not offer aid to any parties when Gu Dan attacked the other three kingdoms. 

The Guilin Kingdom will remain theirs, while the other three kingdoms will be Gu Dan's.

"With this, the four kingdoms will not become one, right?" That mocking curl of her red lips and those taunting eyes spoke volumes. She believed they were being stupid to believe that tragedy would befall them if the four kingdoms merged into one kingdom. 

In Liu Chu Chu's eyes, everyone was beneath her, strongly believe that she, who was from the 25th century, was better than them, the ancient people. In her opinion, Long Shan was the smartest and most powerful among the ancient people, but was still beneath her. 

For the plan involving Gu Dan, Long Shan had wanted to speak out his thoughts, but just as he wanted to, the affection for his wife quickly covered it up and suppressed his impulse.

He does not even have a moment to feel fear towards something he had quickly forgotten at the next moment.

"Chu Chu." Long Shan grabbed Liu Chu Chu's hands, his voice soft, amiable, but his eyes were firm. "Right now, I am the eldest of the prince. As long as the truth of my heritage did not get exposed, I will succeed the throne without a fight."

"What happens when the truth is known? The other princes will not let it go. Did you forget the princess knows about it too? And that Empress that ran away, likely gathering troops as we speak."

"Even if they know, it will be too late then." Right now he was the one that controlled the palace. "Other than me, the others are not suitable to be the Emperor. Even if the princes wish to take the throne from me, they will not be able to."

Long Shan knew that Long Yu, the Fourth Prince, does not have an iron will. He would most likely pledge his loyalty to Long Shan in hopes to keep his family safe.

As for Long Zhu, the feminine Third Prince, who did not know he was an idle prince whose income was only from the palace? Long Shan does not understand why there would be some minister that would be respectful to him, or to have his mother being wary of him. Without the Emperor to entertain his tantrums, no one will pay attention to him. 

The youngest prince, Long Ming, was an idiot. There was no need to consider him. 

"You already decided to spare them anyway." Liu Chu Chu scoffed. "Fine, I will let you do what you want."

"Their cultivation will be removed," Long Shan added. 

Liu Chu Chu nodded approvingly. Anyway, she could pin crimes on them later so that Long Shan will have no choice but to kill them. "But I don't agree with letting the Third Prince alive."

Liu Chu Chu believed in her instinct on identifying people's character. The Third Prince was usually dressed in a simple and loose robes. Armed with his gentle smile, he looked just like a kind-hearted and amiable person. But she always felt that he was a sleeping beast, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to hunt his prey. 

She was not comfortable leaving an unknown danger around, even for a bit longer.

“Alright, we will remove him if you don’t like him,” Long Shan agreed. 

A peal of laughter swept pass them like a cold breeze. “Should I thank you for the special attention?”

Long Zhu, dressed in completely white from his hair ornament down to his shoes, did it with the intention to mock the Long Shan, the white lover. The other reason was to paint his white attire with the blood of the treacherous couple standing before him. 

He truly regretted not killing them off quickly, but choose to play with them slowly like a cat towards the mouse. His playing caused his eldest brother's death.

This time, he will kill them.