Chapter 276: His True Objective

Chapter 276 His True Intentions

Soon the dull thuds of the beating came from the courtyard, one after another, accompanied by screams that seemed to strike at people's hearts.

At first, Huo Xianyue was still immersed in the pleasure of revenge.

She had won. That bitch Wang Bishan had finally gotten her comeuppance!

Listening to the shrill wails mixed with the sounds of the beating, the corner of her mouth curled into a twisted smile.

Scream, scream louder! Let the whole manor hear the fate of this poisonous woman!

From now on, who in the manor would dare scheme against her!

But the wailing gradually weakened, from screams to sobs, and finally only the dull thud of the staff hitting flesh, thud, thud, with no more human sounds.

The smile on Huo Xianyue's face froze.

The study was terrifyingly quiet, broken only by the occasional crackle of candle flames.

After an indeterminate time, Ling Feng pushed open the door with an expressionless face, his clothes carrying a faint, almost imperceptible smell of blood.

He bowed to Xiao Lingchuan, his voice perfectly steady, without a hint of emotion.

"Your Highness, Concubine Wang could not withstand the beating and has... stopped breathing."

With a bang, Huo Xianyue's mind went blank.

Dead?

Wang Bishan... just died like that?

It was as if all the strength had been drained from her body in an instant. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the cold floor, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Xiao Lingchuan slowly rose from behind the desk and walked step by step to her. The hem of his black robe brushed the ground silently, like a life-taking ghost.

He looked down at her from a height, his tone carrying a hint of cold bewilderment.

"What's wrong, Concubine Huo? I have avenged you and had the one who harmed you executed on the spot. Why... are you instead unhappy?"

His voice was soft, yet like a knife dipped in ice, it pierced into Huo Xianyue's bones inch by inch.

She abruptly raised her head and met those unfathomably deep eyes.

There was not a trace of pity in them, only a cold indifference as if watching a show.

At this moment, Huo Xianyue suddenly felt that the pain of her disfigurement was nothing at all.

What truly chilled her to the bone with despair was the man before her, as beautiful as a god but with a heart more venomous than a snake or scorpion.

She opened her mouth, her teeth chattering, and stammered out a few words: "Your, your concubine... thanks, thanks Your Highness for seeking... justice for me..."

Xiao Lingchuan let out a barely audible cold laugh, as if seeing through all the fear and regret in her heart.

"What a pity," he said slowly, his gaze falling on the festering wound on her face. "Concubine Huo's face, I'm afraid, will never recover. In this state, you are truly unsuitable to remain in my manor. How about I give you a letter of divorce and let you return to the Huo family to spend the rest of your life in peace? How does that sound?"

Return to the Huo family?

Huo Xianyue was struck as if by lightning.

How could the Huo family, who valued face so much, accept a daughter who had been divorced by her husband's family and had her face ruined?

What awaited her was not a peaceful life, but being scorned by her family and locked in a dark, sunless backyard to end her days!

No, that was worse than death!

"Your Highness!" She knelt before Xiao Lingchuan, her forehead hitting the hard floor tiles with dull thuds. "Your Highness, you cannot! If I am divorced like this and sent back, the Huo family... the Huo family will surely not tolerate me! I beg Your Highness to show mercy, to give your concubine a way to live!"

"A way to live?" Xiao Lingchuan rubbed the stubble on his chin, as if truly troubled on her behalf. "Then what should be done?"

That contemplative look on his face, in Huo Xianyue's eyes, seemed like he was weighing which method to make her die would be the cleanest and most efficient.

A bone-piercing chill shot from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head, and Huo Xianyue's scalp tingled.

"Your Highness! Let your concubine... let your concubine go to the nunnery! I am willing to shave my head and become a nun, from now on to live by the oil lamp and ancient Buddha, praying daily for Your Highness and the manor, to atone for my sins!"

Hearing this, Xiao Lingchuan's face finally showed a hint of satisfaction.

He nodded, as if approving of the suggestion: "Very well."

"Then I shall not keep Concubine Huo any longer. Your current appearance is indeed frightening, lest it scare the others in the manor."

He turned to Ling Feng at the door, his voice cold as ice.

"Ling Feng, today you will send Concubine Huo to the Jingyue Temple outside the city and have her head shaved immediately!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Ling Feng bowed and accepted the order, then stepped forward and unceremoniously grabbed Huo Xianyue's arm.

Huo Xianyue went limp and was dragged out like a rag doll.

When she was taken out of the study door, a pungent smell of blood hit her.

She turned her head instinctively and saw the scene in the courtyard—Wang Bishan lay face down on the ground, the bluestone slabs beneath her stained dark red with blood. The clothes on her back were already torn to shreds, the exposed flesh a bloody mess, impossible to tell where cloth ended and flesh began.

Her eyes were wide open, her face still frozen with the terror and unwillingness before death.

In that instant, Huo Xianyue felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe, freezing every limb and bone.

She and Wang Bishan, from beginning to end, were nothing but pawns in Xiao Lingchuan's hands.

Now, one had died and gone to the Yellow Springs, the other was driven out of the manor to live by the oil lamp and ancient Buddha.

And the Wang and Huo families, after this incident, would surely become irreconcilable enemies.

What a brilliant move to kill three birds with one stone!

This man's schemes and methods were truly... unfathomable and utterly venomous!

——

Within three days, the shocking upheaval in Prince Jing's manor spread like spilled ink, quickly darkening the entire circle of nobles in the capital.

The legitimate daughter of the Wang family, jealous by nature, had poisoned the legitimate daughter of the Huo family, but was beaten to death on the spot by Prince Jing.

The legitimate daughter of the Huo family, her face ruined and utterly disheartened, voluntarily entered Jingyue Temple, shaved her head to become a nun, and from then on lived by the oil lamp and ancient Buddha, cutting off all ties with the mortal world.

For a time, gossip spread through every street and alley, and the storytellers had several new juicy topics to entertain.

But what truly stirred up a monstrous wave was in the imperial court.

The Wang and Huo families were two powerful aristocratic clans that had been entrenched in Daye for many years. They had long been engaged in open rivalry and covert scheming, and though their grievances ran deep, they had always maintained a semblance of harmony on the surface.

Now, one had lost a daughter, while the other's daughter had been sent to a nunnery barely alive. This enmity was now beyond reconciliation, with no turning back. They simply cast aside all pretense and made a huge scene.

In the Golden Throne Hall during the morning court, the atmosphere was so tense it could be cut with a knife.

Officials from both factions immediately jumped into the fray, exchanging bitter words, with spittle flying everywhere. The solemn and dignified Golden Throne Hall instantly turned into a noisy marketplace.

The emperor, Xiao Zhengxian, sitting on the dragon throne, felt the veins at his temples throbbing with pain in waves.

His original intention when he had forced Xiao Lingchuan to marry these daughters of the aristocratic clans was to set his domestic life ablaze, create chaos in his household, and leave him too distracted to attend to other matters.

Who would have thought that the fire would burn so fiercely, spreading directly from Prince Jing's residence to his own Golden Throne Hall, forcing him, the emperor himself, to clean up Xiao Lingchuan's mess!

"Enough!" Xiao Zhengxian, unable to bear it any longer, slammed his palm onto the armrest of the dragon throne with a dull, thunderous boom.

The hall fell silent instantly, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing.

"This matter has already been dealt with by Prince Jing. Right and wrong will be judged by all! Anyone who raises a clamor again will be punished together!" Suppressing his anger, Xiao Zhengxian announced the end of the court and stormed out with a sweep of his sleeve, leaving all the civil and military officials looking at each other in bewilderment.

Inside the Imperial Study, the incense smoke curled, but it could not dispel the irritation weighing on Xiao Zhengxian.

He unleashed a torrent of rebukes at Xiao Lingchuan: "Look at what you've done! One Secondary Consort is dead, another has become a nun! Now the Wang and Huo families are quarreling in court until my head is splitting! Fourth Brother, you can't even manage your own inner courtyard. What kind of behavior is that!"

Xiao Lingchuan stood in the hall, his black princely robe making him stand even taller, yet his face wore an expression of utter innocence.

He said unhurriedly, "Imperial Brother, your words truly wrong your subject. I have never meddled in inner courtyard affairs. They are all noble daughters of the great clans, with scheming minds. If they want to play schemes and tricks, I, a grown man, how could I possibly understand such things? They fought among themselves; one slipped up, the other took the fall. I could only handle it impartially. What else could I do?"

Xiao Zhengxian looked at his stubborn, lazy demeanor, felt his chest constrict with rage, and sneered, "Impartial handling? What a fine impartial handling! So you mean to say that I have wronged you? Then should I appoint you a Principal Consort to help you properly manage your rear courtyard?"

These words carried a strong note of sarcasm and probing.

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Xiao Lingchuan's lips, but his tone was quite sincere: "If Imperial Brother truly means it, it's not impossible. However, I think it would be better for Your Majesty to take a few more consorts for yourself than to worry about my rear courtyard. Your harem is empty; you should also expand the imperial line, shouldn't you? And while you're at it, you can give a personal demonstration, to teach your subject how to handle inner courtyard affairs."

"You..." Xiao Zhengxian choked on his breath, his hand pointed, trembling uncontrollably, his face turning from red to green, and then to purple. "You—you, get out!"

Stepping out of the Imperial Study, the deferential expression on Xiao Lingchuan's face vanished without a trace, replaced by a look of indifference.

Seventh Prince Xiao Qiyu hurried after him, a trace of worry on his face: "Fourth Brother, what you said inside, speaking to Imperial Brother so bluntly... isn't that a bit inappropriate? I saw Imperial Brother's face; it was practically green with rage."

Xiao Lingchuan did not pause his steps, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion: "When he forced those four women on me back then, he should have anticipated today's outcome."

He turned his head slightly, looking at the towering red walls along the palace path, a faint, icy smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Besides, seizing this opportunity to make the Wang and Huo great clans tear at each other—I find that quite agreeable."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiyu's heart gave a sudden lurch.

His fourth brother, when he agreed to marry the legitimate daughters of the Four Great Clans, was never seeking to curry favor and consolidate his own position.

He was aiming to... dismantle them!

His true purpose was to completely shatter the distorted situation of strong aristocratic families and weak imperial power that had persisted for centuries, and to uproot these deeply entrenched clans that had long threatened the very foundation of the imperial authority.