I Am Immortal In The Cultivation World novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Watching from the Side

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The watchtower.

It stood in the northeast corner, three stories high, and overlooked the Sky Prison from above.

According to the rules set by the Imperial Court, the watchtower was to be guarded by prison guards day and night to prevent martial arts experts from sneaking in or escaping.

Now that the defenses were lax, most of the prison guards were slacking off. Naturally, no one else went to the watchtower.

Zhou Yi opened the iron door of the watchtower and walked up the narrow stairs to the top. There, he discovered a figure standing on top of it.

“Why are you here, Warden Lei?”

“Watch the show!”

Warden Lei inclined his head, looking toward the palace.

Torch lights connected into lines, extremely conspicuous in the dark night. Faint shouts echoed in the night sky.

Zhou Yi pretended to be shocked. “Someone is leading troops to attack the palace. Are they rebelling?”

“Don’t hide your abilities in front of me.”

Warden Lei said bluntly, “That’s Prime Minister Long leading troops to attack the west gate of the palace. The leader is the commander of the Five Cities Division, accompanied by the three major gangs in the capital and the ten martial arts schools.”

The Five Cities Division was responsible for guarding the inner city of the Divine Capital and patrolling the 108 market cities.

The three major gangs, the Green Wolf Gang, the Flying Eagle Gang, and the Golden Sand Gang, respectively controlled the brothels, gambling stalls, and horse carriages. Their subordinates numbered in the thousands.

The ten martial arts schools seemed to have the least number of people, but they were all martial arts experts. They were most suitable to lead the attack.

…

Zhou Yi muttered, “There are at least 30,000 to 50,000 people here, and the palace guards are only three to four thousand. Is the dynasty going to change today?”

Mr. Long had been the prime minister for thirty years. Almost all the officials in the Imperial Court were his people. There were also many trusted aides in the army. The local state capitals were filled with officials from the “Long Party”.

By breaching the palace tonight and seizing control of the capital and the surroundings, it would be possible to overthrow the government.

He could choose a young ruler to ascend the throne, and the Prime Minister Long would continue to control the government.

Those who were more radical would directly call themselves officials of the Long Party and carry out a stable transition in the kingdom.

“The Prime Minister may well have fallen into the emperor’s trap!”

Warden Lei shook his head. “A few days ago, the Prime Minister said that the emperor’s health was fine and that he could live at least another three or four years…”

“Did the emperor fake his death?”

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows. This damned emperor no longer cared about his reputation. It was possible that he was pretending to be dead in order to trick Prime Minister Long.

“The emperor has not been to court for thirty-six years. Prime Minister Long has all the power in the court and his influence is spread throughout the palace. You really think something like that could get past him?”

Warden Lei pointed in the direction of the south gate of the palace. “The deputy commander of the Uniformed Guard tried to attack the south gate from the inside, but he fell into a trap and is fighting with his colleagues.”

The Uniformed Guard was the emperor’s personal army. The deputy commander was actually rebelling against Long!

Zhou Yi felt a little happy in his heart. The emperor had been abandoned by everyone. It must not be a very good feeling.

Warden Lei said, “This morning, Prime Minister Long confirmed that the emperor really was dead. He left an edict to pass on the throne to His Highness, the King of Qin. In a hurry, he summoned his troops to attack the palace.”

After the failed rebellion of the former crown prince, Emperor Chongming never appointed a crown prince. The King of Qin was the third son.

Zhou Yi clicked his tongue and said, “So, he didn’t select either of his sons as his heir to the throne. It would seem the emperor expected this day to come?”

Warden Lei took a moment to praise Zhou Yi. “You’re the only smart person in Sky Prison.”

“You’re too kind. I like to go to the brothel on a daily basis. I listen to the storytellers there about history, that’s all.”

The storyteller Zhou Yi was talking about was a woman named Niaoniao. She was the most popular courtesan in Spring Breeze Tower recently.

“When I was young, I also hung around. Every day, my mother scolded me for insulting my ancestors and embarrassing the Lei family. Later, I realized that a man should make contributions to society, so I joined Prime Minister Long. In less than ten years, I was in charge of the Sky Prison.”