Dragon Tamer

Chapter 715: Chapter 717 Rumors Hurt People

The Jade Blood Sword was always said to have been forged by Zhu Minglang’s grandfather.

After its creation, the Jade Blood Sword was taken by others, and Zhu Minglang’s grandfather perished in the ensuing conflict.

Zhu Heavenly Officer learned from this lesson and, while developing Zhu Gate, continually concealed Zhu Gate’s strength. In the subsequent years, he secretly annihilated the enemies from that time and retrieved the scattered pieces of the Jade Blood Sword.

“Who knows about this?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“To divert attention, I cast it in the Qin City Little Inner Court at that time, the only person who knew about this matter is your uncle,” Zhu Heavenly Officer said.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Minglang’s expression immediately darkened.

...

He remembered something.

Originally, Prince Zhao Yu was recommended to Zhu Wangxing by Empress Zhu, claiming it was to assist Zhu Wangxing in eliminating the spies King An had placed within the Zhu Gate Small Inner Court.

“Before I came here, I met the elder aunt who is resigned to death and seems to be harboring some guilt towards our Zhu Gate,” Zhu Minglang said, and then roughly described the peculiar situation in the Qin City Small Courtyard to Zhu Heavenly Officer.

“That explains it, Yuzhi has done some things detrimental to our Zhu Gate, alas,” Zhu Heavenly Officer sighed lightly.

Zhu Minglang furrowed his brow.

So, it seemed that it was Empress Zhu who leaked information about the Jade Blood Sword to the Royal Family. She introduced Prince Zhao Yu to Zhu Wangxing with the intention of finding out the whereabouts of the Jade Blood Sword through him, and finally, she got a definite answer.

Zhu Minglang sorted out the events in his mind.

He had met the Sparrow Wolf God on Snow Peak Mountain, where the Sparrow Wolf God had stated his intention to find something, and King An was willing to offer his full support.

During his time at the Man City Dragon Taming Academy, Zhu Wangxing had also happened to visit the Imperial City.

In the Imperial City, Empress Zhu introduced Prince Zhao Yu to Zhu Wangxing, ostensibly to use Zhao Yu to eliminate King An’s influence, but in reality, it was to probe into the matters concerning the Jade Blood Sword in Qin City.

Zhu Wangxing had never mentioned this to him, and Zhu Minglang had felt that something was amiss at that time. Now it seemed likely that Zhu Wangxing had already sided with Empress Zhu, secretly aiding the Royal Family.

“Whose side is the elder aunt really on?” Zhu Minglang became confused for a moment, unclear of Empress Zhu’s position.

“Generally speaking, she’s on our side, but at the end of the day, she’s a woman led by her emotions. Zhao Yuan has done many things that are clearly excessive and has clearly lost his sanity, yet Yuzhi continues to numbly support him, leading to the current situation,” Zhu Heavenly Officer explained.

“Oh, oh, I thought…” Zhu Minglang scratched his head.

For a few moments, Zhu Minglang truly believed that Empress Zhu had feelings for his father—after all, from Zhao Yuan’s words, it was evident that Zhao Yuan always felt that Empress Zhu truly loved Zhu Heavenly Officer, the man who had once saved her life.

“What did you think? That rumor? That I once saved Yuzhi’s life, and she should have devoted herself to me, but Emperor Zhao Yuan intervened, and Zhu Yuzhi became the Empress, while your dad suffers daily, ultimately marrying a Miao Mountain Sword Sect Female Leader with whom he had no emotional foundation. Upon learning about this, the Female Leader left her only son in a fury and departed, returning to Miao Mountain to pursue the path tirelessly??” Zhu Heavenly Officer said with annoyance.

Zhu Minglang listened, taken aback.

Truth be told, this rumor has always existed in the Imperial City.

Zhu Minglang had not been keen to inquire about the matters concerning his great-aunt Zhu Yuzhi, largely because of this very rumor.

What if it’s true?

“I don’t know why, but I feel that this script actually makes quite a bit of sense,” Zhu Minglang said.

“It’s purely those boring storytellers making things up, the common folk just love this sort of gossip!” Zhu Heavenly Officer said.

“Yes, rumors can be harmful!” Zhu Minglang quickly nodded, having experienced their harm himself!

“As for your great-aunt’s affair, I don’t blame her. She wanted to show her true heart to Zhao Yuan, inevitably causing us harm. Everyone has moments of losing their way. However, Zhao Yuan is beyond saving, a fact I’m very clear about, and yet she could not see it. I have advised her before, but since she was prepared for this, let her be,” Zhu Heavenly Officer seemed to take a broader view and didn’t delve deeply into Empress Zhu’s matters, after all, she was already dead.

“The wound wasn’t self-inflicted. I still don’t understand what really killed her,” Zhu Minglang’s mind still conjured up the image of that unhealable wound.

What kind of wound could have caused the healing dragon saliva to accelerate her death?

“You don’t have to dwell on it anymore. She chose Zhao Yuan, yet he still doubted her. Dying with dignity was already a good outcome for her,” Zhu Heavenly Officer said.

For some reason, Zhu Minglang always felt that Zhu Heavenly Officer knew she was going to die and even how she died.

Judging by Zhu Heavenly Officer’s tone and demeanor, he seemed to have little emotional attachment to Zhu Yuzhi. Even when Emperor Zhao Yuan was holding the lifeless body of Empress Zhu in a daze, it appeared he showed some sentiment, while Zhu Heavenly Officer was quite calm, almost as if he was the one who had killed her.

Perhaps, when Empress Zhu had committed certain acts of betrayal against Zhu Gate, Zhu Heavenly Officer had already suffered pain for it and in his heart had treated her as a stranger. After all, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest about Empress Zhu helping the Royal Family to seek information about the Jade Blood Sword; he just seemed to have clarified some previously incomprehensible matters.

Outside rumors claimed that Zhu Gate’s current status was due to the support of Empress Zhu, including the belief held by many inside Zhu Clan Inner Court.

But after witnessing the true strength of Zhu Gate, Zhu Minglang now understood that while Empress Zhu indeed once helped Zhu Gate a great deal, she had become an expendable existence. And since Zhu Gate’s secrecy had been unraveled by Zhao Yuan after so many years, with Zhao Yuan intent on exterminating Zhu Gate—perhaps it was due to Empress Zhu revealing things she shouldn’t have…

No wonder Empress Zhu felt guilty the moment she saw him.

She had betrayed Zhu Gate.

Emperor Zhao Yuan, having learned the truth and sensing the crisis, thus forged an alliance with the Sparrow Wolf God at all costs.

Zhao Yuan wanted to reclaim his rightful authority and rule as Emperor, while the Sparrow Wolf God sought to regain Divine Power through the Royal Family and obtain the Jade Blood Sword. Whether it was Zhao Yuan or the Sparrow Wolf God, their individual power was insufficient to conquer Zhu Gate. But united, they posed a catastrophe Zhu Gate could not withstand!

“My great-aunt is dead.”

“I know.”

Zhu Minglang recalled the first words he had said to Zhu Heavenly Officer upon their previous meeting, and Zhu Heavenly Officer’s response was so calm it was incomprehensible to him.

It turned out there were so many details and truths he was completely unaware of.

His calmness indicated that Zhu Heavenly Officer retained a trace of respect for Zhu Yuzhi, this unrelated sister, for otherwise her actions, which harmed Zhu Gate and hurt Zhu Heavenly Officer who had once saved her…