The officer hesitated a moment, wearing a whole nervous air, then, head bowed, reported, "According to the results of His Highness the Third Prince's investigation. The little Princess is suspected… suspected of not being of the royal bloodline!"
Not of the royal bloodline?
The moment these words came out, the whole hall was shocked. Sounds of discussion, sounds of astonishment, rose and fell one after another. Of course, there were, among them, no small number whose faces did not change. Governor Chu of Chu River, for instance, calmly watched all this, for all the world as though watching a farce unfold.
Consort Zhen's face showed a look of shock. "Explain clearly! Just what exactly is going on! What do you mean, the little Princess has no royal bloodline! This is not a matter to be talked of in wild nonsense!"
The officer dared not raise his head; he went on, "According to His Highness the Third Prince's investigation, the little Princess is… is the child born of the Empress's illicit love-affair with another man, back in those years."
"Who is that man!" Consort Zhen demanded.
"The second son of the old governor of the Grey Moon Star Region — Marquis Zhou Qian! This man studied at the same starship academy as the Empress. After the affair was exposed, Zhou Qian led troops in rebellion within his own interstellar fief; but he was, in righteous severing of kin, suppressed by the Grey Moon Star Region's old governor, who led troops against him — and His Highness the Third Prince, too, was present at the time.[1] The Grey Moon old governor said that he'd been lax in the discipline of his rebellious son, and was guilty of a crime! And that, once he'd finished dealing with the Grey Moon Star Region's affairs, he'd come to the Capital Star in person to plead guilty!"
The Grey Moon Star Region!
This was one of the Starlight Empire's eight great star regions. And, moreover, the family from which the present Empress hailed was, precisely, of the Grey Moon Star Region; it was after being promoted and raised up by the Grey Moon old governor that she'd come to be acquainted with the Starlight Emperor, and at the last become the Starlight Empire's Empress. The Grey Moon Star Region had, all along, likewise been of the faction supporting the First Prince — its relationship with the Empress no ordinary one.
"What you're saying is all in a muddled tangle; I've been quite confused by it." Consort Zhen held her own head, as though angered by it, and pointed at the man. "Say it clearly — just how, exactly, did this matter come about!"
The officer began to relate it, unhurried and in full. Everyone in the whole great hall was listening to this scarcely believable affair. And only at this point did Zhao Chen come to learn the course of this matter.
According to the course of events as the Third Prince had investigated it —
It was that His Highness the First Prince had, by chance, discovered the matter that his own younger sister was not born of his imperial father. The little Princess, fearing that the plot at the east window would come to light, had — by who-knew-what means — attacked the First Prince's interstellar fleet at the front line. And after that, discovering that the Third Prince was investigating this matter of hers, she'd simply banded together with her own "birth father" and attempted to raise troops in rebellion! The little Princess had led the royal fleet to attack the Third Prince's interstellar fleet.
"How could it… how could it be so." Consort Zhen swayed her body, clutching at her own head, wearing a whole look of one deeply stricken by the blow.
At this point, Huang Zhixiong, up in the great hall, stepped one pace forward. "Consort, this matter cannot be taken lightly. If the little Princess truly has a heart of rebellion, then she must surely have a great many cliques and cohorts within the empire. As things now stand, the empire is amid wind and rain; this matter must be dealt with by means of thunder and lightning! Otherwise it will surely brew into a great catastrophe!"
Consort Zhen pondered a moment, then said, "Marshal Huang Zhixiong, I command you to at once lead 10 imperial-army fleets to go arrest the little Princess — without fail, arrest her and bring her back to the Capital Star. And, besides, keep close watch on the movements of the cliques and factions connected to the little Princess; should there be any behavior threatening the empire, curb it at once!"
"Yes!" Huang Zhixiong, wearing a whole air of flaunting his martial might, walked out of the great hall.
No small number of people in the great hall were, at this moment, still digesting this matter. But not a single person dared step forth to raise an objection. Because any official with experience could see that this matter was exceedingly absurd. There were far too many holes in it.
"Let the conferral ceremony continue." Consort Zhen declared the conferral ceremony would go on, but the greater part of people were already distracted, their minds elsewhere. Even Zhao Chen's thoughts had long since slipped off to who-knew-where. These royal-house strifes Zhao Chen could pay no mind to — but the problem was that his own eldest sister was, after all, within the little Princess's royal fleet.
Triggering system mission "Rescue the Little Princess's Royal Fleet." Mission requirement: ensure the safety of Qin Xiaolei and Zhao Ruyue.
Qin Xiaolei? This was, after all, the little Princess's given name. Zhao Chen's heart lit up; this suddenly appearing mission at least showed that, at present, his eldest sister was still safe. At the same time, below the mission there was, besides, a star chart, upon which was a glowing point — that was the location where the little Princess's royal fleet was. Situated within a star system inside the Grey Moon Star Region.
As for that business of the Third Prince being ambushed, Zhao Chen didn't believe it; by his guess, it was a reversing of black and white. The Prince Faction wanted, riding the momentum, to root out the little Princess as well.
Zhao Chen thought inwardly: I must go to the rescue as swiftly as possible!
The assembled in the great hall were all thinking of the matter of the little Princess. But by all estimates, no one would ever imagine that, among them, there was one who, of all things, harbored the wild notion of rescuing the little Princess.
For one must know, if all this were a conspiracy — then it was, beyond doubt, Consort Zhen wanting, riding the momentum, to prop up her own son to the position, and preparing to cast the little Princess utterly into the abyss, so that she'd never have a day to turn herself over again. As for whether the little Princess was born of the Empress's affair with another man — once caught by Consort Zhen, the conclusion would not be for the Empress to decide. The more so since, by that time, whether the little Princess could even come back alive was not yet certain.
And there were so many great ministers present at the scene, and up to now not a single one had stepped forth to speak on the little Princess's behalf. And what did this show? Before this, of those in the Starlight Empire supporting the First Prince, there had been the most of all! And even with the First Prince fallen, no small number of his close confidants yet existed. This present situation already showed that Consort Zhen and her son's Prince Faction had begun to rapidly influence the whole of the Starlight Empire, high and low.
Then just who were the figures supporting the Prince Faction? Zhao Chen wondered in his heart. Could it be they'd simply let matters take their course? Had no means of counter-checking it?
Though there were no small number of dukes within the empire — those still living, added together, exceeded 20 or 30 — the dukes of truly weighty standing were only those eight star-region governors! Old Chu was a typical neutral; had he not, all along, refrained from meddling in party-and-court affairs, then the Starlight Emperor could not possibly have permitted him to possess so vast an interstellar fleet. The North Wind Governor had always worn the same pair of trousers as old Chu; for, after all, the North Wind Star Region's strength was comparatively toward the bottom among the eight star regions, and the North Wind Governor had all along followed old Chu, passing his days in laughter and ease out at the border.
The remaining five star regions. Since Consort Zhen was now in control of the situation, then the Starlight Central Star Region must surely already be within the Prince Faction's control. And Prince Yan had been invited over — so the Snow-Swallow Star Region, too, was more than likely to stand on the Prince Faction's side. The Grey Moon Star Region had originally been of the First-Prince faction, but in the present state of things, with even the Grey Moon Star Region's old governor about to come bearing thorns to plead guilt, its attitude was somewhat complex.[2] And there were, besides, the remaining three star-region governors, whose attitudes weren't too clear either.
Beyond these, what carried pivotal weight in the Starlight Empire were the 13-Star Marshals! Among whom, of course, there was old Chu's one seat as well. A Five-Star Marshal was by no means so simple a thing as a mere title; he possessed the right to mobilize five imperial-army fleets at any moment!
Zhao Chen looked at the several officers, standing in a file, dressed in military uniform. Ranked in the first place was, of course, Chu Changhe; behind him stood several others Zhao Chen had seen in the books of the Northstar Academy — that fellow Huang Zhixiong had gone off to execute the task Consort Zhen had charged him with, and had already departed.
"The conferral ceremony is ended; the rest of you may withdraw. Governor Chu of Chu River, I must trouble you to stay a moment," Consort Zhen said.
The people in the great hall took their leave and departed one after another, everyone's steps very quick. For, after all, with so great a matter having occurred, everyone had to go back and deliberate, and make ready for their own futures. Zhao Chen was one of them.
Only, he had a matter of greater importance. He'd already, in secret, sent a message to his T3 Blizzard No. 30 ship.
Apply to leave port at once — and immediately get in contact with the Owl Dragon Fleet in the Owl Dragon System!