A squad of gun-bearing soldiers at once ringed Chu Changhe in.
Facing this plight, Chu Changhe's expression did not so much as change; he looked at Qin Ming for all the world as though looking upon a stranger.
"Qin Ming, never in my wildest imaginings did I think you'd dare go so far as this. Patricide, to seize power! You truly cannot wait to succeed to the throne!"
"Chu Changhe, don't you go spouting your wild nonsense here. Men — press him and this base woman down for me; and after the trial, I'll put this criminal and this base woman to death before the eyes of all!" Qin Ming, as before, played the very picture of fury.
Chu Changhe smiled coldly, and said nothing.
He knew that, whatever he said now, it was of no use.
The gun-bearing soldiers round about began to close in, meaning to take Chu Changhe and the Empress.
"Who dares lay a hand on me!" Chu Changhe carried an authority that needed no anger to command it; that aura of his left the gun-bearing soldiers round about, who'd stretched out their hands, all at once at a loss what to do.
Though Chu Changhe hadn't a weapon to his name, merely standing there, he gave off a kind of terrifying, oppressive weight.
Even Qin Ming was intimidated by it.
"I'll walk on my own." Chu Changhe gave a cold snort, and, shielding the Empress at his side, walked slowly toward the outside.
"Your Highness…" an officer inquired Qin Ming's meaning.
"Hmph — give this old thing this bit of face, then. Escort him to the highest-grade prison, to await trial!" Qin Ming said with a cold smile.
"Yes." The officer nodded, and, leading his own squad, ringed Chu Changhe about and walked toward the outside.
"You all withdraw. Without my order, no one whatever is to set foot in this room." Qin Ming commanded.
"Yes."
The soldiers within the room all scattered away.
Qin Ming looked at that Starlight Emperor upon the bed, already bereft of all sign of life; in his gaze there was not a trace of any grieving feeling.
"Imperial Father, this illness of yours cannot be cured; rather than live on here in pain, better to use this standing of yours to help me lay down this move on the board," Qin Ming murmured.
Just what had, in truth, happened here — any clear-eyed person could, in fact, see it plain.
This was a snare prepared expressly for Chu Changhe.
As for the so-called trial to come — this was the Imperial Capital Star, the Prince Faction's own ground.
The verdict of that trial could come out only one way.
Qin Ming cast a last glance at that man behind the bedstead, the man he'd taken for his idol, and silently walked out of the room.
"Your Highness." Huang Zhixiong waited outside the room.
A thing such as this needed, naturally, the Prince Faction to be at work from top to bottom; it needed the help of no one knew how many people, in the open and in the shadows.
And the chain of reactions to follow needed, too, the preparation of many quarters.
"An hour from now, put out the statement we've prepared; push all of these matters onto Chu Changhe and the Empress. The matter of the trial is to be pressed hard — there can be no dragging it out. Trial tomorrow, and tomorrow afternoon these two are put to death. And the legion fleets' mobilization mustn't be slow either — have the various legion fleets entered their designated positions?" Qin Ming inquired.
Huang Zhixiong said, his look grave, "The Starlight Central Star Region and my Azure Star Region have all entered combat-readiness; the other star regions are, too, in the preparation stage. The star gates and starports are all under our control; the legion fleets have already set off for their designated regions. At the same time, we've begun to work the spies we planted within the Chu River Star Region and the North Wind Star Region. Should there be any information at all out of these two star regions, it'll be reported to us the first instant. And, at the same time, we've arranged for those imperial-army legion fleets we've secretly cultivated within the Chu River Star Region over the years to raise arms at this juncture, and to find means to create greater chaos in the Chu River Star Region! The North Wind Star Region included. Up to now, we've mobilized 60 legion fleets — close to 200,000 interstellar warships. And the number is still increasing!"
"Keep a strict watch on the movements of both the Holy Radiance Empire and the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth; any military mobilization of theirs, you're to notify me!" Qin Ming cautioned.
"On this, rest assured; we've already seen to it, one and all," Huang Zhixiong said.
Qin Ming walked out of this palace, looked at the sky of the Imperial Capital Star, and said in a low, grave voice, "We haven't much time. We must, in the shortest span of time, seize from this storm everything we need."
"Then the time of your succession to the throne…" Huang Zhixiong inquired, probing.
"By the tradition of our royal house, only 100 days after my imperial father's passing may I succeed to the throne. But during this stretch of time, I can already govern in his stead. For, after all, I'm now the sole heir," Qin Ming said.
Earlier, with the Starlight Emperor gravely ill and the First Prince passed away, the Second Prince Qin Ming had, in fact, already begun to manage the various affairs in the Starlight Emperor's stead.
But in the matter of authority there had, in truth, still been some limits — for, after all, he was but a prince, and the Starlight Emperor above him still lived.
But now, the Starlight Emperor was dead.
Which was as good as to say that the shackles that had originally bound Qin Ming's power were all gone; the one thing now lacking was, perhaps, only that nominal crown.
"The showdown with the Chu family legion — are you ready for it?" Qin Ming looked toward Huang Zhixiong.
Huang Zhixiong said, "By the original battle plan, we'll conduct a war of 10 months. In the first six months we adopt a war of attrition, mainly setting out to grind down the Chu family legion's strategic materials — and where necessary, we can give up some unimportant star-system territories. And once the seventh month begins, we take the offensive; by then the Chu family legion fleet's strategic materials will be in shortage, and its combat power greatly affected. In the last three months and more, we can wipe out the Chu family legion outright!"
"10 months… it's still a bit long." Qin Ming's expression was grave.
"The Chu family is, after all, the first great family of our Starlight Empire apart from the royal house; its strength is considerable. As for the time… there's nothing to be done either," Huang Zhixiong said, at a loss.
Qin Ming said, "I know. It's only that I worry the other two empires will seize the opening at this time to press in."
"The two great empires' pressing in at the opening is, for us, a double-edged sword. It can leave the Chu family legion beset front and back — but it can also pose a threat to us, and, in the worst case, even lead the Chu family to lean toward the two great empires." Huang Zhixiong set forth these considerations.
"On that point there's no need to worry. The Chu family will absolutely never betray the Starlight Empire." Qin Ming spoke up.
"Why so?" Huang Zhixiong was somewhat astonished.
Qin Ming cast a glance at Huang Zhixiong.
"Uncle, those years you spent in the imperial army on the Chu River Star Region's border were truly wasted on you. My imperial father once said to me: the Chu family, in whatever circumstance, the one thing they will never do is betray the empire and lead foreign troops across its borders. I believe Chu Changhe will not do such a thing, and Chu Xuan will not do it either; so long as the Chu family remains, they will never do this."
Huang Zhixiong was stunned.
"You may not believe it — that in such a matter I'd, of all things, stake my bet on the Chu family. But this one thing is a thing I hold to without the least doubt," Qin Ming said with self-mockery.
"Very well; let's begin the work. The Starlight Empire's transformation may be said to have truly begun."
Over on the other side, Chu Changhe and the Empress were escorted out by a squad of interstellar soldiers; ahead, a shuttle-craft lay docked — this shuttle-craft would escort Chu Changhe and the Empress to the most sternly guarded prison of the Imperial Capital Star.
"Wait a moment." The officer from before suddenly barred Chu Changhe's way.
"Before boarding, we must inspect the two of you. You few — come and give Governor Chu and the Empress a good inspection."
Chu Changhe knit his brows.
The soldiers the officer had named drew near one after another; several of them walked toward the Empress, sleazy looks upon their faces.
The other soldiers round about, too, wore the look of ones settling in to watch a show.
But the very next second, the shuttle-craft's hatch opened, and a squad of soldiers, laser guns in hand, took aim at the soldier-squad and opened fire.
And at the same time, that officer and those few soldiers turned about to shield Chu Changhe and the Empress from the front, activating single-soldier shields to form a protective ring.
"Protect the Marshal!"