Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 501: Initial Control of the Dao Court

「Inside the Celestial Wu Hall of the Dao Court.」

Crown Prince Longxing, escorted by Lü Yang, walked into the hall and immediately saw it—the golden Throne at the head of the hall, the very thing he had longed for day and night.

Crown Prince Longxing stared for a long while before managing to tear his gaze away.

But in the next second, Lü Yang’s voice drifted over coolly, "Please, take your seat, Your Highness."

"This... isn’t appropriate, is it?"

Crown Prince Longxing gulped and quickly waved his hands. "Father is merely away for a time. How could I commit such a treasonous act? It’s better not..."

Hearing this, Lü Yang lowered his voice and chuckled. "Your Highness... to be perfectly honest, this seat will be yours sooner or later. With His Majesty temporarily away, this is the perfect opportunity for you to make your mark. If you perform well, how could this seat possibly escape you in the future? Sit for a moment. Just think of it as getting acquainted."

Crown Prince Longxing’s heart leaped.

’That’s right, I am the Crown Prince of the Dao Court. This Throne will be mine one day. Father can’t see me now anyway, so what’s the harm in sitting for a bit?’

At this thought, Crown Prince Longxing glanced at Lü Yang again.

"You... Don’t do this next time!"

With that, he cautiously ascended the steps, turned, and settled firmly onto the Throne. A chilling sensation instantly shot through his mind.

"Ah...!"

Although there was no true infusion of Mighty Power, Crown Prince Longxing still felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration wash over his soul.

After all, this was an act of blatant usurpation. If anyone else found out, even the Crown Prince would surely be impeached. It was only because Lü Yang had suggested it and Crown Prince Longxing himself was itching with curiosity that he went along with it. Otherwise, he would never have dared.

However, at that very moment, Xiao Mountain strode in. "My Lord, Your Highness," he said with a bow. "The Lord Protector is outside the Celestial Wu Hall and requests an audience with the Crown Prince."

"What?"

That single sentence snapped Crown Prince Longxing back to reality. He instinctively started to rise, only to be forcefully pushed back down by Lü Yang.

"Go out and pass on the message. Say that His Highness has just taken residence in the Celestial Wu Hall and is somewhat fatigued. He will not see him."

Crown Prince Longxing found that this excuse suited him perfectly.

’I’m enjoying myself right now. Wouldn’t Li Taian just be causing trouble if he came in? No, I won’t see him. There will be plenty of opportunities later. Seeing him tomorrow makes no difference.’

What satisfied Crown Prince Longxing even more was that although Lü Yang had given the order directly, Xiao Mountain didn’t move immediately. Instead, he looked respectfully at the prince. It was obvious that the officials of the Imperial City Department still knew where their loyalties lay. They knew he was the one who made the decisions, so they wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

Thinking this, Crown Prince Longxing gave a slight nod.

"Mm, go and relay the order."

Only then did Xiao Mountain stamp his foot and hurry out. But it wasn’t long before the Young Protector’s voice was heard from outside: "How dare you stop me?"

BOOM!

As a huge crash sounded, Crown Prince Longxing’s expression changed. He hurriedly rose from the Throne, descended the steps, and straightened his clothes.

In the next instant, Li Taian strode into the hall.

By now, he had realized what was happening. The Celestial Wu Hall was now completely controlled by the Imperial City Department. For the Crown Prince to take up residence here—wasn’t that like a lamb entering a tiger’s den?

Under these circumstances, Xiao Mountain stopping him from seeing Crown Prince Longxing immediately struck a raw nerve. He was already convinced that Lü Yang was issuing false orders and sealing off the hall. Otherwise, how could Crown Prince Longxing possibly refuse to see him, the esteemed Young Protector? He had immediately resorted to force and barged his way in.

"Your Highness... you’re all right!"

Entering the Celestial Wu Hall and seeing that Crown Prince Longxing was unharmed, Li Taian finally let out a sigh of relief. He immediately bowed in salute, then shot a wary look at Lü Yang.

’This Demon Dragon, with his wolf-like ambition!’

However, before he could speak and impeach Lü Yang, Crown Prince Longxing’s voice rang out.

"Insolence!"

Crown Prince Longxing was practically seething. Li Taian’s forceful entry stood in stark contrast to the deference shown moments before by Lü Yang and the Imperial City Department.

’Today you force your way in, tomorrow you’ll dare to rebel!’

Coupled with Li Taian’s status as Young Protector, one of the Three Ministers’ Disciples... The thought only fueled Crown Prince Longxing’s fury.

"I have already made it clear that I am fatigued today and do not wish to see anyone, yet you forced your way in! Do you even have any respect for me? Get out!"

Li Taian was stunned.

He instinctively looked at Lü Yang, only to see Lü Yang looking back with an equally innocent expression. It was then that he realized with a shock: it wasn’t a false order—the prince truly hadn’t wanted to see him?

’How is that possible!’

He couldn’t comprehend the logic at all, and even began to subconsciously suspect that the Crown Prince Longxing before him was an imposter put in place by Lü Yang.

But soon, as the suppressive pressure of his Dao Court Official Position fell upon him, Li Taian grunted and finally understood that the person before him was indeed Crown Prince Longxing. Immediately, his face turned deathly pale. After all, if this was all the Crown Prince’s will, then his actions just now were an act of great disrespect!

"This servant knows his crime!"

Realizing this, Li Taian didn’t dare offer any defense and fell to his knees. But he was met with Crown Prince Longxing’s impatient expression. "I said, get out!"

Li Taian didn’t dare hesitate, immediately bowing as he backed out of the hall.

"Your Highness, don’t be angry."

Only then did Lü Yang speak in a low voice, "The Young Protector was only thinking of the Dao Court. Although he offended Your Highness, I believe his heart is in the right place."

"For the Dao Court?"

Crown Prince Longxing’s eyes narrowed at his words. "I don’t think he’s nearly as loyal and reliable as you, Du Huan," he said coldly. "Nor have I ever heard Father praise him for being loyal to the state."

"Your Highness is mistaken." Lü Yang shook his head. "This servant and the Young Protector are different."

"Oh? How so?"

"The Young Protector is loyal to the Dao Court, and his dedication is commendable... but this servant has received great kindness from His Majesty. If we must speak of loyalty, this servant is loyal not to the Dao Court, but only to Celestial Wu."

These words were music to Crown Prince Longxing’s ears, and he found himself in complete agreement. ’That’s right! What’s all this about loyalty to the Dao Court? In the end, doesn’t that just mean they can harm the interests of my Celestial Wu Royal Family for the sake of the Dao Court? I don’t need some frank official who is loyal to the Dao Court. Loyalty to the Imperial Family—that is true loyalty!’

Seeing his chance, Lü Yang quickly decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"There is one more thing, Crown Prince. You must not be careless. The assassins secretly colluded with the Jiangbei Demon Sect. They even dared to assassinate His Majesty, which means the Crown Prince is likely in great danger as well!"

At these words, Crown Prince Longxing immediately grew tense again.

He was no Perfected Lord. If an assassination of that caliber were aimed at him, he would surely die. Not even the Immortal Dao Law could protect him.

Therefore, without needing any prompting from Lü Yang, he took the initiative and said:

"Investigate! We must investigate thoroughly!"

"Du Aiqing, I command you to investigate all the officials. The All Heaven Department... the assassin was from the All Heaven Department, wasn’t he? Disband it! Merge it entirely into the Imperial City Department!"

At this, Crown Prince Longxing took another deep breath. "Furthermore, I will not be leaving the Celestial Wu Hall for the time being. At least here I have the protection of an Array and it’s safer... I must trouble you again, Aiqing. Have the Imperial City Department stand guard day and night. No one is to be let in without my permission!"

"This servant understands."

Lü Yang immediately stamped his foot and bowed. "Rest assured, Your Highness. As long as this servant is in charge of the Imperial City Department, I will never allow any harm to come to you. Loyalty! Honor!"

...

Only after walking out of the Celestial Wu Hall did Lü Yang allow a smile to grace his lips.

’The memories of Wu Taian, the Southern King, were right. This Crown Prince Longxing truly has no great ambitions. He’s much easier to handle than Emperor Jia You...’

With Crown Prince Longxing as his golden signboard, his future actions in the Dao Court would have the weight of legitimacy. Having secured both name and authority, many things would become much easier to accomplish.

Thinking of this, Lü Yang looked up at the sky and mused, ’The seclusion of the Fruits doesn’t make much difference to me. After all, the Fruit of Celestial Fire had no one to uphold it in the first place. However, it’s also difficult to attain a Fruit that is in seclusion. For now, at least, the Fruit of Celestial Fire has not yet favored me...’

The reason, ultimately, was that he had not yet met the conditions to attract the attention of the Fruit of Celestial Fire.

True, he now controlled the situation in the Dao Court.

But that control was limited to Celestial Wu City, not the entire East. Moreover, the host of officials, led by the Junior Master, Young Protector, and Junior Tutor, were extremely hostile toward him.

’There’s still a long way to go before I truly control the Dao Court and rule over the East....’

Lü Yang shook his head, then extended his hand. As he opened his palm, a golden light could be seen pulsing within it—it was the Gold Attribute of Fortune!

’As expected of [Ang Xiao]...’

’I guessed that [Ang Xiao] might make a treacherous move and took precautions, but [Ang Xiao] likewise guessed that I would do the same and fled quite quickly.’

’After the assassination, he used the [Veil of the Trees] to escape in the chaos...’

’Fortunately, I was smart enough. When we made the deal and I placed the Hongyun Gold Attribute outside, I left a puppet there, controlled via [Puppet].’

’The moment [Ang Xiao] finished his strike, I had the puppet retrieve the Hongyun Gold Attribute.’

’Not only that, I even left a trap where the Hongyun Gold Attribute was. If [Ang Xiao] had actually gone to take it, he would have been immediately ambushed by me.’

’Unfortunately, [Ang Xiao] never showed up at all.’

’In the end, neither I nor [Ang Xiao] ever intended for this deal to succeed. These old-school Saint Sect True Monarchs are just too difficult to deal with.’

But then again, the [Ang Xiao] of today was just a wisp of Divine Sense within a Grotto Heaven Fragment. His ability to interfere with reality was already extremely limited.

So, rather than worrying about him, Lü Yang was more concerned with his own gains:

’Guards.’

Lü Yang waved his hand, summoning a young eunuch. "Lead the way. I’m going to the rear palace."