43 Final Showdown

**All the events were fictional**

Even if they searched in the sky or under the dirt, it was impossible for them to find the diviner. Blue eyes were such a rarity in the nation and no one was reported to possess those blue eyes. The search was futile.

Before the emperor's anger could flare up, it was already the new year.

Every new year, there is a tradition to organize a sacrificial ritual to ask for the nation's fate and blessings from the heavens. Rice wine would be served to symbolize the purity of the land as well as the food source of the country. Dancing and singing would happen for the first three days to make sure the following year be full of happiness. A large fire would be lit as a signal to heaven, praying for the people to be warm and passionate. The bigger the fire, the richer was the country.

Of course, Zheng Hong had no mood for this tradition. It had been a month since the order and six months of no reports on the regent's whereabouts. Though, he was finally informed of the defeat of his collaborators and the leader was missing in the battlefield. Therefore, he rushed to the room to check his doucments. But, his communication hiding in the secret chamber was missing, making him on edge all the time.

This was a nationwide tradition for thousands of years, with all the nobles and officials being invited every year to the celebration of new year, hence, he could only bite his lips and proceed with the preparation.

But he knew, his guts were telling him that the regent was still alive somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to attack him and pull him down.

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"Don't you think it's disrespectful to arrange a celebration when the fate of the regent is still unknown?" A small official whispered into the ear of another small official.

"Shhh! How dare you say that in the palace of the dragon?"

"I mean, last year was undoubtedly chaotic ever since the dragon got that ger back to the palace... from the flood, the resources, the death of the empress and the invasion."

"There's no other choice. The emperor has to appease the people precisely because of last year. W-we must have heaven's blessings!"

"I doubt that... The regent's disappearance makes a big impact on the nation."

"What are you trying to say?"

"...Nothing." If he said the things that he had been thinking, he would die in the hands of the current emperor.

The banquet had started with the attendance of many officials and nobles. The ever solemn palace turned noisy at the gossips and murmurs among the gentlemen and ladies. The most common topic of those whispers was the missing regent.

As the atmosphere grew livelier, the thumping drum signaled the arrival of an important status entering the banquet. All heads turned to the gate and immediately bowed down at the golden robes lined with dragons stitches.

The emperor was carried on a sedan chair by eight guards. His seat was plated in gold and with intricate carvings of a dragon holding a pearl. Many servants followed behind, carrying large gold umbrellas with their heads down. It was a whole spectacle.

Zheng Hong sat on the mighty seat, looking down at the crowd. His eyes lingered at a specific section, which made them shiver at that long stare. He scoffed at the shrinking appearance, thinking their mouths were so brave until his presence.

The sedan chair lowered allowing him to step down. His posture was upright, exuding a mighty air of royalty, showing no semblance of the anxious emperor before. He sat on his seat and raised his right hand.

"The past year, we have suffered. This year, we will pray for the country's health and wealth. Let the ritual begin!"

All the people present got down on their knees and kowtowed three times, hailing the emperor the dragon of the country. Zheng Hong had a satisfied smile on his face.

The dancers began to take the stage. They moved fluidly like water in the river, sometimes with a sharp impact symbolizing the swimming fish school. This dance was to bless the fishermen. And then the dance turned rough and powerful, with plowing movements, people could see the dance symbolized the farmers working on the fields. Many more interpretation dances followed after to bless every aspect there were for the nation.

The tense atmosphere began to ease and people started raising their cups of wine, wishing and celebrating a good year. Servants moved back and forth in an organized manner, carrying trays of food to create a whole feast. Laughter echoed as people started getting drunk, their starry eyes looking at the dancers in fascination.

Zheng Hong was satisfied with the atmosphere. The festive mood should have distracted people a little from the current problems happening. He needed more time to handle those issues. To liven up the banquet further, he had to deliver some words.

"The success of the ritual will help the nation to flourish next year. All the people here and outside are the pieces that put together this strong nation. Anything of the past should be in the past, the future should be where we look at."

Then he looked to the side. With a commanding tone, he said.

"Light the fire!"

The bonfire was incredibly big, once lit, it would not be exaggerated to say that even outside the palace wall could see it. Buckets of water were prepared around the base of the bonfire to prevent any unfortunate situations.

A burly man with a torch walked toward the bonfire, his steps were steady and majestic. Raising the fire up in the sky, screams and applause broke out at that image. He slowly lowered the torch down.

RUMBLE!!

The sky suddenly turned dark as the sound of thunder reverberated. The burly man's action stop as he looked up at the dark cloud with a frown.

Tok...

A drop of water fell onto his forehead. One drop soon became two then ten then thousands. The rain suddenly fell in the middle of the ritual.

People immediately ran to hide from the rain, looking at the sky with a complex expressions. There had never been a case of such heavy rain during the sacrificial rituals for thousands of years, how could it happen now?

"Heaven! Could this be a warning for our country's fate?"

"H-How could it be! Rain during the ritual is unheard of! Even before the fire was lit!"

Exclamations of disbelief and disappointment rang throughout the palace. The lively palace was long gone, replaced by the panic of the people.

Even Zheng Hong was incredulous at this, his butt stayed firmly on his seat. The new year tradition was meant to cheer the people and lift his reputation up, how come it backfired? People have already begun the discussion of unlucky events happening while he was on the throne.

Then, an incredible scene appeared in front of everyone's eyes. Even though it was raining heavily, the person in white with a veil on their face seemed like not touched by the rain. His brown hair was fluttering in the wind, creating a serene picture. He was descending from the sky and then standing on top of the firewood that was not yet lit.

His closed eyes slowly opened, revealing jewel blue eyes. People seemed to stop breathing as if one single breath would ruin this marvelous scene.

Zheng Hong was different. His stunned wide-open eyes narrowed and soon shot daggers at that beautiful figure.

"Guards! Catch them! They are assassins!"

He yelled loudly without lifting his vision away from the diviner.

The shadow guards were summoned and quickly moved to catch that white figure. But, under the veil, a slight smile appeared. His eyes curved up as he took out a black whip from who-knows-where. All the guards that tried to get close to him would receive a few slashes, and he even tied the one who jumped then threw that one away easily. The diviner's prowess was not to be intimidated.

They were not that badly injured, but Sun Gui had secretly threw some sedative needles at them to render them motionless. No one had touched Sun Gui yet.

"The current dragon, he had summoned the heaven's wrath! He no longer deseverd the mandate of heaven!"

His voice was calm and soothing but it was loud enough for the people present to hear the shocking statement.

"During the past year, the emperor had caused many grievances but he didn't pay any price. The empress's death was the first warning, then the flood, even the invasion of the enemies. All these events were proofs of him falling out of the heaven's favor!" The tone was full of justice and conviction. But Sun Gui knew that he was just bullshitting things through.

"Ha! That assassin is crazy! He is crazy and treasonous! Catch him!" A tone of ridicule came through the heavy rain.

Sun Gui was silent for a few seconds.

"Treason, who really committed it?"

The crowd looked at Sun Gui with eyes full of doubts and questionings. What was going on? Some of them already heard the implied meaning of Sun Gui's words. Other people were panic and they fell into deep thoughts.

"A-Ah! T-That's the Lord! That's the lord! The Lord is dragging someone!" A woman screamed somewhere in the hectic crowd, drawing people's attention to the direction that the woman pointed at.

"I-It really is the Lord Regent! But why is he here dragging a person?" Someone immediately reacted to the woman's statement. Then he frowned to focus his eyes at the person being dragged on the ground pitifully.

It would be strange if anyone could recognize that person, after all, they were the leader of the barbarians. Zheng Guozi kept a straight face as he kept walking towards the emperor. The moment that he entered, Sun Gui sneakily sucked the rain back into the bottle. He thought to himself that it was a great special effects, befitting of his husband like parting waves for the true dragon.

The guards were vigilant, they stood in front to protect their master. However, the intimidating air of the regent made all of their knees weak.

"Imperial Nephew, are you planning to be a coward?" His eyes showed disdain at the livid expression of the emperor.

"Imperial Uncle, what is the meaning of this? Are you planning to usurp the throne?" Zheng Hong finally stood up with a frown. But his anxiety showed by the drop of sweat on his face.

'Yes, for my wife.' The regent secretly mused himself.

"Usurp? I planned to have a lazy life as a lord when I put you on the throne. I had no intention to rule because I hope your brilliance will shine like the late emperor. However, you did the unspeakable." Zheng Guozi hooked his fingers, calling the ministers to come forward.

They were scared at the two opposing forces, they did not want to move at all. But the fierce eyes of the regent and the documents he just took out heightened their curiosity. So they slowly walked over, humbly bowing the whole way.

'Ugh… these ancient people are always so slow. Why are they trying to uphold etiquette in this chaos?' Sun Gui rolled his eyes. He had been standing here for a while already. Could he just rest?

Sensing his beloved's displeasure, Zheng Guozi roared at the old men to hurry up.

"Do you want this lord's arm to fall off by waiting for you to walk a whole day over?"

Their faces paled and instantly quickened their pace.

When they finally got the documents, their face turned colorful, from white to green to red. In the end, they lifted their heads up and looked at the emperor in anger.

"Your Imperial Majesty! Please explain this letter!" A minister put forward the letter detailing the information of the regent's army. This letter was sent to the enemies, they kept it as insurance for the emperor's betrayal. The handwriting and even his personal seal were the same.

"G-give me that paper." The emperor commanded the guard.

His face paled as he received the letter. He looked back and forth between the regent and the silent leader.

"Blasphemy! Imperial Uncle is framing me to commit treason!"

The regent sneered at that and brought in more people, they were the ones who tampered with the food, providing the routes to the enemies. Some of their faces were even recognizable for the nobles. They confessed on the spot, even bringing the emperor's token and letters asking them to do those things. The regent thought that the emperor was stupid for giving them those, they obviously held onto those to blackmail the emperor. Zheng Hong was still green in the regent's eyes.

As more and more confessions came out of their mouths, Zheng Hong's face turned paler. Their stories were too consistent with no place to refute. Moreover, Zheng Hong had been long panicked to objectively defend himself.

The ministers and the officials were beyond angry when they heard how the invasion happened and how the emperor wanted to shared some of their land to the barbarians. They immediately requested the emperor to take responsibility.

At this point, he knew what awaited a traitor was execution, no matter royal blood or not. He could only curb his tail and ran away from the palace with his loyal guards.

"Ugh! He ran away!" Sun Gui jumped down after that commotion. "There must have been some secret tunnels, like that chamber, that allowed him to escape."

Sun Gui also ran to catch the emperor but they disappeared at a dead end hall. He regretted that he underestimated the emperor. He should have installed a tracker to catch that rat, who knew if he would rally his army and wage war?

"Don't worry too much, my influence is not small. You remember with all the disadvantages I had, I still managed to win against the barbarians." Zheng Guozi caught up to his nimble wife and wrapped his arm around his wife's waist.

"How can I not? He still had some royal blood. People who had the same mind tend to gather together. Someone will step out to help him." Sun Gui puffed his cheeks feeling disappointed. If only he was not stingy with his points, he would have tracked down that runaway.

But what was done was done, the country was suddenly missing an emperor. The only royal blood left was the regent. All the officials begged for him to ascend because they knew he disliked ruling the country. To their surprise, there was no resistance, making them think if the previous emperor was actually framed or not. But they dared not say anything, the secret chamber of the previous emperor was revealed with all of his dirty little secrets.

Zheng Guozi became the emperor, granting Sun Gui as the empress. Due to Zheng Guozi as the only royal bloodline left, the officials begged him to take in more wives because the empress had not given any offspring yet. That day almost became a blood bath with intense murder intent emitted from the court. The officials were so terrified they almost pissed themselves and never asked again. They just prayed for the empress to be pregnant soon.