Chapter 439: Plot 439

“Your Highness, the servants are cleaning up the collapsed main hall, but beneath the broken tiles, we found several corpses and chunks of flesh, all teeming with maggots,” the young servant reported, his face twisting with nausea. Just recalling that horrific sight made his scalp tingle.

“Enough!” The mere mention had already brought the gruesome scene to vivid life for the Second Prince’s consort, “You insolent cur dare to be so disrespectful to your betters, drag him out…”

“Mercy, Your Highness, have mercy…”

No matter how the young servant screamed, no one was moved to act.

“Do you now understand why I didn’t want you to offend Sikong Mo?” said the Second Prince, his words heavy with implication.

Having not witnessed the scene herself, the Second Prince’s consort, though disgusted, did not take it too seriously, “My lord, no matter what Sikong Mo is capable of, he’s still been thrown into prison. It’s not easy to enter the Imperial Guard’s dungeon. With just a little maneuvering on our part, even if we spare his life, we can render him completely useless!”

The consort’s tone carried a ruthless edge.

The Second Prince still felt a lingering fear, “I warn you, do not do anything rash. If something goes wrong, I might not be able to protect you.”

“Rest assured, my lord. In the past two years, my maternal grandfather has slowly gained some power in the court, and my maternal family firmly controls the Ministry of Works. Now, with both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works in our grasp, even the Crown Prince and Prince Jing have lately been forced to steer clear of our edge. He is merely a king of another surname. Others may show him courtesy due to his distance from the Emperor, but do not forget, this is the capital city, at the feet of the Emperor. How can we allow him to do as he pleases!”

One could only say that the naive are the boldest.

The Emperor himself was somewhat wary of Sikong Mo’s power, daring only to arrest him, not to harm him.

If the renowned Sikong residence were so easy to deal with, it would have ceased to exist in this world long ago.

When Sikong Mo was but a child, he could rely on the power of his Royal Residence to survive; how much more so now that he had grown.

The Second Prince’s consort’s reassurances were quite persuasive, yet having witnessed the scene that had petrified him, the Second Prince still couldn’t make up his mind to confront Sikong Mo, or rather, he didn’t dare.

Until…

The night was deep, the moon over the tips of the willows.

The Second Prince was deeply asleep when he suddenly sensed a dangerous presence beside him.

Opening his eyes, he saw a dark figure cloaked in a cape standing at his bedside, shrouded by the darkness.

“Ah…” The Second Prince screamed in fright.

But his scream was met only with a sneer from the cloaked figure, “What’s this? The mighty Second Prince of Dongyue, and that’s all the courage you have?”

“Who are you? If you know who I am and yet dare to act like this, you truly are reckless and audacious!” the Second Prince said with feigned bravado.

“You don’t need to know who I am. You just need to know I’m someone who can help you ascend to greatness,” the cloaked figure said, deliberately lowering his voice to alter its tone significantly.

“What… what do you want?” Upon realizing the person before him didn’t mean to take his life, the Second Prince felt significantly relieved.

“Hehehe…” The figure laughed, “My purpose is of no harm to you, on the contrary, it benefits you.”

“Why should I trust someone who won’t even show their face?” demanded the Second Prince earnestly.

“Because… this is your only chance to eliminate Sikong Mo!”