Chapter 11664 — The Ambitious Factions, Once Stirring Restlessly, Begin to Feel a Certain Fear

A year ago, when he had first appeared here, he had been seen by all as a lucky man plucked from the Divine Kingdom on Land, a nobody in their eyes.

Yet now, after a mere year, Wei Zhao had appeared here once more, and the entire court, civil and military alike, found itself spontaneously holding its breath.

After all, even when facing the Prince of Qin, they were no more than this.

When all was said and done, even the Prince of Qin had been incapable of beating the Prince of Qi's Estate into outright dissolution and erasure from the rolls.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the dread Wei Zhao inspired in their eyes had already come to surpass that of the Prince of Qin, making him a class apart in the entire Inner Royal Court.

Wei Zhao let his gaze sweep across their faces.

Not one of the assembled courtiers dared meet his eyes; each hurriedly bowed his head.

Only when his gaze passed over Grand Preceptor Hou Chuang did Wei Zhao pause for a moment.

Countless commonfolk watching the scene from afar could not help but cry out in unison: "A power minister! Truly the foremost power minister under heaven! No wonder even the Son of Heaven has been trampled by him and cannot lift his head!"

In the propaganda, Wei Zhao had been cast quite thoroughly in the image of an overbearing power minister beyond all restraint.

Little did anyone know that he held no official post in the Inner Royal Court whatsoever; even the position of Director of the Security Review Bureau had been stripped from him outright after a vacancy lasting a full year.

The Wei Zhao of today, in the Inner Royal Court's court, was a complete nobody.

Reaching the Son of Heaven's presence, Wei Zhao performed no gesture of salute; his first words were a single line.

"What did you summon me for?"

The Zhou Son of Heaven's eyelid twitched, and he was on the verge of erupting in fury.

Puppet Son of Heaven though he was, over the years these top-tier figures, the Prince of Qin included, had at least given him face in public; the minimum courtesies were still observed, enough to keep him from being publicly humiliated.

Wei Zhao's conduct was insolent and discourteous in the extreme.

The Zhou Son of Heaven said in a low voice: "Why do you not kneel before Us?"

The whole hall started in unison, gazing upon this puppet Son of Heaven as though at an imbecile.

At a time like this, he was still thinking about that?

Had this puppet Son of Heaven taken the wrong medicine, or what?

Never mind Wei Zhao—even the other grand figures, the Seven Kings included, at most offered a cupped-hand salute in court; there had never been any question of kneeling.

At the end of the day, he was only a puppet Son of Heaven.

Wei Zhao looked at him strangely: "I am but a rough wanderer of the wilds, unversed in these elaborate rites. Pray forgive me, Your Majesty."

The Zhou Son of Heaven choked on his words, then abruptly rose to his feet: "You do not understand? Very well—We shall teach you."

With that he descended from the Son of Heaven's throne and came to stand before Wei Zhao.

An uproar arose both within the hall and beyond it.

What was the meaning of this? Did this puppet Son of Heaven actually intend to lay hands on Wei Zhao directly?

Who on earth had given him the courage?

Who had given him the confidence?

The common folk at the bottom might still harbor illusions about him, but any clear-eyed observer knew perfectly well that with the meager strength of this Zhou Son of Heaven, he was in no position to stand against Wei Zhao head-on—he did not even qualify to provoke him.

Wei Zhao need not lift a finger; a casual breath might well be enough to snuff the man out.

The two were simply not on the same scale.

What exactly was he trying to do?

Under the gaze of ten thousand eyes, the Zhou Son of Heaven's next move startled everyone.

He dropped straight to his knees before Wei Zhao.

What kind of performance was this?

With Wei Zhao's present strength, no one in the Inner Royal Court had the right to force him to kneel; but by the same token, as the one and only legitimate Son of Heaven in the Inner Royal Court—puppet though he was—the Zhou Son of Heaven absolutely must not kneel to anyone.

After all, he represented the dignity of the entire Inner Royal Court.

With this one kneel, a corner of the Inner Royal Court's sky came crashing down.

Looking at the Zhou Son of Heaven before him, Wei Zhao narrowed his eyes: "This manner of instruction, Your Majesty—I fear it is a little more than I can bear."

The Zhou Son of Heaven's move was undoubtedly meant to roast him over a fire before everyone's eyes.

Yet this was not the end of it.

Not content with kneeling in public, the Zhou Son of Heaven knocked his head straight to the ground.

Another outburst of shock and clamor erupted on the spot.

"This Wei Zhao truly deserves death! To trample the Son of Heaven to such a degree!"

Public opinion erupted in a storm of curses.

Before this, they had scarcely felt any affection for the Zhou Son of Heaven; most had regarded him with mockery and jest.

But all people harbor sympathy for the weak.

The Zhou Son of Heaven's performance now was undoubtedly rendering the image of a Son of Heaven trampled by a power minister in its fullest, most vivid form.

When all was said and done, he was still a Son of Heaven of his generation.

To force the Son of Heaven to kneel and kowtow before the entire court—just how rotten must this Wei Zhao be?

Wei Zhao's tone was faint, betraying neither joy nor anger: "What exactly does Your Majesty wish to express?"

The Zhou Son of Heaven raised his head, his tone utterly earnest: "That We resort to this desperate measure means We have truly been driven to the end of Our rope. We beg you to save the countless souls of the Inner Royal Court!"

Wei Zhao's eyelid gave a sudden twitch.

The assembled courtiers, seeing the scene clearly, likewise felt their eyelids leap in unison.

What on earth was going on?!

At some unknown moment, a pair of jet-black horns had sprouted from the Zhou Son of Heaven's forehead, and his pupils had turned pitch-black as well, with not a trace of white to be seen!

Someone cried out in shock on the spot: "Demon eyes and demon horns! The Son of Heaven has been possessed!"

At these words, the entire Inner Royal Court was thrown into uproar.

The Son of Heaven, possessed by demons!

This existed only in myth and legend, and signified an omen of peerless catastrophe!

Now even the grand figures of the various factions, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines all this while, began to lose their composure.

That the great upheaval of the new era would begin with the Zhou Son of Heaven was something many of them had anticipated; had it truly had nothing to do with him, that would have been the abnormal thing.

Even if the Zhou Son of Heaven were to drop dead in public today, they would not have been so shocked.

But for the Son of Heaven to be possessed—this was truly too great a matter!

Once the Son of Heaven was thoroughly possessed, the Zhou Son of Heaven himself was of course ruined, but the omen of catastrophe he brought with him was enough to drag the entire Inner Royal Court into an abyss of eternal ruin!

No wonder he had burned the Son of Heaven's jade seal, and fanned the flames to make the matter known to all.

The Zhou Son of Heaven was holding the entire Inner Royal Court hostage!

The great upheaval was indeed their opportunity; handled well, some among them might leap to the heavens in a single bound, and it was not impossible that they might even found a brand-new dynasty.

The problem was that once the great upheaval turned into a peerless calamity, it became an entirely different matter.

After all, when even survival was a tall order, what sense was there in prattling about founding a dynasty?

For a time, everyone began to feel the ground tremble beneath their feet.