Death… and me

Chu Yang closed his eyes exhausted and said faintly, "Hall Leader Chen, you can leave first. Qian Qian, you should also go outside."

The two of them had expressions of worry written all over their faces as they looked at Chu Yang before they left. They knew that Chu Yang wanted to talk to Tie Bu Tian alone. Moreover, they had an inkling that his conversation might not be a happy one!

As they looked at the two people leave, Chu Yang remained silent for a long period of time without saying a word.

"I am listening." Tie Bu Tian said with sincerity.

"In truth, I actually didn't want to say anything. However, after thinking about it for a while, it has to be said." Chu Yang's tone was sharp as he said, "In my opinion, your father is dying. You are the prince and you should definitely stay next to the emperor and take good care of him."

"In fact, under the watchful eyes of all of the officials, the life and death of the emperor would no doubt have great implications on the future of Iron Cloud Nation. Therefore you should stay there. It is pertinent that you leave no stone unturned and try your best to heal the emperor!"

"It is what you have to do. It is your obligation as a son and such a decision should not be faulted!" Chu Yang said quietly, "However, you must also never forget that you are also a ruler of a nation!"

"These are valid reasons in which people will be able to understand. However, such reasons are unacceptable to the military!" Chu Yang said in a grave tone.

Tie Bu Tian looked up as though he wanted to say something, but Chu Yang did not give him the chance to speak and quickly continued as he said, "Orders are what is important in the military! Soldiers who have enlisted in the military have a greater obligation to the nation than to their parents even if they are in a critical condition! If there is an order, they have no choice but to drop everything and rush into the battlefield immediately! If they are even a moment late, their heads would roll on the ground!"

"Military laws are without mercy! They do not accept any reason for disobedience. Even if their fathers or mothers are severely ill, they are only able to follow orders!" Chu Yang said casually, "Last night was no different! I gave out an order and nearly four thousand people threw down their lives right here."

"Let me ask Your Majesty, how will you compensate them?" Chu Yang asked sharply, "What degree of compensation would be able to satisfy or appease the pain of a mother losing a son or wife losing her husband?"

"War is cruel! Sacrificing one's life on the battlefield is inevitable! Over the past few years, millions of men have died in battle. However, this is nothing out of the ordinary! All of these are sacrifices which are deemed as necessary!" Chu Yang said, "However, when sacrifices are unnecessary or when they could have been avoided, no regret or compensation will be able to suffice!"

Tie Bu Tian silently listened to Chu Yang speak. He knew that Chu Yang was being a little emotional that day. Thus he remained silent and didn't say anything…

"Minister Chu, aren't you going overboard with your words?" A Shadow Guard appeared and said icily.

"I am not one of Tie Bu Tian's subordinate!" Chu Yang also said coldly, "I came to help, and countless people have pinned their hopes on us so that we might be able to protect the Tie family's territory! If even Tie Bu Tian, himself, does not care, then we certainly have no need to care as well!"

Chu Yang narrowed his eyes and coldly looked at the Shadow Guard, "If my words are harsh and considered difficult to hear, then His Majesty does not have to hear them! He has the power to banish me from this land if he chooses to!"

Tie Bu Tian let out a sigh and waved his hand signaling to the Shadow Guard to stop talking, "Minister Chu should rest and recuperate today; with regard to today's incident, I… am in the wrong! In a few days, I will come back and apologize properly to Minister Chu!"

Then he immediately stood up and said, "Rest well, Minister Chu."

The moment that he reached the door, Chu Yang said in a cold voice. "The bodies of all of the soldiers who have died in the battle today are still warm! All of the remaining people from the Golden Horse Riders Department still have not paid for their sins! Your Majesty, do not let the heart of your soldiers grow cold!"

Tie Bu Tian paused in front of the door. Although he wanted to say something, in the end, he chose not to. sighed and walked out.

Chu Yang laid back in bed and closed his eyes as he reflected on the entire situation.

Chu Yang had been a little impulsive today. Although he wanted to control himself, the moment that he laid eyes on Tie Bu Tian, he decided to give him a piece of his mind!

Tie Bu Tian was a ruler.

However, these were mistakes, a ruler absolutely should not have made!

Despite him having his reasons, there were also times where such reasons or explanation could not be accepted by the masses! If things were to become worse and Tie Bu Tian continued to remain the same attitude towards things as he had today, there was a possibility that he would cause Iron Cloud to plunge into a state of unprecedented chaos!

This was because Tie Shi Cheng was not going to live much longer!

Regardless of whether Tie Bu Tian would be able to accept this fact or not, he will have no choice but to gradually learn to accept it!

Using such an extreme method to force a devoted son in order to become a qualified leader was cold-hearted, but Chu Yang did not have any other choice.

This was simply because if Tie Bu Tian continued to maintain said mentality, there would be not even the slightest bit of hope that Chu Yang would be able to win his fight against Diwu Qing Rou!

"Send people to guard the royal palace; the moment Senior Du is free, immediately invite him to come!" Chu Yang ordered in a cold voice, "In addition, Qian Qian, go to Heavenly Armament Pavilion straightaway and ask Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang to come here."

Chu Yang wanted to prescribe a strong medication! And this was the best opportunity.

An hour later, Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang appeared in front of Chu Yang.

"How is your injury?" Gu Du Xing asked with concern.

"I won't die just yet." Chu Yang smiled, then his face immediately turned serious, "Du Xing, Wu Shang, there is something that I have been wanting to do for a while now. However, it now seems like I have to deal with it right away! I need the both of you to help me with this."

"What is it? Just tell us!" The two of them were very straightforward. They were currently so bored that their bones were starting to itch.

After Ji Mo went back with his injury, he blew everything out of proportion. When everyone heard that he went with Chu Yang to engage in such a huge mission, they were extremely envious of him and hated the fact that they were unable to contribute to that battle.

"I need the two of you to help me kill a few people!" Chu Yang's eyes shone coldly as he said slowly, "Now is the best opportunity!"

Chu Yang had always had suspicions as to why Tie Shi Cheng's condition had remained at status quo for such a long time without any change but took a bad turn at such a key moment. Moreover, it had gotten to a point where two King level experts were needed to maintain his life with their full strength.

This… was too much of a coincidence!

If someone said that Du Shi Qing was not involved in this, Chu Yang would not have believed them even if they beat him to death.

However, this would take time. Du Shi Qing could not have taken such precise action hastily.

According to his calculations, it was a little while after Kong Shang Xin had gotten injured and the Hei Mo people pulled out from Iron Cloud Citadel. It was then that he began his efforts to search the entire citadel.

It was likely that during the search throughout the citadel or perhaps when the Golden Horse Riders Department perpetrators in Iron Cloud Citadel discovered the danger that they were in that they made a move on Tie Shi Cheng in order to shift Iron Cloud's attention away from themselves.

At the very least, with Tie Shi Cheng's condition, they would have been able to completely contain Tie Bu Tian and the two martial experts by his side! Thus, the two greatest threats against the already injured Kong Shang Xin and Yin Wu Fa would have been removed…

It was because of this that Chu Yang was unhappy with Tie Bu Tian remaining in the royal palace for so long. With Tie Bu Tian's intelligence and wisdom, he should not have fallen into the enemy's traps so easily. However, from Chu Yang's perspective, he essentially had not bothered to think and immediately went into the royal palace!

From this, Chu Yang had discovered Tie Bu Tian's greatest weakness. While Tie Bu Tian was brilliant and did things with great decisiveness, there was one thing that made Chu Yang a little uncomfortable: He was far too emotional!

Emotions… this kind of things were considered cute in women, but in a man, especially one that was a prince of a nation and a future ruler, this would make people uncomfortable…

If someone wanted to influence Du Shi Qing… what would they do?

Given Du Shi Qing's character, he would never have done this. He would also not contact Diwu Qing Rou; Chu Yang was certain of at least this much. Du Shi Qing's hatred for Diwu Qing Rou could not be faked; if so then it must have been the people who worked for him or next to him.

"The people I want you to kill are…" Chu Yang said sternly, "You must never let your identity get exposed."

"Don't worry! This is too simple!" Dong Wu Shang laughed; his face was filled with expectations.

Gu Du Xing gently nodded; his eyes suddenly showed a sharp killing aura.

…

Cheng Yun He stood in front of a window and felt a chill throughout his body!

Last night, after he had finished all of the arrangements, he immediately left. But after a mere two hours, a large-scale battle occurred. The sounds of fighting were so fierce that he could hear them clearly from a few miles out!

However, by that time, he was unable to do nothing! All he could do was to control the urge to send support and silently wait.

Kong Shang Xin's shocking statement, don't let me die with regrets, seemed to have completely awoken everyone in Iron Cloud Citadel from their deep slumber!

At that moment, Cheng Yun He could feel that Kong Shang Xin was done for!

Not long after, Yin Wu Fa suddenly rushed in with a body full of injuries like a broken old sack. He only spoke a few trembling words before sinking into a deep coma!

"Go… save my second brother!"

Cheng Yun He went through a tremendous change at that moment and lost control!

He hastily arranged for people to send Yin Wu Fa away and erased all evidence that he had been there. He knew that the military would come in search for them soon. Sure enough, a little while later, teams of investigators arrived. They searched every corner; even to the extent that they opened up comforters…

By the time everything calmed down, it was already morning.

Yin Wu Fa's injuries were extremely grave and he was in danger of dying at any time. Since he already used Jade Spirit Ginseng once; it would have no effect if he used it again. Cheng Yun He could only give him Meng Hun Solution and quickly arrange for a getaway!

Meng Hun Solution would only have been able to keep him alive for a month. If Yin Wu Fa was unable to return to Great Zhao within a month, he would surely die.

However, Iron Cloud Citadel was in a heightened state of alert. The situation was volatile and all four gates were closed for the spy hunt; how would it be possible for him to get out?

Cheng Yun He frowned every day because of this. He reached out to numerous officials and used the excuse of doing business to get out of the citadel, but they all apologized and said that they were unable to help.

Cheng Yun He thought for a long time, but simply was unable to come up with a secure escape plan.

In fact, since that day, he did not even dare to even use the invisible falcons. This was because there were always people who were watching the sky day and night. Moreover, invisible falcons had to fly for a while before reaching the sky and by then, the closely watching guards would probably have discovered them!

Once they were discovered, it would be a total catastrophe!

Without any means of contact, Cheng Yun He was walking treading on dangerous ground.

If Prime Minister Diwu Qing Rou knew about what had developed during this time, what kind of reaction would he have?