Supreme Emperor of Swords

Chapter 52 Each With Their Own Schemes

Having an idea in mind, Ding Hao withdrew his Divine Senses and suddenly sighed, hiding in the void.

Through the investigation just now, he found that there were two tactical deployments in total, one big and one small.

The big one was outside while the small one was inside.

Moreover, the two tactical deployments were closely linked and extremely mysterious. Once someone stepped in, even if they hid in the void like Ding Hao, they would trigger the big tactical deployment and then be trapped within.

Of course, Ding Hao could break the tactical deployment by force if he wanted to, but in this way, the other small tactical deployment would be triggered and everything inside would be destroyed.

Moreover, it would also alert those royal guards and even the patriarch of the Nine Spirits Tribe. In this way, it would be impossible for Ding Hao to take away the book quietly.

Ding Hao could not go in or destroy the tactical deployments. He could only give up for the time being and leave resentfully.

He left the Imperial Palace without attracting any attention and returned to the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

As soon as he returned to his room, Evil Moon got up leisurely and said, “Hmm, without asking, I can already tell that you didn’t get the treasure book.”

“There is a tactical deployment over there. I can’t crack it, nor can I break it by force.” Ding Hao sighed slightly.

“What should we do now?” Evil Moon asked as it cleaned its face with its little claws.

“There’s nothing we can do for the time being. I have to think about it carefully…” Ding Hao shook his head.

At the same time…

Within the inner hall of the Crown Prince’s Mansion.

Two figures were sitting opposite each other. They looked nervous and their voices were low. It seemed that they were discussing something.

These two people were Crown Prince Rong Fu and Military Counselor Wusun.

“Father is old now. Even though he is still the No.1 Superior of the Nine Spirits Tribe, his health keeps getting worse. I’m afraid it won’t be long before he… Otherwise, Father wouldn’t have started choosing the successor. Once he passes away, I should become the King, but now…” Crown Prince Rong Fu seemed to be muttering to himself or complaining.

Wusun Liuce seemed to have noticed something and asked, “Your Highness, are you worrying over… the Third Prince?”

At the mention of the Third Prince, Crown Prince Rong Fu’s face immediately darkened and a cold light flashed in his eyes. After a long time, he nodded and said, “Although my second brother Rong Ji and fourth brother Rong Yi are not stupid or weak, they are still very inexperienced compared to me and cannot pose a threat to me. It’s just that this third brother…”

It turned out that the patriarch of the Nine Spirits Tribe had four sons, namely, Rong Fu and the other three. Since the old patriarch had been in poor health, his four young sons had been coveting the position of patriarch. Among them, the one who was the most threatening to the Crown Prince was his third brother, Rong Si.

“Rong Si has incredible talent and endurance, and he has countless top experts under his command. He’s always been eyeing my position as Crown Prince and even Father’s throne. If Father passes away, I’m afraid he’ll make a move to take the throne and take control of the Divine Artifact…” When Rong Fu spoke of this, the cold light in his eyes grew gloomier.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly sighed and said, “If I had known earlier, I would have listened to you and gotten rid of my third brother as soon as possible. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve always cared about our brotherhood, I wouldn’t have indulged him, which leads to trouble. That’s why I ended up in this situation.”

“Your Highness is benevolent and generous, so it’s not strange that you can’t bear to hurt your beloved one. Besides, neither of us expected that the Third Prince’s forces would develop so fast and have a tendency to surpass the Crown Prince’s Mansion so soon,” Wusun Liuce said.

“Right. Third Brother’s military strength is indeed inferior to mine, but those three of his subordinates have all reached the peak of the True Immortal Realm, and one of them is even a Semi Eternal Realm expert. This really is hard to deal with. If it wasn’t for those three experts, it would be much easier to deal with Third Brother.” Crown Prince Rong Fu frowned. He then asked, “Has Third Brother made any movements recently?”

Wusun Liuce thought for a moment and said, “According to our scouts, the Third Prince has been in seclusion all day, and his manor is as usual, nothing special. However, in my opinion, the Third Prince is most likely training his troops, so he should be preparing.”

“So that’s how it is…” Crown Prince Rong Fu’s face darkened as his eyes glimmered. After pondering for a long time, he said, “How has our training been recently?”

Wusun Liuce replied, “It’s going well. Right now, we only need Your Highness’s order to take action.”

“Well, very good!” Crown Prince Rong Fu’s serious expression finally eased, and then he asked, “By the way, how is your contact with Ding Hao these days?”

“Not bad.” Wusun Liuce nodded his head.

“Try your best to befriend him. Agree to whatever requests he makes. Perhaps he’ll become the final weapon that assists me in defeating Third Brother!” instructed Crown Prince Rong Fu.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness!”

…

Since that day, Ding Hao had stayed in the Crown Prince’s Mansion for another half a month.

During this period, in addition to communicating with Military Counselor Wusun Liuce, he had been thinking about how to get the book.

But what depressed him was that no matter how hard he tried, he could not crack the two tactical deployments to enter the royal library.

However, what he was most concerned about today wasn’t the book, but the news he’d received from the guests.

Since Ding Hao showed his great power at the banquet that day and defeated dozens of guests as well as the Junior Protector of the Crown Prince, all of them had been very respectful and polite to him. From time to time, they would come to visit him and discuss some cultivation problems or some things in the Spirit Region.

It was thanks to them that, unlike the savages in the mountains, Ding Hao, who did not know much about the Spirit Region, had started to gain knowledge of the affairs of the world.

After those guests left, Ding Hao began to ponder.

From what those people said, news continuously spread out from the Imperial Place, saying that when the old patriarch cultivated, he went berserk, dying soon.

His four young sons who coveted the throne, including Crown Prince Rong Fu, began to take action.

Some of the ministers of the tribe began to take sides. Of course, more of them chose to support Crown Prince Rong Fu or the Third Prince Rong Si.

In the imperial court, it could be said that it was extremely chaotic with undercurrents surging.

“That is to say, among the four young candidates, the one who is most likely to ascend the throne is Crown Prince Rong Fu or the Third Prince Rong Si…

“No wonder the Crown Prince has been more and more attentive to me recently. He often comes to give me something. It turns out to be because of this!” Ding Hao connected the two things and was immediately sure that the news was true.

“He just hopes that you can come in handy in the fight for the throne…” Evil Moon, who was on the side, looked at Ding Hao and said, “Human Pet, in my opinion, they’re just having civil strife, which has nothing to do with us. We’ll just ignore them. The most important thing for us now is that book.”

Ding Hao looked at Evil Moon and said lightly, “That’s true, but do you have any way to crack the tactical deployment or take out the book now?”

“Well…” Evil Moon blinked its big eyes and muttered, “Aren’t you helpless like me? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have stayed here for so long.”

“I didn’t know how to get the book before, but now…” Ding Hao’s eyes flashed a few times, and he suddenly smiled and said, “Now I have a way.”

“You have a way?!” Hearing that, Evil Moon immediately jumped up and asked curiously, “Tell me about it now. What’s the idea?”

Ding Hao said, “I’ll help the Crown Prince take the throne!”

“Help that boy take the throne? That’s your idea? Human Pet, have you gone crazy? You’re talking nonsense here…” Evil Moon suddenly widened its eyes, and it looked very confused.

Obviously, it could not figure out why Ding Hao had come up with this idea.

Ding Hao looked at it helplessly and cursed, “Screw you. You seemed smart before, so why are you so stupid now?”

“Did you just call me stupid?!

“YOU are stupid! Then tell me, why would you help that boy seize the throne?” Evil Moon looked at Ding Hao angrily and jumped up high.

“Don’t you understand?” Ding Hao slowly explained, “As long as we help the Crown Prince win the throne, will he refuse when we propose to get a book?”

Evil Moon tilted its chubby head. After rolling its eyes a few times, it came to a realization, and then it said shamelessly, “Hmm? Oh! So that’s how it is… Well, I said that on purpose just now. With my intelligence, I’ve known your intention for a long time. I was just testing you. Well, that’s it.”

Ding Hao glanced at it and ignored the shameless Fat Cat. He went straight out of the room, and from time to time, Evil Moon’s explanation came from behind him.

“Hey, hey, hey, meow. Human Pet, listen to me. I do know what you mean just now. I do know it, I do…”

After leaving the courtyard, Ding Hao heard from a few servants that the Crown Prince was currently discussing important matters with the military counselor in the inner hall.

After that, he went straight through the living room and came to the inner hall.

After an attendant made the announcement, Ding Hao walked into the inner hall and came to the Crown Prince and the military counselor.

“Brother Ding, what can I do for you?” The Crown Prince greeted Ding Hao with a smile as soon as he saw him.

As for Military Counselor Wusun, he was packing up some letters and other things on the table, as well as the two maps that Ding Hao had glanced at.

Ding Hao knew the terrain shown on one of the maps. It was a map of the Imperial Palace.

As for the other one, Ding Hao did not know it, but he could guess that it was very likely to be a map of the Third Prince’s mansion.

Ding Hao just glanced at it and then looked back at the Crown Prince. He smiled and said, “Your Highness, I also know something about what’s going on in the Imperial Palace recently…”

“Is that so?” Crown Prince Rong Fu raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this. He exchanged glances with Military Counselor Wusun before he asked. “So, Brother Ding, you came looking for me because of this?”

“Yes!” Ding Hao nodded and said, “Your Highness, I know that you’re mainly worrying over the three guardian masters of the Third Prince. I can help you solve this problem.”

“Hmm?” Hearing this, Crown Prince Rong Fu was stunned, and then he revealed a wisp of pleasant surprise and hurriedly said, “Do you mean it? Can you really deal with those three people?”

“Sure!”

“Brother Ding, tell me whatever you need. After it’s done, I can promise you anything you want…” After Crown Prince Rong Fu got Ding Hao’s positive answer, he looked more delighted, but he also knew that Ding Hao had come to him for a reason.