To be frank, Zhang Lie would be fine even if he didn't sleep at all. As a disaster-grade lifeform, Zhang Lie didn't need to eat or sleep. Eating just allowed him to maintain bodily function, but given his gene fragments, he would be fine even if he didn't consume anything for decades, let alone sleep.
Whether or not Zhang Lie wanted to sleep depended on his mood; he wanted to preserve a shred of humanity, after all.
After how boring court was today, all he wanted to do was sleep that boredom away—not because he was tired, but because he wanted to do so.
The ninth prince eventually gave up shaking Zhang Lie's bed, and he only woke up deep into the night. By then, the ninth prince had already fallen asleep, and he had left a plateful of food for Zhang Lie on the table.
Zhang Lie had a few bites before thinking back to what had happened that day in court, along with the conversation between the king of the realm and the crown prince.
A moment's thought was all that it took for him to be certain that a calamity would descend on the world.
The next morning, when the ninth prince woke up, Zhang Lie was glancing at him.
"Did you have something to ask me?"
The ninth prince nodded blearily. "I have a few questions for you once I wash up, Master!" Once the ninth prince had done so, he sat down by Zhang Lie's table.
"Master, I'd like to know why Father wanted to get rid of the Qian clan."
"Didn't you see at court?"
The ninth prince replied seriously, "Because he was so angry at my second brother's death—or his own safety—that he couldn't control his rage? But surely he wouldn't get rid of the three major clans of the capital so simply!"
"That's part of it, certainly, but your father isn't the type to let his emotions cloud his judgment. He truly is incensed, but the Qian clan has a network throughout the entire kingdom. At worst, he should have punished the Qian clan gravely, but this is too extreme."
The ninth prince mulled over Zhang Lie's words. "Do you mean that there's something I'm missing, Master?"
"Indeed, the most important reason for the king of the realm's actions: he's running out of time."
The ninth prince was startled.
"It's not unusual that you missed it—most people wouldn't have noticed."
"What? How could that be! We all saw in court today that the king's strength had returned to around its peak level! I couldn't even bear to look at him directly. Won't he live for at least two or three more decades?"
Zhang Lie began to laugh. "Hah! Given your father's health, even a few more months might be difficult. It's precisely because he's running out of time that he doesn't need to conserve his strength any longer."
The ninth prince frowned. "Master, you mean that Father's just feigning strength?"
"That's right. I think he must have been injured after fighting the disaster-grade lifeform. This sort of acting is very common, and you know your father's capable of it—just like how he pretended to be weak for a few decades despite having quite a fair bit of strength left. Now, it's the opposite."
The reason he had pretended to be weak was to draw out his opponents, and the reason he was now pretending to be strong was to terrify anyone who had been planning to make a move. The king of the realm was truly a skilled actor.
"Your father knows that he won't be able remain king for long, so he has to push the crown prince to become king right now. He has to clear out all the obstacles that might hurt the crown prince's succession, so he's using the Qian clan as an example to prevent the other powers from making a move."
The ninth prince thought back to what happened at court."No wonder—Father looked to be exasperated and impatient, and I thought that was because the capital had been attacked and he had lost face as a result."
"In some sense, the Jinghun have helped us. If the complete jade seal were in the king of the realm's hands, we would have witnessed the crown prince's coronation within the next few weeks.
.
"Now that half the jade seal is missing, if the crown prince is unable to reclaim it in time, the coronation won't be able to proceed. This delay is particularly beneficial to us, because it allows you to grow as a candidate."
The ninth prince nodded. "So that's why! I was wondering why you didn't go with the crown prince to seek out the Jinghun, Master."
"Do you have any other questions?"
"None related to court—but I'd like to know when we're setting out."
"Have you received the deed of land?"
"No."
"In that case, what's the rush?"
The ninth prince scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Join me at the interrogation chambers—we'll speak with the Jindao together."
The ninth prince scrambled to get ready. "Master, what are your plans for developing the land?"
"We'll do it by eye."
With the ninth prince leading the way, Zhang Lie quickly arrived at the interrogation chambers, but the officials responsible for the interrogation were rather unwelcoming. It was only reasonable: Zhang Lie was an outsider with no credentials to his name. If they, trained professionals, were unable to deal with the Jindao, what did this outsider think he could accomplish?
"Don't make trouble for us, do you hear?"
"Don't waste my time. Let's get going!"
The two men stared coldly at each other before the official led Zhang Lie into the building, past a set of thick, steel doors. Five Jindao were imprisoned in a cell, wounds striping and scarring their bodies, their skin dyed red with blood. They had clearly been under torture.
The official commanded a few servants to upend buckets of water over the prisoners, forcing them awake.
As the Jindao blearily opened their eyes, they began to laugh. "You're here again? Well, keep it up—come on!"
The official folded his arms with a smirk. "Go on."
Zhang Lie smiled confidently. "Brute force isn't always the solution, you realize."
"Oh?" the official retorted. "You don't think we've tried to turn them on each other, to bribe them to talk, to dangle freedom before them?"
It was precisely because none of these methods had worked that the interrogation was going so poorly.
"Of course not—but I have a superior method." Zhang Lie's eyes glowed with rainbow light as he activated his disaster-grade mistmeld clam soulshard. contemporary romance
The Jindao's eyes took on a rainbow sheen.
Zhang Lie commanded, "Reveal all you know about the Jinghun clan!"
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