Infinite Power Over The World

Murong Cheng set off from the capital, leading the main forces all the way through Tong County and other places, making a beeline for the border. As he rode the horse, his sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, and he immediately gave a mild shout before intentionally urging the horse to go a little faster. He used a look to signal his trusted bodyguard.

One of the soldiers behind him, who was accompanying his movements, stared fixedly at him. Murong Cheng pretended to glance back at him by accident and displayed a nonchalant expression. When his trusted bodyguard caught up with him, he said a few words to him in an extremely low voice.

The person sent by Imperial Father to monitor him must not be allowed to remain; otherwise, he would not be able to carry out all his plans, and the matter of bribing the foreigners would be exposed. If his imperial father found out that he’d done such things in order to seize the throne, he would never trust him again. He would thus be on his guard and make it difficult for Murong Cheng to succeed.

Therefore, this person cannot be let off. For today’s move, Murong Cheng had made all the necessary preparations. Long before he’d set off, he found a guard who was of similar build to this person. Once he killed off this person, he would use this guard to replace him and deliver false information to Emperor Chongde. Since this person had been personally appointed by Emperor Chongde, he would certainly believe the information he gave without question.

A sinister smile appeared at the corners of Murong Cheng’s mouth as he thought of this, and it disappeared just as quickly. The main forces continued to advance. Upon arriving at a location with flat terrain, Murong Cheng raised his hand to call for a stop and allowed the troops to rest there for a while before setting off again.

Murong Cheng dismounted the horse. He quietly hid a dagger in his sleeve and walked into the forest alone. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the man had indeed followed him.

Pretending that he’d not seen anything, Murong Cheng walked ahead with a pleasant disposition. He abruptly dodged to hide behind a tree and saw the man reveal a puzzled expression. After he moved closer, Murong Cheng evaded until he was behind him, immediately drew out the dagger, and pressed it against the man’s neck.

Though there was a moment of alarm, Gu Wei quickly calmed down. He took a look at the dagger on his neck and asked “Crown Prince, what is the meaning of this?”

“Officer Gu doesn’t understand?” Murong Cheng applied a little pressure on the dagger, and was satisfied to see streaks of bright red blood appearing on the neck. He paused and continued to speak: “Imperial Father sent you to monitor This Prince, but do you think that I would be intimidated by him?”

“Does Crown Prince wish to defy the sovereignty of His Majesty?” Shock flashed in Gu Wei’s eyes. He clenched his fists and forced himself to calm down. After all, he was sent by Emperor Chongde, and the crown prince shouldn’t dare do anything too extreme to him.

However, he’d thought wrong.

“Do you know what This Prince loathes the most?” Murong Cheng didn’t get angry when he heard what he said. On the contrary, a cocky smile gradually appeared at the corners of his mouth, and he said in a chilly tone, “This Prince loathes being threatened the most!” Emperor Chongde had sent someone to monitor him, and he regarded it as a disguised threat! He never tolerates threats!

Once he finished speaking, he slashed the blade down fiercely before Gu Wei’s shocked gaze. Blood spurted out from the wound, soaking the front of his clothes. Strength drained from his body little by little, and his eyes bugged out of his head. His body slowly sagged to the ground.

“Ah…” He tried to make a sound, but he could only utter a single syllable. Gu Wei’s eyes were wide. He couldn’t believe that the crown prince had dared to kill him outright.

“Farewell.” Seeing his defiant, wide-eyed look, Murong Cheng knelt down, feigned kindness, and closed his eyelids. He emitted a chilly laugh. After a while, he stood up and left.

The next day, Emperor Chongde entered the imperial study after the court dismissed and happened to receive the news from Gu Wei. It mentioned that everything with the crown prince was well and there was nothing unusual. He heaved a sigh of relief and sat down in the chair.

Could it be that he’d been wrongly finding fault with the crown prince all this time? In fact, the crown prince had no intention of seizing the throne at all, and everything was merely the usual deceit and treachery within the imperial palace. With this in mind, Emperor Chongde narrowed his eyes. If this were truly the case, that would be great.

However, he never expected that the Gu Wei he’d sent had already been killed by Murong Cheng. Moreover, the other undercover agents who assisted Gu Wei in monitoring the crown prince had been ferreted out one by one by Murong Cheng and killed.

During this time, Murong Heng was sitting under a tree in his mansion, leisurely sipping a cup of tea. He had already arranged what was needed, and now he was only waiting for the outcome.

Unknowingly, another two days passed. Murong Cheng and his party had arrived at the border and made contact with the foreigners. They made an appointment to meet at a certain place, but they didn’t know that the undercover guard sent by Murong Heng had already taken note of everything.

Murong Cheng led a group of soldiers to the place where he would meet with the foreigners. He leapt off his horse, walked over to an imposing man, and said calmly, “Prince Tala is truly punctual.”

“So are you, Crown Prince.” The man named Tala was the one who’d been presently conspiring with Murong Cheng. He led Murong Cheng over to an open plot and wanted to show him the powerful weapons prepared by the clan this time.

Just then, the horses of both groups suddenly made panicking noises and began pacing around restlessly. They even raised their hooves to run but couldn’t because they were tethered by ropes. The horses grew more irritable and began to scramble wildly. Without warning, a horse managed to snap its rope and charge at a soldier in front of it.

The soldier couldn’t dodge in time and was trampled under its hooves, dying on the spot. When Murong Cheng heard the noises, he turned his head in annoyance and was about to give the soldier a sound scolding. All of a sudden, he felt something shaking beneath his feet. There was a loud rumble. It turned out there were bombs buried in the ground!

Murong Cheng’s eyes widened. Disregarding the discussion with Prince Tala, he turned to get onto his horse and leave. But the horse didn’t heed him and refused to move forward. He lashed his whip fiercely but still couldn’t get it to move. With no other choice, Murong Cheng had to jump off his horse, dodging left and right to leave the area. Bombs were constantly exploding around him, and a soldier was blown to pieces right in front of his eyes.

These barbarians! How dare you deceive us! Murong Cheng had no idea that someone else had set up the ambush, and instinctively assumed that Tala and the others had betrayed him. No doubt the other party thought so too. Therefore, the troops from both sides faced each other with swords while evading the bombs.

Boom! Another bomb exploded. Murong Cheng happened to pass by and was blown away by the blast waves. He crashed to the ground in confusion, blood seeping out of his back. He didn’t care about his injuries and quickly got up to run ahead. Just then, something swooshed past in front of him. He stopped instantly and looked into the distance.

He caught sight of a row of people in black with bows and arrows on the hillside a distance away, aiming in his direction. Murong Cheng’s sword was shot out of his hand. His pupils shrank, and he quickly lay down on the ground, but he was still shot by an arrow in the thigh. The pain was severe, and he wailed as he struggled to get up.

At this moment, he realised that those who’d come were not sent by Tala, but someone had deliberately taken advantage of this opportunity to take his life! The more Murong Cheng thought about it, the more fearful he became. He can’t die here; he still has to seize the throne!

With this thought, Murong Cheng exerted all the strength in his body to get up from the ground. There was a steady flow of arrows being shot from a distance. He grabbed a soldier beside him and used him to shield his front. Then he limped along to move ahead.

Blood was flowing from Murong Cheng’s leg as he gasped for breath. His face was deathly pale, and his strength gradually waned. Suddenly, he tripped over a stone and fell disorderly to the ground. He gritted his teeth and wanted to get up again. At that moment, several pairs of black boots appeared before him.

The undercover guards sent by Murong Heng arrived to stand in front of Murong Cheng. The leader looked down at Murong Cheng’s ashen face and asked in a cold voice. “Your Royal Highness, Crown Prince, where are you running off to?”

“Who sent you here?” Murong Cheng yelled with all his might. All of a sudden, the man in black in front of him stomped on the back of his hand. He frowned and couldn’t help letting out a groan.

“That’s something Your Royal Highness doesn’t need to know about.” Mu Ying forcefully grounded his boot. He was elated to see the person beneath his foot frown in pain. Before he entered Prince Heng’s mansion to become an undercover guard, he lived with his family in a quiet farmhouse. One year, the village suffered a flood, and all the food was damaged by the floodwaters. Emperor Chongde dispatched the crown prince over to provide disaster relief to the stricken areas. He thought they were saved, but unexpectedly, Murong Cheng just sat back and ignored the sufferings of the people, looking on unfeelingly as the people starved to death and paying them no heed. All he did was make some superficial gestures before returning to the capital to report on his task. It was said that after his return, Emperor Chongde rewarded him with many treasures.

Due to the lack of food and water, Mu Ying’s family starved to death in the midst of that disaster. With luck, he survived and vowed that if he could become more formidable one day, he would kill Murong Cheng with his own hands. He was thrilled that he’d finally managed to wait until this day. Prince Heng had provided him with the chance to personally take revenge! As such, why would he show mercy?

He eyed Murong Cheng struggling under his foot with a cold gaze. From his initial cursing to his subsequent begging for mercy, Mu Ying didn’t pay any attention to what he said. When he was too weary to say anymore and had stopped, Mu Ying squatted down and spoke in a tone as cold as ice, “Murong Cheng, you caused the deaths of my family, and now you are begging me for mercy like a bereaved dog, but I shall have your life!”

After he was done speaking, he stood up and lifted his bow to aim at him before shooting several arrows into Murong Cheng’s body. Blood spurted out. He watched him struggle, the movement becoming less and less.

“No!” Murong Cheng saw the person in front of him raise his bow and arrow and was immediately struck by extreme pain. His eyes widened as large as copper bells, blood kept gurgling out of his mouth, and he gradually felt his body heat diminishing. Murong Cheng stared at the man in black in disbelief. He never anticipated that, despite his meticulous calculations, he would eventually be defeated by this person. But ultimately, who was it that sent this man?!

However, before he could ponder any further, his eyelids began to twitch. Slowly, he wasn’t able to see the things in front of him clearly and felt that everything was being obscured by a white shadow. He seemed to penetrate through the white shadow and saw a version of himself wearing a dragon robe and sitting on the dragon throne. Perhaps leaving the capital was the worst decision he’d made, but it was too late to repent.

The eyelids became heavier, and gradually, he could no longer feel the pain in his body. Murong Cheng slowly closed his eyes. His heart was filled with resentment. He hadn’t seized the throne yet! He initially presumed that as long as he allied with the foreigners and commanded troops to the north, he would be able to seize the throne in one fell swoop. However, he didn’t expect to have fallen for someone’s tricks and to be directly murdered outside, ending his dream of being emperor.

Unfortunately, when he became cognisant, it was already too late. Murong Cheng lay on his side, his chest and back riddled with arrows, and his blood spreading all over the ground. He closed his eyes and died.

Mu Ying watched on as Murong Cheng gradually breathed his last. He could at last let go of the huge burden that had been weighing on his heart for many years. He closed his eyes and said, “Father, mother, your son has avenged you.” Once he’d spoken, he led the other undercover guards back to the capital to deliver their report.

The news of Crown Prince Murong Cheng’s death spread to the imperial palace within a few days, followed by the news of the foreign invasion. Emperor Chongde listened in shock as the person below the platform gave his report. The porcelain teacup he was holding fell onto the floor with a bang and was smashed to pieces. Empress Xu, who was next to him, was also stunned. In an instant, her eyes rolled backward, and she toppled behind, fainting dead away.