In the great Tang nation, the palace was in the most prosperous city, the Canon city.
Besides the emperor's family, four great families Xing, Shi, Wang, and Zhang, resided on the city's four corners.
Canon city was famous in the world for its architecture and advanced technology. The city was engineered and designed by the renowned mechanical engineer Yi Xing, the immortal armament master. The city size was around five times that of the modern-day Beijing city.
One man wearing a blue robe and another wearing a purple robe was sitting cross-legged inside a luxurious tavern. They were drinking and dining. Both of them looked luxurious and had a noble aura around them.
" Second brother, that mission is a failure . " said the blue robe man. Their mission was the assassination attempt on Joey's predecessor.
"No worries, seventh brother. It doesn't affect our plans. Oh, and about the first plan, we will have another chance soon." said the purple robe man calmly.
" So, what will be our next move?" asked the blue robe man.
" We should erase our trace in that mission before father takes any action. So, kill all those that are related to this mission ." said the purple robe man. They were the seventh and second princes of the great Tang nation. They both shared the same mother, the chief consort, Chu Hua.
" Black viper. " The seventh prince called out suddenly.
" My lord, I, the Black Viper, is at your service." Suddenly, a black figure appeared from thin air.
" Kill all those involved in that mission and then throw their dead bodies inside the black dragon's abyss ." The seventh Prince ordered. Then the Black viper disappeared.
" Second, brother, how will we proceed with our next plan ?"
" Our next plans have already proceeded. Since the assassination attempt of the 5th prince, this will force the four great families to pick a side to avoid their involvement in the assassination ." said the second prince and drank a sip of tea.
" You mean we are not the only one involve in this assassination !" the seventh prince asked in surprise.
" What do you think, my dear little brother ? "
" Stop making more mysterious, second brother. Tell me, is there any other third-party's involvement? " The seventh prince asked again.
" We two are directly involved in this plan. But the four great families are the ones behind all this. They are manipulating everything behind the scenes. I am the only one who has known about their so-called shady plot since our brothers and sister's childhood. " He took another sip of the tea and continued.
" Let's play fools and dance to their tune for now. Despite that, they are helping us with this plan. One more thing, brother, all our advisors are their spies. We need to be more careful ."
" Second brother, what will be their next move?" asked the seventh prince with uneasiness.
" Don't worry. They will start picking sides from now onward to avoid the accusation of the assassination attempt," repeated the second prince.
"What do you think the four great families will choose? " asked the seventh prince.
" Probably the Xing will go with the First Brother as they have a maternal relationship, the Shi will pick the third brother as his fiancée is the youngest daughter of the Shi family patriarch, and the Wang will choose you and me as they have to balance power within the four great families." said the second prince supporting his chin with his hands.
"Second brother, who do you think the Zhang family will pick ?"
" Do you know that among all the spies sent by the four great families, the Zhang family sends their only spy to that thrash pig? Like they don't give a shit about our internal strife at all." said the second prince with contempt.
" So, second brother, what do you think is the motive behind the Zhang family's move ?"
The second prince became serious and recalled all the Zhang family's things in their affairs in the last two decades.
After thinking for a moment, the second prince sighed and replied, " The Zhang family members are a bunch of freaks. All of them are too crazy about learning and making weapons all the time. Logic can't measure their true nature. Sometimes very aggressive, they even challenged those heavenly envoys from the six-star sect, The Great River Cleaving sect ."
Then, he continued, " The Zhang family's supreme elder killed all the five envoys that visited our canon city, as one of the envoys tries to harass their young miss, Zhang Minghua. In a rage, the supreme elder Zhang Yang kills all the envoys in a single move. The strange thing is that the supreme elder Zhang Yang is only at the complete 10 levels of the Nascent Soul realm stage while the other five envoys have cultivation from 1 to 4 level of Demi-God - realm. It was a difference of an entire realm."
" Bro, is that story a gossip makeup by that so-called nonsense, local street theater. They are truly in the pocket of Zhang's money." said the seventh prince and smiled like he outwitted his clever brother for the first time.
" You fool, stop making that face. If you have that mentality, you will die within a few years ." The second brother scolded the seventh prince like some kids.
" That event happens. I happen to see that event with my own eyes. I was shocked for a week after that event. One more strange thing is that The Great River Cleaving sect, instead of taking revenge, their headmaster comes personally to Canon city and apologizes to the little miss Zhang Minghua ." continued the second prince.
" But sometimes Zhang family acts like pussies. A few weeks ago, their family's top genius Zhang Huang was almost beaten to death by an elder of Shi's family, Shi Mu. He even curses with profanity to all elders, patriarch, and even their ancestor Zhang Sui and even spits at Zhang Huang in public. But just a simple maid comes out to collect Huang's heavily injured body. Now, what do you think, my little brother?" said the second prince and sigh heavily.
" Second brother, one thing is clear, we shall never bother the Zhang family ever again," said the seventh prince.
" Wrong again. We can mess with everything about the Zhang family. We can even pee and take a dump on their ancestor's tomb. They will not give a crap about that matter. But, they have a great taboo. If you are reckless, we will all be doomed. Do you know what their great taboo is?" the second prince explained and asked with a serious voice.
The seventh prince gulped a mouthful of saliva and replied with nervousness, " Their taboo is that young miss Zhang Minghua ."
"So, you now know your situation then. I know you fancy that girl, but stop using any underhanded methods. Court directly and trap her heart. Every girl their age is curious about sweet romance. Try to understand her and give her what she wants. If possible, you are not to her liking. Just forget and leave her or else I'll house-arrest you your whole life. Do you understand?" The second prince gave his first aggressive order to his brother for the first time.
The seventh prince got startled and replied politely, "Yes, I understand. Thanks for the advice, Second brother ." He clasped his hand and bowed slightly.
Then, they started eating their dishes of meats and vegetables before them.
A green-colored sparrow flew toward the tavern and landed on the shoulder of the second prince. He stopped eating and removed the small tissue tied to its leg. Then he checked on that piece of paper. He became startled for a moment and calmed down quickly.
The seventh prince, seeing his startled expression, asked seriously, " What happened, brother ? "
" It becomes more interesting. Something big happens on the northern border. The 15th Iron Hammer's battalion father sent to scout the cave has lost communication for about a month. " The second prince told him with a big smile.
" You mean the cave that appears last year inside the forest near our northern border ."
" So, father and his ministers will turn their focus more on this matter." said the seventh prince with a big smile.