"I appointed a eunuch to serve me and assist me to lighten up my burden as the emperor." His majesty whispered to himself annoyingly as he looks at the sleeping Xu Zhengming. His complexion is pale and his temperature is quite high. He got a fever.

The emperor whispered to himself once again. "But it seems you just add up to my burden."

He picks the nearly dried towel and soaked it in a lukewarm basin of water. He then squeezed it to remove the excess water then put it on the little eunuch's burning hot forehead.

The court lady informed him that he was found lying on the emperor's bed a few hours ago when they are still away from the palace. She was about to nag him and drag him out of the bed but she found out that he got a really high fever. The court lady felt bad for making him leave the bed, and so she did not wake him up. In exchange, she couldn't stop apologizing to the emperor as she weeps.

"Your majesty..." The court lady is still swallowing her sobs outside the hall, "It is time for you... to go in the Lotus Hall."

The emperor looks at Xu Zhengming for a little longer before he turns his back to leave the hall. Without his eunuch, the emperor, together with his court lady and maids headed to the Lotus Hall to meet the members of an emergency and exclusive conference.

A round table is located in the center of the hall where Princess Yin Xiulan, Zhao Yanguang, Wang Junjie, and another man were already having their seats. This new man isn't really 'new'. In fact, everyone inside the hall knows him. Unfair as it seems, he's not allowed to be seen outside whenever the emperor is around. He only hides in the shadows. He already achieved many and accomplished a lot for the sake of the imperial palace and its respective territories yet no one, except the ones present in the hall, the empress dowager, and the grand empress dowager, knows his name.

This man wears the same gold yellow and black robes, the same black mian hat, and the same black boots as the emperor. He also possessed a face identical to his majesty. He's a little shorter than the emperor but it's unnoticeable.

If they were to stand facing each other, it's like the one is real and the one is only a reflection.

They might be identical in physical appearance but they totally have different personalities. This is why the emperor is always accused of being bipolar or moody.

This man is Prince Yin Wenyan, Emperor Yin Renshu's other twin, and double. In contrary to common knowledge, they're actually triplets. However, for some political reasons, one of the triplets is being kept in the dark.

Prince Yin Wenyan, regardless of acting as the emperor or not, is always wearing a bright and gentle expression on his face. However, this time it's not the same. He looks a little worried and anxious.

"How did those citizens turned into that kind of creature?" Their shizun opened up the matter. "They have even grown a pair of fangs and are bloodthirsty."

"They might have turned into a monstrous state, but we cannot deny the fact that they are still alive." Wang Junjie added.

"That was clearly a genocide." Emperor Yin Renshu's head which is a little dizzy becomes more painful as he thought of the idea. "This is clearly our side's fault but..."

Princess Yin Xiulan interrupted him, "There are no buts. We failed to differentiate the living from the dead."

She massaged her temples but it seems it's not helping her to relax even a bit.

"Actually, our choices on what to do next could be narrowed down in just one question." Prince Yin Wenyan speaks. His facial expression looks strange to the others present at the moment. His eyes don't show seriousness but rather low in spirits. However, no one shows concern for it this time since there is a bigger problem to solve. "Should we look at the political side or the righteous side?"

"Wenyan, please enlighten us about the difference between the two." Zhao Yangguang calmly said.

Prince Yin Wenyan then responded and expounds his idea. "By political, I mean to protect Renshu's position as the emperor as well as Xiulan's reputation." He pauses, "The green shall be red. If the emperor says so, the history would be written that way."

That was cruel and full of injustice. But if they take this route, it would be hassle-free. This matter will be kept hidden in the deepest depths of their hearts along with their conscience.

Prince Yin Wenyan continued with sad eyes, "But if we stick to righteousness, our side will face criticism, humiliation, and even heavy punishments for killing lives. But at least, we will be free from guilt."

"Should we really think of how to clear our names first? How about those in the dungeon?" Emperor Yin Renshu said.

The remaining monsters were all captured and imprisoned in the palace's dungeon. All thanks to Zhao Yangguang who made the transportation possible using his barrier to trap all the vicious monsters then brought back to the palace. He doesn't specialize in barriers. In fact, he just learned it from one of his sect elders. Fortunately, his barriers are sturdy enough not to let the creatures escape. He only knew some tricks about it and it drained his mana.

"As of now, we do not have much information yet. We need to investigate." Wang Junjie speaks, "Like what do they have in common before turning to beasts and how did this happen."

"About how did it happen..." Princess Yin Xiulan uttered, "It's like a contagious illness. Once a normal person got bitten by this creature, that one will turn into a vicious bloodthirsty monster as well."

She paused before adding in a low voice, "I saw it with my own eyes. Have you noticed it too?"

"That must be the reason why we can't lessen their count even after taking them down for quite a while!" Emperor Yin Renshu came into realization.

"Then the big question here is..." Zhao Yangguang put the back of his hand under his chin. "How did the first blood-thirsty creature got this illness? This didn't just happen to exist, right?"

"That's the point where the dark method of cultivation comes in." Said Wang Junjie. "Wenyan, Renshu, Xiulan. Think of someone who would benefit the most from this chaos. Why the town square of all places? This incident happened near the imperial palace. The person behind all of this might have some grudges against you or the royal family."

"Wang Junjie, don't make hasty conclusions. This might be a trap or just to cause confusion. We still have only a little information regarding this matter." Zhao Yangguang said.

"Shizun, I think what Wang-shifu said makes sense. We must find out who will get benefits the most."Prince Yin Wenyan said. "I will think about it."

"Mn. It's not that bad to give this idea a thought." His shizun smiles.

"But I cannot disregard my thoughts earlier. How should we handle the fact that many lives got severed in their hands?" Prince Yin Wenyan said. "What if we are not the only ones who knew they are not walking corpses but actually living persons? We will be held responsible for their lives!"

"I don't think so. The citizens are too distracted." Empeor Yin Renshu says. "If things come to worst, we need to secure the throne."

The hall fell into a deep silence after his majesty's words for quite some time.

Both Prince Yin Wenyan and Princess Yin Xiulan's spaces between their eyebrows wrinkled. They don't want to settle this thing this way but the other option isn't good either.

On the other hand, Zhao Yangguang and Wang Junjie think of this as injustice but they choose to stay away from the politics and keep their mouths shut.