I Am the Fated Villain Chapter 1290 The Explanation Chu Gucheng Gave, Vast Army Presses Forward

"Ridiculous, completely ridiculous."

"What exactly is the Xiyuan Sacred Hall trying to achieve? Lacking solid proof, they actually dare to challenge the identity of Saintess Xiyuan? Is the Xiyuan Sacred Hall planning to select a replacement saintess?"

"The Immortal Chu Dynasty has forever upheld justice and integrity. We've never allied with the lingering forces of the Black Calamity. This is nothing but 'when you seek to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext.""

Within the palace halls, numerous veteran officials erupted in anger, denouncing the Xiyuan Sacred Hall's hasty verdict.

A thick, suffocating tension enveloped the entire assembly.

Yet Chu Gucheng stayed quiet, his icy stare locked toward the palace exterior.

Elder Jin, Ouyang Ji from the Carefree Heavenly Palace, Elder Xingying of the Yinxu Cave, along with various other visitors who hadn't departed from the Immortal Chu Dynasty, observed everything in hushed stillness.

Chu Xinyue, the one posing as Saintess Xiyuan, now positioned herself amid the majestic chamber.

Gazing upon the ministers' faces marked by dread and distress, a wave of bewilderment washed over her. She couldn't pinpoint the mishap or comprehend how events had spiraled this far.

The genuine Saintess Xiyuan remained confined within a spacetime enclosure. Chu Xinyue had overseen the saintess's custody throughout this period, so how had the secret escaped?

Beyond her father and a select few, nobody was aware of their captive's plight.

How on earth had the Xiyuan Sacred Hall uncovered it?

Chaos swirled in Chu Xinyue's thoughts. Her sight even blurred momentarily, drowning out the veteran officials' urgent calls for her leadership. "Your Majesty, I require an explanation."

In that instant, a booming thunderclap resounded beyond the palace walls.

Alongside a fierce, horrifying presence, ominous clouds plunged from the remote heavens, as though the sky itself crumbled, unleashing a crushing burden.

Perched amid the clouds loomed a colossal form armored in gleaming plates.

It turned out to be Champion Marquis Chu Heng.

Trailing him were the ex-Grand Tutor Han Feng, Chu Bai, and companions, their countenances stern. The former Grand Tutor's features brimmed with profound grief and incredulity.

Champion Marquis Chu Heng had hastily commanded his forces from the frontier.

Nevertheless, the troops hadn't advanced into the capital; they lingered positioned externally.

"Champion Marquis..."

Countless courtiers whipped their heads around at the enraged bellow.

The crown prince, Chu Wushang, paled further, barely managing to steady himself.

As his eyes landed on Champion Marquis Chu Heng and the duo of jade pendants gripped fiercely in his fist, his complexion drained to ghostly white.

He remained clueless about how the missing pendant had reached Champion Marquis Chu Heng's possession.

But witnessing it now clarified precisely why Champion Marquis Chu Heng had forsaken his duties and hastened from the border under cover of night.

Chu Gucheng's demeanor stayed serene like a placid lake, his eyes profound and inscrutable. His attention turned to Champion Marquis Chu Heng, and for the first time, a trace of feeling crossed his impassive visage.

He demanded icily, "Champion Marquis, by deserting your station, ignoring the border's defense, and pulling back your soldiers, you've endangered the Immortal Chu Dynasty's security. What penalty do you merit?"

Champion Marquis Chu Heng dropped from the skies and marched into the palace. He swept a frosty glance over the officials before settling his stare on the ashen crown prince, Chu Wushang.

"Even now, Your Majesty, do you persist in protecting the crown prince? I've served the Immortal Chu Dynasty with unwavering devotion, conquering lands and battling in its name for years, amassing endless accomplishments. Is this your way of rewarding me?"

While uttering these words, he revealed the matching mandarin duck jade pendants from his grasp, his gaze blazing with raw fury and chill.

Chu Gucheng's eyes moved to the pendants, his voice steady and resolute. "I fail to grasp your implication, Champion Marquis. I've always regarded you as my flesh and blood, imparting arts and divine skills, supplying boundless aids and prospects, and investing profound faith in you to elevate you to your current stature."

"Yet here you are, turning against me to align with foreigners?"

The courtiers inside the chamber froze in astonishment.

Plenty unfamiliar with the facts couldn't fathom Champion Marquis Chu Heng's seething wrath that prompted him to ignore commands and leave the frontier undefended. Still, others inferred the reality, their faces twisting in shock, brimming with denial.

Observing Chu Gucheng's ongoing attempts to conceal and pretend obliviousness, Champion Marquis Chu Heng's spirits sank deeper.

He'd initially harbored some remorse over his conduct this day, but that vanished entirely now.

Chu Gucheng had truly favored him, and his successes owed much to Chu Gucheng's backing.

However, Chu Gucheng had ultimately viewed him as a mere piece, permitting his biological heir to degrade his spouse.

Prior to entering the palace, Chu Heng had already reached out to Han Feng, Chu Bai, and associates, securing the second pendant.

Once united, the pair generated a unique domain, replaying that day's occurrences and enabling him to revive the moment of his wife's degradation.

The visions that surfaced ignited fury in Chu Heng's eyes. Overwhelmed by wrath, he yearned to rewind time and revisit that day to slay the offender.

Before reviving the scene, he'd envisioned myriad scenarios.

Yet he'd never anticipated the offender to be the crown prince of the Immortal Chu Dynasty, Chu Wushang.

This revelation hit him like lightning, leaving him dazed and rejecting its truth. He even questioned if his eyes had deceived him.

Chu Heng was aware that his spouse, Qinglan, and Chu Wushang shared a bond from youth.

Before Chu Gucheng's adoption of him, Qinglan and Chu Wushang had practiced side by side, maturing as intimate allies with budding sentiments.

Subsequently, Qinglan wed him out of sincere affection. Chu Heng had regarded Chu Wushang as kin, never encroaching on boundaries.

It was solely after Qinglan affirmed her lack of amorous ties to Chu Wushang, viewing him merely as an older sibling, that Chu Heng pursued her.

He hadn't realized Chu Wushang's profound attachment to Qinglan, even presuming her disloyalty.

This lay at the heart of the incident where Chu Wushang defiled Qinglan on the evening of Chu Gucheng's birthday feast, following Chu Heng's exit from the capital.

At present, no amount of Chu Heng's remorse or outrage could alter the past. Irrespective of Chu Wushang's motives, retribution was essential. How else could his wife find solace?

"Words are pointless now. If Your Majesty continues safeguarding the crown prince, then reveal the facts to these officials."

Chu Heng's face was frosted over, his stare sharp as glacial steel, making the nearby void quiver.

With a flick of his wrist, the mandarin duck pendants soared forth, radiating prismatic glows. A misty luminescence cast a foggy realm aloft, where visions started to manifest.

A splendid edifice sprawled, featuring soaring towers and lofty ridges. A woman clad in fur with a shawl over her shoulders stood in a serene garden, peering afar with subtle melancholy, apparently fretting over her spouse amid warfare.

Though Chu Heng had veiled the woman's features via enchantment, the attending officials identified her as Champion Marquis Chu Heng's consort, Qinglan.

"Could this be a revival of the evening Champion Marquis's wife met her end?"

An official murmured in surprise upon viewing the display. All within the chamber now riveted their focus on the projections.

Earlier, various in the Immortal Chu Dynasty had probed the demise of Champion Marquis's wife, with attempts to revive the incident, yet all proved futile.

Presently, Champion Marquis Chu Heng had inexplicably succeeded in restoring that fateful night.

In the hazy projections, Qinglan appeared in the garden, chatting with her attendant, voicing worries about the Demon Court and Purple Mist Mountain's bold advances, dreading peril for her husband. All unfolded routinely, without anomaly.

Chu Gucheng observed with detached chill, tracking the projections. But upon a new silhouette emerging, his pupils shrank, and his countenance shifted sharply, as if denying the sight before him.

"What?"

Numerous officials gasped in horror, some rising abruptly, eyes bulging in refusal.

Chu Heng's chest tightened revisiting the scene, yet he permitted its continuation.

Merely as his spouse neared violation did he reclaim the pendants. The chamber plunged into deathly quiet, devoid of utterance.

"This captures all that preceded Qinglan's slaying," Champion Marquis Chu Heng declared frostily, shattering the hush.

"How could it be..." The officials reeled in utter astonishment, thoughts in disarray.

Absent witnessing it firsthand, how might they accept the crown prince, Chu Wushang, as the actual offender?

The crown prince, renowned for his poise and dependability, the figure of such grand expectations?

Now, many directed stares toward Chu Wushang, laden with incredulity, encompassing Chu Gucheng's remaining lineage.

Chu Wushang's visage was deathly pale, avoiding all eyes. He gradually shut his lids.

It appeared he recognized the outcome's finality. From Champion Marquis Chu Heng unveiling proof, his doom was inevitable.

His silence, to the onlookers, equated to confessing his direct involvement.

"Why?"

Chu Gucheng's look turned somber, as though rejecting the recent revelation.

"Whether these visions hold truth, all can judge for themselves. Now, I seek only Your Majesty's clarification."

Chu Heng stated icily, scrutinizing Chu Gucheng's reactions intently. He doubted Chu Gucheng's feigned ignorance. Earlier, an Ancestral Dao Realm power had surely meddled to sever the karma, masking Chu Wushang's deeds.

Indeed, sans Chu Gucheng's approval, how might Chu Wushang enlist an Ancestral Dao Realm aid?

Presently, Chu Gucheng acted uninformed, deceiving only the uninformed.

"I apologize. I was unaware Wushang committed this."

Chu Gucheng regarded Champion Marquis Chu Heng with anguished eyes, his tone quivering faintly, as if he too grappled with profound torment and denial.

Many officials lingered in daze, heads abuzz, sensing the realm's collapse.

What befell the Immortal Chu Dynasty? Was this fated doom? With foes besieging, how transpired such an inconceivable internal affair?

Champion Marquis Chu Heng merely eyed Chu Gucheng with frozen detachment, unaffected.

At this juncture, Chu Wushang, who'd remained mute with sealed eyes, at last voiced. "I've betrayed Your Majesty's faith and the officials' expectations. The incident that night stemmed from my hand. Following it, I employed an archaic relic to obliterate karmic remnants. Subsequently, dreading Champion Marquis unearthing the reality, I fabricated Your Majesty's edict, orchestrated ambushes on his loyalists en route, and purged his spies within the capital..."

"I'm unfit as the Immortal Chu Dynasty's crown prince. My deeds were monstrous, staining the dynasty and Your Majesty." He faced the chamber's officials, expression etched with agony and remorse, as if lamenting his choices profoundly. Yet slowly, his demeanor steadied to tranquility. "Why commit such an act, crown prince? This defies your nature entirely."

Various veteran officials ached with sorrow, reluctant to credit Chu Wushang's guilt.

Chu Wushang offered a wry smile and shook his head. "Qinglan evolved into a fixation and inner demon for me. I merit this retribution."

Simultaneously, he glanced at Chu Heng, eyes flickering with remorse, but soon settling into serene detachment.

"You've shattered my confidence and tarnished the crown prince's honor in the Immortal Chu Dynasty. I uphold equity and rigor always. Today, I enforce righteousness and provide Champion Marquis the vindication owed." Chu Gucheng's face hardened as he fixed on Chu Wushang. Upon concluding, he swept his sleeve, delivering a palm straight to Chu Wushang's brow. With a splatter, gore and cerebral fragments sprayed the chamber. Despite Chu Wushang's Dao Realm prowess, Chu Gucheng's wrathful blow offered no escape. His essence fractured and dispersed instantly.

Of course, to all assembled, it seemed Chu Wushang had long embraced death and offered no resistance.

Witnessing this, the officials poised to act halted in stun, unable to credit the spectacle.

Chu Gucheng had struck with such brutal finality, slaying his own offspring before the assembly?

Beholding such a merciless and unyielding Chu Gucheng, many shivered involuntarily.

Champion Marquis Chu Heng hadn't foreseen Chu Gucheng's such pitiless resolve, discarding his heir without pause.

But from evidence's reveal to Chu Wushang's demise, events unfolded at breakneck pace.

Or had Chu Gucheng foreseen this entirely, with Chu Wushang already set on self-sacrifice?

"Wushang is gone. He's atoned through his life. I trust this resolution suffices, Champion Marquis."

Having slain Chu Wushang himself, Chu Gucheng eased his eyes shut, concealing inner torment.

Here, Chu Heng found no further retort.

The accounting he'd pursued was delivered. Chu Wushang's existence traded for his wife's. What else remained to demand? Still, this quelled none of his inner gall and ire.

Not delivering vengeance personally, and Chu Wushang's swift end, bred profound discontent.

"With formidable adversaries looming, I urge you to focus on the broader welfare, Champion Marquis. The Immortal Chu Dynasty's myriad subjects' fates hinge on you now."

Chu Gucheng addressed once more, apparently reclaiming poise. Chu Heng inclined his head. "Your Majesty, fear not. I comprehend my duty."

Chu Gucheng acknowledged with a nod, falling silent, though anguish flashed as his gaze touched Chu Wushang's remains.

As chamber officials commenced debating countermeasures for the Immortal Chu Dynasty's peril, an immense, roiling surge of force abruptly burst from the sky's distant verge.

Toward that horizon, spacetime quaked, birthing a colossal fissure. An entity forged a spacetime passage from afar, directing toward the Immortal Chu Dynasty.

Vivid, piercing beams rent the cosmos asunder, like a dread grasp extending from the celestial beyond, brutally tearing the firmament.

Sacred, luminous droplets cascaded from the spacetime conduit, brightening interworld veils, rendering them sheer.

Indistinct silhouettes arrayed across the conduit's far side, scrutinizing the Immortal Chu Dynasty.

"The Immortal Chu Dynasty has conspired with Black Calamity survivors, detained Saintess Xiyuan, defied cosmic law, and undermined the Prime-Origin Civilization's edicts. We summon all powers to unite and eradicate them."

The proclamation thundered through the cosmos, originating from the remote spacetime passage terminus, resounding across the Immortal Chu Dynasty, instilling terror in myriad cultivators and entities.

Beyond the spacetime conduit, escalating numbers of forms amassed, as if readying to traverse and invade this domain...