The room went stiff with silence. The moon had reached its peak, full and shining through the sombre of dark clouds. What was meant to be a lively banquet, turned to a room filled with a stench of sweat.

Jingrui's lungs felt pierced as she stood behind the thrones, looking at Prince Zhanying's figure.

Yihuai's palms were clenched around the armrest, trying to stop himself from trembling. "What are you saying, Zhanying? Don't joke around! First Prince Yunyi is dead with no descendants, how can you say this? I don't care if you want to taint my mother's name nor my name, but why must you use such a lie?"

Prince Zhanying tilted his head towards the fierce sky and ignored Yihuai. His grip tightened on the decree. "This decree is an authentic decree written by the olds. The throne was meant to be passed on to Yunyi's descendant, not Yunyin, nor Yunyin's son." He eyed Yihuai.

Yihuai shook his head and fell back onto his throne. "Impossible. Just impossible."

Lingyue's fists clenched to the point red oozed down onto the tabletop. "Bastard Prince. You really do know how to muster up a lie. First Prince Yunyi was chosen as the true heir of the Heavenly throne, yes, and the decree in your hand may have an authentic Heavenly seal. But you cannot just fostured a presumed identity. Who knows where you stole that letter? There is no proof in your empty words. Besides, we all know Yunyi never have an heir throughout his lifetime and till his death."

Prince Zhanying massaged his temple, exasperated, before he shot a gaze up at Yunyin. "Former Heavenly Emperor Yunyin should know well. First Prince Yunyi was never dead." A dangerous fire convulsed in his words.

Yunyin shook like an old man seeing a grim reaper. He ran his hand into his ashen hair and sniffled. "Don't say anymore, don't say anymore, Zhanying."

There was no sign of mercy upon the Prince's sedate face. "You have raised me well, but I won't let your crime be buried. You rebelled against First Prince Yunyi on the day he was meant to take the throne. You trampled him, blinded him, leaving him no place within the Sky Kingdom. But you couldn't catch him, and all these years, you have lived fearing he'd come back to haunt you."

"Stop, please," Yunyin cried. His breathing laboured. "Please just stop."

The more Yunyin cowered in regrets, the more cruelty crept over Prince Zhaying. "Don't worry, father. First Prince Yunyi is now dead. He was the Phantom Lord all these years, and I, as his descendant, will be the one to haunt you instead."

Yihuai glanced at his father's agitated form, and his face turned red. He shot his angry gaze at Prince Zhanying. "Look at what you are doing to father! You are saying this just because you hold the decree, but what proof do you have to say you are a descendant..." Yihuai trailed off, and his anger evaporated when Prince Zhanying pulled up his middle finger.

His face was stoic as he glanced at the serpent ring wrapped around his finger. Against the flickered of lightnings, it glittered like shards of glass in the moonlight.

"Indeed, I do not have proof. You see, I was rushing my plan of rebellion because I feared that the poison—" he cut himself off, and his jaws clenched. Then he cleared his throat and set his jaws to form the right words. "I haven't fully compiled the evidence, but this ring, my mother gave it to me. The one Yunyi married during his years as the Phantom Lord owns this ring. The blood serpent ring is the infamous heirloom artifact. You can trace it back to the past, investigate, and you'd know that every of my word is truth—"

Before Prince Zhanying could finish his sentence, Lingyue broke out into a blaring scream. The beast within her was finally unleashed after fuming in silent for a time. "No matter! The military tally is with me." Lingyue laughed like a maniac and pulled out a dragon tally. "I don't care about what's right or what's wrong. In this world, the right and wrong boundary has never existed from the beginning."

Prince Zhanying's face darkened. Flames ignited in him as he dug his sole firm on spot. Yunru got up from the ground, his hand rested on his sword hilt.

Jingrui felt a shift of air. The sky roared, and darkness engulfed over the land. Her heart thudded, her mind uneasy. As she stared at the deities within the hall, she could sense that the marble floor would soon turn from white to red like the snow of the Red Valley.

No one was willing to lose. No one could accept defeat without a fight. Jingrui drew her brows together and summoned a knife as she stood in silence behind Yihuai's throne.

Lingyue shot up from her seat, intimidating everyone with the sight of the golden tally.

Thunder clamoured overhead, and fallen meteors began dashing down. Fire and rain clashed, and Lingyue cracked out a laugh. "Prince Zhanying has planned an uprising. He is a traitor of the Sky Kingdom." Wide smile plastered her face, and she pushed the dinner table in front of her down. Crashing sound echoed in the tensed room. "Capture the rebel!"

At her rattling scream, footsteps, like drum beats, thudded from behind the large closed gate. Jingrui's heart leapt when the door tumbled down, and an army of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers swarmed into the hall. The candles were blown out, robbing the room barren of warmth and light. Only the most cold-hearted would be able to live to see dawn.

Swords were held out. Deities from the guest tables shot into the air, flaring lights from their fingertips.

Sounds of rain thickened, patting, splashing and slashing. As Jingrui peered through her terribly hazy vision, she realised they were not the sound of rain, but the sound of steel against flesh. The silence had broken into a disarray. As if the seasons were no longer aligned, men yelled, magic flared, golden shield broke, and silver clashed. Sparks rose into the air, flames and smoke fused.

Jingrui felt lucky being behind the high thrones as the battlefield commenced below her. She glanced down at the silver light that dominated the battlefield, and she knew that the bloodbath was what the God of War was made for. For that, she didn't worry he would lose, even if the poison was consuming him whole.

Third Uncle Yunru, whom she despised to the core, assisted Prince Zhanying. And if she had more time to sort her jumbled emotions, she might be able to forgive him.

The white marble was painting red right before her. She had thought Prince Zhanying had planned enough not to let the situation escalate this way. But it seemed he rushed everything because he was too afraid he would die and be buried with all the secrets of the past.

The army overnumbered Prince Zhanying, and the deities guesting at the banquet had taken evident sides. Some seemed to fight for the Prince, after being enlightened by the truth. While others added to the number of the enormous Heavenly army. She blinked her wearing sight, determined not to let the scene before her be the last scene she saw within this vast world.

Former Emperor Yunyin was yelling, but the sickening screams of the fighters overtook his voice. In the end, he slumped down against the very throne he had robbed from Yunyi. Tears slid down his face. He shook his head and closed his eyes before fainting.

Lingyue shot up from her throne as she watched the hall. Her pupils quivering as she tried to figure the upperhand. Curses spat from her red lips, and her saliva sprayed.

Yihuai stood up, following his mother. There was no more confidence nor energy emitting from him. He coughed sickly, and as Jingrui watched how livid he had become, she knew that the tea she served him had been drunk.

A chuckle escaped her lips. Yihuai was standing like a useless stub, completely paralysed by the poison in her tea. Her breathing raced as she averted her gaze at the battlefield and then him. The smile did not leave her as she flexed the dagger in her palm.

The maids that lined beside her had their eyes widened at the sight of the gleaming blade. Before any of them could lash out with a warning or rushed to protect their beloved Emperor, she launched forward. Yihuai was like a piece of rusty metal, ready to crumble down, and with ease, her knife was pressed against his neck.

Yihuai's eyes widened, eyeing someone to do something, but not a single soul had noticed. And those who did, did not dare flit. Not even Lingyue who was busy observing the battlefield.

"Let go of me," Yihuai muttered with gritted teeth as he eyed the blade. Goosebumps formed on his skin.

"How was it?" Jingrui asked, her smile widened. "How was it becoming an eunuch?"

"You! You presumptuous whore..." He paused when she pressed the knife closer to his neck.

"Was the tea delicious, Your Majesty?" She eyed the shattered clays that littered the ground. "You love poison, don't you? You even gave me a poisonous blade to stab Zhanying."

"W-What do you want?" Yihuai spat. "Whatever you want, just tell me!"

"I want you to die. You hurt my sister's dignity, and even if you have ten thousand limbs for me to cut, you will never be able to redeem for it," Jingrui whispered, her words like a frigid blade. "You have dug your own grave, Yihuai."

Smoldering anger burnt her core, and she looked down at the bloodied battlefield below. She yanked Yihuai forward. A laugh croaked from her throat. "Look down, Emperor, look down at your people. I want you to make them stop, and I want you to abdicate the throne!"