Chapter 536

Chapter 536 – Then Kill Him

Zhao Mingxiao had been weak since he was young. The Old Island Lord loved and cared for him, however, it was not comparable to the attention given to Zhao Tianji.

When he was young, he believed it was because of his frail health that his father paid more attention to his brother. However, it was only when he overheard a

conversation between his father and Zhao Tianji, that he learned the truth about his birth.

He and Zhao Tianji were not biological brothers. He was just an orphan of one of the Old Island Lord’s subordinates, and it was the Old Island Lord who treated him like a son for the sake of his subordinate’s loyalty.

Therefore, Zhao Jia Island was destined to be Zhao Tianji’s, and he would forever be just a companion.

However, he was unreconciled to only being Zhai Tianji’s shadow. He wanted to gain prominence and become the foremost person* on the island. And this would be possible only if he turned Zhao Jia Island into Zhao Kingdom. When that happened, his name would go down in history as the greatest emperor of Zhao Jia Island since ancient times.

[*emperor, like how the modern-day president is the first/foremost person, and his wife first lady.]

“Huangfu Chen, what do you mean by that?” Elder Duan pointed at Huangfu Chen and demanded in a stern voice.

“Only the true descendants of Zhao family know that without the consent of the Huangfu family, the Zhao Jia Island will never be allowed to call itself a nation.”

This was the last instruction set by the old ancestor Zhao Zhao before she died, which was written down on the last page of the island’s rules, and only those who had become Island Lords were privy to this condition.

In fact, rather than wishing for Zhao Jia Island to grow in strength and independence, Zhao Zhao had yearned the most for the Emperor of Jin’s forgiveness on her deathbed.

The descendants of the Huangfu family were also her descendants. Since she had a repentant heart, how would she be willing to watch the descendants of her island and the people of the Huangfu family* kill each other?

[*When Zhao Zhao was exiled/imprisoned on this Island, the ruling family was surnamed Huangfu. And it was after they relinquished the throne that the Mo family came to power. There was no fight for power, it was a smooth transition between the two dynasties.]

“Island Lord, what you mean by this is that the Grand Master is not… Old Island Lord’s own son?” Elder Duan looked at Zhao Tianji in shock.

Zhao Tianji lightly looked at Zhao Mingxiao and said, “Big Brother, it’s not that I don’t want Zhao Jia Island to be called a country, just not right now. We are not ready. The people on the island can finally live in peace and happiness, and we can’t afford to take risks again. We still need time to be more powerful… We are no match for Mo Rongzhan.”

The erstwhile reign of that dim-witted emperor of the Jin Kingdom had already given them the opportunity to grow undetected and unperturbed. Their lives had only just settled down and foreign trade only just opened up, so it was not at all appropriate to go to war.

“I think we are ready,” Zhao Mingxiao retorted coldly. “You didn’t want to declare us a country because you couldn’t walk before. Your ambition has died, you’ve been decadent for far too many years now, who are you to stop us from living a better life?” he demanded.

“If you want to think that way, then I can’t help it,” Zhao Tianji said indifferently, “but I’m the Island Lord, and it’s not up to you to decide whether Zhao Jia Island should be called a nation or not.”

“Then ask the eight elders, how many of them are willing to acknowledge you as the Island Lord?!” Zhao Mingxiao challenged.

Except for those unknown islanders, there were seven elders who stood beside Zhao Mingxiao, including Elder Duan.

“Our Island Lord has always been just one person.”

An old man slowly walked out of the crowd, behind him were five middle-aged men.

“Elder Xing!” Zhao Tianji looked at the old man in surprise.

Zhao Mingxiao stared at the six people in front of him with an ugly face, they were the six previous elders who were loyal to Zhao Tianji, that’s why he had replaced them.

“Elder Xing, you are no longer an elder of Zhao Jia Island, so you should stop meddling in these matters,” Elder Duan said in a deep voice.

“It’s not your turn to decide whether we are the elders of Zhao Jia Island or not.” Elder Xing didn’t even deign to look at Elder Duan as he walked up to Zhao Tianji and bowed respectfully. “Congratulations, Island Lord, for finally regaining your prestige.”

Zhao Tianji held his hand and said, “Elder Xing, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

Zhao Mingxiao could not endure any longer. “Let’s go!” he said

“Big Brother!” Zhao Tianji called out after him, he knew that Zhao Mingxiao would not give up yet. He didn’t know what exactly he was going to do though.

“This Zhao Jia Island has long since ceased to be your Zhao Tianji’s Zhao Jia Island. Not everyone wants to live such a suffocating life,” Zhao Mingxiao said coldly, flicked his sleeves, turned on his heels, and stormed away.

He led several elders as well as many islanders. Just like he said, Zhao Jia Island was no longer the Zhao Jia Island of old.

“Island Lord, Island Lord!” Liang Yin squeezed out from the crowd and came to Zhao Tianji’s side, lowered his voice, and said, “Miss Lu is missing!”

Huangfu Chen was standing right beside Zhao Tianji, his eyes sank. “Isn’t she in the courtyard?” he asked.

“The whole courtyard has been searched, there is no sign of Miss Lu, my subordinates have asked people to look for her in other parts of the island,” Liang Yin said.

Huang Fu Chen did not know what to make of the situation, but in the next moment, he chased Zhao Mingxiao in the direction he had gone.

“Have people continue looking, we must find Lu Yaoyao,” Zhao Tianji said in a deep voice.

“Island Lord, now half of the Zhao Jia Island is controlled by Zhao Mingxiao. The weapons he built before are all hidden by him, if we resist him, I’m afraid… we do not have much chance of winning,” a worried Elder Xing said.

“Do you know where those weapons are hidden?” Zhao Tianji asked.

Elder Xing shook his head in negation. “No one knows. A few years ago, Zhao Mingxiao colluded with the traitor Ye Yisong of the Jin Kingdom. Ye Yisong’s name is Ye Shi. Now, we have a person named Ye Shi on the island, just that… We do not know if he is Ye Yisong.”

Naturally, Zhao Tianji had heard of Ye Yisong. “Isn’t Ye Yisong dead?”

“Then why does Zhao Mingxiao value Ye Shi so much?” Elder Xing asked.

“Zhao Jia Island is not so big, have people go and find those armaments and provisions,” Zhao Tianji instructed.

Without the armaments and provisions, Zhao Mingxiao would have no support even if he wanted to claim the kingdom.

Elder Xing nodded and passed the orders to the people behind him.

Zhao Tianji then instructed the surrounding islanders to go back.

Zhao Jia Island seemed to be shrouded by a depressing aura at this moment, no one knew what would happen next. Especially Zhao Mingxiao… his ambition was too big, no one knew what he would do.

When the first rays of the sun painted the sky marble white, the islanders began an ordinary day of peaceful life. Many people still did not know what had happened the night before nor what kind of choices their Zhao Jia Island faced.

Huangfu Chen spent the entire night searching the island, sparing not a single nook and cranny. Yet, the dawn sky brought not a shadow or news of his little disciple.

This morning, Zhao Mingxiao announced his intentions of declaring themselves a sovereign nation. People jumped with joy and cheered at the news, apparently tired of living in the confines of the island they now wanted to explore the wide world.

Just like that, Zhao Jia Island was divided into two factions, and Zhao Mingxiao and Zhao Tianji were pitted against each other.

“Island Lord, what should we do now?” Elder Xing asked. No one had expected that Zhao Mingxiao would have done so many things secretly over the years.

Zhao Tianji took a deep breath and said, “Catch him before the news of him declaring us a country gets out, then… kill him.”

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