Venerable Demon King & The Doting Immortal (QT)
Chapter 403: True heir to the throne

Chapter 403: True heir to the throne

"Nice?!" he replied incredulously. "This isn’t what I imagined!"

To make matters worse, Lian was unhappy with his choice. He had chosen a sleek black polish, but she frowned at his decision. "No, it’s too dull. Yellow is better!"

"What was the point of asking me if you already had a colour in mind?" the Marshal quipped, his patience growing thin.

"Shush!" Lian shushed him, hands on her hips. "Are you the nail tech, or am I?"

He sat there in disbelief, muttering to himself about the audacity of these children. Who had raised these kids? Meanwhile, Xiang Yu had no idea he had caught a stray.

***

The marshal was grumbling under his breath but he still sat there patiently his hair curled haphazardly, lip oil glistening on his lips and a sheet mask covering his eyes. His fingers and toes glistened with bright nail polish, and a hairpin awkwardly held his curls together. It was tragic spectacle that would have the Republic in shock. Their former Marshal who was majestic in every sense now looked like he had had a bad salon visit.

Just then Lian and Mei returned. He was about to ask if they were done with him when Xiang Yu’s face appeared on the floating screen of Lian’s communicator.

Marshal Wu, "..."

"Sorry to disturb your spa day, Marshal," came Xiang Yu’s teasing voice.

Marshal Wu’s eyes widened in horror as he realized who was on the call. "What is this?" he barked, standing up abruptly. "What are you two doing?"

Xiang Yu couldn’t suppress his smirk. "If it’s any consolation, you look good."

"Stay out of this!" the marshal shouted back, raising his hands in irritation.

Lian piped up, feigning innocence. "He said he wants to talk to you."

"Yes," Mei added with playful urgency, "it’s a matter of life and death!"

With a resigned sigh, Marshal Wu pulled off the eye mask. "Fine. But you two are in big trouble... big big big trouble. "

The twins lowered their heads, struggling to hide their giggles, not at all remorseful and gleefully amused.

Marshal Wu humphed as he waved his hand, transferring the video call to his communicator.

As he paced toward his study, he crossed paths with his daughter, who was dressed elegantly as if she were heading out. She paused, her brow knitting at the sight.

"Where are you going?" he asked but instead of answering, she looked him up and down, then back at him, incredulous. "What happened to you?"

"I don’t want to talk about it," he replied, brushing off the question as he walked past her.

His daughter stood there, flabbergasted, jaw slightly agape as he left her in bewilderment. The sight of her father, a once-proud soldier, now a victim of two mischievous girls, would be a memory she would never forget.

A few minutes later, he sat down heavily in his study, the weight of his earlier embarrassment still pressing on his shoulders. With a sigh, he began to remove the hairpins from his curls to take them out. Just as he was about to pull the first one out, Xiang Yu spoke up from the communicator, his tone teasing.

"I wouldn’t take them out if I were you," he said, a smirk evident in his voice.

"Why?" Marshal Wu asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"The hairstyle will fall apart," Xiang Yu warned, "and Mei will scold you. She won’t let you ever forget it."

The marshal paused, his hand resting mid-action. "You seem to be speaking from experience," he remarked, his voice dry.

Xiang Yu didn’t deny it. "I am. At least she won’t have you looking crazy."

Marshal Wu was in no mood for jest. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, a hard edge to his voice.

Xiang Yu’s expression shifted, becoming serious. He sent a video file through the screen. "Watch this."

"What’s this?" Marshal Wu asked, confusion flickering across his face.

"Just watch," Xiang Yu urged, his voice steady.

With a sense of impatience, the marshal tapped at the screen. As the video opened, his expression transformed from mild annoyance to sheer disbelief.

The footage revealed a dark day, the day Imperial Lord Han had died. Marshal Wu’s breath hitched as he watched Xiang Yu’s father, his hands stained with betrayal, ruthlessly kill the imperial lord while the man begged for his wife’s life. Each moment felt heavy, like a lead weight on his chest.

His heart sank. The blood on that traitor’s hands was clearer than ever. His fingers trembled with anger and horror as he witnessed the brutality unfold. "How did you get this?" His voice was brittle, disbelief etched into every word.

He had assumed Xiang Jia had simply seized power after the former lord’s death, but this? This was direct murder. "How did you get this?" he pressed again, desperation creeping into his tone.

Xiang Yu didn’t want to disclose who gave it to him. It was the same person the divine emperor had recommended to him.

They had witnessed this atrocity but were too terrified to come forward. Instead, they had shared their thoughts anonymously on Star Net, speaking out against the imperial lord while remaining faceless. Their theories were dismissed and labelled as conspiracy until Xiang Yu finally listened.

"That’s not important," Xiang Yu replied his voice calm. "I have even more evidence that you can look at."

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Marshal Wu’s brows furrowed, a flicker of hope and panic twisting within him.

"I don’t want anything," Xiang Yu said earnestly. "I just want you to help the true imperial lord ascend the throne."

Marshal Wu’s heart raced as he processed Xiang Yu’s words. "What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

Xiang Yu smiled faintly, his eyes dark with secrets. "You will see," he replied before abruptly ending the call.

Marshall Wu stared at the blank screen, a mix of confusion and dread gnawing at his insides. He scrambled to open the files, his fingers moving hurriedly across the screen.

When Han Xin’s face appeared, frozen in time on the floating display, he felt as if the ground had been pulled from beneath him. He had seen Han Xin before and had noticed the striking similarities with the late imperial lord. A nagging thought had always lingered, but he had brushed it off because there had been no child. The former imperial lord and his wife had no heirs when they died.

But now, everything had changed. A realization struck him hard, a connection igniting in his mind. Han Xin was not just a name to him anymore. He was the true heir to the throne.