I picked up the scattered attributes

"May the King of Zhenxi, Baihu, wish the Sixteenth Prince bravery in battle and unwavering perseverance!"

"Lord Zhuque of Zhennan wishes the Sixteenth Prince protection from all evil..."

"Prince Xuanwu of Zhenbei wishes the Sixteenth Prince well..."

Almost at the same time, a clear cry came from the backyard of the palace.

"The sixteenth prince has been born—"

……

Time flies, and years pass quickly.

Ten years have passed since the birth of the sixteenth prince.

Unlike the nationwide uproar that occurred before, the entire Lingyun Kingdom's palace seemed to selectively forget the existence of the Sixteenth Prince.

Even His Majesty the Emperor, who initially favored him greatly, now rarely sees him, sometimes for months at a time, and even when they do meet, he doesn't give the Sixteenth Prince a friendly look.

Because as we all know...

The sixteenth prince is a complete good-for-nothing!

Despite receiving the blessings of the four kings and being nourished by countless rare and precious materials, he was born with blocked acupoints and severed meridians.

Not only that, the sixteenth prince was extremely unruly and mischievous. He would sneak out of the palace all day long and always messed around with all sorts of garbage. He even blew up half of the palace at one point!

While poor cultivation talent might be somewhat acceptable, blowing up the palace made the entire royal family a laughingstock!

Even though His Majesty the Emperor ordered a news blackout, rumors still circulated...

The sixteenth prince is almost ten years old, and he hasn't even opened the first Divine Wheel Secret Realm yet. On the contrary, he was secretly caught a few days ago when he tried to sneak into the Ancestral Temple!

What kind of place is the Ancestral Temple?

That is the sacred place where the ancestors of Lingyun Kingdom are enshrined!

How could His Majesty not go from being fond of him to being furious, and finally to being indifferent as he is now?

Not long ago, His Majesty the Emperor issued an imperial edict that if the Divine Wheel Secret Realm cannot be opened this year, the Sixteenth Prince will be stripped of his princely status. Although his salary will remain unchanged, he will have to move out of the palace, or even directly out of the capital of Lingyun Kingdom!

"My son, what are you thinking about now?"

A corner of the Imperial Garden.

The sixteenth prince was wearing shorts and showed no signs of royal decorum. He was barefoot, with his two white calves dangling freely.

Just then, a gentle voice sounded behind him.

Looking back, he saw a graceful woman standing not far behind him, looking at him.

The sixteenth prince did not rise, but smiled slightly and said, "Mother, for the past ten years, I have been pondering a question..."

The elegant woman stepped forward and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Oh, my son, what are you pondering?"

"I'm thinking..."

The sixteenth prince paused here, as if considering something, before looking at the carp in the lotus pond and saying:

Do these carp dream?

……

Chapter 0289

Do carp dream?

The elegant woman was stunned upon hearing this.

What does it mean that carp dream, and why do carp dream?

Although she felt a little confused, she still patiently smiled and said, "These carp in the lotus pond were all carefully selected by your father. Although they are not demonic beasts, they have a trace of dragon blood, making them rare and exotic species. However, they probably don't dream."

The young sixteenth prince, engrossed in the story, slapped the water's surface with his two fair toes, startling the carp inside and causing them to scatter in all directions.

Upon seeing this, the sixteenth prince seemed quite pleased, and then asked the woman, "Since they can also be considered a different species, why did Mother say that these carp don't dream?"

"Silly child, because this is the palace, all the carp raised in the lotus pond have been carefully selected. In addition to their appearance being up to standard, they can only maintain their memory for seven breaths."

Upon hearing this, the elegant woman couldn't help but shake her head and chuckle: "Otherwise, if it were to be exploited by villains, I'm afraid we would see a repeat of the situation eight years ago, where the entire palace was thrown into chaos."

Eight years ago, a strange incident occurred in the palace.

No one knows who the perpetrator was, or what methods they used to cause more than half of the people in the palace to faint and fall into a coma overnight!

At the time, His Majesty the Emperor personally ordered an investigation, but little useful information was found.

Later, as the aftermath of the coma incident gradually subsided, the matter was simply dropped.

“Since they only have seven breaths of memory, these carp’s consciousness remains blank, so naturally they have no possibility of dreaming.” The elegant woman said, then suddenly stared at the young sixteenth prince and asked strangely, “My son, why are you suddenly asking these questions?”

"It's nothing, I was just a little curious. Mother, you don't need to worry about me."

The sixteenth prince shook his head, a smile appearing on his youthful face.

The elegant woman sighed, "My son, the imperial edict your father issued was actually for your own good. In the eyes of the world, he is the most powerful emperor under heaven, and even the four great clans of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise must bow down to him. Little do they know that your father's current enemies..."

She paused slightly as she spoke.

After gazing at the young boy before her for a long time, she finally pointed to the sky above her head:

"It is no longer in this world."

"Mother, you are obviously overthinking this. Father's cultivation is so powerful that he is definitely the strongest person in the world. Looking at the present world, who would dare to be his enemy?"

Upon hearing the woman's words, the sixteenth prince laughed heartily, completely unconcerned.

Seeing this, the woman didn't continue. Instead, she sighed, her expression slightly forlorn, and shook her head, saying, "In short, don't blame your father for being heartless. Your talent is insufficient, and your cultivation is inadequate. His banishment of you from the capital was actually to keep you away from places of trouble and conflict..."

"I understand, I understand, it's all for my own good anyway—"

The sixteenth prince nodded nonchalantly, "I understand the reasoning, but unfortunately I'm just a useless person and can't help Father Emperor at all."

Seeing this, the elegant woman finally stopped talking, sighed again, gave the sixteenth prince a few more instructions, and then slowly left the Imperial Garden.

Only then did the sixteenth prince narrow his eyes slightly.

"Dream..."

It must be said that Emperor Lingyun's high hopes for him were not entirely without reason.

He was indeed born precocious and knowledgeable, but for the past ten years, he had been having the same dream. In that dream, he was not the sixteenth prince of Lingyun Kingdom, but a young man named Feng Xia.

He entered a large tomb called the Demon Emperor's Tomb and stepped onto a secret treasure called the Heavenly Ladder.

And that so-called ladder to heaven has the miraculous effect of making people dream for ten years!

"Ha... How could such a thing be possible?"

Thinking of this, the young boy chuckled disdainfully: "What bullshit Feng Xia and Feng Dong? I, Lu Chenhai, am Lu Chenhai, not some dog shit Feng Xia! Get lost! This year marks the tenth anniversary. I want to see if you're dreaming, or if I'm dreaming—"

For the past ten years, everyone thought he was a good-for-nothing, idle and uneducated, but little did they know that he was also using his own methods to share the burdens of his father, the emperor!

Even those behind him didn't realize that this seemingly useless sixteenth prince of Lingyun Kingdom was hiding his true nature far better than anyone could have imagined.

"Not belonging to the world... So, Father's enemies come from heaven."

The young sixteenth prince narrowed his eyes, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to someone else: "Let me think, who exactly wants to attack Lingyun Kingdom? The Flying Immortal Sect? The Xuantian Sect? Or the Star Moon Demon Sect?"

He mentioned many names, but the enemy was too well hidden. Even though he had investigated a lot of intelligence over the years, he still couldn't find the mastermind behind it all.

"What do you think?"

As they were talking, the sixteenth prince suddenly looked down at the lotus pond.

Suddenly, water splashed up in the huge lotus pond, and two carp, one red and one green, leaped high into the air and landed with a splash in front of him.

The red carp then spoke in human language: "The question you asked touches on a blind spot in my knowledge. After all, although I have learned to think, I am still just a carp."

"You're a complete idiot!" the green carp shouted right after.

"Shut up! You're the idiot! Oh, by the way, Your Highness the Sixteenth Prince, could you put us back in the pond? After all, we're just carp, and if we stay out of the water for too long, we'll quickly turn into dried fish."

"it is good."

The sixteenth prince agreed without much thought. Seeing that the red carp still wanted to say something, he couldn't help but laugh: "You don't need to worry too much. Although I used the dream technique to let you dream for ten years and have your own lives in the dream, in the end, you are still just carp."

“You’re right!” The red carp wagged its tail. “Oh, by the way, let’s have fried chicken tonight!”

"Only an idiot would want to eat fried chicken!" the green carp continued.

“Okay, no problem, I’ll have the imperial kitchen send it over.”

The sixteenth prince smiled and waved his hand, tossing the two carp back into the lotus pond: "Go on, I want to be alone for a while."

Time passes slowly.

"It's about time to go back to your room."

As the moon rose above the willow branches, the sixteenth prince finally made a decision. He slowly stood up, dusted himself off, and was about to walk out of the Imperial Garden when suddenly disbelief appeared on his face:

"No, this is the royal palace of Lingyun Kingdom! There are countless layers of formations protecting this place. I've only been sitting here for half a day, how could there be so much dust?"

The sixteenth prince's body trembled violently, and a terrifying thought flashed through his mind:

"The palace's defenses have been breached by the enemy!"

Almost at the same time, a terrifying burst of flames descended from the sky, instantly turning the entire palace into a fiery hell!