Chapter 184: Chapter 163: The Emperor’s Sword

The first thing that caught Du Chengfeng’s attention was the short sword on the right.

To call it a short sword might not be entirely accurate, as this blade didn’t strictly adhere to the form of a short sword. The proportion between the hilt and the blade was more balanced, making it look more like a reduced-scale longsword—if any child were to swing it, it would likely be highly suitable. This small yet exquisite treasure sword held a lethal allure for any young child.

"Still sharpened, huh..."

Du Chengfeng unsheathed the little treasure sword and examined the edge, shaking his head repeatedly.

This sharp toy was too dangerous for young children.

It was more suited for an adult like him to play with.

With the moonlight streaming in from outside, Du Chengfeng casually spun the sword, the tiny treasure sword in his hand had a stunning balance, wielded smoothly, like an extension of his arm—if he had managed to get his hands on such a fine piece as a child, no wild grass within a mile would have been spared being slashed clean, even the roadside shrubbery would have suffered.

But while indulging in this amusement, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt something was off.

This small sword, which seemed like a child’s toy, was actually tainted with some evil qi.

"Killed before?"

Du Chengfeng paused for a moment, then simply took out the grinding stone from his bosom.

After all, he came here for this purpose, so sharpening this little sword seemed convenient.

After wiping the edge briefly, Du Chengfeng sat down at the desk and started to grind the sword.

Dust covers the bygone days, the blade recording past stories.

With the sharpening, Du Chengfeng gradually unraveled the story of this little sword’s past.

As Du Chengfeng expected, this little sword with a perfect grip was indeed crafted by a master artisan, forged by the imperial blacksmiths of the court and engraved with patterns by the finest craftsmen. The sword did not employ mundane materials like gold or silver, opting instead for the more austere copper and iron, making the little sword appear more like a practical weapon rather than a mere flashy toy.

And after all this, the little sword was sent to a child named Chen Yu’s hands.

Once the child picked up the sword, Du Chengfeng understood that this sword was custom-made for the child.

The fact proved that such a sharp and dangerous toy was indeed unsuitable for children. At least, upon receiving this sword, the child called Chen Yu made the same choice as Du Chengfeng—thus, the gardens of the palace suffered. Various flowers, plants, and trees were felled, the place marred with haphazard sword cuts.

Nevertheless, even though the child was so unruly, no one could stop him.

After all, this child named Chen Yu was the eldest son of the Emperor of Da Chen, also the honored Crown Prince of the Da Chen state.

Neither the maids nor the eunuchs could discipline him; despite their seniority, they dared not reproach the Crown Prince. The palace guards were also reluctant to intervene, regardless of their prowess, they dared not snatch the weapon from the Crown Prince’s hands.

Only one person could discipline the Crown Prince.

That person was the Crown Prince’s father.

Upon learning about Chen Yu’s misdeeds, the Emperor of that time did not become angry, nor did he scold the young Chen Yu, merely calling young Chen Yu over, together with those maids, eunuchs, and even the guards.

"I heard you chopped down all the flowers and plants in the Imperial Garden."

The Emperor looked at Chen Yu, who wore the treasured sword on his belt, with a smile.

"Is this how you’re practicing your sword technique?"

"I have already learned Sword Technique from the masters!"

The young Chen Yu replied proudly.

"How is it, Father? Aren’t my sword skills impressive?"

"No, it’s still lacking a bit of finesse."

The Emperor shook his head, then instructed Chen Yu to draw the little sword.

Immediately, he bent down, holding Chen Yu’s hand, and drove the little sword into a eunuch’s chest.

"Remember this, this is how you use a sword."

Saying this, the Emperor continued to guide the paralyzed-with-fear Chen Yu, stabbing each one consecutively.

That day, all the maids, eunuchs, and even the guards of the Crown Prince’s Residence were executed with this little sword under the charge of dereliction of duty, and the little sword was tainted with an indelible bloodstain.

Ever since that incident, Chen Yu never wore this little sword again, only occasionally taking it out to look at it, reminiscing his lost childhood.

And as time marched on, the child known as Chen Yu gradually grew up, and the face of Chen Yu began to overlap with a youthful countenance in Du Chengfeng’s memory.

"So that’s the kind of education the Emperor of Nan Chen received..."

Coming back to his senses, Du Chengfeng looked at the little sword in his hand, speechless for a long time.

Was it to train a child’s ruthlessness? Or was it to warn the child to follow the rules? Or perhaps, as the old Emperor in that memory said, it was simply to let the child master the real feeling of killing?

No matter the intention, such a way of education was too outrageous, using the lives of dozens of people as props just to instill a lesson in a child.

This was too much...

"No wonder the Emperor of Nan Chen seemed off before."

Recalling the young Emperor’s appearance when he saw him earlier, coupling it with his unconventional behavior, and aligning that with what he just saw in the sword sharpening, Du Chengfeng faintly comprehended something.

Living under such high pressure since childhood, even before being as tall as a wheel, witnessing dozens of lives perish before one’s eyes, even at one’s own hands, would make it hard for such a person’s mind to stay normal.

The old Emperor’s conduct hardly qualified as education; exposing a young child to such brutality would only drive him mad.

"But I suppose I’ve found the right place." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Thinking this, Du Chengfeng glanced toward the remaining two swords.

Evidently, these two swords were also left by that Chen Yu, or rather, the young Emperor, and unlike the small sword that was abandoned early on, these two swords likely concealed the real secrets of the Emperor of Nan Chen.

After pondering for a moment, Du Chengfeng picked up the saber from the table first.

The saber was a ring-headed saber, also quite delicately crafted, but what caught Du Chengfeng’s attention was that the length of the saber seemed a little off—clearly, even after giving up on the little sword, Chen Yu, as the Crown Prince, had to have a tool for practicing martial arts.

So the craftsmen custom-made this ring-headed saber for him.

"And then? What did the Emperor of Nan Chen do afterward?"

Feeling the faintly present evil qi on the blade, Du Chengfeng took a deep breath, placing the ring-headed saber on the grinding stone.