Volume 1, Chapter 44: Grandmother, Fusang is Here

"My lord, the fourth prince of Changji is here," Manman said as she walked in.

Ye Fusang glanced at the desolate scenery outside the window, remembering the person who had stood quietly like an invisible wall behind Ji Changqi during yesterday's banquet, and raised her eyebrows slightly. "What is he here for?"

"I do not know." Manman shook her head, a hint of anxiety in her eyes. "My lord, Manman heard that you have engaged in a divination wager with the Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. If you lose..."

Mu Zhijing abruptly pushed aside the terrified deputy commander. She knew that even with the courage of the heavens, these supervising officials, imperial guards, and palace guards would never dare to harm the Emperor. There had to be a terrifying truth hidden within all this.

Jiang Ruan, whom Li Xuan considered to have high emotional and intellectual intelligence, had recently been feeling a constant lack of energy. From time to time, he would feel drowsy and weak, as if he could never get enough sleep. However, his complexion was naturally fair to begin with, so even if it grew a bit pale, no one else would notice.

Furthermore, a place like Jinyang was called a strategic stronghold, but with Yanmen Pass guarding it to the north, it was actually a place of absolute security. The Emperor sending him to govern this place was essentially a disguised form of retirement, allowing him to enjoy peace, leisure, and immense wealth.

Long Qiuyue's large eyes rolled around restlessly as she darted glances between Jiang Sian and Long Ningxue. She was inwardly quite astonished—why would her elder sister, who had always been cold and devoid of pleasantries, suddenly start caring about others?

The conductor usually worked this route, and almost as soon as the words left her mouth, she rattled off the exact fare that needed to be collected.

As a smuggled soul from another realm, Luan Jiang's soul was naturally rejected by the Heavenly Dao of this world, but that no longer mattered to him.

Suddenly, his body went limp, and a heart-rending, agonizing pain gripped his chest. Who could possibly understand how difficult it was to be caught in a situation where one had to choose between protecting the common people of the world and safeguarding one's own family, knowing that only one option could be chosen?

The imperial family was being crushed, unable to catch their breath under a mountain of difficulties. Therefore, the last time they saw Yi Zhengqi, that bloodsucking parasite, manage to develop both the Herding Province and the Heilun Province into thriving territories, the imperial family grew envious. They abruptly crushed the Zhaoge Army and had all the wealth acquired by them "confiscated and turned over to the state."

Yet, no matter how much I wished not to go in, reality would not bend to my expectations. The moment I stopped, Yukino's hand was already resting on the doorknob. Accompanied by a slowly opening door and a greeting of "Welcome," she cast a sideways glance at me and walked inside. Naturally, I followed closely behind her.

Following these remarks, all the generals could not help but nod inwardly, deeply admiring Zhang Liang's insight for analyzing the current balance of power between the enemy and themselves with such thoroughness.

As soon as she stepped out of the doors of the Heavenly Residence, she instructed Qingniao in a low voice, "Go to the Supervision Bureau and find that record-keeper under Miluo. Have him help investigate what connection Juan Niang, a second-class steward of the Heavenly Residence, might have with the Minghui Sect. Also, probe into Manager Wu's background." While one must harbor no intention to harm others, one must never lower their guard against the harm others might inflict.

At this point, Pu Shan could not fail to understand that Ze Min must harbor ill intentions and already had his suspicions.

With the protection of these people, Empress Dowager Gu and Kuang Shihai did not dare to easily make a move against Qiu Jinglan—after all, the Northern Garrison Army had long been cultivated by the Jiang family into their private forces.

The Jiang family had obtained a limited number of Heavenly Silkworm Armors, so they could only prioritize their direct descendants. However, out of filial piety toward their eldest brother, and despite the Baron of Kuifang living a life of leisure in his ancestral home where theoretically such an item was completely unnecessary, Duke Qin and the Marquis of Jibei still specially sent two sets to him—not counting those for the offspring of the second and fifth branches.

"Because human nature is inherently greedy, none of them walked out alive!" the wolf demon opposite him said.

I did not know how to answer his question about the tofu, because my own mind was currently in complete turmoil. I had seen plenty of corpses inside ancient tombs, but to have such a scene unfold with my own eyes in my own home was truly more than ordinary people could bear.

Following Yang Yang through a maze of twists and turns, Yu Xing finally discovered that he had been led by his class monitor to the outside of a large classroom's window. Even more miraculously, a wooden stage step used for drama performances had been set up right beside the windowsill, and teaching assistants from other classes whom he vaguely recognized kept crawling out of the classroom through the window.