Destiny?
The commander had no idea what that meant, but the words "destiny of the nation" made him break out in cold sweat. He pretended not to hear a thing and personally took care of the fake Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei's corpses on the ground.
He didn't believe that the Duke of Qin was involved in this, but he had to personally transport the corpses to White City for Emperor Kang Cheng to see. As for whether the emperor believed him, he had no idea.
What would Emperor Kang Cheng think?
Emperor Kang Cheng knew that the Chu Clan had exposed the crown prince's involvement in the embezzlement case. This was a sign of rebellion, but he never expected them to act so quickly.
He couldn't figure out where the Chu Clan's escape route lay. He was also keeping an eye on Empress Chu's movements in Western Liang!
Not only had the Chu Clan rebelled, but they'd even kidnapped his favorite empress. How could he tolerate such a thing?
In his fury, Emperor Kang Cheng would never believe a word from the Chu Clan again.
While Emperor Kang Cheng was using his iron fist to suppress the rebellion of the Chu Clan troops, he was also more or less concerned about the situation at Thousand Buddha Cave. After all, the Chu Clan's rebellion had started there, and it had a lot to do with the Thousand Ginkgo Tree.
Eagle messenger after eagle messenger arrived at the palace, allowing Emperor Kang Cheng to learn of the situation at Thousand Buddha Cave. He also learned that Chu Yunyi had called the impersonators the Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei at first, then changed to calling the masked man His Highness Duke of Qin.
How could he still trust Chu Yunyi?
As he saw it, Chu Yunyi was simply trying to drive a wedge between the Duke of Qin and Western Zhou. He was trying to drive a wedge between the Duke of Qin and Western Zhou.
A few days later, the two impersonators' corpses were placed in front of Emperor Kang Cheng. He was even more certain that Chu Yunyi was trying to drive a wedge between them.
"The Chu Clan's wishful thinking. Hmph, Zhen isn't stupid enough to offend the Duke of Qin! "Emperor Kang Cheng snorted.
No matter how good a position Empress Chu could secure for the Chu Clan in Western Liang, the Chu Clan would definitely side with the empress as soon as they rebelled. That would mean that Western Zhou and Tianning's century-old marriage alliance would be broken.
At this time, if Western Zhou was on good terms with the south central regions' commander-in-chief's estate, they would join forces to form a semicircle around Tianning's western and southern borders. Tianning's eastern borders were Tian An, while its northern borders were Northern Li. In this way, Tianning would have offended everyone around them and would be isolated and without help!
Even if Emperor Kang Cheng truly believed that the Duke of Qin had infiltrated Thousand Buddha Mountain, he'd still pretend he didn't know and continue to be on good terms with the Duke of Qin. This was the so-called strategy!
"A thousand-year-old ginkgo tree disappeared into thin air? Your Majesty, this matter is too strange. In this old servant's opinion, there must be a secret that no one knows about! "The old eunuch whispered.
Emperor Kang Cheng was still in a fit of anger, so these words only made him angrier. "Watch your mouth! Pass down my order, anyone who knows about this is to be killed without mercy!"
The old eunuch was alarmed. "Your Majesty, this old servant doesn't know anything! I've forgotten everything! Please spare this old servant's life! "
"Get out! If news of this gets out, we'll be the first to cut off your head!" Emperor Kang Cheng roared.
The thousand-year-old ginkgo tree was Western Zhou's divine tree and Thousand Buddha Cave's most precious treasure. If news of this strange event spread during the Chu Clan's rebellion, it would definitely be seen as an omen of misfortune and cause panic among the populace and the army.
Thus, even if Emperor Kang Cheng didn't know the truth, his first order of business would be to seal off the news and silence all witnesses.
Western Zhou was already in chaos. He wouldn't allow anything or anyone to add to the chaos!
The old eunuch scrambled out of the room. For the sake of keeping the secret and preserving his life, one could only imagine how well he'd do things.
After the old eunuch left, Emperor Kang Cheng secretly sent out a group of personal guards to investigate the matter in secret. All of his thoughts were focused on rescuing the empress and suppressing the Chu Clan's rebellion.
Meanwhile, the mysterious group of black-robed men were still in East Arrival Town, not far from Thousand Buddha Cave.
Long Fei Ye had only agreed to Chu Yunyi's plan that night to beat him at his own game. Although they'd stayed at the Chu Clan's estate that night and were under their surveillance, he'd still contacted his guards and arranged for a replacement.
From White City to Thousand Buddha Cave, he'd had plenty of chances to swap out his men. It could only be said that Chu Yunyi wasn't overconfident in himself, but underestimating Long Fei Ye's methods.
By now, Han Yunxi had finished explaining to everyone that the ginkgo tree's disappearance had been caused by Perplexing Butterfly Illusion. Long Fei Ye didn't think too much about the poison pond's disappearance.
"Duke of Qin, they're actually planning to induce labor on Chu Qingge? That's inconceivable! " As soon as they were free, Tang Li couldn't wait to report the news. With Gu and the others present, he even called Long Fei Ye the Duke of Qin.
Long Fei Ye had guessed that they'd make a fuss about Chu Qingge, but never expected it to be induced labor. No one was more shocked than Han Yunxi. "Really?"
She'd read a few classics in the modern world. Normally speaking, the smallest fetus was less than five months old and placed in an incubator with all sorts of equipment and medicine. Still, it was easy for such children to develop congenital defects.
She never expected that Cloud Realm Continent, where medical equipment was so crude, had the technology to induce labor as well! She had to admire the medical academy.
Even if Chu Qingge gave birth without a hitch, the child would still be safe.
But how much time and effort would they have to put into taking care of it? Would the child really live long enough to sit on the throne?
Most likely, the Chu Clan wouldn't let him live for long. They'd only use him as a cover until they stabilized their power in Western Zhou and replaced him with a son of the Chu Clan!
"It looks like they'll succeed in inducing labor …" Long Fei Ye said.
"In other words, the Chu Clan will definitely take over West Jing City?" Han Yunxi didn't have a good impression of Emperor Tianhui, but she was still unwilling to see Tianning fall into the Chu Clan's hands.
"Hasn't that Noble Consort Ning made any moves?" Chu Xifeng couldn't help but interrupt.
"Noble Consort Ning has no children," Han Yunxi replied indifferently. Han Yunxi said mildly. She had a clear understanding of Emperor Tianhui's harem. Who told her to be summoned to the palace every day to make things difficult for him?
Noble Consort Ning was one of Emperor Tianhui's four Noble Consorts, the most low-key of them all. She spent her days in seclusion, praying to Buddha, and staying away from worldly affairs. At first, Han Yunxi assumed that Noble Consort Ning had no backing behind her and was afraid of being bullied in the palace. But after asking around, she found out that Noble Consort Ning had the strongest backing amongst the four Noble Consorts, even stronger than the empress.
That was because Noble Consort Ning's older brother was none other than one of Tianning's three great generals, Ning Cheng.
Perhaps it was because of Noble Consort Ning's personality. Otherwise, none of the other Noble Consorts would've had a share in the inner palace's struggles!
Unfortunately, this Noble Consort Ning couldn't even give birth to a princess, much less a son. Otherwise, with Tianning's current situation, General Ning's estate would definitely do the same even if Noble Consort Ning didn't fight with Chu Qingge!
"Then there's only the fourth imperial prince left. He has a certain amount of power in the court and Emperor Tianhui's trust," Chu Xifeng added.
Long Fei Ye's plans were indeed based on the fourth imperial prince and General Ning's estate.
"Chu Xifeng, make the arrangements. We'll set out for West Jing this afternoon!" Long Fei Ye ordered immediately.
The Wood of Ten-Thousand Poisons was one of his goals on this trip, and another was to stir up chaos between Western Zhou and Tianning. With the Chu Clan's military might and the Nether Clan's foundations, they'd be a huge threat as soon as they found a foothold! Moreover, he wouldn't spare any of the members of Western Qin's imperial clan!
He'd shouldered the grudges of his country for over 20 years, growing from tender shoulders to broad shoulders. He'd never given up when he was a child, much less now. Aside from Han Yunxi, no one else could dream of getting an exception from him!
They set out in the afternoon. None of them had had a good rest over the past few days, so it was time for them to disperse and rest. Gu was about to leave when he asked, "Hey, did you guys notice that big bearded man Chu Yunyi captured? What's his background? Why were his shoulders and legs injured? "
By the time Gu's group arrived, Gu Beiyue had already been captured. They had no idea what had happened before that. But Gu had still noticed one person.
As for Han Yunxi, she was completely focused on the fight between Long Fei Ye and Chu Yunyi, as well as the thousand-year ginkgo tree. She had no idea that Chu Yunyi had captured someone else besides Empress Xue.
If she knew that that person was the white-clothed young master who had risked his life to save her, if the white-clothed young master was injured because of her, if she knew that the white-clothed young master was still paying attention to her despite his injuries, how would she feel?
Unfortunately, Lil Thing was sleeping in the poison storage space and couldn't smell him. Otherwise, Lil Thing would've rushed over to its gentleman's side at the sight of his injuries.
Chu Xifeng and Tang Li were too busy dealing with the archers to notice the bearded man's presence. Both of them shook their heads.
Han Yunxi was only curious. "Who did you capture?"
She looked towards Long Fei Ye. "Is it one of us?"
"It's not!" Long Fei Ye denied immediately. Although the two impersonators were dead, the fake Han Yunxi's signal not only told them they could move, but also that the Shadow Clan man had made his move.
Actually, Long Fei Ye was surprised by the signal.
He really was trying to sow discord between the Nether and Shadow Clans to force the Shadow Clan man out, but he never expected the man to go to Thousand Buddha Cave as well.
What was he doing there?
What had happened between him and Chu Yunyi to injure him so badly? With that man's skills, it'd be difficult for him to fight Chu Yunyi, but more than enough to escape the Nether Clan's rain of arrows.
Just what had happened before they went over?
"Who was that?" Han Yunxi asked.
"Just like your substitute, he disguised himself as one of the guards!" Gu added.
Long Fei Ye's eyes flashed with displeasure, but he didn't show it. Chu Xifeng had long noticed his master's expression and quickly added, "Perhaps he was after the thousand-year ginkgo tree as well. In any case, we've already gotten the thing, so who cares?"
"Everyone go rest. We'll set out in the afternoon," Long Fei Ye said simply before pulling Han Yunxi away.
The three people left behind were all stunned. Did Long Fei Ye take the wrong medicine today? He actually told everyone to go rest! Was the sun going to rise from the west?
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