Gu Beiyue's injuries weren't good, so Chu Yunyi was on guard against him. He couldn't rush the man, so all he could do was wait for the man to continue heading east.
Long Fei Ye's group was heading east as well.
Gu had no interest in these court battles, but was planning to help Han Yunxi get the Wood of Ten-Thousand Poisons before leaving. After all, he had to keep searching for the Fire and Metal of Ten-Thousand Poisons.
In order to use the Poison Sect to deal with the medical academy, he'd done plenty of research on it. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about these two things.
After finding out about Head Elder Ling's whereabouts in West Liang, Gu suddenly didn't want to leave. He didn't mind taking care of Head Elder Ling first since he couldn't destroy the medical academy for now. He'd already thought of ways to torture the man over the past few days and couldn't wait to follow Long Fei Ye to West Liang to stir things up!
As for Long Fei Ye, he was still keeping an eye on the bearded man who'd been taken away from Thousand Buddha Cave. Unfortunately, Chu Xifeng didn't find out anything.
"Your Highness, everyone at Thousand Buddha Cave that day besides us and Chu Yunyi's group … were all killed to silence them. Not a single one was left alive," Chu Xifeng reported in a low voice, before adding, "Even the monks weren't spared."
Long Fei Ye wasn't surprised. Times of war were scarier than anything else. Emperor Kang Cheng would never allow news of the thousand-year ginkgo tree to spread. That was good too. It'd save them some trouble, and Chu Yunyi's group wouldn't be able to confirm whether they'd gotten the Wood of Ten-Thousand Poisons.
The world was vast, so there were bound to be people who knew about the Perplexing Butterfly Illusion. If news of this got out, it'd be bad for them.
Long Fei Ye was more curious about Emperor Kang Cheng's reaction after learning of the Chu Clan's Nether Clan identity.
Han Yunxi was interested as well. "With the chaos of war right now, Kang Cheng won't expose the Chu Clan's secrets until he's fully grasped the situation!"
It wasn't clear when it started, but whenever Han Yunxi commented on the political situation, no one would answer her if Long Feiye didn't reply.
After Han Yunxi finished speaking, there was silence. She even suspected that she would become the king of awkward silence.
In fact, everyone was afraid of making a bet with her. They were worried that if they accidentally mentioned another bet while chatting, it would be another tragedy.
After a while, Chu Xifeng finally asked weakly, "Esteemed wangfei, shouldn't Emperor Kang Cheng have revealed the Chu Clan's secret to the world? The Fiends had betrayed the royal family of Western Qin, and they had a bad reputation. Someone will definitely hit you when you're down. "
Chu Xifeng clearly had a different opinion, but he was acting so modest. Tang Li chuckled and did not say anything.
"If someone hits you when you're down, someone will come to your rescue! Hur hur, once the news came out, wouldn't those bunch of dog slaves who supported the East Qin Imperial Family back then all jump out one by one! "Gu said with a snicker.
Chu Xifeng stole a glance at the Duke of Qin, who was expressionless and unmoved. Even so, Chu Xifeng still felt his hairs stand on end.
"Dog slaves?" Long Fei Ye asked with amusement.
"Heheh, whether they're masters or slaves, which one of them is good when it comes to fighting for power and profit?" Gu laughed disdainfully.
For the first time, Han Yunxi discovered that the heartless Gu had a cynical side to him! Actually, Han Yunxi didn't care much about Eastern and Western Qin. If not for that gentleman from the Shadow Clan and the Chu Clan's secret, she probably wouldn't have time to find out more.
When Long Fei Ye didn't answer, Gu purposely sat down next to him and tilted his head. "Hey, how many nobles did the East Qin Imperial Family have in their hands? Not many, I don't think? "
Both Chu Xifeng and Tang Li blanched at his words.
In truth, their fright was unnecessary, because Gu had no idea of Long Fei Ye's true identity. He only suspected that Long Fei Ye had good relations with the Tang Clan based on Tang Li.
Gu Qishao wasn't interested in Long Feiye's identity either. He was only interested in the man's abilities.
No one knew what Long Fei Ye was thinking right now. His face was still expressionless, but he told Gu the truth. "Just the Black and White Nobles."
The White Clan was the Baili Clan of the mermaids. But that was just an internal name. Besides the East Qin imperial clan and the mermaids themselves, no one knew that the White Clan was a special branch of the ancient mermaids who could leave the water for long periods of time to move about on land.
Without a doubt, the White Clan's secret skill was to dive underwater. They were invincible in the water!
When the Tang Clan found the White Clan, they began to infiltrate Tianning and form a navy. They borrowed Tianning's strength to raise their own military strength.
As for the Black Clan, neither the Tang Clan nor Long Fei Ye himself had any news of them. Still, they were only investigating in secret, not out in the open.
The Black Clan wasn't a loyal clan in the past, but had no choice but to rely on the East Qin imperial clan. Thus, Long Fei Ye was especially cautious about this matter.
"Just the Black and White Clans? In that case, Western Qin's imperial clan is very popular!" Gu grinned.
"The Shadow, Di, Nether, and Wind Clans are all on the side of Western Qin's imperial clan, right? The Nether Clan was the last to defect, "Han Yunxi said, then added," Only the Li Clan is neutral! "
"Poison lass, you know quite a bit!" Gu grinned.
"That's why, as soon as the Chu Clan's secret is exposed, the Shadow, Di, and Wind Clans' descendants will definitely seek revenge!" Han Yunxi said in support of her previous point of view.
But Long Fei Ye only laughed.
"Do you think 'loyalty' is something that everyone has?" Long Fei Ye asked.
"Western Qin's imperial clan has already been destroyed. The Shadow Clan, who used their lives to protect Western Qin's imperial clan, is still living. Where do the Seven Noble Families' loyalty come from?" Gu laughed as well.
Long Fei Ye didn't speak.
Han Yunxi knew she'd misunderstood. She'd overestimated the Seven Noble Families and their human nature.
"Aiya, what's the point of talking so much? Let's bet on when that old thief Kang Cheng will reveal the Chu Clan's secret to the world! "
Gu's words made Tang Li and Chu Xifeng bow their heads in unison. Long Fei Ye didn't speak either.
Han Yunxi replied, "I won't bet!"
Both Tang Li and Chu Xifeng looked up at Han Yunxi at the same time, their expressions the same as one of surprise.
"What are you doing?" Han Yunxi asked warmly.
"Nothing …" Chu Xifeng lowered his head again.
"Did I look at you?" Tang Li gave a cold snort before averting his eyes.
Han Yunxi only felt that these two men were acting strangely. Something's wrong with their heads!
As for betting, she'd never bet on anything she wasn't certain of. Thus, she'd never lose!
Although they weren't betting, they'd kept an eye on Emperor Kang Cheng's movements as they headed east. They'd kept an eye on the Chu Clan's situation, as well as Empress Xue's whereabouts.
In the span of a month, the Chu Clan troops had retreated east. For some reason, Emperor Kang Cheng hadn't revealed the Chu Clan's secret. He'd used all of Western Zhou's military forces against the Chu Clan, forcing them to retreat step by step.
How could a single clan resist the might of an entire nation before its wings were fully fledged?
Just when everyone was certain that the Chu Clan would lose, news of a shocking event broke out in West Liang that shocked all of Cloud Realm Continent!
Empress Chu had tripped in front of Emperor Tianhui's sickbed and given birth prematurely. She'd given birth to a seven-month-old baby boy who was still alive.
News of the baby's birth didn't spread out of the palace, but the next day all of West Liang was talking about the dazzling golden light that had appeared in the skies of the imperial palace last night.
Very soon, news of the golden light signalling the arrival of the holy sage spread throughout the city. A few days later, all of Tianning Country had heard of the news.
Emperor Tianhui had seen Empress Chu fall and bleed with his own eyes, so he was convinced that she'd been born prematurely. He was still marveling at the fact that his imperial son was still alive when he heard the news. Naturally, he was overjoyed and bestowed upon him the courtesy name "Zun."
Despite the constant pleas of the other imperial sons, some of whom even risked their lives to persuade Emperor Tianhui that premature babies wouldn't live long, Emperor Tianhui still insisted on making Chu Qingge the crown prince.
Emperor Kang Cheng was still in the morning court when he heard the news. He suddenly stood up from his dragon throne, startling all of his officials to their knees.
"Golden light signalling the arrival of the holy sage! Could it be … "Emperor Kang Cheng muttered to himself as he recalled the words of the Thousand Buddha Cave's abbot, 'predestination.'
Could it be that the disappearance of the ginkgo tree was predestination, and the birth of a holy sage from the Chu Clan's daughter was predestination as well? Was Western Zhou going to rise from his hands … no!
Emperor Kang Cheng was lost in his thoughts as he shook his head.
"Your Majesty, this is all heresy to mislead the masses! As this old official sees it, that premature child must be a full-term baby. West Liang has already fallen under the Chu Clan's control. That's why they're putting on such a show! Your Majesty, you mustn't diminish your own might by raising the spirits of others! "
"Your Majesty, abandon the empress and kill the Chu Clan troops!"
… …
Finally, someone in the imperial court formally proposed "abandoning the empress." If not for the fact that the empress was in the Chu Clan's hands, Emperor Kang Cheng would have been even more ruthless.
"Your Majesty, if we don't make a move now, Tianning's troops will cross the border and reinforce the three eastern prefectures!"
"Your Majesty, Emperor Tianhui has plenty of soldiers in his hands. Now they're all in the Chu Clan's hands!"
… …
Emperor Kang Cheng's expression was grave as the officials tried to persuade him. He needed time to think things over.
Meanwhile, Long Fei Ye and the rest weren't surprised by the news.
"Golden light signalling the arrival of the holy sage! Only they could think of something like that! "Han Yunxi laughed coldly. She'd seen plenty of such tricks in both official and unofficial histories. Still, it had to be said that such tricks could fool not only the common people, but the monarchs as well.
Long Fei Ye naturally didn't believe it. Even if he didn't know the truth of the premature birth, he'd never believe such things.
As for Gu, he was more concerned about how long Head Elder Ling would stay in Western Liang. At the very least, he'd still be there by the time they arrived!
Soon enough, all of the Chu Clan troops retreated to the eastern regions of Western Zhou and occupied Youyun, Fenglin, and Yaoshui prefectures that bordered Western Zhou and Tianning. Western Zhou's troops had reached the city walls as well, and the Chu Clan had used Empress Xue as a hostage to threaten the two armies! Empress Xue's in danger! "Tang Li exclaimed in a scholarly manner. His white robes made him look like a scholar.
"Emperor Kang Cheng's going to have a headache!" Chu Xifeng grinned.
Han Yunxi hesitated, but still asked openly, "If the crown prince's grounded, will the princess not show up to save her mother?"
Although Duanmu Yao wasn't Western Zhou's princess, she was still a member of Celestial Mountain, a powerful backer.
They were mother and daughter, after all. Duanmu Yao wouldn't be so heartless, would she?
Just as Long Fei Ye was about to reply, another unexpected piece of news arrived …
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