Divine Capital.
Li Residence.
In the morning, when Li Mu walked out of Li Qing's room, Wanwan and Xiao Bai had already returned from grocery shopping. They were washing vegetables at the kitchen door while discussing a strange incident that had been spreading among the people of Divine Capital.
A few days ago, more than one person in Zhong County had seen a divine dragon flying across the sky while working in the fields.
Divine Capital was inland, so there weren't many opportunities to see the Water Tribe. Dragons had always only appeared in rumors. Once the news of a divine dragon appearing in Zhong County spread, it caused widespread discussion among the people.
The people had never seen a true dragon before, so naturally, they couldn't tell the difference between a flood dragon and a true dragon.
Li Mu didn't bring the flood dragon back to Divine Capital. Instead, he placed it in a river in Zhong County so that it could cultivate and wait for Li Mu's orders.
For the peace of the place, Li Mu also set two rules for it.
First, it wasn't allowed to appear in front of people and disturb the people.
Second, in the next ten years, it could only solve its physiological problems with its hands. It wasn't allowed to seduce married women, nor was it allowed to abduct ignorant women. Whether it was a human or a demon, Li Mu would cut off its tools if he was caught.
After ten years, Li Mu would have reached Realm Six and wouldn't need the flood dragon anymore. He could set it free.
Today was the day that Phantom Princess and the others returned to the Yao Nation. Li Mu personally led the officials of Honglu Temple to send them out of the city. Phantom Princess originally wanted Li Mu to escort her back to Thousand Fox Nation, but Li Mu heartlessly refused.
Although her identity was very special, and the Yao Nation and Diabolism saw her as a thorn in their side, the Queen of Thousand Fox Nation today was no longer the Phantom Princess of the past.
Li Mu had given her almost all the wealth that he had inherited from Emperor Bai. Now, even if she fought with the Empress, she might not be at a disadvantage. She didn't need anyone to protect her.
This trip to Divine Capital was a huge blow to Phantom Princess.
If she didn't leave Qianhu Kingdom, she wouldn't be able to imagine the difference between the Queen of Qianhu Kingdom and the Empress of Great Zhou. Compared to the Divine Capital of Great Zhou, her Qianhu City was at most a barren mountain village.
Unless she could unify the Yao Nation, become the Queen of the Ten Thousand Demons, and raise her cultivation to the seventh level, then she would have the qualifications to be on equal footing with Zhou Yi.
At the city gate, Illusion Princess looked at the flying ship floating in the air and said to Li Mu, "I'm leaving."
Li Mu's face lit up with joy; he quickly said, "Goodbye."
When she was in Shen 'du, she was trying her best to sow discord between him and the Empress in front of Liu Hanyan. Once she left, Li Mu's family would at least be more harmonious. Li Mu had been looking forward to this for a long time.
Phantom Princess caught the smile on his face and snorted, "Are you happy that I'm leaving?"
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Of course not, hahaha …"
…
Seeing the flying ship turn into a stream of light and fly away, Li Mu rubbed his waist, which was still aching, and returned to the palace to report.
In Changle Palace, Zhou Yi hugged Zhong Ling and asked calmly, "Did that fox leave?"
Li Mu: "Yes."
Zhou Yi pressed her face against Zhong Ling's face and said with a smile, "Ling 'er, Mother will take you to a fun place …"
The little girl said, "Daddy will go too."
Li Mu followed behind the mother and daughter and walked out of Changle Palace. Perhaps the Empress had really reached the age of being a mother. She doted on Zhong Ling so much that even Li Mu felt that he had been left out.
However, he didn't need to be jealous of his own daughter. He enjoyed the feeling of a happy family of three.
When he was free in the future, he would have two more children with Liu Hanyan and Li Qing. Then, his life would be complete.
In the palace, the officials and palace maids were already used to this scene. Everyone knew that Lord Li's daughter had taken Her Majesty as her godmother. Her Majesty doted on her very much and often summoned her to the palace. She ordered the imperial chefs to make all kinds of delicious food for her and took her to play in the palace. Everyone in the palace already knew this cute little girl.
As for where Lord Li's daughter came from, there were many different opinions.
Some said that he had her with Madam Li when he was young, and it was only now that it was made public.
Others said that she was the child of Lord Li and the Demon Kingdom Queen and was only recently sent back.
The officials with some cultivation could naturally see that Lord Li's daughter wasn't human, nor was she a demon. She was a spirit, and it was very likely that she was the child of Lord Li and a ghost.
It wasn't strange for something like this to happen to him.
Everyone knew that Lord Li was neither friend nor foe. He was upright and plainspoken, and devoted to the people and the country. However, he was lustful and surrounded by beauties. Not only did he have rumors with Her Majesty, but it was also said that he had a good relationship with the Demon Kingdom Queen.
This actually proved that Her Majesty doted on him. Since ancient times, there had been many princesses who were children of important ministers, but it was very rare for them to directly recognize their relatives.
In the palace, Zhou Yi led Zhong Ling into the ancestral temple, and Li Mu followed.
This wasn't his first time here. Compared to last time, the ancestral temple had changed a lot. The furnishings and decorations were still the same. Thirty-six small cauldrons were connected to a large cauldron, and a golden dragon was swimming in the large cauldron.
However, the golden light on each small cauldron was much more dazzling than the last time Li Mu saw them.
The most dazzling cauldron was naturally the one in the middle that belonged to the Central Commandery. The people of the Divine Capital had the strongest psychokinesis, and it was comparable to the combined power of several other cauldrons. When Li Mu came last time, the cauldrons of psychokinesis in the various commanderies were far from this bright. This meant that in the past two years, the psychokinesis of the people of the various commanderies had greatly increased.
On the one hand, the abolition of the silver punishment law and the punishment of the corrupt officials had made the people trust the imperial court more.
On the other hand, after the Demon Division was established in the various commanderies, the demons in the Great Zhou also contributed a lot of psychokinesis.
In addition to the small cauldrons being brighter, the golden dragon on the large cauldron was also fatter than the last time Li Mu saw it. At this moment, it was happily swimming in the cauldron.
Three elders wearing four-clawed dragon robes were guarding here. They were the experts of the Xiao Royal Clan. Ever since the Zhou Clan stole the Emperor's Aura, the Xiao Clan had sent three clan experts to guard the ancestral temple to prevent the Emperor's Aura from being stolen again. These three people were almost all of the top combat power of the Xiao Royal Clan.
When the three elders saw the Empress bring Li Mu and Zhong Ling in, they only looked up and closed their eyes again.
Zhong Ling reached out to grab the golden dragon. Li Mu hurriedly said, "You can't touch it."
Zhou Yi glanced at Li Mu and said indifferently, "Why can't you touch it?"
She looked at the golden dragon and said, "Come here."
The golden dragon trembled as it flew over. Zhong Ling caught it and played with it. It was originally a formless object, but Zhong Ling was also a spiritual body. She easily caught it in her hand and played with it wantonly.
Zhong Ling played with the spirit of psychokinesis for a while and lost interest.
Although they were both spiritual bodies, she relied on the origin power of heaven and earth. This dragon was condensed from psychokinesis and could not be absorbed by her for cultivation. So, she quickly let go of the dragon.
After the golden dragon regained its freedom, it immediately entered the cauldron and did not dare to poke its head out.
Zhong Ling clearly did not know that this was the most important place in the Great Zhou. She only felt that this place was claustrophobic and boring. Soon, she made a fuss about leaving.
After the family of three left, the ancestral temple regained its silence.
Two of the three people sitting cross-legged in the corner cultivating with their eyes closed slowly opened their eyes.
The elder on the left frowned slightly and muttered, "What does she mean by this? Why did she suddenly adopt a daughter?"
The elder on the right said indifferently, "What's there to guess? As long as she doesn't pass the throne to the Zhou family, whatever she does has nothing to do with us. Watch this Emperor's Qi carefully. According to the current rate of psychokinesis gathering, this new Emperor's Qi will mature in five years or ten years. At that time, as long as we get ahead of the Zhou family, we can settle the situation in one fell swoop."
After he finished speaking, his eyes were filled with emotion. He said, "She has only been on the throne for five years. Who would have thought that in the history of the Great Zhou, the emperor who condensed Emperor's Qi the fastest was actually her …"
The elder on the left glanced at him and asked in return, "Isn't this a big deal? Why don't you think about how she got the throne? If she gave this Emperor's Qi to her adopted daughter, what can we do?"
The elder on the right shook his head and said, "That's impossible. You also know that the girl is just a spiritual body. Her origins are unknown. She can't accept the Emperor's Qi. The officials and the people of the Great Zhou will not accept her as the emperor. If Zhou Yi really wants to do that, the four great academies will not sit by and do nothing."
The elder on the left looked at him and said indifferently, "That girl is impossible, but what about the others? What if she likes this feeling and decides to give birth to one herself? At that time, will the people still object? Will the four great academies still object?"
As soon as he said this, even the elder in the middle who had his eyes closed all this time suddenly opened his eyes.
In these two years, the situation in the Divine Capital had undergone earth-shaking changes.
The old and new parties that had once controlled the entire imperial court had long lost most of their right to speak in the imperial court. Many officials, led by Zhang Chun, had begun to stand firmly on the empress' side.
Two years ago, the four great academies had clearly supported the old and new parties. In these two years, their attitudes had become more and more unpredictable.
The reason was that previously, everyone had thought that the Great Zhou would be destroyed by a female emperor. However, the reality was the opposite. The Great Zhou was now the strongest and most united in the past 50 years. The four great academies no longer had a reason to interfere with the empress's selection of an heir.
With the empress's current popular support and the power she held, as long as her decision was not too out of line, the people and the four great academies would not object.
It was not out of line for her to give birth to a child and pass the throne to him in the future.
When the three of them thought of this possibility, they suddenly realized that at some point in time, the Xiao clan had completely lost control of the Great Zhou.
They looked at the Emperor's Qi in the big cauldron, their eyes burning with passion. The Xiao clan's loss of power could no longer be reversed. This Emperor's Qi might be their last hope.
After a long silence, the elder in the middle slowly said, "We must not sit by and watch this happen. Inform King Ping and let them prepare early …"
Changle Palace.
After leaving the ancestral shrine, Mr. Mei and Shangguan Li took Zhong Ling to the imperial garden to play. Only Li Mu and the empress were left in the main hall. In fact, a long time ago, Li Mu had been thinking about a problem. Who was the empress planning to pass the supreme position of the Great Zhou to?
He had asked Mr. Mei in a roundabout way before. Mr. Mei had warned him not to guess the empress's intentions. This was not a question he could ask.
At that time, Li Mu and the empress were not very close. Now, he felt that he could ask.
Li Mu's tone was calm. He asked casually, "Your Majesty, have you thought about who to give the Emperor's Qi in the ancestral shrine?"
Zhou Yi said, "To the Xiao clan."
When she said this, she did not hesitate. It was obvious that she had already planned this.
This was the same as Li Mu's guess.
If she did not want to pass the throne to the Xiao clan, she would not have allowed the three elders of the Xiao clan to guard the ancestral shrine. This meant that the empress had already made this decision when she first ascended the throne.
Based on Li Mu's understanding of her, she must have felt that the Zhou clan did not have the right to the throne. The Xiao clan had ruled the Great Zhou for hundreds of years. The idea that the Xiao clan was the royal family was deeply ingrained.
It was reasonable and reasonable to give the Xiao clan the title.
Zhou Yi looked at Li Mu and asked, "What do you think?"
Li Mu said, "Your Majesty, I will listen to you."
He used to think that it was better for the empress to give birth to her own child than to pass the throne to an outsider. However, seeing how much the empress doted on her child, she probably could not bear to let her own child suffer.
However, the world that they had fought so hard to conquer was given to the Xiao clan for nothing.
Although he had already guessed this, after receiving confirmation from the empress, Li Mu still relaxed about the court matters. He was no longer as energetic as before.
He did not even care about the matter of Shen Guo's provocation in the border county and the decrease of the psychokinesis in the South County. He left it all to the Secretariat to deal with.
For three consecutive days, Li Mu was late and left early. Today, he still left early and got off work early. When he returned home, he took a wedding invitation from Wanwan.
Li Si and Chen Miaomiao had given birth to a pair of twins. Tonight, they invited him to their house for a drink. Li Mu naturally would not refuse and brought Zhong Ling over tonight.
At Li Si's house, Li Mu saw Zhang Chun, whom he had not seen for a long time. He had just returned from a business trip. Li Mu did not know if it was his imagination, but he felt that Zhang Chun was intentionally avoiding him tonight.
After the banquet ended, Li Mu waited outside the door. When he saw Zhang Chun walk out, he asked, "Old Zhang, did I offend you?"
Zhang Chun shook his head repeatedly. "No, how could it be …"
Li Mu asked, "Then why are you avoiding me?"
Zhang Chun said flatly, "No, why would I avoid you for no reason?"
Li Mu thought that he was thinking too much. He pointed at Zhang Chun and said to the little girl in his arms, "Ling 'er, this is Uncle Zhang."
Zhang Chun smiled awkwardly at Zhong Ling. Li Mu asked in confusion, "Why aren't you curious? Who gave birth to this child with me?"
Zhang Chun shook his head. "I'm not curious. I'm not interested in this matter at all. I still have matters to attend to at home, so I'll go back first …"
Li Mu looked at his back in surprise. It had only been a month since they last met, but he had changed so much. He was completely unlike the gossipy Zhang Chun that Li Mu knew.
The streets of the Fairy's Capital were bustling as usual. All kinds of news and topics of conversation gathered here.
Today, the commoners were most interested in the private affairs of the Li Residence.
The sudden appearance of a child by Lord Li's side caused a heated discussion in the Fairy's Capital. It even overshadowed the matter of the illegitimate child during the reign of the previous Emperor.
There were differing opinions about who Lord Li had given birth to this child with. Some said that it was Lady Li's, while others said it was the Demon Kingdom's queen. No one knew when it started, but there were rumors that the child was Lord Li's and His Majesty's. In the past, the commoners naturally did not dare to talk about His Majesty. However, after the self-discipline law was reformed, the Great Zhou no longer convicted people based on words. The commoners' topics of conversation became bolder and bolder.
At a temporary tea stall on the street, the waiter selling tea whispered to the customers, "Hey, have you heard? Lord Li and His Majesty gave birth to a daughter …"
One of the customers heard this and said happily, "Is that true?"
The waiter was stunned and asked in surprise, "This is something that goes against ethics. Why do you seem so happy?"
The customer said without hesitation, "Of course. Like father, like son. The child of Lord Li and His Majesty will definitely be a dragon among men in the future. If she can inherit His Majesty's position, our children and grandchildren will also be able to live good lives …"
When the customers heard this, they all responded in unison.
"Is that true? There's such a good thing?"
"If it's true, then that's great!"
"This is the best news I've heard this year, no, in the past few years …"
…
The waiter at the tea stall looked at the crowd in a daze. He had thought that this matter would be criticized and discussed by the common people. He had never imagined that the common people would actually have such a reaction. It was as if they were happier than if they had given birth to a child themselves …
Li Mu had also heard the rumors circulating in the marketplace. The common people usually did not have the guts to criticize the Empress. There had to be someone pushing this matter behind the scenes.
As for who was pushing it, Li Mu did not need to think to know.
It was either the Xiao clan or the Zhou clan. Their goal was undoubtedly to use the pressure of public opinion to cut off the possibility of the Empress passing the throne to someone else in advance.
Unexpectedly, the common people's support for the coupling of Li Mu and the Empress was so high. In just two days, there were already many people calling for the Empress to make him empress.
The person behind the scenes had gone for wool and come home shorn.
More importantly, with the Empress's bearing, no one knew the consequences of offending her better than Li Mu.
He walked into Changle Palace and saw that the Empress's expression was extremely ugly.
Zhou Yi saw Li Mu walk in and said in a low voice, "I've changed my mind."
Li Mu was puzzled. "Changed your mind about what?"
Zhou Yi said coldly, "I don't want to give that imperial aura to the Xiao clan anymore."
Li Mu said in a daze, "Your Majesty wants to pass it to the Zhou clan?"
Zhou Yi said, "No."
Li Mu thought for a moment and said in astonishment, "Could it be that Your Majesty really wants to give birth to a child?"
Before Zhou Yi could speak, Zhong Ling, who was in Li Mu's arms, clapped her hands and said happily, "Good, good, I already have a younger brother or sister to play with me. Father, mother, you can have another one …"
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