Chapter 2384 - 2074: Hopefully Things Aren’t as Bad as I Fear
Chu Qingli came to her senses and asked solemnly, "Where is the Saintess?"
Li Xun replied, "The Saintess is still in Guangling City. At first, she did not know that there existed a Heavenly Realm expert in the Zhen Nan Prince Manor."
"We only detected the presence of such an expert in the Zhen Nan Prince Manor when we used the Shadow Tracing Mirror in Cloud Cliff City."
"To prevent the Zhen Nan Prince Manor from seizing the Shadow Tracing Mirror, Elder Feng instructed me to bring the mirror back first. She returned to Guangling City to inform the Saintess of this matter."
Upon hearing Li Xun’s response, Chu Qingli furrowed her brow, suspecting that Mu Yunxi might have already been detained by the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
She was certain that a Heavenly Realm expert could not have arrived in such a remote place as Dazhou, so the Heavenly Realm expert in the Zhen Nan Prince Manor must be a local of Dazhou who broke through to the Heavenly Realm.
However, to break through to the Heavenly Realm would definitely require a large amount of resources, and Dazhou does not have enough resources to help an Earth Realm Spirit Warrior break through to the Heavenly Realm.
This proves that there is a large force supporting the Zhen Nan Prince Manor from behind, likely from outside Dazhou, probably from Central State.
Maybe the super force behind the Zhen Nan Prince Manor shares the same goals as the Heavenly Profound Sacred Land, which is not good news for her.
The other party must have detected the purpose of Tianxuan Palace, thus, the Zhen Nan Prince Manor will certainly try to stop Tianxuan Palace.
And since the Saintess of Tianxuan Palace has been sent right to them, the Zhen Nan Prince Manor has no reason not to detain her.
This is troublesome; Chu Qingli’s greatest concern isn’t that Mu Yunxi is imprisoned by the Zhen Nan Prince Manor, but rather that the Heavenly Realm expert of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor might come to them directly.
For now, there is no one in all of Dazhou that can stand against a Heavenly Realm Spirit Warrior. Even though Tianxuan Palace has a deep foundation, they cannot withstand such an existence.
If her guess is right and they indeed share the same purpose, then the first thing the Zhen Nan Prince Manor would likely do is to destroy Tianxuan Palace to prevent them from sabotaging the super force’s plans behind Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
Seeing Chu Qingli remain silent, Li Xun cautiously asked, "Palace Master, what should we do next?"
Chu Qingli snapped out of her thoughts, looking at Li Xun and said, "Dispatch someone to Guangling City immediately to gather information."
Despite Chu Qingli’s suspicion that there’s a super force behind the Zhen Nan Prince Manor, this has yet to be confirmed; it might even be her overthinking.
Perhaps the Heavenly Realm expert of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor indeed has high talent, allowing him to break through to the Heavenly Realm.
The Great Zhou Dynasty historically had such individuals emerge, like the First Generation Prince Zhen Nan, who had the talent to break through to the Heavenly Realm. Unfortunately, he was injured opposing mysterious upheavals, preventing the breakthrough.
Since the Zhen Nan Prince Manor has such ancestors like the First Generation Prince Zhen Nan, it is not impossible for his descendants to produce heirs capable of breaking through to the Heavenly Realm.
No matter what, gather information first, understand what truly happened, and then make decisions.
If the Zhen Nan Prince Manor truly is a pawn placed within the Great Zhou Dynasty by other forces, then Tianxuan Palace must find a way to avoid the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
Upon hearing Chu Qingli’s order, Li Xun immediately bowed and said, "Yes, I will arrange for disciples to go to Guangling City."
With that said, Li Xun turned and left. After Li Xun departed, Chu Qingli looked at the clouds in the sky and muttered to herself, "Hopefully, the situation isn’t as bad as I imagined."
The news that the Zhen Nan Prince Manor had sealed the Deceit King couldn’t be kept secret.
Soon, the rumors that the Zhen Nan Prince Manor had sealed those Deceit Kings spread throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty and even reached the Capital city.
However, while the Imperial Court was thinking of verifying whether this rumor was true, the people of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor had already headed south towards Guangling City.
Ji Yunmeng also went to Guangling City with the people from the Deceit Suppression Bureau.
In the Capital city, the Empress’s bedchamber.
Pei Shuhua sat in the Phoenix Chair in full formal dress, sternly looking at the people kneeling in the great hall as she coldly spoke, "A bunch of useless fools!"
"The people of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor ran away without you knowing."
"And the Deceit Suppression Bureau is simply arrogant beyond measure!"
"They even took the secret stash of the Deceit Suppression Bureau to Guangling City. What are they trying to do? Rebel?"
At this moment, Pei Shuhua was very angry. She had just received news that all the heads of the Deceit Suppression Bureau had run off.
Now, nearly all of the Deceit Suppressing Guards have left the Capital, and the people of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor have disappeared without a trace.
At this point, how could she not understand what all this meant?
Clearly, the Zhen Nan Prince Manor has decided to distance itself from the Royal Family, or has already harbored rebellious intentions, thus moving all their people to Guangling City.
This way, the Royal Family can no longer threaten the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
However, Pei Shuhua couldn’t understand why the Zhen Nan Prince Manor, despite controlling the Deceit Suppression Bureau, chose to flee.
Logically, the biggest card in the Zhen Nan Prince Manor’s hand is the Demon Suppression Tower of the Deceit Suppression Bureau.
As long as the Zhen Nan Prince Manor controls the Deceit Suppression Bureau, the Royal Family dare not turn against the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
Once the Zhen Nan Prince Manor destroys the Demon Suppression Tower, and the mysterious and evil spirits within the tower escape, the Capital will be thrown into chaos.
Yet, the Zhen Nan Prince Manor abandoned this card. By fleeing, the Deceit Suppression Bureau falls under the control of the Imperial Court, but currently, the Deceit Suppression Bureau is merely a shell, with only some lower-ranking, or less capable, Deceit Suppressing Guards remaining at headquarters.
Pei Shuhua forced herself to remain calm, as this is not the time to be angry.
Although she did not know what method the Zhen Nan Prince Manor used to coax all the experts of the Deceit Suppression Bureau to Guangling City, judging by the secret stash the Deceit Suppression Bureau secretly took along, it seems the Bureau fully pledged its allegiance to the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
The Zhen Nan Prince Manor’s influence has become substantial. Now, it is not so easy for the Royal Family to annihilate the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.
The best plan is to remove Lu Chen, ensuring the Zhen Nan Prince Manor has no heir.
As long as the Zhen Nan Prince Manor loses its descendants, even if it has gathered numerous experts, it will inevitably disperse eventually.
However, eliminating Lu Chen is not easy.
In the past, even when Lu Chen was in the Capital city, they couldn’t manage to eliminate him.
Now that Lu Chen has fled to Guangling City, to the Zhen Nan Prince Manor’s territory, it becomes even more difficult for the Royal Family to remove him.
Moreover, with the Deceit Suppression Bureau now part of the Zhen Nan Prince Manor, the number of Earth Realm experts in the Zhen Nan Prince Manor has almost reached the number of tributors in the Royal Family.
The key is that the Imperial Court cannot turn against the Zhen Nan Prince at this time because they were the ones who sealed the Deceit Kings, and thus they can also release those Deceit Kings.
Once relations are broken, if the Zhen Nan Prince Manor releases those Deceit Kings, causing havoc again for Dazhou, it will be a bad situation for the Imperial Court.
To remove Lu Chen, it must be done covertly.
Pei Shuhua pondered for a long time, then sighed slightly. It seems she must seek assistance from those above.
The current situation in Dazhou makes her feel it is somewhat troublesome.
She internally still suspects that the reason the Deceit Suppression Bureau pledged allegiance to the Zhen Nan Prince Manor might be related to Emperor Zhou.
Otherwise, why would the Deceit Suppression Bureau pledge allegiance to a Seignior on the decline?
The Zhen Nan Prince doesn’t have much longer to live, and Fan Yaodong shouldn’t be so foolish. There must be reasons she isn’t aware of.
Perhaps it’s Emperor Zhou arranging secretly, pretending to let the Deceit Suppression Bureau support the Zhen Nan Prince Manor, then he can leave the palace again like before, eventually leading the Zhen Nan army to march directly back to the Capital city.
Thinking of this possibility, a chill flashed through Pei Shuhua’s eyes.
If it truly is so, then she must fully suppress the Zhen Nan Prince Manor.