Minglong

Chapter 279: Deployment
Imperial City, Penglai Palace.

As the emperor's residence, Penglai Palace usually did not receive officials. However, Zhao Xiao was entertaining his daughter and son-in-law and did not care about so many cumbersome rules. He simply set up a table in the banquet hall where they usually dined.

Palace maids served various delicacies one after another. Zhao Xiao, dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, sat in the main seat. Seeing that Xie Jinhuan and Linghu Qingmo were both behaving themselves, he said warmly:

"It's just a family dinner, no need to be so formal. Qingmo, this isn't your first time dining with the Empress, why are you acting so shy?"

Empress Xu sat beside Zhao Xiao, her face bearing a striking resemblance to Zhao Ling. She was currently scrutinizing Xie Jinhuan, clearly finding this son-in-law very agreeable.
"Yes. His Majesty has never been pretentious. If you all can't relax, this meal won't be enjoyable."

Xie Jinhuan must have maintained a very proper demeanor in front of Zhao Ling's parents, responding with a smile:
"It's not that I'm being reserved, but I have important matters to report to His Majesty upon my return. Would Your Majesty please allow the palace servants to leave for a moment?"

Seeing this, Zhao Xiao gestured for Cao Fo'er and the other eunuchs to leave the hall first, and then said:
“Cao Fo’er is my brother’s childhood friend. They grew up together. Back then, she even helped my brother and me escape from the Tenth Prince’s residence with the old Marquis. She definitely has no ulterior motives…”

Xie Jinhuan knew that Cao Fo'er was not in any major problem. His current suspicion was not about Cao Fo'er, but about the emperor and empress sitting in front of him!

"The evil Taoists are extremely cunning. To prevent the righteous path from discovering them, the hidden clues they lay are usually unexpected. Take, for example, the Grandfather-in-law He and the former Crown Prince. The late Emperor had already used an iron fist, but no matter how much he planned, he never expected that the person he trusted most would do something in secret. Even the Crown Prince was unaware that he had a problem."

"I discovered some clues in Xirong this time, confirming that the Underworld God Cult has not been eradicated. There is still a group of remnants in the capital, and they hold high positions, so they should be able to contact the Emperor. Because of this, I can't be sure if they have done anything secretly while I was away..."

Zhao Xiao frowned upon hearing this:
"You mean you suspect that a sorcerer has secretly sabotaged me without my knowledge?"

Xie Jinhuan nodded: "Forgive my impertinence, but when we met earlier, I checked on His Majesty and the Empress, and found nothing unusual. This is certainly a good thing, but the methods of the sorcerers are extremely secretive, and I may not be able to see through them completely. So I hope His Majesty can recall if there have been any unusual symptoms during this period, such as being in a daze, having dreams, being absent-minded, or taking any conditioning medicines or rare treasures..."

Zhao Xiao rubbed his fingers, recalling carefully:
"Before my brother left, he called me and Master Lu to his side and gave us instructions. Because of this, I entrusted my safety to Master Lu. I have Master Lu inspect my daily meals, water, and even my sleeping quarters. Every morning and evening, Master Lu also comes to the palace to take my pulse. There has been nothing unusual recently."

Seeing that the protection was so thorough, Xie Jinhuan felt a little relieved.

"Master Lu was handpicked by Patriarch Qixia. Some time ago, Patriarch Qixia even summoned him to the mountains to collect the corpses of the demon bandits. If there were any problems, Patriarch Qixia would not have let it go. Therefore, the Underworld God Sect should not have a chance to harm His Majesty. However, they might try to harm others."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ling looked at Empress Xu and interjected:

“When I was in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that my mother fainted, and there were three people standing next to her. But when I think back, I have never experienced anything like this before. Does my mother remember ever fainting before?”

Empress Xu was somewhat bewildered by this:
"No, after I married into the family, His Majesty had already become a prince. He had been living in Danyang all these years and rarely went out from the Prince's Mansion. He had never contracted a serious illness, otherwise the Prince's Mansion would definitely have made a record of it."

Zhao Xiao was a doting father to his daughter, largely because of his good relationship with his first wife, Empress Xu. Hearing this, he couldn't help but worry.

“A mother and daughter are of one mind. There must be a reason why Ling’er would have such a dream. Jin Huan, why don’t you take her pulse?”

As a man, Xie Jinhuan was certainly not in a position to take the Empress's pulse, but the matter was indeed very important. He immediately stood up, bowed, and placed a single finger on the Empress's wrist, allowing the ghost to possess her and check for any abnormalities in her spirit and body.

Direct physical contact, combined with spiritual probing, would easily reveal any hidden tricks or inconsistencies given the ghost's abilities. After a brief examination, Ye Hongshang responded:

“He is physically healthy and has never suffered any trauma, so it is impossible for someone to have tampered with him.”

Xie Jinhuan was relieved to see this, but to be on the safe side, he placed his hand on Dan Wang's arm and examined it carefully. After a moment, he asked:
"Has His Majesty suffered a spiritual trauma in the past?"

Zhao Xiao nodded: "During the Jian'an Rebellion, I was chased by bandits. Because my martial arts skills were mediocre, I was knocked unconscious. It was Old Hou who carried me to safety. It took me half a year to recover. Old Hou is in his current state because he was injured by that person, but the identity of the assassin has not been found out to this day."

Xie Jinhuan stopped and sat down: "The fact that Steward Hou could be beaten to this state shows that the other party is indeed a master of the art of spirit and soul. He tried to harm the Emperor twenty years ago, but failed."

Linghu Qingmo thought for a moment and said:

"Given the Underworld Cult's practice of planting seeds and laying traps everywhere, it's impossible that they haven't sabotaged the Dan Prince's Mansion over the past twenty years. If the Emperor and Empress are both safe, and Ling'er is also unharmed, then..."

Zhao Ling frowned:
"Xiao Dezi?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiao sat up straighter, his gaze becoming serious.

"These demonic bandits are truly treacherous! De'er seems to have been bewitched by evil spirits, and I fear he is unfit to be the ruler. To ensure absolute safety, I have no choice but to..."

"what?"

The three of them were stunned.

Empress Xu was immediately angered and lightly slammed her hand on the table:

"What do you mean? You haven't even investigated, and you're already saying that De'er was misled into wanting to replace the crown prince? You're just looking for a pretext! Why don't you depose me too?!"

Xie Jinhuan was also somewhat surprised, thinking to himself:
Yeah, at least check it and replace it directly, right?

What if Zhao De is alright?

Oh right, if there's no problem, then there's no reason to depose the legitimate heir and establish an illegitimate one. The Xu family of Jiangzhou and even the court officials would never agree to that... Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan couldn't help but take a light breath, and suddenly understood what it meant—as long as I'm useless enough, no one can use me!
Given Zhao De's easily crippled status, even if there were real problems, the Underworld Cult is currently focused on securing the position of Crown Prince, not on engaging in any underhanded tactics.

However, given the past practices of the Underworld Cult, it's impossible that the Pill King's Mansion wasn't tampered with.

Since the emperor, empress, and Zhao Ling showed no abnormalities, the problem either lies with Zhao De or with other highly trusted retainers and advisors.

As long as he ensures that the emperor is not bewitched and loses his mind by the Underworld Cult, even if the Underworld Cult controls the crown prince or his advisors, they will not be able to accomplish anything significant.

Therefore, the most important thing at present is to prevent the emperor from being harmed, and then, without alerting the enemy, to quickly find out whether Wei Wuyi is the mastermind, and even which other henchmen are lurking in the court...

Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan spoke up:

"I will make a mark for His Majesty so that I can sense when His Majesty's spirit and body are attacked by evil people and provide timely assistance."

Zhao Xiao was slightly surprised: "Such supernatural powers exist in the world?"

Xie Jinhuan wasn't sure if such supernatural powers existed, but ghosts could sense the disturbances at the Demon-Suppressing Tomb from all corners of the world, so leaving a soul imprint to sense the emperor's safety wasn't difficult. His response at this moment was:

"I learned similar secret techniques at the Hidden Immortal Sect before. However, Your Majesty must still be extremely cautious these days. If I am too far away, and something really happens, I may not be able to get back in time."

"Furthermore, I hope Your Majesty and Empress will not reveal what I have said today to anyone, and remember to be wary of those close to you. If things go smoothly, I will be able to uncover the group of people hiding in the next few days."

Zhao Xiao could sense the seriousness of the situation from Xie Jinhuan's words, and nodded:

"I know what I'm doing, and you must also be careful about your own safety. If something happens to me, I can simply replace the prince with another one to inherit the throne, and the world will not descend into chaos. But if something goes wrong with you, there will be no second Xie Jinhuan in the world."

"Alas, Your Majesty flatters me too much..."

……
-
Not long after, on the east side of the imperial city.

After finishing his meal in the palace, Xie Jinhuan went straight to the nearby Imperial Observatory to find Lu Wuzhen, who was stationed there.

As the winter sun began to set, Xie Jinhuan stood beneath the Black Stone Qilin, two weapons hanging from his waist. Gazing at the guardian beast before him, his cold expression resembled that of the ice block that had stood here before.

Outside the Eight Directions Bright Pagoda not far away, Lu Wuzhen descended the steps and bowed respectfully from afar:

"I used to call you Young Friend Xie, but it hasn't been long, and now I have to call you Fellow Daoist..."

"Senior Lu, you flatter me."

Xie Jinhuan approached, bowed respectfully, and got straight to the point:

"I have come here on the behalf of Master Qixia to deliver a message to Senior Lu."

"Oh?"

Although Lu Wuzhen was not a disciple of Master Qixia, he naturally regarded Master Qixia, who had passed on his mantle to him, as his master. Upon hearing this, his expression became solemn, and he even lowered his left hand from behind his back, asking in a low voice:

"What are your instructions, Senior Qixia?"

Xie Jinhuan only speculated that Lu Wuzhen was fine; he didn't know the actual situation. Moreover, given his status, he couldn't directly order the Supervisor to take charge, so he used the White-Haired Fairy's name as a shield. He responded as follows:
"Senior Qixia has been traveling in the north recently and has discovered that there may still be a remnant of the evil Taoist sect in the Southern Dynasty. Therefore, she asked me to return to the capital first to report, while she secretly investigated the clues in the Jingzhao Prefecture."

"To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Senior Qixia instructed Headmaster Lu to keep a close watch on the Emperor and Empress, preferably never leaving their side. Senior Qixia said that this group of remnants of the demonic path might have extremely high cultivation levels and their identities are extraordinary..."

"..."

Lu Wuzhen wasn't stupid; the only way he could use such wording was to imply that there was something going on between Monk Wuxin and Wei Wuyi.

Yesterday, the Emperor, following Xu Tong's advice, dispatched the monk Wuxin to the Northwest to inspect the various temples, leaving only him and Wei Wuyi in the capital.

The fact that they came to inform him clearly meant they didn't suspect him, so...

Lu Wuzhen paused for a moment, then asked:
"How confident is Master Qixia about this matter?"

Xie Jinhuan deduced from various clues that he couldn't be 100% certain that Wei Wuyi was involved. If it turned out that the mastermind was actually the monk Wuxin, or that the Underworld God Cult was deliberately creating a false impression to frame Wei Wuyi, then sending Lu Wuzhen to deal with Wei Wuyi would make him an accomplice of the Underworld God Cult. Therefore, he responded as follows:
"Before the investigation is complete, anyone in the capital could be a mole of the Underworld God Cult, so we can't be completely certain about anyone. However, Master Qixia is acting very quickly, and we should be able to get a rough idea by today or tomorrow at the latest. Until then, we hope that Sect Leader Lu can protect the safety of the capital. As long as there are no problems in the palace, the Underworld God Cult won't be able to cause any major trouble."

Lu Wuzhen knew that this problem was quite serious. If Wei Wuyi rebelled, no one in the entire capital except him could stop him. Therefore, he did not say anything more and headed straight for the imperial city.

Xie Jinhuan still needed to investigate Wei Yin's background, so he didn't linger any longer and disappeared in front of the Guardian Qilin...

(End of this chapter)