Goddess Atlas, Starting from the Queen

As soon as Lu Ming finished speaking, Yang Shaojie hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, you must avenge me!!!"

Hearing this, Lu Ming was speechless. Why did everyone, after waking up, want him to avenge them?

However, the reason they became vengeful spirits is probably because of this lingering resentment, so it's normal for them to seek revenge.

Lu Ming then said, "Tell me, who killed you?"

Yang Shaojie immediately said, "He is the commander of the Xuanlin Army."

Hearing this, Lu Ming was taken aback and turned to look at the soldiers of the Prince's Palace behind him in confusion, "Have you heard of the Xuanlin Army?"

The group looked at each other, and finally answered in unison, "Never heard of it."

Lu Ming then looked at Mu Yunyan, who also said, "This humble official has never heard of it either."

This was the first time they had ever heard of an army with the designation Xuanlin Army.

Lu Ming's gaze fell on Yang Shaojie. "I have never heard of an army called Xuanlin Army. Which vassal king does your army belong to? Who is your army commander?"

Yang Shaojie immediately replied, "Your Majesty, the Xuanlin Army is the army of the Great Zhou. As for the name of our commander, I do not know."

Upon hearing Yang Shaojie's answer, Lu Ming was taken aback. The army of the Great Zhou?
Mu Yunyan then asked, "Are you the Imperial Guards who only obey His Majesty's orders?"

Since the Xuanlin Army is an army that none of them have ever heard of, and this army belongs to the Great Zhou, then there is only one possibility: this army was secretly created by the emperor. Only the emperor has the ability to create a regular army near the capital that no one knows about.

Of course, this refers to regular troops. It is also possible that the Xuanlin Army is a private army created by a certain aristocratic family. However, those aristocratic families would not keep a private army near the capital; that would be suicidal.

Upon hearing Mu Yunyan's question, Yang Shaojie replied, "Yes, sir, we only obey His Majesty's orders."

Mu Yunyan said, "As expected."

Lu Ming asked thoughtfully, "Then why did your commander want to kill you?"

Upon hearing this question, Yang Shaojie's face immediately showed a look of horror. Then, the Yin energy on his body surged. Seeing that Yang Shaojie was about to go berserk again, Lu Ming activated the Demon Suppression Tower without hesitation, and a powerful pressure suddenly pressed Yang Shaojie to the ground.

Yang Shaojie instantly regained his senses and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty... please spare me..."

Lu Ming then stopped activating the Demon Suppression Tower and said, "Continue."

Yang Shaojie then said, "The Xuanlin Army released an evil spirit that killed all three hundred people in Yangjia Village. I grew up without parents and was raised by the villagers of Yangjia Village. I originally intended to spread this news, but I did not expect that the commander knew that I was also from Yangjia Village and was afraid that I would reveal the matter of Yangjia Village, so he killed me."

This……

Everyone was taken aback upon hearing Yang Shaojie's words.

The evil spirit that massacred the village was actually released by the Xuanlin Army.
If the Xuanlin Army is truly an imperial guard that can only be mobilized by the emperor, then what they heard today is probably a secret that will cost them their heads.

At this moment, Mu Yunyan was stunned. The evil spirit was actually released by the emperor's imperial guards.
Is this an order from the commander of the Imperial Guards? Or an order from the Emperor?

Wasn't the emperor in seclusion?

It shouldn't be an order from the emperor, right?

If this is the emperor's order...

Mu Yunyan dared not think any further. For an emperor to unleash evil spirits to slaughter his own people—if word got out…

Thinking of this, a bead of sweat dripped from Mu Yunyan's fair forehead.

Whether it was the commander of the Xuanlin Army acting on his own initiative or the emperor's order, it was puzzling why they would do such a thing.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Ming asked, "Why would the Xuanlin Army do this?"

Yang Shaojie said, "I don't know either. I was just responsible for splashing human blood near the village."

Lu Ming turned to the guards of the Prince's mansion and said, "Pretend you didn't hear this. From today onwards, all of you will stay in the Prince's mansion. You are not allowed to leave at any time without my order."

"I will have your relatives brought to the palace as well, so you don't need to worry about that."

The guards of the Prince's mansion naturally understood why Lu Ming did this. What they had just overheard was a secret that could cost them their heads. In normal circumstances, they would be killed to silence them. Fortunately, they were the guards of the Prince of Xiaoyao.

Everyone quickly said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Mu Yunyan came to her senses at this moment, and her heart was filled with complicated feelings. She suddenly regretted coming to the outskirts of the city with Lu Ming.

If the evil spirit that massacred the village was related to the Carefree King, she would have no qualms about continuing her investigation. After all, no matter how powerful the Carefree King was, he was still just a king.

But the emperor is different. If she continues to investigate and the emperor finds out, not only her, but the entire Mu family will probably be doomed.

Lu Ming turned to look at Mu Yunyan and saw that her beautiful, aloof face had turned pale and bloodless, and fine beads of sweat had appeared on her smooth forehead. He smiled and asked, "Commander Mu, as the commander of the Zhenling Guard, it is your duty to eliminate evil spirits. I believe you will not be afraid of powerful figures and will continue to investigate, right?"

"After all, you dared to question me when you suspected me of being possessed by evil spirits not long ago. I believe you should dare to continue investigating this time as well."

Hearing Lu Ming's words, Mu Yunyan was at a loss for words.

Continue investigating? Are you kidding me?

Even if she didn't care about her own life, she still had to consider the lives of her nine clans.

Suddenly, Mu Yunyan thought of something and asked, "Your Majesty, could this evil spirit be something you deliberately arranged to torment me?"

Today, it was the carefree king who summoned her out, and it was also the carefree king who captured this evil spirit. In addition, the carefree king has the ability to suppress evil spirits and make them obey, so he can make the evil spirit make up stories in front of her.

Lu Ming did not argue. He said calmly, "With Commander Mu's abilities, as long as he investigates carefully, he will be able to find some clues about the Xuanlin Army."

"Furthermore, I can lend you this vengeful spirit. With his guidance, I believe you will soon be able to find out the truth about the evil spirit's massacre of the village."

Mu Yunyan quickly said, "No...no need, I trust Your Majesty."

With her abilities and the guidance of this evil spirit, she could indeed find out the existence of the Xuanlin Army very quickly. However, once she begins investigating the Xuanlin Army, the Mu family would probably disappear from the capital in no time, as this was an imperial guard that only the emperor could mobilize.

Whether or not this army did something that led to the massacre of the village by evil spirits, it was not something a mere town spirit guard captain like her could find out.

Mu Yunyan now truly regretted coming out with Prince Xiaoyao. She even suspected that Prince Xiaoyao had known all along that this matter involved the emperor, so he deliberately dragged her out to implicate her.

Lu Ming asked, "If we can find the evil spirit that massacred the village, what a great achievement that would be! Are you sure you don't want that achievement, Commander Mu?"

(End of this chapter)