Chapter 692

If it truly succeeded, it would conversely mean that He Lingchuan was already capable of thinking about problems from the perspectives of the Tiangong, the Demon Emperor, and the Preceptor of Qingyang. The more highly synchronized his thoughts were, the better He Lingchuan could understand them.

"Th-that's not right either." The mirror thought of a flaw. "How long has Nian Zanli been surrendered to Beijia? The Preceptor of Qingyang's longevity elixir business has been operating for many years. Saying he is the source of the divine blood doesn't quite match up in terms of time. If they push Nian Zanli out to take the fall, can't those with discerning eyes see it?"

"Discerning eyes?" He Lingchuan asked it. "Who are these discerning eyes you speak of?"

"Uh..." The mirror was stunned. "Aren't all those people outside watching with their eyes wide open?"

"Although the longevity elixir case is rampant and spreading like wildfire, do the common folk know the true recipe for the longevity elixir?"

"This, they probably don't." The mirror had heard various versions of the longevity elixir recipe circulating outside. The most exaggerated one claimed that besides the pulp beads refined from demon bodies, the elixir required ten-thousand-year-old lingzhi, ten-thousand-year-old holly, the blood of a pure yang virgin, and had to be mixed with the fingernails and urine of an ancient great immortal to be refined.

Were there versions that mentioned "divine blood"? Of course there were, but mixed among the numerous sensational versions, it had no prestige and wasn't attractive, so its acceptance was low.

He Lingchuan went to pour water. "Have you ever seen them pay attention to the source of the divine blood?"

To the common people, "divine blood" was too distant; they had no concept of it at all, and the authorities certainly wouldn't guide or educate them on it. Their attention and anger were entirely focused on the "pulp beads," because the pulp beads were harvested alive from ordinary demon folk—it was cruel and insane. Everyone could understand this point, and everyone was filled with righteous indignation.

"Those who are certain that divine blood is an ingredient are already insiders," He Lingchuan said indifferently. "The high-ranking officials and nobles of Lingxu City know, the aristocratic families know, and some Imperial Academy students might also know. Do you think any of them would go to the Tiangong to protest, saying Nian Zanli was framed and that the divine blood has another source? What benefit would that bring them?"

"..."

Nian Zanli was merely a surrendered general; he had no connections with anyone in Lingxu City, so he was indeed the best sacrificial lamb.

"Those just watching the spectacle won't speak, and those involved even less so." He Lingchuan shrugged. "Didn't I just explain? Whether the crime is pinned on Dong Rui or Nian Zanli, it's all nonsense. Do you think any of them don't know Nian Zanli is being framed?"

"This... even if they don't care about Nian Zanli, can't the faction of Preceptor Shuangye come out to oppose it?"

"If the crime isn't on Nian Zanli, the investigation into the source of the divine blood would have to continue to pursue Dong Rui. Would Preceptor Shuangye allow that?" With the involvement of Dong Rui's snail-toad, Preceptor Shuangye was not so innocent in this case.

This was the reason he himself absolutely did not want to be dragged into it.

To get Bai Ziqi to find the important witness Kong Jiaxiang, Preceptor Shuangye even borrowed troops from a foreign country and requested He Lingchuan to step forward.

"Then will the gods behind Preceptor Shuangye let it go?"

"Since the Demon Emperor personally accompanied the Preceptor of Qingyang to Mount Xu, it shows that the Demon Emperor and the Lingxu gods each took a step back and made compromises." He Lingchuan shook his head. "I don't know the specific content, but it's nothing more than that business about divine blood, right? Just hunting demons for beads is not enough to topple the Preceptor of Qingyang."

"There is another force, the Vassal Demon Nation," he added. "But as long as they drag the Preceptor of Qingyang out and embarrass Lingxu City, that's enough. What kind of person Nian Zanli is—would they care? These people in power understand the essence of grasping the big and letting go of the small very well."

Since the main participants in this case were no longer pursuing it and their respective goals had been achieved, was the truth still important? "Look, in such a sensational event in Beijia, the attackers want to achieve their goals, the participants want to protect their interests, and only ordinary people want to know the truth." He Lingchuan said leisurely. "It's a pity, the more people want to know the truth, the further they end up from it."

There are always some secrets that outsiders cannot touch.

The mirror sighed: "What if you're wrong? What if there really is an upright official who speaks out and insists on getting to the bottom of it?"

"Why not wait and see?" He Lingchuan laughed. "Man proposes, God disposes; where is there a 100% successful plan? Taking a few steps back, even if Nian Zanli doesn't become the scapegoat, he has already been linked to the longevity elixir case and the divine blood. Do you think, given Lingxu City's efficiency, they can release him back to Xunzhou within half a year?"

"Hmm..." That's a bit doubtful.

"Even if he can eventually leave Lingxu City, it will be more than half a year later, and he'll be stripped of a layer of skin even if he doesn't die. In such a long time, isn't that enough for his rivals to plan carefully and think of a few more ways?" He Lingchuan grinned, revealing his ghastly white teeth. "It won't be over until he's dead."

The mirror was speechless.

He Lingchuan finished his water and threw the cup onto the table: "Heh heh, a six-hundred-year-old ancient capital."

Even someone like Nian Zanli, who made the entire Yuan Nation turbulent, couldn't stand firm in Lingxu City and fell into the whirlpool, let alone a small commoner like him? He Lingchuan had long since developed the intention to leave.

After finishing the business, how to retreat unscathed?...

From the next day on, news from all sides trickled into He Lingchuan's hands. Some were delivered by Old Ge, some by Fang Canran, and there was even news dug up by those students of the Lingxu Imperial Academy; after all, some of them were already serving in the Wang Ting or under high-ranking officials.

But Li Qingge's side was quiet.

He Lingchuan knew this was to avoid suspicion. After Nian Zanli was arrested, they wanted to bite her even without evidence. Because Li Qingge had nothing to do with the longevity elixir case, Lingxu City didn't interrogate her, but they might have sent people to secretly watch Songyang Prefecture.

At a time like this, the further He Lingchuan stayed from her, the better.

Fortunately, the things he entrusted Songyang Prefecture to forge had all been obtained, and Old Dan had sent another thing: the Dragon-Punishing Pillar.

The Dragon-Punishing Pillar that Li Qingge sent out had already made a round trip to the Wan Ge Marsh and was now back in the hands of its original owner, He Lingchuan.

The Dragon-Punishing Pillar looked no different from before, except that there was some dark red liquid/gas inside.

He had asked Old Dan; in the latter's view, the glass tube of this Dragon-Punishing Pillar was very empty and transparent.

It was indeed the Nightmare Qi that ordinary people couldn't see.

He Lingchuan had created the Dragon-Punishing Pillar and let Li Qingge send it to the Wan Ge Marsh just to divert the attention of the Tiangong and Lingxu City. But he didn't expect it to actually collect quite a bit of Nightmare Qi.

"What happened in the Wan Ge Marsh?" Only if a large number of living beings died could the Dragon-Punishing Pillar collect so much Nightmare Qi in a short time.

"Ah, I heard that the Wan Ge Forest had a plague of insects, eating people, trees, and livestock. When it was severe, even entire villages and towns were not spared. The Ju Nation was racked with anxiety over this." Old Dan said. "The people sent by the Lord only stayed for one night; they didn't dare to get too close and hurried back."

"A plague of insects?" This world is truly full of wonders; can a plague of insects directly eat people?

But he was currently tied up with important tasks and had no time to think too much. The return of the Dragon-Punishing Pillar could be considered an unexpected gain.

Now, because the Preceptor of Qingyang was arrested, the entire Lingxu City had once again become a huge whirlpool of public opinion.

The commoners were as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and conspiracy theory essays were concocted one after another. The public began to predict and look forward to which powerful figures would fall in this terrifying storm.

They didn't know the truth, but they wanted to see high buildings and magnificent houses collapse overnight.

Compared to the lower city where people were pulling up stools to watch the spectacle, the entire Lingxu Upper City was shrouded in an atmosphere of unease and fear, with people's hearts in a state of flux.

First, some powerful figures quietly sent their families out of the capital.

This was probably the aftereffect of the Preceptor of Qingyang's arrest; some people were afraid she would implicate them, while others were afraid of being retaliated against by her rivals because they had originally sided with her.

The news sent by Fang Canran was concise and certain: Xunzhou Governor Nian Zanli was suddenly taken from his home by the Court Marshal and the Capital Cloud Envoy and had currently been transferred to the Yang Palace on Mount Xu.

Few words, big matter.

He Lingchuan immediately smelled the deep meaning within: only sinners who offended the gods would be sent to the Yang Palace. And Fang Canran used the expression "transferred," indicating that Nian Zanli had a stopover after being arrested, very likely being directly demanded by the Heavenly God for the Yang Palace.

He wasn't protected by the Emperor like the Preceptor of Qingyang; He Lingchuan didn't even dare to imagine what he would encounter in the Yang Palace.

After the Soul-Sucking Mirror heard this, it was shocked: "Did the Preceptor of Qingyang really testify against him?"

"Otherwise, he should be locked in the Heavenly Prison; why was he sent to the Yang Palace so quickly? Even if someone wanted to help him, there's no chance now." Heh, six hundred years of officialdom. "Have a safe journey, scapegoat."

Nian Zanli borrowed troops but couldn't deploy them; the Yuan Nation should be safe for the time being, and the Xiazhou region under He Chunhua's management could also be spared a war.

Although this matter was tortuous and had some glitches in the middle, it was finally completed according to plan.

For Li Qingge, for the Yuan Nation, and even for himself, it could be considered an account.

He Lingchuan would not forget that he and his father experienced a life-and-death ordeal when entering the Panlong Desert because Nian Zanli sent his son to fake a royal order.

Now, this personal feud was finally settled.

A gentleman's revenge is never too late, after all.

Furthermore, since Nian Zanli couldn't return to Xunzhou, he couldn't coordinate with the rebel army of Grand Marshal Dong Haoming in the western part of the Yuan Nation, and thus, the pressure on the Yuan Nation was greatly reduced.

Now that He Lingchuan's experience had grown, although he looked down on the style of the Yuan Wang Ting, he didn't want to see this country plunged into the fires of war.

Fighting back and forth, the ones who suffered the most were the common people.

Then next, he had to get busy with his own proper business. Dong Rui had already been targeted; staying here one more day meant one more risk of being discovered.

When He Lingchuan returned to the Pianxiang Villa in the evening, he bumped into Fu Shanyue, who was in a hurry to go out.

This guy didn't even know his hat was crooked; a servant was standing on tiptoe to help him straighten it.

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "What's the rush?"

Fu Shanyue grabbed him: "You're back just in time, hurry up and come with me to watch the fun!"

He Lingchuan looked at his itching-to-see expression: "What fun?" Could make the Crown Prince of Chi Yan so unreserved?

Although Fu Shanyue had nothing to do with the word "reserved" to begin with.

"I'll tell you on the way!" The mount was already outside the door, and Fu Shanyue jumped on. "It'll be a pity if we go late and can't see it!"

(End of chapter)