Chapter 171

"But this is the Long Princess's mansion; if we barge in directly to investigate, we might cause trouble!"

Among them was a Daoist of medium build, with a weakened face, frowning.

He was Jingyu Daoist.

Beside him was also a female Daoist, a tall, arrogant Daoist.

They were Jingmin Daoist and Jinghui Daoist.

These were disciples of the second generation of Dongshen Guan, and also the three junior martial brothers of the State Preceptor Jingming Fashi.

The three had originally been cultivating in seclusion within Dongshen Guan, but a few days ago they sensed an anomaly in an ancient treasure within Qifeng Ge, so they came tracing the treasure's changes to seek a fated person.

The treasure of Qifeng Ge is the Qifeng Qin, an ancient artifact left by the Empress of the High Ancestor of Great Qian, and it is also a special treasure.

It is a Fengming treasure.

It was forged by the High Ancestor Empress before her demise, by fusing the fate pattern of a Phoenix Woman, and thus naturally possesses the ability to sense the Phoenix Woman's fate pattern.

Whenever a Phoenix Woman approaches, it naturally induces an omen in the Qifeng Qin.

Its previous owner was the Empress of the Shizu.

This is the first anomaly it has produced in thirty years, naturally drawing the attention of the three Daoists of the Qifeng Ge lineage.

This is also the mission of the Qifeng Ge lineage Daoists: to seek, for the emperors of successive generations of Great Qian, noble ladies who reside in the Phoenix Woman's fate pattern.

Of course, not every emperor of Great Qian can marry a Phoenix Woman noble lady.

For example, the late emperor, as well as Taizu, the Zhongping emperor, and Xuanzong, are all such cases.

And the Qifeng Ge lineage is actually, within Dongshen Guan, inclined toward the Great Qian imperial lineage cultivators.

They themselves are also inclined to wholeheartedly support the Great Qian court, and thus naturally regard this matter with great seriousness.

But searching the Long Princess's mansion is clearly infeasible.

The female Daoist Jingming said.

"Why not let my younger sister go first, under the pretense of visiting, to pay respects to Princess Qingfeng of the Long Princess's mansion, and search opportunistically? The two elder brothers can stand guard at the gate; whenever a woman comes out, she must exit through the main gate—having heart against no heart, I reckon it will be foolproof!"

"At the same time, the elder brothers can also inform Qintian Tai; with Qintian Tai's communication, the Long Princess is also reasonable and will not obstruct further."

Jingmin Daoist has a delicate countenance, yet coils her hair into a bun, dressed as a young married woman; in fact, she is also a woman, and moreover a noble lady of the city, but having taken up cultivation, she left home midway.

Now her age is still not small, and her children and grandchildren have already grown into a crowd.

In fact, there are not a few such disciples in Dongshen Guan.

Especially, for the Great Qian court to further influence Dongshen Guan, each year some offspring enter Dongshen Guan for refined cultivation.

"That will do!"

Jingyu Daoist and Jinghui Daoist, upon hearing this, both nodded; now they can only do this.

At that moment, Jingyu Daoist first handed the compass in his hand to Jingmin Daoist, who then entered the Long Princess's mansion, using the name of a disciple of the Qifeng Ge lineage to first visit Princess Qingfeng of the Long Princess.

However, at this time Princess Qingfeng of the Long Princess and Qi Yuanwu were performing the final ritual of the wedding, entering the bridal chamber, and thus could not receive her personally.

The one who came to receive her was a prince from the imperial clan.

His name is Wei Xi, Prince Wu.

He is a man of considerable stature, with a martial countenance; this old prince holds an extremely high status in the imperial clan and is also the Grand Minister of Rites of Great Qian.

"Dongshen Guan, Jingmin pays respects to the old prince!"

Upon seeing this venerable prince of high virtue and prestige in the imperial clan, Jingmin Daoist did not dare to be negligent; she could sense that this prince's body circulated an unusually strong dragon-tiger qi, which greatly suppresses cultivators like her, even though she possesses the marvelous arts of Dongshen Guan.

"Jingmin Fashi needs no excessive courtesy; the guest is welcome; later I will have the kitchen re-prepare food, wine, and banquet for the Fashi!"

At this moment, Prince Wu's countenance showed some strangeness.

At this time, the wedding festivities were basically ending, other guests had finished eating, yet this Daoist of Dongshen Guan still ran over to join the fun?

Jingmin also noticed the suspicion in Prince Wu's eyes; a thought flashed in her mind, and she then decided to speak frankly, for if she could gain this old prince's support, even if the Long Princess blamed her later, having this old prince take the blame would make it bearable.

"Please excuse me, old prince; we are the guarding Daoists of the Qifeng Ge lineage in Dongshen Guan; today the treasure in Qifeng Ge has shown an anomaly, and we suspect that a Phoenix Woman noble lady has appeared in the Long Princess's mansion..."

"Phoenix Woman noble lady?"

Prince Wu's expression stirred; upon hearing Jingmin Daoist's explanation, his countenance immediately became solemn, and he also knew the importance of this matter.

Surely, once this matter spreads, the one most concerned should be the Jingwu Emperor.

Prince Wu pondered for a moment, then asked: "Then what does the Fashi wish to do?"

Jingmin Daoist, upon hearing this, her expression eased slightly; seeing that this old prince was still easy to talk to, she immediately said.

"Very simple: I ask the prince to grant me convenience, to allow me to perform a ritual search in the Long Princess's mansion; of course, the disturbance will not be great, nor will it disturb the princess and prince consort's bridal bliss!"

Wei Xi stroked his beard slightly; this matter is indeed very simple: "This is easy; later I will have the kitchen prepare more fruits, pastries, and try to detain the guests, creating an opportunity for the Fashi!"

A smile appeared on Jingmin Daoist's jade-like countenance.

"Thank you, prince, for your assistance; if this succeeds, we will also report to His Majesty!"

"No problem!"

Meanwhile, in the inner hall, Zhang Jian glanced toward the direction where Jingmin Daoist and Prince Wu Wei Xi were, his eyes flickering with a faint smile, and he still held Qi Yuhua's small hand in his.

At this time, Qi Yuhua was being held by Zhang Jian's small hand, her eyes slightly shy, but her demeanor still graceful and composed.

Now her and Zhang Jian's marriage is practically settled; the elders of both families have long tacitly acknowledged the marriage's existence, only lacking one ceremony to become proper husband and wife, and thus they are not afraid of others' gossip.

At this time, Zhang Jian was, however, using magical power to help Qi Yuhua integrate the mimetic jade pendant, to conceal her fate pattern.

This Phoenix Woman noble lady is naturally no one else, but Qi Yuhua.

Zhang Jian had long noticed the anomaly on Qi Yuhua's body, especially after bestowing the Phoenix Blood Jade Pendant upon her, her concealed fate pattern was fully activated, and the Phoenix Woman's fate pattern took shape.

"Yuhua sister, later you need do nothing, nor speak; only maintain your mindset!"

After a slight pause, Zhang Jian suddenly said again.

"By the way, are you wearing the Phoenix Blood Jade Pendant I gave you?"

Qi Yuhua slightly nodded; her beautiful jade-like countenance bore some rosiness.

The phoenix-blood jade pendant that Zhang Jian gave her, she had been wearing it close to her body all this time.

Zhang Jian said to her: "Give it to me, I'll help you keep it first, and return it to you after a while!"

Qi Yuhua looked at Zhang Jian with some surprise, but still chose to believe him, taking the pouch from her waist and handing it to Zhang Jian.

Seeing this, Zhang Jian's expression moved slightly, he just smiled and glanced at Qi Yuhua.

Qi Yuhua's gentleness and trust still stirred a ripple in his heart.

At the same time, his thoughts calmed down, with the imitation jade pendant concealing, it should be enough to restrain Qi Yuhua's fate aura.

As for himself, having the Golden Lotus Hidden Breath Technique, he no longer needed to worry about fate omens being seen through.

This innate divine ability has now been cultivated by him to the point of entry, mastery, unless it is an immortal or deity, it may not necessarily be able to discern the abnormality on him.

At this moment, Jingmin Daoist and the Prince of Wu came out from the inner hall, first seeing the two holding hands by the wine table, at this time Qi Yuhua was slightly startled and wanted to pull her little hand from Zhang Jian's hand, but Zhang Jian just smiled indifferently.

Jingmin Daoist looked at this scene, feeling that the compass in his sleeve showed no abnormality, and thus also had no intention to disturb this somewhat bold "golden boy and jade girl" before him.

She began searching from the outside inward, heading toward the main hall.

Seeing her action, Zhang Jian knew that this level had already been passed today.

He also felt somewhat relieved!

If Qi Yuhua's identity as a phoenix maiden were exposed, he might have to summon reinforcements from the Tongshan lineage, abandon his operations in the court, and flee in advance.

Fortunately, all risks had been nipped in the bud by him in advance.

As he had expected, Jingmin Daoist searched the Princess's mansion thoroughly and soon returned empty-handed.

Seeing her action, Prince Wu Wei Xi's expression suddenly became somewhat suspicious, asking: "Jingmin Fashi, are you not playing a trick on this prince?"

This old prince had a gloomy face.

If the other party dared to trick him, even if they were cultivators of the Dongshen Guan, he would make them know the consequences of tricking a prince.

Jingmin Daoist at this time also furrowed his brows tightly.

In her eyes flashed an incredulous color, the sensing of the Qi Feng Qin would not be false, they had searched inside and outside Haojing City for a while before confirming that the phoenix-fated noble lady appeared in the Princess's mansion.

Upon entering the Princess's mansion, they clearly felt that the seal of the Qi Feng Qin's treasure artifact was lightly trembling.

The treasure artifact would not lie.

"Then it must be that the news leaked early, letting others see through our plan, concealing the fate aura of the phoenix-fated noble lady?"

This thought jumped out, Jingmin Daoist's heart startled, facing the gaze of Prince Wu Wei Xi, Jingmin Daoist spoke in a deep voice.

"Old Prince, this matter is what we several fellow disciples jointly witnessed, and we have already informed the Qintian Tai, even the Emperor knows, so it certainly won't be false!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Wu Wei Xi questioned.

"Then where do you say the phoenix-fated noble lady is?"

Jingmin Daoist, upon hearing, said: "Old Prince, can you arrange to keep these guests, so that we may invite out the Qi Feng Qin, as long as the true form of our sect's treasure artifact manifests, I reckon the phoenix-fated noble lady will have nowhere to hide!"

Prince Wu Wei Xi let out a cold snort.

"This matter, this prince cannot decide, you should go find Qingfeng Ti yourself!"

This old prince looked displeased and did not want to bother Jingmin Daoist further; he had been enthusiastic about this matter before because once the phoenix-fated noble lady was found, the Wu Wang lineage might also benefit.

But now this Jingmin Fashi who speaks with certainty has not found the phoenix-fated noble lady, instead letting him come out to stop many guests, he is unwilling.

Among so many guests, how many are nobles and officials, many noble guests have also come from the imperial household, including the Empress Dowager in disguise, stopping so many guests carries too great a risk.

To risk offending so many noble guests for a project with currently no visible chance of success, this old prince naturally is unwilling.

At least Jingming Daoist's displayed ability makes him not optimistic.

Moreover, there are many unknown factors.

For example, that phoenix-fated noble lady might have left already?

One must know that at this time, with the initial lighting of lanterns, many noble ladies from aristocratic families have already been leaving one after another.

Can he still forcibly keep these noble ladies?

Just as Prince Wu Wei Xi thought, when Jingmin Daoist brushed past, Zhang Jian had already taken Qi Yuhua and quietly left with the crowd.

Zhang Jian sent Qi Yuhua back to the Qi family's temporary lodging, the former residence of the Prince Consort Qi Yuanwu.

The two walked boldly past in front of Jingyu and Jinghui Daoist.

And not long after, a large force from the Qintian Tai appeared around the Princess's mansion.

In the Dongshen Guan, there was also an elder who personally descended with the Qi Feng Qin, but the result was predictable, all efforts were in vain.

……

The midnight imperial palace was still brightly lit.

At this time, in the Jingtai Hall, thick dragon-patterned gold candlesticks as thick as a child's arm emitted bright light, illuminating this place as if it were daytime.

Before the imperial carriage, Emperor Jingwu furrowed his brows, before him stood Jingyu, Jinghui, and Jingmin Daoist, and before the three Daoists stood Dongxiao Daoist.

At this time, looking at Dongxiao Daoist, Emperor Jingwu angrily asked.

"Is there really no other method?"

After great difficulty the phoenix-fated noble lady appeared, yet it turned out to be an empty joy.

Emperor Jingwu was very displeased!

Dongxiao Daoist slightly stroked his beard, he shook his head and said.

"There is no way at all!"

"It must be that a high person cast a spell to conceal the phoenix-fated noble lady's fate aura, after all, it is my three disciples who acted carelessly, please Your Majesty to punish!"

Emperor Jingwu slightly sighed, glanced at this Dongxiao elder, what else could he do? Punish and severely punish the three beloved disciples of Dongxiao Daoist?

Not seeing that he had not yet punished, people had already begun to shield their own.

"It must be that the fate is not enough!"

But Emperor Jingwu still felt somewhat unwilling.

He had heard from the late emperor and the empress dowager since childhood about the marvel of a phoenix-fated noble lady, and the late emperor had always regarded it as a regret.

He never expected that even here, he would still miss the opportunity.

Emperor Jingwu said lightly: "Elder Dongxiao need not blame himself; this matter will be handed over to the Black-Clothed Guard for investigation—perhaps their covert inquiry will yield unexpected gains!"

Though he said so, Emperor Jingwu did not actually hold much hope.

On that day, there were too many guests at the Princess Chang's mansion, especially the female relatives close to the Princess Chang, who were indeed numerous.

Moreover, the phoenix-fated noble lady had no specific feature—who knew her age, whether she was just born or already married?

Such a matter can be encountered but not sought.

……

The next day, Zhang Jian was invited again and entered the Princess Chang's mansion once more, but the entire mansion no longer held yesterday's festivity, instead filled throughout with a solemn and killing air.

When Zhang Jian saw Qi Yuanwu and Princess Chang Fengfeng, the couple's expressions were both somewhat gloomy, as if anger covered their faces.

After a perfectly good wedding night was disturbed in the middle of the night, how could the couple endure it, especially Princess Chang Fengfeng?

At this moment, seeing Zhang Jian arrive, the couple managed to squeeze out a little smile.

"A Yu has arrived—come in quickly!"

The couple then changed their expression, warmly inviting Zhang Jian forward to partake in some refreshments, only then proceeding to the medical examination.

However, this process ended very quickly.

Zhang Jian used a bit of righteous fire, casually infusing it into Qi Yuanwu's body, thereby forcing out the black qi entwined within.

It was a peculiar gu worm.

Inside the gu worm was additionally wrapped a remnant thought of a yin spirit.