Chapter 304

"Insolence!"

"Audacity!"

The blade-bearing guards beside Zhao Yan nearly drew their swords, and that wrinkled-skinned old eunuch also rebuked loudly.

When the lord is humiliated, the minister dies!

Regardless of whether you are the person behind the National Preceptor, daring to speak to the Emperor with this attitude deserves death by beheading!

"Shut up!"

Zhao Yan's reaction was even more intense than that blade-bearing guard's; he backhanded a slap, striking the guard until blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Then he kicked the eunuch beside him.

"Scram! Is there a place for an old thing like you to speak here?"

He acted as if he attached great importance to Tang Luo.

Tang Luo ignored Zhao Yan's performance, walked over to one of the people lying on the ground — this was a woman, wearing neat, practical martial attire.

Several feathered arrows were stuck in her body, two of them already in vital spots; once pulled out, death was certain.

There was some collapse near her mouth; she had likely been smashed hard, almost smashed to pulp, and could no longer speak, only emitting a few whimpering sounds.

Her hair was a tangled mess; she looked like a madwoman.

However, Tang Luo recognized this person as He Yishan, who had not shown her face again since separating from Kong Ming and the others after entering the Capital.

Yet now she had been brought here and dumped by Zhao Yan.

The other several people were also dressed as palace personnel — there were eunuchs and guards.

"Master Xuanzang, this person is a remnant of the Joyous Monastery. We were momentarily careless and let her infiltrate the palace; today's incident was her stirring up trouble behind the scenes," Zhao Yan said.

"Oh, is that so?" Tang Luo replied noncommittally.

"Didn't expect the Joyous Monastery still had remnants," Zhao Yan sighed. "She entered the palace early on as a palace maid, lay dormant, incited this bunch of two-faced traitors to deal with you, Master, wanting to avenge the Joyous Monastery's great enmity!"

Compassionate toward all, yet his gaze then fell on A Fei, his face flashing with shock and doubt, his eyes quite grave.

When Tang Luo arrived at Zhao De's residence, Zhao Yan received word that Master Xuanzang and a Yuyi Guard had killed their way to the door.

And now, upon seeing A Fei, his heart skipped a beat.

This person, if he remembered correctly, was the Yuyi Guard that He Yishan had set up to deal with.

Not among the batch of people with Master Xuanzang the monk, but one of the several others serving as Yuyi Guards.

But according to the intelligence received, this person should have died already?

Who is standing there now? A cultivator's corpse-control technique?

A Fei's condition was indeed extremely poor; blood mist stained his face, his clothes were tattered, he stood there silently.

At a casual glance one would truly mistake him for a corpse.

"Is that so?" Tang Luo gave another perfunctory response. "What do you think?"

The latter half of that sentence was addressed to He Yishan.

He Yishan struggled twice, emitting a hoarse whimper; it seemed not only was her mouth injured, even her throat was already mute.

"When We captured her, she still attempted to commit suicide by poison," Zhao Yan said. "Creating a dead man with no testimony; We could only bring her here before she died."

He Yishan's body convulsed; she looked at Zhao Yan with resentful, venomous eyes, emitting a low growl like a wild beast.

Unfortunately her injuries were too severe; these few struggles could be called a final flicker of life before death, her breath gradually fading.

Only her eyes still stared dead at Zhao Yan.

"Master, is there a way to save her?" Zhao Yan asked. "There are many details We are not fully clear on; perhaps other Joyous Monastery remnants still lurk in the palace. If key intelligence can be obtained from her mouth, those people can be rooted out."

"There is." Tang Luo gave a seeming-smile-yet-not-smile look at Zhao Yan and said.

"Good then." Zhao Yan froze for a moment, coughed once, and said, "Then please take her back for treatment, Master. This person hid in the imperial palace after all; there are some things We cannot say too much about."

He appeared extremely noble and upright — since I am under suspicion, I might as well hand the person over to you.

Only, his complexion was not particularly good, slightly gloomy.

Seeing Zhao Yan this time, his appearance was far better than after Tang Luo destroyed the Joyous Monastery.

His originally slightly pale, sunken cheeks and eye sockets had all filled out again; the whole person looked about ten years younger.

With such good physical condition, no wonder he felt he had not aged, the imperial princes were too restless, so he moved to suppress them.

"No need." Tang Luo said. "This poor monk saves people simply; right here will do."

"Master had better take her back; this place has many eyes and ears, trouble is hard to avoid," Zhao Yan lowered his voice slightly, carrying a few hints of meaningful depth.

"Won't happen." Tang Luo smiled. "With this poor monk here, what trouble could arise?"

Not waiting for Zhao Yan to continue speaking, Tang Luo activated Kaiguang Healing.

A ray of "Buddha Light" fell on He Yishan, rapidly healing the wounds on her body.

Seeing the wounds on He Yishan's face recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye, Zhao Yan's eyelid twitched: "Then Master treat her; We will return to the palace first."

He turned to depart for the palace.

"Zhao Yan! Hahahaha!"

Before Zhao Yan could take two steps, He Yishan's shrill wild laughter came from behind: "Old villain! You didn't expect this, did you!"

"Insolence!"

"Audacity!"

A group of blade-bearing guards shouted again, that gloomy-faced eunuch also bellowed.

This time Zhao Yan did not speak, letting those blade-bearing guards rush over.

Just then, the sound of a sword cry rang out, sword light flashed, an additional sword mark appeared on the ground; sharp sword qi made that group of guards instinctively halt their steps.

"Your Majesty, what matter cannot be spoken clearly, that swords must be drawn?" A clear, cold voice came from the sky; Qinglang landed with a group of Longya Dao Gate cultivators.

Zhao Yan's face was frighteningly gloomy: "Someone wants to frame Us, damage Our imperial house's dignity; are We supposed to just watch?"

Overreaching and ruining it, riding a tiger and unable to dismount!

"Then I shall act as a fair arbiter on behalf of the Longya Dao Gate." Qinglang said in a clear voice, "I will absolutely not favor either side, and will certainly restore the truth of the matter, to guarantee the imperial family's dignity. How about that?"

Zhao Yan did not speak; the hand inside his dragon robe's wide sleeves clenched into a fist.

"Your acting is truly terrible." Tang Luo first critiqued Zhao Yan's acting, then looked at He Yishan and said, "Speak. What exactly happened?"

He Yishan let out a laugh: "What happened? It's your beloved His Majesty the Emperor, the Lord of Dayou, who, in order to keep living, to continue his throne for ten thousand generations, killed his sons and killed his grandsons!"

The moment these words came out, even the people on the Imperial Guards' side changed expression.

Let alone the princes who were further out.

To stay alive, to continue the throne? How could that be possible?

Back when cultivators entered the world, there were those in the imperial clan who dreamed of immortality.

Later it was confirmed that this was an impossible thing.

Cultivating some relatively shallow techniques, strengthening the body and improving health was pretty much the limit; for instance, the Joyous Temple's dual cultivation could resolve Zhao Yan's stubborn ailment, allow him to flip the nameplates of the harem again, and if he persisted, there was even a certain possibility of having children.

But immortality — no, even prolonging life is a considerably difficult matter.

This point had already been proven during the time cultivators entered the world.

Including Dayou's court officials, who took elixirs — the effect was only strengthening the body, unable to advance a step further.

It's not that they couldn't cultivate; rather, the path of cultivation is inherently incomparably arduous. However many heaven-defying talents devoted themselves to it wholeheartedly, in the end they still turned to a handful of yellow earth.

Just grab a few random people, have them serve as officials and cultivate at the same time — how could their cultivation possibly shoot up rapidly?

Without ten-odd years, even several decades of bitter cultivation, how could one truly step onto the path of immortal cultivation and questioning the Dao?

Zhao Yan killing sons and grandsons for immortality? Has his brain broken?

"Heh." He Yishan said with a laugh, "I have a magic treasure that can extend a person's lifespan, as long as the price is the fresh blood and lives of blood relatives."

As she spoke, a bronze four-legged small cauldron appeared in her hand.

The verdigris color on it was obvious; the carved patterns seemed to be a sea of blood, inside which floated numerous hideous evil ghosts with blank faces.

Despite being old, the carved lines were clearly visible, simply like a real scene reenacted.

It made Qinglang and the others unable to help but furrow their brows.

This magic treasure — its evil qi presses on one.

"Continue." Tang Luo said, completely ignoring Zhao Yan's expression which was ugly to the extreme, about to explode.

"We cooperated; he extended his life, I dealt with you all." He Yishan had long since lost any desire to live; her only plan was to drag Zhao Yan down with her.

No, it should be said, she wanted to drag everyone, every single one, down into the water.

The matter must be told from when He Yishan entered the capital, separated from Kongming and the others, and also separated from Wei Chengen.

Same as Wei Chengen, she likewise set her sights on the Joyous Temple.

But the method she used was different; He Yishan did not directly join the Joyous Temple — even the Joyous Temple was merely a stepping stone for her.

He Yishan's true target was Dayou's imperial clan.

Kongming had a way to rise from a commoner and thrive in Dayou; she, He Yishan, had a way too.

Entering the palace was He Yishan's method.

With a "Charm" skill considered useless in combat but able to play a crucial role in this kind of situation, possessing a certain level of strength, plus a modern person's broad knowledge and experience from watching large amounts of palace intrigue dramas and reading palace intrigue novels, how could He Yishan lose to a group of ignorant ancient women?

Mistress of the harem — she was determined to claim it!

He Yishan first hooked up with a fairly influential inner disciple of the Joyous Temple, and through him sent herself into the palace to become a palace maid.

Before long, the Joyous Temple collapsed.

He Yishan instantly became an unlisted, unsupervised sleeper agent. She was also very decisive; finding an opportunity to approach Zhao Yan, she claimed to be the Joyous Temple's sole surviving "inner disciple," and stated she had a way to help Zhao Yan extend his life.

As an emperor, Zhao Yan was naturally moved, and kept He Yishan by his side.

As time passed, Dayou's situation and momentum were favorable.

The two also launched a "struggle for the legitimate heir," using the fresh blood and lives of several princes to make Zhao Yan become incomparably young.

Zhao Yan's sons and grandsons, at this moment, were no longer his heirs, his kin, but had become his "food."

Whether it was the Crown Prince, or some imperial grandsons recommended by ministers, none could possibly survive.

The cooperation between the two grew ever tighter.

And with only five days left until the return, He Yishan, who had likewise received the final escort mission, finally couldn't hold back and planned to make a move on A Fei.

This mission, she merely completed a branch mission on the way to the capital.

Upon ultimately completing the mission, she might not gain much reward.

But if there was an additional Fate Fragment, the harvest would be incomparable.

The decision to act against A Fei was the first mistake He Yishan committed.

She projected herself onto others, feeling that in this situation where return was imminent, "Kong Xuan" and that group absolutely would not make a big move.

Even if they investigated, how could the remaining time possibly be enough for them to investigate the truth?

Even more impossible to suspect her.

He Yishan used life extension as a condition, making Zhao Yan and her jointly design A Fei's death.

This was also the second mistake He Yishan committed.