Chapter 608: The First Imperial Prince

Hongguang year 47, January 6th.

Five days after the Heaven Sacrifice ceremony concluded, Yunshu was finally set to return.

The Dharma Enforcement Pavilion sent a True Person to be stationed at the Profound Great Sect.

Of course, this True Person would not undertake any affairs at the Profound Great Sect, nor did he hold any authority.

He represented the imperial court's supervision of the Profound Great Sect!

Even if this kind of supervision only held superficial significance, it was enough to change many things.

Just as Yunshu would henceforth preside over the Heaven Sacrifice ceremony every year alongside Taiyu.

After the True Person from the Dharma Enforcement Pavilion arrived, Yunshu took Li Fei and the others to leave the Profound Great Sect, boarding a special train at Daluo Town to return to Lanling City.

On the train, Lu Wenxing took the opportunity to give Li Fei a rough explanation of the events that had occurred over this period:

"Previously, seeing that you were immersed in cultivation all day, I did not disturb you. But now that we have left the Profound Great Sect and are about to return to the capital, there are some things I feel you should know."

Under his narration, Li Fei learned of the events that had transpired over the past two-plus months:

The Profound Great Sect's influence on the Great Lan Dynasty was not limited to Ming Province; there were people from the Profound Great Sect in the Dharma Enforcement Courts of seven or eight provinces.

Over the past two months, while Yunshu sat in command at the Profound Great Sect, the imperial court had been busy severing the Profound Great Sect's "tentacles" on the outside.

In those two months, the Dharma Enforcement Courts of over a hundred cities had been purged!

The baleful weapons used by all border armies, the Imperial Guard, and the twenty-three provincial armies had all been inspected.

Furthermore, a total of eleven Pavilion Officials, seventy-seven Seat Officials, and four hundred and fifty-nine imperial court officials were imprisoned!

As for the implicated subordinate officials and clerks, they were countless!

And this was already a lenient handling; otherwise, the number of people to be dealt with could have been several times higher!

After all, the Profound Great Sect was the ancestral home of Daoism, and the imperial court inevitably involved people from the other two sects during the process.

Regarding this, the central government's attitude was to let go where possible, and they did not exterminate the entire Daoist school just because of the Profound Great Sect affair.

After all, targeting the Profound Great Sect alone was already akin to scraping bone to treat a wound!

A towering tree that had existed for over eight hundred years had fallen, and the roots pulled up along with it were truly unimaginably numerous.

"My lord, after returning to the capital this time, do you intend to bring up the matter of reinvestigating the old case?"

Having finished telling Li Fei about the past, Lu Wenxing began to discuss the future.

He knew that Li Fei had taken on the Longevity Pill case at the court assembly precisely to reopen an old case.

Li Fei did not hide it, nodding: "That's right. Although the Longevity Pill could not be recovered, the merit I have established should be enough to exchange for a chance to retry the case."

Lu Wenxing looked into Li Fei's eyes: "My lord, forgive my bluntness, but while your merit may be sufficient, you had best not bring this matter up yourself when you face His Majesty upon returning; you must let His Majesty bring it up."

Li Fei smiled.

With his experience from his past life, he naturally understood the taboos of those in power.

If there is merit, there should naturally be rewards, but how exactly to reward and what to reward should not be brought up by him.

Lu Wenxing hesitated for a moment, then said softly: "If you are worried that the matter will not succeed, my lord, you could ask the Crown Prince for help."

Li Fei was startled, looking at the other party with some surprise: "You think I should stand on the Crown Prince's side?"

Lu Wenxing first used a burst of energy to completely seal off the space within the private compartment, ensuring no sound would leak out, before speaking cautiously:

"In my humble opinion, if the Crown Prince does not make mistakes, his chances of success in the future should be the greatest."

Li Fei looked into Lu Wenxing's eyes and saw complete sincerity.

These words, no matter where or to whom they were spoken, were a top-tier taboo!

That the other party could say such things to him meant he truly intended to throw his lot in with him from now on.

"Then what do you think of the other two Imperial Princes?"

Since Lu Wenxing had spoken to this extent, Li Fei no longer stood on ceremony and continued to deepen the topic.

Lu Wenxing was very pleased to hear this.

That Li Fei could discuss this with him meant he had begun to treat him as one of his own, so he decided to bring out some "hard facts":

"I entered the capital fifteen years ago to join the Stop-War Pavilion, and I have sat in this position for fifteen years. I have no great skills, but I consider myself to have some ability in judging people. Of the two Imperial Princes in the court, the First Imperial Prince is brave and overbearing, while the Third Imperial Prince is devious and deep. The First Imperial Prince appears more reckless and unwise, but if you ask me, if there really were a 'what if,' the First Imperial Prince's chances are actually greater."

"Oh?"

Li Fei was somewhat surprised.

He recalled the First Imperial Prince who had chased him out of the palace to trample him; he had assumed he was a narrow-minded, arrogant playboy, and never expected Lu Wenxing to rate him above the Third Imperial Prince.

"My lord should know that most members of the imperial family do not have high martial arts achievements or cultivation in the arts."

Lu Wenxing said.

"Correct."

"It is simply because the children of the wealthy do not sit on the edge of the hall; their lives are the most precious in the world, so how many are willing to risk such a good life fighting against the poor and lowly?"

"..."

"But there are always some anomalies in the imperial family, and the First Imperial Prince is one of them."

"Because of his martial arts achievements, you favor him more?"

"Of course, that is not all. Does my lord know of Prince Li?"

"I do, the Emperor's uncle, a Martial Saint among men."

"Prince Li is perhaps closer to the First Imperial Prince!"

Lu Wenxing said somewhat nervously.

Li Fei showed a look of surprise: "... ow do you know such a thing? Or is it common knowledge?"

"How could it be common knowledge."

Lu Wenxing laughed.

Li Fei also realized he had asked a stupid question.

Just imagine, if a member of the imperial family with the cultivation of a Martial Saint were to openly favor an Imperial Prince who had a chance at the throne, what kind of scene would that be?

No matter who became Emperor, they could never allow such a thing to happen!

Li Fei looked at Lu Wenxing, not expecting the other party to actually reveal such a "big secret" to him!

"This matter is only my speculation; there is no solid proof."

Lu Wenxing said, "I serve as the Supervisor of the Strange Artifacts Division in the Stop-War Pavilion, responsible for the casting, maintenance, and distribution of strange weapons in Yong Province. About nine years ago, the Yong Province Stop-War Department submitted an application requesting a fifth-grade strange weapon for a registered martial master."

"I read the merit record; it was a record of bandit suppression. The Yong Province Stop-War Department calculated most of the merit for this registered martial master because his performance was the most outstanding. But even so, it would be very difficult for him to obtain a fifth-grade strange weapon with that amount of merit."

"This person had no background, and no one had spoken for him beforehand, so my reply was to deny it and submit the matter upward. As a result, the application was actually approved."

"Of course, such things have happened before... I didn't pay much attention to it, until half a year later when a good friend of mine from Yong Province came to Lanling City. While we were talking, he mentioned that a junior in his family had gained the appreciation of Prince Li's estate; this junior was the very person for whom the Yong Province Stop-War Department had applied for the fifth-grade strange weapon."

"I was surprised after hearing this, because Prince Li's estate has no connections in the Stop-War Pavilion, and that application for the fifth-grade strange weapon was approved by Pavilion Member Lu Feng, who is a man on the First Imperial Prince's side."

After listening, Li Fei sorted out the connections.

Prince Li had his own fief, which was in Yong Province, so Prince Li's estate was also in Yong Province, though Prince Li himself resided in Lanling City year-round.

But being appreciated by Prince Li's estate and working for the estate naturally counted as being Prince Li's man.

"You mean to say that the registered martial master from Yong Province back then was able to obtain that fifth-grade strange weapon through the First Imperial Prince's connections, and this martial master eventually became Prince Li's man?"

Lu Wenxing nodded: "That's right, so I said there is no solid proof, only speculation. After all, this registered martial master only started working for Prince Li's estate after obtaining the fifth-grade strange weapon."

Li Fei: "But why would a registered martial master with no background be able to get the First Imperial Prince's people to approve his application? A mere fifth-grade strange weapon is not worth disturbing a Pavilion Elder; that is your doubt, right?"

Lu Wenxing smiled: "That is the meaning."

"But based on this one event alone, to say that Prince Li stands on the First Imperial Prince's side is far from enough; perhaps it was just a one-time gesture of goodwill."

Li Fei muttered.

"My lord, even if it was just a one-time gesture, the fact that the First Imperial Prince could get Prince Li's estate to accept this gesture nine years ago shows that the First Imperial Prince is not as simple as he looks."

Lu Wenxing said.

Li Fei was startled, then nodded: "Indeed."

In a world where martial power is supreme, the support of a Martial Saint is naturally a very heavy bargaining chip; even if it were only a possibility, Lu Wenxing was willing to place the First Imperial Prince ahead of the Third Imperial Prince.

He was telling Li Fei these things now, naturally, because Li Fei had already offended the First Imperial Prince, and offended him deeply!

"I will not choose a side."

Since Lu Wenxing had offered such a secret, Li Fei did not hide his own thoughts.

He did not intend to stand on the Crown Prince's side.

After he was ordered to investigate the Longevity Pill case, the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince had each had a conversation with him.

The two had completely opposite views on the case; the Crown Prince advised Li Fei to give up the investigation, while the Third Imperial Prince told Li Fei that this was a great opportunity.

The final result proved that the Third Imperial Prince was the one who was right.

Afterward, Li Fei wondered: did the Crown Prince really not know the inside story?

If he really didn't know, why was he the one who went to the Profound Great Sect, why was he the one who personally stepped forward to win over the Buddhist school, and why was he the one who spoke for the Buddhist school at the court assembly?

Without knowing the imperial court's plan beforehand, would the Crown Prince really dare to offend the Daoist school so recklessly?

And if he did know, the Crown Prince should have been very clear that Li Fei going to the Profound Great Sect to investigate the Longevity Pill case would not have any risks; it was a test from the Emperor.

So, the thoughts of this Crown Prince were also worth deep consideration.

Li Fei had never thought of relying on him, and now he would be even less likely to get too close to him.

"That is also true. My lord has established great merit this time and has the chance to soar to the skies; coupled with your talent and ability, you can become a towering tree yourself, so there is indeed no need to rely on anyone."

Inside the private compartment, Lu Wenxing said with a certain tone.

He could be certain that after returning this time, Li Fei would definitely be heavily rewarded, though he did not know to what extent.

At this moment, the train happened to pass by a field of flowers.

Colorful flowers bloomed in competition under the sunlight, and the distant mountain ranges rose and fell, layer upon layer, lush and verdant.

A gentle breeze blew past, and the flower petals swayed lightly.

Outside the carriage window, the scenery was just right.

(End of this chapter)