Chapter 746

Fang Yue was stunned.

How could the Crown Prince of Qing Guo be involved with the Phoenix Organization?

Fang Yue keenly sensed the gravity of the matter.

As others leaned in, trying to see the contents of the envelope, Fang Yue quietly tucked the letter away without a word.

Some things, if known by people like Dou Hongyi or Yang Hongxia, would only harm them.

"Qing Qianyang, the Crown Prince of Qing Guo… so my enemy is right there in the Qingcheng Huanggong! Sitting on that lofty throne, looking down on all living beings!"

Fang Yue clenched his fists, icy flashes gleaming in his eyes.

He had some understanding of Qing Guo's situation.

The Emperor is aging; the Nine Dragons fight for the succession!

From the Crown Prince down to the Ninth Prince, all are fighting bloody battles for the position of Crown Prince—open rivalry, covert schemes, hidden tides surging.

He never expected the current Crown Prince would sink so low as to collude with the Phoenix Organization, a dark group that traffics in 【Medicated Humans】, and perhaps even be their mastermind!

After dismissing the others, Fang Yue summoned Jing Yan and the rest to gather and share the news.

Jing Yan and Chen Qing were fine—just shocked by the strength of their opponent.

But Lin Ling's anger flared instantly.

"The world is overrun with anomalies. The Crown Prince does nothing for the people's welfare, yet colludes with the Phoenix Organization—if such a prince ascends the throne, what hope will the common folk have for a decent life?"

Fang Yue glanced at Lin Ling in surprise—he hadn't expected him to be so concerned for the nation and its people.

Fang Yue, Chen Qing, and the others had only thought of how dangerous the enemy was; they hadn't considered the Crown Prince himself as anything special, let alone felt outrage.

As players, they held no reverence for the emperor or nobility of this world.

In older-style games, if an enemy showed a health bar, and they had infinite respawns with respawn points right beside them…

Under such conditions, they'd have charged right in to chop down not just the Crown Prince, but even the current Emperor.

Unfortunately, in this game, one death means total loss.

Life is precious—only careful, gradual planning will do.

"Actually… it's not necessarily the Crown Prince who's the mastermind," Jing Yan mused.

"You feel the same way?" Chen Qing said, slightly surprised.

Then the two exchanged a glance, leaving Fang Yue baffled.

"What's going on with you two? Are your eyes broken? Stop just blinking—speak! Why do you think the Crown Prince isn't the mastermind?"

Chen Qing and Jing Yan finally stopped their gay-seeming eye exchange.

"Cough!" Chen Qing politely said: "You go first?"

"Alright." Jing Yan took over: "Ye Ge, did you notice the four characters on the envelope?"

"To Brother Niu?"

"Yes. Think—if you were the Phoenix Organization's mastermind, would you address a mere leader of the Twelve Seats as 'Brother Niu'? 'Brother Niu' sounds like a term of intimacy between equals, not a superior addressing a subordinate."

Fang Yue grumbled: "Maybe the Crown Prince doesn't want to expose himself as the mastermind—he doesn't want the Phoenix Organization to know."

"That's possible. But when you combine it with the eight characters in the letter—'All is ready, only the east wind is lacking'—it doesn't add up. We don't know what plan the Crown Prince and Niu Seat have devised, but from those eight characters, the Crown Prince is waiting for Niu Seat to send a signal, to provide the final 'east wind.' That's the language of partners, not master and servant."

Taken together, the Crown Prince is at most a close collaborator with the Phoenix Organization—not even close to being the mastermind."

Their analysis instantly convinced Fang Yue.

But just as they finished, Jing Yan couldn't resist adding one more thing.

"Of course, this is just our current analysis—maybe the Crown Prince is pretending to be a collaborator while secretly being the mastermind."

Fang Yue rolled his eyes—he'd just been about to praise them, and now they'd looped right back. What was the point of all that analysis then?

"In any case, the Crown Prince is in Qingcheng. If we want the truth, we have to go there ourselves. And as for information on the Phoenix Organization, this is the only lead we have."

As for the possibility of forging the Crown Prince's handwriting or fabricating the letter, Jing Yan and Chen Qing had considered it too—they'd have to wait until they reached Qingcheng and investigate all angles.

After that, Fang Yue and the others continued searching for clues about the Phoenix Organization.

Because they had to examine every detail meticulously, the progress was slow.

After a full day, they'd only advanced one-third.

They returned with supplies, rested overnight, and resumed the same routine the next day.

After much effort, it wasn't until the third day that things took a turn.

It wasn't because they found anything from the Phoenix Organization—but because… the Special Envoy arrived.

"Looking for me??"

Fang Yue was stunned.

He stared at Dou Hongyi, who had rushed over with the news, then slowly pointed with his right hand—wrapped in a silk handkerchief—at his own face, then looked around blankly at Jing Yan and the others, equally confused.

What's going on?

The Imperial Palace sent a Special Envoy all the way to Chunuan City just to deliver an Imperial Edict to me??

I have no connection with the current Emperor at all.

Fang Yue thought—he'd only killed the Wu Yu tribe and saved Qingsi County.

Those achievements might sound huge, but even the biggest of them only spread within Qing Si's internal ranks.

Getting promoted to Red Clothes within Qing Si was already an extraordinary break; how could the Emperor possibly know?

Fang Yue frowned. Could it be… the Crown Prince framed him first? This guy, suspected as the Phoenix Organization's mastermind, wants to eliminate him before he can act?

But that doesn't make sense—this incident only happened three days ago. Is imperial news really that fast? And the Emperor is merely aging, not senile—why would he listen to the Crown Prince?

If he truly could sway the Emperor, the Crown Prince would've already seized the throne.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he'd have to go and see for himself.

After all… it was a Special Envoy sent by the Qingcheng Huanggong—he couldn't refuse to meet them. To do so would be defying the Imperial Edict.

Leading Jing Yan and the other two back, Fang Yue asked Dou Hongyi if he could reveal any news, but the latter only smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Though Dou Hongyi acted with impunity in Chunuan City and held an exalted status, before a Special Envoy from the Imperial Palace, he had no right to even let out a fart, let alone ask what exactly was going on.

"The Special Envoy said only when he meets you in person will he proclaim the Imperial Edict."

Though he had not met the person in person, from Dou Hongyi's sullen tone, it seemed he had suffered plenty of indignities.

Yet anyone entrusted by the Emperor to deliver the Imperial Edict, granted imperial authority, must be a favored courtier—dare anyone offend him? His arrogance was only natural.

Put bluntly, places like Chunuan City aren't even worth noticing; Qing Cheng is the heart of all Qing Guo, the sole designated imperial capital—so a high-ranking official coming down to inspect a backwater is nothing more than a routine matter.

(End of Chapter)