There was silence, absolute silence from Fu Xiuyi who had stopped fleeing, to the vigilant Ling Lihua, to the panicking ministers and officials, and even Ling Haitang. Only Daoyi showed no surprise at the sudden sword that had pierced the palace's roof and exterminated Wan Zhanqi.
"Thank you, Master," Daoyi said as she cupped her hand.
Mengfei was constantly cultivating, and it wasn't the type that couldn't be interrupted, so Daoyi said Mengfei's name to summon her aid. This was the trump card and reason Daoyi didn't need Tianyi's protection. Still, Daoyi felt apologetic for asking her Mengfei to kill a Dragon Emperor clone.
A shadowy figure materialized next to Daoyi, her features covered by mist. Turning towards Daoyi, Mengfei nodded and looked coldly at the last place where Wan Zhanqi's corpse had been. Her strike had annihilated Wan Zhangqi's body and soul instantly. Not even his equipment was spared, including his spatial ring.
"If you meet any more clones, get rid of them. If you can't or a force obstructs you, summon me." Mengfei ordered.
"Yes, Master," Daoyi accepted, surprised by Mengfei's killing intent towards the Dragon Emperor clone.
"If there is nothing else, I'll be leaving," Mengfei said after Daoyi confirmed that there was nothing, her incarnation dissipated.
"Sending off Grand Elder Xi," Ling Haitang, who had finally broken out of her stupor, quickly saluted Mengfei. Once Mengfei left, Ling Haitang's eyes were full of stars. "Grand Elder Xi is so powerful. No wonder she is called the most powerful expert in the world."
Daoyi laughed. "That's because Master is the most recent immortal empress. Master says that there are several monsters in the Buzhou Immortal Sect that she can't see through."
"Impossible," Ling Haitang immediately rejected. "Grand Elder Xi is the youngest immortal empress. She may not be the strongest now, but she will definitely in the future!"
Hearing Ling Haitang's proclamation, Daoyi gave a wry smile. Compared to the outsider's opinions, she was more willing to believe Mengfei. Plus, experience taught her that rumors could not be trusted.
"Many thanks to friends from the Buzhou Immortal Sect for upholding justice and slaying that imposter."
Just as Ling Haitang was about to speak again, a voice interrupted her. Turning around, she saw Fu Xiuyi, the Fu Dynasty Emperor, kneeling on the ground, thanking both of them. Next to him was her 'good' sister, Ling Lihua.
Under her silk veil, Ling Haitang revealed a sneer. Some might say that for an emperor to kneel revealed his gratitude and humbleness, but to Ling Haitang, those didn't apply to the man in front of her at all. Fu Xiuyi was the world's best actor, able to endure any humiliation.
Ling Haitang remembered that Fu Xiuyi's brother once humiliated him. It wasn't until she showed up that the former princes stopped. Back then, she was a hot commodity, sought out by all the princes, yet she stupidly fell in love with Fu Xiuyi.
The first time Ling Haitang returned from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, and after she was awakened from her lovesickness, she realized that none of the people who bullied or suppressed him had good ends. Fu Xiuyi's second elder brother, the former crown prince, was found to be illegally mining spirit stones and sentenced to death. His fourth elder brother was found dead while having an orgy. His eighth younger brother, the emperor's most favored prince, fell off a ravine. Although his life was saved, he became a cripple and mute.
Not even the officials' families were spared.
A minister's family was discovered to be colluding with the crown prince in illegally mining spirit stones, so all nine generations of their family were put to death. A third-rank official's family was discovered to have purposely pushed the eighth prince off the ravine, and the culprits were sentenced to death while the rest were made slaves. Coincidently, they secretly pledged allegiance to the fourth prince. A marquis family was embroiled in a divorce case that destroyed the family's reputation and wealth. Although they still retain a marquis family, they don't even have money to buy something to fill their stomach every day and are the laughingstock of the capital. The former marquis's daughter was Fu Xiuyi's fiancee before they one-sidedly broke the engagement.
'Perhaps, I'm also included in his targets of revenge.' Ling Haitang maliciously thought. She recalled that she had saved him numerous times from humiliating moments but at the same time also witnessed them. What man, let alone a person, would happily allow another person to know their most degrading moment?
Thinking back, Ling Haitang felt that it was very possible. As such, she glared at Fu Xiuyi, her hatred of him growing even more. "Hmpf, if you hadn't been tricked, this would have never happened." The disdain in her voice wasn't not hidden at all. Before, she was somewhat polite, but now, Ling Haitang openly revealed her disgust.
Fu Xiuyi stilled for an uncomfortably long moment before lowering his head even more. "You're right, Haitang–"
"Silence," Ling Haitang shouted, anger in her voice. "Who gave you the right to speak my name?"
"Elder Sister, you are too much!" Ling Lihua spoke up at this time, raising her head to glare at Ling Haitang. "Even if you've broken off the engagement, you were still once His Majesty's woman. You can't speak to him that way."
Ling Haitang felt a vein pulsing on her temples. "Yes! I was once his fiancee, but I wasn't his woman yet! Speaking of that, I have to thank you. Thanks to you becoming his woman, I've opened my eyes. You always spout the virtues of a woman, but aren't you a lowly thing too? Climbing the bed of your sister's fiance, you still have the face to be an empress?"
"You!" What Ling Lihua hated most was people saying that she stole Ling Haitang's man. Before, thanks to her strength, no one dared to say such words, but Ling Haitang didn't have such prohibitions.
"Enough!" Fu Xiuyi shouted. His voice wasn't directed at Lin Haitang but at Ling Lihua, who immediately quieted. Then his tone took on an unbearably tint of agony. "It was my fault. Please stop fighting because of me."
Hearing those words, Ling Haitang's temper rose. She very much wanted to kill Fu Xiuyi then and there, but she glanced at Ling Lihua, who was still glaring at her next to him. For a moment, Ling Haitang contemplated using the lifesaving treasure her master gave her to kill Ling Lihua and then personally kill Fu Xiuyi, but she quickly rejected the notion.
Are you kidding? Wasting a valuable lifesaving treasure for a scum? What would happen to her if she needed it in the future?
"Sister Ling, I feel tired. I'll be leaving first." Daoyi said, feeling a headache from their lover's spat. Okay, lover's spat was a bit over-exaggeration.
"You were the main threat to that imposter, so you must be tired from exertion. I'll accompany you back." Ling Haitang said, but not before glaring at the two imperial couple.
Once Daoyi and Ling Haitang left, Fu Xiuyi stood up and called his personal attendants.
"Quick, go check if Ling Kang is okay." Fu Xiuyi said with worry.
"I'll go at once!" The captain of the guards said and immediately went to search for Duke Ling's eldest son.
"Go to my storage and send treasures to Duke Ling's estate. Say it is thanks for the two's aid." Fu Xiuyi paused and then added. "Send Thriceline Flowers, Waterdrop Gems, Violetblood Corals, and a Unity Pill."
With each item listed, Ling Lihua's expression spiraled downward. Thrinceline Flowers were more valued for their beauty than use as ingredients, Waterdrop Gems were said to be a goddess's tears and were extremely popular as jewelry, and Violetblood Corals could be fashioned into bracelets. However, her expression turned into shock when Fu Xiuyi mentioned Unity Pill.
"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Ling Lihua cried out. "The empire only has two left. If you give one away, then the dynasty will only have one more unity venerable at most. Besides, disciples from large sects disdain using pills to breakthrough."
The Fu Emperor glared at Ling Lihua. "What do you understand, woman!? Even if we give one away, it is your responsibility to get more. It is your duty as the empire's only unity venerable."
Ling Lihua opened her mouth, wanting to sway Fu Xiuyi, but he only waved his sleeve. "Enough! Our decision is final!"
Without waiting for Ling Lihua, Fu Xiuyi walked away, looking for Ling Kang, leaving behind an ashen-faced empress.
Two days later, Daoyi was playing with the Unity Pill in her hand. News of what happened at the banquet had already disseminated in the noble circle, to the point that commoners already heard rumors. However, that didn't matter to Daoyi.
Earlier this morning, a eunuch had brought trunks after trunks of gifts to show the emperor's sincerity for the two's aid. When Ling Haitang saw the contents, her face immediately blackened. In the end, Daoyi only took the pill and left the rest of the gifts to Ling Haitang. She imagined that those gifts were probably utterly destroyed by now.
Daoyi sighed. Too bad, those Thriceline Flowers, Waterdrop Gems, and Violetblood Corals really were beautiful. Too bad the 'sincerity; behind them leaves much to be desired.
Daoyi touched the Cloudless Crest Link earring that Tianyi had forged for her. I should have asked Tianyi to make some more for me. Right now, he can't forge or refine anything. Compared to the local jewelry, I prefer ones with a more modern flare.
After lamenting for a few minutes, Daoyi quickly resumed inspecting the Unity Pill. The pill in her hand gave Daoyi a vague sensation as if she was experiencing the gentle caress of the wind, the shade of trees, the harsh yet warm sunlight, the pulsating song of the land, and so much more. "It gives me a deep sense of intimacy with nature. No wonder this pill can help cultivators step into the Unity or World Merging Realm, but I heard that only immortal realm experts can concoct such a pill."
Then came the question, where did the Fu Dynasty attain such a miraculous pill. The answer was obvious. The existence of the pill only reaffirmed Daoyi's conviction and deductions.
That was why when the false Vast Heaven Young Master attacked, Daoyi stepped in. She had no good feelings towards Fu Xiuyi, but it wouldn't be good for him to die. According to her judgment and Ling Haitang's recounts, Fu Xiuyi was an extremely distrustful person, so he would not lightly reveal his secrets.
Daoyi had confidence in making an untalented core formation master like Fu Xiuyi spit out everything he knew, but she was wary of Ling Lihua. She didn't want to be too apparent that she was investigating the Fu Empire, so that's why she was going along with Ling Haitang's plans. During the process, she could find a time to interrogate Fu Xiuyi's soul.
"I wonder how long it will be before I have the chance to discover the truth?" Daoyi asked aloud.
The answer, as it turned out, was two months as the lord of the adjacent territory, the Skybrush Sect, declared war on the Fu Dynasty. When Daoyi and Ling Haitang heard the news, they shared a look. In recent years, such wars weren't an uncommon occurrence.
However, for Ling Haitang, although she would help the Fu Dynasty triumph as it was her duty as a Buzhou Immortal Sect disciple to prevent the lurking force from causing upheaval in the Heaven Continent, her main goal was to induce despair to Fu Xiuyi. The worse fate for a selfish man like him was to watch everything he desired slip through his fingers.
"Fu Dynasty, I'm finally back!" A man of about twenty-five in appearance walked through the capital gates with a steady gait. His back was broad, his back straight, his eyes tranquil, and a confident smile on his lips.
"Brother Peng, this is your home?" A girl asked as she followed behind. She looked to be in her twenties, but the naive air around her made her appear much younger. However, despite the naive air that made men want to protect her, flickers of hatred could be seen in her eyes.
Brother Peng, or rather, Peng Yun, laughed in response. "Don't worry, Weiwei. Once I have grown strong enough, I'll help you uphold justice. I despise those scheming bastards too!"