Yang Lüe said, "I had just planned to suggest the same thing. Yan, what do you think?"
Yan Huo responded, "I'll follow Big Brother Yang's lead!"
Yang Lüe nodded and then asked, "By the way, Liu Brother, you haven't told me yet what happened after you entered the woods that day. Did you find the enemy?"
Liu De shook his head. "No! The bandits were too cunning. When they saw we had so many people, they disappeared without a trace."
As he spoke, Liu De cast a deep, almost suspicious look at Yan Huo. "Why is Second Brother lying? They must have seen the bodies. Could he be trying to hide something for me? Ugh, why am I overthinking this? Once we reach the Liu estate, I'll know everything."
Liu De sighed inwardly. *Liu Manor… here I am. Father, how will you treat me when you see me again? I have no memories of my mother, and I've never met my elder brother or third sister. How will they treat me, their son and brother? But no matter what, I've come! This time, I won't run away again.*
In the capital of the Chen Dynasty, Jing City, the city was not only the largest and most fortified in the entire kingdom but also the most populous, being home to the emperor.
Likewise, the Imperial City, a separate part of the capital, occupied a full one-tenth of the entire area of Jing City. The actual usable area of the Imperial City was only about half of that, for within it lay a peculiar peak, standing several hundred meters tall, isolated on a vast plain. This peak, seemingly emerging from the ground, had existed for thousands of years, and no one knew why it was there.
This isolated mountain, known as Long Mountain due to local beliefs about its connection to the royal dragon veins, was surrounded by an endless plain. People were puzzled by why the founding emperor of the Chen Dynasty, Chen Yuan, had chosen to build the royal palace around this peak.
Long Mountain, once nameless, gained its title due to the palace's proximity and the belief that it was a source of royal power. The palace gardens lay at the foot of Long Mountain, with a secret passage leading straight up to the mountain's summit. From this peak, hidden from view, stood a mysterious palace made entirely of white jade.
The palace platform at the peak covered over a hundred acres, with every inch of the surface paved with white jade bricks. Such lavishness made it clear how important and sacred this palace was. The contrast was striking, for the rest of the imperial palace was constructed using gold lacquer and glazed tiles, yet here, only white jade was used for both the palace and its roads.
Under the scorching midday sun, five men in white robes kneeled outside the jade palace. They had been waiting for three full hours, drenched in sweat, yet none dared to move or utter a sound. The heat was unbearable, but they held their ground, awaiting orders.
After a long period of silence, a deep, resonant voice came from within the palace, "Are you saying that Hong Liu has failed? That the item might have already reached the Liu family?"
The five men remained still, each of them around forty years old. From left to right, the first man had a single narrow eye and thin brows, the second had a horse-like face, the third had thick brows and large eyes, the fourth looked ordinary but was missing an ear, and the fifth had a broad forehead and a short jaw.
The man with thick brows and large eyes responded, "Your Majesty, we haven't heard from Hong Liu for more than ten days. According to the information brought by Number Four, their last appearance was near Yan City, just as the Liu family's forces were moving out. I sent people to investigate, and indeed, there were signs of intense fighting in the woods outside Yan City. Therefore, we suspect that Hong Liu has failed and may have been captured."
A voice from within the palace then asked, "How do you think the current head of the Liu family's martial arts skills compare to mine?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, I should be able to kill him within a hundred moves. When dealing with the head of the Wang family, Wang Chongyi, I only needed a hundred moves," Zhang He, the man with thick eyebrows, answered.
The voice from within the palace responded with some irritation, "And how does Hong Liu compare to him?"
Zhang He replied, "I believe he is about the same level, neither superior nor inferior."
The voice inside the palace became more agitated, "If he is on the same level, and Hong Liu had more than a dozen experts with him, how could he possibly have been captured?"
Upon hearing the anger in the voice, the five men outside the palace immediately dropped to their knees in unison and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive us! We too are puzzled, but we did not dare to act rashly, afraid of alarming the enemy and ruining your plans. That is why we came to seek your guidance."
It seemed as if they had all agreed on this response beforehand.
A second voice, soft and feminine, echoed from within the palace, "A group of useless fools…"
A third voice interrupted, "Why scold them like that, Third Brother? If it weren't for our need to protect the masters here, any one of us four brothers could have taken care of this matter in a day. Since we cannot go out, we must rely on them to do it."
The soft voice from within then asked, "Zhang He, I ask you, has the young emperor been behaving well lately?"
Zhang He, who had been the one to answer earlier, replied, "Your Majesty, everything is under our control."
The voice inside asked again, "Has the Empress Dowager caused any more trouble?"
Zhang He smiled slightly, a confident gleam in his eyes. "Ever since Your Majesty granted us the spiritual pills to enhance our powers, the Empress Dowager has been completely under our control."
The voice inside the palace, now filled with cold amusement, replied, "Good! Very good! Ha! Do you remember when our masters helped that old emperor seize the throne? Who would have thought that he would secretly hide something so important from us. He has no benevolence, so neither do we. Taking his kingdom and playing with his descendants like puppets is also a fun game. Ha ha ha!"
The laughter from within the palace was so intense that the five kneeling men outside felt the air around them stir, their clothes moving as though blown by an invisible wind. It was evident how powerful the internal energy of the people inside the palace was.
After the laughter subsided, Zhang He continued, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Liu family is a major threat to us. Over ten years ago, the Liu family experienced an ominous celestial event. The birth of a male heir was said to be an ill omen. At that time, we were just six nobodies with no power in the court. The Empress Dowager dismissed us as spreading rumors and even attacked us. Now, the very item we seek is involved with the Liu family. Looking back, I'm sure it's no coincidence. With the Liu family's current strength, we dare not openly use imperial power to destroy them, for fear of a failed strike turning the tables and making them a bigger threat.
"Now, with the incident involving Hong Liu, we don't know how many more experts the Liu family may have hidden in the shadows…"
The soft voice interrupted again, "I don't want to hear about these trivial matters. The celestial omens, who becomes emperor—those things don't concern us. We'll make anyone emperor who we wish to. Now, we grant each of you a spiritual pill to increase your power by thirty more years. With that, the six of you combined should not fear the Liu family. Do the job properly, and don't let us down. We don't care how you do it, but when the two Immortal Lords return from their seclusion, you must present the item to us. Do you hear?"
The five men outside the palace shouted in unison, "Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting the spiritual pills!"