Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 449 - 360: Yinsha Appears Again_1

Chapter 449: Chapter 360: Yinsha Appears Again_1

During the hour of Yin (3 to 5 a.m.), the Jingtai Emperor was awoken by a loud rumbling outside.

He looked towards the west gate in a daze, "What’s happening? Who’s knocking at the gate?"

He thought to himself, could it be another Demon Qilin?

To solve the issue of the Demon Qilin ramming the palace city before, he had already racked his brains. Finally, by arguing that ’The Demon Qilin once rammed the east gate of the Forbidden City because the Crown Prince was incorrigible, causing the Demon Qilin to attack the city’, he had muddled the situation, quelled the officials’ discussions, and suppressed the remonstrations from his Imperial Censors.

How come there’s another person ramming the palace city after just over ten days?

"That’s Immortal Master Shuide."

The eunuch attending to the emperor at his bedside immediately knelt down, "Immortal Master Shuide wished to have an audience with Your Majesty late at night, but was refused by the city gate Xiaowei guarding the Xihua Gate. Immortal Master Shuide, unsatisfied with this, directly rammed the palace wall, thus waking Your Majesty."

"Absurd!"

The Jingtai Emperor immediately rose, "Invite Immortal Master Shuide into the palace, to wait in the Centre Hall. I have personally granted Immortal Master Shuide the privilege of an audience with me at any time. Why would you stop her??"

He walked to the hall, allowing several palace ladies to dress him, and asked curiously, "At this late hour, do you know why the Immortal Master Shuide has come to the palace?"

The eunuch forced a smile and replied, "How would this servant know? You could ask the left Dudu, I will have someone call him over now."

However, the Xiuyiwei’s Yamen is outside the Imperial City, together with the Five Armies’ Dudu’s Mansion. Summoning Zuo Daoxing into the palace would still take some time.

The Jingtai Emperor could only first go to the Centre Hall to meet the immortal Master Shuide, Ao Shuying. When he stepped into the hall, he found the expression of this Immortal Master Shuide turning blue, her eyes cold, and her aura compelling.

The Jingtai Emperor couldn’t help feeling slightly surprised: "Why is the Immortal Master so angered?"

Who in this capital city would dare to offend the leader of the Dragon Kings worldwide?

"Official Ao Shuying pays her respects to Your Majesty!" Although Ao Shuying was filled with rage, she still respectfully saluted, "The reason for my anger is because of Your Majesty’s Inspectorate. Today, my close friend was framed in the Inspectorate. I would like to ask Your Majesty to look into this, and release him as soon as possible."

The Jingtai Emperor was even more confused, "May I ask who is the Immortal Master’s friend?"

"Earl Jingan, Li Xuan." Ao Shuying said with a slight lift of her brows, "Earl Jingan, Li Xuan has done me a great favor, and our personalities match, hence we became close friends."

The Jingtai Emperor was taken aback, thinking why would it be Li Xuan?

Regarding Li Xuan, the Jingtai Emperor was still very grateful. If it weren’t for his Earl Jingan assisting him ten days ago in dealing with the Demon Qilin, who knows what kind of situation the court would be in now.

The Qilin, the Auspicious Beast, is worshipped by everyone, and every move it makes touches the hearts of the people.

If the Demon Qilin had continued to cause trouble that day, he would not only be forced to change his heir, but he might also have been forced to confess his guilt to calm the world.

But how did this Earl Jingan get mixed up with the Inspectorate, and how did he become close friends with the leader of the Dragon Kings from the Four Seas?

"Immortal Master Shuide, please calm your anger!"

Jingtai Emperor pondered for a moment, then spoke, "I still know nothing about this matter, let me learn more details first before making any decisions, okay?"

Seeing Ao Shuying frowning and looking extremely displeased, the Jingtai Emperor couldn’t help but chuckle, "Immortal Master, there are regulations and systems in the court. Even I can’t act arbitrarily.

However, you can rest assured, I will soon send someone to investigate this matter in detail. If it is confirmed that Earl Jingan is innocent, I will certainly not wrong him and will not allow anyone to falsely accuse him."

But Ao Shuying’s voice was still cold, and her eyes were unfriendly, "Can’t he be released immediately? I said he was wronged."

The look on the Jingtai Emperor’s face was helpless: "Immortal Master, if the rules and regulations made by the court cannot be followed, won’t this world be in chaos? When you helped the Great Ancestor to seize the world, wasn’t it because you hoped that the common people would live and work in peace? You hoped that your believers would not be exploited by heavy taxes and suffer from war?

But if the court is not ruled by law, the first ones to suffer will be the common people, which is why the initiator will end up with nothing, that is the reason."

Ao Shuying had actually achieved her goal, but there was not the slightest change in her facial expression, "Then, please have Your Majesty send people as soon as possible! Given Li Xuan’s personality, he would never burn down the scripture room of the Inspectorate for no reason. If he is convicted for this, Shuying will definitely seek justice for him!"

She abruptly left these words hanging in the air before transforming into a dragon and flying out of the hall.

Jingtai Emperor only felt his headache worsening: "Where is Zuo Daoxing?"

Zuo Daoxing had been waiting outside the hall for a long time. Upon hearing the summons, he quickly walked in and reported the details succinctly, "Today, Li Xuan was investigating the case of Jizzong’s nephew, Xia Guangwei, for embezzlement and trespassing into the Gold Treasury Stone Chamber of the Inspectorate together with Sun Chuyun, the daughter of Earl Huichang. However, they were stumbled upon by Earl Huichang, Sun Jizong, and the chairman of the deputy Zuodu Yushi, Lin Youzhen.

Almost at the same time, the west scripture room of the Inspectorate caught fire. When I entered the palace, it had already been burned to the ground."

After listening to this, the Jingtai Emperor thought, what on earth is this? How did Li Xuan end up with Sun Chuyun? How did Earl Huichang and Lin Youzhen get involved?

He had complete faith in Li Xuan, not only because of Hongshang but also due to his outstanding character and talent. Unfortunately, Li Xuan had already joined the Liudao Division. Otherwise, I would have brought him into the court to be my right-hand man.

As for Lin Youzhen, he was a minister that the emperor had personally promoted and appointed. Not long before this, Lin Youzhen had successfully managed a water treatment project and was subsequently promoted to the position of deputy Zuodu Yushi because of his achievements.

"Sun Chuyun was recruited to Liudao Division a few days ago, serving under Li Xuan as the Fumo Duyu of Liudao Division."

Zuo Daoxing continued to explain the situation in detail: "On that night, Lin Youzhen was on duty at the Inspectorate. Earl Huichang, Sun Jizong, came to his doorstep in the middle of the night, claiming he was ordered by Empress Sun to go to the Jinkui Stone Room for an old file. Lin Youzhen had to accompany him."

The Jingtai Emperor immediately sharpened his gaze: "Was this a scheme set up by Earl Huichang?"

"It seems to be related to Earl Huichang."

Zuo Daoxing’s expression was somewhat strange: "According to my investigation, a historian from the Inspectorate who witnessed the whole event, stated that at the moment of the incident, Earl Jingan, Li Xuan, and Sun Chuyun were conducting indecent acts in the stone room. It seemed that Sun Chuyun was the one who initiated it. And Lin Youzhen, who was the deputy Zuodu Yushi, was the chief official who investigated the Xunjian Yushi Xia Guangwei’s bribery case."

The Jingtai Emperor wondered what kind of mess this was.

However, even if he were to think with his toes, he would realize there must be a problem.

"Order the Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, Yu Shiyue, to personally handle this investigation—"

As he was speaking, the Jingtai Emperor’s expression grew more serious, directing his gaze to the outside of the hall with a trace of surprise in his eyes: "Lord?"

At this moment, Ao Shuying, who had transformed into a massive black dragon, coiled in mid-air, coldly peering in the direction of the Renshou Palace and the Ciqing Palace.

Suddenly, with a roar, a thunderbolt-entwined, green Wind Blade plunged towards the main hall of the Renshou Palace.

The Wind Blade, which was a hundred feet wide, sliced through the void, easily breaking the talisman array that encased the Forbidden City. It eventually landed above the Renshou Palace.

Meanwhile, Empress Sun, who was dressed up and sitting in the side hall of the Renshou Palace, appeared slightly alarmed. When she lifted her hand, she summoned a frenzied wind, forming a giant, green beast in the shape of a bird with the head of a deer and wings that resembled scythes, seemingly in the shape of the divine beast ’Feilian’. The beast contended with the Wind Blade.

The clash between the two hundred feet above resulted in numerous small wind blades dispersing in all directions, leaving cuts on the ground and buildings of the Renshou Palace, even causing some buildings to collapse directly.

Ao Shuying then shot a cold glance in the direction of the Renshou Palace before flying towards Qionghua Island with a faint snort.

At this time, Empress Sun, who was observing the blood mark on her right hand, uttered a sigh of regret: "Unsurprisingly, the Immortal Master Shuide who’s been famous for hundreds of years has truly mastered the Wind Style. I’m not as proficient as she is."

"This must be a warning from the Immortal Master Shuide."

At Empress Sun’s side, there stood a young man in black, with pure white hair but a youthful face. He smiled faintly and said, "Empress, do you still plan to continue?"

"Why not?"

Empress Sun’s lips curled slightly: "My brother rarely has reliable strategies. His latest proposal is very good. As long as we manage to secure the Wenshan Seal, all the obstacles we currently face can be easily resolved. Opportunities like these come rarely, so we must continue!"

※※ ※※

Li Xuan was locked up in a jail cell at the Dali Temple at the Hour of Yin in the early morning.

As he had yet to be convicted, he was treated well and placed in cell number three of the ’Tian’ section (heaven) in the Dali Temple prison. This room not only had a four-foot square single room with all necessary furnishings, but also a small window above the floor, making the air very fresh.

Sun Chuyun was later locked up as well, accompanied by Earl Huichang. She was slightly delayed due to the issue with the letter and the talisman array.

Earl Huichang, Sun Jizong, was in a dilemma because all the cells in the ’Tian’ section were already occupied. The only available cell was No.4 of the ’Tian’ section, which was opposite Li Xuan’s cell.

He was unable to swap cells with other prisoners as all of them were officials who had either been imprisoned for supporting the Zhengtong Emperor or involved in the recent succession dispute.

Those people had to be treated favorably by the Sun family and couldn’t be offended.

But, if Sun Chuyun was placed in the ’Di’ section (earth) cell beneath, Earl Huichang felt reluctant. He didn’t want to ill-treat Sun Chuyun,

So, in the end, he had no choice but to place Sun Chuyun in the cell opposite Li Xuan. He heavily reminded the prison guards to keep a close eye and do everything possible to prevent any further incident between the two.

Just as Sun Jizong left, Sun Chuyun simply walked out of her cell and strolled nonchalantly into Li Xuan’s room, ignoring everyone else. The bars in front of her were as if they didn’t exist, and the nearby jailers were completely unaware of her actions.

Li Xuan did not notice her arrival either, as he was frowning, focusing on his chest.

After entering the Dali Temple prison, he had noticed a strange throbbing in his chest.

This feeling was somewhat familiar. It was the same sensation he felt several months ago on the night when Hongshang was leaning over him,

Sinking into introspection, Li Xuan discovered a few green spots on his chest.

This was not supposed to happen. The Yinsha that was entrenched within his body was completely expelled when his Hao Qi ascended to the seventh house level,

So, what were these green spots all about?