Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 805 - 664: Divine Teammate Mrs. Liu

Chapter 805: Chapter 664: Divine Teammate Mrs. Liu

The next morning, carriers lifted vermilion-red rosewood chests, one by one, into the Jiang Family’s residence next door to the mansion of Prince Fenyang.

Though there was a small gate between the two households’ walls, the procession of gifts wound around the block with beating drums and clashing gongs, entering through the main gate for all the neighbors in the surrounding alleys to see.

Lady Jiang stood at the door, a look of surprise evident in her eyes. Her maidservant by her side was equally astonished, "A total of one hundred and twenty-eight carriers, what an impressive display, it stretches out for nearly half a li."

In pre-wedding traditions, there are six gifts, first is the engagement, second the questioning of names, third the acceptance of auspicious gifts, fourth the delivery of the betrothal gifts, fifth the arrangement of the wedding date, and sixth the welcoming of the bride.

Rarely does one see such significant gifts, such grandeur, or such a display of might during the engagement and marriage negotiations.

Were the Jiang Family to refuse, the mansion of Prince Fenyang would lose face greatly.

Lady Jiang, however, felt quite pleased, thinking Mrs. Liu’s handling of affairs quite proper.

Despite hearing about the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts between Mrs. Liu and Su Zhaojun, she was slightly concerned. But after all, that involved the eldest daughter-in-law, and disputes between a mother-in-law and the second daughter-in-law were seldom heard of.

So when Mrs. Liu came to visit, Lady Jiang’s smile bloomed like flowers, and her hospitality was especially warm.

However, she had not anticipated that Mrs. Liu was prepared to complete the entire process of marriage negotiations in one go, from the engagement to the setting of the wedding date.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Master Zhang Shenye was also present, capable of divining the will of the heavens and finding a perfect match in their destinies.

Lady Jiang hesitated though, "This? Isn’t it too hasty? I might need to ask Hanyun first."

She thought that she should at least respect her daughter’s opinion.

Mrs. Liu sipped her tea without a ripple of emotion, "Lady Jiang, as the saying goes, ’No one knows a daughter better than her mother.’ What do you think Hanyun’s answer to you will be?"

Mrs. Liu had recently come to see clearly the only daughter of the Jiang Family.

The girl’s temperament was indeed strong-willed, combative, and domineering, fearless in the face of authority, and although she seemed similar to Su Zhaojun, the two were not at all the same.

While Su Zhaojun was as sly as a ghost, Jiang Hanyun was simple and straightforward.

Mrs. Liu had previously disliked Jiang Hanyun, but now she genuinely liked her, thinking that this naive and unpretentious, buoyant, and cheerful girl was perfectly suited for Li Xuan.

As long as she had a grasp on her pulse, she would be easy to fool—

Lady Jiang thought it made sense too; if she asked Jiang Hanyun, with the girl’s contrary nature, this marriage would surely be doomed.

If it were up to her, who knows when this marriage could be realized?

She fell into deep thought, carefully weighing her options.

"Also, I’ve heard that Hanyun is Liudao Division’s most remarkable genius in recent centuries, with her cultivation progressing at an astonishing pace. It should only be a matter of a few years before she reaches the heavenly level, right?"

Mrs. Liu continued with a pleasant smile, "The Jiang Family is a lineage of medical expertise; surely you are more aware than I am that after reaching the heavenly level, bearing offspring is exceedingly difficult. May I be so bold as to ask, Lady Jiang, don’t you long to see the day when children and grandchildren surround you?"

Lady Jiang was not overly concerned about the difficulties of bearing offspring after the heavenly level. Her husband had already developed a secret technique that increased the likelihood of having children even after reaching the heavenly level.

However, it had not been used in consideration of preserving her health.

The past calamity that befell the Jiang Family not only left Jiang Hanyun on the brink of death, requiring her to exchange lives with the Spirit Fox, Lei, but Lady Jiang herself was also gravely injured and her Yuan Qi was severely depleted.

Yet the mention of ’children and grandchildren around one’s knees’ struck an emotional chord with her.

While her husband and daughter aspired to the heavens, Lady Jiang’s focus lay alongside and beneath her own feet.

She even began to daydream about what the children of Li Xuan and Jiang Hanyun might look like. Would this nephew be as adorable as Hanyun was as a child?

However, Lady Jiang failed to notice the slight twitch of the lips of her sister-in-law, Madam Xue, standing beside her.

Mrs. Liu’s words, already rehearsed yesterday at the Taoist temple, were now deployed once again.

Mrs. Liu continued to persuade as she blew on the tea in her cup, "If Hanyun has absolutely no fondness for my son Xuan, then naturally there’s no arguing. But Lady Jiang, you ought to know Hanyun’s true feelings. Sometimes, when it’s time to push, one should push; don’t you agree?"

Lady Jiang’s face twitched slightly, thinking to herself that she hardly needed to guess Jiang Hanyun’s thoughts.

The "Shentian duality cultivation method" they were nearing the final step, now just shy of piercing through the last layer of paper.

If Jiang Hanyun felt repulsion and dislike towards Li Xuan, they would never have come this far.

Holding Li Xuan’s proposal token in her hand, she thought that it was time to make up her mind, as this matter should indeed follow ’the command of the parents and the words of the matchmaker’.

However, at this moment, Mrs. Liu changed her tone, tinged with a hint of apology, "Might I ask you, Lady Jiang, to dismiss everyone else? Before we discuss the marriage, there is one thing I would like to clarify with you first."

What she intended to address was precisely the matter of Li Xuan’s ’polygamy’.

Considering Luo Yan’s attitude from the previous day, this marriage might not come to fruition, but Mrs. Liu still felt it necessary to clarify this matter before the marriage negotiations, to prevent any resentment between the families in the future.

Lady Jiang had no objections, well aware that the girls entangled with Li Xuan were no less remarkable than her own extraordinary daughter.

She could only blame her daughter; she was originally well-positioned to win him over but stubbornly refrained from stepping forward, allowing others the chance to carve up Li Xuan like a ’mooncake’.

※※※※

Li Xuan was extremely busy with official duties. After welcoming Mrs. Liu back to the mansion and settling her in yesterday, he hurriedly rushed to the Central Army Dudu’s mansion to deal with official matters.

His office here was still the former Duanshiguan Yamen of the Central Army. However, the signboard here had already been replaced with "Dadudu of five armies."

It was unclear whether the late Emperor had forgotten or had done so intentionally, but although he had appointed Li Xuan to be in charge of all five armies, he did not revoke his responsibilities as the Judge of the Central Army.

After the late Emperor’s demise, there was no one who could take away his office, resulting in a situation where he controlled both military affairs and military discipline.

However, this immense authority also meant greater responsibility and even busier official duties.

Li Xuan really wanted to promote a few assistants in the Dadudu’s mansion to help him, but he couldn’t find suitable candidates for the time being.

It required talent and character, something Li Xuan needed to be at ease.

Thus, Li Xuan preferred to lack rather than be indiscriminate, and for the time being, he could only do it all himself.

Afterward, Li Xuan stayed here all night, with both his body and avatar too busy to return home.

However, he was well-informed; as soon as Mrs. Liu went to the Jiang Family with generous gifts to formalize his betrothal, Li Xuan knew about it immediately.

Secretly, Li Xuan couldn’t help but give Mrs. Liu a thumbs-up in his heart, thinking that his own mother truly had divine assistance, a good teammate.

Some things would likely go awry if he did them himself, but there was no problem when his mother took charge, without too many worries.

He was still unaware of Mrs. Liu’s ploy to persuade Luo Yan and the others to bear children earlier, and he arrived at the Zhao Prison of Xiuyiwei, not far from the Duanshiguan Yamen of the Central Army, with a spring in his step early in the morning.

Then, Li Xuan saw Zuo Daoxing in the basement of Zhao Prison, wielding a whip soaked with water and "Fire Scorpion Red Poison Powder" fiercely lashing against Huangfu Xuanji, whose complexion was pale as paper.

The latter had Golden Needles inserted all over his body, clearly in such agony that his limbs twitched and he foamed at the mouth, yet he could not faint.

Upon seeing Zuo Daoxing, Li Xuan’s eyes lit up immediately, "Left Dudu, when did you wake up?"

"It pleases the Prince to inquire; Zuo awoke yesterday," Zuo Daoxing turned around with a solemn expression and respectfully saluted Li Xuan, "This official pays his respects to Prince Fenyang!"

His breath was still slightly weak, but his demeanor was chillingly cold, and his gaze was as sharp as a knife’s edge, filled with ferocity.

This time, he nearly lost his life in the palace.

But to him, this really wasn’t much; people like them who licked blood off their knife’s edge had long been prepared to die by another’s blade.

What troubled Zuo Daoxing was that after waking from several days of unconsciousness, he learned that the Emperor he respected and adored had passed away.

If it weren’t for Prince Fenyang returning with his troops in the dead of night and defeating Liang Heng on the Chaobai River, it’d be impossible to predict how dire the current situation would be.

By now, the Zhengtong Emperor might have ascended the throne, and the late Emperor whom he adored might not even have had the qualifications to be buried in the Emperor’s Tomb.

The fate of the Crown Prince, imperial grandson, and the Jianguo Princess would be unknown, and he, a close minister of the late Emperor, might have faced the extermination of his entire family.

Therefore, the first thing he did upon waking was to push through his injuries and rush to Zhao Prison overnight to interrogate these traitorous ministers!

Zuo Daoxing regarded Li Xuan with respect and gratitude, truly convinced.

"Old Zuo, there’s no need for this! We are old friends, there’s no need for such formality," Li Xuan said as he strode over warmly and helped Zuo Daoxing to his feet, then inquired, "I want to ask if there’s any new confession from these criminals today?"

"There is!" Zuo Daoxing nodded slightly and gestured for a clerk beside him to present a scroll: "This is the list they confessed to, all of them are part of the party of the Li Emperor and the evil queen."

Li Xuan’s eyebrows raised, and he began to carefully examine the list: "Are these confessions and list reliable?"

Zuo Daoxing, with a grave expression and clenched fists, said, "At the time of the interrogation, there were spellcasters present, and not only did we use techniques to verify the confessions, but we also looked into their past records and corroborated them with the confessions—they haven’t lied."

In truth, he had no real ability to ensure the authenticity of these confessions. With so many seditious ministers, how could he muster enough manpower to verify each one?

Zuo Daoxing only needed to confirm that the individuals on the list were from the military families involved in the rebellion or had ties to the True Empress and True Emperor.

At this time, it’d be better to wrongly kill a thousand than to let a single culprit go.

Besides, for now, all that was being done was revoking their offices and arresting them; they could still be exonerated in the future.

Zuo Daoxing also believed that Li Xuan’s judgment was correct. Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou had just undergone land-clearing, and the soldiers of the army of Weisuo were all loyal to The Court; those military officers of noble lineage were unpopular.

If this critical moment were to pass, the situation might no longer be certain, and The Court might never be able to clear these scum from the military ranks again.

The problem was that Li Xuan’s methods were still somewhat tentative and overly concerned with rules.

Li Xuan actually had a good understanding of Zuo Daoxing’s thoughts, but his face showed none of this: "Alright, then let’s start arresting people according to this list."

Just at that moment, a distant signal arrow flew into the prison and landed in his hand.

"What’s this?" Zuo Daoxing noticed the signal arrow carried a feather from a Golden Winged Dapeng, which was clearly an urgent military report from the frontier.