Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 530 - 3 I Have [Request for Monthly Votes!]_1

Chapter 530: Chapter 3 I Have [Request for Monthly Votes!]_1

"Empress Wu?"

The eminent people present in the hall were indeed taken aback upon hearing this.

Empress Wu is the Emperor’s first wife, she was the Crown Prince’s wife when they were young, accompanying him all along to become the mother of the country. How could she suddenly end up in a coffin at the bottom of Jade Dragon Pond?

Even if the Empress was actually dead, it couldn’t possibly have happened silently.

"The Empress is naturally unharmed, otherwise there would certainly be news. But I don’t understand how this corpse looks so similar. I immediately informed the Regent Residence," said Chen Xuanlu.

Having spent so many years outside Yu Capital City, he had become a fairly experienced cultivator, naturally understanding the principles of human interaction. As long as there was no news of Empress Wu’s death from the palace, the identity of this corpse was false, even if it was real it was still false, he didn’t have to make a judgment.

"The people from the Regent Residence came to collect the coffin along with the corpse soon. I expected everything to be peaceful from then on," continued Chen Xuanlu, "But then, I heard that the coffin was kept in the Regent Residence and before the palace could identify the corpse, there was a mysterious fire, which turned it into ashes."

The people of Shu Mountain upon hearing this couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Even though the Nine Heavens sect is an esoteric immortal sect, with internal and secret struggles, most focus is on the cultivation towards the grand Dao. The dealings within Yu Capital City are unpredictable and far exceed their understanding.

"Initially, the people of the Regent Residence told me not to spread this news, so naturally, I kept it to myself." Chen Xuanlu added, "However, the next day, villagers near Jade Dragon Pond started having a strange dream...’

"In the dream, a drenched woman would shout ’Give me back my life’ at them..."

"Three days have passed since then, and numerous residents of Yu Capital City have had the same strange dream. That day many witnessed the excavation of the coffin from Jade Dragon Pond, so it was inevitable that they spread the word."

"Now it has become a hot topic in Yu Capital City. People are saying that the current Empress Wu is a sham and that the real Empress Wu drowned in the lake and died."

"I regret now, why did I fish out the coffin that day." Chen Xuanlu looked truly regretful, "Causing such a problem, I don’t know what trouble lies ahead."

Because of this incident, his Xuanxin Sect, which was not particularly famous in Yu Capital City, became well-known among the citizens. But becoming famous is not always a good thing.

This bizarre case combined with the current situation in the harem warrants further deliberation.

In the early years, the Emperor doted on Empress Wu to the point one might call it an infatuation, refuse to marry other wives. It was only due to his responsibility as Emperor that he expanded the harem.

The problem for cultivators is, the higher their cultivation, the harder it is to produce offspring.

Perhaps this is a limitation set by the Dao, otherwise, a highly skilled person living for hundreds of years could potentially have thousands of descendants. The children of the highly skilled often possess a unique spirituality, so if this continues, the world’s spiritual energy could become depleted in a few generations.

The Kings of Yu Dynasty all have at least reached the Seventh Realm, making it extremely difficult to continue the dragon lineage. Hence, they need to marry many wives. At times, the Emperors rely on a sense of responsibility to procreate.

Even with such efforts, the current Emperor only produced a dozen princes and princesses, only three possess Divine Fire Life. In contrast, some previous Emperors who didn’t try as hard only had one or two children.

But no matter how many concubines there were, the Emperor still favored Empress Wu exclusively. This was universally regarded as something out of a lovely tale.

But that all changed three years ago when a woman named Gong Yu’er entered the palace and somehow captured the Emperor’s heart, rapidly becoming the most favored concubine. The Emperor’s affection shifted to Gong Yu’er, causing Empress Wu to be neglected.

This is understandable, after all, Empress Wu was already in her sixties. Despite great efforts to maintain her appearance, she couldn’t compete with a young and beautiful woman. Empress Wu still held a large amount of influence and support from the public, owing in part to her prominent background and her son, the Second Prince. Her status remained unassailable.

What truly damaged Empress Wu’s reputation was the incident where she reportedly ingested the Eternal Beauty Pill.

The Eternal Beauty Pill is a forbidden pill, it requires sacrificing a life to create but it’s the best elixir available to preserve youthfulness and maintain beauty. Throughout history, it has been taken by women of privilege many times, leading to numerous tales and hearsay. However, no one had previously been able to find concrete proof.

Somehow, this news leaked and quickly ignited the rage of the public, ruining the virtuous image Empress Wu had built over the years. Although the palace quickly issued a statement to clarify the matter, many people remained sceptical.

After all, the notion of harem concubines ingesting forbidden pills to lengthen their youth for the sake of favorability is very credible.

As a result, Empress Wu was secretly referred to as the "Demon Empress" by many over the following years.

During the last incident with Roupu Country, the Great General Wu Anmin intended to gain military merit, but instead created chaos by bringing people of Roupu Country into the palace.

Although it was later found that explosives hidden within the teeth of Rohpu Country people caused the disturbance, the Great General, as the person in charge, was still held responsible for the oversight. He was demoted and his power was curtailed, greatly diminishing his influence.

Many of the citizens of Yu Capital City blamed Wu Anmin for bringing in the explosive. Even if unintentional, if he hadn’t been so overzealous about the prisoner presentation ceremony, would there have been such chaos?

In reality, the prisoner presentation ceremony was decided upon before the expedition and it was the Emperor who made the final decision. But Wu Anmin couldn’t shift the blame, so he had to silently bear the disgrace.

This resulted in hurting the Wu Family’s reputation even more.

With this sudden incident, rumors have been spreading wildly again in Yu Capital City. The populace believes that the virtuous Empress Wu of the past was secretly murdered and replaced by an evil spirit, leading to these continual disturbances.

...

After listening to Chen Xuanlu’s narration, the people from Shu Mountain realized that this matter was not straightforward. They were lucky that the unpredictability of Yu Capital City didn’t concern them closely.

They only came to participate in the Immortal Sect meeting. As for these incidents, they decided to just think of them as strange tales.

While they were chatting, another young man walked in. He stopped at the door and said: "Master, I am late."

Everyone there was a cultivator, and naturally they could hear the weakness and chaos in his voice and breath.

"How did this happen?" Chen Xuanlu frowned, "Come in and talk."

The disciple then walked into the hall.

He was wearing a jade belt and a brocade robe, with high eyebrows and bright eyes; indeed a quite heroic-looking young man. But at the moment, he was covered in a heavy scent of sweat and alcohol, and his face was pale with dim light in his eyes as if he had suffered a serious injury.

This must be the fourth person from the Xuanxin Sect who didn’t come, a disciple named Liu Yunzheng.

"I had a little quarrel with someone and suffered some minor injuries..." he admitted, after sitting down and hanging his head.

"Minor injuries?" Chen Xuanlu’s eyes filled with anger, and he quickly placed a hand on Liu Yunzheng’s shoulder. His energy immediately flowed through Liu Yunzheng’s body, and his face became even grimmer, "Half of your meridians have been damaged. You call these minor injuries? What exactly happened?"

Liu Yunzheng dodged Chen Xuanlu’s gaze, fearing to look him in the eye. Only under pressure did he finally say, "I left early this morning, thinking that I would join Master later, so... so I went to the Hundred Flower Building first..."

"Hmph." Chen Xuanlu let out a cold snort.

"Then I saw a boy who was around eleven or twelve acting aggressively in the Hundred Flower Building. I stepped forward to stop him...and... and was beaten by him..."

Liu Yunzheng stammered, looking extremely ashamed. It was only through Chen Xuanlu’s constant interrogation that the whole story was finally revealed.

It turned out that Liu Yunzheng had a lover in the Hundred Flower Building named Yunshang, a good girl with a tragic past who maintained her purity despite her fallen status. Liu Yunzheng regularly visited this Lady Yunshang.

Today he had arranged to meet the Shu Mountain group later and left the house early. Seeing that it was still early, he went to see Lady Yunshang for a while.

However, he just happened upon a young boy who barged in, claiming he was going to buy the whole Hundred Flower Building and make all the women there his wives.

The boy looked to be just over ten years old, not very tall, and everyone just thought it was a joke. Liu Yunzheng stepped forward, intending to throw the child out.

But when he grabbed the boy’s arm, the boy remained still and retaliated with a palm strike, throwing Liu Yunzheng into the street.

He was immediately severely injured and could only leave in a dejected manner.

But being beaten by a child in a brothel is not a story that can be told without losing face, that’s why he had been so evasive.

"A child?" Chen Xuanlu’s voice lowered, "Whose child could have such a strong cultivation level, and could even kill you with a single blow! It’s probably an expert in disguise, right?"

"He said..." Liu Yunzheng added, "His name is Qi Lin’er. If I want revenge, I can go find him."

"No wonder!"

As soon as these words came out, the people from Shu Mountain immediately understood.

They had spent time studying the cultivation teams coming to participate in the Immortal Sect Convention. Out of the team from Penglai, besides Yang Shenlong, Yang Yuhu, and Xi Miaoxian, an unknown person named Qi Lin’er suddenly showed up, which was unexpected for many.

After an investigation, they found out a little bit about his background.

It was said that twelve years ago, Daoist Cang Sheng entered Shenxu and brought back a colorful stone. After cutting it open, surprisingly, a baby was revealed. Considering it strange, Cang Sheng raised the child in Penglai and asked him to stay with the Azure Dragon for cultivation.

Of course, this was the version given by Penglai.

Other Immortal Sects naturally didn’t fully trust this explanation. More people believed this child was the result of Daoist Cang Sheng’s illicit love affair. Simply put, it was suspected that he had a hidden child whom he secretly brought back to Penglai.

"So it’s someone from Penglai." Chen Xuanlu’s anger was even more intense.

If it had been a minor sect or group, he could have sought justice for his disciple. But running straight into the tough nut to crack that was Penglai, without thinking twice he knew he could only swallow the bitter fruit.

It’s not uncommon for such conflicts to occur during each Immortal Sect Convention given the youthful energy of the participants.

"I will surely recover well, it will not affect tomorrow’s competition." Seeing his master’s anger, Liu Yunzheng quickly assured him.

"Easily said." Chen Xuanlu said with a solemn face, "Although your external injuries are not serious, your meridians have suffered considerable damage, and you cannot use your cultivation for combat. Without healing spiritual medicine, you need at least three months to recover."

"What?" Liu Yunzheng was surprised.

If this affects tomorrow’s competition, the consequences would be too severe. After all, a person can only participate once in a lifetime, and if it’s delayed by this...

But the healing spiritual medicine that Chen Xuanlu mentioned is naturally refined from heavenly material and earthly treasure, and the cost is definitely high. His family already paid a lot for him to participate in the Immortal Sect Convention, and if they have to buy another piece of heavenly material and earthly treasure, the cost is too great. Even wealthy families could not bear it.

Chen Xuanlu was also aware of this; during the Immortal Sect Convention, the price for those healing treasure medicines skyrocketed. If the price were not high, he wouldn’t have minded covering the cost for his disciple in order not to affect the Sect’s performance.

Just as Liu Yunzheng was gritting his teeth, a hand suddenly stretched out from the side, holding a jade box.

"I have some."