This master and disciple pair, one is the illegitimate son of a treacherous minister, the other is a future 'treacherous minister'.
If Emperor Mingxi and his court officials knew about this, wouldn't they lock the pair up in a dark room.
"So that's how it is. Now things are vastly different from the original history. Fan Shiping isn't dead, and the entire Fan family is about to be finished. Aside from the two of us, is Fan Chengye the only one who knows Baiyi's true identity?"
[White Jade probably has his suspicions as well. What does Master wish to do?]
"Keep an eye out. If any of them tries to reveal the truth, silence them in time."
[Master wants to protect Baiyi?]
"After all, Xuanmingzi once saved me. I'm also repaying that favor by saving that Baiyi. Since I've decided to save him, I must see it through to the end. How can I abandon it halfway?"
[Indeed. Aside from being Fan Shiping's son, Baiyi truly has no other connection to their Fan family. Saving him won't entangle Master in any other karma.]
Xuanmingzi slowly loosened his grip on the horsetail whisk. He had not misjudged her; this immortal lord was indeed one who clearly distinguished gratitude from grievance.
Their choice to follow her, pledge allegiance to her as their master, and become her faithful followers was not wrong.
Yue Fuguang was still unaware that she had already gained a believer, and a heavyweight Taoist master at that, the future and famously formidable King of the Underworld.
"One last question: can commoners of Dayan freely marry nobles from other countries?"
Yue Fuguang used 'marry' rather than 'intermarry' because the marriage between these two families was clearly motivated by interests.
[I don't know if it's allowed, but the Four Great Families are clearly apprehensive about it. That's why, whether Fan Chengye took a collateral branch daughter of the Marquis of Changxin as a concubine or took Feng Yao as a concubine, he found them identities as Dayan women. The previous concubine and Feng Yao even came from the 'same family'—when the elder sister died, the younger sister succeeded her—which was also considered a 'fine tale'.
Emperor Mingxi: When the Junior Mentor was studying, was the Divine Artifact always asleep? 'When the elder sister died, the younger sister succeeded her' is called a 'fine tale'? Is that term used like that? All that studying lately has been for nothing!
"Alright, we're done with the Fan family gossip. Let's get back to the matter of Bai Yu."
Wei Ping and Cai Xian nodded vigorously in their hearts. Yes, yes, yes! Talk about what they were most concerned about—where had Bai Yu gone?
Although his younger brother, Bai Yu, could also take the blame for Zhong Hua's disappearance, allowing the dangerous element Bai Yu to remain at large was something neither the emperor nor his officials could feel at ease with.
As the saying goes, if you cut the weeds without removing the roots, they'll sprout again with the spring breeze.
This Bai Yu must not be allowed to live!
The only one from the Four Great Families likely to survive is probably Baiyi, whom the little immortal lord wants to protect and who knows nothing.
Just as everyone was waiting to hear the Divine Artifact's next words, they never expected it to suddenly say: [Master, Little Pearl forgot to tell you, the poison that afflicted the Crown Prince and the Emperor also came from Du Zhongxian's hand.
The poison the Crown Prince suffered from seems to be called 'Dream of Seeking Fragrance'. Those afflicted become lethargic and their bodies emit a fragrance, which is why after his death he gained the nickname 'the Fragrant Crown Prince'.
The poison the Emperor suffered from is even more suggestive; it's called 'Boundless Spring Scenery'. He died with a smile on his face. Those who didn't know might have thought it was a joyous funeral!]
Emperor Mingxi's face immediately frosted over, flushing red then paling white. Furious as he was, he still didn't forget to glance at his officials below.
And is 'joyous funeral' used like that?
Thinking of the suggestive name 'Boundless Spring Scenery', Emperor Mingxi began grinding his teeth again.
No, that Du Zhongxian is a scourge. This man must be eliminated as soon as possible for him to feel at ease.
While the court officials worried their Majesty might storm off in anger, they didn't know the emperor had already resolved to kill Du Zhongxian.
Someone, upon hearing the words "joyous funeral," couldn't help but twitch the corner of their mouth, which was promptly caught by the enraged Emperor Mingxi.
He simmered inwardly. He might not dare do anything to those two ancestors, but couldn't he deal with the officials below?
The officials in the hall naturally felt their Emperor's death glare.
If they had tails, one would find them all tucked tightly between their legs at this moment.
Their faces were also increasingly stern, eyes fixed on their noses, noses fixed on their hearts.
Some of the more cunning ones even added their own drama, wearing expressions of deep solemnity—were they mourning their Emperor in advance?
Yue Fuguang really wanted to say, "Honey, you're overacting!"
Looking at Xie Zhiyan, now bearing the name 'the Fragrant Crown Prince', his head was bowed low.
The distinctly reddish hue of his exposed neck and ears suggested he was both angry and ashamed.
However, with his father's 'joyous funeral' drawing fire ahead of him, he was not... at all... embarrassed!
Yue Fuguang: If I didn't see your bone-white knuckles, I might have believed it! Doge.jpg
"What kind of preference does this Du Zhongxian have, giving such poetic and picturesque names to lethal poisons? Those who don't know might think they're some kind of incense or fine wine."
[Perhaps because he comes from a family of incense merchants?]
"Never mind him for now. Back to Bai Yu. Can Little Pearl find out where he's hiding now?"
[Master, Bai Yu has run quite far. Tracking him would consume too much of my divine power. With that effort, it would be better to check where Old Qian's sister is!]
Qian Gui's hand, which was pouring tea for Emperor Mingxi, jerked violently, nearly spilling the tea.
He steadied himself and continued his task, though the hand holding the teapot was white at the knuckles.
"You can find out Qian Tao's whereabouts? Where is she?"
Yue Fuguang was inwardly surprised. The system didn't have this ability at level two. Was its power growing as the upgraded gossip system's data slowly repaired itself?
A cause for celebration!
Qian Gui pressed his lips tightly together, but his ears were perked up high. After searching for nearly two months, he hadn't found a single trace of his younger sister.
Several times he had feared the girl was no longer in this world!
[She's in the capital's prison. Qian Tao was bought back then by Zhou Youliang, a member of the Zhou family's collateral branch. Her circumstances over the years haven't been good either.
Among the Four Great Families, those like her who aren't important and have no blood on their hands are uniformly imprisoned with the other servants in the Ministry of Justice prison.]
Qian Gui knew about this. Minister Cai mentioned it to His Majesty yesterday—non-family members of the Four Great Clans who weren't involved in murders or oppressing the common people were held there, awaiting sale after the case was concluded.
He looked towards Cai Xian. Qian Gui wanted to buy his sister back as soon as possible.
Cai Xian winked at him.
"The problem is how to tell Old Qian. He commissioned people to search, right? Didn't Wei Ping and Cai Xian discover this person, Qian Tao, in the Ministry of Justice prison?"
[Master, how about suggesting that Cai Xian and Wei Ping conduct another review of those in the prison before they are sold? There really are some big fish who slipped through the net hiding among them.]
"There really are ones that slipped through! Who are they?"
[One is a Beili native, originally a cleaning boy in Zhou Hongying's courtyard.
The other is a Xiqiang native, a maid doing rough work in Zhao Mingting's mother's quarters.
However, they grew up in Dayan and have genuine Dayan household registrations, so Cai Xian and Wei Ping might not discover them.]
"I'll mention it when I have a chance. Whether they grasp the hint depends on their perception!
The important thing is to have them reinvestigate and find Qian Tao."
Wei Ping: With the Junior Mentor's hints, so wildly unrelated, who could connect the dots without having heard the inner thoughts? It's not that our perception is poor!
Cai Xian: It's truly not that our understanding is lacking; it's that the little ancestor's words are too obscure!
But then, thinking of those visits to Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries, listening to the words of those 'masters'...
Through the mist and clouds of his words, I suddenly understood. Masters always speak like this, leaving half of every sentence unspoken.
Compared to those fake masters, the young immortal lord's explanation seemed remarkably 'clear and straightforward'!
