The Crown Prince?
Other than the Emperor.
The only backer from the Cao family Chen Sanshi could think of was the Crown Prince.
Emperor Longqing had sired quite a few princes in his younger years. King Zhennan was also a Martial Saint, but he was a martial arts fanatic. To avoid being swept into the whirlpool, he had voluntarily transferred himself to guard the border.
The other princes, such as the Fourth Prince and Eighth Prince...
All had their own forces at court as well.
But since the Incense God Cult had come looking for Cao Fan, their meaning was very clear.
And Pei Tiannan seemed to belong to the Crown Prince's faction too.
The Crown Prince had governed the realm for forty years.
During those forty years, Emperor Longqing had often entered closed-door cultivation, sometimes for half a year at a stretch. The Crown Prince's influence had long since spread across the land, and perhaps half of the openly known troops were under his control.
It was said that ever since the Ten Days in Yunzhou, the old Emperor had rarely entered closed-door cultivation. He put on the appearance of diligently governing and restoring the realm, and many court officials had been reassigned.
Then there was Pei Tiannan, who had clearly received no transfer order yet secretly followed along. A Martial Saint sneaking away from his post without authorization—it was hard not to draw connections.
But the intelligence from Immortal Seeking Tower had clearly said that the Incense God Cult was making moves in the capital. What were they doing in the east?
Chen Sanshi stopped blindly speculating. After practicing his spear for a while, he returned to his private cabin. Once he had shut the door, he took out the Mystic Pearl. After a simple inspection, he found