"How dare you allow so many villains to trespass into the imperial palace! What is your punishment?"
Xue Ye coldly looked at the Royal Guards Commander kneeling before him and said in a gloomy tone.
Upon hearing this, the commander immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and his entire body began to feel numb. He knew, of course, what the crime was—a capital offense!
Seeing the commander's pale face, Xue Ye snorted coldly, but did not say anything about executing him.
This commander of the Royal Guards was a Soul Saint- level expert. The Heaven Dou Imperial Family had been weak for a long time, and Soul Saint were considered high-end combat power under the control of the Royal Family. Naturally, they could not be killed so easily.
Moreover, the most urgent task now is to plug the loopholes in the palace's defenses and quickly find the villains who killed Hilo and framed the royal family.
"Go, go and invite His Majesty Poison Douluo!"
"Furthermore, send someone to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School outside the city and invite Sect Master Ning to come to me as well!"
Xue Ye hesitated for a moment, but finally made up his mind. He waved to the commander of the Imperial Guards and said softly.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Seeing that the emperor had no intention of pursuing the matter, the commander of the imperial guards breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, nodded, and quickly disappeared into the side hall.
Xue Ye frowned; he didn't actually want to ask Ning Fengzhi for help.
Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School now fully supports the royal family, and its leader Ning Fengzhi has even become the tutor of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, Emperor Xue Ye does not want the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School to interfere too much in the affairs of the royal family.
Moreover, the fact that the royal family couldn't even defend a small palace and had to ask for help is a blatant exposure of the weakness of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, which will inevitably lead to them being looked down upon by their ally, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
Only when two forces are roughly equal can they form an alliance; if one side is weak, the alliance is easily broken.
It was based on this consideration that Xue Ye did not notify the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School immediately, but instead delayed until now.
"Why..."
He sighed and gazed at the Xue Ye -studded night sky. Tonight should have been a joyous Engagement Banquet, but so many things had happened, which gave him a bad feeling.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family seems to be slowly sliding into the abyss, propelled by an invisible force!
Hopefully, this marriage alliance with Zhou Chen can save the crumbling empire...
Meanwhile, inside the Golden Palace...
Zhou Chen was standing beside Ye Lingling, Yu Tianmeng, Dugu Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ye Lingling's mother-in-law, holding an expensive bottle of Imperial Feast Red Wine, and frequently pouring wine into the crystal glasses of the five of them.
This is the downside of having many girlfriends together: the man becomes nothing more than a supporting character.
The five women appeared to be on good terms, chatting and laughing, occasionally letting out a silvery laugh, leaving Zhou Chen no room to say a word and completely unable to get a word in edgewise.
Just then, Zhou Chen's expression changed, because a voice formed from Soul Power quietly rang in his ears:
"My lord, Hilo has been killed by my subordinates, but some unexpected events have occurred."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen immediately looked toward the source of the sound.
In a secluded corner of the palace, Xiao Chenyu, who was invisible, was looking anxiously in Zhou Chen's direction.
The two exchanged a glance, and Zhou Chen pointed to a door behind the Golden Palace before walking over first.
Pushing open this door reveals a spacious terrace.
The decoration of this terrace, unlike the opulent and luxurious one in the Golden Palace, carries a more mysterious air.
The terrace was surrounded by white jade-colored stone carvings, all of which were statues of Soul Master revealing their Martial Soul Avatar.
The topmost Soul Master statue Swan as its Martial Soul, with two wings on its back, holding a long sword, and wearing Heaven Dou Bright Silver Armor. Under the soft moonlight, it exudes a faint luster.
He was the founding emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, and the only direct descendant of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family royal family to reach the Title Douluo level in the thousand-year history of the Heaven Dou royal family.
Just as Zhou Chen was admiring the stone carvings, Xiao Chenyu arrived.
Upon seeing Zhou Chen, he immediately knelt on one knee and said in a somewhat anxious tone, "Greetings, Palace Master. I have failed in my duties. Please punish me."
"Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Zhou Chen, holding the railing on the terrace with one hand and a half-empty bottle of red wine in the other, spoke calmly.
His gaze wasn't on Xiao Chenyu, but remained fixed on the statue of the founding emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire.
That's right.
Xiao Chenyu organized his thoughts and said, "After receiving the order to kill Hilo, I gathered all the Tian Ji Guard and then secretly followed Hilo as he left the banquet palace."
"I thought Hilo was planning to leave the palace, but I didn't expect him to mysteriously wander around and end up in an abandoned side hall."
"Then, to my shock, I discovered that in this side hall, besides Hilo, there were more than fifty other Soul Master. All of these Soul Masters were at least level 50 Soul King, and there were even seven Soul Emperors at level 60 and two Soul Saints!"
"Etc."
Zhou Chen interrupted Xiao Chenyu, asking in confusion, "Since these people are so powerful, how did you manage to kill Hilo? The Tian Ji Guard doesn't seem to have that kind of strength!"
This wasn't Zhou Chen trying to boost the morale of others while diminishing his own. Rather, he was well aware of the strength of the Tian Ji Guard.
The Tian Ji Guard, now relying on God Crystal and various discarded pills, techniques, and bloodlines, is quite powerful. Of its sixty members, there are fifty-one Soul King, eight Soul Emperors, and Xiao Chenyu, a Soul Saint.
However, judging by this strength, it's not much different from Hilo's subordinates, and it might even be slightly inferior. How could it possibly kill Hilo?
"It is the Azure Dragon Douluo Lin Yang."
Upon hearing Zhou Chen's question, Xiao Chenyu immediately replied, "This time, the Tian Shu Guard received the Palace Master's order to enter the palace at night. I thought something big had happened, so I sent someone to inform His Majesty Lin Yang in advance."
"His Majesty Lin Yang arrived just in time. He single-handedly killed most of the enemies present, including that Hilo. Our Tian Ji Guard helped to deal with the remaining enemies."
"But,"
Xiao Chenyu said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "Because Hilo's side is not weak, even if His Majesty Lin Yang makes a move, it still causes a great commotion."
"Moreover, the Soul Master of the Heaven Dou Royal Knights and Royal Enshrinement Group arrived too quickly. We didn't have time to clean up the battlefield before we had to leave. The bodies of Hilo and the others were left in that abandoned side hall, which should have alerted the Heaven Dou Imperial Family by now."
At this point, Xiao Chenyu looked up at Zhou Chen's back as he leaned against the railing, and cautiously asked, "Palace Master, what should we do now?"