♂,
"Divine Envoy?" I wondered inwardly. He was only a third-rank official, yet he was so frightened at the mere mention of a Divine Envoy. I gave him a contemptuous glance and said, "Isn't it just a Divine Envoy sent by the Imperial Observatory? Do you really need to be this afraid?"
The old marshal's face turned green. He glared at me. "What do you know? We're in troubled times, and the border is a complete mess. Last time, they claimed the Demon Hall had infiltrated our Divine Court's territory. I sent a deputy general to search for more than half a year, and he didn't find a damn thing! In the end, the Palace of Rectification impeached me for dereliction of duty! Tell me, there are plenty of hidden agents from the Demon Hall planted in the Divine Court, and they're fundamentally difficult to uproot. It was an unavoidable situation, yet they insisted on pinning it all on me! I understand now—when the tiger falls into the plains, even dogs bully it. This time, the Divine Envoy has come in person, and I don't even know what has gone wrong again. You're not in this position, so you don't know what I'm dealing with!"
I gave him a sympathetic look and said, "Put that way, you really have been wronged. But I can't help you either. What do you think they might be here for? Could it be about more than just you—could it involve me and Zhu Daohe as well?"
Prompted by me, the old marshal said, "That's true," then waved his hand and called back Zou Chen, who had been wandering nearby. "Go arrange for them to enter the rear courtyard first, and help Daohe conceal her divine nature from detection. I'll go out and receive the