The Imperial Harem lay in ruins. Nearly a third of its entire area had been destroyed overnight.
Some things, some people, had to be made to happen suddenly, made to look real. The victims could not be told beforehand. Some palace consorts had been caught in the crossfire and died miserable deaths!
At first, the people from the three great sects had been arrogant, believing no one would dare do anything under their very noses. But they were not fools.
With matters having reached this point, how could they not know what was going on?
Faced with Xi Yao, Shen Baochun, and Luo Mingjian's furious, humiliated questioning, everyone on Shang Jianxiong's side, including Tong Mo, denied everything cleanly. Not only did they refuse to admit it, they even insisted that Niu Youdao had done it.
As for Niu Youdao's side being besieged, they also insisted that they had received distress signals from members of the six kingdoms' delegation and had only then dispatched troops to attack.
In short, they pinned everything on Niu Youdao. Even where there were holes they could not possibly explain away, they still clung to Niu Youdao and would not let go.
Xi Yao and the others could do nothing to Shang Jianxiong. This was too great a matter for them to decide. Without their sects' approval, they could not simply kill Shang Jianxiong and the others, and if they made the mess even bigger, they could not bear the responsibility.
Dawn broke. Three large flying birds rushed in from afar. Gong Lince, Sect Master of Purple Gold Cave, had arrived.
Because of the distance, Gong Lince was the last to arrive. By the time he reached the scene, Long Xiu and Meng Xuan were already standing in a stretch of palace ruins with dark