The Three Departments Joint Trial

"It's just a little fox."

"A little fox?"

Ye Huijian drew out her words, then glanced at Liu Chengfeng.

"Isn't it?"

Liu Chengfeng sounded a little unsure.

Ye Huijian smiled. Her features were ordinary, but her smile was beautiful enough to leave Liu Chengfeng staring at her.

Ye Huijian lifted a finger. Light flared, and with a pop, it shot into the fox's body. Then she tossed it to Liu Chengfeng.

"What are you doing?"

Liu Chengfeng jumped, thinking Ye Huijian was going to kill the fox. He hurriedly stuffed it into his robe.

The fox was horrified. Once it realized what had happened, it was overjoyed: with a casual flick of her finger, Ye Huijian had healed its internal injuries.

"Keep a good eye on him."

Ye Huijian was speaking to the fox. A single look from her terrified it so badly that it nearly lost its soul, trembling all over.

"All right, stop scaring Little Li."

Liu Chengfeng tucked it into his robe and complained.

The fox hid in Liu Chengfeng's robe, only then feeling safe.

What kind of being was this, and what was her relationship with Liu Chengfeng?

The fox was utterly astonished. Liu Chengfeng could joke and bicker with Ye Huijian, yet the fox was terrified of her.

"I have some news for you."

Ye Huijian paid Little Li no further attention.

Liu Chengfeng hurriedly listened.

"That Zhao Tian from Zhao Family Village has been taken in by the Divine Dynasty and earned the gods' recognition."

"Because of the god's descent?"

Liu Chengfeng was suspicious. Zhao Jinnian's son was merely the child of a servant, so this sudden anomaly had to mean something was wrong.

"Hard to say. The god has already seen him."

"You killed his father. Once word reaches him, he'll want to sacrifice you alive."

"He's cultivating and can't come to Qiuchi Kingdom, but he's already assigned the Guli Dynasty to capture you."

"Then let them come."

Liu Chengfeng had been prepared for this day. Even if Zhao Tian became a divine son, he would still have killed Zhao Jinnian.

"Cultivate well, and prepare to uncover the secrets of your Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury."

Ye Huijian gave her instructions, then left.

Only after watching Ye Huijian leave did Little Li secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"What kind of fox are you?"

Liu Chengfeng studied Little Li curiously, but Little Li didn't answer.

Liu Chengfeng didn't press further. He continued circulating his cultivation method, drawing in spiritual energy to nurture his Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury.

He was now at the third stage of the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury and could attempt to break through to the fourth.

The spiritual energy in the Imperial Capital was so abundant that even if he didn't gulp it down greedily and instead absorbed it slowly, it was still far better than at the Su Family in Tiger Mound or the Cloud Rising Sect.

While Liu Chengfeng was staying at the Demon Slaying Division, an unexpected visitor arrived: Ye Yiqing.

"Do you want to leave the Demon Slaying Division?"

Ye Yiqing remained haughty and aloof, but her opening question caught Liu Chengfeng by surprise.

"You're going to let me out?"

"Why not?"

That surprised Liu Chengfeng even more. He had wrecked Ye Yiqing's Giant Warship and killed the Princess of the Wu Clan. They were enemies.

"What are your conditions?"

Liu Chengfeng understood that Ye Yiqing wasn't offering to help him out of kindness.

"Join the Grandmaster Mansion. When the Three Departments hold their joint trial, your crimes can be pardoned."

"Is that your idea, or someone else's?"

Liu Chengfeng couldn't help suspecting that Ye Yiqing didn't have the authority to pardon him. The only likely person was the Grand Marshal of the Grandmaster Mansion.

"That's not for you to worry about. Do you agree or not?"

Ye Yiqing stared at Liu Chengfeng coldly, her manner haughty.

"No need."

Liu Chengfeng refused outright. He didn't believe the Grand Marshal meant well. Was he really only trying to recruit him?

"Then you're digging your own grave."

Ye Yiqing gave a cold snort, displeased.

"Don't rush to refuse. Whatever it is, we can discuss it properly. We can talk it over."

Su Youqian's voice came from outside the door. He hurried in.

"Brother, I'm glad you're all right. You're really all right. I was worried sick."

Seeing Liu Chengfeng safe and sound, Su Youqian finally relaxed.

"What are you doing here?"

Ye Yiqing couldn't stand Su Youqian. Her father wanted to marry her off to him, but she looked down on this libertine.

"You're trying to recruit my brother, aren't you? We can talk it over."

"Talk about what?"

Liu Chengfeng was puzzled too.

"The Three Departments Joint Trial, brother. They can say you're guilty, or they can say you're innocent. As it happens, I'm one of the three people judging you."

"You've met with His Majesty?"

Ye Yiqing gave him a cold look.

"Hey, what a coincidence. I petitioned His Majesty and asked to represent the royal family in this matter."

At the Three Departments Joint Trial, the royal family, the Grandmaster Mansion, and the Demon Slaying Division would judge the case together.

Su Youqian was one of the heirs to the throne. He had petitioned the Emperor of Qiuchi and secured the authority to take part in the trial.

Liu Chengfeng understood that Su Youqian had gone to considerable trouble to save him.

"Your Highness, you want to save my brother too, right? So do I. Let's work this out together and face the Demon Slaying Division. There shouldn't be any problem with my brother's case."

"Unless he joins the Grandmaster Mansion, there's nothing to discuss."

Even though Su Youqian represented the royal family, Ye Yiqing still couldn't stand him.

"It doesn't have to be that way. I know the Grand Marshal dotes on you, Your Highness. We can discuss this some more, work something out."

"Nothing to discuss."

Ye Yiqing turned and walked away, haughty as ever.

"Don't you want to call off our engagement?"

Just as Ye Yiqing was about to leave, she froze, then turned around and fixed her eyes on Su Youqian.

"What did you say—"

"You don't want to marry me, and I don't want to marry you. We can work something out and get the Grand Marshal to change his mind."

Ye Yiqing gave a cold snort. There was no way that would work.

Although she and Su Youqian weren't formally engaged yet, it would be difficult to change her father's decision.

"What do you have in mind?"

At last, Ye Yiqing's haughty attitude softened somewhat.

"The Grand Marshal has been studying the Thunder Fire Divine Tablet lately, but he can't figure it out. What if we help him understand it?"

"You?"

Ye Yiqing looked down on him. She knew all too well what Su Youqian's talent was like.

"Hey, I can't do it, but my brother can."

Su Youqian patted Liu Chengfeng's shoulder, brimming with confidence.

"The Thunder Fire Divine Tablet?"

Liu Chengfeng was curious about what it was.

"It's the key to activating our Ancestral Hall. When the time comes, we'll need your one-of-a-kind talent, brother."

"The Ancestral Hall—"

Liu Chengfeng was interested. The Stone Lion had told him about that place.

"Your Highness, we can decipher the Thunder Fire Divine Tablet. I have two conditions. First, the Grandmaster Mansion must drop the charges against my brother. Second, I want to cultivate the Ye Clan's Fierce Beast Heart Method."

Su Youqian negotiated with Ye Yiqing.

"Impossible—"

Ye Yiqing refused outright.

"Your Highness, this concerns your whole future. Don't refuse so quickly. We can work something out. I can even exchange a cultivation method with the Ye Clan."

"You still haven't reached the Jieyin stage?"

Ye Yiqing sized Su Youqian up, her expression doubtful.

Su Youqian was one of the heirs to the throne. The royal family cultivated water-type methods, while the Ye Clan's method was fire-type.

"Sigh, isn't it because His Majesty is too strict? If I stay in the royal family, my life will be over sooner or later. If I cultivate the Ye Clan's method, His Majesty won't be able to control me."

"Besides, Your Highness, if I cultivate the Ye Clan's method, even if we don't marry, our families will still grow closer. The Ye Clan and the royal family have been staunch allies for generations."

Su Youqian tried to persuade Ye Yiqing.

"That's impossible."

Ye Yiqing knew that pardoning Liu Chengfeng wouldn't be difficult, but letting Su Youqian cultivate the Ye Clan's method would be another matter.

"Your Highness, the Grand Marshal dotes on you. You can surely persuade him. And besides, are you really willing to marry me?"

Ye Yiqing's face turned cold. The one thing she wanted least was this marriage arrangement.

After Su Youqian talked her ear off, Ye Yiqing finally agreed to persuade her father.

"What's this all about?"

Liu Chengfeng felt there had to be more to it. Why would Su Youqian give up the royal family's cultivation method and go off to cultivate the Ye Clan's instead?

"Sigh, isn't this what His Majesty wants? What can I do? If I don't do it, my life won't be worth a thing."

Su Youqian couldn't help grimacing. As a spoiled young master doted on by Lady Chen, no one else could do a thing to him. But he was terrified of the Emperor of Qiuchi, like a mouse before a cat.

"Thanks for going to all this trouble, brother."

Liu Chengfeng wasn't interested in the power struggles among the royal family and its ministers, but Su Youqian really was running around on his behalf.

"Brother, I'm the one putting you through all this. Hey, whether I can break off this engagement depends on you. When the time comes, you have to decipher the Divine Tablet."

"I pounded my chest in front of His Majesty and guaranteed that your talent was peerless throughout the ages, unmatched since time immemorial."

Liu Chengfeng looked at him. Su Youqian grinned, not minding in the least that he was bragging—and he didn't even think he was bragging.

Before the Three Departments Joint Trial, Ye Yiqing sent Su Youqian a message saying that the Grand Marshal had agreed.

The Grand Marshal's agreeing so quickly surprised Liu Chengfeng.

"Hey, you don't know? The Ancestral Hall has been sealed for a long time. It's the root of the Grandmaster Mansion. If they can open it, the Grandmaster Mansion will have struck gold. How could they refuse?"

Su Youqian quietly explained it to Liu Chengfeng. He wasn't surprised at all.

"The Three Departments Joint Trial is just a formality, to give the Demon Slaying Division an explanation. You can rest easy, brother."

Su Youqian represented the royal family, so Liu Chengfeng could rest assured.

The Three Departments Joint Trial was held at the Demon Slaying Division. Its chief, Han Qi, presided over it, with representatives from the royal family and the Grandmaster Mansion in attendance.

Su Youqian represented the royal family, while Ye Yitian represented the Grandmaster Mansion.

Ye Yitian finally appeared, his bearing extraordinary. An aura of flames surrounded him, making the courtroom feel as though it were being baked in a furnace.

Ye Yitian wore a yellow brocade robe and stood tall as a mountain peak, firelight glinting in his eyes.

He sat high in the hall, a sharp contrast to the cold, solemn Han Qi. Ye Yiqing sat beside him.

Accompanied by Nangong Renshe, Liu Chengfeng entered the hall.

Demon Slaying Division experts guarded the hall on all sides, their imposing presence cold and grim.

"Liu Chengfeng, an honorary guest of the Cloud Rising Sect, bears three grave charges and deserves a heavy sentence."

Han Qi's voice was cold, carrying an air of iron-blooded ruthlessness.

"Chief Han, there's no need to rush to pass sentence. What are these three charges?"

Su Youqian, representing the royal family, immediately intervened.

"The first charge: destroying the Grandmaster Mansion's Giant Warship and damaging Qiuchi Kingdom's property."

"That charge doesn't hold against Brother Liu, for two reasons."

"First, Brother Liu didn't destroy the Giant Warship. The Old Matriarch can testify to that. It was the Demonic Tree that destroyed it."

"And the second reason?"

"The second is that the Grandmaster Mansion has dropped the matter of the Giant Warship's destruction."

"Any objections?"

Han Qi looked toward Ye Yitian.

Ye Yitian's eyes narrowed, flames flickering within them as he stared at Liu Chengfeng, his imposing aura bearing down on him.

Ye Yitian said nothing. Ye Yiqing, sitting beside him, grew anxious and hurriedly tugged at his sleeve.

"No objections."

In the end, Ye Yitian had no choice but to answer reluctantly. He wanted to pin a grave crime on Liu Chengfeng, but they had already reached an agreement.

"The second charge: acting as an inside agent, colluding with the demonic beasts to attack Great Meng City."

"Chief Han, that's the wrong way to put it. If Brother Liu had been working with the demonic beasts, would he have used the Demonic Tree to join forces with my ancestor and drive off the Lynx Emperor?"

"Brother Liu saved Great Meng City from disaster. The Su Family is willing to vouch for him. Besides, this so-called collusion amounts to nothing more than Liu Chengfeng being on good terms with Master of Little Meng Mountain."

"Sect Master Nangong knows this, and Young Master Ye witnessed it himself at Little Meng Mountain."

"Therefore, the charge of colluding with异兽 to attack Great Meng City is not proven."

Han Qi shot Su Youqian a glare.

"Hey, Chief Han, the Demon Slaying Division has always upheld the law and acted impartially. We can't wrong an innocent man. It was Brother Liu who saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Great Mongolia."

"Any objections?"

Han Qi snorted and looked at Ye Yitian.

"No objections," Ye Yitian muttered.

The outcome of this Three Departments Joint Trial had already been decided: the Grandmaster Mansion and the imperial family intended to protect Liu Chengfeng and stand together against the Demon Slaying Division.

Ye Yitian had been treated like a puppet on strings, and naturally, he was unhappy.