Night Meeting at the Crown Prince's Mansion: Xue Qinghe Wanted to Borrow a Blade, Di Yao Wanted Its Hilt

Heaven Dou City, Crown Prince's Mansion.

It was already deep into the night.

Yet the lights within the mansion had not gone out.

Armored guards stood along both sides of the corridors in groups, keeping their footsteps low.

Stewards moved back and forth, their expressions graver than usual.

Because not long ago, Spirit Hall's people had delivered three groups of spies.

One group belonged to Tang San.

One group belonged to the Heaven Dou Noble Chamber of Commerce.

The last group belonged to Spirit Hall's Heaven Dou Branch.

Those three groups should never have appeared in the same matter at the same time.

Yet they had all moved because of the same message.

Di Yao would personally enter White Stone Warehouse tonight.

So, they panicked.

And Di Yao had reeled every one of them in.

Inside the main hall.

Xue Qinghe sat in the seat of honor.

He wore a pale gold casual robe, his crown neatly arranged, and that gentle, composed smile still rested on his face.

That smile was steady.

So steady that no one could tell whether he was angry, wary, or already recalculating everything in his heart.

Three letters lay neatly spread across the table.

The first was a Grey Pigeon Message.

The second was a secret order from the Noble Chamber of Commerce.

The third was an urgent letter that an undercover agent from Spirit Hall's Heaven Dou Branch had failed to send.

When Di Yao entered the main hall, Xue Qinghe did not speak at once.

He merely raised his eyes and looked at the six-year-old child.

Six years old.

This child had single-handedly turned a furnace in Iron Furnace Town into a blazing fire capable of stirring Heaven Dou, Spirit Hall, Seven Treasures, and the Clear Sky Remnants.

Di Yao did not speak