Dongfang Caibai Had a Rebellious Bone

Zhang Yuan gazed above Dongfang Caibai's head.

Unlike before, when he could see the tags at a glance, this time he stared for quite a while before tags gradually appeared above Dongfang Caibai's head.

There really were tags!

Zhang Yuan felt a flicker of delight. Being able to see a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being's tags would let him uncover plenty of useful information.

[Suchen Heavenly Being] [Qingqiu White Fox] [True Lord's Daughter] [Rebellious Bone] [Unfilial Daughter].

Five tags. Apart from the last two, which were gray, the other three were all golden without exception, dazzlingly bright.

[Suchen Heavenly Being]—Suchen was Dongfang Caibai's Daoist Name.

[Qingqiu White Fox]... So Dongfang Caibai was a fox spirit.

As for [True Lord's Daughter], the Bian Empress really was a Golden Core True Lord!

His gamble had paid off!

Judging by the information he had, with a Golden Core True Lord holding the fort, their fighting strength utterly eclipsed that of the Eastern Bian Li Clan and Western Bian Chu.

Zhang Yuan felt a little pleased, then looked at the final two tags. He froze briefly, his expression turning rather peculiar.

[Rebellious Bone] plus [Unfilial Daughter]—what was Dongfang Caibai plotting?

Could Dongfang Caibai and the Bian Empress be at odds?

"Consort, what are you looking at?"

While Zhang Yuan was pondering, Dongfang Caibai had somehow come up beside him and asked with a smile.

Just now, she had suddenly felt someone peering at her. She had thought her Empress Mother had turned her gaze this way, but when she looked around, she discovered that the sensation came from Zhang Yuan.

That puzzled her. How could someone at third-turn qi refinement make her feel she was being spied on? What could someone at third-turn qi refinement possibly see about her?

Alarm bells rang in Zhang Yuan's head, and shock flooded his heart.

She sensed it.

She knows I'm looking at her!

Has my talent been exposed?!

"The moonlight is beautiful tonight. Don't you think so, Third Princess?" Zhang Yuan blinked, playing dumb.

Dongfang Caibai looked up. The moon was a thin arc, and its light could hardly be called beautiful.

"Yes, it is indeed beautiful. Get some rest early, Consort. I'll be heading back." Rather than exposing Zhang Yuan's lie, Dongfang Caibai nodded in agreement.

Celestial resonance—the sensation of being watched by Zhang Yuan just now could not have been mistaken. The suspicious part was that Zhang Yuan could not possibly possess the ability to spy on her. In that case...

Someone was looking at her through Zhang Yuan's eyes.

Zhang Yuan was a pawn her Empress Mother had drawn in, the only unpredictable factor in the entire Capital City. That made the identity of the person spying on her through his eyes quite clear.

Dongfang Caibai vanished from where she stood.

Zhang Yuan slowly exhaled. The stone hanging over his heart finally dropped, and he felt a little more at ease.

It seemed Dongfang Caibai had not discovered his talent. Perhaps some sort of Foundation-Building Heavenly Being's perception had merely alerted her that he was "looking at her."

But that was already terrifying. If a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being could tell he was looking, what about an even stronger Golden Core True Lord?

Could they directly discover the various talents he possessed?

As Zhang Yuan considered it, he felt the possibility was very high.

Although he did not know how powerful a Golden Core True Lord of the Gang Sha Path was, the abilities displayed by a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being and Xiao Yuanjun's attitude toward Golden Core True Lords offered a glimpse.

A Golden Core True Lord's power probably surpassed imagination.

Still, powerful as they were, he did not currently need to confront one, so there was no need to worry too much.

Besides, even if he did meet a Golden Core True Lord face-to-face, he only needed to restrain himself from looking. At worst, he would simply refrain from using [Read People], and there should be no problem.

Having confirmed his own safety, Zhang Yuan turned to Xiao Yuanjun and said quietly, "Master, I've discovered something about the Third Princess, but I'm not sure whether I should mention it."

Xiao Yuanjun raised an eyebrow at that, then said, "Come. Let's go inside."

The two entered the room.

Xiao Yuanjun glanced around, then applied the wondrous effects of the Divine Ability [Severing Past and Present, Leaving No Trace] to both herself and Zhang Yuan, cutting off all heavenly secrets and karma to ensure Dongfang Caibai could not eavesdrop on their conversation.

With Zhang Yuan acting so secretive, she knew at once that he had something important to say—and that Dongfang Caibai could not be allowed to hear it.

"All right, go ahead." Xiao Yuanjun clapped her hands.

She was rather curious what Zhang Yuan could have discovered that required them to specifically block out heavenly secrets and karma.

"I discovered that the Bian Empress and the Third Princess are at odds as mother and daughter. I'm afraid the Third Princess has a rebellious bone," Zhang Yuan said quietly.

"What?"

Xiao Yuanjun was stunned. For a moment, she wondered whether she had misheard.

Leaving aside why the Bian Empress and Dongfang Caibai would be at odds, even if they really were, how had he found out?

Had the Bian Empress told him, or had Dongfang Caibai?

"Ahem. To be honest, Master, I owe this discovery to [Golden Chariot]. I happened to glimpse a thread of karma. Dongfang Caibai has been harboring rebellious intentions lately," Zhang Yuan fabricated.

His talent was his greatest secret, and he had no intention of telling anyone.

"I see. That really is important information, then," Xiao Yuanjun said seriously, accepting Zhang Yuan's explanation without question.

If Dongfang Caibai and the Bian Empress were at odds, that clue alone was enough to deduce Dongfang Caibai's intentions.

"I suspect Dongfang Caibai will turn against her on the wedding day," Zhang Yuan said, dropping a bombshell.

"That's possible, but what would drive Dongfang Caibai to turn against her?" Xiao Yuanjun asked with a nod.

They could now be all but certain that the Bian Empress was a Golden Core True Lord.

Even if Dongfang Caibai truly harbored rebellious intentions, what gave her the courage to turn against a True Lord?

Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings were powerful, but to a Golden Core True Lord, they were merely slightly larger ants that could be crushed at will.

How would she dare?

Unless another Golden Core True Lord was supporting Dongfang Caibai's betrayal from behind the scenes.

"The Li or the Chu Clan? Either is possible..."

Many thoughts flashed through Xiao Yuanjun's mind, and the more she thought, the more her head ached.

She had thought this would be the Bian Empress one-sidedly crushing the Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings of the Li and Chu Clan, but Zhang Yuan's information changed everything.

The Li or the Chu Clan very likely also had a Golden Core True Lord in Bian's Capital City.

This was a contest between True Lords.

Zhang Yuan's train of thought was much the same, and his head began to ache as well.

With True Lords facing off, things would be fine if the Bian Empress won. Not only could they preserve their lives, they might even reap some benefits.

But if the Bian Empress lost, then, standing in her camp, they would surely die without even a place to bury their bodies.

"As far as I know, the Eastern Bian Li Clan has only one Golden Core True Lord, who needs to remain with the Li to hold the fort. Western Bian Chu, however, has a full three True Lords. The one in the Capital City should be a Chu Clan True Lord."

Xiao Yuanjun offered her deduction.

Although both belonged to the Five Surnames and Seven Houses, there were still disparities among those houses.

Not only did the Eastern Bian Li Clan have a gap in its younger generation, with no new talent ready to replace the old, it also had only one Golden Core True Lord.

And Western Bian Chu? Young prodigies of both the Gang Sha Path and the Outer Dao emerged one after another within the clan, and it also had three Golden Core True Lords.

Even just comparing their strength on paper, the gap between the two houses was enormous.

"Mm... Then let's sound things out tomorrow. Ideally, we should also find a chance to make contact with Western Bian Chu," Zhang Yuan said, his brows knitted.

Caught on the chessboard of a contest between True Lords, they had to forge alliances and maneuver between factions to have any chance of survival.

It was only switching sides. As if anyone didn't know how to do that.