Everyone had arrived, and it was getting late. Tan Chengcheng stopped dawdling and took Zhang Yuan and the others by carriage to the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace in the Imperial City.
Zhang Yuan knew the driver: Wei Heng, the garrison commander of Heaven-Reaching City, whose cultivation was at the early Ascension Realm. Apparently, he also stood with the Empress and the Eldest Princess.
Wei Heng's brows immediately furrowed when he saw Zhang Yuan, but the sight of the [Immortal-Binding Rope] still around Zhang Yuan's wrist put his heart-mind at ease.
Rumor had it that the Celestial Persons of the Central Demon Realm were masters at beguiling hearts, manipulating the heart-minds of lower cultivators and mortals as easily as playing a game. He had truly feared that the Eldest Princess had fallen into the Demon Fiend's trap and been bewitched.
Fortunately, from what he could see now, Tan Chengcheng still had her wits about her. Even while courting a Celestial Person of the Demon Realm, she had kept a safeguard in place and had not removed the [Immortal-Binding Rope].
They traveled by carriage to the Imperial City.
The Eastern Palace gleamed with gold and jade, luxurious in the extreme. They had barely approached its entrance when gentle music and conversation drifted out from within.
"Eldest Princess, you've arrived."
The eunuch guarding the entrance narrowed his eyes at Tan Chengcheng, Zhang Yuan, and the others, sizing up Zhang Yuan and the other three accompanying her.
He had received orders from the Crown Prince: when the Eldest Princess, Tan Chengcheng, arrived, she herself could pass, but those accompanying her could be stopped depending on their status, giving Tan Chengcheng a show of force.
Tong Ke of the Azure Talisman Grotto-Heaven and Huang Yingquan of the Spirit Emperor Blessed Land were both true