Zhang Yuan and Ao Xiu stopped interjecting, and Tan Chengcheng turned to the matter at hand.
"When the Grotto-Heaven fell, Empress Dowager used her power at the peak ascension realm to keep the Realm of Great Heng from collapsing. Now that Great Heng's realm has stabilized, we urgently need a court assembly to steady the situation at court."
Tan Chengcheng's tone was solemn.
Zhang Yuan listened from the side and got the gist.
Simply put, he had vanished for forty-nine days, which meant the Great Heng Emperor had vanished for forty-nine days. Coupled with the fall of the Grotto-Heaven, which had unleashed natural disasters throughout the Great Heng Dynasty, the effects still lingered even though the Great Heng Empress had barely managed to stabilize the realm. At court in particular, someone had already spread word that the emperor had passed away.
Even though the emperor's death remained unconfirmed, the court was still in turmoil, with everyone harboring their own intentions. If the Great Heng Emperor continued to stay out of sight, trouble would erupt sooner or later.
"Who spread that news?" Zhang Yuan asked.
Tan Chengcheng shook her head. "I don't know. We couldn't find the source."
In truth, the emperor disappearing for forty-nine days was not much of a problem. They could say he had gone into seclusion, leaving Empress Dowager temporarily in charge of court affairs. After all, he had often spent many days in seclusion before.
Yet no sooner had she and the Great Heng Empress spread that explanation than rumors emerged claiming that the Great Heng Emperor had died on the day the Grotto-Heaven fell. Otherwise, why had he not come out to save his subjects after its fall?
The rumors sounded well-founded and were delivered with absolute conviction. Even the Great Heng Empress could find