"Where is His Majesty?" Hong Beimo still cared about Long Xuan'en's whereabouts.
Hu Xiaotian slowly set down his teacup. "Dead!" He glanced at Hong Beimo. "You should know better than anyone, Mr. Hong. He didn't have long to live. If he hadn't discovered you were deceiving him, he wouldn't have held something back from you. He gave me all these things."
Hong Beimo did not doubt Hu Xiaotian's words. He carefully put the two sheets away.
Hu Xiaotian suddenly felt as though he were bargaining with a tiger for its hide. He had chosen to cooperate with Hong Beimo only because he had no other choice. What Hong Beimo wanted was the Imperial Mausoleum; he cared nothing for anything else. Whether Long Xuan'en remained in power or Qiqi became emperor, whoever held the realm, he would support anyone who backed the continued construction of the Imperial Mausoleum. Yet after all his years of effort, it remained unfinished. The problems probably went beyond money and manpower. Perhaps there were technical obstacles Hong Beimo had still failed to overcome.
Hu Xiaotian's intuition told him these few pages of the Cinnabar Cauldron Chapter from Heaven and Earth Unveiled were the key. As for why the Old Emperor had kept them hidden all along, he must have realized long ago that they had nothing to do with refining an elixir of immortality and seen through Hong Beimo's lies. These pages had become Long Xuan'en's trump card for holding Hong Beimo in check. Now that they were in Hu Xiaotian's hands, they had become his opportunity.
Hong Beimo said, "The others are easy enough to arrange, but that enchantress is not under my control."
Hu Xiaotian looked at Hong Beimo, only half believing him.
Hong Beimo said, "She is being held at Spirit Firmament Palace