Li Lingyue continued, "I hear you've taken in quite a few people down in Lingnan over the years. Besides that one from the Liu Family, who else?"
Hei Chijun snorted coldly and turned his head away without a word.
Li Lingyue was in no hurry. She said leisurely, "Let This Palace guess-the line of Prince of Lingling Li Jun should still be around, shouldn't it? He disappeared on his way into exile in Lingnan all those years ago. Everyone thought he was dead. Now it seems someone rescued him?"
Hei Chijun remained expressionless.
Li Lingyue continued, "And Prince of Runan Li Wei, Duke of Guanghan Li Mi... their descendants should be with you too?"
Hei Chijun's shoulders stiffened slightly.
Li Lingyue noticed and smiled. "Not talking? That's all right. This Palace has all the time in the world to guess."
She rose and paced. "There should be quite a few of General Heichi Changzhi's former soldiers too. After he died, his personal troops scattered, and reportedly quite a few went to Lingnan. Isn't there a place called the Blood Garb Hall down there? The Inner Guard has had files on them for some time. They fight with military formation tactics. It seems they're your Heichi Camp wearing a new face."
Hei Chijun's breathing grew heavier.
Li Lingyue continued, "And Li Anjing's descendants, Li Xiaoyi's former soldiers, Empress Wang's relatives, Consort Xiao's clansmen..."
She listed the names one by one, and each made Hei Chijun's brow twitch.
"Oh, there's one more."
Li Lingyue abruptly stopped and turned toward him. "Wei Yuanzhong. He was exiled to Lingnan back then. Though he was later recalled, he probably wasn't idle during those years in Lingnan, was he?"
Hei Chijun finally lost patience and looked up at her. "What exactly are you trying to say?"