In the capital Capital City of Dasheng, the night was deep and quiet.
After the Third Princess left the Wude Hall, the palace, which was used to receive distinguished guests and handle government affairs, returned to its usual tranquility.
The Eldest Princess stared at the swaying palace doors, a flicker of light flashing in her deep eyes. "..."
With her intelligence network, she naturally had already received information about Ye Li's whereabouts and knew that the young man was on his way to the Capital City after bidding farewell to the Xuanming Sword Sect.
In that case, there is no need to go to Dragon Pool.
All we need to do is wait for him to arrive in the Capital City, and then show him our sincere regards. Surely we can win over this prodigy.
That would be worthwhile.
As her thoughts swirled, she picked up the teacup again, her fingertips gently tracing the warm, smooth porcelain surface.
Just then, a servant respectfully announced from outside the hall:
"Your Highness, the Second Prince Eldest Princess an audience outside the palace."
The Eldest Princess quickly composed herself, her expression unchanged, and said calmly:
"Let him in."
Squeak--
The palace doors opened again, but not with the same violent and angry force as before; the guests who visited this time were clearly not in a bad mood.
The Second Prince Li Xuanyu, walked in slowly.
He was dressed in casual clothes, with a gentle smile on his face and an elegant demeanor, completely different from the impulsiveness of the Third Princess just now. He habitually twirled a string of deep purple Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, with Sanskrit characters faintly flowing on the beads.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Li Xuanyu approached and bowed respectfully, his impeccable manners leaving no room for criticism.
"What brings you here so late at night?" the Eldest Princess asked in a calm tone.
She was no stranger to her younger brother's personality; he held considerable influence in the court and was someone she couldn't ignore.
Li Xuanyu straightened up, his smile still warm and tinged with just the right amount of concern, "I just saw Ling'an storming back outside the hall, she seemed to be in a bad mood?"
"Is there some misunderstanding with my elder sister?"
"It's nothing serious."
The Eldest Princess shook her head casually, the less she knew about Ye Li, the better; she naturally didn't want to talk about it further.
"Ling An was a bit too hasty, but she's fine now."
"Oh, that's good." Li Xuanyu nodded as if suddenly realizing something, then naturally changed the subject, carefully considering his words with a smile:
"To be honest, I have come here on someone's behalf to ask you about an important matter, Your Majesty."
His fingers, which were twirling the prayer beads, paused slightly, and his tone became noticeably lower:
"Your Majesty must already know about the unusual events in the Xianjing Continent. I heard that the Vajra Buddhist Disciple was on the run has perished, causing great grief throughout the Great Brahma Palace, and the Buddhist Supreme is heartbroken."
"Although the Buddhist Disciple has now fallen into the demonic path, he was once the future pillar of the Great Brahma Palace."
"Master Kongzhi, a supreme figure in Buddhism, originally intended to personally persuade him to turn back, but he had barely emerged from seclusion when he heard this devastating news. Now he is determined to find out the identity of the perpetrator! Alas, information is scarce..."
At this point, he raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly gentle yet carrying a subtle hint of inquiry, and fell upon the numerous documents on the Eldest Princess's desk, saying:
"Therefore, they asked my younger brother to inquire with the Empress, whether it was the Nine Luminaries Division of the Xianjing Continent that was behind it? After all, there are still two top-grade Buddhist Treasure of the Venerable level in the hands of that Buddhist Disciple."
"If it was indeed confiscated by the local Nine Luminaries Division, the Heavenly Palace hopes to return it to them promptly."
Throughout the entire ordeal, the Second Prince never mentioned the Heavenly Emperor's previous request.
But the Eldest Princess, having held power for many years, surely understood the nature of those old monks; this was exactly the situation she was expecting.
Despite harboring immense anger, they would not openly express it, but instead utter only reasonable demands.
Unfortunately, Ye Li's value is too great; such a young peak domain lord is enough for her to help him with any convenience.
The Eldest Princess suppressed the turmoil in her heart and shook her head again in denial:
"Not the local Nine Luminaries Division."
"He's most likely Martial Path Venerable hiding in seclusion among the common people. Otherwise, looking across the entire Xianjing Continent, apart from Prefect Cao Ming, who has the strength to take down that Buddhist Disciple?"
"That's true." The Second Prince instantly broke into a bright smile, then paused, and casually added:
"If there are any clues, I hope that Your Highness can provide some guidance, so that the Great Brahma Palace will have a direction to pursue."
"Furthermore, I've also heard... that at the Xuanming Sword Sect's inauguration ceremony some time ago, a Retainer General from Longtan seemed to attract quite a bit of attention, even managing to suppress the Sword Sect's new sword master head-on?"
It wasn't suppression; judging from the reports, it was probably already at Das... The Eldest Princess sighed inwardly.
His face remained calm and composed, maintaining the proper demeanor and poise, and he nodded calmly, saying:
"That's true. Are you looking for him?"
This matter caused a huge uproar in Xianjing, and there was no way to cover it up.
It doesn't matter whether you say it or not.
"No, I was just asking." Li Xuanyu smiled faintly, then said helplessly:
"Since there's no news from my elder sister, this matter is unlikely to be easy to investigate. We'll have to ask the Heavenly Palace to investigate on their own."
For a criminal who is already a death row inmate even if caught, Dasheng certainly wouldn't waste manpower and resources to track down the real culprit.
Having said that, he bowed to the dignified figure behind the desk to bid farewell, then turned and left the Wude Hall.
Even though it was late at night, the prince still had no intention of returning to the palace. Instead, he quickly headed out of the Imperial Palace.
"..."
Until his figure completely disappeared from the detection range of the Wude Hall.
Li Xuanyu's shadow suddenly intensified, and a deep voice, tinged with amusement, followed:
"Your Highness, have you found out what happened?"
"No." The smile on Li Xuanyu's face had completely vanished, replaced by an indifferent expression.
"I told you before, she's very wary of me, and she usually doesn't tell me these things easily. She wasn't telling the truth this time either."
"However, she won't be able to lie anymore at the court assembly when Father Emperor emerges from seclusion in a few days. The crime of deceiving the emperor is no joke."
"As for now... according to what I know, that Deputy General of Longtan is currently on his way to the Capital City."
"Old Mo, as long as he can withstand your probing or demonstrate strength comparable to the Venerable One, then the matter of killing the Vajra Buddhist Disciple will be almost certain."
"Hehe, easy." The being lurking in the shadows was clearly quite interested in this.
Far from posing a risk of refusing the Capital City's intervention, it instead carried a hint of playful mockery, like a cat toying with a mouse.
As Li Xuanyu's right-hand man, his strength ranks among the top tier of mid-level Venerables in the entire Capital City. There's no reason for him to be wary of a mere Deputy General of Longtan who has just been promoted to Deputy Commander of the Dragon Seal Guard.
Few sane people would sit idly by and watch their enemy grow stronger and larger.
The Eldest Princess was like this, and so was the Second Prince, Li Xuanyu.
Seeing that his most incompetent Imperial Sister had such a trusted confidant capable of fighting a Venerable, he had to find out the situation before he could feel at ease.
Wude Hall.
The Eldest Princess's proud figure relaxed slightly, but her inner emotions grew even more stern.
Given Li Xuanyu's relationship with the Great Brahma Palace, it's impossible for him to let Ye Li, who is highly suspected, go unpunished this time.
The likelihood of them making a move within the Capital City is low, but certainly not zero.
All abnormalities must be eliminated.
The Eldest Princess pondered for a moment, then picked up a Communication Jade Slip from the table, and her authoritative voice entered it:
"These past two days, he has put aside his current affairs and accompanied me to the port to welcome the newly appointed Deputy Commander of the Dragon Seal Guard."
"These past two days?" A message immediately came back from the other end of the Jade Slip, the tone surprised, "What about His Highness's trip to the Divine Mountain to temper his body..."
"Reject it too."
"... Your Highness, aren't you placing too much importance on that Deputy General of Longtan?"
The person on the other end of the Jade Slip seemed somewhat unconvinced. "To bestow such favors upon someone with whom we've had so little contact—won't that person become arrogant and take advantage of our kindness?"
"I actually hope he'll become arrogant because of my favor," the Eldest Princess said calmly.
"After all, that would prove the move was effective."
"Further words are useless. You will gradually understand my good intentions in the future. For now, just follow my orders."
"... Yes, sir!"
"Step down."
Aside from maintaining the absolute secrecy of information, there's nothing else to worry about regarding Ye Li, this unprecedented Martial Dao prodigy.
Eldest Princess Li Huaian firmly believes that her decision is correct.