69: The Empress knows about the deal with Princess Yan...

“A poem?”

The Divine Phoenix Empress frowned slightly, asking curiously, “What kind of poem could make Yan Consort betray Mu Yunxiao?”

She naturally knew about her junior brother’s poetic talent. Although he hadn’t written poems for a long time, when they cultivated together, she would occasionally hear some golden phrases and famous poems from him.

In her opinion, exchanging information for a poem was a transaction, and he even made a huge profit.

Others didn’t know about the superficial relationship between Pei Shuyun and Yan Wang, but after secretly having people investigate for a long time, some clues were still discovered.

She just hadn’t expected that her own Xuanyi Guard hadn't found anything, yet Pei Shuyun, the person closest to him, had control of a large amount of evidence.

As expected, a thief in the house is hard to guard against, no matter how much you prepare!

But after listening to the poem Zixuan recited, the Divine Phoenix Empress’s expression gradually turned cold.

“Her clothes are like clouds, her face like flowers, the spring breeze brushes the railing, the dew is rich and bright.”

Even though Zixuan, dressed in a form-fitting black dress, had recited these two lines many times, saying them again still filled her heart with admiration for the poem.

It was truly a pity that Li Shengyuan’s poetry was not used by a scholar…

If it weren’t for the Immortal Master taking him as a disciple back then, Great Qian would probably have a Poetic Immortal and a Literary Saint by now.

Although the Divine Phoenix Empress remained silent, she repeatedly savored these two lines in her heart, finding them truly endlessly delightful!

However, the more she savored them, the colder her expression became. In a place unseen by Zixuan’s projection mirror, the Divine Phoenix Empress’s hands were tightly gripping her dragon robe.

Such a poem, worthy of being passed down through the ages, was actually written by her junior brother for Yan Consort!

Wasn’t that Pei Shuyun just a Wangfei and a married woman?

Why did she deserve such treatment, when even she herself hadn’t been gifted such a stunning poem by her junior brother!

After taking a deep breath, the Divine Phoenix Empress said with a cold face and an icy tone, “Is this the Yan Consort in Junior Brother’s eyes? Does she seem appropriate in your eyes?”

Zixuan, with her head slightly bowed, trembled. The chill in Her Majesty’s tone, even across hundreds of thousands of miles, she felt clearly. She knew there would be such consequences after speaking.

The matter of him intimately embracing Pei Shuyun absolutely could not be said!

Hearing the Divine Phoenix Empress’s question, Zixuan was momentarily speechless.

Actually, she also felt that these two lines of poetry were quite fitting for that Yan Consort.

But…

“Actually, when this servant first heard Lord Li recite this poem, the first person this servant thought of was Your Majesty. This servant believes Lord Li must have thought the same.”

“Moreover, this servant believes Lord Li must have conceived such a stunning poem for a long time, and it would be difficult to come up with it so soon after meeting Yan Consort.”

After Zixuan finished speaking, she couldn’t help but bite her silver teeth, thinking that Her Majesty’s jealousy and possessiveness were truly too strong; most people really couldn’t bear it.

Her words almost explicitly stated that Li Shengyuan had previously used Your Majesty as his inspiration.

She wondered if this answer would satisfy Her Majesty… Zixuan thought nervously.

“What about the remaining lines of the poem?”

Hearing the Divine Phoenix Empress’s words, which contained much less coldness, Zixuan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the anger and jealousy in Her Majesty’s heart had subsided a lot.

Zixuan also became much calmer and respectfully reported truthfully.

“Lord Li said that he is very satisfied with this poem, but the remaining two lines have not yet been conceived, and he does not want to use just any two lines to ruin this poem. So he said that he would only release the remaining two lines to the world once he has fully conceived the poem.”

“Mm.” The Divine Phoenix Empress nodded slightly. After a moment, she parted her red lips and said, “If Junior Brother speaks the remaining two lines, I want to know immediately.”

“Yes.”

Zixuan bowed respectfully, thinking to herself that Her Majesty still cared very much about this poem.

That’s right, if the entire complete poem were to be released to the world, it would certainly cause a sensation.

Many talented women, noble ladies, and even courtesans would probably hold Li Shengyuan in high esteem, imagining themselves to be the dreamlike woman in the poem.

People seeking poems from him would probably line up all the way to the capital!

After Zixuan reported some more matters concerning the Northern Region to the Divine Phoenix Empress, the two disconnected.

Looking at the Divine Phoenix Empress disappearing in the mirror, Zixuan let out a long breath.

It was truly exhausting to cover for that smelly man, Li Shengyuan…

Looking at the suspended giant ship, she couldn’t help but think fiercely, “Li Shengyuan, I can only help you this much. You’d better not make me angry in the future, or I’ll expose all your romantic escapades outside!”

Hmph!

After a delicate snort, Zixuan twisted her slender body and vanished from the Prince Yans Mansion garden.

Meanwhile, Li Shengyuan, back on the suspended giant ship, did not go to spend the long night with Shen Xinrong and Princess Pingyang.

Instead, he first studied the evidence of Yan Wang’s crimes that he had obtained from Pei Shuyun.

Then, he took out a round mirror artifact, similar to the one Zixuan used to have an image conversation with Divine Phoenix Empress.

However, it looked more advanced than Zixuan’s.

The Void-Peeking Mirror. According to Divine Phoenix Empress, this was a treasure bestowed upon them by Master.

As long as both of them were within Great Qian, no matter where they were, and regardless of whether there was a signal, they could have video calls without delay. They could even locate each other’s positions and mask their own auras.

At critical moments, it could even withstand fatal attacks.

Although it had no offensive capabilities, it was a multi-functional artifact.

After a series of preliminary incantations, Li Shengyuan connected to Divine Phoenix Empress’s Void-Peeking Mirror.

Although he knew that the Northern Region was filled with Xuanyi Guard secret agents personally controlled by Divine Phoenix Empress, and that his actions would likely be reported back to Divine Phoenix Empress through communication methods before long,

he didn’t know that Zixuan also possessed a weaker version of the Void-Peeking Mirror, similar to his own, that could communicate with Divine Phoenix Empress in real-time. He thought it would take some time for the news to reach her…

Little did he know that his affairs had already been conveyed to Divine Phoenix Empress by Zixuan, half-truth and half-concealed.

At this moment, the Divine Phoenix Empress’s expression had returned to calmness. She sat composedly on the dragon throne in the Imperial Study, as if she had been waiting for Li Shengyuan’s video call for a long time.

“Junior Brother, it’s so late, why aren’t you resting? Is there something you need from Senior Sister?”

The Divine Phoenix Empress’s voice had none of the coldness and indifference it held when she spoke with Zixuan; instead, it was filled with gentle affection.

Li Shengyuan smiled slightly, “I just left the capital, and I already miss Senior Sister a bit, so I wanted to see you. I hope I haven’t disturbed you.”

Hearing this, the smile on Divine Phoenix Empress’s beautiful jade-like face softened even more. Although she knew her junior brother was coaxing her, she was still very happy.

The only thing that made her unhappy was that her junior brother’s poem was not recited for her.

The Divine Phoenix Empress shook her head and chuckled, “Junior Brother, you’ve just arrived in the Northern Region, are you accustomed to it?”

“It’s alright. Tonight, Yan Wang even hosted a banquet for all of us. But having grown accustomed to dining with Senior Sister, I always feel a sense of emptiness,” Li Shengyuan sighed softly.

Then, with a joyful smile, he continued, “However, it won’t be long before I should be able to return and see Senior Sister!”

“Oh, Junior Brother, why do you say that? Do you already have full confidence?” The Divine Phoenix Empress feigned surprise, asking what she already knew.

Li Shengyuan smiled mysteriously, “I obtained some evidence of Yan Wang’s crimes from Yan Consort!”

He did not hide the fact that he obtained the information from Pei Shuyun, and it couldn't be hidden anyway.

“With this evidence, Senior Sister only needs to make arrangements in advance to legitimately apprehend him. However, Yan Wang is deeply entrenched in the Northern Region, so we still need to plan carefully. Otherwise, if the Northern Region falls into chaos, it would provide an opportunity for the Demon Barbarians Outside the Pass and the people of the Demonic Cult.”

“Junior Brother is right, this matter truly cannot be rushed.” The Divine Phoenix Empress nodded slightly in agreement.

Li Shengyuan scratched his head. Why did Divine Phoenix Empress’s reaction feel a bit off?

Divine Phoenix Empress’s next calm question, however, caused him to pale in shock.

“Junior Brother, can you tell Senior Sister what poem you used to exchange for Yan Wang’s criminal evidence from Yan Consort?”

Looking at Divine Phoenix Empress’s calm expression and deep phoenix eyes, Li Shengyuan felt a little panicked.

Hiss…

How did Senior Sister know that I used a poem to exchange for evidence of Yan Wang’s crimes with Pei Shuyun?

Did I stumble into a horror world?