408: Secret meeting of Prince Ding's lineage

After the scene in the imperial court spread, various factions naturally assessed it immediately, considering their future direction. For those of Prince Ding's lineage, the Great Emperor's final decision undoubtedly gave them a breathing space. It could be said that Fu Changqing, the Master of Wuying Hall, deserved the most credit!

Under such immense pressure just now, it truly took a figure of a Cabinet Elder's caliber to withstand it. Having an elder at home is truly a treasure!

These people immediately gathered at the top floor of the famous Tianxin Grand Hotel in Shuntian Prefecture for a secret discussion... "The Hall Master is truly fearless in the face of danger, his presence commands the mountains and rivers!"

"He definitely wouldn't even blink if Mount Tai collapsed before him!"

"We shall follow the Hall Master's lead in everything..."

"The Hall Master is our guiding light..."

"Exactly, exactly..."

The crowd praised and flattered Fu Changqing, who sat in the seat of honor, to the best of their abilities... Fu Changqing narrowed his eyes slightly, enjoying the flattery. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "We are merely serving our master. This time, our master accidentally gave others something to hold against him, so we must naturally go all out to exonerate him! Did you all notice how I resolved this disaster?"

"This..." The crowd was stunned and looked at each other. Many thought to themselves, 'Wasn't it just your status as a Cabinet Elder at work? The Great Emperor probably didn't want to punish the Fifth Highness anyway, so he just followed your words and gave a light punishment, right?'

One person in the group shifted his gaze and bowed respectfully, saying, "Lü Duan is dull-witted. Please enlighten us, Hall Master!"

Fu Changqing glanced at Lü Duan, a hint of satisfaction flashing across his face, and said, "Actually, this matter could be light or heavy. Without a good explanation, the master would have been in great trouble this time! I thought about it and realized the only way to survive was to shift the matter toward the Master of Xuanji Tower. In our Great Ming, the status of Xuanji Tower is transcendent; even the Great Emperor treats it with awe. Therefore, an invitation from the Master of Xuanji Tower is, to some extent, an irresistible force, equivalent to an audience with the Great Emperor. So, although the master went to Xuanji Tower of his own accord to seek immortal destiny, if it's framed as an invitation from the Master of Xuanji Tower, then the master naturally had a reason he couldn't refuse!"

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!!! The Hall Master's words have truly awakened me from a dream!" Lü Duan realized suddenly and praised loudly.

"The Hall Master is truly a master!"

"Indeed, the Master of Xuanji Tower is currently high and mighty in our Great Ming; no one dares to be disrespectful!"

"The Hall Master's move is indeed clever; it also makes it impossible for the First Highness and others to attack him further!"

"By the way, did our master find immortal destiny this time?" someone suddenly asked.

"Oh right, if the master found immortal destiny, wouldn't we also take flight with him?"

"What exactly is the situation?"

Everyone looked at Fu Changqing with inquisitive expressions... Fu Changqing pondered for a moment and nodded, "Naturally! The master sent the young masters and princesses of the residence to Xuanji Tower to test for immortal destiny. As a result, many were found to possess Spiritual Roots for cultivation. Among them, the Thirty-Eighth Princess, Zhu Dexi, has extremely good Spiritual Root Aptitude and has already been accepted into the sect by Xuanji Tower!"

Wow!!!

The crowd cried out in surprise, their faces filled with joy.

The stronger the master, the stronger their faction's strength would naturally be. This was a matter of shared honor. Now that Zhu Dexi was found to have a high-quality Spiritual Root and had joined Xuanji Tower, it was undoubtedly an excellent signal!

"However..." Fu Changqing's tone shifted.

"However what?" Lü Duan asked urgently.

Fu Changqing continued, "According to reliable sources, descendants of several other Highnesses have also been found to have Spiritual Roots, and some have joined Xuanji Tower because of it. Therefore, regarding immortal destiny, it can only be said that all sides are currently tied. Fortunately, the master was not left behind. For us, the most important thing right now is to quickly eliminate the impact of the sudden raid on Dingyuan City. I wonder if any of you have guesses as to who the attackers were?"

"The attackers..." Everyone fell into thought upon hearing this... In fact, this topic was the main purpose of their gathering. Only by finding the true culprit as soon as possible could their master, the Fifth Highness, redeem himself through merit, and only then could the people of their lineage turn their passive position into an active one.

Soon, they all expressed their opinions. However, it was difficult for them to identify the true culprit. After all, there was too little information currently available. The attackers were extremely experienced and basically left no clues. Although they were all very shrewd, they unfortunately couldn't investigate the scene personally, so it was hard to provide any good opinions. They could only wait for more information from the front before discussing further... Just then, someone in the group suddenly said, "Hall Master, according to news I just received, before the master returned, he went to South Yue City and tried to infiltrate the Prince Fu Residence to control the Ninth Highness. However, he was blocked by the Prince Fu Residence's protection Formation. In a fit of rage, the master attacked it, making quite a commotion and attracting many nearby experts. Perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?" Fu Changqing asked.

"It's likely that someone saw the master appear in South Yue City and sent out the information, letting certain people know that Dingyuan City had no commander sitting in it that night, thus launching the raid!" the person said.

Everyone realized this and nodded in agreement... Fu Changqing looked at the person, who was Sha Datong, the official in charge of the Southern River Works Department, and nodded in appreciation, "What you said makes a lot of sense! Can you find out which people were among those watching that night?"

Sha Datong shook his head and said, "According to the intelligence reports, the scene was too chaotic at the time, and there were many onlookers. When the master made his move, the commotion was too great, and even the black cloth on his face was blown away, exposing his face. Finally, even the Ninth Highness appeared and publicly clarified his relationship with the master. The people around must have obtained this information. Therefore, any of the factions present at the time could have acted!"

The crowd listened in stunned silence. They hadn't expected the master to make such a low-level mistake!

Even if they wanted to clean up after him, wouldn't the difficulty be a bit too high?

Sha Datong continued, "Fortunately, the master acted decisively at the time and killed most of the onlookers. Only a few experts escaped. So, our investigation task is a bit lighter. Of course, it's only a bit lighter. No one knows exactly how many factions were hiding in South Yue City at the time, and since many people are currently seeking immortal destiny, South Yue City is simply filled with all kinds of people!"

Everyone looked at each other. According to Sha Datong, it was feared that the information wasn't just spread by one or two factions, but by countless ones, or even some experts who happened to be there. Fu Changqing sighed inwardly. Trying to find this out was simply as difficult as climbing to heaven. They could only do their best. They could only blame the master for being too careless. Why would he think of forcibly attacking the Prince Fu Residence's Formation? Wasn't that looking down on Prince Fu too much?

...