104: Xiao Yan's schemes, the Holy Maiden of the Yin Kui Demon Sect

"Haha~ Crown Prince."

Xuanyuan Baizhi glanced at him:

"Tell me, how did your Imperial Father die?"

"This..."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce was both afraid and fearful. "Well, my Imperial Father was old and passed away from illness..."

"Hm?"

Xuanyuan Baizhi's gaze sharpened.

I already told you that you murdered your father, and you're telling me this?

"Ah, no, not that~"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce suddenly shivered. "Reporting to Your Majesty, my Imperial Father was killed by an evil pill from a fiend of the Yinkui Demonic Sect..."

"Yinkui Demonic Sect?" Xuanyuan Baizhi glanced at Cao Meng, who nodded slightly.

"Oh, then who offered that pill?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce quickly said: "It was, it was this guilty minister. This guilty minister was possessed, controlled and misled by the fiend of the Yinkui Demonic Sect, thinking that the Spirit Pill could prolong my Imperial Father's life. I never thought..."

A beautiful smile appeared on Xuanyuan Baizhi's face: "Good, very good. The Crown Prince's will to survive... Oh, no~ Crown Prince, you were foolish and listened to slander, causing your Imperial Father's death. This is originally a heinous crime, but considering that you did not intend to do evil, I shall spare your life..."

"You are to submit a memorial of apology, stating clearly all the details of the Yinkui Demonic Sect... and Great Zhou's Martial Empress Wu Feiyan conspiring to murder the late emperor, and report it to the world to set the record straight!"

"If you do these things, you will be spared death!"

"This guilty minister thanks Your Majesty for the grace of sparing my life!" Crown Prince Xiao Ce kowtowed repeatedly, tears and snot flowing from his face in "gratitude."

"They're all method actors," Cao Meng sighed inwardly.

Xuanyuan Baizhi's calculations were also excellent. This way, she could not only legitimately take over the Great Liang throne and silence the world, but also conveniently shift the blame onto the Yinkui Demonic Sect and Wu Feiyan.

Moreover, Crown Prince Xiao Ce, burdened with the crime of patricide, would no longer be able to cause any trouble.

This was much better than simply executing Crown Prince Xiao Ce.

"Enough!" Xuanyuan Baizhi waved her sleeve. "How much do you know about that Yinkui Demonic Sect?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce quickly said: "This guilty minister doesn't know much about the Yinkui Demonic Sect. I only know that the successive Sect Masters of the Yinkui Sect are all titled Shadow Empress. Twenty years ago, this guilty minister was taken as a Disciple by that Shadow Empress... However, that Shadow Empress's whereabouts are mysterious. This Disciple only gets to see her once a year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and she is always masked.

This person should be an existence beyond the Saint Realm, but because she fears the Qingyun Immortal Sect, she has been developing in secret... Also, they should not be a local power of the Eastern Continent; they should come from outside the domain."

"Beyond the Saint Realm?"

Xuanyuan Baizhi's brows furrowed slightly.

A power beyond the Saint Realm would be an invincible existence in the Eastern Continent; presumably, only the Qingyun Immortal Sect could suppress her.

"Anything else?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce quickly said: "Also, the Shadow Empress has forty-eight Disciples, but this guilty minister has only met three of them."

Xuanyuan Baizhi: "What was the Yinkui Sect's purpose in supporting you?"

"They, they wanted to use this guilty minister to seize the Luck of the Great Liang Imperial Dynasty to help them repair a treasure... As for anything else, this guilty minister does not know."

Xuanyuan Baizhi said nothing more, only gazed at him for a long while, then waved her hand:

"Someone, take him away and guard him well."

"Yes!" Outside the hall, two black-clad warriors immediately flew in.

Seeing this, Crown Prince Xiao Ce suddenly became anxious: "Your Majesty, this guilty minister has one more thing to say."

Xuanyuan Baizhi:

"Speak!"

"Yes." Crown Prince Xiao Ce looked up at Xuanyuan Baizhi, gathering his courage to say: "This news is related to the Shadow Empress. After this guilty minister reveals this news, I implore Your Majesty to truly grant this guilty minister a way to live... This guilty minister is willing to go to White Deer Academy to atone for my sins and cultivate..."

"Haha," Xuanyuan Baizhi let out a contemptuous laugh, "Bargaining with me?"

"Very well, I never truly intended to kill you. I agree to this condition. Speak."

Crown Prince Xiao Ce quickly said: "Three days from now, the Shadow Empress's closed-door Disciple, the Yinkui Demonic Sect's Saintess, will personally arrive in the Divine Capital!"

"Oh? You've already been captured, and she's still coming?"

Xuanyuan Baizhi's beautiful eyes narrowed, looking at Crown Prince Xiao Ce with some doubt.

"What is she coming for?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce quickly said: "The Yinkui Sect has always coveted the Netherworld Fire hidden beneath the Imperial City's underground palace... This woman should be coming to retrieve the fire."

"Imperial City's underground palace?"

Xuanyuan Baizhi suddenly stood up. Having been in the palace for twenty years, she had never known that an underground palace was hidden beneath the Great Liang Imperial Palace.

"Xiao Yan told me this news." Crown Prince Xiao Ce looked at Xuanyuan Baizhi with some fear.

"This guilty minister has a map given by Xiao Yan!"

"Haha, Xiao Yan~" Cao Meng chuckled.

Crown Prince Xiao Ce continued: "That Xiao Yan is a direct descendant of the Xiao Ancient Clan, and my Xiao Imperial Clan is also a branch of the Ancient Clan. The key to opening the underground palace is the Son of Heaven's Sword in Your Majesty's hand!"

Xuanyuan Baizhi looked at the Son of Heaven's Sword placed on the table in front of her:

"How did that Yinkui Sect Saintess know?"

Crown Prince Xiao Ce: "Xiao Yan asked me to inform the Yinkui Saintess, because Xiao Yan seemed to want to scheme against the Yinkui Sect, and this guilty minister, I, wanted to use Xiao Yan to break free from the Yinkui Sect's control..."

"Good, very good!"

Xuanyuan Baizhi nodded with satisfaction, "Crown Prince Xiao Ce, if what you say is true, this Empress doesn't mind giving you a prosperous future."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!" Crown Prince Xiao Ce was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to salute again... At the same time,

Daliang Divine Capital.

In a secluded small courtyard.

Xiao Yan clenched his hands in anger, his eyes sparkling: "Damn it, where did this Prodigy Cao Meng come from? I was just a little bit, just a little bit away from getting the Netherworld Fire and evolving my Flame Art! And that Yinkui Saintess..."

"What do we do now?"

"Boy, calm down a little," an aged voice rang in his ear.

Xiao Yan said in a deep voice: "Teacher, I can't calm down! Half of the three-year agreement has passed. Every time I think of that bitch's face when she broke off the engagement, I can't sleep all night!"

"Alas~" The old man sighed slightly.

This Disciple was good in every way, except that he was too full of Viciousness, too stubborn, too arrogant. To put it nicely, he had backbone. To put it less nicely, he was petty and had an extreme personality.

She was a good girl, a favored daughter of heaven, an existence tens of thousands of miles beyond him. Why should she have to marry a good-for-nothing like him?

Well, if you want to prove yourself, to step on others, to prove your awesomeness, to prove that they were blind, that's fine too.

The key is that you can't lose sleep every night over such a small matter.

Isn't this just torturing himself? With such a narrow mind, such a Heart-Nature... It's truly a miracle he hasn't died of anger.

"Actually, it's not impossible," the old man hesitated, then said:

"I can consume a portion of my Soul Power to forcibly open a breach for you to enter the underground palace and secretly take the Netherworld Fire. However, if I do that, the little Origin I've managed to recover will likely be greatly damaged again."

"Ah, that's great!" Xiao Yan was overjoyed and said repeatedly:

"Teacher, don't worry. Origin can be cultivated again. More importantly, when this Disciple becomes powerful, I can gather a Physical Body for you sooner and restore your former glory."