Chapter 677 Something's Not Right

uiyue County Princess is to marry the Emperor." 。"What about her then" She gestured towards Li Yanran with her chin. "What about her" Night Wenyan replied, "Naturally, that wouldn't be possible either...This is indeed a test given to them by Ye Wen, because she's going on a journey far away and intends to take the North Qi's national treasure, the Emperor Zun, with her. 。Although they were still wandering within the territory of Northern Qi, they were far from the capital. As cultivators, they weren't true immortals and couldn't possibly know what happened in Lin'an from such a vast distance. Therefore, she had to make thorough preparations before leaving. 。She left a good number of men behind for Quan Qingcheng. Over these past six months, winning over the hearts and minds of the people in Lin'an was enough to keep Quan Qingcheng stable for a while. 。And there was the Regent, who, in exchange for a life-saving favor, offered his full support, enabling Qin Qingcheng to rule with authority. 。She even kept her own maid by her side, simply because Zhu'er was intelligent and capable, daring to think and act. 。But even with all this, she still couldn't rest assured. After all, she didn't know if these people could fully cooperate, and whether their cooperation would be effective, perfect. 。So she arranged this test, a test that, while seemingly challenging, also revealed their ability to think critically and work together as a team. 。Although a country may be ruled by an emperor, imperial power is never the right of a single person. Between authoritarianism and decentralization, the governing body must always strike a balance. 。And this kind of mastery comes from starting to practice. 。In the late afternoon, it turned dark and after a short while, a light drizzle began. 。This rain falls very slowly, it won't get you soaked all at once, but it's also very sticky. If you walk outside without an umbrella for a long time, you'll eventually get wet through. 。Ye Wen grasped a handful of fresh flowers and scattered them, quickly opening an umbrella above the two of them. She looked at Shi Liyuan and said, "Look, it's raining, but I remember today was supposed to be sunny. Didn't Qin Jian look over everything How come it's raining" Shi Liyuan looked up for a moment, shook his head, indicating that he didn't know why it was raining either, but he told Ye Wen: "The sudden overcast before the banquet doesn't necessarily mean Su Yuan people are behind it..." 。The Suyuan people were not that capable. Although the high priest did use some tricks, it was impossible to achieve such an effect. 。Recently, the weather has been abnormal, which is not a good sign. 。"That's strange, isn't it" Ye Wen said with concern. "Something's off with the weather. An abnormal climate forecast doesn't bode well. It's already summer, and if Lin'an experiences frequent rain, there's a risk of floods in the south." 。"Shi Lifen, would you have helped humans fight natural disasters in the past"

Shi Lifen shook his head. "No, cultivators aren't gods, we don't have the power to move mountains or control the sea."

Not to mention, even immortals haven't heard of any immortal who would protect the mortal realm to that extent. 。All misfortunes and disasters are predetermined by fate. If you try to forcefully resist destiny with external power, you might be able to overcome difficulties a few times, but you will inevitably suffer retribution in the end. 。When disaster strikes, there will be nothing I can do about it. 。A-yan, you must also remember that cultivators, there are things they can do, and things they cannot do. 。Even if disasters happen, there's always a reason for them. These tribulations won't befall us here but will occur somewhere else. They can't be avoided. 。If we intervene every time, year after year, accumulating over time, people will come to expect it and lose their concern and importance for disasters. 。They'll think, since we have spiritualists protecting us, we don't need to strengthen our defenses, we don't need sturdy walls, and we don't need to make any effort to resist disasters. 。When such dependence runs deep, passed down through generations, it will be a very frightening thing. 。"You're right, that's exactly how it is." 。In the past, there were records in our family that a thousand years ago, for a long period, the Five Pulses protected humans very well. The entire world looked peaceful. Humans had to be most careful of human-caused disasters, such as calamities. The Xuan Pulse Clan would protect them from all of it. 。But later, for a few years, something happened with the Xuanmai, and several other meridians also got involved. They simply couldn't spare the manpower to fight against the disaster 。That year, there was a flood that killed many people. 。People began to blame the Five Elements for not protecting them, but in fact, protecting humanity has never been the responsibility of the Five Elements. 。We did it out of human kindness, but not doing so would also be our duty. 。There's no place to reason with them, they just think that since you've been doing this for so many years, you should just keep doing it. We can just sit back and reap the benefits without having to put in any effort ourselves. 。After that incident, the Five Pulses agreed to no longer interfere with disasters. Firstly, suppressing disasters also had a huge impact and harm on the Five Pulses themselves. Secondly, just like yours, if everything was done by spirit cultivators, humans would become complacent in their defenses and even slow down the progress of human civilization and the evolution of humanity itself. 。In the beginning, for many years, the Five Sects were condemned by the people for this decision. However, after ten or eight years passed, people gradually accepted it and began to find ways to resist disasters, building higher walls and sturdier dams. 。After that, no one abandoned them anymore. We lived our own lives separately and it was peaceful. 。"During their conversation, Lian Shi returned and ran up the stairs to greet Ye Wen. "I've searched everywhere for Su Yuan's residence," he said, "and checked every single one of his maidservants, including the old servants. None of them have a red line on their wrists." 。"Does the Empress need to find this person Su Yuan just left the palace. Should I have someone stop them" Night Wen Yan shook his head, "No need, it's too late. They should have already run away, or are hiding somewhere..." 。She told Shi Liyuan, "Before Ah Man died, she told me something. Ye Hongzhuang is not dead. She was saved by someone from Su Yuan and disguised herself as a maid to enter the palace." 。Besides, there is one more thing. There is a cave in the mountains outside Beijing where a pregnant woman is hiding. 。She said it was Yèhóngzhuāng who asked them to rescue and hide that woman. She didn't know the woman's identity, but I think anyone important enough for Yèhóngzhuāng to care about this much must be someone who can save her life, or possibly someone she could use to turn her fortunes around in the future. 。“ It’s a pity that we can’t find Yèhóngzhuang now. It’s even harder to find someone based on just a clue from a cave.” 。She smiled here, "Perhaps the people of Suyuan have misjudged our abilities. She thought that once we left the capital and went to the mountains, we could easily find that person. But she didn't know that this wasn't easy for us either." 。 The Bird of Knowing Paths could have helped me find someone, but I gave it to Zhuier. To prevent Zhuier from cheating in this test using the Bird of Knowing Paths, I also blocked its ability to find paths. It will take twelve hours for it to recover. 。"

Shi Li Yuan thought he could give it a try, but after thinking about it carefully, he gave up the idea. " 。"This deity can bring you to the mountains outside the capital, but if you want to find someone in the mountains, you have to search for them personally." 。"Then give up!" Ye Wen waved his hand, "If she can survive, it's her destiny. Let's just see how long this destiny of hers will last and to what extent it will support her." 。"

When they saw each other, they no longer wanted to look for anyone, so they quietly retreated and returned to the mountains to help search for Ye Chu Lian together. >>> 。At that time, in the Denning Palace, Ye Hongzhuang was hidden in a corner, her eyes fixed on Li Xiaohan who had just walked in, not daring to breathe. 。Denning Palace is located north of the Imperial Palace and is one of the palaces where empresses dowager resided. 。The empresses dowager left behind by the previous emperor were not too many. Some people gathered together for the sake of festivity, so they only occupied three palaces in total. Including De Ning Palace, there were four palaces. 。But the Dening Palace was never inhabited because a disgraced concubine had once been hanged there. 。That concubine was banished to the northern border by the previous emperor over a decade ago. Though not in cold palace, it clearly showed the previous emperor's determination to never see her again in this life. 。The concubine had lived there for over a year, feeling hopeless and took her own life by hanging. 。 Li Xiaohan was demoted from Empress Dowager to Imperial Noble Consort. None of the other Imperial Noble Consorts looked down on her, and none of them were willing to live with her. They all wanted to see her suffer, so Denning Palace became Li Xiaohan's new residence. 。Even before the banquet at Yanhuagong was over, palace maids had been moving things from Yong'ang Palace to this side. The servants in Taifei's palace came over to inquire and soon found out that it was the Empress Dowager who had been demoted. 。Then they began to scramble for the loot. Most of the good things taken from Yong'an Palace were snatched up. In the end, if it weren't for the people at Yong'an Palace, some items had been bestowed by the previous emperor, whoever took them would be committing a grave sin. Fearful of this, Li Xiaohan might not even have a blanket left. 。Right now, Li Xiao Han is back here with the maid Bao Chan after leaving Yan Huagong. He's been walking with a sullen face and head bowed all the way. 。Those former concubines who were only allowed to speak to her kneeling, now ride on top of her head. This brings her great shame. 。She didn't want to see anyone. As soon as she entered the De Ning Palace, she ordered the door to be closed and even drove away the palace maids who had helped her move things. 。Ye Hongzhuang looked at Li Xiaohan who sat down, and her heart was also full of anger. 。She didn't know what had happened in the palace. She ran out of the guest quarters and was headed for Yong'an Palace. 。Today, the Yanhuagong hosted a banquet. All the masters in the palace went to attend the banquet. Even those palace people who stayed behind, because the area within Yanhuagong was no longer as intimidating as before, they all went closer to Yanhuagong, just to be near the immortal aura of His Majesty the Emperor. 。Even if I can't see the Emperor in person, it would be good enough to kneel for a while at the foot of Yanhuashan. 。This gave Yèhóngzhuāng an opportunity. With fewer people around, she could move freely. Even if guards patrolled, they wouldn't stop someone dressed as a maidservant. 。When she ran to Yong'an Palace, she saw palace people carrying things out wave after wave. After listening for a while, she realized that Li Xiaohan had been demoted to Taifei by the Imperial Lord. She was no longer the Empress Dowager. 。This greatly shocked Yè Hóngzhuāng and left her deeply disappointed. 。Li Xiaohan was no longer the Empress Dowager, so she lost the privileges of an Empress Dowager. Her influence in both the inner court and the imperial court was not as great as before. 。Then, what use would it be for her to defect She might even be discovered by Ye Wenyan, a losing proposition. 。She was disheartened and had to return to live in the guest palace again, but she didn't know that there was also some bad news coming back from the guest palace at this time. 。e. All these details were meticulously considered.She later summarized that the precision of movements in such a ritual should be like a real phone number. As long as every digit is accurate, you can...