Forsaken Immortals

Although Li Moyun had made Little Chu threaten the Emperor, he had every intention of bringing the Eternal Shadow Palace to everyone's attention.

Currently, everyone was aware that there was a faction known as the Eternal Shadow Palace, but no one knew much about them. The factions, who had sent someone to investigate, had often lost contact with the cultivators they had sent, and those who did return had nothing of importance to report.

The only thing that was known was that the Eternal Shadow Lord was an overbearing and domineering figure. That he was young but immensely talented and had a cultivation base that was in the Innate Realm, at the Violet tier.

While Little Chu had returned to the Eternal Shadow Palace and was busy preparing for the grand entrance into the cultivation world, the Emperor had collapsed in his seat. His face was grey, and his eyes dim. He knew what he had lost and was aware that there was no way to salvage it.

He knew that while he still might benefit from Li Moyun being his son, as long as Li Moyun was even slightly annoyed, or if he felt that he wanted to avenge his wife, then the Empire could crumble at any moment, or he could lose his position as the Emperor.

He was getting paranoid as he thought about the possibilities, and the more time he spent thinking about it, the more panicked he became.

He had done everything in his power to become the Emperor back when he was a young prince. He was never favored by his father. Hence he had been forced to use extreme methods to ensure that no other prince could inherit the throne.

While he had many brothers, they had died one after another in seemingly innocent accidents; however, only he himself knew that he was the cause of these deaths.

When he finally managed to get rid of all his brothers, his father had the idea of giving the throne to a daughter and have a female empress, but before he could inform anyone about his thoughts, he too met with a mishap.

The current Emperor was only sixteen years old when his father suddenly succumbed to illness, or that was the excuse he gave the public.

This was also the reason that he had been so scared of Li Moyun. First of all, he had been extremely jealous of him. Why was this son of his so outstanding? When he, the Emperor, was young, he had never been able to compare to Li Moyun. If he had even half of Li Moyun's outstanding demeanor, then he would naturally have been the crown prince, without the need for such despicable tactics.

But since Li Moyun was so outstanding, he was likely to get the support of the court. Since he had taken over the throne, the Emperor had been terrified of someone taking it from him, and he instantly put up a guard against Li Moyun when he found out how outstanding he was.

He knew that he was qualified, but he would never make him the Crown Prince, as this boost in position might make him power-hungry, resulting in him trying to stage a coup.

Only now, when the Emperor understood how untouchable Li Moyun was, did he see how stupid he had been. Previously the Emperor had seen disdain and disgust in Li Moyun's eyes every time he looked at him, but it was not before now that he understood why.

To Li Moyun, the Richu Empire's throne was much more of a hindrance than anything else. No faction in the cultivation world would ever take over the Empire of the mortal world; there were simply too many risks and responsibilities involved.

While the Emperor was deep in his own thoughts, the Eternal Shadow Palace was full of a festive mood. The gates, which were usually closed and guarded by soldiers, were now open wide.

Servants and maids were streaming in and out of the building, and brilliant smiles hung on all their faces. They were all radiating excitement and happiness, but they were merely greeted with the servants' shaking heads and apologetic expressions whenever someone asked the cause.

None of them were willing to explain what had caused their mood to become so good. They had seen the plans that Li Moyun had for going public, so they could not destroy his preparations.

However, while the entire building was joyous, two figures were seated in the teahouse opposite the big palace.

It was two women, and both of them were wearing big bamboo cone hats. These hats had a veil of thin fabric hanging from the edges, so the faces of the two figures were hidden entirely.

They sat close to the window, but neither of them spoke, neither did they touch the tea on the table.

Their actions caused many to stare at them, but they stayed still and kept observing the Eternal Shadow Palace. They had arrived in the morning, and while they had ordered some snacks and tea at random times, they had never touched the goods they had bought and were clearly there to observe the festivities in the palace opposite the road.

The tea house owner was somewhat confused, but he did not say anything to the two women. They had spent quite a sizeable amount of money in his humble store, so letting them observe the palace was no big deal for him.

These two women were the Qing twins. It had been quite some time since they had escaped Elder Sun, but they had never managed to leave the Imperial Capital. Even now, when it had been so long, Elder Sun was still looking for them, and everyone who exited and entered the capital was checked by the Eternal Shadow Palace.