Chapter 296 - 117: Age Dao Fruit, Willing to Marry the Current Emperor Xia, What Does That Loss Matter?

At these words, the white cat in her arms rolled its eyes. ’How can she blame this on me?’

"Your Majesty, it’s late. You should get some rest. There’s no end to these memorials."

Her handmaiden, Spring Orchid, said from behind, her voice tinged with concern.

"I’m fine. It’s not yet 1:00 AM."

"Quite a few memorials have piled up over the past few days. If I don’t finish them now, who knows how high the pile will get."

Emperor Xia waved her hand, her gaze returning to the stack of memorials before her. Her brow furrowed and smoothed out in turn.

Although her expression remained placid, her shifting emotions were palpable.

She was clearly angered by some of the memorials, but her years of practicing Qi Cultivation allowed her to maintain her composure.

Seeing this, Spring Orchid, standing behind her, sighed inwardly, her heart aching for the emperor.

Over the past few days, members of various Immortal Sect Lineages had been arriving in the Imperial Capital one after another. Her Majesty had to both plan the Southern Hunting exercise and arrange accommodations for them all.

She even had to personally receive the delegations from any Immortal Sect Lineages that were close to the Royal Family.

On top of that, she had to keep an eye on the Blood Immortal Sect, remain vigilant against the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and guard against the underhanded schemes of the various Vassal Princes and Commandery Princes.

At the same time, Emperor Xia also had to handle the recent assassination attempts on the younger generation of the great Noble Families and other powerful figures.

With a major event like the Southern Hunting exercise just around the corner, she couldn’t possibly dispatch personnel to conduct a city-wide investigation of the Imperial Capital.

The Imperial Capital was currently a melting pot of all sorts of people; a full-scale investigation would inevitably cause widespread unease.

As Emperor Xia’s personal handmaiden, Spring Orchid could clearly see that Her Majesty had grown much thinner over the past few days.

If she were to remove her Disguise Magical Artifact, it would be even more obvious. Her face had become so thin it was barely the size of her palm.

To say she was utterly overwhelmed would be no exaggeration.

Emperor Xia hadn’t eaten a single bite of breakfast for days. Today, she had been reviewing memorials since noon, and it was now already 1:00 AM.

Emperor Xia possessed all the virtues of a wise sovereign—she was devoted, diligent, and cared for her people. Unfortunately, the situation in Great Xia remained grim.

"Spring Orchid, what are the results of the investigation I tasked the Dark Flower Pavilion with?"

Just then, as if recalling something, Emperor Xia suddenly set down the memorial in her hand and spoke.

"Your Majesty, Hu Heng has already questioned his junior sister. The Observatory indeed has no records concerning the son of the Prime Minister’s Mansion."

"From what we’ve gathered, the records were likely destroyed over a decade ago. However, we did manage to learn some other useful information," Spring Orchid replied respectfully.

"Oh? And what information is that?"

Emperor Xia seemed quite interested. As she asked, she stretched her aching back, revealing the stunning curve of her figure beneath the bright yellow Dragon Robe.

"The young master of the Prime Minister’s Mansion... he once had an older sister," Spring Orchid said.

"An older sister?"

Emperor Xia’s eyes narrowed. Her long, slender fingers began to tap slowly on the desk before her.

"What else?" she continued.

"The young master of the Prime Minister’s Mansion... this is likely his second time embarking on the path of cultivation."

"A second time? Why did he lose his cultivation base before?" Emperor Xia asked, slightly taken aback.

"I do not know. Hu Heng only learned of this from his junior sister..."

"His junior sister is a once-in-a-millennium genius from Beast Taming Mountain. She has been able to communicate with insects, fish, and all manner of birds and beasts since she was a child. This information was apparently pieced together from what she learned from them."

"The Prime Minister’s Mansion has kept this matter under tight wraps; almost no information has leaked out. Even the relevant files at the Observatory were destroyed," Spring Orchid replied.

Emperor Xia nodded thoughtfully.

...

「The next morning, at breakfast.」

Jiang Lan casually asked about his father’s plans for the Southern Hunting exercise.

The Barbarian Race had changed their original strategy, and he felt it was necessary to warn his father to prevent excessive losses.

The Cultivation Technique his father practiced required him to bear the National Fortune and cultivate the Human Dao. He then had to use the Destiny Dynasty Technique to build the foundation for Feather Transformation.

This meant that his father could not allow Great Xia to be destroyed; on the contrary, he needed to maintain the stability of the realm as much as possible.

That was why, despite being the Prime Minister and wielding enough power to shake the world, he had never undermined the foundations of Great Xia, let alone attempted a coup.

Setting aside the question of whether he could win the people’s support after such a move, it would undoubtedly invite all sorts of trouble.

The other lands of the Nine Provinces would immediately descend upon the Celestial Central Province, vying for its resources and territory. Any newly established dynasty would collapse in an instant.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.

His father understood this, which was why he had never had a complete falling out with Emperor Xia. He merely worked in the shadows, constantly weakening her power to turn her into a puppet ruler.

Naturally, Emperor Xia was unwilling to become a puppet and was determined to seize central authority for herself. This was the root cause of Great Xia’s internal turmoil over the years.

"Lan’Er, are you suggesting that before the Southern Hunting, I should indulge Emperor Xia and let her have her way, so she can focus more of her attention on this matter?"

Jiang Lintian was quite surprised. He hadn’t expected such advice from Jiang Lan.

"Let the Royal Family handle this themselves. There’s no need for you to get dragged into the mess, Father. The Blood Immortal Sect and the Barbarian Race won’t make things easy for them."

"If you trust me, Father, all you need to do is sit back and watch the show unfold before the Southern Hunting begins," Jiang Lan said.

Jiang Lintian naturally trusted his son. Hearing this, he fell into deep thought.

’In that fragment of the future, the Prime Minister’s Mansion was destroyed. They said it was because of that Lin Fan... but now that Lin Fan is dead, has the future truly been changed?’