Chapter 313 121: Don't Want to Owe You a Favor, Imperial Extreme Creation Pill, So She Wasn't Executed After All?

Otherwise, the middle-aged woman wouldn't have been so lucky. Given her strength, she would have surely died at the hands of those sent by the Prime Minister's Mansion.

"Linglong, I've already investigated this. She arrived in Guangyuan City just over a decade ago. Since then, she's kept a low profile, acting cautiously and never starting trouble. I've also never heard of her making any enemies."

"What's more, her life before ten-plus years ago is a complete blank. There are no traces of her in any of the neighboring cities. She looks like a Loose Cultivator from another kingdom, but you know as well as I do that even a Loose Cultivator can't erase their past so completely..."

"I believe she was at the Prime Minister's Mansion over a decade ago. Around that time, many people disappeared under mysterious circumstances."

Standing beside Linglong Commander, Hu Heng watched the middle-aged woman, his tone firm and certain.

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman began to tremble even more violently. It was as if she had recalled something horrifying, and her eyes filled with terror and fear.

"I've already investigated all this."

"But she refuses to say anything. There's nothing I can do."

Linglong Commander said coolly.

She didn't want to get too involved with the Royal Family, but her senior martial brother, Hu Heng, was one of Emperor Xia's men.

Because they were from the same sect, she had already helped him a great deal. This time, she had even told him a secret that implicated the Prime Minister's Mansion.

If the Prime Minister's Mansion ever found out about this, her life at the Observatory would likely become very difficult.

"Linglong, the one I serve intends to bring her back to the Imperial Capital for a personal interrogation."

"With his backing, she should feel much safer and be willing to speak boldly about what happened," Hu Heng said.

He had already received his orders. He'd rushed over now with the intention of secretly taking the middle-aged woman back to the Imperial Capital.

Hearing this, Linglong Commander glanced at the middle-aged woman. She hesitated for a moment and was about to nod her agreement.

"I... I won't go to the Imperial Capital! Just kill me! Please, I'm begging you, kill me..."

But the Liu woman grew panicked. She seemed to vehemently resist the idea of the Imperial Capital, and she struggled to her feet, trying to walk out of the inn.

Linglong Commander frowned. A powerful wave of Magical Power instantly enveloped the Liu woman, immobilizing her. She couldn't take another step.

"You don't have to be afraid. The Prime Minister's Mansion may be in the Imperial Capital, but not even they would dare to cross the one I serve..." Hu Heng said, trying to reassure her.

'He felt a little helpless. If Linglong weren't here, he would have already used other methods to interrogate her. This line of questioning was just a waste of time.'

The Dark Flower Pavilion might work for Emperor Xia, but its members' methods were not so rigid. Unlike the Observatory, they weren't bound by the law.

Immobilized by Linglong Commander, the Liu woman's face was a mask of deep despair. As if accepting her fate, she stopped struggling.

"What do you gain from doing this?" she asked, her face wracked with pain.

"We're just following orders," Linglong Commander said. "And trying to protect you."

"I've lived peacefully in Guangyuan City for over a decade. Why did you have to come and disturb me? If I'd known it would come to this, I would've rather let the Madam have me executed back then..."

"I've spent so long living in constant fear, and in the end, you're still going to kill me."

The Liu woman's expression was a mixture of grief, indignation, and helplessness, which finally dissolved into a face streaked with tears.

Linglong Commander and Hu Heng, however, latched onto the two words the Liu woman had spoken: "the Madam." They exchanged a look, their eyes wide with shock and astonishment.

'Is she referring to the Prime Minister's wife?'

Hu Heng thought to himself, his eyes filled with dread.

Linglong Commander nodded.

According to the rumors, she was even more ruthless than the Prime Minister himself, and her methods were terrifying.

'Could this middle-aged woman have served under her?'

"What happened at the Prime Minister's Mansion over a decade ago?"

"Who are you, really?"

Linglong Commander asked. At the same time, she recalled the archives she had perused deep within the Observatory.

In those records, all of Young Master Jiang Lan of the Prime Minister's Mansion's experiences before his teens were a complete blank, having been deliberately destroyed.

And the Liu woman before them seemed to know what had happened.

Hearing this, the Liu woman just shook her head repeatedly. She said nothing more, only stating woodenly, "If you're going to take me to the Imperial Capital, then take me."

Linglong Commander and Hu Heng could only feel a sense of helplessness.

The Liu woman wouldn't talk, and they couldn't exactly pry her mouth open or perform a Soul Search. But from what she'd let slip, it was clear that the Prime Minister's Mansion held a great secret from over a decade ago.

Outside the courtyard, a cloud-patterned carriage had been waiting for some time.

Passersby who saw it recognized the Observatory's insignia and quickly lowered their heads, hurrying away.

Linglong Commander and Hu Heng led the Liu woman out the main gate, planning to take the carriage out of Guangyuan City and head for the Imperial Capital.

At that moment, on a long, crowded street, a woman in white who had been approaching at a leisurely pace came to a stop in the distance.

Her cool, indifferent eyes gazed forward, her line of sight falling on the Liu woman trailing behind the two of them. The woman's head was bowed, her face a picture of dejection and grief. The white-robed woman seemed to freeze.

She stood amidst the crowd, yet no one could perceive her presence. She was as ethereal as an immortal, her form wreathed in a hazy, dreamlike mist, looking as though she might undergo Feather Transformation and ascend at any moment.

'Is that my wet nurse?'

The woman in white stared blankly at the grief-stricken middle-aged woman as a flood of images flashed through her mind.

Beneath a tree with falling maple leaves, a woman brought over freshly brewed tea with a smile. Afraid of scalding them, she would gently blow on it to cool it down, her expression full of warmth.

The memory of the face was blurry, but the sight of the middle-aged woman made it vivid and clear once more. All the memories associated with her came flooding back.

'So... she wasn't executed back then?'

The white-robed woman's stunned thoughts quickly returned to the present. In her time traveling through the lands of Great Xia, she had been learning about its current state of affairs.

That was how she recognized the cloud-patterned carriage from the Observatory.

She didn't know why the Observatory had found the wet nurse who once served Jiang Lan, but she could see the woman's face was filled with anguish and resistance.

At this thought, the white-robed woman's figure vanished. When she reappeared, she was standing before the cloud-patterned carriage.

Linglong Commander and Hu Heng were just about to lead the Liu woman into the carriage and depart as quickly as possible. They never expected a mysterious woman in white to suddenly materialize before them.

The woman was shrouded in a hazy mist that obscured her features. All they could make out was a slender figure and a pair of cool, indifferent eyes.

The two of them froze on the spot, utterly stunned.

"Who are you..."

Hu Heng snapped out of it and was about to demand who she was, but an indescribable terror seized his heart, making him tremble. His blood seemed to turn to ice.

It felt as if a terrifying, massive hand had seized his heart in a vice-like grip.

The color drained from his face, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.

Linglong Commander, standing beside him, was faring no better.

Under the mysterious woman's gaze, the mask covering her face shattered with a CRACK, revealing a beautiful, striking, yet deathly pale face.