Li Wei appeared beside Li Chang.
Surprisingly, Li Chang seemed quite at ease in the Heavenly Prison.
He no longer bothered leaving his embroidered shoes outside the door.
After spending so much time together in this confinement, his initial wariness of Min Youguo had softened into a comfortable familiarity.
An old man and the Heavenly Prison—it made for a wonderfully tranquil, almost dreamlike sanctuary.
It was no wonder the Imperial Preceptor lingered here, reluctant to leave.
"I imagine the news from the Northern Frontier has already reached the Imperial Capital."
Li Wei sat between the two men as they drank, watching Min Youguo's hand pass harmlessly right through his ethereal abdomen to pour the boiling water.
Listening to the sound of the falling water, he also felt a long-lost sense of peace.
The tea Min Youguo brewed was very soothing, but unfortunately, 5,000 Clan Will was too expensive.
As he listened to the two chat about everything under the sun, Li Wei silently waved his hand.
A panel appeared before his eyes, and his gaze lowered for a while.
Two more children returning from the Auric Empire had reached the end of their lifespans on the journey back to the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Heaven was unfair, denying them the aptitude for cultivation. Even when life-extending medicinal pills were pressed to their lips, they couldn't bring themselves to swallow them.
They knew that even with the pills, breaking through to the next realm was an impossible dream; it would only prolong their suffering for an unattainable result.
No one had the right to self-righteously preach to them that a miserable life was better than a dignified death.
Because those who spoke such words were often the ones who had been favored by Heaven.
Or perhaps, it was he, this Old Ancestor, who hadn't done well enough...
Exhaling a long breath, Li Wei brushed his heavy thoughts aside, not wanting his sudden sentimentality to accidentally disrupt the cozy camaraderie brewing between the old man and the young man.
He then opened the panel to check on the conditions of his descendants.
[Special Event: Western Frontier Enigma]
[Your descendant Li Yunbing reports to you: The formation set up by the clan near the Golden Toad Divine Palace detected the aura of the Body Integration realm.
The other party concealed themselves extremely well and waited for a long time.
After the matters in the Northern Frontier concluded, all traces of the Body Integration expert's presence vanished entirely.]
...
[Special Event: A Mighty Figure's Warning]
[The Ten Deadly Sins occurred, and Ancestor Lan of the Eternal Immortal Sect appeared in Merit City of the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Your descendants Li Qiuming and Li Chuxiu report to you: Ancestor Lan warned that multiple Body Integration realm experts were spying on the Azure Cloud Prefecture, advising the clan to make preparations.
Holy Monk Yidian sent demonic cultivators from the Demonic Cave to the clan to ask if the Li Clan had stirred up some massive trouble.]
...
What trouble had they stirred up? On the contrary, they had solved a scandalous mess regarding the Crown Prince for the Dynasty.
If there was any trouble, it was the resignation report Li Xinghuo submitted to the Grand Tutor's desk.
The Grand Tutor lost a good employee who charged at the front lines.
However, the Grand Tutor was a sensible person. After what the Li Clan had done in the Northern Frontier, keeping Li Xinghuo there would be tantamount to roasting him over an open fire.
"The probes of these people are nothing more than greed and apprehension at work.
Since the Dynasty hasn't made a move, they only dare to act as outsiders constantly spying from the sidelines."
Li Wei pondered for a moment and murmured, "Ancestor Lan, on the other hand, is quite interesting."
As he spoke, his expression froze slightly.
Having stayed beside Li Chang for two days, there was finally some movement.
Someone arrived inside the Heavenly Prison, reaching the door in an instant.
The visitor wore a gown of hollowed-out golden thread over a long white robe, her head crowned with a majestic phoenix piece draped in a pearl curtain.
As the beads swayed, they radiated a dignified, commanding grace fit for a true phoenix.
"Doesn't her head feel heavy?"
Li Wei grumbled inwardly, though his sarcastic thought did little to mask his genuine shock.
The movement technique that allowed her to arrive in absolute silence was something even he—a half-step Body Integration expert—couldn't hope to replicate.
He had always known the Imperial Capital was a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, but he never expected a true phoenix to actually descend upon them.
Even before Wenren Xianyi fully revealed herself, Min Youguo's hand paused mid-air, his jade cup hovering as sheer vigilance flashed in his eyes.
When the heavy phoenix crown announced her arrival with the sharp clinking of pearls and jade, Li Chang also furrowed his brow, then quickly exhaled a long, steadying breath.
He was a gentleman after all; unlike Xinnian, he couldn't simply fake a smile whenever he wanted to.
Li Wei immediately saw why Chang had struggled so much in the Imperial Capital's officialdom all these years.
"Greetings, Empress."
.......
Li Chang took a deep breath.
He hadn't expected Wenren Xianyi to come in person, but he couldn't conceal the anger in his heart over her killing Feng Tu that day.
It was true that imperial scandals could not be spread to the public, but City Lord Feng Tu was originally just a soldier in the Northern Frontier.
He suffered the bitter cold of the Northern Frontier, and later faced the Wu Tribe's blades in the Western Frontier.
All of this was pure merit and hard work, yet in the end, he was slapped with a fabricated charge and arbitrarily stripped of his life.
One could silence the mouths of the world, but it was difficult to overturn the raging hearts of the common people.