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"A girl?"

Chen Qing held the child for a long time, made sure she had no male parts, then frowned deeply, "That shouldn’t be..."

Ugh... what’s the point of hiding the child’s gender, when hiding it doesn’t change the fact?

Impatiently, Chen Qing pried the crying child’s hands apart for a closer look. Once he confirmed it was a girl, he carelessly tossed her to Chen Ying.

Chen Ying fumbled to catch the child and couldn’t help but give Chen Qing a glare. How could he be so rough with a child? Didn’t he see how loudly she was crying?

As expected, the child’s crying lessened significantly once out of Chen Qing’s arms, and she stared at him with big, round eyes, unblinking.

Chen Qing, however, did not continue to pay attention to the child; instead, he fell into deep thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Wang Ye asked from the side, "Is it very surprising that the child is a girl?"

Chen Qing frowned, "You don’t understand.

The Emperor left this bloodline with me in hopes of another Golden Crow pureblood descendant.

He didn’t hesitate to give me that fox as a nominal concubine, even keeping it from the Crown Prince.

If he finds out it’s a girl, I’m afraid he might just give up. .."

"What?" Wang Ye asked with a chuckle, "Are you disappointed that there’s no ’Dragon’s Heir’ in your heart now?"

"I’m not particularly interested in that.

.." Chen Qing shook his head, "I’m just worried that if the Crown Prince finds out, he’ll hold a grudge against me.

.. after all... If it was a boy, His Majesty would protect me, but with a girl, I doubt the Crown Prince will trouble me and the Emperor will intervene. "

"Do you still need the Emperor’s intervention?" Wang Ye asked with a smirk. The power of his private army in Lyuzhou City is growing; aren’t you on the verge of becoming a regional warlord?

"Of course..." Chen Qing replied earnestly, "It’s like walking with a tiger— I’m being very cautious..."

Wang Ye rolled his eyes, too lazy to spar with him, and said lightly, "You don’t need to worry too much.

Although most of the bloodline families are headed by men, bloodline purity is key.

There have been historically significant families led by women.

Take Fei Jun’s mother, the Princess Royale; if not for His Majesty’s unexpected rise, with her pure Golden Crow bloodline, she would probably be at the helm of the Siao Family by now. "

"So..." Wang Ye glanced at the child in Chen Ying’s arms, "Even if it’s a girl, as long as the bloodline is pure, she could still vie for inheritance."

"I see..." Chen Qing’s face lit up with a smile, he took the child back from Chen Ying and continued to pat her back, ignoring her loud cries, "Good girl, good girl!"

Chen Ying: "....."

Wang Ye: "Can you tell if it’s a person or a demon?"

Chen Qing gave a dismissive snort, "How can you tell at this age? If someone could have seen the King of Qin as a demon when he was a child, he would have been burnt to death long ago, right?"

For some reason, as soon as he heard the words ’burnt to death’, the crying child immediately stopped her wails.

"That is true..." Wang Ye nodded, "You should be cautious."

Chen Qing held the child nonchalantly, but there was an inexplicable look in his eyes when he glanced at her.

The Mirror Demon showed that the child had both the Thousand-Faced Fox and Golden Crow bloodlines, a true demon. As for her destiny, like the King of Qin, it was unclear and vague. However, there was a hint of an emperor’s presence.

Just like the King of Qin...

Could she also be a transmigrator?

Chen Qing frowned. If not for the presence of others, he might have been ready to test for a signal.

"How’s that fox doing?" Chen Qing asked Chen Ying.

"She seems to be in good color," Chen Ying whispered. "The girl who attended the birth has now fainted, so I can’t ask her for specifics, and I don’t know whether the so-called Golden Crow poison has been resolved."

"Lock them up inside the barrier..." Chen Qing ordered directly, whether it’s Zi Yue with the cured Golden Crow poison or Ali, both are problematic beings.

Wait... Ali?

The name popped into his mind, causing Chen Qing’s brow to furrow again. That name... it always made him feel an inexplicable discomfort.

As he pondered, a flash of green light streaked by. Everyone looked, and there stood Murong Yunji, who had just been sent back to Lyuzhou City to assess the situation.

"You’ve returned so soon?" Chen Qing started, even with her Divine Wind Technique, was she not too efficient?

And he had sent her back to guard against those magicians who had escaped into Lyuzhou City, causing mayhem. Had it already begun?

A cruel smile crossed Chen Qing’s lips. If they had left, it would have taken some effort to deal with them in Lyuzhou City, but if they dared to attack the Azure Dragon Barrier... well, well...

"Chen Ying, just let them in!" Chen Qing said with a cold laugh.

"Yes..." Chen Ying agreed, just about to sense the barrier when Murong Yunji stopped her, "Those people... are dead!"

"What?" Everyone was stunned.

Wang Ye couldn’t help standing up, "What’s the situation?"

He could feel that if Zi Yue was such an unstable entity, then the Emperor would have provided her with a stable team of magicians. How could they just die?

"Just like Second Elder Shen..." Murong Yunji said with a grim face.

Without further delay, Chen Qing handed the child back to Chen Ying and immediately activated the Mountain God’s Authority’s flash technique to the foot of the mountain. He quickly found the scene described by Murong Yunji:

Six people, shriveled up in their large black robes, their deaths were gruesome, identical to that of Second Elder Shen, black as if drained of moisture!!

After a while, several figures arrived one after another. Chen Ying, holding the child, stayed further away, but Wang Ye was the most unfazed and approached closely for observation.

"Poison?"

Chen Qing frowned and glanced at Wang Ye, "Be careful. Some poisons can kill even if you are not of flesh and blood."

After all... Second Elder Shen’s soul had not been found, and Chen Qing even wondered if this poison... could affect the soul? If so, that would be terrifying!

"That Zi Yue didn’t lie," Murong Yunji said coldly. "The ones who killed Second Elder Shen, it wasn’t them."

"Then who else could it be?"

Chen Qing was completely out of leads all of a sudden. If it wasn’t the Emperor’s men, could it possibly be the Mister Five Poison mentioned by Ali?

But Mister Five Poison had neither the opportunity nor the motive.

After all, according to what Ali said, Mister Five Poison... initially pledged allegiance to the Siao Family. Why would he attack someone sent by the Emperor?

Or perhaps...

Chen Qing suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Wang Ye..."

Wang Ye moved closer. "So you’re willing to call me by my name again, which must mean it’s no good thing..."

"Aside from fulfilling the secret mission His Majesty gave you, you also came to investigate the situation in Nanming Prefecture and Nanyang City, right?"

"Yes..." Wang Ye nodded. "I’ve already visited Nanming Prefecture. It’s relatively stable there now, but they can only fortify Nanming City. They’re unable to extend aid to the surrounding countryside like you, so I expect they’ll request more reinforcements.

I’ll cover for you here, but you should also prepare for additional support coming your way. "

Cover for me?

Chen Qing’s face lit up with a smile as he patted Wang Ye on the shoulder. "That’s what I call brotherhood!"

"You trust me?"

"Of course, I do!" Chen Qing declared confidently. "What’s our relationship? Comrades in life and death, and my master even wrote a letter asking me to take care of you."

"Not afraid of the wind cutting your tongue with that talk, care for me?" Wang Ye scoffed coldly, then added, "The Nanming Prefecture and Nanyang City you mentioned just now, what about them?"

"You haven’t been to Nanyang City yet, have you?"

"Yes..."

"This time, outside Jiangnan, did the Shen Family’s Minister of War come?"

"He did," Wang Ye answered, puzzled. What was this guy getting at with the Shen Family?

Chen Qing nodded, then turned to Murong Yunji beside him. "Sister-in-law from the Shen Family, having been married into the Shen Family for many years, you should be quite familiar with those people, shouldn’t you?"

Murong Yunji frowned at the question. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know everything." Chen Qing said earnestly. "The characters of the heads of the family, their techniques, I want to know them all!"

Murong Yunji remained silent for a while and finally said, "I only know a rough outline."

"Let’s hear it..."

Thus, as Murong Yunji recounted the techniques of the twelve main rooms, Chen Qing’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. He now had a rough idea of what was going on.

"Old Wang..."

"Don’t misuse nicknames," Wang Ye frowned. "Just get to the point..."

"Go back first, and tell the Minister of War that his second brother is dead. Then deliver my conjecture, and ask him for a family heirloom. With the heirloom, you’ll be able to investigate the Nanyang Shen Family, to see if what I suggested exists.

If it does, immediately come to Lyuzhou to meet up with me! "

"What conjecture? Enough to have Shen Lao Liu give me a family heirloom?" Wang Ye looked at him with curious, serious expression.

"Lean in and listen..."

----------------------------------------

Outside the Jiangnan blockade, a group of senior officers anxiously awaited news.

Messages delivered by wooden birds from Nanming Prefecture were mostly good, such as.

.. Xuu Ming and the soldiers who went to assist had successfully arrived at Nanming Prefecture, and according to Xuu Ming, by timing it right, one could enter the fog from the nearest entrance to Nanming Prefecture and reach Nanming City within half a day.

This news, they were desperate to have Wang Ye personally confirm!

The problem now was the bad news that followed. According to the message, Wang Ye did not return to report as originally planned but went to Lyuzhou City!

This made the generals furrow their brows.

"What is this guy doing in Lyuzhou City at this time?"

"I told you he’s not trustworthy... " one plump general grumbled pompously, "Demons, none are trustworthy!"

"Shut your mouth!" the Duke of Qin glared at him. "Don’t speak nonsense. Minister Wang is not a demon; this was guaranteed by the Duke of Song. Whoever dares to wag their tongues carelessly again, beware I throw you into the Undead River!"

Several deputies immediately recoiled, clearly intimidated by the Duke of Qin’s authority.

"The message said that Wang Ye went to Lyuzhou on imperial errands. He has an imperial golden token granted by His Majesty, so Xuu Ming did not stop him!"

"At this time... His Majesty has additional errands for him?" The others were astonished, their expressions becoming somewhat strange.

Among them, the one with the strangest expression was the Crown Prince sitting next to the Duke of Qin, who had been silent the whole time.

Lyuzhou...

It reminded him of the secret note he had received before.

An Imperial Family bloodline will appear...

Father’s golden token?

Could it be true?

At the thought, the Crown Prince’s face grew even darker.

"Report!"

As everyone was deep in discussion, a fast boat approached quickly from afar, and the soldiers ahead reported loudly, "Minister Wang has returned!"

In an instant, everyone stood up, including the Crown Prince...

He felt it was necessary to probe some information from Wang Ye. Had his dear father... truly had other thoughts?