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"Your Majesty, with such a bloodline present, how can this officer believe that you would assign the heavy responsibility of regency to a sickly prince, who yet hasn’t inherited the bloodline?"

When Weichi Peng and Luo Yi returned to the military camp, they were both utterly speechless and perplexed, because after Chen Qing left, they could no longer muster the confidence to question each other’s trustworthiness.

The Golden Crow Bloodline is real and there’s no mistake!

A pure bloodline manifesting in a one-year-old child—this is a prodigious talent!

Weichi Peng, with his aristocratic background, knew all too well how difficult it was for the Siao Family to pass on their bloodline.

The Golden Crow Bloodline was extremely perilous; to inherit it, each generation of the Siao Family would see a large majority of their newborns die.

Now, the princes that had survived were all disabled.

What did it mean for a descendant to inherit the bloodline at one year old?

When Siao Mingxue inherited the bloodline, she was ten, but she was already considered the most exceptional genius in the history of the Siao Family. This record had ensured that Siao Mingxue was appointed to be the next Family Head of the Siao Family even as a child!

If it hadn’t been for Your Majesty’s remarkable rise to power afterward, today the Siao Family would be led by a woman!

Although that child is a girl, with such talent, gender can be disregarded. As long as she could present herself at the Imperial Court and display her bloodline, subordinate clans would undoubtedly support her wholeheartedly, making it impossible for any prince to contend with her.

Then the question arises, with such a powerful scion present, why did Your Majesty initially appoint a young prince, whose ability to inherit the bloodline was unknown, to act as regent?

With the Imperial Court in upheaval and the nation clouded by uncertainty, such a strong bloodline should have been brought forth immediately to stabilize the troops’ morale!

Why wasn’t it?

Luo Yi and Weichi Peng both thought of a possibility...

The imperial edict for regency that came out of the Imperial Palace when Your Majesty was critically ill... was fake!

Let alone Chen Qing, anyone who saw the child by Chen Qing’s side would harbor the same suspicions, including them now!

"Minister Luo..." The two men made their way back to the camp, and Weichi Peng, after being dazed for several hours, finally spoke, "What should we... do?"

"Carry out the orders of the Imperial Court first..." Luo Yi looked up, "No matter the circumstances, executing orders now can’t be wrong. Chen Qing has his reasons, but to openly declare that the one on the throne now has issues, we need concrete evidence."

Weichi Peng nodded. The Empress was without question; this was almost a consensus at the Imperial Court, thought by everyone. Disputing this consensus wasn’t something that could be resolved with just a few words from the two of them.

"Bringing Chen Qing back, and the child with the Golden Crow Bloodline as well, ensuring their safety is what we as subjects should do. As for the outcome..." Luo Yi said, "we can only leave it to fate!"

"Chen Qing doesn’t want to go back..." Weichi Peng shook his head. "Chen Qing doesn’t trust the one on the throne, nor does he trust us."

"It’s not up to him to trust or not!" Luo Yi narrowed his eyes. "I’ve observed that the mist in Nanming Prefecture is dissipating. In at most three days, the mist of Nanming Prefecture won’t be able to protect them anymore.

Unless he retreats to Lyuzhou, once the army presses in, he’ll have to leave with us! "

"It’s not as simple as you think..." Weichi Peng said wryly. "Fei Hu has only been here for a year, yet he’s made such progress. Such advancement is unprecedented. Chen Qing must have an extraordinary opportunity at hand, that’s the only explanation for his ability to heal Wei Gong and for my boy to be so utterly devoted.

So... the information from Minister Yang might indeed be true.

Chen Qing... might indeed be amassing power independently.

We may... have to fight a tough battle!"

"A tough battle?" Luo Yi said with amusement. "The information from Minister Yang suggests... most of Chen Qing’s troops are recruited civilians. General, although you command only fifty thousand men, they are all from noble families, the elite of the Capital City. You don’t think you can win, do you? "

"Win or lose, we’ll know after the battle..." Weichi Peng stood up. "I have a bad feeling about this. If you can see that the fog will lift, so can Chen Qing. If he’s being so stubborn, could it be all talk, with no ace up his sleeve?"

"Moreover, if he’s really in cahoots with the Princess Royale as Minister Yang says, trying to take him away might mean facing the Princess Royale’s countermeasures!"

"That is indeed something to guard against!

" Luo Yi nodded. "However, reports from the scouts indicate that the Princess Royale entered the West Sea with a large army ten days ago. I observed that the fog over the West Sea is even thicker; it should not dissipate anytime soon. According to the battle reports from the Duke of Qin, the thick fog doesn’t release the walking dead. The main force of the Princess Royale’s army should not be able to provide support in time. "

"We need to guard against any walking dead the Princess Royale might have left in Jiangnan, but since she is heading to confront the threat in the West Sea, she surely took a sufficient number of her main forces. What’s left for Chen Qing... shouldn’t be too much."

Weichi Peng nodded. "That makes sense..."

"But we must be cautious!" Luo Yi said gravely, "The Princess Royale is a renowned general of this era, and since she dares to leave Chen Qing here, there must be a contingency in place. We cannot act rashly."

"Hmm..."

"If push comes to shove, requesting reinforcements from the Imperial Court is not out of the question..."

"Who asks for help before the battle has even begun?" Weichi Peng scoffed, and then he stood up to stretch his muscles and bones, "Then let me have a go at it, the famed female general who once roamed the world unchallenged!"

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"You were full of prowess just now, weren’t you? How come you can’t even walk steadily now?"

On the way back, Chen Qing couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Weichi Feihu unable to keep his balance on the deck.

"My lord... I don’t know..." Weichi Feihu’s speech was also shivering, "Facing my brother just now, I felt pretty good, but now my legs feel so weak..."

"Hahaha..." Xuu Hu and the others around them burst into laughter.

Even Wei Gongcheng, who was feeling a bit melancholic, couldn’t help but smile when he heard this.

He knew the reason all too well. Fei Hu had grown up in the shadow of his two older brothers, always defiant but constantly suppressed.

He had mustered up a momentary valiance to withstand his brother, but as that surge of bravery faded, the years of Weichi Peng’s accumulated pressure naturally left the kid apprehensive now.

He just hadn’t expected it to be so obvious.

"If your legs are wobbly, go drink some liquor to calm down..." Chen Qing looked at him with a hint of amusement, "Don’t wet your pants now."

"How could I!" Weichi Feihu’s face turned as red as if he had been stripped of his trousers, and he retorted huffily, "My lord, don’t underestimate me. It’s just a reaction for now. When it comes to the real battlefield, I definitely won’t back down to him!"

"Hahahaha!" The group erupted in laughter once again.

Chen Qing smiled as he shooed Weichi Feihu off to the cabin, then moved up to join Wei Gongcheng, "The underworld is so busy, yet you insisted on coming here. Now that you’ve seen Weichi Peng, how do you feel?"

"Quite... fascinating..." Wei Gongcheng chuckled, "I thought I would be very excited, but now... it feels like... it’s just so-so."

Chen Qing smiled and patted his shoulder without saying a word.

Some things go without saying. Wei Gongcheng’s level of life had reached a certain degree, not much less than Weichi Peng’s. When on equal footing, there was no longer that sense of inferiority from before.

In the future, it would become even more indifferent because Chen Qing believed that, following him, Wei Gongcheng would only grow stronger!

"Do you think they will give up because of what you said just now?" Wei Gongcheng asked.

"No..." Chen Qing shook his head, "If it were a typical situation of outsiders seizing power, perhaps persuasion would work. But the one in Capital City now is no ordinary demon. I tested the waters earlier, and the fact proves that even Weichi Peng, who rarely attends court, could be hypnotized. The Empress’s power is extraordinary! "

"So a battle is still inevitable?"

"Yes, it will happen..."

"Then, what’s the point of showing Little Mink?"

"To have a justified cause!" Chen Qing replied earnestly, "Although the Yin Devouring Demon’s hypnosis is potent, it’s not invulnerable.

Once its hypnosis clashes with logic multiple times, it can create confusion and cognitive dissonance in those under its spell.

Over time, cracks will appear, providing us with an opportunity to restore order.

Even if that fails, we still need a noble reputation because after all.

.. in our current War God Army, more than half of the high-level fighters are former members of the Imperial Court. "

"They... need a cause!"