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Reflecting on it now, it indeed doesn’t seem quite reasonable...

The Empress Dowager meticulously recollected some details from the time when the Capital City was built.

First was the issue of location selection.

Even if there was a need to avoid the diehard loyalists of the King of Qin in Tiandu, there were still many better options for the Royal Capital of Great Jin.

However, the Emperor chose Jingguan, a place previously obscure, as the capital.

It was a bitterly cold place and close to the buffer zone of the Northern Wasteland.

At that time, the Youyun Region was entirely in the hands of the Northern countries; once they crossed Yanbei Pass, the enemy’s cavalry could sweep across the land, directly threatening the heartland of the Imperial City.

Such a place as the Capital City was opposed by both civil and military officials at the time.

But the Emperor was very assertive; he insisted on establishing the capital there, proclaiming the slogan: "The Son of Heaven guards the nation’s gateway!"

That slogan sounded impressive, but upon reflection, it didn’t make sense.

Great Jin was vast, and the Northern Wasteland wasn’t the only enemy.

The Southern Barbarians were heavily guarded, and the various maritime states around the four seas also eyed us covetously.

So why was moving to the north considered "The Son of Heaven guards the nation’s gateway"?

Moving to Eastern Sea City could also be guarding the gateway. ..

A remote city with no previous foundation, suddenly being built into the national capital, the manpower and resources consumed were unimaginable.

During the beginning of the establishment of the nation when the popular sentiment was not stable, and the finances were tight, it definitely was not a good choice.

Yet, the Emperor was very stubborn and insisted on choosing this location.

And consequently... the construction of the Imperial Tombs appeared very shabby due to budget constraints.

After the Siao Family lineage moved there, for twenty years, they requested to rebuild the Imperial Tombs but were rejected each time, the reason being financial difficulties.

However, based on the intelligence the Empress Dowager had, this wasn’t the case.

Over these twenty years, under the management of Liu Yu, Great Jin’s finances were very sound, and the entire Capital City even had the funds to build such a complex and huge Spellcraft Array.

It was unbelievable that there was no money to repair the Imperial Tombs.

It could only be said that this little beast didn’t take ancestors seriously. Now, listening to Chen Qing’s tone... it seemed not so simple...

"Is the Imperial lineage very important?" the elderly Empress Dowager asked Chen Qing.

"Very important!" Chen Qing nodded affirmatively: "The Central Plains’ fortune is the most concentrated place of the Human Race’s luck, the Imperial Family represents the lord of Central Plains, its ancestral temples bind the dragon veins, and the souls can remain in the land of Central Plains as Earthbound Spirits. "

"Earthbound Spirits?" The Empress Dowager stood up abruptly.

"Hmm..." Chen Qing nodded: "The Human Race’s luck is too weak now to allow ancestors to become ghost immortals on their own supply.

Even in my Jiangnan, after the people of large families die, they can only go to the Path of Yin and Yang and cannot stay in the mortal world for too long, or they would become Resentful Spirits. "

"But the Imperial Family is different. The Imperial Clan has the added fortune of the Central Plains and the faith of millions of people. The tombs built by the Royal Family can form their own dragon vein, and this dragon vein can allow the ancestors’ spirits of the Royal Family.

.. that is, the ancestors of the Siao Family, to remain in the human world! "

"Are you telling the truth?" the Empress Dowager grabbed Chen Qing fiercely!

She had never heard of such a claim, but she believed it instantly because, living in the Imperial Palace for twenty years, she often had the same dream: her father, her brothers and sisters were all in a dark temple, silently watching her, often waking her up in fright.

She had always thought it was some kind of warning from the ancestors of the Siao Family, but the magicians reassured her, telling her that once all people die, their spirits go to the Path of Yin and Yang. Everyone knows their fate; they simply cannot care for their descendants.

This was common sense... and it also led her to always believe that these recurrent dreams of reunion were caused by some of her own obsessions.

But now that Chen Qing had said this, she suddenly realized it wasn’t an obsession at all!

"Empress Dowager, please calm down..." Chen Qing soothed her.

"If that’s the case, what would the Emperor use the Siao Family’s ancestral temple for?" Wang Ye asked, puzzled.

"Three points!" Chen Qing spoke gravely, "Firstly, corrupting the dragon veins to turn them into ghost veins is a lengthy process.

This Emperor... must have been in contact with that ancient power not just recently but has been scheming for a long time.

By corrupting the dragon veins, the Ghost Temple will swiftly corrupt the mortal realm with the fortune of the Central Plains, bringing the power of the ghost domain to the human world.

Unlike other ancient forces, the ghost domain seeks to invade the world of the living and requires a prolonged period of corruption.

Even without interference, it would take the ghost domain at least a thousand years to occupy the Central Plains. "

"However, corrupting the dragon veins is different; in a very short time, the ghost domain could open the door between Yin and Yang."

"Secondly, the Siao family Ghost General— the ghost domain and the Royal Family can be said to be forces with very compatible natures.

The Ghost King in the Path of Yin and Yang today were actually Emperors of the Human Race by origin, all of whom were lured by the forces of the ghost domain and ultimately became Ghost Kings.

However, they all failed in subsequent wars for the human world against other ancient powers, and were forced to return to the ghost domain, leading to the current state where nine kings hold separate territories.

Now, our Emperor is the tenth monarch to be tempted! "

"What about King Xiang?" Wang Ye asked curiously.

"King Xiang is a special case; we’ll talk about that later."

Wang Ye nodded, "What do you mean by the Siao family Ghost General you just mentioned?"

"Literally..." Chen Qing spoke softly, "The Siao family is of Imperial bloodline, and many of its members who died in battle have gone to the ghost domain. As long as they are not completely devoured, once the fortune of the Central Plains deepens, they will become a very special existence, not easily dying. In twenty years’ time, it’s enough for them to grow into extremely formidable Ghost Generals.

If the ghost domain has been nurturing them in collaboration with other forces, then by now.

.. our Emperor already has a legion of Ghost Generals in the Path of Yin and Yang! "

Bang!!

The Empress Dowager suddenly rose to her feet. She, who had not used her Bloodline Power for many years, could no longer hold back. Furniture around her shattered instantly, and golden flames erupted furiously. In that moment, this elderly lady transformed into an extremely terrifying beast.

"That beast... he..."

The Empress Dowager had never been so angry, not even when her husband and brother had died in battle. After all, a battlefield was about life and death, where everyone’s fate was decided by their own means, and there was nothing to be said about that, but...

Memories flashed through the old lady’s mind—now thinking about it, back then... several of the older Siao family generals and brethren died in such bizarre circumstances...

She had thought it was just cunning enemies at the time, but now, was it really so?

Some matters that once made no sense to her were now becoming clear. Many of the young beast’s decisions, which seemed merely to be mistakes, were probably not so. If what Chen Qing said was true, then many of the times Siao family members died in battle... might have all been...

Just thinking about it made the old lady want to rip that beast’s heart out with her bare hands!

They were one family, sharing the same blood... yet he had...

Had he gone mad?

"Empress Dowager, please calm yourself..." Chen Qing could understand her emotions, but now was not the time to lose composure, regardless of whatever the Siao family Emperor had done in the past. What’s done was done, and getting angry now would be meaningless.

The most urgent task was to rescue Ao Zhen.

To rescue Ao Zhen, they had to locate the ancestral tomb of the Siao family.

It was clear that the simple mausoleum beside Capital City was a fake, and the remains of the Siao family must have been moved elsewhere. The Earthbound Spirits would follow the remains, and the true burial site of the Siao family lay wherever the bones were.

As for the true face of this Emperor and his schemes over the years, along with the truth behind his betrayal of the King of Qin, Chen Qing felt he would soon find out!