Origin System, I have a barren mountain

"This servant, Deyunzi, requests an audience with Lord Cheng."

As night deepened, Deyunzi spoke softly from outside the tent.

When the others saw this scene, they couldn't help but glance at Deyunzi's lowered head.

Only after this servant of Deyunzi arrived did they realize how negligent they had been in serving their master.

He was extremely cautious in everything he did, afraid of offending his master. Especially now, even though the tent flap was open and there was no rule he would break even if he went in, Deyunzi was still so obedient.

"come in."

Cheng Yunmo looked up at Deyunzi who had come in, and saw his obedient demeanor when he brought in the basin of water.

He somehow managed to dress himself in his guard's uniform, which now looked much better.

It was only after taking care of him for the past few days that Cheng Yunmo had become a little familiar with this Deyunzi.

Cheng Yunmo wasn't particularly interested in the Emperor's affairs before, but she started paying attention after Yunzi asked her for help.

The guards serving Lord Liu were carrying a pile of letters. Seeing that Deyunzi was also there, they nodded slightly to him before going over to place the letters on the table.

Some of the letters I was holding had been stored for who knows how long, and they were covered in dust.

"Lord Cheng, this is a letter that Lord Liu asked me to deliver."

Cheng Yunmo nodded, and after the guard put it down, he withdrew.

Cheng Yunmo sat down on a chair and looked through the letters that had been transferred to him.

The contents of the letters were not important; they were just some news about extraordinary people.

Many talented and extraordinary people have died, and some of them became servants of the retired emperor and never appeared again.

Cheng Yunmo himself didn't know what he needed to find; this was the direction provided by Lord Liu.

When she picked up another letter, she noticed that the person next to her had cleaned it before returning it to her.

The other party was very careful and did not open the letter to read its contents.

Until Cheng Yunmo suddenly picked up a letter, even before opening it, he sensed that the letter was extraordinary.

Cheng Yunmo would never have believed such a ridiculous intuition before.

But this time was different; she opened the letter without a second thought.

The letter, too, only mentioned some trivial matters concerning extraordinary people.

But there was one name that was mentioned, but before it could even be uttered, it was erased by a drop of ink.

Cheng Yunmo stared at the blank ink mark and reached out to touch it.

It's hard to describe the intuition, but I just felt that this letter was very important.

Deyunzi was serving him from the side. In all the time he had served him, this was the first time he had ever seen Lord Cheng looking at the letter with a solemn expression.

"Is there anything that you, Lord Cheng, need me to do?"

Cheng Yunmo hesitated and glanced at Deyunzi.

There's no clue yet, it's just a letter, isn't that going too far?

"I want to know how the owner of this letter, Prime Minister Mu's daughter Mu Wanwan, is doing now?"

As Cheng Yunmo spoke, he showed the letter to Yunzi.

Deyunzi knew this Prime Minister Xu, but it seemed that Prime Minister Mu was appointed by the Emperor when he was still young many years ago.

If Prime Minister Mu were still in power, the State of Xu would likely not be in its current state.

"After Prime Minister Mu's daughter disappeared in the palace, the Empress Dowager forbade Prime Minister Mu from searching for his young daughter, and Prime Minister Mu resigned from his post."

Deyunzi hadn't paid much attention to this Prime Minister Mu from over twenty years ago, and knew even less about him.

Cheng Yunmo knew that it was illogical to suspect Prime Minister Mu's daughter without any reason.

"Lord Cheng, this servant is willing to investigate."

Deyunzi knew that if the Empress Dowager didn't want Prime Minister Mu's daughter to show herself, then as a eunuch, he had no chance of finding her.

“I know, but I’ll go with you this time.”

Cheng Yunmo knew that Lord Liu knew about the matter concerning the Western Cheng Kingdom and was preparing to return in the next few days.

Therefore, she will also be going to the palace this time.

Although she was of such high status as the Empress Dowager, she could not meet her casually.

But if they had actually met the Empress Dowager once in their dreams, they couldn't possibly keep ignoring her.

After all, the things the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager wanted to hide about the Western Cheng Kingdom have now been investigated and discovered by Lord Liu, so it would be laughable to talk about hiding them anymore.

It's just unknown whether the warnings given by the two people back then are actually already on their way.

Inside the tent, Lord Liu frowned as he looked at the messages that had been sent along the way.

"The shadows have appeared in all the places where food is stored, and they have burned down and destroyed dwellings everywhere?"

Lord Liu asked incredulously.

The guard lowered his head, frowned, and said, "Lord Liu, even if you don't tell Lord Cheng about this, he'll find out sooner or later on the way back."

Lord Liu couldn't help but sigh inwardly, his face showing helplessness.

"Now that we've discussed this matter with Lord Cheng, is it really possible that the truth about the Western Cheng Kingdom won't be uncovered?"

The guards didn't know either, and just kept their heads down.

"I'm not unaware that this is a warning from the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager..."

...

Early in the morning, everyone prepared to return.

When Cheng Yunmo greeted Lord Liu and prepared to get into the carriage, it seemed that Lord Liu was avoiding her, whether he didn't hear her or not.

Especially the guards who were with Lord Liu, it seemed they wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't.

Deyunzi, who was serving Cheng Yunmo, said in a low voice, "Lord Cheng, I have heard that the people of Xu Kingdom who came along the way have suffered a great tragedy. Their food and water have been destroyed."

"You, what did you say?"

Cheng Yunmo thought there was something wrong with his ears and stared blankly down at Deyunzi.

"It's true, I sent someone to inquire."

"You're sending someone?"

Cheng Yunmo belatedly realized that Deyunzi, who was following her, was actually a very capable person.

"Lord Cheng, there's no need to be surprised. Actually, our Xu Kingdom was like this before you were here. Every now and then, shadows would appear, and whenever a shadow appeared, it would inexplicably burn."

Cheng Yunmo stared at Deyunzi, "Is he the Emperor's shadow, isn't he?"

In fact, only the Emperor's situation could be like this, burning without any apparent reason, and this has not improved over the years.

“Since the Emperor was born, shadows have appeared in Xu Kingdom. These shadows came out of nowhere, and no one knows how they came to be.”

Deyunzi risked his life to voice doubts that most people wouldn't dare to express.

Cheng Yunmo then realized that it really was the Emperor's shadow.

"So, did the sudden increase in the number of talented and extraordinary people only begin after the emperor's shadow appeared?"

Cheng Yunmo asked.

Now it was Deyunzi's turn to be surprised, staring blankly at Lord Cheng.

"How did Lord Cheng know?"