Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Inside the Xuan Yu Sect's private room, Shen Lang tossed and turned on the bed, unable to fall asleep.

Qi Yinshang's words kept echoing in his mind all day.

"Since they understand that the sect alone cannot force their wives to abdicate, why are they so confident?"

His first thought was that there were beings within the sect who were even higher than the Immortal Realm, such as the Unity Realm or even the legendary Divine Martial Realm.

If it's either of these two, then it definitely needs our close attention.

Last time, Lu Meng killed Yuan Xiuren, who was at the Immortal Realm, using a large-caliber sniper rifle.

It was a sneak attack without the opponent's knowledge. If a direct confrontation had occurred, even if the enemy could have been killed, the cost would have been extremely high.

Therefore, Shen Lang was well aware of the strength of the Immortal Realm, having witnessed its power on the Bingzhou battlefield back then.

However, he had never personally witnessed the Returning to One Realm, at least not for many years.

However, Shen Lang soon realized that the probability of having a Unity Realm expert within the resistance camp was extremely low.

If the Unity Realm truly exists, it's impossible for it to have remained dormant for so long without making a move.

Putting that thought aside, Shen Lang carefully recalled everything that had happened from the time he started at Qingyi Sect until now.

"Could it be that……"

Suddenly, when Shen Lang thought of Qi Yinshang's attitude, he realized a possibility and immediately sat up straight in bed.

"Wait, this matter needs to be carefully examined."

"If the Heavenly Venerable were to ascend the throne, it should logically be a change of dynasty, not a so-called forced abdication."

"If the wife abdicates, then who is suitable to take power? Only someone from the royal family."

"Jiang Chong? Impossible. His strength has always been concentrated in Shu. I haven't heard of any direct forces under him in the north. Moreover, he is currently surrounded by orders for Shu brocade. He won't choose to turn against us at this time."

"The possibility of other members of the royal family is also extremely slim. Even if they have dealings with martial arts forces, they cannot possibly influence the current situation in the court."

"Then who else could possess such immense power in the martial arts world and still enjoy the support of local armies?"

Shen Lang got up and paced back and forth in the room.

Based on the known information, it can be concluded that the Celestial Venerable was basically a member of the royal family; otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why the local warlords would support each other so much.

In addition, the Loulan who attacked me from behind tonight, judging from his accent, is from beyond the Great Wall.

In this way, Northern Yan would inevitably be involved as well.

Shen Lang walked to the windowsill, and the moment he opened the window, he was greeted by a scene of northern China where the cold wind blew and snowflakes fluttered in the dark night.

"Could it be..."

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed through Shen Lang's mind, and he immediately thought of an extremely absurd possibility.

“There is a case file in the Imperial Archives related to Xuan’er’s background. Her mother, Consort Yu, died in childbirth shortly after giving birth to Xuan’er.”

"On the third day after Consort Yu's death, she was posthumously honored as Empress Xiande by the late emperor, and his wife was then adopted by Ji Yuxi to be raised by him."

“But the records of Empress Xiande’s life are not detailed, and the records of her maternal family, the Yu family of Mingzhou, are almost blank. It was my oversight.”

"Could it be that back then..."

Thinking of this, Shen Lang suddenly had a sudden realization.

"If that's the case, then everything makes sense."

"However, we still need to see it for ourselves."

"If I'm not mistaken, then the trip to Blackwater City was the final step in our plan!"

……

In a blacksmith's workshop in Puzhou City, craftsmen vigorously wielded their iron tools, chiseling the freshly quenched iron blanks into various shapes.

Just then, the tightly closed curtain was lifted, and the wind and snow blew into the workshop, causing the stove to emit plumes of smoke.

All the craftsmen stopped what they were doing and looked up at the outside.

Zhuque stepped into the workshop, patted the remaining snow off his fur coat, looking as if he were coming home.

"who are you?"

The foremost blacksmith dropped his hammer and looked at Zhuque warily.

Zhuque untied the ribbon wrapped around her neck, took off her fur coat and draped it over her arm, and casually walked to the craftsman's table.

The cold masks obscured their expressions, creating a very oppressive atmosphere for the blacksmiths.

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that your little blacksmith shop dares to defy the imperial decree and forge weapons and armor in private. I don't know who gave you such audacity."

The foreman of the blacksmiths said, "This is an order from General Pei, how dare we craftsmen disobey it?"

"What you say makes sense, but knowing that manufacturing weapons and armor privately is a capital offense, you still dare to risk your lives for profit. Should I say that you are greedy for money, or do you have other plans?"

Upon hearing this, the blacksmiths exchanged quick glances, then quietly retreated to the side of the stone platform and reached for the weapons hidden underneath.

The foreman of the blacksmiths replied, "Young lady, this is not a place for you, and you shouldn't be meddling in this matter."

Let's pretend we never saw you today, and leave as soon as possible to avoid getting into trouble.

The threat conveyed in those words was quite obvious, almost undisguised.

Suzaku calmly replied, "To be honest, I don't want to get involved in this mess either."

But my master gave a strict order: anything suspicious must be thoroughly investigated.

As he spoke, he picked up a curved knife from the craftsman's table.

"Oh, these aren't standard weapons of the Great Chu army; they look more like weapons from the Northern Yan beyond the Great Wall."

"It seems your business is quite large, shopkeeper. You not only deal with government troops, but also with foreign tribes."

The blacksmith's eyes changed, and he slowly stretched his left arm behind his waist, unconsciously clenching his fist.

“My master said that this kind of thing is absolutely not allowed to happen. You should give me a reasonable explanation so that I can go back and give her an explanation.”

After Zhuque finished speaking, he threw the curved blade into the furnace.

The blacksmith's foreman's eyes turned cold: "Who exactly is your master?"

Zhuque replied with his hands behind his back, "My master cannot be addressed by his given name, but if you call him Xuanyuan, it is not considered an overstepping of boundaries."

bass--

As soon as he finished speaking, a cacophony of metallic scraping sounds filled the air.

In the blink of an eye, all the blacksmiths in the workshop, each with an iron knife in hand, aimed at Zhuque.

Xuan Yuan is the current reign title of the Great Chu Dynasty, which was changed when the Empress ascended the throne.

In other words, the person in front of you is the Empress's henchman.

"I didn't expect the Empress's henchmen to come looking for us so quickly?" The blacksmith foreman no longer tried to hide his intentions. "I was going to let you go, but now that you know, I absolutely cannot let you leave here alive today."

Despite the chilling aura emanating from all around, Suzaku remained remarkably calm.

"If you hand over any evidence of Pei Xu's collusion with Bei Yan, you can be spared the death penalty."

Perhaps, for their meritorious act of reporting, they could even enjoy lifelong wealth and luxury!

"kill!"

Now that everything was completely exposed, the blacksmith foreman decided to go all the way and kill the men on the spot.

However, just as they made their move, Suzaku was one step ahead.

A flash of his sword was seen at his waist.

Puff puff puff——

More than thirty blacksmiths in the workshop were swept away by the sword energy and died in the blink of an eye.

"you……"

The only surviving blacksmith, the foreman, had lost an arm. Clutching his severed arm, he retreated to the furnace, staring at Suzaku with terror in his eyes.

"You can choose not to confess, but I will send your family members down to join you one by one, to be buried with you."

"Or tell me everything I want to know, and you decide for yourself. You only have three breaths to consider."

The foreman of the blacksmiths fell into deep thought.

But soon a choice was made.

"General Pei has been corresponding with Murong Ke of Northern Yan. He instructed us to intensify the forging of weapons and armor during this period. As for the rest, I am not aware of anything else."

Zhuque: "Besides Pei Xu, how many other people are colluding with Northern Yan?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that many warlords in the Northern Territory are strongly dissatisfied with the Empress's new policies, and they have a lot of dealings not only with Northern Yan, but also with the Jianghu forces."

Suzaku: "Okay, I promise you, I won't hurt your family."

With that, she flicked her hand, and a gust of air slammed the blacksmith's body onto the furnace.

After finishing everything, she didn't even glance at it before turning around and leaving the workshop.

"Ah~"

Soon, a mournful wail echoed from inside the workshop.

The raging fire instantly engulfed the blacksmith's workshop and the entire workshop...

Two days later, Shen Lang, Xue Wuying, Qi Yinshang, and others set off for Blackwater City under the guidance of a group of mysterious figures.

However, their eyes were covered with black cloth throughout the journey.

Even so, Shen Lang still keenly sensed the sounds of the city's protective formation operating around him.