After the interstellar female general died in battle, she transmigrated into the body of a dashing p

Xiao Huachi turned to look at her, then continued to gaze at the majestic palace ahead, its lanterns already lit, a fleeting hint of hesitation in his eyes.

"Master doesn't want to tell me?" Zheng Zhian could clearly sense that his master's mood was off.

In recent years, my master has often gone on long trips, saying he's going to enjoy the scenery. But every time he comes back, he doesn't seem relaxed at all. In fact, I sometimes see him with a worried look on his face. What could possibly be causing my wise and insightful master so much worry?

Xiao Huachi stopped on a green-tiled palace, his hands bound behind his back.

Zheng Zhian stopped beside him, looking up as if trying to discern something from her master's face, but the faint moonlight only revealed a blurry outline.

"Zhi'an, what do you think of An Chong today compared to four years ago?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhian looked at the bright sky outside the palace walls, illuminated by numerous lights. Recalling the changes in West Street in the capital over the past few years, she replied earnestly, "I have never left the capital, but I know about the changes in West Street over the past few years. The people there no longer sit on the ground, and there are now shops selling cosmetics and antiques. Compared to four years ago, the people there have more thriving smiles."

It is said that when people are well-fed and clothed, they think of lust. If they cannot even solve their basic needs, then all other material possessions are just luxuries. Only when people are doing well will they have the leisure and energy to pay attention to these things. Therefore, she feels that things are several times better now than they were four years ago.

"Do you still remember that gray-robed man from back then?" Xiao Huachi turned his gaze from the distance to the little guy beside him.

She was raised and taught by her own eyes, and her intellect and vision were unmatched among the imperial heirs. It might not be a good thing to keep some things from her.

Zheng Zhian lowered his eyes, looking at the green tiles beneath his feet, carefully recalling the scene in his mind. The man in the gray robe? The one who followed Jiang Hetai back then? Wasn't he killed by his master?

After the Jiang family was dealt with back then, no further questions were asked. But now that her master had suddenly brought it up, she looked at the person beside her in surprise, "That person didn't die?"

“He escaped.” Looking at the little guy’s furrowed brows, Xiao Huachi continued, “Jiang Hetai used the bloating technique before he died.”

"What?!" Zheng Zhian's expression changed drastically, and his voice suddenly rose.

The Abdominal Swelling Technique requires the use of Gu worms as a catalyst, circulating the body's internal energy and using one's own flesh and blood as a vessel to rapidly increase one's internal energy. The higher the internal energy, the faster one's life is consumed. However, anyone who comes into contact with it and is injured will be infected. This is a method of mutual destruction. This technique is sinister and evil, and is banned by various countries.

Jiang Hetai's fight was truly aimed at taking his father's life.

"My father?" At the time, she hadn't noticed whether her father was injured or not, and she hadn't seen anything unusual about him in the past few years.

Something's wrong! My father hasn't used his internal energy in the past few years.

If suppressed with all its might, as long as the person raising the Gu does not activate it, the person afflicted by the Gu will be no different from an ordinary person.

As if to confirm her guess, Xiao Huachi nodded heavily.

Connecting his words, Zheng Zhian felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on her chest, making her feel suffocated and uncomfortable. Her emotions were complicated. In this life, she felt a sense of family affection that she had never experienced in her previous life, but now she was being told that another family member could leave her at any time. Was God playing a joke on her?!

"Is that man in gray someone who raises Gu poison?" Seeing him nod, Zheng Zhian asked coldly, "How can you be sure?"

According to records, the art of swelling was originally a secret technique of the Sanmiao tribe in the Western Yu Kingdom. The Anchong Kingdom should not have it, unless it was arranged by the royal family of the Western Yu Kingdom. Even so, it doesn't make sense. If it were true, the emperor would have reacted back then. How could they have let go of the opportunity to kill the ruler of Anchong Kingdom?

"When we discovered this, I personally went to Xiyu to investigate and learned that a branch of the Sanmiao tribe had broken away from the main tribe decades ago. Only a few powerful figures in Xiyu knew about this. After investigation, we found that after they broke away from the main tribe, they left Xiyu and eventually arrived in Anchong, where they lived incognito in a mountain called Luxintuo, not far from the western border."

Before Zheng Zhian could ask, Xiao Huachi continued, "They were massacred more than ten years ago. Yuan Yuanqing was probably the only survivor who escaped at that time."

"Today, the person I'm looking for at the gambling den is Yuan Ming, Yuan Yuanqing's adopted son. Because he loves gambling and especially enjoys betting his life on others, and has never lost, he has been given the nickname 'Thousand-Handed Monster'."

After he finished speaking, both of them remained silent for a long time. Xiao Huachi raised his hand and touched the back of her head, sighing inwardly.

He told her all this now just to give her some peace of mind. If something were to happen to the Emperor, the girl's identity and the power behind her would become the first choice for various families to fight over. At that time, she would be pushed to the forefront of the storm, and if she didn't know anything, she would not know how to deal with herself.

However, Zheng Zhian didn't think about those things at all. He composed himself and asked, "Does my maternal grandfather know?"

Seeing him shake his head, Zheng Zhi'an paused for a moment, then said, "Let's go."

"Where are you going?" Xiao Huachi was still worried about the little one's feelings when she suddenly blurted out such a question. He had already thought about how to comfort her if she couldn't accept it, but she didn't even give him a chance!

Zheng Zhian tilted his head and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Weren't you going to find my father?"

Don't think she forgot the route the old man just took. If he wasn't going to the Imperial Study, why would he have entered from the east?

"Ah, yes, you're right, let's go." Xiao Huachi withdrew his hand and took the lead towards the Imperial Study, thus concealing the embarrassment of being seen through by his own disciple.

Zheng Zhian shook his head helplessly and followed closely behind the afterimage in front of him.

In the Imperial Study, Zheng Hongyuan's eyebrows twitched as he watched the two people who appeared in the hall one after the other. He raised his hand to rub his temples and glanced at Liu Fuquan standing beside him.

Liu Fuquan immediately bowed and led everyone out.

When only three people remained in the hall, Zheng Hongyuan looked at his daughter, who had been wearing a cold and sour face since she entered, and asked helplessly, "You know everything?"

If nothing were to happen, the little girl wouldn't come here at this hour unless he had someone summon her.

Zheng Zhian didn't know what was wrong with her. Her father was talking to her as usual, but her eyes felt sore. She turned her head to the left without looking at the person in the chair.

Knowing she was just being stubborn, Zheng Hongyuan, sitting at the head of the table, stood up and walked over to her, smoothing her wind-blown hair and saying with a smile, "I'm not dead yet, and you're already crying?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhian forcibly swallowed the few rare tears welling up in his eyes, and snorted lightly, "What are you saying? Do you think I'd cry?" He walked around the top of his head and went straight to the chair in front of the desk, sat down casually, and naturally picked up the memorials on the table to read them.

The first thing you see is a long string of effusive flattery and empty praise, only to say in the very last paragraph: "Although Your Majesty is in your prime, the country cannot remain without a crown prince for long. The princes have all grown up; we hope Your Majesty will soon appoint a crown prince to stabilize the people's hearts..."

They've been saying this for two or three years now, and I don't know what Dad is thinking.

The eldest son is now fourteen years old. The second and third sons have been intentionally or unintentionally ignored by everyone in recent years because of the Jiang family's affairs. But they are still imperial heirs, and they are now twelve years old. Even the sixth son is nine years old. It is indeed time to designate a crown prince.

At least now that it's been decided, we can start targeted training; otherwise, there might be another bloody power struggle in the court.

"What do you think should be done about the Crown Prince?" Zheng Hongyuan asked her as usual, as if he were asking what they would have for dinner.

This question stirred up a huge wave in Xiao Huachi. The emperor was not a person who acted on emotion. Precisely because he knew this, he knew even better what this question represented.

That's why he found it even more hard to believe that An Chong was not Xi Yu!