Transmigration: I, the Dragon Overlord, start by protecting my beautiful bride!

Long Aotian looked at them, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you all. I won't say anything more. I will remember your kindness. If you ever need my help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."

Long Aotian led the three of them and soon entered Jingcheng.

"You guys wait here for me, I'll be right back." Long Aotian said goodbye to the three behind him at a teahouse near the capital of Jingcheng. "If I haven't come out by Chenshi (7-9 AM), then go to the Heroes' Association and ask the leader for help."

Jinzhu: "I'd better go in with you. If something happens by yourself, you won't be able to handle it."

Long Aotian looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and originally wanted to refuse, but Jinzhu had already walked to his side, so he didn't say anything.

Upon entering the royal city, Long Aotian quickly noticed the strange atmosphere within.

The generals guarding the city were all replaced by the princess's men, and there were many unfamiliar faces among them.

"Lord Shen, you're back! Why didn't you say anything?"

In the passageway between the city wall and the palace wall, a eunuch in official robes appeared before Long Aotian with a group of people.

"Do I need to announce my return?" Long Aotian glanced at the man and saw that there were at least four sixth-rank martial artists and one seventh-rank martial artist behind him.

If this were in the past, he would have gone straight up and attacked, but now his internal strength is a problem, so he has to be more cautious.

"Your relationship with His Highness means you don't need to inform him of your return," he said, his eyes suddenly turning cold. "However... the situation is different now. You are under the scrutiny of the entire Heavenly Dynasty, so you should think more carefully before you act."

Long Aotian frowned. "Stop talking nonsense. Where is she? I need to see her."

The eunuch said, "Your Highness, we have been waiting for you."

Just as Long Aotian was about to walk forward, he reached out and stopped him again.

"What do you mean?"

"Just in case, we'll have to let Lord Shen suffer a little."

As he spoke, a maid behind him took out several silver needles.

As a martial artist, Long Aotian naturally knew what he was about to do. This was a method of sealing a martial artist's acupoints with silver needles, which would disrupt the flow of the martial artist's internal energy.

Long Aotian glanced at it, feigning composure, and said coldly, "These few needles of yours can bind others, but can they bind me?"

The eunuch was taken aback, only to see Long Aotian barge in, leaving behind the words, "If I want to use force, you can't stop me. Don't waste your time, just get out of my way!"

Long Aotian, carrying the golden pearl, quickly arrived at the Imperial Study.

This was originally a place where Bai Yuhua often stayed, because before this, he still had more supporters, whether in the Celestial Empire or the imperial court.

but now……

"You wait for me outside." Long Aotian told Jinzhu to stay outside, and then went inside.

The style of the Imperial Study has changed drastically; Li Chunfeng had originally made it very frugal.

All the ornate decorations were discarded, leaving only a sand table and rows of bookshelves.

"You're back?"

Pinru sat in the imperial study, looking at Long Aotian with a smile on her face.

She got up and came to his side, inviting him to sit down in a very familiar manner, and personally poured him a cup of tea.

Long Aotian glanced at the teacup in front of him, but didn't drink from it. Instead, he said with some dissatisfaction, "Don't you want to explain to me what's going on first?"

Upon hearing this, Pinru pretended not to understand, "What do you mean, what's going on? Everything is normal here."

Long Aotian stood up and said, "How long are you going to pretend to be stupid? This isn't the time for you to fight amongst yourselves!"

"The situation between the Celestial Empire and the Shang Dynasty has finally changed somewhat, and you're so impatient to gain power?"

Two sentences silenced the entire imperial study.

Pinru didn't rush to explain. Instead, she picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and looked at Long Aotian with a disheartened expression. "So, in your eyes, that's just who I am?"

Long Aotian was stunned upon hearing this and was speechless. He didn't want to talk about the past anymore. After coming to this world, regardless of whether Pinru was good or bad, he was indeed very good to her, regardless of whether she knew his identity.

Seeing that Long Aotian remained silent, Pinru clapped her hands, signaling the people outside to bring the group in.

Long Aotian was also familiar with these people; they were all Bai Yuhua's subordinates.

"Your Highness, spare us! Your Highness, spare us! We did this under orders from Lord Bai..."

"Yes, yes, even if we had 800 times the courage, we wouldn't dare to lay a hand on Your Highness..."

Hearing their words, Long Aotian was stunned for a moment, then asked in surprise, "What are you guys talking about? What exactly is going on?!"

These people were terrified. Regardless of whether it would work, they immediately grabbed Long Aotian's leg and began to beg for mercy.

"Lord Shen, you are closest to Her Highness the Princess. Please plead for us. We are all officials in the same court, and we are all doing things for our superiors. Many things are truly beyond our control..."

Long Aotian was furious. He grabbed his collar and roared, "Explain yourself! What exactly happened? Otherwise, I'll kill you right now!"

"This……"

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you,” the man said, “it’s not that we’ve been getting good news from the front lines, but Lord Bai had a premonition that the war was about to end. But…” He looked up at Pinru in front of him, his face showing embarrassment, and said, “But the infighting between the two factions in the court continues, and this can’t be a solution. Lord Bai wanted to strike first…”

Long Aotian was still somewhat incredulous upon hearing this. After all, he had spoken with Bai Yuhua before, and he could tell from her words that she was not someone who pursued fame and fortune.

"Is what you're saying true?" Long Aotian asked incredulously.

“Her Highness, you have been assassinated seven times during this period and almost lost your life. Do you think that’s true?” A personal guard beside Pinru couldn’t help but ask.

Long Aotian turned to look at her. He hadn't paid much attention when he came in, but now that he looked closely, he did notice that Pinru had a faint smell of blood and herbs on her, and her left shoulder was indeed bandaged.

"And you, Princess Tianxia, ​​have been eagerly awaiting your return every day, worrying about your safety. But as soon as you come back, you falsely accuse people without even asking questions. You..."

The bodyguard, perhaps disapproving of Long Aotian's favoritism, said a few more words.

Before she could finish speaking, Pinru slapped her hard across the face.

She snapped at her guards, "You have no right to speak here, shut up!"

Seeing this, Long Aotian felt a little guilty...

"Where is Bai Yuhua?"

Even so, he still couldn't quite believe it, so he planned to find Bai Yuhua and confront him face to face.

"Actually, I didn't originally intend to take him seriously. After all, the struggles in the court have always been like this, but... after several failed assassination attempts, I had no choice but to start fighting back. He escaped, and I didn't stop him, otherwise he would have been dead long ago."

Pinru looked at Long Aotian and said solemnly, "Shen Congxin, I know you don't believe me. But I'll tell you this once: no matter what you hear outside, I didn't do any of it..."

Long Aotian looked at her without saying a word, but silently turned around and walked towards the door.

Pinru watched his departing figure, feeling somewhat lost.

But just as he reached the door of the imperial study, he suddenly stopped and said, "I'll only ask you this once. My wife was poisoned; did you do it?"

Pinru immediately raised her hand and said, "Of course not. If I did it, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

Hearing her confident assurances, Long Aotian didn't argue with her too much and instead walked towards the door.

"I need people to help me investigate this matter. Will you help me?"

"Of course I'll help. Take this token. Use it to mobilize whoever you want; you don't need to report to me."

Long Aotian caught the token and then left with the golden pearl.

Based on the clues provided by Pinru, Bai Yuhua attempted several assassination attempts without success.

He led his men and fled the capital in a panic, but it is unclear whether they actually made it out of the city.

However, Bai Yuhua is surrounded by Li Chunfeng's old associates, so perhaps checking their house would reveal something.

"There are three suspects: Wang Jian, Minister of War; Bai Qi, General of the Imperial Guard; and Yan Zheng, an official from the Ministry of Revenue."

After investigating the people around Bai Yuhua, Jinzhu came to this conclusion.

“The three of them are the most powerful people around Bai Yuhua, and they consider themselves to be more senior. Senior Li Chunfeng can keep them in check, but his disciples…” Jinzhu hesitated.

She had absolutely no connection between the assassination attempt and Bai Yuhua, because Long Aotian didn't believe Bai Yuhua would do such a thing.

"Yes, Her Highness also said that among these three, two are elders, and it is not easy to obtain them without substantial evidence. However, this official from the Ministry of Revenue, Yan Zheng, is young and has no powerful background, so he has been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison."

After Long Aotian finished speaking, stroking his chin, Jinzhu immediately stood up and said, "Alright, let's go and meet Yan Zheng first, and see if we can get any clues out of him."

Long Aotian nodded, as he had the same idea. So the two set off immediately, carrying the token given to them by Pinru, and arrived at the Heavenly Prison without any obstacles.

"This guy is really stubborn. No matter how much torture we use, he won't reveal a single word." After seeing the token in Long Aotian's hand, the jailer in the prison respectfully led him to Yan Zheng and told him some information.

The jailer stood in front of the cell and opened the door. "But it's alright. Her Highness the Princess said that since he doesn't want to talk, then don't open it. Just execute him after the autumn harvest..."