Green Mountain

Princess Yongchun had been trapped here for decades and finally left Jingyang Palace in her own way.

The nuns of Jingyang Palace stood with their hands hanging down, silently watching the back of Princess Yongchun, her words echoing in their ears, their faces also showing sadness.

Among these people, those like Du Miao and Liu Pin Er, who came here due to mistakes, were few. Most were implicated when their fathers and brothers were convicted. Forced into the palace at a young age, and when their fathers and brothers were convicted and exiled, they could only wait for death in Jingyang Palace.

Every year, forty percent of the people in Jingyang Palace died of cold and hunger, twenty percent died by hanging themselves.

Those who survived, even if they hadn't gone mad, were nearly so.

The Commander of the Divine Chief Eunuch furrowed his brows, ready to leave immediately: "Xuanzhen, it was your secret report that someone was hiding witchcraft tools that made me lead people here to search. Now things are different from your report, and it's out of control. I will certainly report this matter to the Prime Minister and let him decide."

Seeing that he was about to be abandoned, Xuanzhen pressed the horsetail whisk onto the Commander's shoulder, bending half his body: "Lord Admiral, you think you can run with shit still hanging from your butt?"

The Commander grunted in pain in his shoulder and angrily said: "How dare you, demoness?"

Xuanzhen stepped forward and said in a low voice: "Cowardly like a mouse. I finally know why you've been kept in a cold government office under that Poison Minister for more than ten years. The Imperial Concubine promised to help you plan for the Salt Field Commander position, and she will certainly do so. Things have not yet reached a dead end, so don't be hasty to be a fence-sitter. It was your little eunuch who brought the witchcraft tools in. Do you think you can clear yourself? If I die, I will definitely drag you to the underworld."

The Commander said in a low voice: "I have my ways. You should first take care of your own life."

Xuanzhen sneered: "Once the arrow is released, it can't be taken back. Now that all the evidence is in place, just kill Bai Li and Zhu Lingyun here, leaving no witness, then it will still be up to you and me to say what happened here afterward."

The Commander turned to look at the Jingyang Palace nuns: "There are still so many people watching. Can you make them all shut up?"

Xuanzhen glanced sidelong at the nuns: "If they really had the courage, would they have been under house arrest for decades? Those with backbone would have hanged themselves long ago. Don't worry, if I can suppress them for thirty years, I can suppress them for another thirty years. If this matter is successful, then today Bai Li threw the Yin-Yang ritual nine times at the Ancestor Silkworm Altar, it must have been the Empress inciting witchcraft and fakery. How can there be an Empress in the Ning Dynasty who uses witchcraft?"

"But Meng Ji…"

"The Imperial Concubine has already arranged for someone to detain Meng Ji in the Kaifeng Prefecture; he can't come to the Imperial Capital."

The Commander calculated internally: If this matter succeeds, it will not be as simple as a dereliction of virtue for the Empress. The Xu family, Chen family, and Qi family will definitely join forces to attack the Hu Family; they will not miss this opportunity.

The most critical point is that Your Majesty has always been wary of external relatives. In the early years, he still had to rely on the Hu Family's border army, but now the Three Major Camps have formed into a force, the General of the Datong border army has changed, and the eight Jin Merchants under the Hu Family have long become a serious threat.

Your Majesty no longer needs the Hu Family so much.

As for divine favor, he, as the Divine Chief Eunuch, naturally knows more than others.

Xuanzhen urged: "Make a decision quickly; this matter must be finished before it's discovered in Kunning Palace!"

When the Commander looked up again, his face had turned fierce: "Come, drag Zhu Lingyun and Zhu Baili to the courtyard and beat them to death."

Zhu Lingyun retreated: "Xuanzhen, say something. Tell him…"

Xuanzhen, holding the horsetail whisk in his arms, said nonchalantly: "You hid witchcraft tools in your sleeve. You must have colluded with Zhu Baili to use witchcraft and poison techniques."

Zhu Lingyun was utterly terrified: "Xuanzhen, you're burning bridges after crossing the river!"

A voice behind her sounded: "You fool, she never intended to let you live from the beginning."

Zhu Lingyun suddenly turned her head and looked into the corner of the rear hall, where Bai Li was speaking.

Xuanzhen narrowed her eyes.

Bai Li's tears had stopped, and the tears gathered at her chin fell one by one, turning into white smoke in the air.

She raised her hand to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes, and the tears also turned into white smoke in her palm.

Bai Li continued: "Lingyun, what did they promise you? To help you leave the palace? As long as you are alive, this matter always bears the risk of being uncovered. Only when you're dead can they sleep soundly. From the beginning, the only one who could leave was Xuanzhen. That's why she dared to act so recklessly."

As she spoke, Xuanzhen lunged forward, swinging the horsetail whisk down at Bai Li.

The nuns closed their eyes, unwilling to watch any longer, but they did not hear Bai Li's cries of pain, instead, they heard Xuanzhen's soft exclamation.

When they opened their eyes again, they saw Bai Li calmly holding the horsetail whisk with her left hand, the once-overbearing whisk had not harmed her in the slightest.

Xuanzhen's expression changed slightly: "What path have you cultivated?"

Bai Li did not answer, only gently lifting her left hand, her five fingers suddenly clenching into a fist.

In the next moment, all the hairpins on the nuns' heads swiftly left their buns as if they were flying needles, jointly piercing towards Xuanzhen. In an instant, the hair of the nuns and eunuchs scattered wildly, and dozens of hairpins whistled forward.

Xuanzhen had to let go of the horsetail whisk and retreat; the hairpins collided at the spot she once stood, silver and wooden ones killing each other in a tangled mess, twisted and broken, falling to the ground.

"Innate?" Xuanzhen was taken aback: "What path have you cultivated to leap to Perfect Innate in such a short instant?"

The Commander was about to turn and leave once more.

Xuanzhen turned her head and shouted to the Commander: "It's just Innate, she has just advanced to Innate, her realm is unstable, and she will soon exhaust her strength. She can be killed!"

The Commander angrily said: "You are also merely Innate!"

Xuanzhen shouted sternly: "With so many people here, even dragging can drag her to death. If you don't kill her, you will die."

Just as the Commander hesitated, Bai Li threw the horsetail whisk to the ground, making a ringing sound as it landed among the pile of hairpins.