Zhong Daolong's gaze turned icy.

Introduce two friends to himself?

Friends, of course, couldn't possibly be friends; he had no friends.

That left only enemies.

Moreover, in such a situation, anyone Chen Fenglei introduced with such confidence surely possessed considerable strength.

What other tricks did they have up their sleeves?

When he had laid out his plan to lure the snake out of its hole, they were likewise plotting...

Catching turtles in a jar?

Zhong Daolong disliked this idiom.

He was the son of heaven, a true dragon.

How could he be a turtle?

Before Zhong Daolong could respond, the grand doors of the Taiji Palace were forcefully pushed open from the outside, and a handsome man dressed in magnificent clothes stood by the side of the door, waiting.

Following him was a beautiful woman dressed in bright red palace attire with a black veil on her face and holding a lute, who slowly walked through the gate.

Indeed, she was a woman whose beauty you could confirm even without seeing her face.

That enchanting figure, that noble air, and the classical charm that radiated from her as she moved.

Most importantly, she had a pair of eyes beautiful as the stars.

Anybody who locked eyes with her couldn't help but be drawn in.

The woman lightly moved her steps, walking straight to Chen Fenglei's side, bent her knees slightly in his direction, curtsied, and said, "I've seen Manager Chen."

Then she turned to face Zhong Daolong across from her and said, "I've seen the King."

"Who are you?" Zhong Daolong stared at the woman and asked.

He felt that this woman was familiar, a name flitting at the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn't be certain.

"Tuoba Zhiyin," the woman said with a light chuckle, "a lowly person hardly worth mentioning."

"The tone-deaf Tuoba Zhiyin." Zhong Daolong finally remembered who she was.

He had not met this woman, but he had seen plenty of her records.

The Three Sabers, the Three Swords, the Three Fools - the most renowned cultivators of the Empire; he had to have a basic understanding of these people.

Even if he could not use them for his own purposes, he still needed to comprehend and control them.

It was unexpected that she had become a lackey for Chen Fenglei...

Oh, she should have been a dog under his own command.

It was just that Chen Fenglei had been giving the orders for so long that she mistook him for the real master.

"I didn't expect the King to know of such a minor character as myself," Tuoba Zhiyin said with a hint of mockery.

"Tuoba Zhiyin, do you also intend to make enemies with the state?" Zhong Daolong questioned sternly, "You should be aware that Chen Fenglei's actions are tantamount to regicide and treason... crimes punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family."

"If you all come back to your senses, I can guarantee that past deeds will not be pursued..."

"And furthermore, once this matter is concluded, I can appoint you as a patron of the Royal Family, and you'll enjoy endless riches and honor."

"Giggle..."

Tuoba Zhiyin let out a light laugh, her laughter clear and pleasing to the ear, quite charming.

"King, do you take me for a fool? I am tone-deaf, not brain-dead."

"I know what I am doing, I know what Phoenix Palace represents, and I also know the King's dignity... must not be offended lightly."

"Just for the crime of offense, you could kill my entire family... let alone that I am helping Manager Chen, standing with him against you."

"Before doing these things, I carefully calculated the pros and cons... I am aware of the best possible outcome and accept the worst fate."

"Just because of your few words, I should immediately change my position... and when things are done, I suppose I'll face a settling of scores in the autumn?"

"With your character, how could you possibly tolerate someone like me? By then, I'll only have one path to death, won't I?"

Zhong Daolong's expression grew even darker, nearly blackening.

Partly because he was infuriated by Tuoba Zhiyin's mocking, but also because a poison was rapidly spreading through his body.

Although he had consumed the palace's secret antidote "Revitalizing Pill," a medicine based on ancient prescriptions mixed with a genetic potion intended to forcefully stimulate the potential of life.

Claiming to be able to neutralize all poisons, it had the power to snatch someone back from King Yan's grip, provided they were not dead.

Yet, since Chen Fenglei and his associates were intent on using poison, they were naturally well-prepared.

It was unknown what kind of poison they had employed, something even the Revitalizing Pill could not neutralize, merely delaying its effects...

"Stubborn and foolish, seeking your own demise," Zhong Daolong spoke with deep hatred.

"Hehe, I, for one, wish to find a way to survive, but that would require your willingness to allow it," came the voice of Xie Pianxian, dressed in magnificent clothes, his tone soft yet cold with a derisory laugh, "My master served you loyally for so many years, only to end up with the fate of a cooked rabbit. People of the Royal Family are the least trustworthy."

"Who is your master?"

"Master Shi Duanshui Pei Huaian."

"Pei Huaian is your master?" Zhong Daolong was shocked.

Duanshui is one of the top three sects in the Cultivation World, with countless disciples both within and beyond its ranks.

Duanshui was also one of the earliest sects to pledge allegiance to the Royal Family, to serve Zhong Daolong.

As the lord of Duanshui, Pei Huaian was very familiar with Zhong Daolong while he was still lurking like a hidden dragon.

During the struggle between the three sons for inheritance, Pei Huaian, as Zhong Daolong's foremost enforcer, had expended great effort.

After Zhong Daolong secured his position with the imperial regalia, he began purging those powerful ministers, including the "Extinguish Tang Case" that impacted the political makeup of the Empire...

The Zhong Family relied on the prodigious military talent of Tang Li to unify the Empire and then left the neighboring bandit state, the Aus Empire, in tottering retreat without any capacity to fight back.

However, after the war, they realized that the Tang Family's influence was too substantial and not easily controlled, so they began to diminish the military power.

The generals, naturally, did not accept this; who has their power stripped away immediately after a war?

Then they ran one after another to Tang Li to air their grievances.

It started as minor frictions among the lower ranks but ultimately escalated into a purge of the entire faction.

Pei Huaian made significant contributions in the Extinguish Tang Case; he could do what others could and even what others couldn't.

Because he was a staunch confidant of Zhong Daolong, he did not shy away from dirty and strenuous tasks, including those that could never see the light of day.

And precisely because he did too much and knew too much, he was struck by an enigmatic virus after the situation had stabilized.

Upon returning to his sect, he passed away within less than three days.

"Has the King remembered?"

The intonation of Xie Pianxian's speech was very irritating.

No, it was enormously obnoxious.

If it had been any ordinary day, if someone dared to use such a tone and expression when speaking to him, Zhong Daolong would not have hesitated to order that person to be dragged away and beheaded.

Who's being sarcastic here?

"What does that have to do with you?" Zhong Daolong turned to Tuoba Zhiyin and asked.

"That is my father."

"..."

"Not long after I was born, my father sent me to Master Tuoba to learn music... After my father passed away from illness, Master Tuoba worried that I might be implicated because of this, so she changed my name to Tuoba Zhiyin and let me take her surname."

Master Tuoba Ru was also the previous Palace Master of the Wuyou Palace. After her demise, she handed over the Wuyou Palace to her disciple, Tuoba Zhiyin.

The two of them were both master and disciple as well as like mother and daughter.

This is also why she went to great lengths to protect Tuoba Zhiyin's true identity from being discovered and passed on the position of Palace Master to her.

Tuoba Zhiyin looked at Zhong Daolong with an indifferent expression and said, "So the King knows, I have another name, called Pei Zhiyin."

"Heh..."

Zhong Daolong let out a cold laugh.

The Avengers?

"Pei Huaian colluded with the Thief Party and deserved his death."

"Colluded with the Thief Party?" Tuoba Zhiyin's eyes flashed with a fierce light as she questioned: "Father risked his life for you, I don't even know how many vile acts he committed."

"Mother said that father was restless in his sleep, tossing and turning every night in bed, and he quickly instructed her to plan ahead..."

"He also repeatedly asked mother not to bring me back and that it would be best to make a complete cut-off, so outsiders wouldn't know he had a daughter..."

"All to guard against a ruthless and ungrateful tyrant like you who would turn against him after crossing the river."

"About this, you only need to ask Chen Fenglei," Zhong Daolong spoke up.

Tuoba Zhiyin looked at Chen Fenglei, not aware of what had transpired in the meantime.

Chen Fenglei sighed lightly and said, "Lord Pei felt that he had committed too much murder and couldn't bear it... Thus, in the process of eliminating Tang Li's remnants, he secretly released many family members, including the children of important generals."

In the case of the extermination of the Tang clan, several knives were brandished at the people and horses of the Tang faction simultaneously.

The first was led by the army orchestrated by the Shen Family Head, which was the main force in exterminating the Tang clan.

Next were the Monitoring Bureau and the Security Bureau of the Military Department, who were responsible for arresting and investigating officials and entrepreneurs of the Tang faction.

Including those officials and entrepreneurs who supported and sympathized with the Tang faction.

Then came cultivators like Pei Huaian, whose primary targets were the cultivators within the Tang faction, as well as those powerful generals and the family members of generals.

Chen Fenglei's Beehive was in charge of supervising and coordinating everything, accountable only to Zhong Daolong.

"All this information was reported to me by Chen Fenglei. He was also the one who administered the poison. If you want to blame someone, blame Chen Fenglei."

With a bitter expression, Chen Fenglei interjected, "At that time, the situation was special, everyone was in different camps, we had different paths and did not plan together."

At that time, Pei Huaian was one of Zhong Daolong's trusted lieutenants, and Chen Fenglei was also a direct descendant favored by Zhong Daolong.

The two men cooperated but also competed with each other.

So, back then, it was common for you to stab me then I stab you.

The higher-ups naturally knew about these little schemes the people below harbored.

The reason Pei Huaian died was simply because those above wanted him dead.

It had nothing to do with any other person or any other matter.

If there was a connection, it was merely because Chen Fenglei happened to provide an opportunity.

An opportunity to take out Pei Huaian.

"I understand," Tuoba Zhiyin nodded, not swayed by Zhong Daolong's provocation to bear resentment towards Chen Fenglei.

"My father was not a good man. For the sake of glory and wealth, the luxurious life that the King just promised, he did many dirty things..."

"Yet, that same man sold his conscience and did not achieve what he desired, and was even poisoned by his own master..."

"That is truly hateful. If I were him, I would die with my eyes open in anger."

"It seems that all sins lie on my shoulders alone," Zhong Daolong spoke up.

"Naturally." Tuoba Zhiyin turned to Chen Fenglei and asked, "Manager Chen, can we begin now?"

"The honor is yours, Palace Master," Chen Fenglei bowed with his hands clasped together.

He too hoped to resolve the matter swiftly and gain control over Zhong Daolong.

The night is long and full of dreams.

Villains die from talking too much.

The righteous as well.

Tuoba Zhiyin looked at the triplets standing in front of Zhong Daolong, then with a flick of her fingers, she gently strummed the strings of the lute in her arms.

Ding ding dang...

Ding ding dang...

The sound of the lute was clear and beautiful.

A wave of sound, almost tangible, rushed forward, enveloping everyone within the Taiji Palace.

Zhong Tianyi had no foundation in cultivation and was extremely weak; at the sound of the lute, he 'thump' collapsed to the ground.

Zhong Daolong, poisoned and frail, also 'puh' vomited a mouthful of fresh blood under the assault of the sound wave.

Chen Fenglei felt a splitting headache as if something was stabbing through his head from the inside out.

The Ruan brothers faced the attack of the sound wave head-on, their expressions becoming ferociously terrifying.

They dared not let Tuoba Zhiyin continue to play. Ah Da took the lead, thundering a punch towards Tuoba Zhiyin's face.

"This one is mine,"

Xie Pianxian wouldn't let his senior sister be at a disadvantage. With a shout, he drew his sword and charged at Ruan Laoer.

As Ruan Laoer made his move, Ruan Laoer and Ah San also sprang into action.

Seeing that their eldest brother was intercepted, they attacked Tuoba Zhiyin from the left and the right.

One aimed for the head, the other swept at the tail.

Tuoba Zhiyin lightly touched the ground with the tips of her feet, her body drifting upwards.

Her hands continued to strum the strings, but her abdomen suddenly contracted inward.

Her already slender waistline seemed as if it would disappear entirely.

Her eyes wide open, she suddenly faced Ah Er and Ah San and opened her mouth

Roar!

The Lion's Roar of Buddhism!

Boom...

The powerful force of the Sound Wave Technique struck.

Ah Er and Ah San's bodies were blown away.

------

White Crane Mountain.

White Crane Academy.

Xuanyuan Mingjing plucked a grape from the vine overhead in the courtyard, chewed on it, then with a flick of his sleeve, leapt up to the peak of White Crane Mountain.

He looked at the man in the Black Robe sitting on the Guest Welcoming Pine, smiled, and asked, "Are you here to stop me, or to kill me?"

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