Martial Cultivator

Chapter 168: White Lanterns

The imperial city was the most special and heavily guarded place in the Divine Capital. It was basically impossible to enter the palace unnoticed. It was because the Emperor's gaze was always upon the imperial city. Even if His Majesty might momentarily retract his gaze due to grief, it was nigh impossible that Chen Chao would be able to enter the palace to see the Empress one last time.

It was because after His Majesty the Emperor retracted his gaze, his gaze would definitely fall upon that palace.

Even for someone with Xie Nandu's identity, it would be difficult to enter the palace discreetly too.

However, Xie Nandu pondered for a moment and did not reject Chen Chao's request. She quickly nodded and said, "Alright."

She seemed so calm amidst the pouring rain.

She did not ask for Chen Chao's thoughts nor did she tell him how difficult this matter would be.

The two went to the Xie Family.

Xie Nandu entered through the side gate with an umbrella, while Chen Chao stood silently under the eaves outside.

White lanterns were also hung at the Xie residence. Looking inside from here, not only the two lanterns at the entrance became white, but even the lanterns further inside also turned white.

Chen Chao did not know what this meant, but he felt a deep sense of emotion when he looked at those white lanterns.

About fifteen minutes later, Xie Nandu came out, still holding the umbrella. Her expression appeared very ordinary. Shortly after, a horse carriage arrived from a distance and stopped at the street corner.

Xie Nandu walked towards the carriage, with Chen Chao following closely behind.

The steward was still the same familiar face, he was considered an acquaintance. He looked at Chen Chao and smiled as he said a little fawningly, "Commander Chen."

Chen Chao looked at him and politely nodded his head.

Then the two of them entered the carriage and quickly noticed two sets of clothing inside.

These were clothes from the palace's laundry department.

Even an entity as powerful as the Xie Family could not openly send someone into the palace, so they could only disguise themselves.

Even so, Xie Family was already taking great risks. This could not be brushed over by owing a simple favor. But what was more important was that Xie Family's willingness to take on such risks for Chen Chao was enough to indicate a lot of things.

After winning first place in the martial exam, Chen Chao became something different in the eyes of various families in the Divine Capital.

The horse carriage slowly passed through the long street, braving the pouring rain, heading towards the imperial city. While all the other families were watching the imperial city, Xie Family found a way to avoid those gazes and arrived in front of the imperial city.

It was a small door that looked like the one normally used by eunuchs to go out and purchase supplies for the palace. This place was extremely remote from the core of the imperial city. Other than the eunuchs entering and leaving the palace, few people would come here.

After getting out of the carriage, Chen Chao and Xie Nandu entered the small door.

An elderly eunuch glanced at the two of them, and someone immediately brought two large baskets of clothes. The two of them silently picked up the two bamboo baskets and followed the old eunuch inside.

There was no one holding an umbrella at the moment, but no raindrops fell on them because both of them were wearing extremely large bamboo hats.

It was sufficient to cover their bodies.

Those were two truly oversized bamboo hats

There was even white cloth fluttering on it.

However, it soon became dampened by the rain.

……

……

The two followed the old eunuch, encountering many palace attendants with lowered heads and red eyes. Their mood seemed to be bad and it was definitely not solely because of the heavy rain today.

The sound of the bell had long stopped, but walking along the way, they could still hear many crying voices.

Those voices were not loud, but they clearly reached the ears of the two.

Chen Chao listened to these sounds, his expression a little ugly.

However, the old eunuch remained silent and kept walking ahead at an unhurried pace, as if unaffected by those voices.

After an unknown amount of time, the old eunuch suddenly stopped. Not far ahead, a figure had appeared at some unknown time. She wore an ordinary gray robe and a gray hat.

That was a nun.

A very ordinary nun.

She appeared somewhat old, but there was still a trace of beauty in her features.

But upon closer inspection, one could discern some resemblance between the nun's facial features and the deceased Empress.

The prominent figures of the Divine Capital all knew that Her Majesty the Empress had a sister, who was similarly the daughter of that former Great General of the North. During the uprising led by the current Emperor, this sister had leaked much intel from the Divine Capital, providing considerable aid to the His Majesty the Emperor. However, after the Great Liang Emperor entered the Divine Capital, she refused the rewards and chose to become a nun in the nunnery outside of the Divine Capital. Perhaps this decision was related to the imprisonment of the legitimate son of that Great General. Regardless, it was a fact that this person had not returned to the Divine Capital since entering the nunnery.

But now that the Empress had passed away, regardless of any grievances she had with the Emperor, she should be here at this moment.

The old eunuch solemnly bowed to the nun without saying a word.

The nun originally just glanced at the old eunuch, but her gaze soon fell upon Xie Nandu and Chen Chao. Looking at the obviously young face, the nun said in a chilly voice, "She has just died and you've already lost all sense of propriety?"

When Her Majesty the Empress was alive, the entire palace was basically under her management. Thinking about the significance of this day and seeing outsiders entering the palace today, the nun naturally felt a little angry.

The old eunuch's face turned rather pale.

Before he could speak, Xie Nandu took a step forward, and rolled up her sleeve, revealing the jade bracelet that the Empress had given her.

Looking at that jade bracelet, the nun's emotions changed repeatedly.

In the end, she looked at the jade bracelet and said rather disbelievingly, "She actually gave you this item!"

Hearing this, how could the old eunuch not understand? He quickly approached the nun and whispered something in her ear.

After a moment, the nun's expression changed again. She looked at Xie Nandu and said, "So, you're that girl."

With the heavy storms happening in the Divine Capital, they had naturally heard of Xie Nandu's name. Even if this nun had been cultivating in the nunnery, she naturally knew some things too.

However, she also heard that the boy Xie Nandu liked was not a member of the imperial family, but a young man named Chen Chao.

The nun examined Xie Nandu for a moment, then lifted her head to look at Chen Chao. After a brief silence, she shook her head and signaled the old eunuch to take the two of them away.

The old eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and led the two away.

It was unknown how long they walked, but they seemed to have arrived at a more secluded part of the imperial city.

"That was Her Majesty's younger sister."

Xie Nandu suddenly spoke up. She knew about that matter too.

However, the Empress had more than one younger sister, and she had heard from Chen Chao what happened in the past.

How was the relationship between the Empress' two sisters?

Chen Chao said, "She didn't have a good relationship with my mother."

Back then, when his mother was brought into the manor, the entire residence did not show her any kindness because she was an illegitimate daughter. Only Her Majesty the Empress treated Chen Chao's mother well.

The other supposed older sister had a terrible relationship with his mother.

"Do you know the reason why she moved out of the Divine Capital back then to become a nun?" Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao shook his head; he did not know these things.

Xie Nandu said, "I seem to have guessed some of it."

She was well-deserving of being a gifted girl. It was very difficult to hide some things from her.

……

……

The nun walked towards that palace and no one dared to stop her along the way.

Although not many people knew her, everyone recognized that she was a nun. At this time, the only nun who could show up in the palace could only be her.

Her Majesty the Empress' sister.

Looking at those pale white lanterns, the nun felt a bit irritated in her heart.