abcnovels
Chapter 174 - 170: Triggering Annulment (Happy New Year)
Chapter 174 - 170: Triggering Annulment (Happy New Year)
Chapter 174: Chapter 170: Triggering Annulment (Happy New Year)
If a Qi Cultivation cultivator’s perceptive abilities could cover a classroom,
then a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s perceptive abilities could cover several academic buildings.
Accordingly, a Core Formation cultivator’s perceptive abilities could cover an entire university campus.
A Nascent Soul cultivator could investigate a county-level small city in an instant.
And above the Nascent Soul, Divinity Transformation cultivators’ perceptive abilities are enough to encompass most of the Capital City.
In the palace, an old ancestor of Divinity Transformation, who was meditating and resting, suddenly opened his eyes and looked into the distance.
“Has something happened to the mausoleum?”
The royal mausoleum, the eternal resting place for the emperors of the Liang Kingdom, was where the national fortunes of the Liang Kingdom converged. If anything went amiss, the consequences would be incalculable.
Given the gravity of the situation, it was imperative to investigate.
Just as the Divinity Transformation elder was about to rise to check, the palace under his watch stirred into commotion first.
Prime Minister Qin Wentao, leading the civil and military officials, personally visited the Emperor’s sleeping quarters.
He held “Prayer for Ancestor Worship” in his hand, his expression earnest and his reasons well-founded, obviously well-prepared for this course of action.
In his speech, terms like ancestors, fortunes, and governance appeared frequently, as if he made clear his intention to drag the Emperor out of his sleeping quarters.
It had been more than half a month since the Emperor of Liang vanished, and countless rumors swirled within the palace.
Mainly because the Emperor was known for his high-profile behavior, not only reveling day and night but also fond of hosting grand banquets. However, his sudden disappearance, disinterest in food and women, and drastic change of demeanor overnight were truly unconvincing to people.
Today, Qin Wentao personally pressured the palace; plainly speaking, he wanted to test the bottom line of the royal family.
If he really managed to gauge their depth, the days ahead for the royal family would be challenging.
“Your subjects request the Emperor to personally preside over the ancestor worship!”
“Please, your Majesty, conduct the ancestor worship!”
The voices of a hundred officials pressed down on the Emperor’s sleeping quarters like a tidal wave of shouts.
The palace, constructed of massive timbers and stones, seemed on the verge of collapse under the clamor of the officials.
The few eunuchs in the sleeping quarters who were playing tricks, could not dare to speak out at this time. They had the nerve to tease the concubines but certainly not the courage to provoke the Prime Minister.
Qin Wentao was not a slow-witted woman; once he spotted a flaw, the entire empty fortress strategy deployed by the old ancestor would completely fall apart.
On one side was the troubled royal tomb; on the other, the palace that was at its last gasp, strangled by a chokehold.
The Divinity Transformation elder’s eyes narrowed, and he swiftly projected an avatar to the mausoleum, while his own body moved to the Emperor’s sleeping quarters.
Transforming into the appearance of the Emperor of Liang, he opened the palace doors and made his presence known to all.
Upon the Emperor’s appearance, the officials suddenly fell silent.
However, the Divinity Transformation cultivator, now disguised as the Emperor, did not dare to approach the officials too closely.
For Prime Minister Qin Wentao, being the head of the officials, had a cultivation level at the later stage of Nascent Soul. If he were to notice any discrepancies, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Qin Wentao’s face was grave, and as he was about to step forward, a loud and resonant announcement echoed through the palace’s main avenue.
“Report! Prime Minister, there’s been a grave incident at the mausoleum!”
The Divinity Transformation elder snorted coldly and said, “What is the meaning of this? The mausoleum is in peril, and you report to the Prime Minister before the Emperor?”
Qin Wentao said indifferently, “Tell the Emperor loudly, what happened at the mausoleum?”
“A group of unidentified tree demons has completely uprooted the royal tomb and the surrounding land.”
The Divinity Transformation elder, “enraged,” said, “What do you mean by ‘completely uprooted’?”
“It means not a blade of grass is left.”
Hearing this, the Divinity Transformation elder staggered back two steps, then tripped over the threshold of the sleeping quarters and fell to the ground, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood.
Several old eunuchs who had been waiting inside the sleeping quarters for a long time hurriedly surrounded the elder to shield him from others.
“What are you all standing around for? Summon the imperial physician! Hurry, summon the imperial physician!”
The strange case of the furious tree demons digging up the royal mausoleum became the most explosive headline in the Liang Kingdom overnight.
Compared to the outside world, those within the court had access to more informed news.
Especially those who knew who planted the tree and understood the consequences of digging up the mausoleum.
In the Capital City, at the Nation Duke Mansion.
Nation Duke Zhao Yuanling slapped his son Zhao Xuechen across the face.
Had he not deliberately held back, that slap could have killed his youngest son on the spot.
“You must immediately accompany me to the Shen Residence to call off the engagement!”
Zhao Xuechen clutched his face, “Dad, I won’t back down! I truly like Menghan!”
Zhao Yuanling grabbed Zhao Xuechen’s collar with one hand, his anger evident as he said, “Is that what you call liking? You’re just lusting after her body! You’re despicable!”
“Do you have any idea how much trouble Miaodan Workshop has caused? They’ve dug up the Emperor’s ancestral grave! With the crime they’ve committed, even if the Shen Family had eighteen clans, it wouldn’t be enough to appease the punishment. And you still want to keep the marriage arrangement? Do you think there are too many of us in the Nation Duke Mansion? Let’s go, we’re heading to the Shen Residence right now to make a clean break with them!”
The decisive action of the Nation Duke scared Shen Mi.
Logically, with Miaodan Workshop on the rise and the Duke’s Mansion on the decline, it should have been the Duke’s Mansion striving to hold onto the marriage contract. But now, the words of the Duke’s Mansion in breaking off the engagement were more resolute than anyone’s, with no room for negotiations, as if all ties of kindness and justice were cut off. Even a fool would know that Miaodan Workshop was in deep trouble.
“Brother Zhao, please hold on. Although the marriage has been called off, our families have still known each other. I beseech Brother Zhao for guidance – where exactly did I go wrong?”
Zhao Yuanling didn’t even turn his head as he replied, “Go look at the fruit trees you planted.”
Fruit trees?
The cultivation and care of the fruit trees were managed by Wang Xiaoqiu, who plagiarized the Autonomy Talisman. Wang Xiaoqiu was a Talisman Master, more knowledgeable with Talismans than anyone. Shen Mi and the Miaodan Workshop mainly provided the funds for encircling the land and drawing the Talismans, and were involved in the production of Elixirs.
Shen Mi took out an Autonomy Talisman and tried to contact Wang Xiaoqiu on the spot.
But Wang Xiaoqiu’s Autonomy Talisman was no longer reachable.
There are only two possibilities when an Autonomy Talisman can’t be reached: being blacklisted, or Wang Xiaoqiu had fled beyond the borders of Liang Kingdom.
Shen Mi’s hands trembled, a Core Formation Cultivator unable to hold a mere Autonomy Talisman steady at this moment.
Shen Mi slapped himself hard, forcing himself to calm down.
Then, he bent down to pick up the Autonomy Talisman and frantically searched through his connections in the court.
The first call didn’t go through.
The second one connected but was instantly hung up.
The third one had been blacklisted.
After searching for a while, he finally found a contact willing to speak with him a little more.
“Shen Brother, you were good to me before, and so I offer you this advice: if you can send your family out of Liang Kingdom, do it quickly.”
“Sir, please, just tell me straight, which high official has Miaodan Workshop offended?”
The Autonomy Talisman was silent for a moment.
“Have you been to the royal mausoleum outside the Capital City? They’re preparing to rebuild it. That’s all, take care of yourself.”
Shen Mi felt as if struck by lightning.
Preparing to rebuild the royal mausoleum?
Could it be that the Blood Orange Trees were responsible…
At this very moment, the image of Jiang Cheng involuntarily appeared in Shen Mi’s mind.
The helpless smile of Jiang Cheng that day was still fresh in his memory.
Jiang Cheng once said with profound meaning, “Senior, I just came specifically to remind you that my Talismans are easy to ban. If you want to plagiarize them, please counterfeit my contract for selling the Talismans as well. Plagiarizing just the Talismans without the contracts can easily lead to trouble.”
Faced with a life-and-death crisis, Shen Mi’s mind was unexpectedly clear.
“The contract! It’s all about the contract! Jiang Cheng’s point wasn’t to stop me from counterfeiting, but he was saying that he has a way to deal with the troubles caused by the Talismans!”
With the fruit trees upsetting the imperial mausoleum, the Shen Family was on a path to doom.
Jiang Cheng was the last lifeline.
Shen Mi frantically reached out to Shen Menghan to get Jiang Cheng’s contact information, and he contacted him directly, rushing to Jade Lake Ming’an with utmost speed.
Even with Miaodan Workshop’s situation being extremely urgent, Shen Mi still knocked on Jiang Cheng’s door gently with trembling hands.
The door opened, and Shen Mi saw Liu Qing.
Startled by Liu Qing first, Shen Mi then cautiously enquired, “Hello, may I ask if Jiang Cheng is at home?”
Liu Qing nodded and let Shen Mi in.
Shen Mi saw Jiang Cheng in the living room, packing up a Spirit Gathering Array.
Jiang Cheng was still as composed as he had been the first time they met.
“Senior Shen, please have a seat. Liu Qing, pour a glass of water for Senior Shen,” Jiang Cheng said in an unhurried tone.
Shen Mi glanced at Liu Qing before saying to Jiang Cheng, “Jiang Cheng, could you please ask your girlfriend to step out for a moment?”
Jiang Cheng intended to clarify that Liu Qing wasn’t his girlfriend, but seeing that she had already proactively gone inside to make way, there was no longer any need to say what he had intended.
“Senior Shen, you may…”
Before Jiang Cheng could finish his sentence, Shen Mi’s knees buckled, and he knelt directly in front of Jiang Cheng.
He clutched Jiang Cheng’s sleeve, looking up at him with a face full of abject misery, “Jiang Cheng, I beg you to save the Shen Family! I know I wronged you before, but in light of Hanhan’s face, please save her life at least!”