He was counting on his fingers one by one.
“…”
Emperor Yu remained silent.
Calligraphy? Musical scores? Chess manuals… What is all this junk?
To a wealthy merchant, perhaps they are valuable, but for someone with Li Hao’s power, wealth, and influence were easily within reach.
These items… could only be considered garbage.
“Besides these, do you desire nothing else?” Emperor Yu asked, fixing his gaze on him.
Li Hao thought for a moment, then slightly shook his head, “Not for now.”
Seeing this, Emperor Yu gave him a deep look, said nothing more, and stood up, “It’s getting late, I should be heading back.”
“I’ll see you out,” Li Hao hastily said.
“No need.”
Emperor Yu glanced at Feng Boping in the courtyard, his eyes flickered slightly, “He is that ‘Thief Saint,’ isn’t he? It seems he learned many of the Buddha Lord’s secrets, was tampered by the Buddha Lord, and this is a case of missing soul?”
Li Hao felt a pang of pain in his heart and said in a low voice, “Exactly.”
Emperor Yu patted Li Hao’s shoulder, “I will speak to the Wang Family. They manage the Mo River across the world, and as long as it is within the Great Yu Dynasty, almost all can be found. We’ll see if we can locate his missing soul and in which Mo River, and then try to facilitate a connection.”
Li Hao was startled and quickly said, “Then I will go now.”
Emperor Yu gave him a look, saw the excitement in his eyes, and couldn’t help but smile wryly, “Going now won’t help; you’d just be waiting there. The Wang Family has many Buddhist disciples, and if they get wind of your news, it might unnecessarily cause offense and add to the conflict. It’s better for you to wait until I inform you that there’s news, and then you can go directly.”
Li Hao pondered for a moment, then said, “That could work.”
“Don’t worry, I will ensure they search thoroughly.”
Emperor Yu said, then turned and walked out of the courtyard.
Li Hao watched his figure disappear, and shortly after stepping out of the courtyard, he vanished as if teleported.
That trace… it wasn’t drawn by Daoist Charm nor was it from Dao Domain, but rather… the aura of the Great Dao.
Could His Majesty be in the Tao Comprehension Realm?
Li Hao was momentarily stunned, but then he quickly came to terms with it.
If the Buddha Lord could remain so deeply concealed, what else was everyone else hiding?
As the gate of the courtyard closed, Ren Qianqian curiously approached and asked, “Young Master, who was that?”
“An old man who plays chess.”
Li Hao looked towards where Emperor Yu had disappeared.
“Is he good at chess?”
Ren Qianqian was surprised, as the previous little chess saint had never been so praised by Li Hao.
“His skills are average, but his sportsmanship is very high.”
“Doesn’t that mean you always win?”
“No, I’m always losing.”
…
…
In the Imperial Palace in the Imperial City of Dayu State.
As Chu Jiuyue anxiously waited, Emperor Yu returned.
He first went to the Gan Tao Palace to confirm the answers, then sent people to inform the Wang Family to search in the Mo River for Feng Boping’s residual soul. Simultaneously, he summoned various secretive individuals to the Imperial Palace.
These figures, silent as specters, were generally unseen by high officials on normal days.
Among them was one who descended like a bird to the Imperial Palace, folded its wings, and transformed into a young girl.
As one command after another was issued, with the Imperial Palace as the hub, all the unseen forces of the Divine Dynasty quietly began to operate.
“Your Majesty, a secret agent from the Buddhist faction reports that they plan to stir up trouble in various cities, making a big uproar to coerce Your Majesty.”
Chu Jiuyue relayed the news she received.
Previously, although Emperor Yu had temporarily suppressed the Buddhist faction’s defiance on the court, their current agitated state demanded a vindication.
Hearing Chu Jiuyue’s words, Emperor Yu’s expression remained unchanged, as if he had already anticipated this, the corners of his mouth revealing a slight cold smile:
“Let them make noise then; they will soon get the response they are satisfied with.”
Chu Jiuyue looked at Emperor Yu and asked in a low voice:
“Did Your Majesty go to play chess with General Haotian?”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing this answer, Chu Jiuyue couldn’t help but give a bitter smile, although he had anticipated it.
If the Buddhist disciples were to find out, they would probably be infuriated to the point of having a stroke on the spot.
“About General Haotian…,”
Emperor Yu glanced at him and chuckled lightly, “I offered him a solution, the kind that the Buddhist sect has been hoping for.”
Chu Jiuyue’s expression slightly changed, and he said hopefully, “Would General Haotian agree to it?”
Emperor Yu’s eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded, “He agreed without hesitation.”
Chu Jiuyue was taken aback and let out a sigh of relief, revealing a smile, “If General Haotian can understand Your Majesty’s difficulties and intentions, that would be the best outcome.”
Emperor Yu smiled faintly, his gaze fixating on the character “Buddha” on his desk, yet his eyes gradually grew colder,
“But I don’t agree.”
Chu Jiuyue was stunned.
“He is willing to endure this hardship, but I… do not wish to see him suffer!”
Emperor Yu turned to look at Chu Jiuyue and said, “Didn’t you ask me earlier why I was so confident in him?” Stay updated via empire
Chu Jiuyue was at a loss.
“Because I like him.”
Emperor Yu said softly, “That boy is pleasing to my eyes, that’s all.”
Chu Jiuyue was shaken. He didn’t expect Emperor Yu’s deep expectations for that boy, which exceeded his imagination.
…
…
As the Buddhist disciples in the temples of the Nineteen Provinces were about to incite unrest, an imperial decree came out from the imperial palace in Dayu State, revealing the true culprit behind the murder of the Buddha Lord!
The Ministry of Punishment and the Monster Suppression Department both corroborated, having investigated and discovered the murderer.
The murderer is none other than the Desolate God behind the seven top demonic forces,
The Demon Emperor from the Great Wilderness Heaven!
The battles in Qingzhou, Liangzhou, Youzhou, and others were all orchestrated by the Demon Emperor!
The Demon Emperor infiltrated Mount Wuliang, disguised as General Haotian, and battled the Buddha Lord, slaying him!
As the imperial decree was issued, this news also spread throughout the provinces, causing shock across the realm.
Previously, the Yu Dynasty had been covertly clashing with demonic forces, but now, Emperor Yu had brought this matter to light, directly pointing out the existence of the Desolate God!
“Demon Emperor? Desolate God?!”
“I knew it, how could General Haotian, for a Thief Saint, go and kill the Buddha Lord?”
“It turns out it was all the work of demons, too devious, using such methods to frame General Haotian!”
“General Haotian is a genius who has saved three provinces, the future hope of our Dayu Divine Dynasty, how could he have done such a thing?”
“Buddhist disciples claim to have seen it with their own eyes, how ridiculous, is seeing believing? What about Demon Art? Not to mention demons, even a person in the Divine Travel Realm could use a Blinding Spell to toy with a Martial Artist from the Zhou Tian Realm!”
“Nonsense, clearly the Emperor is covering for him, there are no demons!”
“I think your Buddhist sect is the demonic one, why would General Haotian kill the Buddha Lord, what reason does he have for doing that?”
The prestige of the Dayu Royal Family is profound, and although there are still some who question it, mostly they are Buddhist disciples, while most of the common people, noble families, and the like, already believe it was the work of demons.
The common people’s belief stems from trust in imperial authority, a trust based on Li Hao’s previous deeds.
And for the noble families, some trust the imperial power, while others believe in sheer self-interest.
They cannot see the benefit in General Haotian killing the Buddha Lord, which forces them to believe.
Meanwhile, the news reached the upper echelon of the Buddhist sect, which was nearly exploding in anger.
Not only did the Emperor not help their sect denounce the criminal, but he also tried to use their sect as a tool, leveraging the death of the Buddha Lord to let them subdue demons and eliminate evil?
Too cruel, the Emperor is far too ruthless!
And naturally, this news spread to the demonic forces as well, reaching the Secret Hall outside of Dayu State.
When the three Desolate Gods, including the old man with the walking stick, heard this news, they were stunned, and their faces soon turned grim.
These humans only see how the Emperor cunningly shifted the hatred from the Buddha Lord’s death, but they knew, this imperial decree was not merely to absolve that dreadful young man, but… it was a direct declaration of war against them!
This meant the opportunity they had been waiting for did not exist.
They had previously anticipated the possibility of a feigned fallout by the Emperor and had prepared countermeasures, planning to fight fire with fire.
But this Emperor didn’t even bother with pretense, not giving them any loopholes for attack but rather redirected the Buddhist sect’s wrath towards the demons, using the Buddhist sect to spearhead the defense of Dayu.
“Damn it all!”
The old man with the walking stick’s face looked grim.