An airs.h.i.+p rose into the air from the Transcendent Continent and flew into the distance.

The port officer observed the aircraft for a moment before writing down “headed to Qin Continent” in his register. After making the records, he checked the airs.h.i.+p’s direction once more and submitted the doc.u.ments for verification.

What he didn’t know was that the airs.h.i.+p made a sharp turn after going out of sight, and two new masts rose up from the vessel, unfurling their kinetic sails. This increased the s.h.i.+p’s speed sharply as it sped into the boundless void. This officer would turn a blind eye even if he knew what was going on because, otherwise, the entire port and its staff would be punished for deficient supervision.

The distant airs.h.i.+p’s outer sh.e.l.l opened up as numerous poles stretched out horizontally. The origin arrays on them flickered constantly as a new defensive barrier covered up the entire vessel, protecting it from the corrosion of the void tempests.

The cabin doors opened after the defensive barrier had been erected, and a heroic figure walked out to stand at the bow. This person was just standing there casually, yet a grand incisive aura was pouring out from her, almost like a sharp, unsheathed blade.

A thin elder followed this person out from behind. “Young n.o.ble, you should at least tell your family about such an important matter.”

The person at the bow turned back to reveal a perfectly handsome countenance. It was just that her eyes were so sharp and chill-inducing that the spectator had no time to admire her beauty. She sneered upon hearing the old man’s words. “Those old fogeys have no right to interrupt whatever I want to do.”

“Young n.o.ble, but…”

Li Kuanglan cut the elder short. “No buts, half of the elder a.s.sembly is weaker than me, and I’ll be catching up to the remainder very soon. How dare a group of untalented people criticize my path?”

The old man sighed. “What you say isn’t wrong, but you should tell the empress at least.”

Li Kuanglan’s momentum faltered for a short moment. “My sister has so many things to handle, she has no time for such trivialities.”

“This is related to the Great Maelstrom, how is that a triviality? Young n.o.ble, please reconsider.”

“We’re already on the road, won’t it be a ha.s.sle to go back?”

“The Great Maelstrom is about to fully open after a couple of days. It’ll only be one day’s delay if we rush back and that’s nothing for someone of your talents. You’ll suffer certain losses if it drags out.”

Li Kuanglan didn’t approve of this. “It’s only the ones near the entrance, this young master doesn’t need them.”

“The marine lotus from last time was discovered near the entrance. Is there anything more important than that?”

“There is.”

“Oh? What would that be? This old servant really must know.”

“Whether my blade is sharp and quick enough!”

The old man’s eyes narrowed. “Does that mean the young master has found a sharpening stone?”

“Yes, they’re in the neutral lands!”

The old man sighed. “Young Master, there’s nothing bad about sharpening your blade, but if you overdo it, you might break your sword before you manage to strike anything.”

Li Kuanglan laughed coldly. “You think I can’t defeat her?”

“This servant doesn’t dare.”

“Full speed ahead, I’ve already decided!”

The old man hesitated for a moment. “Since Young Master has already decided, this old servant will follow your orders. Nonetheless, we must still send word to the Empress so that she won’t have to worry about you. Her Highness might send experts from the palace after you if a long time goes by without any news. At that time, whatever young master has planned won’t go smoothly.”

Li Kuanglan snorted but made no response.

Relieved, the old man turned around and made a gesture. Moments later, a beam of light shot into the sky and flew off into the distance.

After the light had vanished over the horizon, Li Kuanglan said coldly, “Go, I want to arrive early in the neutral lands.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

…

It was spring at the Imperial Palace. The warm rays of the sun were showering onto the brightly colored foliage, yet there was still a sharp chill when standing in the shade.

Empress Li was seated in the garden pavilion, enjoying the warm sunlight as she caressed the snow-white cat on her lap. Her fingers were like spring onions and even fairer than the cat’s fur.

The feline pet stretched its body under the warm light and eventually fell asleep.

Empress Li picked up the nearby teacup and only took a gentle sip before the maids switched out a new cup of tea. Her movements were silent and gentle but contained extraordinary power within them.

A series of crisp footsteps echoed in the courtyard as a fair-faced servant rushed over. He knelt down before the pavilion and said, “Empress, General w.a.n.g Zuo of the Imperial Guard seeks an audience.”

“w.a.n.g Zuo? Why does he wish to see me? This is against the rules.”

“General w.a.n.g says he has an important secret report from the neutral lands, and that he must hand it to you personally.”

Empress Li frowned. “Neutral lands… fine, let him in.”

The servant was startled. “Here? T-This isn’t too appropriate, is it?”

Empress Li said indifferently, “General w.a.n.g Zuo’s status is special. The emperor won’t say anything even if he finds out, bring him in.”

All the experienced staff in the palace knew that the empress wouldn’t say something thrice. The servant jogged away swiftly, not daring to go against her words.

Moments later, a tall, handsome general walked in with large strides and knelt down before the pavilion. “Subject w.a.n.g Zuo greets the Empress!”

Intrigued, the maids in the pavilion stole glances at the man. What they saw was a fair, well-groomed man without any facial hair. He was indeed handsome but also somewhat feminine.

Empress Li raised her hand, gesturing for him to rise. “What news is so important that you must see me in person? You do know that your head will roll if it isn’t important.”

The general turned pale. “This information comes from Song Zining of the Song clan. He spared no expense in transmitting this information from the neutral lands to the Qin Continent and even dispatched a messenger to relay a second copy. General Zining says that this news is related to the future of the Li clan and must reach Your Highness’ hands.”

“Song Zining? I heard he’s an intelligent person.” Empress Li’s expression relaxed somewhat upon hearing this name. “Let me see it.”

The general produced two sealed tubes and pa.s.sed them to the handmaid. “The seventh young n.o.ble sent two copies, reportedly containing the same message. Your subject presents both of them.”

Empress Li checked the tube and opened it after finding the seal intact. At this moment, an aged servant rushed out from the shadows behind the pavilion. “Your Highness, allow this old servant to open it, lest it be a trap.”

Empress Li smiled. “An intelligent person like him won’t do something so stupid. What can he fit in this small tube that can hurt me?”

With that, she twisted the tube open and began reading the letter in earnest.

The correspondence wasn’t long, yet the empress looked through the contents several times before putting it down. Then, she opened the other tube and compared them. Upon finding that they were identical, she rubbed the paper gently with her hands, reducing them to wisps of smoke which scattered in the wind.

Empress Li sat with an expression of both joy and worry, yet there was also an inexplicable charm to her. After a moment of contemplation, she said with a spurious smile, “This child is really quite bold, even daring to scheme against me.”

General w.a.n.g Zuo was startled upon hearing this. Then, a sweep of the empress’ gaze caused him to fall on his knees, trembling all over, yet he never uttered the word mercy.

“w.a.n.g Zuo, what benefits did Song Zining promise you that you would help him with such a thing?” Empress Li’s voice was as frosty as it was charming.

w.a.n.g Zuo clenched his teeth. “The seventh young n.o.ble once took a great risk to save my only son. I’m willing to repay this debt with my life. Additionally, I firmly believe that he will neither harm me nor Your Majesty.”

Empress Li smiled. “A loyal person who repays his favors is not easy to come by. This news is indeed important to me. Let’s do it this way, you head to Duke Rong and tell him that I sent you, see if he has any rural post that needs filling.”

w.a.n.g Zuo was pleasantly surprised. He quickly kowtowed, saying, “Thank you, Your Highness!”

Empress Li dismissed w.a.n.g Zuo with a wave of her hand. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Bring the Heaventheft Jade.”

The old servant was shocked. “Empress, that thing shouldn’t be used liberally!”

“It’s fine, this warrants a use.”

The old servant left and soon returned with a suet jade box on a layer of brocade and satin.

Empress Li received the box and opened it. Inside were several jade tokens, each as thin as a cicada’s wings and with ancient words carved upon them. The characters on it were so obscure that none of the people here could recognize them.

Empress Li fished out the tokens and, after a moment of calculation, scattered them onto the ground. The jade tokens made pleasant jingling sounds as they fell and bounced about like leaping fairies.

Empress Li stared fixedly at the tokens, refusing to miss a single detail. The unfathomable servant and the maids all held their breaths, not daring to disturb or alarm the empress in the slightest. They had been working in the palace for a long time, yet this was the first time they had seen the empress use the Heaventheft Jade. This was also the first time she was going all out to divine the heavenly mysteries. Death would be a light punishment if they were to disrupt her during this moment.

Empress Li didn’t claim this position just because she was beautiful and gentle.

The jade tokens suddenly erupted in popping sounds and shattered at the same time!

Empress Li’s expression turned paper-white and began coughing until she was bent over.

Everyone was shocked, but they didn’t dare rush over for fear that the divination was still underway. All they could do was watch helplessly.

After a good while of coughing, Empress Li stood up and glanced at the hand she had over her mouth just now. There was a shocking puddle of blood in her palm.

She grabbed a white towel and wiped the blood away from her lips and hand. She suddenly broke into a laugh as she muttered to herself, “Ah, fate… the more you hide things, the clearer it becomes.”

She sat down once again and said with the dignity of a Great Qin empress, “Clean this up and invite Eunuch Liu over.”

Moments later, a white-haired elder whose brows hung on either side of his face arrived outside of the pavilion. He didn’t kneel and merely performed a salutation, saying, “What does the Empress need of this old man?”

The empress treated Eunuch Liu’s lack of prostration as something that was right and proper. “I have a personal matter that requires your service. Head to the neutral lands and convey my message to Kuanglan. After that, you may act on the circ.u.mstances, no need to return in a hurry.”

With that, Empress Li’s lips moved ever so slightly as her voice threaded into Eunuch Liu’s ears.

Eunuch Liu’s brows rose up all of a sudden. “This old man understands, I’ll do my best.”

Empress Li said gently, “Nothing can be better than having Eunuch Liu in the field.”