When Pei Rumo arrived before the old emperor to pay his respects, the old emperor interrupted him. “Aiyo, it must have been tough for Pei"er. It"s my Cloud Water Nation"s fortune for you to be able to return safely.”

“I pay respect to Your Majesty.” Pei Rumo sounded extremely calm when he gave his greetings.

His Majesty looked for Bai Luochu"s figure for quite a long time, and felt that she had been too tired from the journey to enter the palace immediately after their return. “Why didn"t Divine Physician Bai come over together with you?”

Pei Rumo tightly pursed his lips, and refused to say anything regarding Bai Luochu.

When he saw Pei Rumo shut his mouth, the old emperor felt that his son was afraid of him blaming Bai Luochu. A forced laughter filled the hall, “Haha, I"m not trying to blame her or anything. The journey back was long and arduous, and as a girl it must have been a tiring journey. If she wants to rest before coming over to report to me, I won"t blame her...”

But before he could finish his sentence, Pei Rumo interrupted him.

“At the last juncture in the Desolate Region, both Divine Physician Bai and His Second Highness failed to escape from the ruins. Even after waiting for seven days, I was still unable to rescue the two of them.”

His words were like a clap of thunder that sundered the old emperor"s brain. Only after a long while did he regain his composure. “Wha… What?”

“What I"m trying to say is that both Divine Physician Bai and Pei Qingfeng are still trapped in the ruins. They are most likely dead.”

The old emperor fell into a daze and he nearly fainted. No… He actually collapsed.

When De Quan saw this, he quickly went over to support the old emperor. As he wasn"t able to support the old emperor"s weight, he fell to the ground with him.

“Ouch!” De Quan unconsciously let out a shout when he fell. He fumed with anger when he saw that Pei Rumo was still standing there without plans of helping.

“Your Highness, why are you still standing there and not moving? Can"t you see that His Majesty has already fainted? Hurry up and go call the imperial physician!”

However, Pei Rumo remained still and didn"t bother moving. De Quan had no choice but to place the old emperor to the side and call for the imperial physician himself.

The imperial physician took a look at the old emperor and came up with a diagnosis. Since the old emperor fainted from shock, he would be fine after a short rest.

To stay filial, Pei Rumo could only stay and wait.

De Quan felt a headache coming when he looked at the two of them. One was in a coma now and the other was not far off from being in a coma.

n.o.body knew how the news had spread to Ling Xian"er and Honored Tian Yun. When she had heard the news, Ling Xian"er broke her restriction orders and went crying to Honored Tian Yun.

“What are we going to do?! Brother Qingfeng is still trapped inside the Desolate Region and no one knows if he is still alive… We have to save him!”

Honored Tian Yun initially wanted to scold Ling Xian"er, but he decided against it after he saw that she was about to go crazy. 

He took a long sigh before deciding to tell Ling Xian"er his decision. “I"ll discuss this matter with the sect master. If you"re free, go over to the Desolate Region. Rather than going back to the sect for punishment, you should head over to the Desolate Region to salvage whatever you can.”

Ling Xian"er spun around and left to pack her luggage. As soon as she packed, she bade farewell to Honored Tian Yun.

“Honored Sir, Xian"er knows her mistake. Once I find Brother Qingfeng, I would definitely return to recieve my punishment. You don"t have to worry about that.” Ling Xian"er waited obediently for Honored Tian Yun to allow her to leave.

In the end, Tian Yun didn"t say anything else and simply waved his hand to let her go. 

...

Evening had already fallen by the time the old emperor woke up.

“Is what you say true?” He asked impatiently.

Pei Rumo nodded stiffly.

Soon after, the two of them fell into a long period of silence. 

“What do you think I should do?” His Majesty seemed to have no idea what to do and asked Pei Rumo for his opinion. 

The moment he had waited for finally arrived. When Pei Rumo heard the question, he was finally able to bring up the words that he had prepared earlier. “In my opinion, Luochu should be conferred the t.i.tle of a lord. Furthermore, her father had been a loyal general that died in battle.”

“Then what about Qingfeng?” The old emperor felt that compared to himself, this child of his was a million times smarter.

In reality, Pei Rumo had no desire to fight for Pei Qingfeng"s benefits. However, when he recalled how Pei Qingfeng gave up the chance to leave by following her into the ruins, he felt that he couldn"t put down everything Pei Qingfeng did. “Even though he had gone in secret, we can always say that he was sent there on a secret mission. As for what t.i.tle to confer, I"m sure Your Majesty is clearer than me on what to do.”  

The old emperor looked as if he had aged by a decade after hearing Pei Rumo"s suggestion. He silently nodded his head to show that he would do as Pei Rumo had suggested. 

The next day, the imperial decree was posted on all corners of the capital. 

“During the trip to the Desolate Region, Second Prince Pei Qingfeng and Luo Chu from the general"s residence met with some mishap. For their loyalty towards the Cloud Water Nation, I have decided to confer the t.i.tle of King Ling to the Second Prince and the t.i.tle of Yongjia Lord to Luo Chu.” 

A huge uproar broke out amongst the citizens as they never would have guessed that their two most beloved officials would have lost their lives in the Desolate Region.

On the other hand, Pei Rumo had already gone over to the general"s residence to pa.s.s them a secret degree.

“By honor of His Majesty, the general"s residence shall be renamed the Lady"s residence from this day forth. Other than the Lady herself, no one is allowed to remain in the manor. His Majesty would like to offer his condolences and since there are no male offspring in the Lin family, Lin Qianqian shall be ordered to mourn the death of the Lady for the next three years. End of edict.”

“You can"t do this to me!” Lin Qianqian stood up and refused to accept the decree. 

“I"ve waited a whole three years! I"m already at the age of marriage! If I were to wait for another three years, who would want to marry me?!” 

“Young Lady Lin, are you trying to go against the imperial decree?” Pei Rumo narrowed his eyes, showing his displeasure. He had never liked Luo Chu"s extended family from the start. Now that she was gone and she couldn"t deal with them herself, he had to step in to take revenge for her.