Chapter 1448: 20.12 First Black Star - Dead Person
Even though General Lou tried to hide it well, the human emperor had noticed the difference in him, like how he noticed the strange change in Official Xu Ming. The human emperor narrowed his eyes as he gave the great general a scrutinizing gaze. General Lou ignored the inquiring gaze of the Human Emperor, lowered his gaze to avoid his line of sight, and openly treated him coldly as usual.
The human emperor asked, "General Lou, are you still not going to tell Zhen where Zhen's ex-husband is?"
"He is in the heavens, Your Majesty! Why do you continue to ask for a dead person?" said General Lou Wuye.
This response of his stunned everyone in the throne hall. They are used to their emperor asking this great general about the previous emperor, who is also the husband of the current human emperor, who used to be the male empress of this emperor.
Normally, General Lou Wuye would only respond: 'No', 'I don't know' or 'I won't tell you at all.' It was only this time that the Great General had openly dissed his former lord; in reality, he is cursing about the original Wang Xiajie and not his lord, who now resides in his vessel. Just a mortal would need to care about him at all.
The human emperor bellows, "Are you hearing what you are saying!?"
What surprised everyone the most was that the human emperor, who is supposed to hate his ex-husband, would react as if he were offended by the words of the great general calling the missing ex-emperor a dead person. The corner of his eyes turned red as his usually bored look became fierce at this moment.
Even the ministers, who had always been with the human emperor, didn't expect him to react in such a way.
Even so, the great general looked at him indifferently and said, "Your actions and thoughts are contradictory. You hate him as much as you love him. You wanted to harm him, but don't dare to kill him. You wanted to kill him, but you cannot do it with your own hands; that's why your subordinates did it for you."
"Don't you know that an emperor without his purple qi is weaker than an ordinary mortal? They said he fell off the cliff near the sea. So, I ask you, do you think he is still alive?"
"Sea? Cliff? What do you mean I sent people to kill him? NO! I never did that!" shouted the human emperor.
The great general said, "It seems that you don't know your people well."
The great general looked around confidants with pale faces yet his eyes focused more on Xu Ming yet they pretended not to know each other. Likewise, the human emperor looked at his subordinates and saw that most of them were avoiding his gaze. The words of the great general just now linger in his mind. He said that his ex-husband was dead.
He fell off the cliff and disappeared somewhere in the wide sea.
His thoughts were in disarray: 'This is impossible. They told me that he just wanted to go somewhere to rest for a bit, as he felt suffocated in the Imperial Palace. They said that it was the cultivators who attacked his husband on the way, and the latter took this as a chance to run away from him.'
'Why does the great general say he is dead? That's a lie! As long as I don't see his corpse, there is no way he is gone! I haven't taken my revenge yet! I have suffered so much loneliness. How can he leave me like this and extend my suffering?
He promised to stay with me forever. Is everything in the past in vain!?'
The human emperor is about to go insane with all of the thoughts bubbling in his head. He wanted to confront all his subordinates, only to recall that the great general and his people were still inside.
Moreover, it seems that not everyone is involved in this issue, like Official Xu Ming, who had recently just joined his camp and didn't know about what happened to the former human emperor before himself.
The human emperor said, "Xu Ming, send the great general out. You can also take the rest of the day off."
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Xu Ming looked bewildered and bowed down to the human emperor, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
The human emperor glared at the old officials and ministers by his side and said with a cold voice, "As for the rest of you, stay here in the hall and accompany Zhen (This emperor)!".
Official Xu Ming hesitantly approached the great general and gestured towards him to follow him outside the hall. "Great General, please follow me outside."
The soldiers under the great general wanted to retort, but a gesture from their leader shut them up.
General Lou said, "Lead the way!"
"Yes!" said Xu Ming as he led them out.
Obviously, the human emperor will be busy with something else, and is no longer interested in the great general. After all, what he had learned just now was enough to shake whatever he knew all these years. The human emperor couldn't believe that his subordinates would do such a thing without informing.
No wonder all this time when he commanded them to find any traces of his ex-husband, they never found anything.
In their minds, the previous human emperor is long dead. Without his purple qi protecting him after it was taken away by the current human emperor, he is no different from a mortal. Falling a cliff or drowning into the sea was enough to kill him a hundred times.
Before the door of the throne hall closes, Xu Ming hears the enraged shouts of the human emperor.
"You are indeed good! How long have you been fooling Zhen all these years!?"
---
The rest of the conversation was unheard after the door was shut closed. Before Official Xu Ming sent out the entourage of the great general, they had a short conversation before the palace gates.
Official Xu Ming slightly bowed his head and said, "Great general, this official can only accompany you up to here. I also don't know what His Majesty plans to do next. Please stay in your mansion in the capital for a few more days."
"I know. Can you pass this to His Majesty for me? It's an urgent report from the south region. Before I present it we were sent out together. You might be able to meet him easier than I do," said the great general who passed a paper scroll to the official.
Xu Ming accepted it without complaint and said, "I shall pass this report to the emperor the next time I am summoned."
"Um!"
The great general stares at Xu Ming's face, especially that eye patch that covers his left eyes. Even though he wanted to reach, due to the difference of the factions they are in, the two can't openly acknowledge each other. As it would put the other in danger. The great general turned around and gestured for his soldiers to leave. He no longer speaks more words towards Xu Ming that is unnecessary.
Official Xu Ming watches the great general and his troops disappear from his line of sight and walk back to the palace intending to ask for an audience with the human emperor if possible. If not he can only go back home and give this report from the great general tomorrow.
After passing by the throne hall that remained shut, Xu Ming decided to come home. As soon as he returned to his palace, he noticed the dead soldier that was tasked by the emperor to watch over him and he pretended not to notice anything. He placed the report from the great general in his office, preparing to give it to the emperor tomorrow.
As soon as he left his office, the death soldier opened the scroll from the great general and checked its content. Upon seeing that the report is only about the barbarians and nothing else is strange about it, the death soldier chose to return to the palace when he saw that Official Xu Ming went back home to rest.
His orders was to only watch over this young official until he finally went to sleep before report to the human emperor at night. Xu Ming, who was sleeping on his bed with his eyes closed herd System Yang's voice in his mind.
Zhi Yang said, [That death soldier had left to report to the emperor. What did the Chief Warden pass to you?]
Warden also uses their subsystem as a storage device. To pass information about prisoners, a short contact was enough to give an electronic message. When the Chief warden passed the report scroll just now, he discreetly touched Xu Ming's hand and passed the information he got after meeting the human emperor.
The Chief Warden possessed heavenly eyes, it is to gauge how heavy the sins a prisoner possessed. He used it to check on the soul of the human emperor and the result of his investigation was shared to Warden Yun Ming through his subsystem. A translucent system panel appeared before Yun Ming which can also be seen by System Yang.
{His soul is covered with darkness. It's the darkness from the void. There's possibly another soul inside of him. It's not yet awake. Be careful and stay away from him as much as possible.}
Yun Ming mumbled in surprise, "Another soul?"
---
In the South Region…
A woman and a man wearing ancient hanfu worn by cultivators arrived in the area. They were riding on their sword like immortals and mortals would have definitely been stunned by their sudden arrival. But the military soldiers are different, they knew about the existence of these people who called themselves immortals as they control the energies of the world itself.
Mortals and cultivators don't get along well, especially soldiers and those proud disciples from the floating lands above their heads. As expected, as soon as these cultivators descended on the land, their pretty faces frowned as if they couldn't bear the filthy air on the land. After all, they are all used in living in the floating islands above this land.
"The land below is as filthy as always!" complained the lady cultivator who covered her mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief.
The male cultivator commented while frowning, "The air is foul. That's why I don't like coming to such a place. Tsk!"
"I would like to ask how such humble beings appeared in the door of our general's mansion?"
The vice-commander under General Lou appeared at the door together with the other soldiers who were fully equipped with armor and weapons ready to fight at any time. But to the eyes of these cultivators, this scene just looked ridiculous. No matter how much a mortal geared himself, he will be no different from an ant facing an elephant.
They looked at these soldiers with disdain and all of the soldiers, except the vice-commander, looked angry at those annoying eyes.
"Look how these cute ants are~"
"Do they want to fight us?"
"It seems a bit ridiculous just thinking about it. Heh~"
Seeing how these two cultivators were gearing to play against them that they didn't even pull out their weapon and approach the fortress in front of them, the soldiers were completely enraged for getting looked down by them. On the other hand, the vice-commander remained calm with his hands at his back.
While the general is not around the one with the highest authority in the south region was him and thus, all the soldiers that remain will listen to his command.
The vice commander finally issued his command when he saw the two unwanted guests entering the range of their territory. "All soldiers prepare for battle."