“Perhaps His Majesty’s infatuation with He Wanyi is merely a facade he has deliberately created. The true situation is still unknown to us.”
After listening to Gu Yanran’s analysis, Qing Lanyue let out a derisive laugh.
She turned and lightly pressed the tip of her folding fan against Gu Yanran’s chin.
“I thought you had some unique insight, but you basically said nothing at all. Hahaha, listening to you is like wasting ten years of study.”
Gu Yanran was not annoyed by Qing Lanyue’s frivolous gesture.
Instead, she pulled the other woman straight into her arms.
Qing Lanyue, now thoroughly countered, lay against Gu Yanran’s chest with a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
Although Qing Lanyue’s words were not wrong—Gu Yanran had indeed offered no valuable new points—her comment still opened up new lines of thought for everyone.
Xu Wanzhou, dressed in a loose green robe with her ink-black hair half-tied behind her, lowered her head in thought.
“Yanran, my sister, are you suggesting that He Wanyi’s relationship with His Majesty is not that of an ordinary favored concubine?”
Seeing someone acknowledge her point and build upon it, Gu Yanran stopped teasing Qing Lanyue.
“Exactly. Everyone has seen how He Wanyi behaves in front of His Majesty. She looks far less like a favored concubine and more like a pet kept at his side.”
“Besides, Sister Xu, with the Xu family behind you, you must have heard some of the recent rumors about that little shorty, right?”
Xu Wanzhou nodded, resting her cheek on one hand. “I have heard a few things, but I didn’t fully believe them.”
Liu Shumei listened to the vague, roundabout conversation and grew impatient. She asked directly, “What are you all talking about? What rumors? Why haven’t I heard anything?”
The others exchanged glances. Gu Yanran spoke with clear mockery in her tone. “It’s natural that Sister Liu hasn’t heard. The news has been kept extremely quiet and vague. Someone like you—who was sent to His Majesty as a gift—would naturally be kept in the dark.”
“You…!”
Liu Shumei’s face darkened when her deepest wound was mercilessly exposed, but she had no way to refute it.
Back when the Liu clan had migrated to the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom to settle and develop in peace, the clan elders had discussed the matter together.
They had bound a beautiful young girl from the family, along with several precious artifacts, and presented her to Hua Yanyun as a tribute gift.
Liu Shumei snorted and turned her head away, refusing to look at Gu Yanran’s face.
After all, she herself had once been that girl sent as a gift.
Lin Hanjing, who had been quietly watching the show, inwardly found the scene delightful.
Only after the conversation had been steered exactly where she wanted did she step in to take control again.
“Enough bickering. It’s understandable that Shumei didn’t know about this. Yanran, you really should watch your words. Please don’t be angry, my sister.”
She cleared her throat with a couple of light coughs before getting to the main point.
“Regarding the rumors about He Wanyi, my Lin family has already verified them internally not long ago. While there are some minor discrepancies with reality, the core of the information is completely accurate.”
Her words landed like a heavy bomb, instantly causing a stir among those present.
Qing Lanyue, Gu Yanran, Xu Wanzhou, and Meng Jianqing all cried out in shock at once. “What?!”
They stared with wide eyes, completely unable to believe it. The rest of the group looked utterly bewildered, having no idea what the four of them were so shocked about.
Finally, Su Xueqin could no longer contain her curiosity and asked about the rumor.
“Sister Lin, what exactly are you talking about?”
This was the question not only Su Xueqin wanted answered, but also Liu Shumei and the Bai sisters.
Facing their curious gazes, Lin Hanjing openly explained the matter to them.
After hearing the explanation, all four wore expressions of utter astonishment.
Liu Shumei’s face flickered between shock and uncertainty.
Su Xueqin looked no better.
The Bai sisters simply exchanged a silent glance and said nothing.
“Since everyone now knows the truth, I shouldn’t need to explain what we should do next.”
A confident smile curved Lin Hanjing’s lips. She laced her fingers together and lifted her slender neck.
“But let me be clear upfront—this carries considerable risk. One wrong move and we could end up dead with our Dao extinguished. Anyone who wants to back out can leave now. I won’t stop you. However, those who withdraw must keep everything about He Wanyi strictly confidential.”
The group looked at one another. They waited for a long time, yet not a single person rose from their seat.
“Very good. Since all of you are willing to join the alliance, let’s begin analyzing the current situation…”
***
He Shu kept simulating escape strategies in her mind until her brain began to throb faintly.
“Young Miss, are you really all right?”
Only when she heard the concerned voice beside her did He Shu stop her mental calculations.
“I’m fine.”
She shook her head to show she was okay.
“Young Miss, you should still rest for a while. Don’t push yourself so hard.”
He Shu remained silent and simply clenched her small fists.
How could she not know how terrible her current condition was? She also wanted to rest properly as Mu Xinlian suggested, but reality kept pressing in on her without mercy.
If she really tried to escape, although she would not face a city-wide manhunt, there would still be at least two or three Nascent Soul cultivators from the Hua family assigned to hunt her down.
Hua Yanyun held a lofty position and often had no choice in her actions. She would definitely keep news of He Shu’s escape tightly under wraps.
After all, if word spread that even a crippled little girl had managed to slip away from Hua Yanyun’s grasp, it would deal a serious blow to both her personal reputation and that of the Hua family in the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom.
Even without directly confronting Hua Yanyun, He Shu still felt crushing pressure.
Without the protection of a grand array, a single ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator could easily destroy an entire immortal city.
The Southwind Immortal Kingdom only had two Nascent Soul spies inside the Jade Water Immortal Kingdom. Now that He Shu’s cultivation was destroyed, only one Southwind Nascent Soul remained.
The Southwind Immortal Kingdom would certainly not send their last Nascent Soul spy to rescue her. The most they could offer was probably one or two Golden Core cultivators, most likely hidden among the diplomatic mission.
Although Shen Qingci was only Golden Core, he had already mastered several divine abilities that even most Nascent Soul cultivators lacked. His combat strength was at the peak of the Golden Core stage.
He Shu’s own cultivation had been crippled, but her divine abilities remained intact. As long as she could draw spiritual power from external sources, she could still fight at Nascent Soul level.
During intense battles, cultivators often ran out of true yuan. Once true yuan was completely exhausted, death was a very real possibility.
For this reason, cultivators had developed many artifacts and treasures capable of storing spiritual power.
They were convenient, but their drawback was obvious—they were expensive. Such storage artifacts could usually only hold the natural true yuan converted from spirit stones.
The problem of spiritual power had been solved, but because He Shu possessed no defensive divine abilities, she would need someone to guard her at all times if she wanted to display her full combat strength.
She was the classic example of high attack and low defense.
If they had to face two Hua family Nascent Souls head-on at the same time, He Shu’s side would undoubtedly lose.
The wisest strategy was therefore to flee into the deep mountains and ancient forests to evade pursuit.
Although the deep mountains and old forests were not entirely safe, they were still far easier to deal with than cunning, adaptable cultivators.
Mindless demonic beasts were preferable.
As long as they could reach the deep mountains and old forests, and as long as He Shu did not erupt with Nascent Soul-level power, no powerful demonic beasts would actively seek them out.
If the Hua family Nascent Souls tried to pursue them deep into the wilderness without excellent concealment techniques, the powerful auras they emitted would inevitably alert the strong demonic beasts—or even demonic cultivators—living in the forest.
He Shu wanted to keep thinking, but the headache returned, throbbing faintly.
She pressed a hand to her forehead. The world before her eyes flickered between black and white.
It was a classic symptom of anemia.
She had lost a great deal of blood during the experiment a few days ago.
She still clearly remembered how Hua Yanyun had deliberately drawn two full bowls of blood from her body for the sake of “research.”
Although her body’s self-healing ability was extremely strong, recovering from such massive blood loss could not be done in just a few days.