The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

Song Zhiyuan looked at the Emperor beside him and saw a flicker of excitement in his eyes instead of anger, so he lowered his eyes.

He understood the nature of that glimmer; it was a challenge, a desire for conquest from the Emperor.

The stronger a person is, the more they have a desire to conquer forces of equal strength. Such a contest can be incredibly exhilarating, and the more difficult it is, the stronger the urge to completely conquer becomes.

Since the day the incident at the courtyard in West City occurred, the person suspected to be a high minister from the previous dynasty has not been found. Along with the disappearance of Shang Pu, the more elusive the trail, the more it is noticed.

Did he vanish only that night, or had he disappeared sooner?

If he has been hiding in the capital all this time, then who are those people truly?

”I’ve heard before that Cabinet Minister Ning was also a very resourceful person. If he faked his death back then to live under a false identity, has he been hiding all these years without revealing himself, perhaps he has already changed his appearance?” Song Zhiyuan said with his hands behind his back. ”What a pity, if we were a step earlier, I estimate we would have caught him.”

”As you said, if he has been able to hide for so many years without being discovered, the power he controls must be substantial. I believe that if he truly isn’t dead, then he is likely slipperier than the so-called Master of the Xia clan. With the slightest hint of trouble, he’d vanish underground,” said Emperor Chu sarcastically. ”The more people who are hell-bent on causing trouble, the more they fear death because once they’re dead, all their grand ambitions become mere idle chatter.”

”The Emperor is wise.”

”No matter where he hides, if he exists, he will eventually reappear,” Emperor Chu said, squinting his eyes.

Song Zhiyuan’s eyebrows moved slightly: ”There has been no news from Wuxing yet?”

Emperor Chu shook his head and sighed: ”This year, the cold has frozen many roads with ice and snow, delaying messages, which is unavoidable. It’s just regrettably late that we discovered him; let him survive a few days more.”

Song Zhiyuan remained silent.

Despite the Emperor’s forces, they haven’t been able to locate him. Could it be he has left the capital and vanished into the vast sea of people?

Or perhaps, as before, could he be hiding in plain sight?

”What are you thinking?”

Song Zhiyuan chuckled: ”Just pondering where this person is hiding? He is of that age now, no matter how well he could change his appearance, his health surely can’t compare with his youth. If he had escaped the capital, his people would have to consider his health, avoiding arduous travel. But the spies outside the capital have reported nothing, doesn’t this suggest he is still in the capital, hidden in a place we would all overlook?”

”Not in the Xia clan’s territory.” Emperor Chu immediately thought of the Xia clan, having discreetly and openly scrutinized that place numerous times.

And the people placed in various households haven’t reported any news.

Song Zhiyuan was puzzled.

”I don’t understand. This person is reputedly full of resourcefulness, yet has hidden for years without being detected. Now, even though traces have been found, it’s just suspicion. Even you haven’t managed to uncover him. So the question is, given his deep planning, what is the meaning of this string of events in recent years? It seems like child’s play. It doesn’t quite seem like his handiwork. Do you think this remnant organization is strong or weak?”

From the temple bombing incident in the twenty-first year to this year’s spy cases among various families, criticisms abound. If this is the work of the so-called Cabinet Minister Ning, to be honest, they’d better hide for eternity and not think of causing trouble.

After all, such clumsy acts, if truly aimed at significant matters like restoring a nation, would lead to death with every attempt.