Chapter 169: Mother, We’re Coming to Save You
Middle Province Imperial Capital.
Imperial Palace, Imperial Study.
Empress Long Yurou, wearing a crown and a nine-dragon robe, lowered her head to look at the ancient book in her hand. Her beautiful brows were tightly furrowed, as if she had encountered some difficult problem.
After a long time, she closed the ancient book, extended her snow-white jade hand to rub her forehead, and muttered to herself, “Blood-robed person? A sea of blood that can corrode the power of fortune? What exactly is it?”
Ever since Long Yufei transmitted the information from Lánzhōu to her true body, and her true body reported this information to Long Yurou, she had been poring over the ancient books of the Imperial Palace every day. However, she still had no clues. It seemed that such a thing had never appeared before.
After a long while, Long Yurou asked softly, “Is there any news from the Guardian Deity?”
“Replying to Your Majesty, there is no news from the Guardian Deity yet.”
An aged female voice sounded in the Imperial Study, but the person was nowhere to be seen.
The Empire’s Guardian Deity was the only Martial God in the Nine Provinces.
Originally, they had been using the Nine Provinces’ Dragon Veins to suppress their aura, preventing the ascension tribulation from descending.
But three years ago, the Nine Provinces Emperor suddenly passed away. Long Yurou was in Dàshí Village, and Long Yufei’s cultivation was insufficient to deter those with ill intentions. The Guardian Deity had no choice but to come out of seclusion to maintain the overall situation, causing their aura to leak and be sensed by the Upper Realm.
Shortly after Long Yurou returned to the Imperial Capital to become Empress, the Guardian Deity sensed the ascension tribulation and was about to undergo the tribulation to ascend to the Upper Realm. They went out to find a place to undergo the tribulation and, at the same time, to find a new Guardian Deity for the Empire. There had been no news since.
It was also from that time that the undercurrents in the Nine Provinces began to surge.
Long Yurou was silent for a while, then asked again, “Has there been any news from the Nine Provinces Inspectors?”
The aged female voice sounded again, “Replying to Your Majesty, apart from Cangzhou, Long Province, Lei Zhou, and the Wasteland Province, the Inspectors from the other four provinces have sent back news that everything is normal. The life soul tablets of the Inspectors from Cangzhou and the other three provinces are normal, so they should not be in any mortal danger. The Lánzhōu Inspector is still being selected.”
Long Yurou’s brows furrowed again. Four Inspectors had not sent back any news?
The Nine Provinces Inspectors were an organization under the Nine Provinces Emperor, specifically responsible for inspecting the Nine Provinces. Even the Middle Province was to be inspected.
Apart from the Nine Provinces Emperor, no one knew their identities. They could be an inconspicuous beggar on the street or the governor of a province.
The Lánzhōu Inspector died shortly after the Lánzhōu Provincial Governor was killed, and a new one was still being selected.
The selection of Nine Provinces Inspectors was very strict. Not only did they need to be strong and talented, but they also needed to be absolutely loyal to the Imperial Family. It was difficult to cultivate such individuals in a short period.
This was also why Long Yurou had her younger sister, Long Yufei, take up the position of Lánzhōu Provincial Governor. Among all the people, there were very few she could trust, and among these few, only Long Yufei was suitable to be the Lánzhōu Provincial Governor.
The Imperial Study fell silent again. After a while, the aged voice sounded once more, “Your Majesty, are the Seven Provincial Governors still not being seen?”
The Seven Provincial Governors?
Hearing these words, Long Yurou’s brows furrowed even deeper.
Apart from Lánzhōu and the Middle Province, the governors of the other seven provinces had each brought a Martial Emperor to the Imperial Capital to pay their respects to the Guardian Deity. But everyone knew that they were just there to probe and see if the Guardian Deity was still around.
“How can the Guardian Deity be seen by them just because they want to? Just say that I am currently cultivating with the Guardian Deity and have not come out of seclusion. Tell them to wait, and if they can’t wait, they can go back themselves.”
Long Yurou snorted coldly and said. But she also knew that she couldn’t keep them waiting forever, or something would happen sooner or later. But she hadn’t figured out how to solve this problem yet, so for now, she could only stall.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the aged female voice responded.
Long Yurou raised her head and looked in the direction of Dàshí Village in Lánzhōu, thinking to herself, “Feng’ge, if it were you, what would you do?”
During the time she was with Chu Feng, she was deeply attracted to his unconventional ideas. He always had unexpected solutions to many problems. But it was too dangerous to bring him and the children to the Imperial Capital. It was better to let them live safely in Dàshí Village.
“Children, are you well?”
She thought of her two children, whom she had “abandoned” just after they were born, and her heart was filled with endless longing.
Long Yufei had not sent back any information about Chu Xin and Chu Chen, only saying that they were doing well in Dàshí Village and that Long Yurou should not worry.
But as a mother, how could she not miss her children?
Little did she know, the two children she missed had already embarked on a journey to find their mother. It was just that the road to the Imperial Capital was getting more and more off track.
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“Wow! This is the Teleportation Gate? It’s so big, bigger than all the houses in our village combined.”
In the Nine Provinces Secret Realm, in front of the Cangzhou Teleportation Gate, Chu Xin stared at the Teleportation Gate, which was thirty zhang high, with her mouth wide open.
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Chu Chen also nodded in agreement, his round eyes shining brightly. He leaned close to Chu Xin’s ear and whispered, “Big Sister, this seems to be a treasure too. Should we dig it up too?”
Dig it up?
Long Shaoyu’s mouth twitched. This brat even wanted to dig up the Teleportation Gate?
He once again felt worried for the treasures in the Provincial Governor’s Mansion.
Pa!
Chu Xin extended her snow-white little hand and slapped Chu Chen’s little head, scolding him in a childishly fierce voice, “Are you stupid? If we dig up the Teleportation Gate, how will we get to the Middle Province?”
“Oh, right.”
Chu Chen scratched his bun hairstyle and chuckled twice.
Long Shaoyu rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s go. If we don’t go now, the Teleportation Gate will close soon.”
In order not to blow their cover, he deliberately took the two siblings around the secret realm, searching for other opportunities.
Although most of the opportunities had already been taken by others, they were lucky enough to find some small ones. These small opportunities were useless to Long Shaoyu, but they allowed Chu Xin and Chu Chen to have a few good meals.
The Square-Faced Youth and the Young Archer had already returned to Cangzhou through the Teleportation Gate, returning to Cangzhou Mansion in advance to discuss the grand plan of tricking the two brats with the Provincial Governor Long.
Long Shaoyu estimated that all the other Cangzhou prodigies had already teleported back to Cangzhou, so he brought the two siblings to the Cangzhou Teleportation Gate.
“Quick, quick, quick, we’re going to the Middle Province.”
Chu Chen cheered, rubbing his fists and palms together, eager to try.
Chu Xin’s round eyes also shone with excitement. They were finally going to save their mother.
“Let’s go!”
Long Shaoyu glanced at the two siblings, a smile also appearing on his face.
Everything was going according to his plan. As long as there were no accidents… Wait!
Suddenly, Long Shaoyu frowned. This thought seemed to have appeared in his mind twice before.
It appeared once when they were snatching the God Sword Fruit, once when they were snatching the Divine Lotus, and this was the third time.
The previous two times undoubtedly all had accidents. Would there be an accident this time too?
For a moment, a feeling of unease welled up in Long Shaoyu’s heart.
No, there will be no accidents this time.
Long Shaoyu carefully recalled his plan and constantly reassured himself in his heart.
“Big Brother, why aren’t we going?”
Chu Xin turned to look at Long Shaoyu and asked doubtfully.
“Uh, let’s go.”
Long Shaoyu came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and flew towards the Teleportation Gate, disappearing into it.
“So you just crash into the Teleportation Gate like this.”
Seeing this, Chu Xin and Chu Chen were enlightened. They patted the Two-Headed Fire Xi’s head in unison and shouted, “Little Pig, crash into it.”
Roar!
The Two-Headed Fire Xi let out a loud dragon roar, spread its four hooves, gathered its strength, and crashed into the Teleportation Gate.
“Mother, we’re coming to save you.”
The childish voices of the two siblings echoed in the secret realm.