Chapter 105 Gu Pingzhi: She's going to see an old friend.

"I heard you were looking for me?"

As soon as Princess Jing'an entered her palace, she saw a woman reclining gracefully on a soft couch, skillfully pouring and savoring tea.

"Who are you!? How did you get into the princess's palace!? How dare you touch the princess's things without permission!?" The palace maid beside Princess Jing'an rushed in front of her when she saw the person who suddenly appeared in the room and questioned her sharply.

“Heh,” Guhua chuckled, playing with the jade porcelain cup in her hand, “You little girl are quite protective of your master.”

"You in blue, step down. This is an honored guest I have invited. Do not be rude."

The woman in green glared at her coldly, ordered the bystanders to leave, and stood guard outside the door, keeping a watchful eye on everything. She was ready to break down the door immediately if anything inside the house was detrimental to the princess.

Guhua glanced at the figure at the door, smiled, but said nothing.

Princess Jing'an felt relieved and softly said to the maid in green outside the door, "There's no need to stay here. Go to the imperial kitchen and see what delicious food they have, and bring it all up."

Then he added, "Bring a few jugs of fine wine."

Upon hearing this, Qingyi stomped her foot angrily. Since her master had spoken, she dared not disobey and could only reluctantly reply, "Yes."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Guhua waved her hand, and a purplish-black barrier appeared above the sleeping quarters, enveloping the entire palace.

"They're here."

Princess Jing'an sat beside the soft couch, poured herself a cup of tea, and said in a low voice.

Guihua lifted her eyelids and chuckled softly, "I know."

She hadn't expected Bai Yuheng's skill to be so profound, capable of subduing the Tribulation Stage power she had placed on Mao Mao. However, this was both what she wanted to see and what she didn't want to see.

Having had her cultivation stolen for many years and even suffered a backlash from it, Guihua clutched her aching chest, feeling somewhat resentful. Her face, distorted beneath her veil, was contorted as she looked directly at Princess Jing'an and asked, "Well? Are you willing to make a deal with me?"

“Hmm.” Princess Jing’an rarely yielded. “You’re right. Without your help, we wouldn’t be able to activate those ghost soldiers.”

Princess Jing'an looked calmly into her eyes and said earnestly, "Now I sincerely want to make a deal with you. What you want is in my hands, and I will give it to you, but you also need to help me activate those Yin soldiers."

Guhua smiled, her lips curving upwards.

"What? You're unwilling?" Princess Jing'an frowned slightly when she saw that she didn't speak. "Is it because you don't have enough bargaining chips? If you want anything, I can give it to you as long as it's within my capabilities."

Guhua smiled: "What I want, you may not be able to give me. But I'd like to know who taught you the art of body possession?"

Princess Jing'an was slightly taken aback, lowered her head to take a sip of tea, and said, "It's just a forbidden technique that I obtained by chance."

She looked up and stared straight at Guhua, who was slumped on the soft couch, and smiled with raised eyebrows: "Why are you asking this? If you like, I can give you that forbidden book."

Guhua remained silent, sipped her tea, and knew in her heart that what this person said was false.

"This body-entry technique is one of the forbidden techniques explicitly prohibited in the cultivation world. It was mastered by a cultivator back then. If you know about it and can use it so freely, then you must have someone helping you behind the scenes. Let me guess, who was the one who was expelled from the sect back then..."

"Guhua!" Princess Jing'an's face paled, her anger rising. She glared at her, "You and I are merely cooperating, an equal transaction. If you don't want to cooperate, if you don't want that fragment, then so be it!"

Guihua narrowed her eyes and sneered, "You're threatening me?"

“I told you, I just want to know who taught you forbidden techniques. Just tell me, and I can help you.”

"No need! You can leave now. Just pretend I never asked you for anything!"

Gu Hua straightened up, brushed away non-existent dust, and her voice turned cold: "Gu Pingzhi, isn't he?"

Princess Jing'an trembled, stared at her with wide eyes, and gritted her teeth: "No, no!"

"Please leave my palace."

Princess Jing'an opened the door to the bedroom and coldly told her to leave without saying a word.

“I guessed it,” Guhua waved her hand, and the open door slammed shut instantly. Her face turned cold. “Where is he? How did you two meet?”

"Do you know what happens after the ghost soldiers are activated?" Guihua pressed on, "Did he instigate you?"

Princess Jing'an was also afraid of her. She tried to open the door, but it seemed to be glued on. No matter how much she pounded on it or shouted, there was no response. She had been careless. She shouldn't have gotten involved with these desperate people, and she shouldn't have let Qingyi leave like that.

"Speak!" Guhua gripped her neck, her eyes icy cold. "Do you know what the world will become if those ghostly soldiers get out of control?!"

"Isn't the throne all you want? There are a thousand ways to ascend to that high position, so why choose to cooperate with him? To become his accomplice!?"

After her initial shock, Princess Jing'an heard these words and, equally cold, retorted, "Accomplice to a tyrant? I only know he'll help me! Help me get everything I want with ease!"

"Do you even know who Gu Pingzhi is?" Guihua hated her nonchalant attitude, gritting her teeth as she said, "That man slaughtered his master and fellow disciples to learn forbidden techniques! You dare to cooperate with such a heartless person? He was expelled from the cultivation world hundreds of years ago and became a stray dog..."

"I knew it! We didn't find his remains during that great battle; he just went into hiding in the human world!" Guihua scolded. "Foolish! Cooperating with such a person is utterly foolish! Utterly foolish!"

"Ha, how are you any different from him?" Princess Jing'an retorted, holding back her anger. "Did he kill more people than you? Or did you never have the heart to harm others? You're inherently evil, so why pretend to be like this, acting so virtuous? Do you think they all think you're a good person?"

Guihua sneered: "Whether it is or not is none of your business."

Princess Jing'an had no intention of arguing with her. She pried open the girl's loosened hand, coughed a few times, and said haughtily, "If you want that fragment, I'll give it to you. Just don't come looking for me again, and don't interfere in my affairs!"

Guhua didn't say anything.

But the barrier disappeared, and she could come and go freely.

"I will give you the fragment tomorrow at noon. After that, we will go our separate ways."

Princess Jing'an left the palace, her neck red and swollen.

Having failed to find out Gu Pingzhi's whereabouts, Guhua calmed down.

Those ghost soldiers were probably his idea, but something went wrong and they couldn't be controlled. It must have been Bai Yuheng and her group who broke in and caused the trouble. She couldn't find Gu Pingzhi, who was always elusive, so she turned to her for help.

Gu Hua sneered. No matter what, she couldn't be as bad as Gu Pingzhi. Wasn't it him who started that war between gods and demons a hundred years ago?

The smile on Guihua's face faded; it seemed she intended to eliminate all the Yin soldiers before Gu Pingzhi could...

but……

She suddenly remembered that Bai Yuheng and the others were in the capital city. She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. After obtaining the fragments of the Four Directions Mirror, before leaving the capital city, she wanted to visit an old friend.

*

"What can be found today?"

Li Tiankuo looked tired after a day of administrative work.

Bai Yuheng: "The Empress had everything cleaned up."

Cen Ying: "The state of the corpses was simply appalling."

"Is there anything unusual?" Li Tiankuo frowned, feeling somewhat annoyed that the Empress had taken it upon herself to clean the room.

"Yes." Bai Yuheng recalled, then turned to Cen Ying and asked, "Xiao Ying, did you smell a very strange odor?"

"The smell?" Cui Mingcan scratched his head. "The only smell inside those palaces was a strong, lingering stench of blood..."

Bai Yuheng pushed his head aside and said to Cen Ying, "Pei Yuan and I both smelled the scent hidden beneath the blood, faint and subtle, but you can't smell it even if you sniff carefully..."

"Were you overwhelmed by the smell of blood?" Cui Mingcan recalled the smell he had smelled, but couldn't detect anything different.

"Of course not."

"Now that you mention it, I could smell it on the body parts too." Cen Ying frowned in thought. "At the time, I thought I was mistaken. Was it a very refreshing smell? Different from the dull smell of blood?"

Bai Yuheng pondered for a moment, exchanged a glance with Pei Yuan, and then confirmed: "Yes, yes, it's very similar to the cold aura you used to keep us conscious before."

Cen Ying: "This might be a breakthrough point."

Upon hearing this, Li Tiankuo immediately said, "Then I will have the chief eunuch question all the imprisoned palace maids and eunuchs to find out who sent them incense. It is very likely that the person who sent the incense is the mastermind behind it all."

"good!"

"Oh, right, I have something here. Since all those palace items have been destroyed, Yu'er, do you think this can be used with a technique similar to the Retrospective Realm to find the real culprit?"

Li Tiankuo looked at Bai Yuheng and Pei Yuan with hopeful eyes. Only the two of them specialized in magic, and they probably knew less than the two of them. At this moment, he could only place his hopes on Bai Yuheng and Pei Yuan.

Although Li Tiankuo hated those people, they were still his closest relatives. Their tragic deaths made him feel terrible, and he was suddenly struck by a sense of loss and indifference.

"Where did you get this?" Bai Yuheng asked casually as she took it.

Li Tiankuo said, "My elder sister gave it to me. She had made an appointment with Princess Jianing that day, but they ran into each other... Later, fearing that people in the palace would cause chaos and someone would take Jianing's things, she hid her favorite jade pendant."

Bai Yuheng raised an eyebrow, and Cui Mingcan sensed the relaxation in his words: "You have a good relationship with this royal sister?"

“Well, we can say we’re in the same boat,” Li Tiankuo laughed. “It’s quite a coincidence, really, that her father is Prince Gong, but she’s a very nice person.”

Li Tiankuo quickly added, "She came to the palace from her fiefdom when she was very young. To put it bluntly, she was a hostage. Prince Gong doted on his daughter, so she was sent to the palace. Back then, she and I were the most bullied. We were beaten and had our food rations cut... But she was very clever. She always managed to get some buns and rice, and she would even share half with me... She was really smart. She could get along well with those who bullied her without batting an eye, and she would even become one of them... She knew how to manipulate them. I didn't know that, so I was the one who was bullied the most, but she would always come to my aid..."

Li Tiankuo recalled with a smile that those days were not easy. Before he was adopted by Consort Shu, he was a prince whom everyone could trample on.

The people in the palace thought he was a child and treated him with extreme disrespect and perfunctory attitude.

Back then, his only light was Sister Jing'an. She would protect him, give him food, and care for him... things that his father and the others would never do!

Cui Mingcan understood, and muttered under his breath, "Looks like bad bamboo produces good shoots..."

"Does this Princess Jing'an have a good relationship with the other princes and princesses?" Pei Yuan suddenly looked up from his study with Bai Yuheng and asked.

Li Tiankuo was taken aback by the question and then nodded: "Yes, although we are all bullied, my elder sister will use different methods to befriend different people, or even fight back."

Pei Yuan remained silent upon hearing this.

Seeing his deep expression, Li Tiankuo's heart skipped a beat, and he asked hesitantly, "What's wrong?"

Pei Yuan looked at him with a mysterious and slightly disdainful expression, chuckled, and coldly shattered his illusion: "The person you're talking about is more like a snake that seems docile but is actually vicious."

Li Tiankuo was stunned when he heard this. After realizing what he had said, his face turned pale, then his face flushed, and he glared angrily.

Pei Yuan, not to be outdone, returned his gaze coldly.