Shu Jianyue paid no attention to the Empress's scrutiny, but she did care about her appearance.
Upon seeing her, I was absolutely certain that she was the escaped member of the evil cultivator Li family.
Because she looks remarkably like that arrogant guy named Li, who was eventually discovered.
She glanced at Zhu Yang; this man's fate was truly unfortunate. First, Linglong passed away, and now Li Shi has arrived.
Seeing that he had left the spiritual fruit on the table without eating it, Shu Jianyue smiled and said, "Emperor Yang, that spiritual fruit will help you detoxify, so please eat it."
Upon hearing this, the Empress tightened her grip on the handkerchief, and her jaw muscles clenched as well.
Shu Jianyue took it all in and became even more certain that she was involved in Zhu Yang's poisoning.
Looking at it this way, the Li family is quite shrewd; they even bribed the imperial physician.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yang immediately ate the two spiritual fruits. Whether it was a placebo effect or truly effective, he felt much lighter.
"Thank you, Venerable One. I really do feel much better now."
"Venerable One, do you still have any of these spiritual fruits? Could you sell me some?"
The Empress, regaining her senses, immediately asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, have you been poisoned? When did this happen? Should we summon the imperial physician to examine you?"
Zhu Yang waved his hand, "If the imperial physicians were truly useful, they wouldn't have waited until His Excellency arrived to discover this."
If he weren't portrayed as a wise and benevolent ruler, he would have confiscated the property of those so-called imperial physicians.
If it weren't for the Venerable One's discovery, he would never have known in his entire life!
The Empress's eyes darkened, her nail guards nearly piercing her flesh. "How could this be..."
"How could they not? They check my pulse every few days. I've been poisoned for three years and they still haven't found out. What use are they?" Zhu Yang said angrily.
Three years! If he hadn't been poisoned, he should have broken through to the Golden Core stage by now.
The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to arrest all those imperial physicians.
Zhu Yang, suppressing his anger, looked at Shu Jianyue and continued to ask, "Venerable One, is that alright?"
Shu Jianyue smiled and nodded, "Of course, but this spiritual fruit is special and not cheap."
The Empress's mind raced, and she immediately asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask who these two are?"
Zhu Yang originally wanted to introduce them, but upon seeing Shu Jianyue's warning look, he immediately said, "These two are Venerables from the Eight Desolations, so don't be impolite."
Upon hearing this, the Empress immediately rose and bowed. "Your Majesty, I greet you both. Since you have come from afar, would you please arrange for me to rest in your bedchamber for a while?"
Her words were very polite, but Shu Jianyue could easily see through her little scheme; she just didn't want Shu Jianyue to detoxify Zhu Yang.
"No need, I have other matters to attend to later."
"If Emperor Yang wants the Spirit Fruit, of course we have it. Just give it to him at the current price of Spirit Nourishing Pills outside."
Upon hearing this, the Empress nearly ground her teeth to powder, forcing a smile as she said, "Your Excellency, a mere spirit fruit cannot be compared to a Spirit Nourishing Pill."
She should know the current price of Spirit-Nourishing Pills. If the emperor wanted a lot of spirit fruits, wouldn't he have to empty the palace of all the spirit stones?
Shu Jianyue laughed and said, "Why not? Didn't they tell Her Majesty the Empress that the most important ingredient in refining the Spirit Nourishing Pill from Yunxiao Auction House is this spiritual fruit?"
"They didn't... I've never even been to the Cloud Sky Auction House, how would I know the recipe for the Spirit Nourishing Pill?" The Empress forced a smile.
"How does Your Excellency know the recipe for the Spirit Nourishing Pill?"
Zhu Yang frowned as he looked at the Empress. He wasn't stupid; how could he not see that there was something wrong with the Empress?
Previously, my attention wasn't on her.
At this moment, a close attendant hurried in and announced, "Your Majesty, Imperial Father-in-Law Li has arrived."
"Summon them." Zhu Yang withdrew his gaze and looked towards the door of the Imperial Study.
Li Ming swaggered in with his second son, seemingly ignoring Shu Jianyue and Chong Jiu. He gave the emperor a perfunctory bow and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, what brings you to the palace at this hour?"
This attitude, this tone, shows absolutely no respect.
Zhu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Father-in-law, I've heard that your Li family has acquired the Yunxiao Auction House. Is that true?"
Li Ming glanced at the Empress.
Because the emperor was looking at her, the empress lowered her eyes and dared not make a move.
So Li Ming didn't know what had happened, and could only give the official explanation: "We bought it from Fuchen Mountain. Anyway, the Venerables on Fuchen Mountain have all gone to the Eight Desolations, so they don't have time to care. It's perfect that we took it over."
Zhu Yang glanced at Shu Jianyue and Chong Jiu, and seeing Shu Jianyue smiling faintly, he felt a chill run down his spine for some reason.
"When did the Imperial Father-in-law buy it, and for how many spirit stones?"
Li Ming wanted to see the Empress again.
Zhu Yang said coldly, "Why does the Emperor's father keep looking at the Empress? The Empress says she doesn't know anything about it."
"What, has the Empress been hiding something from me?"
The Empress immediately knelt down. "Your Majesty, I have nothing to hide. My father must have been concerned about me, which is why he looked at me a few more times."
Li Ming nodded quickly, his previous arrogant attitude softening somewhat. "Yes, yes, I've been here for so long and Fei Fei hasn't said a word. I was a little worried, so I've been keeping an eye on her."
Zhu Yang looked them over for a while before saying, "Get up, all of you. Father-in-law, you haven't answered my question yet."
Li Ming subconsciously wanted to look at the Empress again, but he forced himself to resist.
Li Zhong, who had been silent since entering, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, we just bought it recently for 30,000 low-grade spirit stones."
"Because Yunxiao Auction House is still undergoing reorganization, it has not yet had time to report to His Majesty."
Shu Jianyue burst out laughing, "Thirty thousand spirit stones?"
"As far as I know, the Cloud Sky Auction House was established with 104,800 spirit stones, but it only sold to the Li family for a fraction of that amount. This truly surprises me!"
"I wonder what the relationship is between the Li family and Fuchen Mountain, that they would give you the Yunxiao Auction House?"
Li Zhong looked at Shu Jianyue and froze, until Chong Jiu slapped him against the wall.
"Ah, Second Brother!" The Empress rushed over, trying to pull Li Zhong down, but found that she was not strong enough.
"How dare you injure my second brother in the palace!"
"Quick, someone come quick and save my second brother!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a squad of guards rushed in and pried Li Zhong off.
Zhu Yang squinted at the Empress, his gaze icy.
The Empress felt his gaze, and upon realizing what was happening, she froze. She immediately knelt down again, saying, "Your Majesty, my second brother did nothing wrong. How could this Venerable One treat my second brother like this?"
"They are showing far too little respect for our royal family! Your Majesty, even if they are venerable figures, they cannot tarnish the dignity of our royal family!"
Instead of offering explanations, he tried to draw Zhu Yang's attention to Chong Jiu, every word of which was for the benefit of the royal family.
But she miscalculated. What emperor would allow someone in the palace to use his guards more skillfully than he did?
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