Baili Xi felt he had figured it out after making this deduction, confirming that the young emperor was indeed his son, and Zhang Qi... well, what a joke!
Feeling they had investigated the truth of the matter thoroughly, the couple embraced and wept bitterly after dismissing everyone.
The young emperor is their son. As long as they don't say anything, their spies don't say anything, and the Empress Dowager and the young emperor certainly won't easily tell anyone else, it's unlikely that many other people will know.
"My lord, now Baili Nian has ascended to the position of Empress Dowager thanks to our son, enjoying all the glory, while you and I are just ordinary officials, having to watch our faces every day..." At this point, Baili Xi couldn't help but burst into tears, "I also heard recently that this vile woman actually beat up the Emperor on her way back from paying respects at the imperial tombs, kicking his dragon robe all over with shoe prints..."
At this point, she felt extremely sorry for her son and her heart ached terribly.
Zhang Lie said in a deep voice, "I've heard about this too. My lady, what do you suggest we do? It's one thing if Baili Nianruo dotes on the Emperor, but to treat that child like this... I'm filled with hatred!"
Baili Xi: "She stole my son to gain a high position, and instead of being grateful, she even abused him. She's ultimately a lowly concubine's daughter, an ungrateful wretch. My husband, for the sake of our child, I think it's better to..."
The two secretly plotted using the method of transmitting sound.
Chu Nian's mental energy had been monitoring them, wondering if these two no longer wanted to depose the young emperor, but were instead plotting to get rid of her. Well, wasn't she just asking for trouble?
Fortunately, Zhang Lie has given up on military action. Chu Nian's concern was for those hundreds of thousands of troops, and now that Zhang Lie has temporarily abandoned his plans, perhaps the young emperor can find an opportunity to regain some military power.
For the next few days, Chu Nian buried himself in the royal library of the Ziwei Kingdom in order to increase his understanding of the so-called "mysterious energy" of this space-time.
On several occasions, there had been night raids on Cining Palace, but each time they were stopped by another group of black-clad guards. Chu Nian guessed that those were probably people Jiang Bai had arranged to protect her.
After reading through most of the books in the Royal Library, Chu Nian felt that his understanding of Xuan Qi was probably only the tip of the iceberg. The books that truly explained Xuan Qi in detail were mostly hidden in those Xuanmen sects that were revered by the world.
The Primordial Profound Origin Sect is the oldest, most secretive, and most powerful Profound Qi sect on the Xuanwei Continent, said to have existed for thousands of years. Because it does not interact with the secular world, it remains unknown to the outside world.
However, the founders of several major esoteric schools in the world all came from this Xuan Yuan School, and there are many records of this Xuan Yuan School in their esoteric school classics.
Although Chu Nian was in the palace, she used the spiritual power that she had previously attached to Baili Xi and Zhang Lie to follow them into the Ji Xuan Sect and Tai Xuan Sect, which they had respectively joined. She then examined the scriptures of these two sects and learned about the existence of the Tai Gu Xuan Yuan Sect.
"Your Majesty, what were you doing sitting at your desk so early this morning, scratching your head and writing something?" Wen Wan couldn't help but ask when she saw Chu Nian sitting there scratching her head until noon, her brows furrowed into a deep knot.
Chu Nian said with a look of deep sorrow, "I would like to write a leave request."
"Huh?" Wen Wan asked in surprise.
Chu Nian: "I intend to request leave from the palace."
Wen Wan chuckled and asked, "So, how many days of leave does Your Majesty plan to take?"
Chu Nian: "About three to six months."
Wen Wan: "Where does the Empress Dowager plan to go after taking such a long leave?"
Chu Nian raised her head and glared at her, saying, "What's it to you?"
Wen Wan said helplessly, "Your Majesty, please don't even think about it. You are the Empress Dowager, how can you leave the palace? Besides, I don't know what's going on these past few days, but I keep feeling that things aren't peaceful in our Cining Palace. In the middle of the night, I often hear sounds of fighting outside!"
Chu Nian: "So, if I don't ask for leave now, when will I?" While Zhang Lie and Baili Xi are busy sending assassins into the palace to kill her, she can leave the palace and travel around, disappearing without a trace. Wouldn't that be great?
Wen Wan asked curiously, "Then, Your Majesty, who are you planning to write this leave request to?" In this palace, you are the most powerful!
Chu Nian: "Of course it's written to the Emperor!"
Wen Wan suddenly realized, and murmured, "I should inform the Emperor." But then she thought again and felt something was wrong, "No, Your Majesty, given your current status, it is not appropriate for you to leave the palace."
Chu Nian then pondered for a moment and said, "Why don't we announce to the public that I am ill and need to recuperate? I will not see anyone or accept greetings from other imperial concubines until I recover."
Wen Wan: "The Emperor will not agree."
Chu Nian said, "That makes sense. Convey my decree to summon Grand Tutor Jiang Bai to Cining Palace immediately."
Before long, Jiang Bai, who had received the Empress Dowager's summons, entered Cining Palace with his wide robe sleeves fluttering, looking like a graceful immortal who had stepped out of a painting, leaving countless palace maids in awe!
After dismissing everyone around her, Chu Nian got straight to the point: "I need to leave the palace for a while. Could the Grand Tutor help make some arrangements?"
Jiang Bai asked, "Does the Empress Dowager wish to leave the palace incognito, or..."
Chu Nian: "Of course, I'll be traveling incognito, so no one will know I'm the Empress Dowager."
Jiang Bai nodded and asked, "Then, where does the Empress Dowager plan to go after leaving the palace?"
Chu Nian frankly admitted, "Xuan Yuan Sect."
Jiang Bai was taken aback and asked, "Xuan Yuan Sect?"
Chu Nian nodded and said, "It is said to be a Xuanqi sect that existed in the ancient times."
Jiang Bai: "Does the Empress Dowager know where this Xuan Yuan Sect is?"
Chu Nian: "I don't know yet, so I need to visit the major sects on our Xuanwei Continent first."
"Visiting... several major sects." Jiang Bai said with a smile, "Empress Dowager, you wish to travel throughout the entire Xuanwei Continent!"
Chu Nian: "It's just a visit."
Jiang Bai: "The Empress Dowager must be bored staying in the palace all day!"
Chu Nian replied with a helpless yet honest expression, "Yes."
Jiang Bai: "But if we go traveling like this and someone with ulterior motives finds out, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Chu Nian: "That's why I asked the Grand Tutor to make the arrangements!"
Jiang Bai: "Isn't Your Majesty afraid that I will send someone to assassinate you after you leave the palace?"
Chu Nian: "What good would it do you to kill me?"
Jiang Bai: "But the Empress Dowager is indeed a target for assassination now!"
Chu Nian: "The Empress Dowager will remain in the palace, but she will not see outsiders due to her illness and will only recuperate in Cining Palace."
Jiang Bai asked, "What does the Empress Dowager mean by this?"
Chu Nian: "Go and take a look inside the palace."
Jiang Bai hesitated and said, "This... I am an official outside the palace, it might not be appropriate for me to enter the Empress Dowager's inner palace!"
Chu Nian asked with a smile, "Really? You've never been inside my inner palace before?"
Jiang Bai's lips twitched, his face inexplicably flushed, he coughed lightly, and stammered, "Your Majesty, I... do not know what you mean by that."
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