Chapter Sixty-Two: The Suspicious Judge
When Si Ge was questioned about the Demon Lord's background, he immediately searched his memory for all information about this Demon Lord. As the chief judge of the Underworld, he not only needed to be familiar with the laws of the Underworld, but also needed to have a thorough understanding of the information about important figures in the Three Realms.
Before His Majesty had eradicated the other separatist forces in the Underworld, Rong Jiang's focus was mostly on internal consolidation and restoring order. However, she was a woman of great talent and ambition, and her vision was never limited to one region. She consistently had dedicated personnel to collect and organize information from the human world, the demon realm, and even the most chaotic and mysterious demon realm, never ceasing her attention. This intelligence, after being filtered, would ultimately be compiled and submitted to Si Ge, who would then organize and select the key points for his report.
As Rong Jiang's trusted confidant, Si Ge naturally wouldn't miss such news concerning the safety of the Underworld's external borders. After a brief recollection, he clearly reported: "According to reliable intelligence, Demon Lord Jiu Ya is the daughter of the former Demon Lord. There are differing accounts circulating in the Demon Realm regarding her birth mother. Some rumors suggest that her birth mother was of lowly status and might not even be a pure-blooded demon. Therefore, Princess Jiu Ya was not valued in the former Demon Lord's palace in her early years, and her abilities were kept hidden, making her seem quite ordinary to outsiders."
He spoke calmly and clearly: "After the previous Demon Lord died unexpectedly 120 years ago, the Demon Realm was thrown into chaos. His many children, generals, and various forces fought fiercely for the supreme position, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. In order to quell the war and temporarily balance the power among the various factions, the nine elder councils of the Demon Realm, with their deep foundation, jointly recommended the eleventh woman, Jiuya, who was easy to control, to succeed him as Demon Lord. At that time, everyone outside regarded him as a puppet."
"However," Si Ge changed the subject, "this Demon Lord Jiuya is clearly not one to be subservient to others. She endured for many years, secretly plotting and cultivating her own power step by step. In the end, she successfully united several powerful elders, led by Qing Cheng and Xing Yuan, as well as a group of guardian demon generals who held military power, such as Chao Qing. With meticulous planning, she launched a swift and decisive purge, eliminating the opposing forces led by the tyrannical Elder You Chi. After this battle, Demon Lord Jiuya truly purged the internal forces and took sole power, far surpassing the puppet she once was."
Finally, Sige concluded, "Based on intelligence from all sides, this Demon Lord is meticulous, far-sighted, and extremely calm and patient; he is an exceptionally remarkable figure." This was the consensus reached by spies from the Underworld who had infiltrated the Demon Realm after extensive verification.
Initially, Rong Jiang had only heard of this new Demon Lord but had never seen him in person. Her opinion of Jiu Ya was almost identical to Si Ge's report. However, what she saw with her own eyes today made her feel that the Demon Lord seemed to have some interesting discrepancies with the image in the rumors.
While I couldn't fully grasp her meticulousness and foresight during our brief encounter, I could at least acknowledge her qualities. However, the assessment of her as "exceptionally composed"... Rong Jiang's mind conjured up images of Jiu Ya, a mix of playfulness and curiosity, even her blunt declaration of wanting to "serve her like a slave." She couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "This Demon Lord is quite different from the rumors."
"Your Majesty, could it be that you encountered the Demon Lord himself today?" Si Ge's eyes widened in surprise; this was truly unexpected news. The Demon Lord had secretly infiltrated the mortal realm and even met with His Majesty?
Rong Jiang didn't answer directly. Instead, she gracefully flicked her finger, quietly removing the soundproofing and protective barrier that enveloped the room, leaving only a small magic array to conceal her and Si Ge's presence. "Huai'an, don't you feel anything different here right now?" she guided Si Ge to sense it.
When Si Ge arrived, he was protected by Rong Jiang's barrier, completely isolated from the outside world and unable to perceive anything. Now that the barrier had been removed, his keen senses as a judge of the underworld immediately detected a faint, cleverly concealed trace of demonic energy in the air. Jiu Ya and her group had taken great care to hide themselves upon arriving in the mortal realm, making them difficult for ordinary mortal cultivators and even experts from immortal sects to detect. However, Si Ge's cultivation was profound, and he was particularly sensitive to unusual auras; this faint demonic energy, carefully concealed by secret techniques, was ultimately detected by him.
“There is demonic energy! And it is extremely pure, unlike anything that ordinary demons can possess!” Si Ge’s expression hardened, and he instantly became tense. “Your Majesty, could it be that the higher-ups of the Demon Realm have secretly infiltrated the human world? What are their intentions? Does the Demon Realm intend to plot against the human world?” His thoughts immediately began to wander in the worst possible direction, fearing that this was a sign of a large-scale operation.
The judge immediately began to ponder. The sudden arrival of a top demon figure in the human realm suggested a grand scheme. Did it mean the demon realm was about to wage war against humanity? Or was it to execute some kind of secret plan? It must be said that like ruler, like subject; these two were remarkably similar in their level of vigilance.
Si Ge was also a mortal in his previous life, possessing a natural affection for the human world and naturally wishing to prevent war from reigniting there. Moreover, if a large-scale war were to break out in the human world, the casualties would be numerous, and the number of souls would increase dramatically. This would undoubtedly greatly increase the workload of the underworld and disrupt the order of Yin and Yang. Whether from a personal emotional or professional responsibility perspective, Si Ge did not want any major chaos to occur in the human world.
"I do not yet know his specific purpose." Rong Jiang shook her head slightly, signaling him to calm down. "It's just that I had the good fortune to meet that Demon Lord today. Seeing is believing." She emphasized this point again.
Si Ge looked puzzled. "Could it be that the Demon Lord's true nature is very different from what our spies reported? Could it be... that our spies planted in the Demon Realm have been discovered, or even turned against us, and are sending back false information?" This was his first reaction as the intelligence chief. If the core intelligence was wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Not entirely.” Rong Jiang waved her hand, comforting him, “Youdao (the department in the Underworld responsible for intelligence on the Demon Realm) has only been operating in the Demon Realm for a short time, and the spies they have planted have difficulty reaching the innermost circle, let alone being the Demon Lord’s close attendants. The information they gather is mostly based on observing their actions and listening to their words, but how can outsiders fully understand a person’s deepest nature? It’s easy to draw the skin of a tiger but difficult to draw its bones; some omissions and deviations are inevitable.”
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I was just being too anxious." Si Ge nodded in agreement, feeling somewhat relieved.
Rong Jiang then got to the point, "Today, that Demon Lord said that she came to the mortal realm to find her relatives."
"Searching for relatives?" Si Ge frowned slightly, instantly understanding Rong Jiang's intention in having him urgently search for Li or Rong women in Linzi who had connections to the Demon Realm. So that was the reason.
Rong Jiang nodded. "That's right. According to the Yin-Yang Scroll, there was indeed a woman named Li from Linzi who entered the Demon Realm and left behind her bloodline. It seems that what she said was not a false pretense. After a demon dies, it becomes a 'monster' and is also under the jurisdiction of the Underworld. However, their life experiences, especially those of high-ranking individuals in the Demon Realm, are protected by the origin of the Demon Realm and will not be immediately reflected in the Yin-Yang Scroll of Life and Death. Only after their true demise will their life record be completed."
Therefore, after identifying the three potentially related women of the Li family, Rong Jiang immediately used her access privileges to thoroughly examine all the minute details of their lives and the possible post-mortem impacts. Ultimately, she confirmed that only Li San Niang from the Li family in the west of the city had truly fallen into the Demon Realm and developed a profound connection with it. The records subtly indicated that she had a relationship with a demon general and gave birth to a daughter, but due to her constitution's inability to adapt to the Demon Realm environment, she died young. Her daughter, it seems, later entered the former Demon Lord's harem through some fortuitous encounter, becoming a low-ranking concubine, and also gave birth to a daughter.
The name and specific details of this granddaughter are vague in the current Yin-Yang Scroll, hidden by the protection of the Demon Lord's destiny. However, this line of events aligns with Jiu Ya's account of searching for her maternal grandmother's family.
"It seems that Li San Niang from the west of the city is the most likely culprit." Si Ge carefully recalled the records. It seemed that the rumor of the Demon Lord Jiu Ya's mother's lowly status likely stemmed from her half-human, half-demon heritage. Demons have always been arrogant, viewing humans as a weak race. The bloodline of a human and a demon is considered even more inferior by them; perhaps, in the eyes of some radical demons, it even defiles the pure demon bloodline.
“Exactly.” Rong Jiang said softly, her gaze seemingly looking through the window towards a certain direction in Linzi City, “Shenyan Lane, the Li family.”
The Li family of Shenyan Lane was a prominent family in Linzi for centuries, originally from Jimo. They held a prestigious position in the ancient state of Qi, with a long tradition of poetry and propriety, and produced many famous ministers. One of the members of that family was an old friend of hers—the daughter of Prime Minister Li Shenzhi, the Crown Princess of Qi, and her beloved sister-in-law.
So, after all this, this supreme ruler of the demon realm can actually be considered an ancestor of my sister-in-law's clan?
At this moment, Rong Jiang suddenly understood why she had felt a strange sense of familiarity and bewilderment towards Jiu Ya when they first met, and why she had even made an exception by telling her about her rarely used pen name. It wasn't entirely without reason; perhaps it was because Jiu Ya shared the same bloodline as that old friend, and because of the faint resemblance in their eyes and brows.
The slightly similar style and the almost impossible-to-falsify records in the Yin-Yang Life and Death Scroll all indicate that Jiu Ya was not lying when she came to find her relatives.
But why did Jiu Ya tell her earlier that she "didn't know if it was the Rong family or the Li family"? The pronunciations of Rong and Li are completely different, and even if the accents are different, they shouldn't be confused to this extent. Is there some other hidden reason behind this?
Si Ge pondered for a moment. He had a good understanding of the prominent families in the world. "The Li family of Shenyan Lane? If I remember correctly, that seems to be the family of the former Crown Princess of Qi?"
He was not from the state of Qi, but his home state bordered Qi, so he had heard of the saying "Li Shenzhi, the civil official, and Li Shenzhi, the military commander, from Qi" since childhood. Li Shenzhi, the last prime minister of Qi, was indeed from the Li family of Shenyan Lane. He was exceptionally talented, renowned for his virtue, and a tragic figure who tried to turn the tide but ultimately failed. His daughter married Crown Prince Jiang Ze, becoming his crown princess, and her elegance was admired by all.
Unfortunately, after the fall of Qi, it is said that this highly capable prime minister died alongside the emperor and empress. The crown princess also upheld her integrity, joining the royal family in the national crisis. Although Qi was weak, the people of Qi possessed an extremely strong spirit. The crown prince died on the battlefield, the princess defended the isolated city until the last moment, the emperor and empress committed suicide by self-immolation, and many officials also refused to live in disgrace. Although Si Ge was not from Qi, among the states destroyed by the previous dynasty, he most admired the integrity and fierceness of the Qi people.
As for his own motherland... a hint of sadness flashed in Si Ge's eyes, it's better not to mention it.
Rong Jiang lowered her eyes, concealing the fleeting pain in them, and said softly, "Yes."
“If we follow the Li family genealogy,” Si Ge quickly clarified the timeline, “Li San Niang lived two hundred years ago, while Li Shenzhi and his daughter lived a hundred years ago. This Demon Lord could be considered to be the grandfather or even great-grandfather of Prime Minister Li and his daughter, the Crown Princess.” No matter how young and beautiful Jiu Ya looked, it was undeniable that she was actually several hundred years old, making her an ancestor in the human world.
"This?" If Rong Jiang were drinking tea at this moment, she would probably have to force herself not to lose her composure. Just imagining the scene of her elegant and dignified sister-in-law, whom she regarded as an elder sister, calling Jiu Ya "Grandma" was... indescribable. "Ahem," she covered her mouth with her hand and coughed lightly twice, "She is a demon, with a long lifespan and eternal youth, so naturally she cannot be ranked according to human seniority and etiquette."
If this were truly a system of seniority, her sister-in-law would inevitably have to perform a grand ceremony before Jiu Ya and address herself as a junior. Just imagining that scene is bizarre.
Si Ge was taken aback at first, then chuckled and quickly echoed, "Your Majesty is right. I was overthinking it. Indeed, it cannot be calculated this way." He had followed His Majesty the longest and knew His Majesty's identity. If the Demon Lord was the elder of that Crown Princess of Qi, then according to seniority, even His Majesty would be a junior.
"Your Majesty," Si Ge returned to the main topic, offering his opinion, "I believe that the Demon Lord's search for her relatives will likely be fruitless. After the fall of Qi, most of the Li clan members went into hiding and scattered from Linzi to avoid trouble. More than a hundred years have passed, and the world has changed drastically; I'm afraid they can no longer find their roots. Her coming to Linzi will most likely be in vain."
Upon hearing this, Rong Jiang smiled gently, "Huai'an needn't worry too much about this issue. According to the records, the Demon Lord's mother grew up in the Demon Realm from a young age and has no concept of human kinship, so she probably doesn't have any deep attachments. The Demon Lord's visit this time is probably more out of curiosity or to settle a matter on his mind. Even if no clues are found in Linzi, it shouldn't be a big deal for her, and it certainly won't cause any trouble."
Si Ge thought about it carefully and agreed that this made sense. For a supreme being who had endured countless hardships and ruled the Demon Realm, a scattered and fragmented lineage of his maternal clan in the mortal world was perhaps more like a dusty mark of the past than an indispensable bond. His worries were perhaps indeed unfounded.
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