The Prime Minister's Manor

*Knock, knock, knock.* Di'an, the inner courtyard of the Prime Minister's Manor. A gentle tapping drifted away on the breeze. After a long silence, a steady, middle-aged male voice finally came from within, devoid of any emotional fluctuation: "Enter." Tightly clutching the dispatch from the Western Desert, Xu Changge pushed open the door and stepped inside the moment he heard the voice. The study was very quiet. Specks of dust drifted in the falling sunlight, and curls of fragrant incense rose from a low table in the corner. Behind the desk sat a middle-aged man draped in black robes, eyes cast downward. As he reviewed memorials, he asked in a deliberate voice: "What is it?" Xu Changge walked up to the desk, set the tightly gripped secret letter before him, and murmured, "Word has arrived from the Western Desert." "..." At those words, the brush in Xu Yinhe's hand halted, the tip instantly spreading a blot of ink across the paper. Yet he did not raise his eyes, nor did he reach for the letter. A breath later, his brush resumed its flow, but an utter, suffocating stillness descended over the study. Xu Yinhe asked nothing, continuing to review the memorial with lowered eyes. Yet upon closer inspection, the strokes of his brush now pressed so hard they penetrated the paper, leaving fine indentations in the wooden desktop beneath. Seeing this, Xu Changge gently cast his gaze downward. Two days had passed since Uncle borrowed the Void Ring to teleport away. Two whole days without a trace of news. For a great city equipped with communication crystals, that silence had lasted far too long. It was not that his father refused to look or ask—it was that he did not dare. This prime minister, who wielded supreme power under heaven, did not dare read a memorial concerning the life and death of his own son. "A qi flow sea severed the communication crystals." Xu Changge broke the silence hanging in the room. Whenever excessive fluctuations of source qi erupted within a localized area over a short span of time, a qi flow sea would form, churning like a vortex that disrupted the ambient source qi and blocked all means of long-range communication. As Xu Changge's words fell, Xu Yinhe's figure still did not shift in the slightest, nor did his brush falter. Yet Xu Changge could feel the profound, heartfelt sense of relief welling up within his father. Moment by moment slipped by. Only when Xu Yinhe finished reviewing the memorial in hand did he finally lift his gaze. Slowly leaning back against the chair's backrest, he fixed his eyes on his eldest son, exuding an imposing authority without a trace of anger as he spoke, enunciating each word: "Next time you speak, do not pause." "..." Cornered by his father's stare, Xu Changge's lips curved into a faint smile. "Yes, Father. Zhenxi Prefectural City was held by Changtian." Xu Yinhe let out a soft grunt. Leaning against the backrest, he clasped his hands before him and said impassively, "I won't read the letter for now. Once the comprehensive secret dispatch is submitted, I shall review it all together. For now, give me a brief summary of what it says." After deliberating for a moment, Xu Changge murmured, "The director of Xize Province committed treason." "Mu Qing?" "Yes." "A pity. Did Changtian discover and kill him?" "Yes." "Not bad." Xu Yinhe nodded in mild praise, adding in an unhurried tone, "No need to dwell on such trivial matters; I can read them later on my own. Speak of the essentials." Xu Changge considered briefly, then lowered his voice. "In this battle of the Western Desert, the Zhenxi Army was thoroughly infiltrated by the sects—from the commanders of the two Zhenxi garrisons and elite battalion leaders at the top down to half the junior officers at the grass roots. Furthermore, a total of seven Saints on the sects' side intervened in the war. "The White Emperor, the Pavilion Master of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, the old monster of the Qin clan, along with four other unknown Saints." Hearing this, Xu Yinhe's hawklike eyes narrowed slightly, and his clasped hands tightened with a hint of force. "And then?" Xu Changge offered a concise summary: "Before the battle began, Changtian used ruthless measures to purge the majority of the traitors, swayed the fence-sitters in the military, allied with the Desert Divine Maiden and the Linlang, and unified every aristocratic clan in the city to mount a defense." Xu Yinhe lowered his head slightly, a rare smile gracing the corner of his lips. Rising slowly, he walked over to the window lattice, hands clasped behind his back, and murmured with relaxed ease: "Heh... that brat has grown up a bit after all." Xu Changge could hardly suppress the smile tugging at his lips, though his voice remained solemn: "He can barely be considered to have passed, I suppose." "..." Xu Yinhe glanced back abruptly, and Xu Changge instantly pulled his expression straight. After locking eyes for a split second, Xu Yinhe let out a soft chuckle, shook his head with a smile, and said, "With the sects infiltrating the Western Desert to such a degree, the real trouble is yet to come. Still, those tedious chores won't be left to Changtian. What were the casualties of this battle?" A sigh flitted through the depths of Xu Changge's eyes as he replied, "Huang Siwei is dead, Si Zijing is on the brink of death, the Linlang was captured, the tactical formations of Zhenxi Prefectural City are completely ruined, and civilian casualties are beyond count. However, the sects' side... lost five Saints in total." "..." Xu Yinhe's fingers, clasped behind his back, twitched faintly. He slowly turned his head, his gaze scrutinizing and naturally imposing. "Five Saints... Which five?" Xu Changge said, "Three Saints whose origins remain unknown. Their combat prowess wasn't even on par with the Transcendent Realm. Among those with names, there was only Qin Ke." "Is that so..." As if recalling something, Xu Yinhe mused faintly, "I never expected that old ghost would actually fall by Changtian's hand." "Father, Qin Ke wasn't killed by Chang—" "..." Before he could finish, Xu Yinhe cut him off with a single glance. The meaning was unmistakable: even if it wasn't his, it had to be his. Yet after a brief silence, Xu Changge insisted nonetheless: "Father, the merit of slaying Qin Ke does not belong to Changtian." Xu Yinhe frowned slightly, but pressed no further, merely nodding. "You mentioned only four just now. What of the remaining one?" At this question, Xu Changge immediately reached out, withdrew a scroll from his Sumeru ring, and spoke with an edge of gravity in his voice: "The remaining Saint is, in all probability, the person you had the Black Scale Guards investigate for decades, Father." With a casual wave of his hand, Xu Yinhe unfurled the scroll in the empty air before him. Looking at the graceful, refined woman depicted within, he unconsciously clenched his fist, and several city blocks surrounding the Prime Minister's Manor shuddered in response. The endless qi dynamic that abruptly erupted from the middle-aged man in black robes forced Xu Changge to take a step back, a flicker of shock and bewilderment slipping into his narrow eyes. From childhood to this day, he had never once seen his father react like this. After staring at the woman on the scroll for a long while, Xu Yinhe slowly closed his eyes and asked in a low voice, "With her present, how did Changtian survive?" With that, Xu Yinhe exhaled a long breath of turbid air, casually incinerated the portrait into ash, and walked back behind the desk to sit down. "Never mind. That Changtian survived is fortunate enough. Besides, forcing this person into the open has resolved a long-standing worry of mine." Xu Changge fell silent for a short while before probing cautiously, "Father, may I ask about her origins?" Xu Yinhe's brow furrowed deeply, his eyes keen as an eagle's as he tapped lightly on the desk. "An old monster. An old monster who has nearly transcended the Saint Realm. I truly never expected her to be aligned with the sects." The study fell into hushed quiet. Lowering his gaze, Xu Changge murmured, "Father... are you no match for her either?" "I do not know." A trace of reminiscence surfaced in Xu Yinhe's eyes as he glanced toward the verdant canopy outside the window. "Yet several decades ago, she once attempted to guide me toward exploring the realm beyond the Saints." "Beyond the Saints..." Xu Changge seemed about to inquire further, but Xu Yinhe clearly had no intention of elaborating, speaking in a measured voice: "I have the general picture of the situation now. Is there anything else?" "There is one more matter." Xu Changge's expression turned solemn. "What is it?" "Commandery Princess Qingle was killed in battle. She died for Changtian's sake." "..." Xu Yinhe froze for an instant. In his mind, a faint memory surfaced of her being brought home by Changtian to play. Reaching up to gently massage the space between his brows, he said softly, "Changtian... has always been deeply sentimental. He will likely take this very hard, but it should not break him." Xu Changge grew somewhat agitated, saying, "Father, back then, Chang'an's death made Changtian—" "Changge, I believe in him." Xu Yinhe cut him off, his gaze resting on Xu Changge as calm and fathomless as an abyss. "Changtian needs this hatred, he needs to accept this defeat, and even more, he needs to understand the consequences of his choices. Otherwise, how can he ever sit securely in this seat of mine in the days to come?" The moment his words fell, Xu Yinhe vanished on the spot before Xu Changge could speak another word, leaving the study plunged into deathly quiet. Only after several breaths had passed— *Smack!* Having stood motionless in place for a long time, Xu Changge struck the desk, reducing it to powder with a single blow. Clenching his fists beneath his sleeves, he turned and strode toward the door. Yet just as Xu Changge reached the doorway, Xu Yinhe's voice, laden with complicated emotion, quietly drifted into his ears: "Changge... "The Sword Sect... and the Celestial Master Manor are for you to handle yourselves. But time is truly running short..."