Chapter 1 The Imperial Court

Inside the Hall of Civil and Military Affairs, officials stood in four neat rows, silent.

Qing Si, Lan Shan, Hong Bu, Zi Dian.

Important officials representing the four major governmental organizations of the Qing Kingdom were gathered here.

Qing Si was responsible for investigating and eliminating bizarre occurrences. Anything related to the bizarre essentially passed through Qing Si’s hands. They were the primary department responsible for the safety of the people and resisting the bizarre.

Lan Shan was responsible for investigating various human-related cases and enforcing security management within the cities.

Hong Bu was responsible for clerical work, drafting laws, establishing rules, and managing finances, transportation, food supplies, and material mobilization. Almost everything was related to Hong Bu.

Zi Dian was the most special department, mostly comprised of imperial relatives or those with some blood relation to the royal family.

Zi Dian only existed in the capital; no branches were set up in other cities. It was a special department exclusively for the royal family, only commanded by them.

Its primary responsibilities were twofold: first, to protect the safety of the royal family and operate within the palace; second, to specifically supervise the other three departments, possessing special law enforcement powers. With royal permission, they could simultaneously manage any work of the other three departments.

The four departments cooperated and assisted the current Emperor in governing the entire Qing Kingdom.

Now, the Emperor had issued an edict to see Qing Si's Ye Baiyi. Taking advantage of this time, the Emperor would usually have the four departments present their memorials according to the routine of the morning court, so that the Emperor could review and handle them.

However, the sudden intrusion of a man and woman into the hall interrupted this process.

Trespassing in the Hall of Civil and Military Affairs was a capital offense, especially during the morning court.

But the man who broke into the hall caused all the civil and military officials to silently lower their heads, pretending not to see. Only a few Qing Si officials at the front of the ranks showed a change in expression when they saw the woman, but ultimately, they didn't dare to say anything here.

The Emperor, a middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, exuded an air of unapproachable majesty just by sitting lazily.

He saw the people below and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Qing Qianyang? I haven't seen you attend the morning court in a while. What brings you here today?"

Qing Qianyang knelt with You Sisi to pay their respects.

Unlike his usual casual and frivolous demeanor, Qing Qianyang was extremely serious and earnest before the Emperor.

"Reporting to Father Emperor, this son is not here to attend the morning court, but for another matter."

The Emperor's interest was piqued, and he changed his posture, asking from a high vantage point, "What is it?"

"Does Father Emperor still remember You Sisi, the daughter of the You family, to whom you once granted a marriage contract? This is You Sisi."

"And then? Does Qianyang have any objections?"

"This son has no objections, but..."

Qing Qianyang didn't continue, but glanced at You Sisi, who was kneeling beside him, and chuckled.

You Sisi immediately stood up and slowly surveyed the crowd.

The officials were all astute individuals.

They immediately made some guesses, and their expressions varied.

The You family members in Qing Si's ranks had the most dramatic change in expression, their faces turning ashen.

When You Sisi's gaze returned to the Emperor, she finally uttered four words slowly.

"I want to break the engagement!"

As soon as the words fell, the entire court was shocked!

"Is this really happening?!"

"How dare she?!"

"They're crazy! The You family is crazy!"

"Breaking the engagement in person, where does she place the Emperor? Is the imperial decree a joke!"

Coming back to their senses, some sneered, some were shocked, some were despairing. Everyone knew that a good show was about to begin!

And no one noticed that outside the hall, the Seventh Prince stood frozen in place.

He had rushed over after hearing the news, but before he could even step into the hall, he heard You Sisi's declaration. His mind went blank for a moment, and he was completely stunned, not even noticing someone quietly passing by and entering the hall.

Behind that person, a Zi Dian guard was rushing over, wiping sweat.

"Reporting! Qing Si's Ye Baiyi has arrived!"

Seeing that person had already stepped into the hall, the Zi Dian guard anxiously shouted.

Only then did everyone focus their attention on the man who had suddenly entered the hall.

In that instant, everyone's gaze was focused on Fang Yue, including... You Sisi!

Their eyes met, and it was as if they had traveled through time, countless words unspoken.

…

A few days ago.

On the Han River ship.

"Are you all okay?"

Fang Yue looked at everyone present. Apart from Jing Yan, who was almost taken away by the red-eyed monster fish, everyone else handled the crisis appropriately and no further incidents occurred.

It wasn't that the people on the ship were all strong, but that the number of red-eyed monster fish at the bow of the ship was relatively small, making them easier to deal with, so nothing happened.

In addition to their core five, there were also some commoners who had followed them when they left Chu Nuan City, as well as guards from the special envoy team.

After confirming everyone's safety, Fang Yue also squatted down to observe the red-eyed monster fish that were stuck to the hull of the ship, but after a while, he lost interest – unlike Qing Chen, he couldn't see anything.

Qing Chen, on the other hand, was very interested in squatting on the ground to study them, and couldn't be called away.

Because he was worried about what might happen with the remains of the red-eyed monster fish, Fang Yue had people clean them up.

Only this group of people was on the huge Han River ship, which felt a bit deserted.

Fortunately, the ship only needed Captain Duo to control the navigation, so there wasn't much to worry about.

The remains of the red-eyed monster fish stuck to the floor were difficult to deal with. Fang Yue and the others spent an entire day cleaning up the monster fish, leaving only a portion for Qing Chen to study.

As night fell, Fang Yue began his great pill-swallowing plan.

With the blessing of the Night Breath, Fang Yue swallowed a large number of pills, and his injuries gradually improved.

Fang Yue had also considered using Time Reversal to forcibly repair himself, but after seeing his lifespan drop from a hundred years to only a few decades, he was reluctant to use his lifespan.

[Look at you being so stingy! Be generous, be generous, understand?]

[Eat meat in big bites, burn your lifespan generously! Only by being generous can you earn more lifespan!]

[Give me applause if you understand!]

...Get lost!

[You, you actually scolded me! Even the old witch never scolded me, boo hoo hoo!]

Stop crying, I know what you're like.

Rolling his eyes, Fang Yue called Jing Yan over.

However, when Jing Yan arrived in his room, Fang Yue was stunned.

"Your, your face..."

On both sides of Jing Yan's cheeks, organs similar to fish gills had grown.

Through the leaf-like pieces of flesh, one could faintly see the distribution of blood vessels and some of the flesh structure inside.

"What's wrong with my face?"

Jing Yan himself was unaware, and curiously reached out to touch it.

It would have been better if he hadn't touched it. The touch scared him so much that he fell to the ground, his eyes wide with terror.

"Fuck, what's on my face?! What, what, what did I grow?!"