Chapter 146: Great Elder, Junior Elder

“I haven’t found Her Majesty yet. I will return immediately once there is news,” one of the elderly said as he knitted his brows. There were two elders in the official residence, sitting down facing each other.

“That sorcerer should have been killed long ago if not such matters wouldn’t have happened. If Her Majesty were to get into any trouble, the consequences would be disastrous,” Junior Elder Zhe Kouhai spoke.

Facing him was the Great Elder Shi Qing. He closed his eyes with a look of worry on his face.

The empress’ disappearance was indeed a very serious matter.

As time passed, even though Xin Zhe had kept it a secret, other people were already starting to find something amiss.

When night fell, both Elders entered the palace together. They then realized that Xin Zhe actually dared to keep mum about such a serious matter.

At this time, the Department of Inspection was conducting a large scale search in the city. Even the Left Army had been activated to search outside the borders of Lan City. Such big operation had already brought about much suspicion. At most, this matter could only be kept a secret for another day. If the empress was still not found by noon the next day, everything would be in a huge chaos.

“I feel that it’s better if we inform the General-in-Chief who Supports the Nation,” Zhe Kouhai suggested after thinking for a long while.

“It’s not necessary for that yet. We shall inform the General-in-Chief who Supports the Nation to get ready if the empress is still not found by noon tomorrow.” Shi Qing sighed.

“Xin Zhe really ought to die. The empress actually went missing in the palace when she is supposed to be protecting her. And yet, she still made a futile attempt to conceal the matter. Damn it. If she wasn’t the commander of the palace’s imperial guards for the search, I would have banished her to the prison at once. If anything were to happen to Her Majesty, she must be executed in public,” Zhe Kouhai continued talking.

But, Shi Qing remained silent with his eyes closed.

At present, his brows were almost as knotted as a fried dough twist. His already wrinkled face seemed even older.

The two men just sat there facing each other from late night till sunrise.

Zhe Kouhai stood up and said, “One night has already passed, and yet, there is still no news. We’d better make some preparations.”

Shi Qing, who was sitting there the entire time, opened his eyes abruptly. His eyes glowed with radiance. “What are you planning to do?”

Zhe Kouhai lowered his head and looked at Shi Qing. “If we still cannot find Her Majesty by today, someone will definitely notice and perhaps create disorder. We have to prepare for this.”

Shi Qing stared at him for quite some time before shutting his eyes again.

Zhe Kouhai left the residence, got into the carriage and let out a snort.

Her Majesty has already been missing for an entire day.

Furthermore, it happened in the palace.

It’s possible that she may never come back again.

If Her Majesty still cannot be found over the next few days, then we should probably invite that person back.

…

Presently, there were still a few imperial guards keeping watch at Yangxin Palace Hall.

The air in the palace hall suddenly warped, and two people appeared unexpectedly.

“Who is that? Your Majesty!” A few imperial guards witnessed two people appearing in the palace hall. Immediately, they knelt on one knee with overflowing joy at the unexpected good news.

Naturally, the people who appeared in the palace hall were Ren Baqian and Her Majesty.

Ren Baqian was wearing casual pants and a shirt. The empress was wearing a red dress, but it was a different outfit.

The empress released her grip on Ren Baqian’s hand, turned around, walked a few steps and sat down on the couch. “How long has it been since I left?” She said with a cold voice.

“Your Majesty, it has already been twenty hours.”

“Did anything happen? Where is Qing Yuan and Hong Luan? Get Xin Zhe here too.” After the empress spoke, the imperial guards at the lower ground responded and two of them hurried off.

The remaining two guards stayed to tell her about some of the things they knew.

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For instance, news about Xin Zhe ordering all the imperial guards to search the palace. At the same time, she concealed the matter and ordered the Department of Inspection to conduct a large-scale search in Lan City. But, due to the huge extent of mobilization, it attracted two Elders who found out about Her Majesty’s disappearance, and they notified the Left Army to search outside the city borders. Another piece of news was that Qing Yuan and Hong Luan were locked up in the side palace hall with someone keeping watch.

To sum up, the empress’ disappearance for a day had left many people alarmed.

After all, given her status, her every action would already set off quite a bit of disturbance, not to mention something like her disappearance.

After a short while, Xin Zhe, donned in her helmet and body armor, took big strides into the palace hall. She was full of exultation. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

The empress nodded, “You’ve done well. Ask the Great Elder and Junior Elder to enter the palace, and inform the Left Army and Department of Inspection to halt the search. Get Ke Yong and Lei Yue to see me. The rest of you may take your leave.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I bid my farewell.” Xin Zhe and the other two imperial guards responded and left in large strides.

After they left, the empress looked at Ren Baqian, and said with a gentler tone, “You too, get some rest, don’t hold up your practice.”

“I shall take my leave, Your Majesty.” Ren Baqian replied, turned around and left the palace hall. After taking a few steps, he saw Qing Yuan and Hong Luan hurrying over, staring at him sternly.

You unexpectedly disappeared with Her Majesty and implicated the both of us.

It was not that much of a grievance, but they felt some resentment towards Ren Baqian.

On the contrary, Ren Baqian returned to Pingle Park with a good-natured smile, heaving a sigh as soon as he got back to his room.

The empress was much gentler during those two days on Earth. Ren Baqian saw her in different states of mind: enviousness, restlessness, curiousness, etc. She seemed more like an ordinary person. But once she returned to Dayao, she reverted to the originally highly revered empress once again.

As he made breakfast in the kitchen, the empress was naively sitting on the sofa dressed in red, eating ice cream, and watching the news on television. Ren Baqian actually fancied that empress—a lot in fact.

On the other hand, this cold and dignified empress always made him feel extremely pressured.

Eliminating that thought from his head, Ren Baqian estimated the time for his next return. It was two and a half days on Earth and twenty hours over here.

Ren Baqian intended to try and not to initiate going back on his own the next time. He wanted to find out how long he could stay in this world.

After sitting on his bed for a while, Ren Baqian removed all those distracting thoughts out of his head. He then focused on the [Visualization of Water] of the [Ruyi Visualization], and once again appeared by the side of the lake.

Many people knew something about the disappearance of the empress. But, the majority of them only knew that the husband that the empress chose suddenly went missing in the palace. The large-scale search outside the city borders by the Department of Inspection stopped after a day, and he was reportedly found.

Shi Qing felt relieved after hearing that the empress had returned. The wrinkles on his face had also evened out.

However, Zhe Kouhai was distracted for a long while when he heard the news. In the end, he did not speak a single word and eventually entered the palace to seek an audience with the empress.

When he arrived at the palace doors, he saw that Shi Qing’s carriage already there.

“Her Majesty has returned.” Shi Qing let out a profound laughter as he spoke to Zhe Kouhai.

“This is great news. I feel more relieved too.” Zhe Kouhai laughed as well.

Both men entered the palace to see the empress together.

“I wonder where has Your Majesty gone to this time?” Shi Qing questioned as he saw the empress.

“An interesting place,” the empress casually replied. Earth was indeed pretty interesting to her.

The culture, the bustle, and also the extremely powerful weapons. Those were the things from Earth that left her with the deepest impressions.

She hoped that Dayao could one day be like that too.

“I probably shouldn’t intervene with Your Majesty’s whereabouts, but I feel that it will be better if Your Majesty can inform us in the future. Furthermore, it is also unwise to travel alone,” Shi Qing said.

“I understand. Don’t worry about this,” the empress replied as she waved her hand.

“The reason I’ve summoned the both of you, is to tell you that I am fine. If there is nothing else, you may take your leave.”

“Your Majesty’s disappearance this time has made quite a big impact. It has left many people in the palace flustered. Prior to this, nothing of this sort has happened before.

I feel that Ren Baqian has bewitched Your Majesty with sorcery. Your Majesty, please kill this man and choose another man as your husband,” Zhe Kouhai suddenly petitioned.

Upon hearing his words, the empress immediately squinted her eyes, resembling the eyes of a phoenix.