The man in the black robe did not hurry to say who Qin Fengmian had sent Zhu Yan to meet. Instead, he continued, "Not long ago, Bai Cheng's senior disciple Zhu Yan went to Yunzhou to recruit people for the Yin Yang Office, but he was severely beaten on his return. Rumor has it that the person who beat him was a young lady."
Murong Yuan's pupils constricted. "There was such an event?"
Initially, he had proposed establishing the Yin Yang Office to please his father, the Emperor, and also with his own future in mind.
The purple gold dragon aura he possessed was stolen, and after nurturing it for fourteen years, it still felt like a stranger, unable to fully integrate with his body.
Although he now had a teacher to guide him, he did not have to worry about the dragon aura being stolen back.
But what about the future?
After all, his teacher was getting old. Once the teacher ascended to heaven, how would he cope?
Therefore, he needed to establish his own power base as soon as possible and recruit all the high-ranking cultivators in Yan Country to serve him.
However, his teacher was nearly invisible, seldom interfering in such matters. Murong Yuan did not understand these matters himself, so he had entrusted everything to Bai Cheng, the Imperial Tutor.
Since then, Murong Yuan had hardly inquired about the Yin Yang Office's affairs.
He never expected such a small incident to occur.
But his teacher had just said that the person who severely injured Zhu Yan was a young lady?
"It must be fake news," Murong Yuan did not believe it. "Zhu Yan has been Bai Cheng's disciple for over ten years. I have witnessed his skills, and he practices the Qimen Divination Technique. Even if Bai Cheng fought him, it would take half a day's effort to break his Qimen formation. How could a young lady severely injure him?"
"An ordinary young lady certainly could not," the man in the black robe sneered. "But what if she was from the Heavenly Master's Mansion?"
The Heavenly Master's Mansion!
A ringing sound echoed in Murong Yuan's mind.
The Heavenly Master's Mansion had a mysterious female disciple, rumored to be the only female disciple accepted by the sect in its hundred-year history since its establishment on Cangwu Mountain. She possessed exceptional talents and was extraordinarily mysterious.
She never descended the mountain, and no one at the foot of the mountain knew her name or appearance.
Even when Murong Yuan personally led people to the Heavenly Master's Mansion to request the senior disciple Zhang Hengyi to come down from the mountain, they could not catch a glimpse of her true appearance.
This unseen female disciple of the Heavenly Master's Mansion had a great reputation in the cultivation world. Even Murong Yuan, an outsider, had heard numerous rumors about her.
However, Murong Yuan still did not believe it.
"The last time I personally led people to Cangwu Mountain, their attitude was clear. The Heavenly Master's Mansion would not interfere in imperial court affairs."
"How could that female disciple appear around Murong Xun?"
The man in the black robe was also perplexed.
Aside from the female disciple from the Heavenly Master's Mansion, he could not think of any other sect whose female disciple could injure Zhu Yan so severely and easily break his Qimen Divination Technique formation.
Murong Yuan could not associate the young maidservant around Xie Xun with the disciple from the Heavenly Master's Mansion either.
But since his teacher had this speculation, he could not entirely reject it.
"If it really is the disciple from the Heavenly Master's Mansion, can the teacher handle her?"
The man in the black robe pondered for a moment. "With utmost effort, I may be able to fight her."
Murong Yuan's heart trembled. "The teacher's decades of cultivation can only match her with utmost effort?"
"Cultivation has nothing to do with age; innate talent is the key," the man in the black robe explained. "That young lady possesses a celestial spirit root and is blessed with a divine-level talent. On the surface, her master is the second disciple of the old Heavenly Master.
However, in reality, she was personally taught by the old Heavenly Master himself.
Her cultivation level is second only to the old Heavenly Master."
Murong Yuan was utterly astonished. "But no matter what, she is just a young lady in her early teens!"
The man in the black robe did not elaborate further.
Murong Yuan was not a cultivator, so he would not understand what a "divine-level talent" meant.
For ordinary people or those without any talent who could only rely on hard work, it would take ten years of effort to catch up with what someone with a divine-level talent could achieve in a single year.
A divine-level talent was something countless cultivators dreamed of, yet he had encountered only one such individual in his life.
"Then what should we do?" Murong Yuan grew anxious.
If the young maidservant around Xie Xun was truly the female disciple from the Heavenly Master's Mansion, then it was clear that she had come for him.
The man in the black robe smiled. "Why the hurry? I haven't finished speaking."
This had Murong Yuan catching his breath.
He could only restrain himself and sit back down, personally refilling the man's tea.
The man in the black robe slowly continued, "There is a reason why this young lady has not descended the mountain for over ten years."
"What reason?"
"She has a fatal weakness," the man in the black robe curled his lips. "During the full moon nights, she is at her most vulnerable. While I cannot defeat her under normal circumstances, I may be able to try during the full moon nights."
Murong Yuan's previously dejected heart regained hope.
"So does the teacher mean for me to hold off for now and wait for the full moon night?"
The man in the black robe nodded. "Calculate the days, and it's not far off. These few days won't make a difference."
"Good, I'll follow the teacher's instructions."
Then, he thought of something else. "Did the teacher say earlier that the young lady has been recruited by the Yin Yang Office?"
The man in the black robe raised his eyebrows. "Your Highness previously wanted to invite someone from the Heavenly Master's Mansion to manage the Yin Yang Office, right? Now that someone has voluntarily come to you, wouldn't it be better to take her under your wing?"
Murong Yuan realized it made sense.
Whether it was the destined Princess Ye Chan from the King Ning's Mansion or the divine-talent female disciple from the Heavenly Master's Mansion, they should all serve him!
After returning, Murong Yuan had the contaminated bathwater replaced while Xie Xun and Jiang Xiaoxiao were still bathing.
He also had some tea and snacks sent over, saying that the palace banquet was still some time away, and they should have something to fill their stomachs first.
During the bath, Xie Xun used his keen sense of smell to check, and the bathwater was fine.
Until the late afternoon, when the palace banquet was about to begin, no one had come to them.
Xie Xun couldn't help but frown. "Could it be that I misjudged the situation?"
The person trying to steal the dragon aura from Murong Yuan must be in the Eastern Palace, and Murong Yuan had invited them specifically to allow that person to get close to him and reseal the dragon aura.
But they had been waiting, and there was no movement from the Eastern Palace at all.
"If they don't come, then they don't come," Jiang Xiaoxiao stuffed a snack into her mouth. "Whenever they come, I'll deal with them!"
Not long after, Murong Yuan personally came with two palace maids.
The maids each carried a tray, with one set of elaborate robes for a man and another for a woman.
Murong Yuan had the air of an elder brother. "I didn't know your size, Third Brother, so I couldn't have new robes made. These are mine, but they should fit you. You can wear this set when you meet Father Emperor later."
Xie Xun's expression was calm and indifferent. "Your Highness can keep it. I'm not in the habit of wearing other people's discarded clothes."
These words, at first glance, seemed innocuous, but upon closer examination, they were clearly a veiled insult towards Murong Yuan.
As the old saying goes, a woman is like a piece of clothing. Even though the Princess of King Ning's Mansion had taken the initiative to break off her engagement, she was once Xie Xun's fiancée.
Now that she belonged to Murong Yuan, it was as if he was wearing someone else's ragged clothes!
Murong Yuan's face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly regained his smile. "It seems that my third brother has grown accustomed to the laidback lifestyle of a small place like Yunzhou. Since you don't want to use it, there's no need. Prepare yourselves, we shall depart for the Jianzhang Palace to meet our father the Emperor immediately."
Let you gloat for a couple of days first. When the full moon arrives, I shall make you wish you were dead!
