North Prince Mansion.
Wind Cloud Court.
The Wind Cloud Court, where Lu Chen resided, was the largest courtyard in the North Prince Mansion. In the past few days, Lu Chen had ordered a section of the courtyard to be transford into a small paddy field.
Then he planted so Spirit Rice in there.
Seeing Lu Chen pacing back and forth by the edge of the small paddy field, Mu Zixuan approached him with curiosity and asked, "Prince, what are you growing here?"
Lu Chen answered, "A kind of rice."
Hearing Lu Chen say it was rice, Mu Zixuan was puzzled as to why Lu Chen would pay such close attention to the small paddy field, to the point of checking it several tis each day.
"Could it be that this rice is sothing special?" Mu Zixuan asked.
Lu Chen turned to look at Mu Zixuan and replied with a smile, "Of course, if it were ordinary rice, I wouldn't bother to plant it and care for it myself."
Hearing this, Mu Zixuan grew even more curious about what was special about this rice, but then she suddenly thought of the Dragon Phoenix Tree.
Since Lu Chen said this rice was special and he needed to personally tend to it, it likely was, like the Dragon Phoenix Tree, given by an Immortal,
If it was given by an Immortal, then it was better not to ask too much to avoid leaking any secrets.
With that in mind, Mu Zixuan did not continue to pry. Seeing that she did not inquire further, Lu Chen said with a smile, "Does my consort not wonder what is so special about this rice?"
Mu Zixuan gave a light smile and then responded, "If this rice is worthy of the Prince's personal attention, then it must certainly be very precious. Your concubine better not ask too much to avoid divulging any of Your Highness's secrets."
Hearing Mu Zixuan's words, Lu Chen said with a smile, "Whether it's precious or not, we will only know once it has grown."
The system had already advised him that Spirit Rice needed to be planted in a place with relatively abundant Spiritual Energy. Due to the presence of the Dragon Phoenix Tree, the Spiritual Energy in the North Prince Mansion was sowhat richer than outside, but Lu Chen did not believe that this level of Spiritual Energy concentration would suffice for the growth needs of mystical plants.
However, it was still worth trying, as this world did not have many places rich with Spiritual Energy. It wasn't practical to just let those three pounds of Spirit Rice seeds sit unused; there was no point in holding onto them. It was better to attempt planting them – perhaps they might just grow successfully.
Just then, a maid entered the courtyard and announced, "Prince, Commander Liang seeks an audience!"
Hearing this, Lu Chen imdiately headed straight for the study without a second word.
Upon entering the study, Liang Zong first bowed respectfully, then imdiately handed over the intelligence reports he was carrying to Lu Chen, and simultaneously reported, "The situation in the capital city has been quite unsettled recently, with several Princes having faced assassination attempts, even the Crown Prince encountered an attempt on his life.
Furthermore, nurous Martial Artists have gone missing across the counties of Great Xia, and their whereabouts are unknown."
As Lu Chen listened to Liang Zong's briefing and read through the intelligence in his hands, his eyebrows knit slightly together.
If it was just an escalation in the capital's power struggles, he could understand it. After all, with his Emperor father feigning a near-death state, the Princes could not restrain themselves any longer and wanted to vie for the throne.
What really puzzled Lu Chen was the case of Martial Artist disappearances across the counties of Great Xia.
According to the intelligence, almost all of the missing Martial Artists from the counties were Fifth Grade or higher.
Although Fifth Grade Martial Artists were now common in the North Country, in the vast expanse of Great Xia, they were not so nurous among the population.
Moreover, among the missing were not only Fifth Grade Martial Artists but also those of Ninth Grade. Those who had reached Ninth Grade typically had major forces behind them, such as certain organizations, Aristocratic Families, or powerful landlords.
If soone was targeting Ninth Grade Martial Artists, the powers behind them would surely not sit idly by. But instead of targeting individuals, an entity was targeting all powers indiscriminately.
According to the reports from the Brocade Guard, the disappearances followed only one pattern: they were all Fifth Grade or higher. Regardless of martial affiliation, almost every power had suffered losses.
The disappearances had now caused panic among the major forces within the boundaries of Great Xia. Normally, those powers would not fear a rebelling Seignior since they could always switch allegiance to the victor at any ti.
But now a force had erged that indiscriminately targeted everyone, a force about which they had absolutely no understanding.
They couldn't even negotiate with this hidden power and could only watch as their own people vanished one by one. How could this not instill fear in them?
At this mont, Lu Chen asked, "Have you found out who is doing this?"
Liang Zong answered, "No, the Brocade Guard has not found a single clue. It's as if those Martial Artists have vanished into thin air."
Lu Chen fell into contemplation. Who could it be, to elude even the Brocade Guard's investigation?
Liang Zong continued, "Furthermore, several of our own have also disappeared without a trace." Discover hidden stories at empire
Within the Brocade Guard, there were many Fifth Grade Martial Artists. Since the targeting was directed at those of Fifth Grade and above, naturally, the Brocade Guard was included in the attacks.
Lu Chen's brows rose again, forming a deep "川" on his forehead.
Even mbers of the Brocade Guard had disappeared.
Who could be responsible?
Lu Chen said, "Continue the investigation. For the ti being, all Brocade Guard mbers of Fifth Grade and above are to remain quiet and not take any action. Let those below Fifth Grade investigate the situation."
Liang Zong replied, "Understood!"
Lu Chen continued, "Now, take this intelligence report to the Great Scholar."
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