Chapter 335: Chapter 58: Resolving Conflicts
Imperial City, Ziwei Hall.
A red-robed eunuch entered from outside the hall and presented to the Emperor a document that had just been delivered.
The Emperor opened it and saw that it pertained to the attack on Jiang Li.
Now, not even two quarters had passed since the attack on Jiang Li, and the Emperor had already received detailed information, including Jiang Li’s current location at the Imperial College, which was recorded quite meticulously.
Both inside and outside the Divine Capital, there were spies of the Southern Heavenly Department. If anything significant happened, these spies would gather information at the earliest moment and pass it on to the Divine Travel Grand Protector.
The Divine Travel Grand Protector would then sort out these reports and directly relay them to the on-duty Merit, who used the Dao Fruit Ability "Direct to Heaven" to inform specific individuals, ultimately presenting it step by step to the Emperor.
Thus, even without anyone mentioning it directly to the Emperor, very few significant events in and around the Divine Capital could escape his notice.
Having read the information in the document, the Emperor revealed a half-smiling expression and said, "They really don’t hold me in their eyes at all, daring to avoid my warning and even killing the person involved. With such a temperament, it’s no wonder they dared to grievously injure the Prince."
Given the Jiang family’s child’s past displays of cunning, he definitely could guess the profound implications of the warning and that it might come from the Emperor.
Yet, knowing this, Jiang Li not only avoided the warning but even killed the person.
Everyone knows that both thunder and dew are graces from the sovereign; such actions can certainly be deemed utterly rebellious, and if defiance could manifest physically, Jiang Li’s would surely stab through the back of his skull.
However, it wasn’t Jiang Li who killed the person, but an Imperial College Scholar.
Even if punishments were to be meted out, they couldn’t be directed at Jiang Li.
"My Feng Chang, my Great Sacrificial Officer, he must have recognized the identity of the assassin, but he showed no reaction. Is he also trying to defy me?"
The half-smile deepened as the Emperor spoke indifferently, "Order the Southern Heavenly Department to investigate this assassination attempt against the Jiang family’s child thoroughly."
"Yes."
The red-robed eunuch complied, then quickly drafted the imperial decree, stamped it, exited the room, and headed to the Southern Heavenly Department.
***
***
"Knock, knock, knock—"
"Knock, knock."
Knocking sounds came, three long and two short. The maid behind Jiang Li went to open the door but found no one outside.
Unsurprised, she bent down, revealing a captivating curve beneath her slender waist, picked up a wax pill from the ground, closed the door, and returned to Jiang Li’s side.
She crushed the small wax pill between her pale, delicate fingers, took out a paper slip from inside, and started reading it herself without handing it to Jiang Li.
"The Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation into your assassination attempt by the Southern Heavenly Department."
The gentle voice resonated in his ear with its usual melodious tone, spoken by the maid who had always accompanied Jiang Li.
Jiang Li showed no surprise, focusing only on the message conveyed, "Has the news from the Southern Heavenly Department reached here so quickly?"
And also, how had the news of his attack reached the Emperor so swiftly?
Clearly, the Emperor had his informants both inside and outside the Divine Capital, and even around the Imperial College, there were no lack of secret probes. Similarly, his side also had plenty of eyes and ears around; thinking about the timing, the Southern Heavenly Department had probably only just received their orders, and yet news had already reached here.
This meant there were either spies inside the Imperial City or insiders within the Southern Heavenly Department.
And this message had also reached the Imperial College...
Such a distribution of informants was indeed perfect.
"The Southern Heavenly Department is indeed that woman’s territory; how could I not have placed spies there?" The maid, though only plainly beautiful, exuded an elegant demeanor and stated matter-of-factly, "Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles."
"As for the spies in the Imperial College, they are arranged by Tian Ji. Due to a Dao Artifact located within the Imperial College, the area is dense with Vast Qi which protects the college. Anyone harboring ill will towards the Imperial College would experience their spirit being suppressed by the Vast Qi, eventually exposing their flaws and being detected. Thus, Tian Ji’s informers are limited to some day-to-day workers on the periphery."
Jiang Li could also sense the pervasive invisible Qi, which somewhat slowed his Heart Demon Sword Intent, though it didn’t much affect his mind.
Although Jiang Li was cunning and ruthless, known for murder and arson, and even attempted to charge at his master, his Daoist Heart was Pure Yang, which theoretically made him a good person.
Thus, the Vast Qi might at most, due to its high density, affect his perception, but all other effects were minimal.
"The Imperial College also has substantial depth," Jiang Li remarked, then brought up the pressing issue, "This decree from the Emperor seems to suggest picking sides."
"We are picking sides between the Ji Family and the Jiang family, not between us and the Emperor," the maid said coolly.
Loudly directing the Southern Heavenly Department to investigate, the identity of the assassin was very likely to not remain hidden.
Eventually, it would emerge that the assassin was from the Ji family and the victim was from the Jiang family, bringing the conflict between the Ji and Jiang families to the fore once again.
At that point, some people would probably place their bets and pick sides.
Moreover, the vast majority definitely wouldn’t side with Jiang Li.
This was about picking sides, but not really about picking sides.
"Is he trying to muddy the waters?" Jiang Li pondered, "He’s buying time."
It wasn’t about outright dividing lines for an open confrontation but rather about confusing everyone, trying to stir up muddy waters. This undoubtedly showed that the Emperor somewhat understood the situation and knew that once the truth about immortality was revealed, there would be many opponents, including those within the Ji family itself.
In such a scenario, even if the Emperor was one of the Supreme beings of the world, he too would find it troublesome.
Therefore, he wanted to muddle the waters, keep the opponents from coordinating, and buy time.
Once the rhythm of opposition between the Ji and Jiang families was established, with the Emperor further fueling the conflict, Jiang Li would be in trouble, busy dealing with it, whereas the Emperor could simply watch from the sidelines.
It had to be said that worthy of an Emperor, his seasoned tactics were truly breathtaking.
Assuming the rhythm could be set.
"The Emperor’s move is indeed clever, but since you and I have speculated it out, it’s not hard to deal with," the maid chuckled lightly, "As long as this point of contradiction disappears, this move will fall apart on its own."
So, the question arose, how to resolve the contradiction?
Having the Emperor rescind the order was naturally impossible, and handing over the murderer was also out of the question; thus, the only solution was to make one of the opposing parties disappear.
If the matter of contradiction couldn’t be resolved, then the ones creating the contradiction had to be dealt with.
The Ji family and the Jiang family, one of them had to go.
Considering that the Ji family was more influential and even Jiang Li’s dear master was from the Ji family, it left only the Jiang family to disappear.
To make the Jiang family, which only had one public figure, disappear meant—
Jiang Li had to die.
Jiang Li quickly realized this, then showed a somewhat rueful expression.
So, it seemed his act of being severely injured wasn’t enough; he also had to play dead.