Directorate for Credentials Manager Zhang Yong's guess was completely off.

The death of his subordinate, Manager Li Shan, was not caused by some rebel. Li Shan had simply wanted to kill a eunuch in passing but wound up losing his own life instead.

However, Zhang Yong had made a correct guess about something.

Back then, when the Taixu Sect was completely wiped out, many people besides Chun Fei had escaped and survived.

Furthermore, someone had come to the capital and secretly snuck into the imperial compound. Then, that person went to Changmen Palace to look for Chun Fei.

…

…

Chun Fei's birth name was Li Xuelian.

Not only was she extremely beautiful, but she also had natural endowments in martial arts. A master at Taixu Sect had taken a liking to her at a very young age and took her in as his pupil, bringing her to the Sect to cultivate.

Even though she was only slightly over 30 years old, she had the strength of a peak grade-5 expert and was approaching the strength of a grade-6 expert.

Chun Fei also had an elder sister from the same mother called Li Qinghe.

Even though Li Qinghe did not enter a sect to practice martial arts like Li Xuelian, she was chosen to enter the palace when she was in her teenage years and received the favor of the emperor! In the short span of just over ten years, she had gone from being an imperial maid to the highest-ranking imperial concubine!

Furthermore, she even gave birth to a son and a daughter for the emperor, who became the ninth prince and the thirteenth princess respectively. As a result, the emperor's favor towards her rose even further.

The ninth prince had extraordinary natural endowments from a young age, and was outstanding in the scholastic and martial arts. Thus, the emperor also deeply favored him.

According to this trend, it was not impossible for Senior Concubine Li to become the empress and the ninth prince to become the crown prince in the future.

However, a storm could arise from a clear sky.

Senior Concubine Li had been living a good life when she suddenly died!

Furthermore, a rumor was circulating in the palace that Senior Concubine Li had not died innocent. Instead, she had had malicious intentions and wanted to poison the current crown prince in order to get rid of the obstacle that blocked the ninth prince from becoming the crown prince!

If the imperial doctor had not saved him in time, the crown prince might actually have been killed.

Even though this information was not conclusive, no other clear information was circulated from the imperial compound.

However, the emperor was not upset over Senior Concubine Li's death and did not actually investigate Senior Concubine Li's cause of death. He simply said that she had suddenly died and suppressed this incident, leaving it unsettled.

However, what happened with who is now the current empress could lead to some conclusions.

Eighty to ninety percent of Senior Concubine Li's death was her fault!

If not, the emperor's doting love towards her would not have ended in such a hurry.

After Li Xuelian — the current Chun Fei — received this news, she was extremely furious. She firmly did not believe that her gentle and kind sister, who could not even bear to kill an ant, was the vicious woman in the rumors who wanted to poison the crown prince!

There was definitely some injustice in this!

Thus, Li Xuelian disrupted her cultivation at the Taixu Sect and used various connections to enter the imperial compound. Then, she was chosen as an imperial concubine.

Her objective was to investigate the true reason for her sister's death and help her sister redress those injustices!

However, before she could investigate the truth behind the death of Senior Concubine Li, the Taixu Sect was involved in a rebellion against the emperor and was ordered by the emperor to be punished as a result.

Thus, even the Taixu Sect, which was considered a top-rate sect in the world, was completely wiped out overnight. Over ninety percent of their pupils were killed, and only a very small number of people escaped alive.

There could only have been one conclusion. After all, the current generation in the Taixu Sect only had one grade-8 master and three grade-7 masters. They did not have many powerhouses.

Most importantly, there were no grade-9 experts at all!

If they had a great grade-9 master, the Taixu Sect would not have been eliminated.

With the removal of the Taixu Sect, Chun Fei had no support in the palace at all and was completely isolated. A careless "mistake" had even angered and offended the emperor. Thus, she was sent to the cold palace, and no concern had been shown to her for several years.

Even though she had been sent there, Chun Fei had never abandoned her search for her sister's true cause of death!

With her cultivation base and combat abilities, she frequently snuck out of Changmen Palace at night and probed for clues everywhere.

Everything would come to those who waited.

When she snuck out a few nights ago, she secretly listened to the conversation between Directorate for Credentials Manager Zhang Yong and a mysterious person. The contents of their conversation involved Senior Concubine Li's death back then. She had indeed been framed!

Back then, someone had wanted to kill the crown prince. However, it was not Senior Concubine Li, but Consort Xian!

Consort Xian was now Her Majesty the Empress!

Meanwhile, her son, the third prince, was now appointed as the crown prince!

When Chun Fei heard this explosive news, she was so shocked that she accidentally made some noise. When she was about to escape, Zhang Yong attacked her and left her severely injured.

Chun Fei felt that since she had heard such important information and was severely injured, there was no doubt that she would definitely die.

Regardless of whether it was the empress or Directorate of Credentials Manager Zhang Yong, they would not let her off the hook.

However, Chun Fei simply could not understand why, for some unknown reason, the assassin that she had expected never arrived!

Every night, she was prepared for the possibility that she would be killed, yet every night had passed by peacefully.

Could it be that Zhang Yong and the Empress were afraid of something and did not dare to attack her?

Just like that, a month filled with anxiety had passed.

At midnight.

Once again, someone secretly came to the Changmen Palace that had been silent for a long time.

Naturally, the first one to discover this was Lin Ping.

However, he still followed the old rules and pretended as if he did not know anything. He simply went to his bed and lay down to sleep.

It was still fine.

This time, the person did not go into his room. Instead, he simply headed towards Chun Fei's bedroom.

Just as Lin Ping was expecting to hear sounds of combat, he never thought that he would hear Chun Fei's surprised yet suppressed voice. "Senior Brother? Why are you here?"

"Ha ha ha, I made very great breakthroughs not too long ago. Even though I am still in the grade-6 realm, I'm equally matched to grade-7 masters!" The voice of a man could be heard. Even though he lowered his voice, he could not conceal the delight and savagery in it.

"Really? You can rival a grade-7 master?" Chun Fei was even more surprised.

Before the Taixu Sect was eliminated, apart from a grade-8 master, there were only three grade-7 masters. They were considered their top combat powers.

There were a hundred thousand eunuchs and imperial maids, as well as many soldiers and guards in this imperial compound, but there were only over a dozen grade-7 masters stationed here!

Thus, any master that was able to achieve the top three grades was definitely a great figure!

"Of course it's true! I clashed with a grade-7 master a few days ago, but we were equally matched! Relax, Junior Sister. I, He Liang, will ensure your safety from now on! First, let me help you investigate the cause of your sister's death. One day, I will cultivate and break through to become a grade-9 master. I will avenge the Taixu Sect!"

"Senior Brother, I've more or less discovered the reason for my sister's death back then…"

Chun Fei roughly explained what had happened a month ago to her Senior Brother, a survivor from the Taixu Sect.

"That old bisexual Zhang Yong actually dared to harm Junior Sister! I will definitely find an opportunity to avenge you, Junior Sister! That old castrate is ranked in the lower levels among the managers of the twelve directorates, the four departments, and the eight bureaus. Furthermore, he only has the cultivation base of a grade-7. I will eventually kill him!" He Liang's cold voice was dignified and proud.

Lin Ping simply shook his head when he heard this.

He truly did not like the term "bisexual" now.

Furthermore, most importantly, regardless of what his position and ranking were, Zhang Yong had the cultivation base of a true grade-7 expert.

Even if a grade-6 could rival a grade-7 master, did he have the confidence that he could kill him?

The two of them continued to chat.

"Junior Sister, since your current situation is so dangerous, then I'll stay at Changmen Palace. That's right, apart from Junior Sister and Yun Su, is there anyone else in Changmen Palace?" He Liang asked.

Chun Fei replied, "Apart from Yun Su and me, there is another eunuch."

"Another eunuch is here? Eunuchs are a hindrance, and he might be a spy that someone had sent here. I will 'resolve' him immediately. It will also become convenient for me to live here in the future," said He Liang, as if he was very familiar with this.

It was as if he had lived in Changmen Palace in the past.

It turned out that over the past few years, several dozen eunuchs had died in Changmen Palace not simply because they had been killed by assassins. Some of them had also been killed by a survivor of the Taixu Sect, He Liang!

Just as Lin Ping laughed coldly in his heart and thought about how to silently beg for mercy to He Liang…

Imperial maid Yun Su softly cautioned him, "Senior Brother He, how about sparing this eunuch's life? This eunuch is usually very frank and does not speak much. He is rather obedient."

When He Liang heard this, he looked at imperial maid Yun Su with displeasure.

At this moment, Chun Fei said, "Senior Brother, this eunuch is not bad. Just let him be. If he dies, there won't be anyone to sweep the floor."

"Sure, I'll listen to Junior Sister and spare his life. Leave him to sweep the floor." This time, He Liang nodded his head in agreement, satisfied.

…

After the three of them finished chatting, they prepared to go to sleep.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps could once again be heard in Changmen Palace.

Someone else had come!

Furthermore, even though this person had also jumped over the wall, he did not do so secretly nor intentionally conceal his movements. Instead, he simply strutted forward and then stopped in the courtyard.

Chun Fei was scared. "Senior Brother, someone's here!"

He Liang laughed out loud. "Junior Sister, relax. I'll show you how impressive Senior Brother is tonight!"