225 An Extremely Sad Truth
As he spoke, all the subtle expressions on Xuan Wushang’s face disappeared. There was no sadness, joy, anger, or resentment, as if his face was covered by an emotionless mask.
However, because he had a sinister expression to begin with, even if his face was expressionless, he still looked terrifying.
Liu Ruxi felt as if a cold hand was gripping her heart. Her face instantly turned pale, but she still pretended to be calm and asked, “His Majesty, I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Why did you lie to me?”
Xuan Wushang went straight to the point and asked indifferently, “Cultivate cocoons in my territory to fight for your Heavenly Saint Dynasty… Lord Liu, what a good scheme.”
Liu Ruxi held her breath. She didn’t know how Xuan Wushang found out about this, but since he already knew it, he must have decided what to do with her!
“Your Majesty, please spare me!”
Liu Ruxi immediately knelt on one knee and said as sincerely and anxiously as possible, “Previously, I had some lingering feelings for my daughter, which was why I did something that jeopardized the Great Yong Dynasty.”
“But now all the feelings are gone. The Heavenly Saint will definitely not last long under her leadership. I’m willing to do my best to help you unify the world!”
Looking at Liu Ruxi kneeling in front of him, Xuan Wushang suddenly chuckled. “Lord Liu, there’s no need to be so terrified. I didn’t mean to scare you. Besides… I’m also hiding something from you.”
Liu Ruxi frowned slightly. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Lord Liu, please rise.”
Xuan Wushang reached out to help Liu Ruxi up with a faint smile on his face. “Lord Liu, do you know the difference between the martial artists of the Great Yong Dynasty and the Heavenly Saint Dynasty?”
This question was without rhyme or reason, but Liu Ruxi still replied seriously, “The Great Yong martial artists are naturally close to nature, so with a little training, they can use the power of nature to their advantage.”
“That’s right. You have been in Great Yong for many years and indeed know a lot.”
Xuan Wushang smiled ambiguously. Without waiting for Liu Ruxi to speak, he continued, “Lord Liu, do you know how long it will take to nurture the martial artists of Great Yong from the beginning to master the simplest technique of riding the wind?”
Liu Ruxi thought for a moment. “According to my training and nurturing of those newbies, this depends on everyone’s aptitude. Those with extraordinary aptitude can ride the wind within a month, but those with poor aptitude need more than half a year.”
Xuan Wushang nodded thoughtfully. “Lord Liu, how long did it take you to learn to ride the wind?”
Liu Ruxi looked embarrassed. “Your Majesty, I’m not talented and was born in the Heavenly Saint Dynasty. It took me more than two months to barely be able to ride the wind.”
The corners of Xuan Wushang’s mouth curled up slightly. “Lord Liu, did you notice anything wrong?”
“Anything wrong?”
Liu Ruxi frowned slightly. “I’m slow-witted. Please enlighten me, Your Majesty.”
“Hehe…”
Xuan Wushang smiled meaningfully. His sinister gaze landed on Liu Ruxi’s face, but it was also as if he was looking at something else. His thin lips opened slightly. “To the martial artists of the Great Yong, riding the wind is as simple as breathing. There’s no need to train or nurture them at all.”
Liu Ruxi was blown away. She almost instantly understood what Xuan Wushang wanted to say!
The martial artists of the Great Yong Dynasty did not need to be nurtured to be able to ride the wind. However, the “cocoons” she made would take at least a month or half a year at the longest to achieve.
This was rather contradictory to her understanding—unless the cocoons weren’t originally from the Great Yong Dynasty at all!
“It seems that you understand.”
Xuan Wushang smiled faintly. However, in Liu Ruxi’s eyes, he was more terrifying than a demon that had crawled out of hell!
“The people you’ve been using to experiment on over the years were originally refugees, beggars, and even prisoners exiled to the border from the Heavenly Saint Dynasty. However, you need too many people, so I can only get people to kidnap villagers in remote places. Only then can I barely supply your research…”
At this point, Xuan Wushang suddenly looked at Liu Ruxi with a kind smile. “Lord Liu, are you very touched that I’m so supportive of what you are doing?”
“Are you saying that the people who died because of my research all these years are actually the subjects of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty?”
Liu Ruxi stared at Xuan Wushang and asked with a trembling voice. Actually, she already knew the answer. It was just that she was unwilling to admit it, so she hoped that Xuan Wushang could give her a different answer.
Back then, she had spent a lot of effort to sneak into the Great Yong Dynasty to use the people of the Great Yong Dynasty to complete the research and bring the results back to benefit the Heavenly Saint Dynasty.
However, now that she heard that those people were actually the subjects of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, even if Liu Ruxi had already decided to cut ties with the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, she could not help but be shocked when she heard this news!
Xuan Wushang did not answer. He only looked at Liu Ruxi and smiled sinisterly. “I’ve sent 500 people to the Heavenly Saint Dynasty. In just a day, I’ll be able to spread your achievements to the world…”
“No!”
Liu Ruxi shouted anxiously. After saying that, she realized that she had lost her composure and hurriedly explained, “Your Majesty, what I mean is that although I’ve completely cut ties with the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, the cocoons are not ready to fight yet.”
“If the news gets out at this moment, all the countries will definitely declare war on us together. I’m afraid it will affect your plan to unify the world!”
Xuan Wushang smiled. It was unknown if he believed her or not, but he already had something to use to threaten Liu Ruxi. He was not afraid that Liu Ruxi would suddenly turn against him.
Thinking of this, Xuan Wushang patted Liu Ruxi’s shoulder gently, and his attitude clearly softened. “Lord Liu, you’re right. Then I’ll continue to leave this research to you. Don’t let me down!”
With that, Xuan Wushang turned around and left.
Liu Ruxi’s expression instantly darkened, but she gritted her teeth and stared at Xuan Wushang’s departing figure for a long time. In the end, she silently put away the soft sword and followed him.
…
Three miles away from the Great Yong Southern Border on a tree.
After Lin Ran put the empress down, he released his divine sense to check the surroundings. After confirming that there were no pursuers, he heaved a sigh of relief.
“Your Majesty.”
Lin Ran looked at the empress and asked softly, “What do you think of this? What is Xuan Wushang planning?”
“I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good.”
The empress shook her head and frowned. “The most important thing now is to return to the palace as soon as possible and remove the wanted post on you. Otherwise, you’ll be in trouble when you go back.”
Lin Ran nodded and continued to think in silence.
With the empress around, he did not care much about the wanted post. He wanted to know why Xuan Wushang only wanted 15 cities after going out of his way to capture the empress.