The talisman drawn with blood rose into the air.
Its strange runes stirred up eerie winds, and a burst of red light suddenly hurtled towards Nanli.
Nanli remained calm, watching coldly as the red light enveloped her, seeming to try to seal off her power.
"Hehehe—" Tiancheng chuckled triumphantly. "Little girl, there are always people more powerful than you. Don’t underestimate others!"
Tiancheng intended to teach Nanli a lesson.
She was only favored by Emperor Muwu because of her Taoist abilities, and then she married the famous Ye Siheng.
After becoming powerless, she would only face disdain, with no more glory or splendor!
"A’Li!" Ye Siheng shouted loudly, trying to approach, but the red light from the talisman was particularly fierce, preventing him from getting close.
The red light surged towards Nanli’s body.
However, just as she raised her gaze, she waved her Dark Moon Sword, and the red light was cut off and dispersed!
With another twist of her wrist, the light from the red talisman vanished completely!
She lifted her chin slightly. "With your abilities, how could you possibly seal off my power?"
Tiancheng widened his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.
He had used his lifespan as the price, so why wasn’t it working?!
He refused to believe that Nanli could be so powerful!
Gritting his teeth, he shouted again, "I’ll use my own soul as the price!"
The talisman on the ground once again emitted a red light, seemingly more ferocious this time as it surged towards Nanli.
Nanli’s eyes narrowed slightly, and with lightning speed, she deflected each strand of red light with her sword, leaving no trace.
Only the cold wind remained, blowing her skirt.
"You..." Tiancheng’s eyes widened, clutching his chest, filled with even more unwillingness.
But what could he do? Even after sacrificing his own life and soul, he still couldn’t harm Nanli in the slightest.
He had lost, utterly defeated.
He slowly fell to the ground, his soul leaving his body and being torn apart.
Nanli didn’t intervene, just watched calmly.
Ye Siheng witnessed all of this, shocked and worried. He hurried over, grabbing Nanli’s hand and asking, "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine," Nanli shook her head lightly. "It was just a trivial trick, it couldn’t hurt me."
Yet Ye Siheng didn’t relax, still deeply troubled.
This old Taoist was simply incompetent. What if it had been that mysterious person instead? If that person was so powerful, A’Li would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage if she encountered her again.
From here on out, Nanli’s involvement was no longer necessary.
The Black Armor Guard arrested Marquis Wuyang and the others, detaining the entire family for interrogation.
Marquis Wuyang regretted his actions and tried to shift the blame onto Tiancheng and his daughter.
But Ye Siheng’s underground network was not to be trifled with. In less than half a day, they uncovered Marquis Wuyang’s attempts to find Tiancheng and presented it to Emperor Muwu.
Emperor Muwu was furious. He only had one son, yet Marquis Wuyang had targeted Ye Chengyan, causing a rift between them!
This time, Marquis Wuyang had walked right into the trap. Emperor Muwu showed no mercy, executing Marquis Wuyang by beheading and exiling the rest of the Qiao family three thousand miles away.
With Qiao Yu dead, Ye Chengyan did indeed return to normal. He hadn’t lost his memory, but he was helpless and frightened by his own actions for Qiao Yu, willing to give up even the position of Royal Heir.
He immediately went to the palace to plead guilty, and Emperor Muwu, knowing the circumstances, did not blame him and restored his status as Royal Heir.
Ye Chengyan relaxed a bit upon hearing this, but Emperor Muwu continued, "It’s difficult to guard against such things. Even if your attendants are trustworthy, there is still a possibility of being taken advantage of."
This time, Tiancheng had used puppetry spells, which is how he obtained Ye Chengyan’s hair for his magic.
Ye Chengyan inwardly felt alarmed and said, "As you say, Father."
Emperor Muwu had been manipulated multiple times, damaging his health, so he had to be wary of similar schemes happening to his son. He specifically summoned Nanli to the palace to inquire about any methods to prevent Ye Chengyan from worrying about such schemes in the future.
Anticipating Emperor Muwu’s concerns, Nanli had already spent considerable effort devising a talisman array. When applied to Ye Chengyan’s body, it could block some spells and curses, proving to be extremely useful. However, creating this talisman array had taken her several days and had depleted a significant portion of her energy.
Seeing her looking tired, Ye Siheng couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Despite Nanli’s exhaustion, she was still eager and didn’t feel tired at all. Only after applying the talisman array to Ye Chengyan did she finally relax a little. After finishing her work, she focused on resting, sleeping for two to three days straight to replenish her energy.
The weather was hot, and Liuli Pavilion was equipped with ice, but Nanli still sweated profusely. Rainbow fanned her with a fan and remarked, "Princess, it’s been too hot these past few days. Even with the ice, it’s not much cooler."
Nanli looked out the window and observed the sky outside, her thoughts turning. She then took out a tortoise shell and several coins, shook them, and let five coins fall onto the table. After examining the arrangement of the coins, her expression changed, and she said, "A deadly rain is approaching. This isn’t good!"
Rainbow was puzzled. "Princess, wouldn’t rain be good to cool things down?"
"This rain isn’t ordinary; it’s deadly," Nanli said solemnly. Her divination was never wrong.
Ignoring the scorching weather outside, she quickly changed her clothes and prepared to go to the palace. Ye Siheng was currently discussing state affairs with Ye Chengyan in the Inner Court, where all twelve cabinet ministers were present.
Due to the hot weather, despite the ice blocks in the room, everyone was sweating profusely, constantly wiping away the beads of sweat with handkerchiefs. But their wiping couldn’t keep up with the rate at which they were sweating.
Since spring, Mu Nation had been experiencing drought without rain. Recently, the Astrology Observatory had reported that a heavy rain was imminent, which would alleviate the urgent situation in Mu Nation.
Prime Minister Lu breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, the people will have water for farming, and we can set this matter aside for now."
The others nodded in agreement. Judging by the weather, the rain should be coming soon.
At this moment, a eunuch entered and reported that the Ninth Princess had arrived. Hearing this, everyone thought Nanli had come to bring something to Ye Siheng, so they closed their mouths and prepared to rest. Unexpectedly, Ye Siheng’s demeanor softened, and his voice became gentle as he said, "Please come in."
Prime Minister Lu furrowed his brow, feeling puzzled. The Inner Court was a place of great importance, and even the Empress Consort wouldn’t enter casually. Why did the Ninth Prince allow the Ninth Princess to enter today?
Speculation was pointless, and Prime Minister Lu was not unreasonable. He decided to wait and see.
However, some of the cabinet ministers didn’t share Prime Minister Lu’s mindset. Upon hearing that Nanli had entered the Inner Court, their faces immediately soured. While the Ninth Prince was trusted by Emperor Muwu and wielded great power, it didn’t mean that he and his wife could disregard protocol !