Just then, Old Ma's eyes suddenly flashed with a fierce light, and he reached out to grab Leng Ye's wrist!
"Get lost!"
With a burst of palm force, a terrifying and peerless wave of air instantly surged outward!
Leng Ye let out a muffled groan and was sent flying straight back!
As the shockwave swept across the hall, over a hundred guards were sent tumbling backward in utter disarray.
This sight left Leng Ye and the others completely dumbfounded!
Ye Tian, however, remained calm. After all, he had long realized that Old Ma was far from ordinary!
How could someone who concealed his cultivation escape the eyes of a Tribulation Crossing expert?
Old Ma rubbed his wrist, walked up to Ye Tian, bowed slightly, and chuckled, "Young Prince, your old servant hasn't stretched in a long time. Don't worry, mere trash like this can never hope to scratch a hair on your head!"
"You are in the Golden Core Realm!?"
Leng Ye stared at Old Ma, his expression filled with dread!
A Golden Core Realm expert existed at the absolute apex of the entire Daxia!
Even Su Chanjuan, renowned as the strongest martial artist in Daxia, was only at the Half-Step Golden Core Realm!
And it wasn't just the fact that he was in the Golden Core Realm—Old Ma looked to be well over sixty years old!
How had he broken through the physiological limits of his body?
Most men at his age had already passed away!
"Young Prince, just say the word. Where are we heading? Shall we rescue the Young Mistress?"
At this moment, Old Ma's tone was brimming with confidence, bearing no trace of his previous timid demeanor!
"Good. Let's go rescue my wife!"
Naturally, Ye Tian could not allow anything to happen to Su Chanjuan.
Without further ado, Old Ma leaped onto the carriage, flicked the reins, and drove the warhorse galloping toward the Imperial City.
The guards wanted to block their path, but Leng Ye shouted an order for them to stand down.
For Leng Ye knew very well that their opponent was a formidable Third Layer of Golden Core expert!
Even if they all swarmed forward together, it would be utterly futile!
In the end, they would simply leave a pile of corpses on the ground!
……
Inside the main hall of the Imperial Palace!
Su Chanjuan knelt before the throne, looking coldly at the Empress.
The Empress gazed back at Su Chanjuan with an equally cold expression.
"Your Majesty, have you been plotting this for a long time?"
The Empress said indifferently, "When the birds are gone, the good bow is put away. General Su, do not blame Us. Now that the Shadow Sect and the Northern Wasteland Temple—the grave threats to Daxia—are gone, the remaining million troops of the Northern Wasteland are nothing more than a mob of rabble who cannot possibly stop the soldiers of Daxia!"
"So, what do you think of what We just said?"
Su Chanjuan burst into loud laughter. "Though a ruler demands a minister to die, die she must, but I, Su Chanjuan, will never bear the stigma of treason!"
"Make me confess that I am the mastermind behind the Shadow Sect and the Northern Wasteland Temple? I will not carry this blame!"
The Empress slammed her palm onto the table. "Then what do you propose?"
Su Chanjuan stared fixedly at the Empress.
She saw through it now!
Today, the Empress was completely resolved to have her killed!
It seemed there was no way out for her alive!
It was only a pity that she had yet to break through to the Golden Core Realm!
Even if she had already reached the Golden Core Realm, she could never bring herself to raise a hand against the Empress!
"I only ask that Your Majesty grant me the official cause of death as a sudden illness, and the Su family must be left untouched!"
"If Your Majesty agrees, I am willing to die!"
The Empress glanced sideways at Eunuch Li!
Eunuch Li kept his eyes closed, his expression indifferent, lost in his own thoughts.
"No. If you die, the Su family will inevitably rebel, and the same goes for the Ye family. Your two families are bound by marriage. I imagine that if that trash Ye Tian holds any affection for you, he might fly into a rage and turn the world upside down for a beauty!"
"Therefore, both the Su and Ye families must be eradicated!"
A trace of anger flickered deep within Su Chanjuan's eyes!
She slowly shook her head. "Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider!"
"I, Su Chanjuan, have risked my life time and again for Daxia, guarding the borders. You know very well how much merit I have earned!"
"The Prince of the Northern Prefecture has governed the Northern Prefecture well, allowing the common people to live and work in peace—that is also a monumental contribution!"
"If the Su and Ye families are branded as traitors from this day onward, I refuse to accept it!"
"The Su family refuses to accept it!"
"The Ye family refuses to accept it!"
Eunuch Li suddenly snapped his eyes open. "Impudent!"
Su Chanjuan glared sideways at him. "Eunuch Li, I am speaking with Her Majesty. As a mere servant, what gives you the right to interrupt?"
Eunuch Li clenched both fists, and the oppressive aura of a Golden Core Realm expert swept outward!
The entire grand hall trembled.
A massive wave of pressure bore down directly upon Su Chanjuan.
Su Chanjuan abruptly clenched her own fists as well.
The aura of her Half-Step Golden Core Realm surged forward to meet it!
Though Su Chanjuan's cultivation realm was still a step behind Eunuch Li's, she had weathered countless bloody battlefields, and her aura carried an undefeatable will to fight!
It was not the least bit inferior to her opponent's!
"Enough!"
The Empress waved a hand. "Eunuch Li, stand down!"
Eunuch Li reined in his aura and took a few steps back.
However, his hands remained half-clenched at his sides, his gaze glaring viciously at Su Chanjuan!
"Your Majesty, Su Chanjuan has shown contempt for the imperial court—she deserves to die! The Su family should rightfully be executed to the last, and the Ye family must be implicated as well!"
Su Chanjuan sneered, "When one is determined to condemn someone, pretexts are never lacking. What did the Ye family do wrong to warrant being implicated?"
Eunuch Li said indifferently, "Though they have not rebelled yet, to prevent future troubles, the Ye family must be wiped out!"
"Ha!"
"Just because the Ye family and the Su family are allied by marriage? Is Eunuch Li going to wipe out the Ye family for that?"
Su Chanjuan let out a cold laugh.
She could already see that this Eunuch Li had pulled plenty of malicious tricks behind the Empress's back!
Her loyal family and the Ye family had served the country faithfully, only to be destroyed by such a treacherous villain!
"No. That Ye Tian has long borne the reputation of a beast, having ruined no fewer than several thousand innocent women, hasn't he? As one of the Two Scourges of the Imperial City, Her Majesty executing him would also be in accordance with the will of the people!"
"If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault. The Prince and Princess of the Northern Prefecture naturally share responsibility for his crimes!"
Eunuch Li said calmly.
Su Chanjuan furrowed her brow. "Eunuch Li, although I have been stationed at the Northern Prefecture border for the past three years, it is not as if I haven't heard rumors about my husband!"
"Though my husband was born in a Prince's Estate, he is no wicked villain. I refuse to believe he could commit such heinous acts!"
"Perhaps someone deliberately framed him to drag the Prince's Estate through the mud so they could eradicate them all at once?"
Eunuch Li suddenly walked over to a window and pushed it open. Instantly, the faint sounds of citizens petitioning drifted in from outside.
Vaguely, the cries demanding "Execute Ye Tian" could be heard!
Su Chanjuan frowned deeply!
The Empress lowered her head slightly, raised it after a moment, and said, "The court has received multiple petitions. General Su, you are suspected of founding the Shadow Sect and the Northern Wasteland Temple, and Ye Tian is suspected of the repeated rape of innocent women. Both the Su and Ye families shall be exterminated!"
"Guards!"
Two people walked in from outside the doors.
The Empress looked up and froze in place.
"Ye Tian!"
Su Chanjuan abruptly turned her head to see Ye Tian and Old Ma walking in.
Seeing Ye Tian's calm expression, for some reason, her heart stirred with emotion.
"Wife, I am here. Don't worry, with my permission, no one is going to kill you!"
The Empress raged, "Ye Tian, you entered the grand hall without a summons—that is a capital offense! Your entire Ye family shall be sentenced to execution!"
Ye Tian sneered, "Your Majesty, I heard everything you just said. You already want to kill me, so why should I show you any courtesy?"
"Old Ma, anyone who dares to step forward, beat them to death—leave none alive!"
With that, Ye Tian walked over to Su Chanjuan's side and pulled her to her feet.
[Ding-dong! Detected that the host shook hands with the female lead. Rewarded with 1000 points!]
Su Chanjuan suddenly threw her arms around Ye Tian. "Xiaotian, thank you!"
[Ding-dong! Detected that the female lead and the host hugged. Rewarded with points!]
Meanwhile, on Su Chanjuan's end, she also received the System's prompt!
[Ding-dong! Detected that the host hugged the male lead. Rewarded with points!]
"System, exchange for a Golden Origin Pill for me!"
[The exchange will cost thirty thousand points. Exchanging now!]
[Exchange successful! Do you wish to consume it?]
"Consume it!"
Immediately afterward, Su Chanjuan said to Ye Tian, "Xiaotian, don't worry. Since you dared to break into the grand hall for me, I will be able to bring you home safely!"
"Step back for a moment!"
Not knowing what she intended to do, Ye Tian slowly stepped back!
Suddenly, Su Chanjuan clenched both fists, and a powerful aura began climbing steadily higher.