"What? A truce? You mean that in the end, there will be a truce between the Dan Kingdom and the Yuan Kingdom?"
Kong Ze nodded. "Yes, a truce is the situation. So, in fact, this war is meaningless. It not only exhausts the people and drains the treasury but also has no clear winner. It's all harm and no benefit."
"Then, Master, can you calculate how to change the situation through your divination techniques?"
Kong Ze shook his head. "Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for me. I've already expended a great deal of energy on the divination. Moreover, as I said just now, victory and defeat are common in war and are determined by fate. Therefore, it can't be changed."
"This..."
Dongfang Chuan's expression was rather complicated. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "Alright then, but you must accomplish the matter regarding Helan Yanting for me! Even if the war can't be changed, I will never let the Emperor of the Yuan Kingdom have an easy time!"
At this moment, Kong Ze didn't know what to say. The Emperor of the Dan Kingdom in front of him was too stubborn, but this was also a mistake many people made. It was too easy to get stuck in the past and become obsessed. It was just a single thought turning one into a demon.
"Your Majesty, I think Your Majesty might as well consider proposing a truce. After all, in the end, war will only bring misery to the people, and the common folks will be in deep trouble."
"I already know about this. You don't need to worry, Master. I have my own plans."
Kong Ze knew that the Emperor was stubborn and wouldn't listen to many things. It was pointless to say more.
"Yes, if Your Majesty has no other matters, I'll go back to rest first. The divination just now consumed a great deal of my spiritual energy, and I need to go back and rest for a few days."
Dongfang Chuan's expression softened a bit. "This divination has indeed been hard on you, Master. You should go back and rest well. Later, I'll have the Inner Court Office send you some top - grade ganoderma and ginseng to replenish your body. If you have any other needs, just speak up."
Kong Ze nodded slightly. Before turning to leave, he looked at Dongfang Chuan with a complicated expression.
"Your Majesty, there may be major events in the palace in the near future. Your Majesty must be cautious, especially—"
Here, Kong Ze paused.
Seeing his hesitation, Dongfang Chuan was curious. "Especially what? Master, please speak your mind."
"Especially be careful of the Crown Prince and the Empress. Their birth dates clash slightly with Your Majesty's, especially recently."
Kong Ze left it at that. In fact, when he first entered and saw Dongfang Chuan, he noticed that the purple aura around Dongfang Chuan was gradually fading, and this purple light was almost extinguished.
Moreover, his glabella was slightly dark. There were only two situations for people with such a sign. Either they were about to encounter something unlucky, or they would face a fatal disaster.
Although Dongfang Chuan was not a good emperor or a good person, Kong Ze knew that if something happened to Dongfang Chuan at this critical moment, the situation in the Dan Kingdom might become even more turbulent, which was not a good thing.
After hearing what Kong Ze said, Dongfang Chuan's face darkened slightly. After a long silence, he slowly said, "Yes, I'll remember what you said, Master. But please don't spread such words. After all, there are many gossips, and palace affairs should not be spread."
Kong Ze nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will keep it a secret."
After saying this, Kong Ze left the South Study and proposed to go and take a look at the place where "Helan Yanting" was placed. The Emperor immediately nodded and had the imperial guards take Kong Ze there.
However, not long after Kong Ze left, Eunuch Fu, who was guarding the door, overheard the conversation between Kong Ze and the Emperor. After hearing this, Eunuch Fu immediately told the Empress Zheng and the Crown Prince about it.
On this side, Kong Ze followed the imperial guards through twists and turns and finally arrived at a dilapidated and inconspicuous house in a very remote and desolate part of the palace.
As soon as he walked into the house, Kong Ze felt a chilling yin energy rushing towards him. The yin energy in this place was very strong, and the temperature was much lower than outside.
Moreover, after walking a few steps inside, Kong Ze heard shrill sobs mixed in the wind. He calmly looked around and soon saw several white shadows floating in the corners not far away and in the main hall at the entrance of the house.
The imperial guard who was leading Kong Ze's way looked a bit strange as soon as he entered. After walking a few steps, his teeth chattered from the cold. "Great Master, this place is really strange. It's much colder than other places."
"Was this place the Cold Palace before? Or a place for punishing palace offenders?"
The imperial guard turned to look at Kong Ze in surprise. "How do you know, Great Master?! Yes, this place was used to punish disobedient or犯错的 maids and eunuchs before. But as time passed, this place was gradually abandoned and left empty. The body of Prince Helan is parked here."
Kong Ze couldn't help but frown. If the person who had an accident here was really Helan Yanting, then Dongfang Chuan's actions were really too excessive. The person was already dead, yet he was placed in such a place full of yin energy.
Soon, Kong Ze saw the "Helan Yanting" who had an accident. To prevent the body from decaying, the Emperor had specially had an ice coffin made to preserve the body.
Kong Ze stepped forward and saw clearly the person lying in the ice coffin.
"Helan Yanting" was lying motionless in it, his face as pale as paper, and his whole body had shriveled up quickly, looking as thin as a piece of paper.
At first glance, this person really looked no different from Helan Yanting, but Kong Ze quickly found that the birth date of this person was completely different from Helan Yanting's after a simple calculation with his fingers.
Moreover, he soon noticed something different on the top of this person's head. He asked the imperial guard to open the coffin lid, reached out to push aside the hair of "Helan Yanting", and soon discovered the mystery. Finally, he determined that this person was indeed not Helan Yanting.
"Great Master, have you found anything?" The imperial guard beside him saw Kong Ze's strange behavior and couldn't help but ask.
Kong Ze calmly pushed the hair back in place and asked the imperial guard to put the lid back on.
"Nothing. I just took a rough look."
After that, Kong Ze used the excuse of performing a curse - casting ritual on "Helan Yanting" to ask the imperial guards to leave temporarily. Then Kong Ze released his spiritual power to超度 all the wronged souls inside and outside the house, allowing these wronged souls to be freed from this place.
After doing these things, Kong Ze felt that his spiritual power had increased, and he became more energetic.
As a cultivator with a compassionate heart, although this was not something he had to do, it was just a simple act that would help improve his own spiritual power.
After doing this, Kong Ze said calmly and mysteriously that he had completed what he needed to do and soon left the palace and returned to his mansion.
As soon as Kong Ze stepped into the mansion, Feng Yunshu sensed his aura and immediately ran out excitedly.
"Third Senior Brother, how was it?! Did you see? How is the Prince..."
"The person parked in the palace is not Helan Yanting himself. I checked carefully. This person should be a puppet who looks similar to Helan Yanting and has been disguised. It should be that Prince Helan had made preparations in advance and used the trick of replacing the real with the fake."
"So the Prince is okay, right?!"