The Teacher's Identity

Chapter 97 The Teacher's Identity

The various duchies and kingdoms also realized the danger.

After all, everyone can see that the Star Luo Empire's overall strength has already surpassed that of the Heaven Dou Empire. Now that the Spirit Hall is not taking action, the situation is unbalanced, and war is imminent.

In an instant, a wave of frenzied military expansion swept across the entire continent.

Everywhere, from city gates and official roads to villages and towns, one could see conscription teams clad in armor and armed with spears.

Food supplies were urgently mobilized, and the weapons workshops were brightly lit. Almost all the idle young men, as long as they were physically able, were forcibly conscripted into the army. Anyone who resisted was bound with chains and forcibly dragged away.

Fang Yuan, on his journey, happened to encounter such an overbearing conscription team.

The soldiers would grab anyone they saw, whether they wanted to or not, and force them into the army first.

But when they surrounded him menacingly, Fang Yuan simply raised his hand, and his soul rings glowed slightly. The leading officer immediately turned pale and hurriedly bowed and smiled apologetically.

As for Fang Yuan's unusually youthful appearance, they assumed he was some unfathomable old monster who used a secret technique to preserve his youthful appearance.

A sense of unease pervaded the mainland; some were filled with worry, while others secretly rejoiced.

.......................

Deep within the imperial palace of Tiandou City.

The gilded roof tiles gleamed in the sunlight, and the interior of the hall was paved with jade and draped with beaded curtains, exuding extreme luxury.

Xue Ke, dressed in a light purple palace gown, danced gracefully in the spacious hall with light steps, humming a melodious tune, her eyes brimming with barely suppressed joy.

Xue Qinghe was long gone, and her utterly foolish brother, Xue Beng, made a command error and was captured by the Star Luo Empire, becoming a prisoner.

Now, Emperor Xueye has only one child left.

Even though she is a woman and even though she has mediocre talent, in the face of the loss of all male heirs, she is the only heir.

Xue Ke twirled and danced, secretly praying that her foolish brother would never come back.

She herself never expected that the situation would turn around so quickly.

Ever since that bizarre dream, she has been full of confidence and secretly plotting to gather power and pave the way for her claim to the throne.

But at that time, among all the civil and military officials and nobles, who paid any attention to her, a princess who had only beauty but no power or influence?

Everyone flocked to curry favor with Xue Beng, even though he was infamous and of low character. People still rushed to offer their daughters to him, just to attach themselves to this only prince and gain family wealth and honor.

In this struggle, she, as a princess, was never qualified to compete on the same stage from the very beginning.

She was once disheartened and almost resigned to her fate.

But who could have imagined that, in a twist of fate, the avalanche itself brought about its own demise, destroying everything with its own hands.

Thinking about this, Xue Ke almost laughed out loud in her dreams at night.

She stopped dancing, turned around, and grabbed the hand of the purple-haired girl beside her. A carefully crafted, elegant smile appeared on her face, and her voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Yanyan, what do you think? Should I throw a banquet right now and invite those—"

Before she could finish speaking, Dugu Yan gently shook her head.

Looking at the princess before her, who had studied at Yuexuan for many years, was proficient in etiquette and music, and possessed unparalleled beauty, yet was as naive and foolish as Jinping when it came to political intrigue, Dugu Yan spoke calmly but incisively: "Princess Xueke, the last people you should see right now are those opportunistic nobles. The person you should see is your father—Emperor Xueye."

Given Xue Ke's current situation of having no foundation, no troops, and no power, her only reliance if she wants to ascend to that position is Emperor Xue Ye.

"You must find out whether Father still wants to save Xue Beng, and whether he still insists that a prince should inherit the throne—"

Dugu Yan didn't say the rest of her sentence explicitly, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.

If Emperor Xueye remains fixated on the prince, Xueke's efforts to win over the nobles at this moment would be pointless, except for prematurely revealing her ambitions and inviting trouble upon herself.

Xue Ke's smile froze instantly, a hint of grievance and resentment welling up in her eyes, her voice trembling slightly: "If Father still thinks of my brother, what can I do? Am I just supposed to stand by and do nothing?"

Looking at her like this, Dugu Yan sighed softly and finally offered a word of advice: "Have you forgotten your teacher? Her background is far from simple, and she has a close relationship with His Majesty. If you can get her help, you are not entirely without a chance, especially after Xue Beng made so many mistakes."

"Teacher—" Xue Ke murmured softly.

She was not unaware of Tang Yuehua's mysterious identity. How could she not have a powerful backer to establish herself in the core of Tiandou City, run Yuexuan, and teach princes, princesses, and noble children? She had previously assumed that Tang Yuehua had an affair with her father, which was also an unspoken rumor in Tiandou City.

But after Dugu Yan reminded her, Xue Ke began to think, what else is a teacher's role?

"What's her last name?" Seeing Xue Ke struggling to remember, Dugu Yan asked helplessly.

This surname refers to only one place on the mainland.

"Could it be that Teacher is a member of the Clear Sky Sect? But hasn't the Clear Sky Sect long since closed its doors to the world and stopped interfering in worldly affairs? The martial soul of a Clear Sky Sect disciple should be the Clear Sky Hammer, but Teacher's martial soul is a zither—"

Moreover, how did you learn these secrets?

Xue Ke's gaze toward Dugu Yan instantly held a hint of inquiry and surprise.

Dugu Yan naturally couldn't reveal that she learned everything from her awakened memories.

Her expression remained impassive as she slowly revealed the clues she had already pieced together: "When I accompanied you to Yuexuan to learn etiquette, I noticed that Yuexuan secretly purchases an astonishing amount of grain, medicinal herbs, and cultivation supplies every month, and secretly transports them to a designated location outside the city—"

This matter was a trace that Tang Yuehua could not completely cover up.

After the Haotian Sect closed its mountain, the food, clothing, shelter, and cultivation resources of its thousands of disciples were almost entirely provided by her, the only member of the Tang family left outside.

Such a massive flow of goods was simply impossible to keep completely secret in the medieval era of low productivity.

However, everyone guessed that Tang Yuehua was backed by the reclusive Haotian Sect. Even if they saw through it, most of them chose to turn a blind eye and dared not say anything.

After confirming Tang Yuehua's true identity, Xue Ke's expression became even more excited.

Haotian Sect is one of the three upper sects.

........................

With the support of the Clear Sky Sect, she might very well become the first empress of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Thinking of this, Xue Ke immediately went to Yuexuan to visit Tang Yuehua.