The Ancestral Temple was located in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace, surrounded by extremely tight security.
The Dayan Dynasty had been founded on the Martial Dao and had ruled the world for over 1,300 years. The title of Emperor had already been passed down through eight generations, so naturally, the number of Clan Relatives spread throughout the land was countless.
Given this, only the most illustrious nobles of the Royal Family, those whose names were destined for the history books, could have their tablets placed within the Ancestral Temple to receive millennia of unceasing Incense offerings.
Under the guidance of Chief Eunuch Lou Qixiang, Li Chang’an passed through layer after layer of Restrictions and arrived outside the heavily guarded Ancestral Temple.
Gazing at the magnificent building standing on the central axis, a hint of fear appeared on Lou Qixiang’s face.
He stopped and said, "Prince, this servant can only escort you this far. From here, you must proceed up the stairs and into the main hall yourself. There, you will light three sticks of incense before the ancestors and kowtow three times. After that, you will be an honored Prince, acknowledged by our forefathers!"
Hearing this, Li Chang’an glanced up at the temple hall not far away.
Without a word, he started forward.
Under Lou Qixiang’s deeply conflicted gaze, he ascended the stairs as if no one else was there, soon disappearing from sight into the depths of the structure.
DONG... DONG... DONG...
Five minutes later, three deep, resonant chimes, like the tolling of a great bell, echoed from within the Ancestral Temple.
When Li Chang’an completed the ceremony and emerged from the main hall, he discovered that a disheveled old man had appeared at the entrance at some unknown time.
The old man’s hair was yellow and withered, his body like dried wood, yet his gaze was profound and chilling.
He blocked the entrance, neither approaching nor moving aside, simply staring with a pair of haunting eyes that swept back and forth over Li Chang’an.
Li Chang’an couldn’t make sense of the old man, but he wasn’t particularly afraid. He too stopped and met the man’s gaze.
After a long moment, the old man finally cleared the path. His gaze shifted away from Li Chang’an at the same time, as if his mind had once again drifted to some faraway place.
Li Chang’an let out a heavy sigh of relief and finally stepped forward, heading out of the Ancestral Temple.
However, before he could even descend the stairs,
he saw a woman approaching in the distance, surrounded by an entourage of palace maids. She was dressed in a Phoenix Robe and a phoenix crown, her entire being radiating an air of regal grace.
The woman’s expression was cold, and her steps were swift. Though she still appeared overwhelmingly regal, she carried with her an accusatory air.
With a single glance, Li Chang’an guessed the woman’s identity.
’Alright, there was no need to guess. There was only one young and beautiful woman in the entire world who could wear a Phoenix Robe in the Imperial Palace: the current Emperor’s one and only official wife, the mother of the realm, Empress Li.’
When she heard the bells toll from the Ancestral Temple, Empress Li’s already grim face darkened completely. She thought she had been extremely fast; one could even say she had rushed over at top speed the very instant she received the news.
She had originally thought she could intercept Li Chang’an and Lou Qixiang on the way, but to her surprise, by the time she arrived outside the Ancestral Temple, Li Chang’an had already paid his respects to the ancestors...
This instantly ignited a fire of rage within her. She said coldly, "Eunuch Lou, I told you to handle this matter with discretion. Is this how you carry out my orders?"
Hearing her question, Lou Qixiang felt a flash of embarrassment and fear. Steeling himself, he could only reply, "Your Majesty, the Twelfth Prince is exceptionally intelligent. This servant did not dare to deceive him!"
Empress Li almost laughed out of sheer anger. "I believe I have treated you well. If you were to pledge allegiance to someone else, so be it. But to side with this useless, suckling child? Do you actually believe you’ll have a chance to enjoy the glory of backing a new emperor?"
Lou Qixiang could only drop to his knees, a bitter smile on his face. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
’He didn’t want to offend anyone, but he had no choice. To follow one side meant offending the other. If he tried to offend no one, he would end up offending both.’
Empress Li’s chest heaved. It took her a long moment to rein in her emotions. Her gaze shifted to Li Chang’an, who was descending the steps not far away. She sneered, "To think that after hunting geese all day, I’d end up having my eye pecked out by one. You little beast, for someone so young, you’re quite capable. Who would have thought!"
Li Chang’an ignored her taunts and made no effort to defend himself.
When it came to his enemies, he had always had only two approaches:
kill them on the spot if he could, or ignore them completely if he couldn’t.
As for engaging in a war of words... he had no desire, no inclination, and certainly no mood to waste his time on it.
Right now, he was still young and his influence was not yet established. It was obviously impossible for him to do anything to the Empress of a nation, so he simply kept his mouth shut, practicing a vow of silence.
...
Seeing Li Chang’an remain silent as a mute, Empress Li’s anger finally cooled. Her phoenix eyes swept over the kneeling Lou Qixiang beside her before finally settling back on Li Chang’an.
She sensed that something was amiss.
’A child barely knee-high, with a common Palace Maid for a mother, could not possibly have convinced Lou Qixiang to betray her. Nor would such a child have the audacity to enter the Ancestral Temple and claim his heritage with such fanfare.’
’Therefore, there must be something else going on behind the scenes that she didn’t know.’
’Perhaps Li Chang’an and Lou Qixiang were merely daggers handed to her enemies—blades meant to bring her down.’
To have reached the position of Empress and maintained her status—as firm as a mountain—despite being stained with so much blood over the years, Empress Li was naturally no naive fool.
On the contrary, her cunning was immeasurable.
The reason she had been so incensed just now was simply because she had realized she’d suffered a major setback in this affair.