Qu Ling Yue had changed out of her own clothes and given them to Jun Xie to wear, allowing Jun Xie to disguise as her to leave the Crown Prince's Residence with Xiong Ba.
Even the Imperial Guards secretly guarding outside would not be able to suspect anything strange going on.
Lei Chen lifted his cup of tea and raised it up towards Qu Ling Yue.
"I am grateful for Ling Yue's help this time. I know that you have no intentions of seeking revenge and you are doing this just to help me and little brother Jun." Lei Chen had once thought of getting closer to Qu Ling Yue to win the favour of the Thousand Beast City, and that had enabled him to know Qu Ling Yue's personality very well.
With Qu Ling Yue's innocent heart, she would not harbour any thoughts of vengeance. She had shown herself to be pitifully hurt and aggrieved earlier before Xiong Ba only to coerce Xiong Ba to agree to the plan.
"Why is Senior saying that? Am I not also doing it for myself?" Qu Ling Yue said, smiling sweetly at Lei Chen.
Lei Chen lowered his eyes. It must be said that Qu Ling Yue was truly a very nice girl and he had once wanted to make use of her for his own revenge. At that moment, he could not help but despise himself for having harboured such malicious intentions against the girl before him.
She was really a fine girl and he no longer had the heart to taint her.
Only wishing that she would live healthy and happy henceforth!
The Imperial Guards outside followed the Thousand Beast City's horse carriage all the way back to the inn the people from the War Banner Academy were occupying. After making sure that only "Qu Ling Yue" and Xiong Ba were the only people who alighted from the carriage, they had even gone to check the carriage after it was parked in the backyard of the inn to make sure that no one was hiding in it before they left to report it to Yuan Biao.
The Immortals' Loft and the Crown Prince's Residence still remained guarded by the Imperial Guard Army.
An entire day had passed and Yuan Biao still haven't found a single trace of Jun Xie. When he had reported the news to the Emperor seated within the Palace, the Emperor had smashed a jade slab on his table in fury.
"Useless trash! With so many Imperial Guards and you still allowed a little brat to escape? Are you telling me my Imperial Guard Army is filled with an entire bunch of useless good for nothings! ?" The Emperor stared furiously at Yuan Biao who was kneeling before him in the Imperial Study. The longer the matter dragged on, the more fearful he grew of the matter about the Ring of Imperial Fire being exposed.
"Have you searched the Crown Prince's Residence! ?" The Emperor roared in rage.
"I have. Jun Xie is not in the Crown Prince's Residence." Yuan Biao answered.
"Then go look around and check everywhere within the Imperial Capital! I want Jun Xie found as soon as possible!" The Emperor continued to roar, and then suddenly having thought of something, he said. "Go to the Grand Adviser's Mansion! Go check there!"
Yuan Biao was shocked as he raised his head in puzzlement, looking at the Emperor almost blubbering in unchecked fury.
"Your Majesty? You are asking your subject to go search the Grand Adviser's Mansion?"
"It must be the Grand Adviser! It must be him! When that pretty face returned to the banquet with Jun Xie, I should have thought of it! He shows himself to be uninvolved in the affairs of the country but he was conferred the title as the Grand Adviser by the elder brother of the First Emperor of our line! He had been very close to that man. It must be him! Must be him! He must have seen the Ring of Imperial Fire as well. He must be wanting to….. Go now!" The fear and terror in the Emperor's heart grew deeper and deeper.
Besides the Imperial Family of the Fire Country, no one else knew that the current Grand Adviser Wen Yu was actually an old man over a hundred years old. From more than a hundred years ago, he had appeared, and the reigning Emperor at that time was still the elder brother of the First Emperor of the current line. He had then conferred the title of Grand Adviser onto Wen Yu and had disappeared after that. The First Emperor had inherited the throne only to carry on his elder brother's will which only further solidified Wen Yu's position.
Through the generations of Grand Advisers, they had always held exemplary good looks, a fully white mane draped behind the shoulders. Towards this unusual occurrence, the generations of Emperors had always told everyone else that it was due to the inheritance of the Grand Adviser's powers blessed by the Heavens. Only those who were part of the Imperial Family through the generations were made privy to the fact that the Grand Adviser, had only been Wen Yu, the one and the same person!
As it was because of this myth passed down through the generations, that made the Grand Adviser's position irreplaceable in the hearts of the people in the Fire Country!