Chapter 148

It made the distance between him and Cheng Zhihai seem to have widened again.

The power of Duke Zhen’s Mansion was too great.

Cheng Zhihai’s duty to supervise the officials had not been carried out well.

He had just uttered those words, reasonable, yet not reasonable…

Great Zhou’s Emperor slowly rubbed his temples, sinking into contemplation.

…

After leaving the Imperial Palace, the once composed look on Cheng Zhihai’s face instantly collapsed.

Walking on the road home, his mood wasn’t high and he felt somewhat upset.

The Bureau of the Lamp was crafted by his own hands. Although Great Zhou’s Emperor had given him the power, he provided neither the resources nor the manpower.

It was completely assembled by him step by step.

The constables of the Bureau of the Lamp were almost indistinguishable from his brothers.

If he left, hardly anyone in the higher echelons of the Bureau would be able to maintain control.

But Zhao Jin could.

Zhao Jin, an old fellow who had lived for hundreds of years, appeared quite young, but his tactics and depth of character were not to be underestimated.

If Zhao Jin were to take control of the Bureau, even if not as firm as Cheng Zhihai’s own grip, the difference would be negligible.

Could it be that His Majesty no longer wanted him to be in charge of the Bureau?

Cheng Zhihai silently sighed. Whether a subject stays or goes is determined by a single decree of Great Zhou’s Emperor.

Even with Cheng Zhihai’s high status, he had little room to resist, much less the ability to refute.

The Duke of the State might be able to confront Great Zhou’s Emperor, but not him.

He had originally planned to hand over the Bureau to Guanger in the future, but he hadn’t expected that, just after overcoming some twists and turns, and finally getting Cheng Guang into the Bureau, such an incident would occur.

Cheng Zhihai was truly distressed.

He decided to go home and seek comfort from his wife, to uplift his spirit and quickly locate the crown prince.

As for the crown prince’s current whereabouts, Cheng Zhihai had no clue whatsoever.

The crown prince had suddenly disappeared years ago, as if he had gone missing, or as if he had died, without a trace for nearly decades.

And now he had suddenly reappeared.

Although it was not the crown prince himself who emerged, Qiu Zhiman was a Ninth-order Martial Emperor Realm powerhouse with extremely high cultivation, a top-tier force not to be ignored by the crown prince.

If it hadn’t been for Guanger being there to defeat Qiu Zhiman, even if his plan couldn’t have been completely successful, at least half of it might have been realized.

All this, to say there was no manipulation by the crown prince behind it, Cheng Zhihai would never believe even if he were beaten to death.

Thinking back, some mysterious people had collaborated with Bai Shuxuan to attempt an assassination on his Guanger but were stopped by him. These two groups might be the same.

They were all underlings of the crown prince.

It seemed that to find the crown prince, he might have to start with those black-robed people.

Some of those black-robed people were still alive.

As Cheng Zhihai pondered, he slowly returned to Duke Zhen’s Mansion and went straight to Wu Yuemei’s room.

No sooner had he entered Wu Yuemei’s room than a wave of disorderly sounds ensued.

Cheng Zhihai seemed to have been hit, followed by an outcry of pain.

“My lady, stop hitting me, stop it, the incident with Guanger was a complete accident.”

“Didn’t I also not expect such a thing to happen?”

“Alright, alright, next time I’ll be completely prepared, to prevent these accidents from happening again!”

Under Cheng Zhihai’s soothing voice, the commotion inside the room gradually subsided.

The atmosphere began to shift in a strange direction.

…

In Duke Zhen’s Mansion, within the Million Specie Garden.

The moon hung gently in the sky, its hazy light draping the night in a sheer veil. A gentle breeze wafted past, bringing with it the fragrance of distant flowers and the intoxicating shimmer of the lake’s surface.

On the bed canopy.

Cheng Guang lay on the bed canopy, holding in his arms Qing Luan, whose black hair was disheveled, her delicate face showing signs of fatigue, her skin as white as snow, as flawless as jade, as tender as coagulated fat, crystal clear.

Midnight.

He suddenly opened his eyes, carefully got up, left the bed, and walked out into the courtyard.

“Claim the reward.”

Cheng Guang sat in the pavilion and silently spoke in his mind.

[Mission Reward: Nine Dragons Stealing Sky (Prohibition)]

[Mission Reward: Heavenly Silk Clothing.]

[Distributing…]

A series of cold, unfeeling voices rang out in his mind.

Suddenly.

Streaks of golden light manifested before him, flowing out like a river from the void, carrying a vague aura, slowly coalescing.

They gradually took the form of two objects.

One was a dragon-shaped piece of wood, and the other was a long garment as white as jade.

As Cheng Guang took the two objects from the void into his hands, at the moment his fingertips touched the items, they became completely solid and slowly fell into his palms.

As Cheng Guang touched the two mission rewards, the information about them emerged in his mind.

[Nine Dragons Stealing Sky (one-time Prohibition): Can erase all changes within a prohibition, cage heaven and earth, isolate all things, and seize a creature’s Bloodline Divine Powers within the prohibition for one’s own use.]

[Heavenly Silk Clothing: An Earth Grade Treasure, extremely durable, can self-repair minor damages, has a protective effect, warm in winter and cool in summer, can transform into myriad forms, and become any style of robe you wish in this world.]

Cheng Guang examined the Nine Dragons Stealing Sky and Heavenly Silk Clothing, glanced over the system’s introduction, and a smile slowly spread across his lips.