"Hmm?"
Chen An had to admit that, in this moment, he was a bit moved.
As he moved naturally, his actions also slowed down during the moment of his excitement.
"Is what you said true?"
He asked.
"Of course it's true."
Yang Lao thought Chen An had some ideas, so he smiled and was about to say something.
A long knife mercilessly slashed down, directly attacking him at this moment of pause.
Yang Lao's mouth immediately closed.
The long knife fell, carrying a strong force.
It was not just physical strength, but the mysterious ice energy it carried was crucial.
The power generated by the mysterious ice energy was absolutely not to be underestimated, the power within it was immense, even those with similar energy could not handle it.
Yang Lao's chest kept vibrating, breathing heavily, and it took a while to calm down.
However, after this incident, faced with Chen An's unscrupulous sneak attack, he finally didn't dare to be distracted and focused entirely on competing with Chen An.
The range of their energy was wide, and the area affected was also extensive.
If someone who didn't know came over, they might think these two were in a life-and-death battle.
However, in reality, it was just a small fight.
They fought each other, their energies clashed, looking lively but in reality, they maintained restraint at all times and didn't really use their full strength.
Although the forces exerted by both sides were strong, they were always testing each other.
And the results of the test were not good.
The strengths of both sides were too close.
In detail, Yang Lao's strength should be stronger than Chen An at the moment, after all, accumulated over many years, his internal energy was stronger and deeper, not comparable to a newcomer like Chen An.
But even with this slight advantage, it didn't necessarily mean much.
If both sides were willing to fight to the death and not retreat, they could determine a winner.
But any normal person would understand, how could that be possible?
There was no deep enmity between Yang Lao and Chen An.
Yang Lao's task here was to stop Chen An and buy time for Liu Sheng and the others to leave.
As for Chen An, he was purely here to complete his mission.
Fighting to the death? Impossible.
Since there was no fight to the death, and their strengths were so close, neither side could really do anything to the other.
Chen An couldn't get past Yang Lao to chase after him, and Yang Lao couldn't achieve any results, let alone harm a single hair on Chen An.
This was different from the battle between Chen An and the former Duke of Chen, Chen Hua.
It was not so much that the former Duke of Chen, Chen Hua, was defeated by Chen An, rather he was already injured, physically weak, and ultimately worn down by Chen An.
However, Chen Hua could be worn down, but the present Yang Lao was very sharp, swinging two short knives with a force even greater than Chen An's.
To wear him down, it would probably take several days and nights.
This battle was about to become a stalemate.
"Your actions have no killing intent, I suppose you know you can't get past me," Yang Lao said helplessly, looking at Chen An, "If that's the case, why continue?”
He really couldn't understand Chen An's behavior.
The situation was already clear, it was obvious that neither could do anything to the other.
Since he couldn't escape him, he should just back off and stop, why continue to entangle?
Continuing to fight like this, not only damaged the surrounding plants, but what other benefits were there?
He really wanted to stop, after all, he was quite old and it was time to take care of his health.
It'd be good not to fight.
But Chen An wouldn't have it.
Don't fight? Why not?
You're at an age where you should take care of your health, but I'm not.
For Chen An, this battle was a rare experience.
After advancing to the Nascent Qi stage, he encountered few enemies.
The former Chen Hua was good, but he was already old and weak, with injuries, strictly speaking, it was just bullying an old man, no real challenge.
Now it was much better, strong and vigorous.
More importantly, their strengths were equal, not too weak or too strong.
If he didn't exploit this opportunity to gain experience, when else would he?
Of course, if he was just trying to gain experience, he didn't have to fight so hard.
Chen An fought so hard because he also had to report to Cheng Zheng later.
The destructive power of Nascent Qi warriors was extraordinary. After their battle for so long, they had almost destroyed several nearby official roads, their presence had long been felt by the distant areas.
If you didn't know, you would think there was a natural disaster.
Anyone who knew would understand how hard Chen An had fought.
Afterwards, Cheng Zheng sent people to investigate, seeing the extensive traces, they would understand how hard Chen An had worked.
In the end, it was just putting on a show for the leaders.
Slacking off and surface work, these were Chen An's specialties.
In his past life, he had used these strategies to deal with countless leaders.
But obviously, Yang Lao couldn't understand Chen An's intentions.
Not only did he not understand, he even thought Chen An was being foolish.
The energies scattered, rippling in all directions, directly shattering a small mountain in the distance.
Unconsciously, they had been fighting for nearly half an hour.
By tomorrow morning, the people in Shengjing would probably not recognize this place.
Because it had completely changed.
But at this point, Chen An still wanted to continue.
Yang Lao was already a bit fed up.
"Will you ever stop?"
Thrusting forward with the two knives, he pierced through layer after layer of frost.
He estimated that it was about time, and Liu Sheng and his group were already far away, so Yang Lao took the initiative to force Chen An to retreat.
Then, taking advantage of this opportunity, he fled from here.
He looked really tired, and didn't want to continue entangling with Chen An.
Chen An also had no intention of pursuing.
After all, there was no point in catching up.
Their strengths were almost equal, and he couldn't possibly keep the other side behind, there was also a risk of falling into an ambush.
Rather than do that, it was better to just leave it as it was.
After fighting for so long, he had gained enough experience, and his show had been enough.
Cheng Zheng would know about it eventually, and there should be no complaints.
The next day, as soon as the sky brightened, Cheng Zheng summoned Chen An.
In the grand hall, Cheng Zheng's face looked somewhat gloomy, with a hint of fatigue in his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well the previous night.
Even with Chen An's understanding of Cheng Zheng, he wouldn't be surprised if Cheng Zheng hadn't slept all night, waiting for news from Chen An.
"The Thai King was taken away by the envoy from Great Song?"
With a grim face, Cheng Zheng looked at Chen An and spoke.
"Yes."
Chen An nodded and recounted the events of last night one by one, finally bowing, "It is my incompetence, I could not keep the Thai King and his party."
"No, Chang An, you did well."
Cheng Zheng's face remained grim, but softened slightly when looking at Chen An, "I already know about yesterday's news."
"Liu Sheng is truly a great man of the Song country, and the arrangements he made even surprised me."
"Chang An, being able to catch up with the Thai King in such a clever arrangement is not easy, especially considering there was a Nascent Qi protector by the Thai King's side."
In the end, his expression became even more serious, "Yang Zhong of the Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country, this is an old rival for our Great Huay, the founding Duke and even your grandfather had fought against him, but no one had ever gained an advantage over him, indicating how difficult he is to deal with."
"Understood."
Hearing Cheng Zheng's words, Chen An continued the conversation, sighing, "This Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country is indeed powerful, his Nascent Qi is terrifying, I am not his match."
"It's okay."
Cheng Zheng forced a smile and comforted, "Although the Loyal and Brave Marquis is strong, it's only an advantage for you to start practicing earlier, with your talent, surpassing him is only a matter of time."
"I hope so."
Chen An nodded, sighing deeply.
Seeing him like this, one would think he had suffered a great setback.
Seeing Chen An like this, Cheng Zheng also wanted to comfort him, so he smiled and said, "I heard that you and the Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country fought for an hour?"
"Today, someone from the South Gate came to report, saying that the area has been completely transformed, affected by your and the Loyal and Brave Marquis's battle, it's a mess."
"It is my fault."
Chen An's face was sincere: "At that time, I was only focused on killing the enemy, but forgot to be restrained."
"If you had still been restrained in the duel with that Loyal and Brave Marquis, I'm afraid I wouldn't be seeing you now."
Cheng Zheng laughed, "To speak bluntly, in the entire Great Huay, only Chang An, who fought fiercely for my sake with the Loyal and Brave Marquis last night, perhaps has such courage."
Seemingly realizing something, his face suddenly became much darker.
Chen An immediately fell silent.
Needless to say, from Cheng Zheng's appearance, it was clear that he had faced defeat somewhere.
According to Chen An's estimation, last night Cheng Zheng probably invited two attendants from Shengjing and hoped they would intervene.
But the result, well, it didn't need much explanation.
After all, those two attendants were not familiar with him. If the former emperor were still alive, it might have been different. But even then, they might not have blindly obeyed Cheng Zheng.
After all, Nascent Qi practitioners were proud individuals.
Chen An remained silent, looking ahead with a hint of suppressed anger, while Cheng Zheng did not say a word.
The palace attendants did not care much for Cheng Zheng, which was actually beneficial for Chen An.
After all, without comparison, how could Chen An's value be shown?
"Your Majesty."
After a moment of silence, Chen An suddenly spoke, "In last night's battle, I felt that my strength was still lacking and I want to go into seclusion for a while."
"I wonder if I can enter the royal treasure land and practice there for a period of time?"
He started to negotiate.
"Seclusion for cultivation?"
Cheng Zheng hesitated for a moment and a look of doubt appeared on his face.
Don't get me wrong.
It's not that he couldn't bear to give up those so-called treasure lands.
He simply couldn't bear to lose such a good helper as Chen An.
He had always used Chen An as his right-hand man during this long period of time, Chen An was quite handy in various matters, and he was used to it.
It was somewhat reluctant to see him leave suddenly.
But after a slight hesitation, he nodded and said, "If Chang An wants to go into seclusion, then go ahead."
"Hold my token, you can go to several places in Great Huay on your own, and no one will stop you."
Wow.
He immediately mentioned three treasure lands, quite generous.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Chen An smiled immediately.
"Before you leave, do not forget to visit the armory."
Seeing Chen An's expression, Cheng Zheng also smiled, "I have prepared what you need, don't forget to collect it."
What I need?
Chen An was taken aback for a moment, then quickly reacted and couldn't help but feel happy.
After a while, Chen An left.
In the grand hall, only Cheng Zheng remained.
After Chen An left, Cheng Zheng's face immediately became much darker.
"Find out who was involved?"
Cheng Zheng's face darkened as he looked towards the screen behind him, "And the fire in the city, what are the guards doing? Their actions were slow to such an extent!"
There was an uncontrollable anger in his voice.
The Thai King disappeared from the mansion and was taken away by the Great Song envoy.
This matter seemed ordinary, but it implied something complicated.
There must have been many people in Great Huay assisting secretly, colluding with the Great Song envoy, in order to take the Thai King out in one fell swoop.
Otherwise, even if there was a Nascent Qi covert agent in the Great Song envoy, it would not have been possible to take the Thai King away so silently.
"So many people in Shengjing are secretly supporting the Thai King, even this palace is in turmoil."
Cheng Zheng's face became even more grim, "As the emperor, how dare someone refuse an imperial decree!"
He was referring to the two attendants in Shengjing.
Cheng Zheng was not an incompetent person.
After the long battle between Chen An and Yang Zhong outside Shengjing last night, Cheng Zheng naturally received the news early.
At the first notification, he immediately sent someone to invite the two attendants, hoping to use their power to suppress the Loyal and Brave Marquis Yang Zhong and assist Chen An in winning.
But unexpectedly, the two attendants were both in seclusion and completely ignored his orders.
This situation was embarrassing.
Whenever Cheng Zheng thought about the events of last night, he couldn't help but feel burning with anger.
As an emperor, he had people under his command, but he couldn't move them at all.
"These two attendants were both supported by the former emperor, and one of them is a senior member of the imperial family."
From behind the screen, a somewhat helpless voice of Liu Chu came, "It's different from Chang An after all."
The two attendants stationed in Shengjing now had close ties with the former emperor.
One was a talent brought in by the former emperor, the other was cultivated from the ancestral temple. These two individuals had been with the former emperor for many years, one of them being an elder of the Great Huay imperial family, and they were faithful to Great Huay.
But their loyalty to Cheng Zheng was not certain.
If someone attacked Shengjing, they would naturally take action. But if Cheng Zheng actively issued decrees, whether they would comply or not would depend on their mood.
"Today, I truly understand the value of Nascent Qi."
Cheng Zheng couldn't help but sigh, barely suppressing his emotions.
Actually, this issue was not unique to him, it was something most emperors had encountered before.
For ordinary people, when the emperor got angry, they would bow down, but for Nascent Qi practitioners who were high above, it was just a minor matter.
With each new emperor, the Nascent Qi practitioners around them were mostly retained from the past, they could be influenced, but they certainly wouldn't be as obedient as other people.
To have a group of obedient Nascent Qi practitioners, they had to be cultivated themselves, slowly building up their loyalty.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zheng felt a little comfort in his heart.
"Fortunately, I still have Chang An."
He sighed, this thought crossed his mind.
Compared to others, he was already much luckier. At least he had just ascended to the throne, and he already had Chen An, a Nascent Qi practitioner, following him.
There was still a long way to go in the future, and he could slowly cultivate his own team.
Thinking like this, he could only console himself.
While Cheng Zheng was comforting himself, what was Chen An doing? He was in the armory.
With Cheng Zheng's token in hand, Chen An easily entered the armory of Great Huay.
In a sense, this was one of the most important places within Great Huay, second only to the ancestral temple.
Because it contained all the accumulations of Great Huay since its founding by the Great Huay Ancestor.
All the martial arts collected by Great Huay over the past few centuries were all stored here.
This was much more magnificent than the White Family's armory. Although the White Family's armory was smaller in scale, only having several bookshelves, the entire armory was not even full of one room.
The Great Huay armory was much more substantial, with bookshelves everywhere.
There were various martial arts techniques, even internal cultivation methods, that could make one dizzy.
In terms of quantity, it far surpassed the White Family's armory by miles.
Not just in quantity, but also in quality.
"Ice Qi, Chen's Martial Arts."
Chen An browsed through the records in the armory, then suddenly became stunned.
The armory contained many martial arts techniques, including many Nascent Qi-level martial arts. In addition to some that Chen An had never seen before, the Chen family's ancestral martial arts manual was also there.
This was quite impressive.
It wasn't clear whether the Chen family's ancestors voluntarily turned it in or the Great Huay court forcefully took it.
In addition to the Chen's Martial Arts manual, there were also Nascent Qi martial arts from several other families stored there.
The content was quite comprehensive.
Basically, anything Chen An had heard of could be found here most of the time.
Even if it wasn't found, there were still some incomplete pieces.
"So abundant."
Chen An couldn't help but sigh.
This was the accumulation of a country.
Compared to the armories he had seen before, whether it was the White family or the former Duke of Chen's mansion, they were nothing. Compared to this vast and magnificent armory, those two places were like child's play.
Although there were many martial arts in the armory, they were not very useful to Chen An.
What he really cared about was the gift Cheng Zheng had prepared for him.
With anticipation, a eunuch soon came and handed him a box.
Opening the box, the contents were revealed quickly.
A smile appeared on Chen An's face immediately.
The box contained not just anything else but the innate part of the Ice Qi technique.
In other words, it was a martial arts technique of the Pre-Natal level.
Without any hesitation, Chen An immediately picked up the book, putting it in front of him to carefully study it.
"Hmm?"
Chen An had to admit that, in this moment, he was a bit moved.
As he moved naturally, his actions also slowed down during the moment of his excitement.
"Is what you said true?"
He asked.
"Of course it's true."
Yang Lao thought Chen An had some ideas, so he smiled and was about to say something.
A long knife mercilessly slashed down, directly attacking him at this moment of pause.
Yang Lao's mouth immediately closed.
The long knife fell, carrying a strong force.
It was not just physical strength, but the mysterious ice energy it carried was crucial.
The power generated by the mysterious ice energy was absolutely not to be underestimated, the power within it was immense, even those with similar energy could not handle it.
Yang Lao's chest kept vibrating, breathing heavily, and it took a while to calm down.
However, after this incident, faced with Chen An's unscrupulous sneak attack, he finally didn't dare to be distracted and focused entirely on competing with Chen An.
The range of their energy was wide, and the area affected was also extensive.
If someone who didn't know came over, they might think these two were in a life-and-death battle.
However, in reality, it was just a small fight.
They fought each other, their energies clashed, looking lively but in reality, they maintained restraint at all times and didn't really use their full strength.
Although the forces exerted by both sides were strong, they were always testing each other.
And the results of the test were not good.
The strengths of both sides were too close.
In detail, Yang Lao's strength should be stronger than Chen An at the moment, after all, accumulated over many years, his internal energy was stronger and deeper, not comparable to a newcomer like Chen An.
But even with this slight advantage, it didn't necessarily mean much.
If both sides were willing to fight to the death and not retreat, they could determine a winner.
But any normal person would understand, how could that be possible?
There was no deep enmity between Yang Lao and Chen An.
Yang Lao's task here was to stop Chen An and buy time for Liu Sheng and the others to leave.
As for Chen An, he was purely here to complete his mission.
Fighting to the death? Impossible.
Since there was no fight to the death, and their strengths were so close, neither side could really do anything to the other.
Chen An couldn't get past Yang Lao to chase after him, and Yang Lao couldn't achieve any results, let alone harm a single hair on Chen An.
This was different from the battle between Chen An and the former Duke of Chen, Chen Hua.
It was not so much that the former Duke of Chen, Chen Hua, was defeated by Chen An, rather he was already injured, physically weak, and ultimately worn down by Chen An.
However, Chen Hua could be worn down, but the present Yang Lao was very sharp, swinging two short knives with a force even greater than Chen An's.
To wear him down, it would probably take several days and nights.
This battle was about to become a stalemate.
"Your actions have no killing intent, I suppose you know you can't get past me," Yang Lao said helplessly, looking at Chen An, "If that's the case, why continue?”
He really couldn't understand Chen An's behavior.
The situation was already clear, it was obvious that neither could do anything to the other.
Since he couldn't escape him, he should just back off and stop, why continue to entangle?
Continuing to fight like this, not only damaged the surrounding plants, but what other benefits were there?
He really wanted to stop, after all, he was quite old and it was time to take care of his health.
It'd be good not to fight.
But Chen An wouldn't have it.
Don't fight? Why not?
You're at an age where you should take care of your health, but I'm not.
For Chen An, this battle was a rare experience.
After advancing to the Nascent Qi stage, he encountered few enemies.
The former Chen Hua was good, but he was already old and weak, with injuries, strictly speaking, it was just bullying an old man, no real challenge.
Now it was much better, strong and vigorous.
More importantly, their strengths were equal, not too weak or too strong.
If he didn't exploit this opportunity to gain experience, when else would he?
Of course, if he was just trying to gain experience, he didn't have to fight so hard.
Chen An fought so hard because he also had to report to Cheng Zheng later.
The destructive power of Nascent Qi warriors was extraordinary. After their battle for so long, they had almost destroyed several nearby official roads, their presence had long been felt by the distant areas.
If you didn't know, you would think there was a natural disaster.
Anyone who knew would understand how hard Chen An had fought.
Afterwards, Cheng Zheng sent people to investigate, seeing the extensive traces, they would understand how hard Chen An had worked.
In the end, it was just putting on a show for the leaders.
Slacking off and surface work, these were Chen An's specialties.
In his past life, he had used these strategies to deal with countless leaders.
But obviously, Yang Lao couldn't understand Chen An's intentions.
Not only did he not understand, he even thought Chen An was being foolish.
The energies scattered, rippling in all directions, directly shattering a small mountain in the distance.
Unconsciously, they had been fighting for nearly half an hour.
By tomorrow morning, the people in Shengjing would probably not recognize this place.
Because it had completely changed.
But at this point, Chen An still wanted to continue.
Yang Lao was already a bit fed up.
"Will you ever stop?"
Thrusting forward with the two knives, he pierced through layer after layer of frost.
He estimated that it was about time, and Liu Sheng and his group were already far away, so Yang Lao took the initiative to force Chen An to retreat.
Then, taking advantage of this opportunity, he fled from here.
He looked really tired, and didn't want to continue entangling with Chen An.
Chen An also had no intention of pursuing.
After all, there was no point in catching up.
Their strengths were almost equal, and he couldn't possibly keep the other side behind, there was also a risk of falling into an ambush.
Rather than do that, it was better to just leave it as it was.
After fighting for so long, he had gained enough experience, and his show had been enough.
Cheng Zheng would know about it eventually, and there should be no complaints.
The next day, as soon as the sky brightened, Cheng Zheng summoned Chen An.
In the grand hall, Cheng Zheng's face looked somewhat gloomy, with a hint of fatigue in his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well the previous night.
Even with Chen An's understanding of Cheng Zheng, he wouldn't be surprised if Cheng Zheng hadn't slept all night, waiting for news from Chen An.
"The Thai King was taken away by the envoy from Great Song?"
With a grim face, Cheng Zheng looked at Chen An and spoke.
"Yes."
Chen An nodded and recounted the events of last night one by one, finally bowing, "It is my incompetence, I could not keep the Thai King and his party."
"No, Chang An, you did well."
Cheng Zheng's face remained grim, but softened slightly when looking at Chen An, "I already know about yesterday's news."
"Liu Sheng is truly a great man of the Song country, and the arrangements he made even surprised me."
"Chang An, being able to catch up with the Thai King in such a clever arrangement is not easy, especially considering there was a Nascent Qi protector by the Thai King's side."
In the end, his expression became even more serious, "Yang Zhong of the Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country, this is an old rival for our Great Huay, the founding Duke and even your grandfather had fought against him, but no one had ever gained an advantage over him, indicating how difficult he is to deal with."
"Understood."
Hearing Cheng Zheng's words, Chen An continued the conversation, sighing, "This Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country is indeed powerful, his Nascent Qi is terrifying, I am not his match."
"It's okay."
Cheng Zheng forced a smile and comforted, "Although the Loyal and Brave Marquis is strong, it's only an advantage for you to start practicing earlier, with your talent, surpassing him is only a matter of time."
"I hope so."
Chen An nodded, sighing deeply.
Seeing him like this, one would think he had suffered a great setback.
Seeing Chen An like this, Cheng Zheng also wanted to comfort him, so he smiled and said, "I heard that you and the Loyal and Brave Marquis of the Song country fought for an hour?"
"Today, someone from the South Gate came to report, saying that the area has been completely transformed, affected by your and the Loyal and Brave Marquis's battle, it's a mess."
"It is my fault."
Chen An's face was sincere: "At that time, I was only focused on killing the enemy, but forgot to be restrained."
"If you had still been restrained in the duel with that Loyal and Brave Marquis, I'm afraid I wouldn't be seeing you now."
Cheng Zheng laughed, "To speak bluntly, in the entire Great Huay, only Chang An, who fought fiercely for my sake with the Loyal and Brave Marquis last night, perhaps has such courage."
Seemingly realizing something, his face suddenly became much darker.
Chen An immediately fell silent.
Needless to say, from Cheng Zheng's appearance, it was clear that he had faced defeat somewhere.
According to Chen An's estimation, last night Cheng Zheng probably invited two attendants from Shengjing and hoped they would intervene.
But the result, well, it didn't need much explanation.
After all, those two attendants were not familiar with him. If the former emperor were still alive, it might have been different. But even then, they might not have blindly obeyed Cheng Zheng.
After all, Nascent Qi practitioners were proud individuals.
Chen An remained silent, looking ahead with a hint of suppressed anger, while Cheng Zheng did not say a word.
The palace attendants did not care much for Cheng Zheng, which was actually beneficial for Chen An.
After all, without comparison, how could Chen An's value be shown?
"Your Majesty."
After a moment of silence, Chen An suddenly spoke, "In last night's battle, I felt that my strength was still lacking and I want to go into seclusion for a while."
"I wonder if I can enter the royal treasure land and practice there for a period of time?"
He started to negotiate.
"Seclusion for cultivation?"
Cheng Zheng hesitated for a moment and a look of doubt appeared on his face.
Don't get me wrong.
It's not that he couldn't bear to give up those so-called treasure lands.
He simply couldn't bear to lose such a good helper as Chen An.
He had always used Chen An as his right-hand man during this long period of time, Chen An was quite handy in various matters, and he was used to it.
It was somewhat reluctant to see him leave suddenly.
But after a slight hesitation, he nodded and said, "If Chang An wants to go into seclusion, then go ahead."
"Hold my token, you can go to several places in Great Huay on your own, and no one will stop you."
Wow.
He immediately mentioned three treasure lands, quite generous.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Chen An smiled immediately.
"Before you leave, do not forget to visit the armory."
Seeing Chen An's expression, Cheng Zheng also smiled, "I have prepared what you need, don't forget to collect it."
What I need?
Chen An was taken aback for a moment, then quickly reacted and couldn't help but feel happy.
After a while, Chen An left.
In the grand hall, only Cheng Zheng remained.
After Chen An left, Cheng Zheng's face immediately became much darker.
"Find out who was involved?"
Cheng Zheng's face darkened as he looked towards the screen behind him, "And the fire in the city, what are the guards doing? Their actions were slow to such an extent!"
There was an uncontrollable anger in his voice.
The Thai King disappeared from the mansion and was taken away by the Great Song envoy.
This matter seemed ordinary, but it implied something complicated.
There must have been many people in Great Huay assisting secretly, colluding with the Great Song envoy, in order to take the Thai King out in one fell swoop.
Otherwise, even if there was a Nascent Qi covert agent in the Great Song envoy, it would not have been possible to take the Thai King away so silently.
"So many people in Shengjing are secretly supporting the Thai King, even this palace is in turmoil."
Cheng Zheng's face became even more grim, "As the emperor, how dare someone refuse an imperial decree!"
He was referring to the two attendants in Shengjing.
Cheng Zheng was not an incompetent person.
After the long battle between Chen An and Yang Zhong outside Shengjing last night, Cheng Zheng naturally received the news early.
At the first notification, he immediately sent someone to invite the two attendants, hoping to use their power to suppress the Loyal and Brave Marquis Yang Zhong and assist Chen An in winning.
But unexpectedly, the two attendants were both in seclusion and completely ignored his orders.
This situation was embarrassing.
Whenever Cheng Zheng thought about the events of last night, he couldn't help but feel burning with anger.
As an emperor, he had people under his command, but he couldn't move them at all.
"These two attendants were both supported by the former emperor, and one of them is a senior member of the imperial family."
From behind the screen, a somewhat helpless voice of Liu Chu came, "It's different from Chang An after all."
The two attendants stationed in Shengjing now had close ties with the former emperor.
One was a talent brought in by the former emperor, the other was cultivated from the ancestral temple. These two individuals had been with the former emperor for many years, one of them being an elder of the Great Huay imperial family, and they were faithful to Great Huay.
But their loyalty to Cheng Zheng was not certain.
If someone attacked Shengjing, they would naturally take action. But if Cheng Zheng actively issued decrees, whether they would comply or not would depend on their mood.
"Today, I truly understand the value of Nascent Qi."
Cheng Zheng couldn't help but sigh, barely suppressing his emotions.
Actually, this issue was not unique to him, it was something most emperors had encountered before.
For ordinary people, when the emperor got angry, they would bow down, but for Nascent Qi practitioners who were high above, it was just a minor matter.
With each new emperor, the Nascent Qi practitioners around them were mostly retained from the past, they could be influenced, but they certainly wouldn't be as obedient as other people.
To have a group of obedient Nascent Qi practitioners, they had to be cultivated themselves, slowly building up their loyalty.
Thinking of this, Cheng Zheng felt a little comfort in his heart.
"Fortunately, I still have Chang An."
He sighed, this thought crossed his mind.
Compared to others, he was already much luckier. At least he had just ascended to the throne, and he already had Chen An, a Nascent Qi practitioner, following him.
There was still a long way to go in the future, and he could slowly cultivate his own team.
Thinking like this, he could only console himself.
While Cheng Zheng was comforting himself, what was Chen An doing? He was in the armory.
With Cheng Zheng's token in hand, Chen An easily entered the armory of Great Huay.
In a sense, this was one of the most important places within Great Huay, second only to the ancestral temple.
Because it contained all the accumulations of Great Huay since its founding by the Great Huay Ancestor.
All the martial arts collected by Great Huay over the past few centuries were all stored here.
This was much more magnificent than the White Family's armory. Although the White Family's armory was smaller in scale, only having several bookshelves, the entire armory was not even full of one room.
The Great Huay armory was much more substantial, with bookshelves everywhere.
There were various martial arts techniques, even internal cultivation methods, that could make one dizzy.
In terms of quantity, it far surpassed the White Family's armory by miles.
Not just in quantity, but also in quality.
"Ice Qi, Chen's Martial Arts."
Chen An browsed through the records in the armory, then suddenly became stunned.
The armory contained many martial arts techniques, including many Nascent Qi-level martial arts. In addition to some that Chen An had never seen before, the Chen family's ancestral martial arts manual was also there.
This was quite impressive.
It wasn't clear whether the Chen family's ancestors voluntarily turned it in or the Great Huay court forcefully took it.
In addition to the Chen's Martial Arts manual, there were also Nascent Qi martial arts from several other families stored there.
The content was quite comprehensive.
Basically, anything Chen An had heard of could be found here most of the time.
Even if it wasn't found, there were still some incomplete pieces.
"So abundant."
Chen An couldn't help but sigh.
This was the accumulation of a country.
Compared to the armories he had seen before, whether it was the White family or the former Duke of Chen's mansion, they were nothing. Compared to this vast and magnificent armory, those two places were like child's play.
Although there were many martial arts in the armory, they were not very useful to Chen An.
What he really cared about was the gift Cheng Zheng had prepared for him.
With anticipation, a eunuch soon came and handed him a box.
Opening the box, the contents were revealed quickly.
A smile appeared on Chen An's face immediately.
The box contained not just anything else but the innate part of the Ice Qi technique.
In other words, it was a martial arts technique of the Pre-Natal level.
Without any hesitation, Chen An immediately picked up the book, putting it in front of him to carefully study it.
