Old Yen lamented his fate to meet the evil star that was Wu Long at the point when he was just about to succeed in doing what other organizations of the same profession deemed impossible without severe consequences.

Wu Long first waited a bit, thinking that he would resume the explanation on his own, but when it seemed that he was lost in his thoughts, slightly waved before Old Yen’s face.

“Hm? What?”

“You were saying…”

Wu Long made the same circular gesture with his finger, telling him to go on with the explanation of the Imperial Family’s current situation.

“Ah! Sorry, yes, the current empress came to power only 40 years ago, so the heirs to the throne have no chance to inherit it in the coming 500 years at least, which is a major discouragement for all of them. The empress has no children of her own and is not even married, and it is rumored that not many in the Imperial Family want her to ever change that since they do not want more competitors for the future throne, as the sitting monarch’s children often become prime candidates-…”

“I am not much interested in that, what I want to know is not the Imperial Court gossip but the attitude of the current authority holders and their overall demeanor”

Wu Long interrupted Old Yen who seemed to start rattling off all of the Imperial Family’s information he knew, not differentiating importance. He could only be grateful that Old Yen did not start with the history.

“Hmm, the current Empress is originally an illegitimate child, who came to sit on the throne with sheer power that she possessed, but she is not much experienced in politics and since coming to power has been boggled with the court… so it could be said that currently the empire is mostly in the hands of three Palace Ministers that were advisors to the throne long before and wield a great influence. They are outwardly protecting the same order as before but it is known in the dark circles that they indulge in their power a little too much”

Old Yen pondered a little and gave Wu Long the rundown of the power structure he wanted.

“Heh, so three wily old foxes are in charge huh…”

Wu Long chuckled as he could picture what the situation was like now.

“It seems our time is out, since the Imperial Officials are coming”

Old Yen’s body stiffened as he prepared for a strike after Wu Long’s words. He closed his eyes and stood, ready to accept his fate. But as his life continued to stay intact he slowly opened his eyes again, seeing Wu Long sheath the sword and put it away into the spatial ring.

“Eh?”

“Hm? What? Are you dissatisfied?”

“N-no but I thought…”

“You thought I was going to kill you? Hmm, well, since you cooperated so well I decided to leave your life intact for now…” ．

Wu Long pointed his index finger at Old Yen’s forehead as he spoke.

“… and you may even earn your life depending on how useful you will be in finding out what I want”

“Who was responsible for poisoning you and then ambushing you?”

“Oh? Look at how fast your head started working with the possibility of living in front of you”

Wu Long chuckled and Old Yen wryly smiled as he scratched the back of his head in a slight embarrassment. He was trying to protect his dignity in death but he could not hide the fundamental feelings of unwillingness and fear before, even his thinking becoming number.

“You will probably have to cooperate with the Imperial Officials for now, but after this is all handled you can go straight to search for the information I need. Use the funds of your former organization as well as what I gave you earlier. I hope you don’t disappoint me”

Wu Long dismissed him with a wave of his hand as he turned to the Gong sisters.

“You will both have to cooperate with the investigation as well, but you can just let me do the talking and everything will be fine”

“Who are you? Sister, is this man your friend?”

“No… I don’t know…”

Gong Liwei first wanted to refute her sister’s guess, but she could not outright do so since Wu Long indeed solved the situation and it seemed he did not have any ill intentions in winning the Flower Banquet Crown, but she still could not be certain.

“Hmm, anyway, there is no need to worry about me, I am the Prime Disciple of the Profound Music Palace, one of the Five Great Sects, and with its influence, I am protected from even Imperial Authority as long as I don’t interfere with the Imperial Family, but it is not like any of them would be in this kind of place, hahaha”

Gong Liwei’s sister put her hands on her waist and laughed, proudly pushing forward her impressive chest in a display of confidence and invincibility, but an awkward expression crept onto Gong Liwei’s face as she touched her forehead with the fingers of her fair hand and lightly shook her head.

Wu Long also smiled wryly at the confidently laughing young lady who was assured of her immunity.

Just then, a group of people appeared on the scene from the torn building, and as she saw a certain young man among the group her laughter gradually died down.

“Haha…ha… haa~ well I’m done for”

She then dejectedly said as her face still had the frozen smile from before.

“Now’s a good chance to get rid of him, Fairy Gong Liwei”

Wu Long chuckled at the expression of the young maiden and gave a reminder to her older sister.

“Are you insane, the Imperial Officials are almost here”

“Heh, it seems you do not want to implicate this young lady here”

“Cui’er you forgot to introduce yourself”

“Eh? Ah~ I’m soon to be convicted, soon to be former Prime Disciple of the Profound Music Palace, the once-hailed genius, now turned criminal? Gong Cui, it is nice to meet someone before starting my life as a convict”

The young lady lifelessly reacted to her sister’s nudging and introduced herself without any emotion in her voice and with a distant look in her eyes.

“Haha, it is nice to meet you, Fairy Gong Cui. And I have yet to introduce myself to Fairy Gong Liwei either. My name is Wu Long”

“W-Wu? Are you perhaps related to that Wu family?”

Suddenly a glimmer of life returned to Gong Cui’s eyes.

“Well, if you ask about origins, yes-…”

“We’re saved!!! Sister, we’re saved!!! We’re really…”

The young maiden started to jump in excitement as she was holding her sister’s hand and Wu Long awkwardly scratched his cheek, thinking of how to continue his sentence at this point. But since it was not something avoidable, it would come up during the investigation anyway, he finally took a deep breath.

“… yes, I was part of the Wu Family at one point but I am no longer associated with them”

“… really… dead”

The jumping maiden’s excitement died instantly and her figure slumped as her sister held her up with a wry smile as she expected something of the sort from how Wu Long’s sentence started.

“Everyone stay in place! We are from the Imperial Palace, and by the authority vested…”

A group of people arrived and the person at the front started a long-winded speech.

“…and we expect everyone to cooperate”

When the speech ended there were already hundreds of city guards and even a dozen Imperial Guards flooding the open space. The onlookers did not disperse as they were ready to give their witness accounts of the events that transpired.

“Inspector! Thank heavens you are here! This man is a menace to the Empire and our citizens! We ought to-…”

The prince who previously was too scared to even make a sound, since he saw what Wu Long was capable of, was instantly revitalized as he saw the Imperial Officials, and pointing at Wu Long started loudly proclaiming.

“Y-Your Highness? What are you doing here?”

“That is not important! This man here-…”

“My apologies, Your Highness, but until all circumstances are confirmed, by the Imperial Law you are to be treated as a subject of investigation, I ask that you do not make it hard on us and cooperate”

The official who was first surprised at the appearance of such a figure here then returned to his former demeanor as his face was slightly apologetic but stern.

“Tch”

The prince choked on his words and then spat out his dissatisfaction as the inspector who arrived did not show any signs of being influenced by his status. However, despite the outer discontent, he did not further try to speak up or show any other signs of disobedience.

‘Hmm, it seems the Imperial Family members are truly bound by law, heh, interesting’

Wu Long inwardly thought as he witnessed this scene.