340: Chapter 340 A Century-Old Grudge, Confronted in One Day!

"Magic User?"

As a prince of Heze Kingdom, Sikong Xuanye did not recognize Yimu; he only sensed the mark upon her.

It seemed he sensed that something was amiss.

Li Yitong and the other two adjutants sitting around the table subconsciously stopped chewing and slowly lowered their heads.

Xu Shan's tall frame leaned forward by half a step, and just as he was about to speak, Zhou Jun pressed down on his arm.

The latter signaled with his eyes:

"It is not yet the time!"

The movement around him caused Sikong Xuanye to quickly withdraw his gaze.

He did not directly answer Yimu's rebuke, but instead put back on that gentle and polite smile, as if that momentary loss of composure had just been an illusion of the crowd, and had never truly happened.

"I never expected that after more than a hundred years, upon returning to my homeland, I would still be able to meet a compatriot!"

His tone regained its composure, even carrying a hint of emotion.

This light, airy remark, however, completely broke through the defenses of the already emotionally agitated Yimu.

The frequency of the blue light shining from beneath her veil was so fast it almost merged into one, and the naked eye could catch that rapid, flickering rhythm.

Her fingertips had already reached out from under her cloak, and blue energy condensed into several unstable spots of light on her knuckles.

Lin Xiao tapped on the table.

The crisp sound of knuckles tapping against the tabletop slightly eased the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere.

"I will emphasize this one more time: please, everyone present, remain calm. Otherwise, I might not be able to remain calm myself!"

He scanned everyone at the table and said in a flat tone.

The giant dark red battle axe at his side made no one dare to doubt the truth of that statement.

Yimu took a deep breath, and the spots of light on her fingertips slowly dissipated.

Sikong Xuanye folded his translucent palms back onto his knees and lowered his head slightly, acknowledging the warning just now.

The two met each other's eyes across the table, neither of them speaking first.

Lin Xiao leaned back in his chair and tilted his head toward Yimu, "You speak first."

Yimu raised an arm, her fingertip pointing directly at Sikong Xuanye.

"You royal nobles who sit high above the clouds cannot see what is happening on the ground at all. What do you mean by 'mob,' what do you mean by 'rebellion'? What do you mean by 'stealing the heritage'? You are simply talking nonsense!"

She was trembling.

It was not entirely out of fear.

The resentment that had been squeezed into the bottom of her heart for over a hundred years had finally found an outlet, naturally making it impossible for her to control her emotions.

It was precisely this resentment that allowed her voice to pierce through the commotion by the bar, causing everyone to look over.

Hearing the argument, Jiang Wanwan looked up from her ledger, her gaze passing through the queue of people and landing on the public seating area.

Even in the back half of Carriage 09, those passengers who were browsing the stalls put down the goods in their hands and cast curious glances.

"How the commoners on the ground survived? You simply cannot see, because you have never been willing to lower those noble heads of yours to take a look down!"

Yimu took a deep breath, steadying her heaving shoulders as much as possible, "So do not push everything onto the commoners, especially you, Second Prince. Ask your own conscience, where exactly does the root cause of the palace's collapse lie!"

Sikong Xuanye's expression flickered slightly.

But he did not directly respond to these words, instead circling back to the version he had stated just before.

About how the commoners rebelled out of greed, stole the Heze Kingdom's royal heritage, and attacked the Royal Court through the Qitian Temple teleportation array...

Lin Xiao quietly waited for Sikong Xuanye to finish saying these things.

During this time, he neither refuted nor questioned him.

Only after this did he lean forward slightly, "Setting other things aside, there is one point I am very curious about. Since the Scarab Beetle had already been wiped out by the commoners, and since the fall of Heze was unrelated to the Insect Swarm, then… why did the palace suspended in the clouds turn into a massive insect nest?"

Minister Sikong Heng, who was sitting to the side, was about to start explaining, but before he could make a sound, Lin Xiao's second sentence followed up.

He pointed his finger toward the ceiling, his tone still relaxed, "When you came out of the teleportation pod, you should have seen what the palace looks like now, with unhatched egg sacs scattered among the broken walls and ruins, yet you few do not seem surprised at all."

He withdrew his finger, his gaze sweeping to Sikong Xuanye's face, "It is truly… mind-boggling!"

Minister Sikong Heng and several old officials exchanged glances.

The movement was fast, so fast it was almost instinctive.

But even so, it was still captured by Lin Xiao.

Only Sikong Xuanye did not move, still sitting upright in his chair, his face indifferent.

"After the mob invaded the Royal Court palace, our royal family began a journey of wandering that has lasted over a hundred years. During this time, we did indeed hear news of Heze's decline, but apart from some sighs and regrets, there was not much surprise.

Because we knew that a mob is just a mob; after they seized the Royal Court, the decline of Heze Kingdom was merely a matter of time."

He sighed and continued, "As for why Scarab Beetles appeared in the palace, it is likely because those mobs were greedy by nature. Although they destroyed the Scarab Beetles they had raised themselves, they privately hoarded a batch of eggs. After all, the shed skins of Scarab Beetles are very valuable and are an important industry for my Heze Kingdom.

Perhaps after the war, some of the mob left the eggs in a corner, and the eggs, aided by the unique environment of the Royal Court palace, were able to hatch safely, and the Scarab Beetles transformed into the appearance you saw, Your Excellency."

"Scarab Beetle eggs?" Lin Xiao asked in surprise.

Sikong Xuanye smiled slightly: "This question should be asked of this Magic User before us."

This prince of Heze Kingdom attributed all responsibility to the mob, and then pointed the finger at Yimu.

The old official sitting to the side, Minister Sikong Heng, immediately stood up to chime in: "Just as His Highness said before, the Royal Court promotes commoners to official positions every year, and among them, Magic User is the position held by the most commoners.

Every mid-year and year-end, Magic Users must go down to the ground to collect Scarab Beetle shed skins for the Royal Court's use. And the day Heze fell was exactly the opening of the mid-year celebration…"

As he spoke, he pointed at Yimu, emotionally saying: "It was precisely these Magic Users who brought a large group of mobs back from the lower realm, and they used the teleportation array to attack the Royal Court palace.

Using the secret techniques inherited from my Heze, using the magic element stones made from Scarab Beetle shed skins, they turned around and bombarded the Royal Court that raised them and promoted them! Simply ungrateful, worse than beasts!"

"That is not the truth!" Yimu hurriedly looked at Lin Xiao, shaking her head vigorously, "The teleportation array at Qitian Temple had people guarding it; how could it be possible to let a large number of commoners enter and exit at will!"

"Your Excellency."

Sikong Xuanye turned to Lin Xiao and spoke calmly.

"You are a reasonable person, so do not listen to the words of a villain. If you have any compassion because of this woman's appearance, then I advise you…"

As he spoke, he raised his right hand and gently pushed his palm forward.

A powerful gust of air exploded within the carriage without warning.

The bowls and chopsticks on the table tumbled away with a clatter.

Xu Shan and Zhou Jun simultaneously reached for their swords, the hems of the onlookers' clothes were blown to rustling, and everyone subconsciously raised their hands to shield their eyes.

But that gust of air only existed for a second before stopping abruptly.

The airflow dissipated.

The carriage returned to calm.

Lin Xiao lowered the arm shielding his eyes and was about to speak, but heard a short gasp from beside him.

He turned his head to look; Yimu was still standing in the same place, but her veil hat was no longer on her head.

The gust of air had snatched away that spun-yarn veil hat, blowing it onto the floor behind her.

It was precisely because of this that Yimu's face was completely exposed to the gaze of everyone in the carriage.