Chapter 319: High Council’s Meeting (III)
Chapter 319: High Council’s Meeting (III)
"Your Majesty, I will also like to say something."
Everyone’s attention shifted toward the Heavenly Empress who just spoke these words, attracting the curiosity of those who were present in the hall.
"Go ahead." Heavenly Emperor gave his permission as he visibly calmed down a little and settled down on his seat once again.
Heavenly Empress turned her attention toward the rest of the council members and confessed, "Since I was the one who punished High Immortal Xing and sent her to Mortal Realm, I was aware of her possessing her Immortal memories and divine powers. It was due to the broken divine portal which caused these changes."
Xiang Ling stared at the Heavenly Empress, not knowing what the latter was going to say next. And she wasn’t the only one, everyone else in the meeting hall was anticipating Empress’ next words.
With a momentarily break to let her words sink, Heavenly Empress continued, "Once I realized what was going on, I started paying close attention to High Immortal Xing during her life tribulation. That’s how I came to know that both Celestial King and the Crown Prince’s mortal forms were married to the woman whose body High Immortal Xing occupied in the Mortal Realm. These coincidences were already surprising enough, but then I found that the Mer King, Spirit Beast King, and Demon Emperor were married to her too. It was too much of a coincidence, so I made sure to keep a close eyes on them to make sure that nothing sinister was going on."
The entire hall was filled with silence, everyone knew exactly how important Heavenly Empress’ next words were. Xiang Ling sneaked a quick look at Li Xian to see if she could find an idea of what the Heavenly Empress’ was trying to do, but the Crown Prince had an unreadable expression decorating his face that gave away nothing at all.
"It didn’t take me long to realize that other than Celestial King and Crown Prince, everyone else carried a reason for being in the Chen Manor. High Immortal Xing’s reason was the punishment she received. Since she had access to her immortal memories and powers, I sent her a message to keep Celestial King and Crown Prince safe, and she did everything in her power to assure their safety."
Xiang Ling felt a sense of little relief taking over her when the Heavenly Empress decided to speak in her favor, or at least, that was what she felt from her words so far.
"Mer King was there because he too got suspicious when he noticed that way too many powerful people were gathered under the same roof in the Mortal Realm out of nowhere. Considering his carefree personality before he took over the duty of the throne, he was just satisfying his curiosity, and that’s all he did. While he was aware of everyone’s real identities, he had no idea about the other secrets that were brewing in that house."
Heavenly Empress stopped again as her gaze finally moved to Xin Cheng and Dao Ming. "I did realize that the Dark Force was making some movements, but I never knew it was related to the Shadow Lord’s escape. So, while I didn’t know anything about what Demon Emperor and Spirit Beast King were doing outside the Chen Manor, I know that their target was never the Upper Realms."
She then turned to face the Heavenly Emperor as she said the next words. "I heard their conversations a few times when they were discussing about how they were planning to trace the Dark Force and eliminate them. I also witnessed with my own eyes how they made sure to protect Celestial King and Crown Prince several times since they knew that the two were completely defenseless and the Dark Force could target those two. Thunder Immortal can be a witness to testify that until the very end of Celestial King and Crown Prince’s life tribulations, it were the Demon Emperor and the Spirit Beast King who protected their primordial spirits. That’s why I believe that the two of them have no intention of supporting our enemy."
Xiang Ling was surprised to see the Heavenly Empress speaking up for Xin Cheng and Dao Ming, as well as for her. Her identity as one of the two rulers of the Heavenly Realm carried too much weight in her testimony. While she didn’t speak about several things related to the matter, she still chose enough content to make her testimony a good and powerful one.
"Your Majesty, are you trying to testify for those people who have caused such a huge trouble and loss of innocent lives? What if they were just pretending to keep His Grace and the Crown Prince safe to fool all of us?" Elder Zheng wasn’t giving up that easily. He had finally found a chance to eradict the rulers of the Lower Realms, and he wanted to do everything in his powers to make it successful.
"Are you questioning my judgment, Elder Zheng?" Heavenly Empress didn’t hold back the anger in her voice as she glared at the second Elder who failed to find a response.
"Your Majesty, please don’t get angry. Elder Zheng is only worried about the safety of the Five Realms." The Third Elder spoke in a calm tone before she turned her attention toward the group standing in the center of the hall. "Your Highness, Your Grace, Emperor Zhe, and Emperor Wu, it’s a good thing that you all want to share your thoughts on this matter. However, since all four of you didn’t have a full idea about what was going on between the three suspects, your testimonies can’t really prove that the three of them are completely innocent."
Heavenly Empress chuckled at the Elder’s words, but it was a humorless chuckle. "You sure are determined that the three of them are working for the Shadow Lord, aren’t you?"
"Your Majesty, as a Council Elder, I just want to make sure that the real culprits are punished for their crimes. So far, there’s no strong testimony that can prove them innocent."
"How about my testimony?"