Clara Phoenixfield's unmarried pregnancy caused a huge scandal in Shandong at the time. Although Jada and Mira Tang managed to suppress the news, now that both sisters have left Shandong, leaks were inevitable.
Sure enough, agents from Liancastle soon arrived in Shandong and, using secret means, uncovered that Clara Phoenixfield was indeed pregnant, refused to abort, and fled in secret.
"Find her—dig three feet into the ground if you must." Lady Min spent more and more time copying scriptures, her energy and spirits revived. Whenever Empress Dowager Xie and the palace women visited, she even greeted them with a smile.
Whenever she met Empress Dowager Xie, Lady Min would ask about the young Emperor. Once, in a particularly good mood, she even joked that in two years, she’d be holding a grandchild.
Though Empress Dowager Xie and the others found it odd, they followed the principle of ‘the less trouble, the better’ and didn’t press her. Instead, they just kept a closer watch, making sure Lady Min couldn’t slip away under their noses.
Clara Phoenixfield’s whereabouts were hard to trace, but the harder she was to find, the more certain Lady Min became that Clara must have borne Jason Lan’s child—and that the Lan Clan’s main bloodline wasn’t broken yet.
With new hope, Lady Min grew calmer, her smile appearing more and more often—even…
When news came from Liancastle that Jason Lan had died, Lady Min only paused for a moment, then acted as if nothing had happened. Life went on as usual, except that she copied even more scriptures those days, some volumes dedicated especially to Jason Lan.
After all, she’d cared for Jason Lan for over twenty years, treating him almost as her own son and pinning her hopes on him. Though he’d disappointed her again and again, and she’d considered giving up on him, she never imagined Jason Lan would die so young.
A white-haired elder burying a black-haired youth—of course Lady Min was heartbroken. But she couldn’t show it, not even a hint.
William Wang Jinling was sharp enough to notice her deep sadness these days. He’d surely guess she was in contact with the outside world. If William found out, even if he couldn’t uncover how she did it, he’d cut off every channel—and then she’d be truly imprisoned.
So, in the days when news of Jason Lan’s death arrived—and for a long time afterwards—Lady Min showed no abnormal signs. She smiled gently every day, sometimes even idly sewing children’s clothes, saying they were for her future grandchildren.
Lady Min’s words were deliberately vague, so Empress Dowager Xie naturally assumed she was making clothes for Prince Nolan’s future children, never suspecting they were meant for Jason Lan’s child.
William Wang Jinling wanted to test Lady Min, so he had Empress Dowager Xie ‘slip up’ and mention Jason Lan’s death in front of her.
Lady Min was perfectly clear-headed and wouldn’t fall for William’s trick. When she heard the news, she even ‘adorably’ asked what the Lord of Liancastle’s name was. On hearing his surname was Lan, she feigned confusion: ‘Lan? Is the Lord of Liancastle a Former Dynasty man? How could the Four Kingdoms’ Imperial Mausoleum take him?’
Women competing for favor in the palace are all skilled actresses, but Lady Min is the best of the best. Even Noble Consort Helena couldn’t spot a single flaw.
In the end, the test failed. William Wang Jinling had to let it go and turn his attention to the messes in Northlyn, Southlyn, and Lyndaria.
Though all three kingdoms were plagued with internal strife, they still kept up their harassment of Eastlyn. There were no major moves, but the constant small attacks were enough to give William headaches.
As for Southlyn’s attack on Tyre City, William didn’t even want to talk about it. If not for the need to prepare for a major war—which would drain manpower and resources—he’d have loved to send troops and give Southlyn a good beating.
Madmen—a whole pack of them.
Prince Damien of Southlyn ruined himself—madman. Prince Nathan, who sold out Southlyn, was even crazier. And the Southlyn King, who recklessly named the son of a Wang Clan woman Crown Prince, was the biggest madman of all.
If he weren’t mad, he couldn’t have produced two mad sons.
There’s not a single normal person in the Southlyn royal house. William Wang Jinling is almost embarrassed to admit the Wang Clan is even related to them.
Earlier, when Eastlyn was stretched thin fighting Northlyn and Tyre City, Southlyn just whined and refused to send troops. But once Eastlyn took Tyre City and had enough soldiers and resources, Southlyn suddenly attacked under a banner of ‘justice.’ They were just begging for a beating!
William Wang Jinling really didn’t want to bully Southlyn, but when the opportunity came, if he didn’t strike back, he’d be letting down his reputation for strategy and victory from afar.
No surprise—when news of Southlyn attacking Tyre City reached the Capital City, William Wang Jinling and the other regent ministers decided to send reinforcements to Tyre and launch a counterattack on Southlyn.
William had been busy with this for days. Just as the fighting was winding down, word arrived that Jason Lan had died.
Jason Lan’s death wasn’t the problem—it was that with him gone, the trail to the Former Dynasty treasure was lost.
Not long ago, envoys from every kingdom returned from Myriad Blades Grove, having lost plenty of men but found nothing. The Three Kingdoms were furious; even with their own civil wars raging, they refused to let Jason Lan off for having toyed with them.
Jason Lan’s seven-day death rites weren’t even over when envoys from every realm arrived in Liancastle. Eastlyn was no exception. Officially, they were there for the funeral, but in truth, they came to press for treasure clues.
Unfortunately, not even the people of Liancastle—nor Jason Lan himself—knew where the treasure was. If they had, Lady Min would have already led the Moonvault Palace Sect to find it and raise an army.
Liancastle was in turmoil. To keep it from falling into the hands of the other three kingdoms, or from making trouble by exploiting Ninth Royal Uncle’s disappearance, William Wang Jinling had to take measures to shift their attention.
As expected, William Wang Jinling pushed Prince Damien forward. Wasn’t Su Wan hoping for Damien’s comeback? William gave him the chance—on the condition that Damien could withstand the ‘enthusiasm’ of the Four Kingdoms and Ghost Hall.
The kingdoms’ obsession with the Former Dynasty treasure was anything but ordinary. As the legendary insider, Prince Damien was sure to enjoy the same treatment Jason Lan had before.
Once everyone’s focus shifted to Damien, William Wang Jinling could finally turn to Eastlyn’s internal affairs—cracking down on the Taishang Emperor’s faction, which was growing bolder after Ninth Royal Uncle’s departure and Fu Lin’s return, and rooting out the secret pawns left by the King of Boats.
Some people just beg for trouble. They ignore wealth and high office, risking everything in pursuit of greater glory, dreaming of taking his place.
Did they really think William Wang Jinling was so easy to replace?
As Liancastle weathered the storm, Eastlyn was swept by its first wave of postwar purges. William Wang Jinling showed the ministers what it meant to be a true power broker.