A blind man cultivates immortality and witnesses the great secret of the holy maiden in her bridal c

The so-called palace was far less luxurious and magnificent than Chen Yang had imagined.

It looks like just a larger family residence.

However, the walls of this mansion are painted in a bright yellow, a color symbolizing royalty.

There were quite a few guards standing at the entrance of the palace.

Chen Yang walked over, and the guards immediately stepped forward to inquire.

Chen Yang took out his city lord's token and said, "I wish to see His Majesty."

The guard checked the token, then bowed to Chen Yang and said, "Lord City Lord, greetings. His Majesty's daily life is managed by the Eastern Depot. With your City Lord's token, you may enter."

As he spoke, the guards around him made way, and Chen Yang walked in through the main gate.

The palace is surrounded by medicinal gardens, artificial hills, lakes, and bamboo groves, exuding a tranquil and elegant beauty, which shows that His Majesty has good taste.

Passing through this quiet courtyard, further in lies the heavily guarded inner palace.

The walls here are even taller, and there are clearly guards protecting the area in the dark.

When Chen Yang arrived at the gate of the inner palace, a man who looked like a eunuch stepped forward and stopped him.

Chen Yang cupped his hands in greeting and said, "I am Chen Yang, the city lord of Qingzhou City, and I have come to see His Majesty."

The eunuch blurted out instinctively, "It's getting late, His Majesty... Wait, which city lord did you say you are?"

Chen Yang cupped his hands in greeting again and said, "I am Chen Yang, the city lord of Qingzhou City."

Upon hearing this, the eunuch froze, looked Chen Yang up and down, and hurriedly said excitedly, "Lord Chen, please wait a moment, I'll go and inform you right away!"

After saying that, the eunuch quickly jogged towards the inner courtyard.

Not long after, the gate burst open with a "bang," and several skilled eunuchs immediately came to greet Chen Yang.

Chen Yang followed the group into a study.

Upon entering the study, a young man in his twenties, wearing a worn-out bathrobe and with a disheveled beard, was sitting in a chair waiting.

Chen Yang glanced at the person in front of him, feeling a little confused.

The man stood up, smiled at Chen Yang, and said, "Hello, City Lord Chen. I am Zhu Yuejian, the current emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty. I have been waiting for firsthand news from your Qingzhou City."

Chen Yang was surprised that the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty was so young and dressed so simply. However, judging from his strength, he was indeed already at the ninth level of the Golden Body Realm.

Chen Yang cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Your Majesty, I have not failed in my mission; the iron ore has been brought."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuejian breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on the stool, and then clapped his hands sharply, saying, "Good! Excellent! Chen Yang, it seems Liu Tong was right about you. His recommendation of you as the city lord of Qingzhou was extremely wise!"

Where is that batch of iron ore now?

Chen Yang thought for a moment and decided not to reveal the existence of his storage ring for the time being. After all, his storage ring not only had storage functions, but also had a huge capacity, and there was no other ring like it in the entire capital.

Chen Yang didn't know much about the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in front of him, so he still had to act cautiously.

Chen Yang said, "Your Majesty, the Qingtie Mine is quite important, so I have entrusted it to my wife, Miss Liu Qingxia. She has safely brought it into the Su family and there will be absolutely no problem."

Zhu Yue breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying, "Excellent! You two have rendered great service to our Great Ming Dynasty. You deserve a reward! A generous reward indeed!"

Chen Yang immediately said, "Thank you, Your Majesty! I dare not ask for too much in terms of rewards. I only need Your Majesty to give me some spirit stones. I would not mind if it were thirty or fifty thousand, or even one hundred thousand or eighty thousand."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuejian's expression changed slightly, and he immediately felt somewhat embarrassed.

He coughed and said, "Well... haha, don't worry, I definitely won't treat you unfairly."

"By the way, Lord Chen, you must be tired from your journey. However, the Qingtie Mine is of great importance, so I will send someone to accompany you to retrieve the ore."

Chen Yang spoke up, "Alright. Also, Your Majesty, are you aware that the Prime Minister's mansion has been relentlessly pursuing us along the way, and that Liu Tong was killed by the Prime Minister's steward?"

Zhu Yuejian sighed softly, stepped down, patted Chen Yang on the shoulder, and said, "Of course I know all this. I'm not blind or stupid. What Prime Minister Zhao did couldn't be hidden from me, or rather, the Zhao family didn't hide anything; it was practically all aboveboard."

"I not only know that he has been intercepting the ore, but I also know that he is colluding with the Tartars in the north."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yang looked at Zhu Yuejian in astonishment and couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, since you know all this, why are you letting him do nothing?"

Zhu Yuejian stood with his hands behind his back, pondered for a moment, and then looked at Chen Yang and said, "Lord Chen, have you always lived in a small place? Have you never been to the capital before?"

Chen Yang no longer remembers his previous identity; he only has the memories of the past three years since his soul transmigrated.

Chen Yang nodded readily and said, "Indeed, I grew up in a very small, nameless mountain village and later came to Qingzhou City, but I have never been to the capital."

Zhu Yuejian sighed and said, "I see. No wonder Lord Chen is completely unaware of these things. In fact, although I know what the Prime Minister's Mansion wants to do, I can't stop it because our Zhu family may not be a match for them now. In the past ten years or so, the Prime Minister's Mansion seems to have obtained some kind of opportunity, and their strength has grown rapidly. There's nothing I can do about it."

Chen Yang's mind went blank for a moment.

In Chen Yang's mind, he always felt that as the emperor of a country, he naturally had the power of life and death over his subordinates. He never expected that Zhu Yuejian would say such a thing.

Seeing that Chen Yang was still somewhat bewildered, Zhu Yuejian couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Times have changed. A hundred years ago, our Zhu family could indeed control the entire Ming Dynasty and give orders to the major families in the capital. But more than ninety years ago, two of our Zhu family's ancestors died in succession in Zhongzhou. Without our ancestors as our backers, our Zhu family, the Zhao family of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and even the Su family you mentioned, are actually not much different. The difference in strength between us is not that great, so naturally I can't do anything to them."

Chen Yang frowned and said, "But even so, the Prime Minister's Mansion is colluding with people from an enemy country. He's a traitor, a collaborator! Do you think the other powerful families in the capital will just stand by and do nothing?"

Zhu Yuejian shook his head and said, "Chen Yang, you must understand that whether it is the Ming Dynasty in power or the Manchus in the north in power, it makes no difference to the major families in the capital. It's just a matter of who is in charge of the country. No matter who comes to power, the major families in the capital are extremely stable. Whether it is my Zhu family or the Manchu royal family, we can only curry favor with the major families."

Chen Yang hadn't expected this answer.

Zhu Yuejian said bluntly, "Forget it, it seems you really don't understand anything about the Transcendent Foundation Establishment Realm. Let me be frank with you, these national struggles and family developments are just people in the Transcendent Realm plucking at the strings of this mundane world."

"The reason why these top-tier and first-class families in the capital can remain standing is not because these families are rich, not because they are knowledgeable, and not even because they have many Golden Body Realm cultivators, but because behind each major family, there are extraordinary cultivators supporting and protecting them."

"Just like my Zhu family, no matter how many experts from the Eastern Depot we have, or how many Golden Body Realm cultivators we have, we wouldn't dare to destroy the Su family. That's because if we anger the extraordinary cultivators behind the Su family, what use are all my Golden Body Realm cultivators? What use is my status as the emperor? I'd just be slapped to death by them."

"Similarly, even if the Tartars seized my Great Ming, they would naturally not dare to make things difficult for these great families with ancestors who possessed extraordinary abilities."

Chen Yang was extremely surprised to hear these words.

It seems that the overall situation of this country is completely different from what I imagined.

To put it bluntly, what each family is competing for is not wealth, sphere of influence, or even the number of Golden Core Realm cultivators, but the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators above the Golden Core Realm!

Zhu Yuejian patted Chen Yang on the shoulder again and said, "Chen Yang, you are still young and have good talent. Once you reach the peak of the Golden Core Realm, you will understand what I mean by what I said today. You will understand why those above the Foundation Establishment Realm are called extraordinary, and you will understand how big the gap is between us ordinary mortals and extraordinary people."

"Therefore, all the turmoil, the disputes over lives, and the struggles for assets in this world are merely the result of being manipulated by the hands of extraordinary cultivators. We are all just pawns, you are, and so am I. Without stepping into the extraordinary realm, one cannot understand, and one cannot escape, this fate."

Chen Yang lowered his head in deep thought.

Zhu Yuejian said, "I'll explain these things to you in detail later when I have the chance. Now, I'll send someone with you to retrieve the iron ore. Once we have it, I can start planning the next phase. Don't worry, even if the Prime Minister's Mansion is colluding with the Tartars, it won't be that easy for them to destroy our land and plunder our people."