Great, it's just a lackey, we're saved!

Chapter 278 The Holy Maiden of the Blessed Land!

Even though she was mentally prepared, the eldest princess was still shocked by the eldest prince's words!

"Brother, do you mean that the woman the emperor killed might be the woman in the mural?"

The eldest prince did not give a definite answer, and his expression remained somewhat confused.

"I can't be sure if they are the same person, but their appearance and temperament are indeed similar."

Zhou Wei then said, "Princess, don't be anxious. We need to look at it in conjunction with the timeline of the mural's content."

The eldest princess looked at Zhou Wei, who explained, "The legend of the immortal riding a crane to the west happened several hundred years ago, and we haven't heard of it since."

"If the woman the emperor killed is the same person as the one in the mural, wouldn't that mean this woman has lived for hundreds of years?"

"In my opinion, they don't seem to be the same woman, but rather the same person."

Zhou Wei's words puzzled everyone.

All three of them looked at her, clearly not understanding the meaning of her words.

Zhou Wei continued, "Think about it, everyone. If we judge people by their standing position, this woman standing in front of everyone must be of extraordinary status."

"Even Kongshan Temple and Zhengshan Academy had no objection to her position, which shows that everyone recognized her identity."

"Looking at her, her clothes were simple and elegant, and her temperament was refined, clearly different from the other female cultivators in the mural."

"Therefore, I suspect that this woman is of the kind of saintly figure."

The eldest princess and the two princes all looked bewildered.

Clearly, they were unfamiliar with the term "saintess".

Seeing this, Zhou Wei explained, "Saintess is just a title. You can think of her as the person closest to God."

"She was chosen for the position of saintess, either because of her physical purity or because of her extraordinary talent."

The eldest princess frowned and asked, "Then what is the purpose of this Holy Maiden's existence?"

“That place is a blessed land, filled with cultivators, and everyone’s dream is to break through their cultivation level and ascend to immortality,” Zhou Wei said, looking at the princess, “Princess, what do you think is the purpose of the Holy Maiden’s existence?”

After a moment's thought, the eldest princess said, "She exists for the sake of cultivation?"

Zhou Wei nodded. "People like saintesses, in layman's terms, should be the ones who can communicate with God the most easily."

"Of course, this kind of statement is generally used in the secular world. If it were placed in a blessed land, I think its significance would probably be to help cultivators break through!"

The eldest princess and the two princes were speechless.

Who can help a practitioner break through their limitations?

No wonder he was standing in front of everyone!

What puzzled the princess was that if there really was a saintess in the blessed land, why had she never been heard of all these years?

Even Zhu Qi and Tan Lin never mentioned that there was a saintess in the blessed land before.

Zhou Wei had naturally thought of this problem as well.

The only explanation she could give was that a major event had occurred during this period, and the saintess had disappeared!

Furthermore, the reason for the saintess's disappearance could not be known to the outside world, which is why it was deliberately concealed.

It's even possible that the existence of this saintess is a secret in itself!

This reminded Zhou Wei of an old friend who possessed an ancient black and gold sword…

far away...

Regaining her composure, Zhou Wei said, "Princess, the existence of the Holy Maiden corroborates Mr. Tan's previous speculation."

The two princes naturally couldn't understand Zhou Wei's words.

They didn't even notice that when discussing the Great Zhou Emperor's killings, the eldest princess never referred to her father as the emperor.

Zhou Wei and Jiang Yueli both addressed him as Emperor!

Jiang Yueli said, "I will explain this to my two elder brothers later. Elder brother, please continue with the matter of that woman."

"If, as Weiwei said, the woman killed by the emperor resembles the woman in the mural, then she is very likely a saintess from a blessed land and has a connection with the woman in the mural."

Zhou Wei then added, "The most likely explanation is that they come from the same clan."

The eldest princess was overwhelmed with emotions, combining what the eldest prince had said about the mural with Tan Lin's previous speculation.

The holy maiden of the blessed land who was killed by the fake emperor was very likely her biological mother!

The eldest princess simply didn't understand that if she were a saintess, she would naturally also be a cultivator.

How could they be so easily tortured and killed by a fake emperor?

If she couldn't figure it out, she could only put it aside for now. The eldest princess said, "Brother, tell me in detail how the emperor killed that woman."

The eldest prince nodded and continued, "Having seen the contents of the mural, Yue Jie and I were filled with fear and wanted to leave the palace immediately, but we didn't expect to hear a voice at that moment."

"It was a woman's voice, seemingly howling, but it sounded very distant to us."

"In the end, curiosity overcame fear. I even thought, no wonder Father didn't go to see Mother, there were other women in Hexi Palace."

Attracted by the sound, the two princes quietly bypassed the painted wall and entered the deeper part of the Crane Palace.

The inner palace of Hexi Palace remained unattended, but there were faint candlelight inside.

The palace doors were wide open, completely undefended, as if they were certain that no one would break in at this moment.

The two princes entered the inner palace so easily.

The inner hall was unusually quiet, and the two of them were careful not to make a sound.

As they drew closer, the woman's voice became clearer.

Her shouts drowned out the two princes' breathing, making it easier for them to peek from behind a screen.

I won't go into detail about the furnishings inside Hexi Palace; they are exactly the same as what you saw in the West Courtyard, Yue Li.

"I saw my father sitting on that strange futon, his face contorted with rage, forcefully pressing a woman into it!"

"The woman waved her arms and struggled incessantly, crying out, 'Zhou Lang, why are you doing this to me?'"

The eldest princess clenched her fists tightly, her expression pained.

The mere thought that this woman might be her biological mother made Jiang Yueli's heart clench.

"The woman was pale, and as her body rose and fell, I saw that her two legs had been twisted and broken."

The second prince, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but close his eyes.

It was clearly a scene he saw in his childhood that he couldn't forget and that had become a nightmare!

The eldest prince continued, "But it's so strange that she was in so much pain, yet she didn't curse, didn't resent, and didn't even beg for mercy."

She kept asking, "Zhou Lang, why, why?"

As the eldest prince spoke, his gaze turned to the Princess Consort of Ling, who was lying on the bed.

"When I was young, I didn't understand why that woman reacted that way. If someone hurts or harms me and I can't fight back, then I should beg for mercy. Why would I be so foolish as to ask the other person why?"

"But after meeting Ruiyao, I understood that the woman must have been deeply in love with Father Emperor, so deeply that she could not understand why Father Emperor would treat her so cruelly!"

"She kept crying and asking questions, but my father did not answer until the woman was about to breathe her last. Only then did I hear my father utter a soft voice."

"I've pondered this sentence for a long time, and I still don't understand its meaning!"

The eldest princess and Zhou Wei were immediately curious. They had previously seen the two princes sleepwalking. The eldest prince, who was playing the fake emperor, did not respond at all when faced with the second prince's stern questioning.

"What did the Emperor say?" the eldest princess asked.