Vast and silent, the great hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

*Whoosh.*

Bai Yongyan poured himself a cup of tea, leisurely surveying the fascinating expressions on the faces of everyone in the hall, and asked with a smile, "Why is everyone so quiet? Did you eat too much salt and it’s stuck in your throats?"

"..."

Yu Qingqiu calmly raised his eyes, his voice devoid of any inflection. "Bai Zhen, from Yan County, Mo Prefecture. His parents died early. As a youth, he participated in a brawl, accidentally killing someone and fleeing to escape punishment. He then became a disciple of an unorthodox術士 (shushi, Daoist mage).

"Seven years later, he changed his name to Bai Yongyan and appeared in Hong Prefecture City, specializing in 风水 (feng shui, geomancy), divination, and making pills and medicines. Three years after that, he entered the Shu King's manor, becoming an honored guest."

"Oh?"

Bai Yongyan raised an eyebrow. "You know a lot about me. What, are you going to be a matchmaker and find me a good marriage?"

Yu Qingqiu ignored Bai Yongyan's words and continued, "Your 方士 (fangshi, alchemist) master, who has been dead for more than ten years, his true identity was the Vice Chief of the Hong Prefecture Branch of the White Lotus Sect's Ren Division.

"After his death, you inherited his legacy and joined the White Lotus Sect."

Bai Yongyan's eyes widened, and he drained his teacup in one gulp, angrily exclaiming, "Nonsense! You can eat anything, but you can't say anything!

"How could my master, a benevolent and kind man, be a White Lotus Sect demon?

"I understand now, you eunuch are trying to smear me with filth and frame me!

"Just like you do to others,

"As long as you label someone as a White Lotus Sect disciple, you can lock them in prison and torture them.

"Under the rod, even if they aren't, they will be forced to confess!"

Hearing the word "eunuch,"

Veins slightly popped out at the corner of Yu Qingqiu's eyes, and a chilling aura emanated from his body, causing the guards on either side to pale and take several steps back in unison.

Before Yu Qingqiu became the Chief Eunuch of the Western Bureau of Investigation, second only to one and above tens of thousands, some had also called him a eunuch.

And those people were all dead.

No matter who it was, anyone who dared to describe him with those two words would disappear from this world.

"What... did you say?"

"Eunuch, eunuch, eunuch—"

Bai Yongyan tore open his throat and shouted at Yu Qingqiu provocatively several times, slammed down the teacup, and cupped his fist at the Shu King, "Your Highness, this Yu Qingqiu is making a loud commotion at your banquet,

"And slandering me as a White Lotus Sect demon.

"He's framing me, clearly trying to harm Your Highness! This is intolerable, and his heart is evil, I suggest he be killed!"

The Shu King's face was dark, and it was impossible to discern any expression.

However, Bai Yongyan seemed to have received a signal, nodded, and laughed loudly at Yu Qingqiu, "Haha, Eunuch Yu, oh Eunuch Yu, now as long as Your Highness smashes his cup as a signal, fifty thousand strong axemen can immediately rush out from behind the beams and pillars in the hall on both sides,

"With a swing of the blade, a swing of the blade, a swing of the blade,

"Cutting you into a pile of minced meat."

It was only because the atmosphere was tense that no one jumped out to complain about how it was impossible to hide fifty thousand axemen in the hall.

"Heh."

Yu Qingqiu shook his head, silently stood up from his seat, cupped his fist at the Shu King, "Bai Yongyan is a White Lotus Sect demon, Your Highness was previously deceived by him, allowing him to become an honored guest, which is truly unfortunate.

"However, it is not that Your Highness is secretly colluding with demons,

"It's just that these White Lotus Sect members are too cunning and good at hiding.

"Now that our Western Bureau of Investigation has arrived, he naturally has nowhere to escape."

The Shu King nodded silently. He didn't know Bai Yongyan's background before.

Looking at Yu Qingqiu's appearance, it was estimated that the Western Bureau of Investigation had long known that Bai Yongyan was a member of the White Lotus Sect. If it hadn't been for Bai Yongyan's outrageous words at the banquet tonight, the Western Bureau might have concealed this point all along.

Thinking of this, the Shu King felt a chill run down his spine.

The Western Bureau knew, which meant that the Emperor knew.

They tolerated the White Lotus Sect demon hiding in the manor, probably waiting for the day when the Shu King had thoughts he shouldn't have, to produce evidence and crush him in one fell swoop.

"..."

The Shu King slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, threw the once fraternal images in his mind to the back of his head, and said hoarsely to Yu Qingqiu, "Then I will have to trouble Eunuch Yu."

Yu Qingqiu nodded calmly, turned his head to look at the guests in the hall, those who were uneasy and wanted to flee, "Bai Yongyan, as a demon,

"What he said is naturally all demon-inciting nonsense.

"Everyone here, you didn't hear anything tonight, you didn't see anything, understand?"

The crowd in the hall collectively breathed a sigh of relief, as if relieved of a heavy burden, and many people even raised their sleeves to wipe the cold sweat constantly emerging from their foreheads.

Fortunately, fortunately this banquet was held in the Shu King's manor.

If it were held in the home of a local tyrant without power, I'm afraid all the guests and the host's entire family would be killed by the Western Bureau of Investigation.

After all, the story they heard was a treasonous crime...

"Everyone, please."

Yu Qingqiu said lightly, tilted his body slightly, and a group of guests immediately got up and left silently under the gaze of the Western Bureau of Investigation personnel.