She stared at the big yellow-skinned baby boy, somewhat dazed.

The baby boy neither cried nor fussed, just curled up into a ball.

The midwife became anxious, exerting all her skills, until finally... the baby boy cried out, though his voice was strange and unpleasant, as if his throat had been choked by smoke, making it hoarse.

This was in stark contrast to the clear cry that Xiaojing had emitted at birth.

The midwife was dumbfounded; she had delivered countless babies but had never encountered anything like this, like this child.

The atmosphere became a bit cold, and after finishing her duties, the midwife squeezed out a few words of "congratulations" with a smile, then hurriedly fled as if escaping.

However, a mother never finds her child ugly.

Tian Yuan cradled her large and oddly strange son, revealing a doting expression.

Yet the baby boy never opened his eyes; if it weren’t for him breathing normally, he would have truly appeared as stillborn.

Zhao Qingxue watched with Xiaojing in her arms, gently squeezing the little girl’s hand, and softly said, "That’s your younger brother."

Xiaojing blinked, tilting her head, curiously watching the baby boy, with a somewhat puzzled expression, suddenly babbling, "Scary, scary."

The entire room was startled.

The little girl was clearly saying that the baby boy looked frightening.

Zhao Qingxue hurried to apologize while holding Xiaojing’s hand, chiding, "That’s your brother." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Scary!"

Xiaojing started to cry loudly.

The atmosphere grew increasingly awkward.

Zhao Qingxue, hugging Xiaojing, ran away.

And "so scary it makes his sister cry" became everyone’s first impression of the baby boy.

...

...

With new life, comes the passing of the old.

For the Prime Minister, today was considered a good day because Prince Qing’s two offspring were finally born safely, allowing that prince, who was striving to consolidate his three-demon form, not to be distracted.

But it could only be considered a good day, nothing special.

However, when night fell, and after Yan Fangbai brought in a new letter, he finally sensed the day’s uniqueness.

In the candlelight, the Prime Minister looked at the information from afar.

Li Xuan also cast his eyes over with the scent of incense, watching together.

The message conveyed only one thing: Wang Baxian had died, of illness.

The Prime Minister’s spies suspected that Wang Baxian had actually died three months ago, just not publicly mourned.

And three months ago was the day the emperor passed away.

Within these three months, the military department had undergone major restructuring, with many "General Wang" rising to power, including that general from the Wang family who first embarked on Secret Martial Arts—Wang Zhirui.

This Wang Zhirui had been sidelined due to the Prime Minister’s suppression, later recommended by the Prime Minister due to the unity fostered by the Demon Buddha, and also became the first from the Wang family lineage to take the plunge.

"Did the Wang family kill Wang Baxian?" Yan Fangbai couldn’t help but voice his doubt.

Because that was simply impossible and completely illogical.

The Prime Minister shook that letter, saying, "I said the emperor’s death wasn’t orchestrated by Wang Baxian. That reckless move, that old fellow couldn’t have pulled it off.

Now we finally have an answer; turns out Wang Baxian had long been dead, and later on, it was others using his name."

"Empress Dowager Wang, Empress Wang," Yan Fangbai said.

The Prime Minister nodded and replied, "Yes, it’s these two women, but to be precise, it’s the entire Wang family.

However, Wang Baxian wasn’t killed by them; he indeed died of illness."

Speaking of which, the white-haired but still youthful-faced Prime Minister reminisced, "That old fellow fought fiercely when he was young, left numerous hidden injuries in his body, having them flare up in old age was expected.

In the battle with the Drought Demon, he seemed fine, but was wounded both physically and mentally. Once his energy dispersed, and with constant travel, dying suddenly wasn’t surprising.

In the Wang family’s eyes, Wang Baxian was the supreme king, the mainstay; they wouldn’t wish him harm and wanted him to live longer, how could they have killed him?

Only his natural death could explain everything."

"But why did he die so timely?" Yan Fangbai asked again.

Being the leader of the Prime Minister’s side on the Dark Web, he naturally knew the strength and cleverness of the old opponent.

In his mind, someone like Wang Baxian should have died a grandiose death, yet how did he just suddenly... disappear?

Suddenly gone, and at such a critical juncture, it was too suspicious.

The Prime Minister began to ponder.

In his mind, countless intertwined interests connected, yet he couldn’t deduce that "Wang Baxian’s timely death was man-made," hence he sighed and remarked, "History sometimes is just more coincidental than stories. Old Wang was waiting for me to die, only to see himself go first. Hahaha..."

The Prime Minister couldn’t help but laugh aloud, and his reference to Wang Baxian, his lifelong rival, shifted to "Old Wang."

His doubts turned entirely into reflections.

Thinking of his old adversary’s thoughts at the time of death, he couldn’t help but laugh again, but abruptly stopped.

Wang Baxian’s departure seemed to remind him that his lifespan wasn’t much longer either.

The Prime Minister tapped the table with his hand and suddenly said, "Fangbai, there’s an important task I need you to do."

Yan Fangbai couldn’t follow his father’s thoughts and could only ask, "What is it?"

The Prime Minister said, "You go to Prince Qing’s Mansion and tell the two leading ladies there, if they don’t want disaster to befall them, it’s best to take one of the children to Xinci Temple as soon as possible, to burn incense and kowtow before the Buddha, and ideally... vow to renounce the world. Then make sure to get a response from that Buddha."

This time, Yan Fangbai understood.

The story of "Generals and Ministers United" had vanished, the original balance of "Wang Baxian, Yan Fujing, Zhao Chengji" had been broken, and the new balance could entirely be shifted to "the Wang family, the balance of the Demon Buddha."

The Wang family controls Great Yin; the Demon Buddha, as the state religion, shares the incense of Great Yin.