After a long silence, Qin Ye finally spoke again, “Have you heard of the twelve envoys before?”

It was at best a passing remark, and he didn’t expect to get a positive response. Surprisingly, the female ghost kowtowed immediately, “My lord, I have.”

“Where did you hear about it?” Qin Ye’s eyes shone brightly, “Spare no details!”

Sensing the sudden change in Qin Ye’s attitude, the female ghost took the next few moments to gather her thoughts and sort through her memories before finally responding, “My lord… the twelve envoys… used to be existences that the daolord was most jealous of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because… they’ve been attacking the armies of the daolord… Furthermore, I can’t speak of other envoys, but I’ve personally been a part of the conflict with Liu Jinu at the Yalu River.[1] Not only did they attack us, they even… sealed off the route to Hanyang. The daolord has on several occasions attempted to make contact with the Nipponese Hell, but all of his efforts were thwarted by Liu Jinu.”

Silence.

Qin Ye’s eyes gleamed like fire. It was almost as though something had just occurred to him… something… that would make the imperial court meeting at the end of the year far more meaningful than anyone could ever imagine.

Context.

He caught a glimpse of the big picture!

However, he didn’t think too much of it just yet. After all, he wanted to know more before he finally consolidated his thoughts. Thus, suppressing the stirring emotions in his heart, he spoke with a cool voice, “Mr Murai.”

“Here.” Murai Sadakatsu immediately came in from outside the wooden hoarding and half-knelt to the ground. His response was gruff. He was obviously...