Chapter 425: Chapter 10: On This Day, the Girl Reached the Peak of Her Life

Evening of April 21, 2018

At the top suite of the City Lord in Double Benefit Grand Hotel, West Lann District, Golden Jade City, a gathering of Cyan Cloud individuals from Shen City convened for an emergency meeting to discuss the coup in Golden Jade City and Zhao Chenlu’s house arrest.

Yesterday, at Wang Jiu’s request, although a few were reluctant, they stayed in Golden Jade City to try and deal with Zhao Chenlu’s situation.

First, they contacted their family’s supporters, then utilized various resources to gather intelligence in Golden Jade City and summarize the current situation.

The first to report the results was Li Wanqing. Being the eldest, she was experienced and skillful, excelling in intelligence gathering. With her adept handling among the female populace, nearly half of Golden Jade City’s residents could become her informants.

By the time she returned to the Grand Hotel in the evening, her hands were holding a thick stack of documents.

"From what I have gathered in the last couple of days, the coup indeed took place. However, it’s apparent that it was a hasty decision and not well-planned; many links were disconnected. For instance, two days have passed, and most people in the city have not received confirmed news and are still skeptical about the rumors. The coup’s rationale, legality, and other critical issues were not mentioned, and there’s no plan for the future. They deposed Zhao Chenlu without introducing a successor promptly, leaving a gap for their opponents to counterattack. Professionally speaking, this was a very unsuccessful coup."

Li Wanqing’s report was concise but backed with detailed documentation, and her conclusion stood solid.

Since it was a hastily executed coup, there are bound to be numerous exploitable flaws. The instigators likely consist of very few, led by Zhao Hongwu, Zhao Hongwen, and Zhao Lingbo, without broad support or public approval. Therefore, rescuing Zhao Chenlu shouldn’t be too difficult.

The next to report was Li Chaolu. While flipping through the intelligence gathered by Li Wanqing, the young girl remarked, "Knowing Sister Wanqing’s meticulous work, I shouldn’t have duplicated her efforts... The information I gathered is quite similar because this coup is absurdly strange, causing many responsible for handling emergencies to hesitate through fear that it could be one of the City Lord’s whimsy pranks. If they intervene, they might displease the City Lord and face repercussions... I used a few codes given by my mother and queried several Secret Cultivators, all of whom offered similar replies. Frankly, it’s confusing; no matter how capricious the superior, fearing a prank hardly excuses their inaction against blatant coup actions... These Secret Cultivators here are excessively derelict."

Li Chaolu’s intelligence capabilities were far below Li Wanqing’s. She only had a few pages of dialogue records, mainly relying on her mother Zhao Yan’s connections in Golden Jade City to query several key figures. Naturally, she couldn’t be as comprehensive as Li Wanqing, but her information was still valuable.

Then it was Li Xinyu’s turn. Given his numb state and loss of enthusiasm, no one had high expectations and merely kept him in the suite to maintain contact with the family. When it was his turn to report, Li Xinyu said indifferently, "In the past two days, I’ve contacted the family elders thrice. They repeatedly advised us not to act rashly, particularly avoiding participation in Golden Jade City’s political activities. It’s said that Zhao Chenlu is volatile on political matters, where precipitous involvement could lead to unforeseen consequences. However, when I asked for examples, no one was willing to elaborate. Even when I sought my mother’s confirmation, she remained silent, so it’s best to take this matter with caution."

Li Xinyu’s investigation results were unexpected yet effectively corroborated the findings of Li Wanqing and Li Chaolu. Although his excessive addiction to the Dream of Scarlet affected his excitement functions, his intellect was not impaired. It might have even improved...

This exceptional performance put intense pressure on Shen Qingming, the last to speak.

Can I really be outdone even by that former teen of dullness and foolishness!?

Under the gaze of everyone, Shen Qingming cleared her throat and began, "With time limited, channels limited, and resources effective, I did not conduct an in-depth investigation nor sought the opinions of key figures. I merely randomly selected 50 regular citizens and inquired about their general views on the coup within the city. Here are my survey methods and raw data."

Speaking, Shen Qingming reached into her storage bag and took out a thick stack of paper, twice as thick as Li Wanqing’s investigation data!

"In summary, the main demographic of Golden Jade City holds a neutral stance on the coup and the City Lord’s change. Specifically, 7 oppose the change, 23 support it, and 20 are indifferent. Regarding the coup, 10 support, 15 oppose, and 25 are indifferent. Comparing earlier similar surveys and the typical response style of Golden Jade City residents, I interpret this result to mean that most don’t oppose the change of City Lord, though they have reservations about the means of the coup."

This segment successfully drew everyone’s attention. Li Chaolu looked at the voluminous data with disbelief.

Had Shen Qingming, labeled by Wang Jiu as "mildly retarded" with a golden tongue of praise, truly conducted such a meticulous job!?

Without responding to the surrounding astonishment, Shen Qingming glanced at Wang Jiu, who patiently awaited her next conclusion, and smiled before continuing, "Additionally, I investigated Golden Jade residents’ attitudes toward Zhao Chenlu. This question is highly sensitive, so inaccuracies are inevitable. However, I used various auxiliary methods during the investigation, including psychological suggestions, Immortal Technique hypnosis, and identity disguises to greatly enhance the accuracy and objectivity of the investigation. The specific conclusions are as follows: 17 consider Zhao Chenlu a good City Lord, 21 a bad one, 0 mediocre, and 12 found it hard to conclude. 12 like the City Lord, 18 dislike, 10 indifferent, and 10 undecided. 40 think the City Lord worthy of respect, 5 unworthy, and 5 undecided... Overall, summarizing the above data, it’s easy to conclude that Golden Jade residents respect the City Lord more than they love him, with a low approval rating."

Seeing the even more astonished looks around her, Shen Qingming explained, "When I initially reached this conclusion, I too was surprised. For Xiangzhou people, the prestigious reputation of Golden Jade City’s City Lord is long-established and envied by many who see Golden Jade residents as fortunate to have such a seemingly groundbreaking City Lord. How is it that locals have such a negative impression? Yet, if my survey methods weren’t flawed, I can only say Zhao Chenlu’s reputation in Golden Jade isn’t as favorable as outsiders assume. As for the reasons, they’ve been partially reflected in your investigations. Furthermore, although our direct contact with City Lord Zhao was brief, we should all have some notion of her character. You can imagine the issues of her leadership, and I won’t belabor the point."

Finally, Shen Qingming put down the investigation report and said, "This concludes the objective investigation results. Here is my subjective judgment: The matter has deeply rooted local characteristics where we outsiders cannot easily intervene. Considering Zhao Chenlu still holds considerable popular esteem, she is unlikely to face life-threatening danger, only possibly loss of her title and expulsion from Golden Jade City... This might not be unacceptable to her, so the rational decision is to immediately take the Golden Jade Immortal Platform back to Cyan Cloud City and observe the situation as it unfolds... However, I know Ah Jiu you won’t agree to this plan, so I will follow your lead on what to do next."

After saying this, Shen Qingming silently took two steps back, lowered her head, and spoke no more.

Everyone around had expressions as if witnessing a deity.

From start to finish, Shen Qingming’s performance was flawless, conducting meticulous intelligence investigation and expressing her stance without burdening Wang Jiu... Such sophisticated and tactful measures were unimaginable coming from Shen Qingming!

After a long pause, Li Chaolu whispered incredulously, "Speaking of which, there’s something I vaguely remember, but it seems too distant or unbelievable to trust, could it be..."

Li Xinyu also fell into thought and softly replied, "Ah, now that you mention it, I recall it too, apparently... back in the Mansion’s Inner Sect, Qingming, she..."

"Was she always graded as top-tier?!"

Objectively speaking, before being expelled from the Inner Sect, Shen Qingming was indeed always an excellent student in the Li Family Mansion, excelling in both Body Refining Technique and cultural studies until she met Wang Jiu who diagnosed her as mildly retarded, leading her down an irreversible path.

Now, Shen Qingming successfully reaffirmed her intellectual standards with a disadvantageous investigation report against Zhao Chenlu!

——

Meanwhile, while Wang Jiu and others were gathering, the upper echelon of Golden Jade City, amid turbulent undercurrents for two days, engineered a stage result.

An order from the City Lord’s Mansion appeared across Golden Jade City’s sky, visible to all citizens who looked up at the golden letters illuminating the night sky.

The message was very simple.

Former Golden Jade City Lord Zhao Chenlu acted perversely, committing multiple unforgivable crimes, impeached by former Deputy City Lord Zhao Hongwu, among others. A public trial will be held in ten days at Golden Jade Square to openly try her crimes!