e first day of the second month.Half a month passed quickly, and the grand Southern Tour procession set off.Emperor Yongyuan had been planning this Southern Tour for a full year, and although it was moved up significantly, the necessary preparations were barely completed.Everyone from Jingyang Palace participated in the Southern Tour, and the Golden Pig and Dabai at home were once again entrusted to the care of the Internal Affairs Bureau.In the Southern Tour procession, besides Princess Ankang and Princess Sheng Zhao, the two Imperial children who were long-since designated to accompany, there were also many others.They were the First Prince, Third Prince, Fourth Prince, and Eighth Prince.These four Imperial Princes and two Imperial Princesses were all the Imperial children accompanying the tour.Additionally, there were countless accompanying officials and attendants, forming a magnificent procession of over a thousand people.With Emperor Yongyuan personally leading the tour, a thousand-person procession was already considered highly streamlined.Among the Southern Tour's retinue, besides the Imperial Guard Commander, the only nobles accompanying were Duke Jiang, Su Dingan and Duke of Chen, Marquis Zhongguo.Apart from these two Dukes, no other figures from the nobility were present.However, many officials came from the civil service, almost gathering all the powerful civil officials from the imperial court.And as the spiritual leader of the civil officials, Prince Zheng, it was even more impossible for him not to be among them.So many people, plus various supplies, formed a long procession.However, the itinerary on the road was carefully arranged, and there would rarely be times of eating and sleeping outdoors; they could usually spend the night in a city, preventing these pampered gentlemen from suffering too much hardship.After leaving the capital, the Southern Tour procession's first destination was Luodong City.This was the second most important city in the northern Great Xing.The Late Emperor once intended to make it a new capital, investing heavily in its development.Unfortunately, the Late Emperor passed away before the new capital's construction was completed.Although Luodong City was eventually completed, the matter of moving the capital was never brought up again, and it was thus shelved.Although Luodong City did not seize the opportunity to become the new capital, as a city built by imperial edict, its subsequent development was exceptionally smooth, becoming a prosperous metropolis second only to the capital in the north in less than ten years.It also held a pivotal position in the entire Daxing Dynasty.Such an emergent new city naturally caught Emperor Yongyuan's attention.If Luodong City's development model could be applied elsewhere, it would be a very valuable experience.Everyone thought that Emperor Yongyuan's Southern Tour was to clear the decline of Great Xing and stabilize the southern provinces, which had been turbulent due to years of disaster.But only a few people knew that Emperor Yongyuan wanted to do much more than that."Li Xuan, this carriage is too bumpy."Princess Ankang sat in the carriage, looking at the scenery outside the window, but her body swayed from side to side with the bumps.They did not travel in Princess Ankang's exclusive carriage this time.When the Southern Tour procession arrived in Luodong City, they would transfer to boats by water. At that time, all carriages except Emperor Yongyuan's personal vehicle would be left in Luodong City and taken back when they returned to the capital.Princess Ankang's exclusive carriage was something left behind by Consort Xiao.Moreover, that carriage was too luxurious; even if left in Luodong City's yamen, it would inevitably attract covetous eyes, so they simply left it in the palace.But at least Xu Lang was still driving for them, and Sharon also sat in front of the carriage.After more than half a month of recuperation, Sharon's body grew stronger, and her strength was constantly recovering, now almost at the fifth rank."Meow~"Li Xuan responded to Princess Ankang listlessly.The journey of the Southern Tour was indeed a bit boring.When they first left the city, the Three Little Ones were quite excited, but after an hour of bumping, they all settled down.Although they were traveling on official roads, they were still dirt roads.Places near the city had some bluestones paved, but once they were far from the city, they were all just dirt roads.If the carriage ran a bit faster, it would kick up a cloud of dust, easily making people dusty and disheveled.Due to the slow speed, the daily travel time could only be longer.Three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and the rest was for rest.This ensured that they could travel more than fifty li each day, ensuring that the subsequent itinerary could also proceed as planned.The other Imperial Princes and Princesses each had their own carriage, so there was no opportunity to talk and chat with anyone on the road.But fortunately, Princess Ankang had formations to study, and Yu'er could also meditate and practice cultivation.Yu'er had now reached a bottleneck in her Fish Dragon Transformation and would break through soon, so she was particularly diligent.And Li Xuan also had his own things to be busy with.[Mystic Sun Body Tempering Art: 81%][Jihe Na Demon Flame: 13%]Mystic Sun Body Tempering Art was a fourth-rank fire-attribute cultivation technique Li Xuan chose from the Thousand Stars Pavilion before departing.The other cultivation technique with a special name was the Western Regions Fire Devil's demonic art.Li Xuan sensed Sharon sitting in front of the carriage and couldn't help but sigh, recalling the events of that day.Sharon cried that day as she read all the contents of the book to Li Xuan.Li Xuan listened and transcribed it.Most of it consisted of letters Ignis wrote to Sharon. In addition, there was the demonic art he had comprehended over the years from the half-chapter of the Holy Fire Undying Body: Jihe Na Demon Flame.The book meticulously documented Ignis's mental journey, as well as all his attempts and experiences in comprehending the demonic art.Ultimately, Ignis created this astonishing demonic art that could be cultivated from the sixth rank to the second rank.However, this demonic art required human blood as fuel to refine the demon flame, and the demon flame would, as its power grew, affect the practitioner's mind and temperament.These could be seen as a clear process of change in Ignis's recorded content.It could even be said that the beginning and end of this book were written by two different people.The beginning was Ignis, and the end was the Western Regions Fire Devil.And all of this was because Ignis yearned for power and wanted to become a man worthy of Sharon.But the final outcome deviated far from this goal.What was interesting, however, was that the book Ignis left behind only recorded his own demonic art, but not the first half of the Holy Fire Undying Body that he had memorized.After obtaining Sharon's permission, Li Xuan handed the translated text to Tang Nu, exchanging it for the original book.Afterward, Li Xuan returned the original to its rightful owner, giving it back to Sharon for safekeeping.Although it was a cursed romance, it was once a beautiful memory for Sharon.While Li Xuan regretted not obtaining the half-chapter of the Holy Fire Undying Body from Ignis's book, with Sharon as a living example, he didn't need to be too anxious.Once Sharon's strength recovered to a sufficient realm in the future, he would naturally be able to comprehend that half-chapter of the Holy Fire Undying Body from her.After a day's journey, the Southern Tour procession, as planned, arrived at Jinghou County, the first resting town on the predetermined route, before nightfall.A procession of over a thousand people naturally could not all enter the town; those of lower status could only set up camp outside the city to rest.Upon arriving in Jinghou County, Emperor Yongyuan dismounted from his imperial carriage. The officials of Jinghou County, led by the County Magistrate, had long been waiting respectfully."Your humble servant greets Your Majesty.""Long live, long live, long live our Emperor!"All the officials, big and small, of Jinghou County knelt in unison before Emperor Yongyuan.Emperor Yongyuan coldly scanned them, not immediately telling them to rise.Emperor Yongyuan reached out to the side and took a memorial from Zhao Feng's hand.Emperor Yongyuan opened the memorial, read it, and then asked, "Song Xun Chun, is it?""Your Majesty, it is indeed your humble servant!"The County Magistrate of Jinghou County kowtowed to the ground, answering with overwhelming joy.He hadn't expected that as a mere County Magistrate, Emperor Yongyuan would even know his name.But Emperor Yongyuan merely snorted coldly, then returned the memorial in his hand to Zhao Feng.Zhao Feng immediately stepped forward, pulling an imperial edict from his sleeve."County Magistrate Song Xun Chun of Jinghou County, receive the imperial edict."Song Xun Chun was overjoyed, kneeling and taking two steps forward, raising both hands above his head, ready to receive the imperial edict from Zhao Feng."After verification by the Internal Affairs Bureau, Song Xun Chun, as the County Magistrate of Jinghou County, knowingly broke the law, colluded with local gentry, forcibly seized civilian land, accepted bribes, and forcibly abducted civilian women.""In less than three years in office, public grievances in Jinghou County have reached a boiling point. Now, with irrefutable evidence, he shall be executed on the spot!"In just a few short sentences, Song Xun Chun's raised hands trembled violently, and his face was covered in cold sweat."Injustice, injustice!""Your humble servant is wronged! I beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly!"Although Song Xun Chun said this, his eyes searched in the direction of the civil officials.But at this moment, Flower-Clothed Eunuchs had already stepped forward and restrained Song Xun Chun, regardless of how shrilly he cried out."Hmph, still daring to cry injustice?"Emperor Yongyuan looked at Song Xun Chun's reaction without a trace of pity, his eyes filled with cold ruthlessness.Zhao Feng, standing by, gave a meaningful glance to the officials of Jinghou County.Immediately, the chief secretary of Jinghou County stepped forward to testify, and the Internal Affairs Bureau also produced corresponding physical evidence.For a moment, there were both human and material witnesses."Your Majesty, Song Xun Chun is, after all, an imperial official. To condemn him in such a manner does not conform to the law."The Minister of Justice stepped forward to advise.However, Emperor Yongyuan completely ignored him.It was Wang Xi who, from the side, spoke up to explain, "Lord Zhang, when the Son of Heaven is on tour, if he encounters lawbreaking and disciplinary violations, he can personally preside over trials on the spot.""Now that Song Xun Chun's guilt is irrefutable, does Lord Zhang have anything else to add?"Wang Xi's short, stout figure blocked the Minister of Justice, making him dare not offer another word of advice.The Minister of Justice covertly glanced at Prince Zheng in the crowd. Seeing that Prince Zheng had no reaction, he could only retreat dejectedly.Emperor Yongyuan swept his gaze over the civil officials. Seeing no one else had objections, he immediately waved his hand:"Execute him."Song Xun Chun's eyes widened, unable to believe what he heard.Emperor Yongyuan not only condemned him on the spot but was now going to kill him directly.But this time, before he could say anything, he felt a chill on his neck, and in an instant, his eyes saw a headless corpse crashing to the ground, blood flowing everywhere.The entire scene was silent.Even the local gentry, who had accompanied the Jinghou County officials to greet the Emperor, were now kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear.They had thought they were about to embrace wealth and honor, but unexpectedly, they had stumbled into a bloody disaster.At this moment, Prince Zheng stepped forward to advise, "Your Majesty, the Southern Tour has just begun, and to see blood is truly inauspicious.""No matter how grave the sin, it would be better to follow the rules and execute him after autumn.""Moreover, with an important official lost locally, I fear the yamen will not be able to function."Prince Zheng advised earnestly, seemingly entirely for Emperor Yongyuan's sake."Thank you, Imperial Uncle, for your concern.""I have my own considerations for these matters."Then, Emperor Yongyuan immediately appointed an accompanying official to take office as the County Magistrate of Jinghou County, and ordered Su Dingan to mobilize the Jinghou County garrison to cooperate in a thorough investigation, arresting all criminals related to Song Xun Chun, and immediately condemning and executing them.Emperor Yongyuan immediately led the new County Magistrate into the city, while all the officials and gentry who had come out to greet him were also put under guard, effectively rounded up in one swoop.As for how many of them would survive, that depended on their own fate.Those who had been immoral in the past probably needed to prepare for their funerals.The accompanying civil officials, seeing Emperor Yongyuan so thoroughly prepared, immediately grew anxious.This was only the first day; if the Southern Tour continued like this, what would happen?They all cast their gazes towards Prince Zheng, but Prince Zheng gently shook his head, signaling them to stay calm, and quickly followed Emperor Yongyuan's footsteps.The Three Little Ones lagged behind but also witnessed the scene of the Jinghou County Magistrate's beheading."Li Xuan, how far do you think this is from the capital?"Princess Ankang looked back in the direction of the capital, her tone filled with a sigh.Li Xuan secretly transmitted a message to Princess Ankang, "Emperor Yongyuan's influence is extremely limited once he leaves the capital. This is the significance of his Southern Tour.""Otherwise, places outside the capital would forever be beyond his control."Li Xuan understood what Emperor Yongyuan wanted to do.But by doing so, he was undermining Prince Zheng's foundation.Prince Zheng would not tolerate it.If Prince Zheng tolerated it even once, it would be enough to shake the loyalty of those who depended on him.Prince Zheng dared not let such a situation happen.At this moment, the Eighth Prince walked up to them and said to Princess Ankang:"Let's go. They haven't finished killing people yet.""Escort all these officials inside."Only when the Eighth Prince said this did they realize that Princess Sheng Zhao had already walked to the very end of the civil officials' procession, following them a few steps behind.The other Imperial Princes and Princesses also followed suit, leading their respective confidants, pressing at the rear of the procession entering the city.This feeling naturally made the accompanying officials uncomfortable; they were like lambs being herded by wolves, with no sense of security.Of course, there were also a few fearless lambs among them.For example, Ren Chunsheng also became one of the accompanying officials due to his connection with Princess Ankang.He was currently mixed in with the crowd, showing no signs of nervousness.Upon entering the Jinghou County Yamen, the banquet to welcome the Southern Tour procession and the search for criminals began simultaneously.Emperor Yongyuan opened the main hall, taking his seat for dinner while watching people come and go within the yamen.Flower-Clothed Eunuchs and the county garrison escorted criminals one by one, who were then sent into prison right before their eyes.Emperor Yongyuan watched this scene with interest, while many officials were trembling with fear, having no appetite for food.And this was only the first day of the Southern Tour.Such events would likely accompany them throughout their Southern Tour journey.Li Xuan was also very curious whether the entire journey would be filled with corrupt officials and not a single good one.