Heaven Dou Upheaval: The City Under Total Lockdown
Qian Renxue stood before the ruins of the palace, watching the Imperial Guards carry the body of Xue Ye out of the ashes.
The corpse was burned beyond recognition, and a dragon aura emanated from it. The captain of the Imperial Guards squatted down to examine the corpse, his face ashen as he bowed to Qian Renxue.
"Your Highness, His Majesty was killed by lightning. It was definitely not an accident; it was a premeditated murder!"
His Majesty had multiple lightning strike marks on his body, with the fatal wound in his chest. Lightning had pierced his heart and lungs, and a faint trace of dragon aura remained. His time of death was likely between midnight and 1 AM last night.
"The culprit is most likely from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. I urge Your Highness to investigate thoroughly."
Qian Renxue nodded and said calmly, "I understand. The most urgent task now is to collect Father's remains and choose an auspicious day for burial. We cannot allow Father's spirit in heaven to be unable to rest in peace."
"Yes!"
The soldiers nodded, carefully lifted Xue Ye's body onto a stretcher, covered it with a white sheet, and walked out of the palace.
Qian Renxue stood in front of the ruins for a while, her gaze sweeping over the charred beams, the broken tiles, and the deep, blackened crater in the ground where lightning had struck. She felt a sense of relief wash over her.
Heaven Dou Empire Imperial Palace
In the imperial court, all the officials had arrived.
The main hall was eerily quiet; some people had their heads bowed, some had red eyes, and some had pale faces.
The senior officials standing in the front row had already changed into plain clothes, with white belts tied around their waists. No one dared to speak first, and they were all waiting for the person in the regent's seat to speak.
Qian Renxue walked to the regent's seat and sat down. She glanced around at everyone in the hall and said coldly, "Last night, my father was assassinated. The murderer used some kind of sorcery to attract lightning from heaven and earth, which struck down on the Imperial Palace."
"The presence of dragon energy and a powerful aura of lightning at the scene strongly suggests it was the work of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
At this point, Xue Qinghe's tone grew even colder. "Until this matter is thoroughly investigated, the Royal Knights will be under the control of the Crown Prince's Residence."
No sooner had he finished speaking than an old minister stepped forward, "Your Highness, there are many doubts surrounding this matter. Should we wait until Prince Xue Xing returns to the capital before making a decision?"
Qian Renxue glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Prince Xue Xing is far away in the Northern Border. Even at the fastest horse, it will take him five days to return. During this time, the Heaven Dou Empire will be without an emperor. Who do you plan to let take charge of the situation?"
Another minister stepped forward. "Your Highness, since there is the aura of the dragon race at the scene, why not immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? They have a grudge against our Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and this matter must be related to them!"
"Investigate, of course we must investigate," Qian Renxue said coldly, "But before the chain of evidence is complete, we shouldn't alert them. The most important thing right now is to stabilize Heaven Dou City and prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble."
She stood up, her gaze sweeping over everyone. "From this day forward, Heaven Dou City is under complete lockdown. All four gates are closed, and no one is permitted to enter or leave."
"Furthermore, order the Heaven Dou Royal Knights to double their manpower to patrol the city and thoroughly investigate suspicious individuals. The assassin who attempted to assassinate the Emperor must still be in the city. Today, we must find him even if we have to dig three feet into the ground."
"As for Yu Tianheng in the city, take him into custody and interrogate him."
"Yes!"
As the court assembly adjourned, the atmosphere in Heaven Dou City changed completely, and the four city gates closed almost simultaneously.
"With a dull thud as the heavy city gates slammed shut, an archer stood every ten paces along the city wall, bowstrings half-drawn, eyes scanning the open fields beyond the city."
"The Heaven Dou Empire's Knights set out from the Imperial City, divided into eight squads, and spread out along the eight Main Streets throughout the city. The clanging of armor never stopped from morning till night."
At the entrance of the vegetable market in the east of the city, several vendors had just set up their stalls when they saw a troop of soldiers turning from the street corner.
The captain, his hand on his sword hilt, scanned every corner with sharp eyes, while the taxi drivers behind him worked in pairs, knocking on doors to conduct checks.
"Stop setting up, all of you, pack up and go home." The soldier waved sternly at the vendors. "You're not allowed to linger on the streets for the next few days; violators will be treated as suspects."
The vendors dared not say a word and hurriedly packed up their goods. An old man selling vegetables was a little slow and was urged by the soldiers twice. The vegetables in his basket spilled all over the ground, but he didn't dare to bend down to pick them up. He just grabbed his basket and ran away.
In the residential area south of the city, soldiers were searching house to house, from rooftops to cellars, from the ground to the sky, to prevent any accidents.
The once bustling city was now deathly silent, with only the rumble of clashing armor echoing through the air.
The people hid in their houses, peeking through the cracks in their doors at the commotion outside, whispering among themselves, "Is His Majesty really dead?"
"I heard he was struck by lightning and died. That's really scary."
"Bullshit! My cousin works in the Imperial Guards. He said he was killed by an assassin, and there was even the scent of Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon at the scene."
"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? Aren't those Upper Three Sects? How dare they!"
"Who knows? Anyway, the whole city is under martial law now, so the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan assassins definitely won't be able to escape!"
"My husband went out of town to deliver goods yesterday and hasn't come back yet. I don't know how he is."
The entire Heaven Dou City resembled a startled giant beast, cowering up and raising all its quills.
Apart from patrolling taxi drivers, there was hardly anyone to be seen on the streets. Shops were closed, inns were shut down, and even the usually busiest restaurants had put up "Temporarily Closed" signs.
That night.
Inside the Crown Prince's Residence, in the Lin Chen Courtyard.
Lin Chen sat on the stone bench under the old locust tree, looking up at the sky. Most of the dark clouds had dispersed, and the moon peeked out from between the clouds, casting a cold white light on the ground.
In the distance, the direction of the Imperial Palace was brightly lit, with torches on the palace walls forming a long dragon. The figures of patrolling soldiers could be vaguely seen moving back and forth on the palace walls, their armor flashing.
Dugu Bo came out of the side room carrying a wine pot and sat down next to Lin Chen.
"Xue Ye is dead," Dugu Bo said gravely. "Heaven Dou City is likely to be in chaos for a while."
Lin Chen nodded without saying anything.
"You said the emperor is dead, who will succeed him?" Dugu Bo took another swig of wine. "Xue Qinghe is the Crown Prince, so he will definitely succeed to the throne."
"That Fourth Prince, Xue Beng, is ultimately incompetent. Even if he returns, he probably won't be qualified to compete with Xue Qinghe for the throne."
"Who knows? It's not really our business," Lin Chen replied casually, quietly gazing in the direction of the distant Imperial Palace.
Dugu Bo sighed and took another swig of wine, "In all my years, this is the first time I've seen Heaven Dou City sealed off so tightly. I'm afraid not even a fly can get out now."
Lin Chen picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and continued looking in the direction of the Imperial Palace, saying, "I wonder how Brother Xue is doing. He must be very busy right now."