Back when the Embroidered Tiger served as National Teacher for a hundred years, the Great Li imperial court had never been a one-man show.
Just as Mountain Lord Chen's Jise Peak Patriarch Hall had never been a one-man show either.
The Chief Eunuch of the Court of Ceremonial stopped outside the hall. With cupped hands, bent at the waist and head lowered, he respectfully saw the National Teacher across the threshold to discuss matters alone within.
At present, every heart in this great hall was different, with undercurrents surging beneath the surface. From last night until dawn, scarcely any capital official had slept soundly. The households of Yichi Lane and Chier Street in particular had been gathering and sharing news through every possible channel. At the gates facing the street, some wailed to Heaven and beat their breasts as though mourning their parents; some had first rejoiced in others' misfortune and watched the spectacle, only for the spectacle to come knocking at their own doors; some officials had kept vigil trembling until dawn without incident, then drifted about in a daze like Daoists who had survived tribulation; and countless lineages were urgently convening to discuss how to safely spit out the fat they had swallowed. Once they compared accounts, they realized just how much Immortal Money their own lineages, relatives, descendants, and collateral branches had amassed... The armored officials and Riders of the Troop and Horse Department had poured out in full force. Forget knocking on the doors of these powerful clans—even numerous officials from the Ministry of Justice and Supreme Court had been arrested. The Northern Office, especially its commander Hong Ji, had overnight become the Plague God and jinx of the Great Li officialdom.
Within the Great Li Capital City alone, Minister of Revenue Mu Yan had been