Hiding One's Name and Deeds

On the other side of this small world, in the capital of this world.

Night had fallen, yet the imperial palace was visible.

The vermilion roof, bathed in the last rays of the setting sun, appeared even more vibrant, as if flames were truly burning, or as if blinding blood were flowing down.

The imperial palace was extremely magnificent in its construction, with gold and jade gleaming, purple doors and yellow pavilions, jade steps and carved railings, and red steps and vermilion steps.

However, it was very cold.

The daytime heat quickly subsided, and the night wind, carrying a hint of chill, grew stronger, making one's limbs stiff.

The palace servants, running around cautiously, were numerous but each one moved with utmost care and haste, doing what their master had instructed them to do, and daring not to utter a single word beyond that.

Cold, restrained, and painfully suffocating—that was the atmosphere of the palace.

The burly guards patrolled the area, and under their watchful eyes, every palace servant remained silent.

However, in a secluded spot, two palace servants carrying hot water were whispering among themselves below.

"Have you heard? General Yang is dead."

"Huh? What happened? Didn't he just quell the northern barbarian army and return victorious? How could he be dead?"

"It seems that he was ordered to commit suicide by His Majesty and killed himself in the palace."

"Huh? Suicide? What did he do wrong? And I remember the general fought Balahan for three Chen, and his hands were crippled, weren't they? How could he commit suicide?"

"I heard that His Majesty ordered him to put a sword in his mouth and kill himself by hitting a pillar."

After the two palace maids finished speaking, they fell silent and then quietly walked through the brightly lit palace.

However, after taking only two steps, they saw a tall guard walking towards them and kicking the palace servant to the ground.

The kick was extremely powerful. The palace servant who was kicked coughed up blood and fainted without even making a sound.

"Sir, sir, what does this mean?" The remaining palace servant was terrified, fell to the ground, and trembled like a leaf.

"What do you mean? To speak ill of His Majesty is a capital offense." The guard said expressionlessly, then drew his sword and swiftly killed the two men.

Then, he gave a signal, and soon people came over to move the body.

This scene seemed to have happened many times before, so the other palace servants around simply lowered their heads even further, otherwise they obediently went about their business.

However, the atmosphere in the entire palace became even more oppressive.

But among these countless palace servants, there was one who witnessed the event, and his hands trembled so much that he could barely hold the plate in his hand.

He was a fair-skinned, beardless young man, who looked to be about twenty years old. His face was pale, and his lips were somewhat bluish-purple. He stood out inconspicuously among a group of palace servants.

Seeing this, the old eunuch next to him said in a shrill voice, "What are you shaking for? Hold it tight!"

"You young people, do you even know the rules of the palace? Those plates you're holding aren't handkerchiefs, they're your heads!"

"If the plate falls, your heads will fall too! So no matter what happens to others, as long as you keep your own mind calm and your hands still, other things are none of your business."

"Watch your mouth and your hands, and you'll have secured your place in the palace. Do you understand?"

The old eunuch, head held high, spoke imperiously to a group of trembling palace servants.

These were about a dozen palace servants, each holding a mahogany tray filled with toiletries.

There are soaps, hot water, towels, floral water, etc.

However, the quantity was unusually large.

Just the towels alone, there are four stacks, each stack containing twenty-five towels, totaling one hundred towels. All of them are embroidered with yellow silk thread, depicting a yellow Yellow Dragon playing with a pearl, and each towel has a different Yellow Dragon posture.

Some are raising their heads, some are spraying water, some are playing with clouds, and some are climbing mountains. Each one is exquisitely crafted and valuable, but there are a total of one hundred of them here.

After the old eunuch finished speaking, he saw that the palace servants had all stood up straight and held their hands firmly, and then he nodded in satisfaction.

Then he continued, "Remember, when wiping His Majesty's body, each towel can only be used once. If it gets dirty, you must immediately hand it to the person who takes the towel. The four of you are responsible for wiping his limbs. Remember to go slowly and open up all the pores. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the four palace servants responsible for wiping the limbs replied respectfully.

"Then it's your turn. Remember the code? When the time comes, once the code is given in the room, you have to come in and change or refill the bathtub. The water cools down quickly at night, so remember to be quick and efficient when adding hot water."

The palace servants responsible for adding water responded immediately as well.

The old eunuch was very satisfied and went to check each item one by one, giving instructions such as, "The water in the bathtub must be clean." "The tub must be balanced on your head." "No matter how exquisite the socks are, they must only be worn once and never again."

Finally, after giving his instructions, he waved his hand and said, "Go in, all of you. Remember, if anything goes wrong, I'll hold you accountable even if you're beaten to death!"

The palace servants quickly responded, then lined up and went out to bathe His Majesty.

Just for the task of taking a bath, more than twenty people have to line up, each carrying a bunch of exquisitely crafted items, but all of them are disposable.

Such extravagance and such cruelty!

The palace servants walked slowly and deliberately, their shoes scraping the ground without making a sound. Every movement was measured and orderly. The old eunuch leading the way nodded in satisfaction and stopped making a fuss.

It's clear that this is the result of long-term training; countless palace servants must have died before these elites were selected to be able to 'serve His Majesty closely'.

The palace maid with slightly bluish lips was among them, and she walked carefully into the palace.

We arrived there.

Everything proceeded as planned.

First, four palace maids stood in four directions, all dressed in the same clothes and with the same attire.

Led by the head eunuch, they knelt and paid their respects.

After the emperor knelt and paid his respects, the tray was taken by other palace servants, who then laid out an oilcloth in the room, carried it into the bathtub, filled it with warm water, and then asked the emperor to undress.

His Majesty seemed somewhat exhausted, remaining motionless as palace servants and maids helped him undress.

Then came the tedious rules: which basin to use and what kind of cloth to use were strictly regulated, and every palace servant kept their duties in mind.

Only the emperor seemed relaxed and at ease, using his servants as naturally as a modern person would use household appliances.

As for what the palace servants, who are being treated as smart home appliances, think, who cares?

If you can't do it, then die.

In the year since the establishment of this Great Xin Dynasty, too many palace servants have died because of this.

Under such pressure, these servants were rigorously trained in every action. In the process of being domesticated as tools, some even developed a sense of pride, just like the old eunuchs who closely monitored the palace servants who had not yet developed a sense of pride, worrying that they were not qualified as tools.

When it was the turn of the palace servant whose lips were bluish-purple, he slowly walked forward, holding a tray with a stack of towels, twenty-five in total.

The first fifty towels had already been used up. He was on the third round, and his job was to hand towels to the palace servants who were wiping the area before him, and then carry the dirty water out.

He walked all the way to the front.

Then, he suddenly dropped the tray.

The old eunuch, who had been rambling on and on, immediately looked terrified.

Oh no, I'm going to be beheaded.

The old eunuch thought this.

But before he could continue to be terrified, he discovered that the tray had been dropped, and hidden among the stack of towels was a thin blade.

The palace maid with bluish-purple lips grabbed a razor blade at the last second and threw it.

A buzzing sound filled the air, the water in the bathtub instantly rippled with countless waves, a piercing sound rang out, and the surrounding glass windows shattered.

The palace servants covered their ears, and the once orderly room was thrown into chaos.

But the palace servant with bluish-purple lips paid no attention; all he could see was the emperor.

Of those present, only the emperor reacted.

The emperor grabbed a tray, flipped it over, and more than a dozen towels flew out, swirling in the air.

The blade was extremely sharp, but it was still just an ordinary object. It pierced through more than a dozen towels, and much of its rotational force was dissipated, and its speed was slowed down. By this time, the emperor had already left the bathtub.

In the blink of an eye, all of this happened.

The old eunuch didn't react until the emperor stood up, and shouted in a shrill voice, "There's a thorn—!"

Before the others could even shout, the palace servant had already swung his sleeves twice, sending out wooden spikes that killed all the surrounding palace servants. Some of the spikes even flew directly towards the emperor.

The emperor remained calm and continued to wave the towel, knocking down the splinters.

The palace servant took three steps in two, and struck again, shaking two thin blades from his clothes, launching another attack.

But the emperor was prepared; this time, it was time to wave his hand.

The emperor flicked two glass beads from the bathtub, sending a gust of wind through the air. Then, with a "clink," Mars flew everywhere, and the two blades in the palace servant's hand were broken in two.

He frowned slightly and gave up throwing.

If the throwing knife breaks, its speed will be greatly reduced, and it won't be able to kill the person.

So he decisively gave up and changed tactics again, popping a blade similar to a soft sword out of his belt and swinging it to slash at the emperor.

However, the emperor shook his head. "This skill belongs to Xiao Ming, the Wind-Listening Blade. I never thought that a top-notch swordsman would come to assassinate me. It's a pity that your martial arts are not good enough. I'm afraid your great plan will not succeed today."

As he spoke, the emperor even had the leisure to put on his clothes while responding to the questions.

Xiao Ming, the Wind-Listening Blade three times, but all three were easily dodged. The emperor even took this time to put on his dragon robe.

The fourth slash came from the sky.

Xiao Ming's veins bulged; this was the fastest strike he had ever made in his life.

In the past, his knives would make a sound.

This strike was silent.

Or rather—the sound couldn't keep up with the knife.

Even the emperor, who had been handling things with ease, was taken aback.

He couldn't dodge in time, and his dragon robe was ripped open.

But this angered the emperor.

He made a dragon claw shape with his hand, and a suction force appeared out of thin air in his palm. Xiao Ming was actually sucked into his palm and then slapped away!

His ribs shattered instantly, and Xiao Ming spat out a mouthful of blood. He flew three zhang (approximately 10 meters) and crashed into the wall.

The once menacing assassin had now lost all fighting ability.

The emperor, however, casually straightened his clothes and said, "Weak? Is this the strength of a top-tier martial arts master? It's far too weak."

The emperor shook his head and said somewhat boredly, "I had some expectations for you all. Alas, is there really no one in this world who can rival me except for Balahan? Oh, there was General Yang, but he is dead too. In this world, there is no one who can rival me."

"What a pity. Judging from your appearance, you actually became a eunuch in order to assassinate me?"

"You castrated yourself, then entered the palace, and waited a year to finally get close to me, but I never expected that you were no match for me at all. How about it, are you very angry?" the emperor asked with a smile.

Xiao Ming spat out a mouthful of blood. "Pah! You tyrant!"

"You say I am a tyrant? But I have unified the world." The emperor was not in a hurry to kill him, but instead chatted with him with great interest.

"You have unified the world, but the people of the world only hate you. If you kill Xiao Ming today, there will be another Xiao Ming in the future. Unless you kill everyone in the world, you will never be able to kill them all." Xiao Ming's breath was weak, and it was clear that he would not survive. However, he still looked at the emperor with hatred in his eyes.

"Hate is useless. I don't need to kill everyone in the world. As long as I kill your generation, all the children in the future will go to my school to study, and your children will become my loyal servants."

"By the way, since you're about to die, I'll tell you a secret. Haven't you martial arts people always wanted to know where my unparalleled skills come from?"

"I come from another world. An accident brought me here, and I have only just discovered that you are far too weak."

"There is no magic method, and the Cultivation Method is also poor, which is why I was able to unify the country in just over a year."

"The martial arts of your world are too poor. I came here by accident, but I have become the ruler of this world. It is truly a blessing from heaven."

"Alright, now that you've heard all this, it's time for you to die. From now on, this world will be my personal domain, and everything will belong to me."

"If you castrate yourself to enter the palace in order to assassinate me, I will find your son, castrate him, and make you and your son serve me. That would be a wonderful story."

"Thank you so much. I've kept this secret to myself for far too long. It feels much better to say it now."

After the emperor finished rambling on, his expression relaxed considerably.

Then, he stood up, ready to kill the assassin, but at this moment, the assassin named Xiao Ming couldn't even hold on to that. After hearing all this, he died from his injuries.

The emperor seemed somewhat regretful that he had not been able to kill the man himself.

But at that moment, a golden thread suddenly fell from the sky.

The emperor, who had been so arrogant just moments before, had his head severed.

Dead beyond dead.

Later historical records, such as the "Biography of Emperor Li", state:

"The new dynasty's Emperor Li violated propriety and teachings, harmed civilization and abused people. He disemboweled women and cut off their shins. Compared to this, it was not cruel. Even if all the bamboo in the mountains were used up, it would not be enough to record his crimes. Even if all the rabbits in the mountains and marshes were used up, they would not be able to record his crimes. Since the beginning of time, no tyrannical emperor recorded in the records has ever been so cruel."

"Since there is no ruler among men and gods, the ancestral temples are in peril, the country is in turmoil, the common people are in chaos, and the people are terrified, as if their horns have collapsed. The people are crying out and have nowhere to go. However, there is a righteous man named Xiao Ming who, in accordance with Heaven and the people, carries out Heavenly Punishment. He castrated himself and secretly entered the palace. He risked his life to assassinate the Emperor Li and save the people of the world from suffering."