"Gu Taxian?"
The middle-aged man muttered the fake name Hong Yi had casually given, unsure what he was thinking.
When he looked up again, Hong Yi was already gone.
"This pill..."
The middle-aged man held the pill, pondering Hong Yi's purpose.
Early the next morning, the sky had only just begun to brighten. Aside from the servants of wealthy households, most people were still asleep.
Suddenly, iron cavalry galloped past, their crisp hoofbeats tearing through the lingering clamor of the night.
"Ride!"
"Ride!"
"Ride!"
Stern-faced armored soldiers cracked their whips, urging their fine horses into a mad sprint.
"That's the imperial palace guard! Judging by where they're headed, it seems to be the residences of the Three Dukes. Did something major happen yesterday?"
"Yesterday, the Third Prince Liu Min stormed the palace. Could it be..."
"See no evil, hear no evil..."
People poked their heads out from the windows along both sides of the street. Some sharper minds had already vaguely guessed what had happened.
There were plenty of people in the imperial capital with eyes and ears everywhere. Before noon, news of everything that had happened in the palace had already spread.
"His Majesty has passed away!"
"The imperial family exists in name only!"
"Third Prince Liu Min slaughtered every blood relative and perished together with the Yuhua Sect cultivators stationed in the palace!"
"The imperial capital is under martial law! Several Yuhua Sect disciples are taking charge and seeking revenge!"
Everyone who received the news was thrown into an uproar.
The Great Li Dynasty had a population of tens of billions and governed countless smaller states, yet an entire imperial family had been wiped out.
Naturally, this shocked everyone beyond measure.
By noon, the scorching weather combined with the citywide martial law had left the entire imperial