The Imperial Dynasty's Shifting Sands

Li Changan discussed matters with Ahei in the Imperial Capital, touching upon the entire imperial dynasty. The Imperial Capital's powers consisted of one hall, one pavilion, two bureaus, and four guards. These long-established forces from the peaceful era had, amid the chaos of the times, been joined by ancient human powers.

By probing indirectly, Li Changan gradually came to understand the Imperial Capital's current structure.

After the Human Emperor's funeral, Empress Wenren Xianyi had thoroughly seized control of the imperial dynasty. Within a short time, many descendants of the Zishu Family had inexplicably been assassinated. Crown Prince Sheng, who had once had some friction with the Azure Cloud Li Family and knew that the Crown Prince Consort was a man, had been found dead in his bed. Such incidents had occurred throughout every faction of the Qing Imperial Dynasty, and the surviving members of the Zishu Family had fled to Yu Prefecture.

The old-established powers within the imperial dynasty had no choice but to accept the state of affairs. They accepted the Empress's deployment and continued to fulfill their duties according to the Human Emperor's orders before his death, though no one knew what they truly thought behind the scenes. At the very least, the people of the Immortal Suppression Bureau and Knot Bureau were staunch royalists. These old men who had once followed the Human Emperor in conquering the realm were utterly loyal to the Zishu Family and could not possibly leave matters at that. Yet for the greater good of humanity and the imperial dynasty, they had chosen to temporarily accept the current situation.

Meanwhile, humanity's ancient powers—Kunlun Mountain, Heavenly Mountain, the Seven Human Tribes, those old monsters whose origins could be traced back to the years when heaven and earth first opened—had emerged partly because Immortal Suppression