Emperor Qi's question was simply too grave.
He had directly branded Cui Zhu's assassination as the opening move in a plot to usurp the throne!
If matters were allowed to unfold on those terms, who knew how many heads would roll and how many would perish in misery?
From the Administration Hall down, everyone who had handled the Yellow River Assembly roster, to Cui Zhu's steady rise through the military ranks and all the people he had met and befriended...
What a vast web this was, and how many people would it ensnare?
Who could help but tremble?
When the Son of Heaven grew angry, a million corpses could litter the ground and blood could flow for a thousand miles.
Who would dare provoke him?
At that moment, ordinary people had no right to speak.
And those who did have the right to speak—like the Crown Prince, the Palace Mistresses, and even State Chancellor Jiang Rumo—could not speak.
Because... if they drew a parallel with Emperor Huai of Qin's old case, then they were precisely the people who might become Qi's "Ying Zhang"!
The case of the Deposed Crown Prince had implicated countless people. Many who had lived through that catastrophe were still present.
The eminent Chongxuan Family had survived that calamity only after the old Marquis, who had long laid down his armor, donned it once more and returned to the blood-soaked battlefield; after two of his sons died; and after Chongxuan Chuliang won the first great victory in the campaign to defeat Xia.
The son of Chongxuan Futu, once a peerless prodigy, was now seated in the stands.
The warning of the past was still fresh. Who could be unafraid?
"Your Majesty! I have something to report!" Jiang Wang, who was also kneeling on the ground, suddenly spoke.