The air inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to have congealed into an iron slab, pressing down on everyone until they could hardly breathe.
As soon as Lin Hanzhou announced his three earth-shattering decrees, the assembled officials erupted in furious opposition like a volcano.
"Your Majesty, you absolutely must not! This will shake the very foundations of the state!"
"We beg Your Majesty to rescind your decree! The laws of our ancestors must not be abolished!"
"If you force through such wicked policies, the realm will surely fall into chaos. Then the land will be engulfed in flames of war, and it will be too late for regret!"
Led by the Minister of Personnel and the Secretariat Director, dozens of officials from aristocratic families dropped to their knees and voiced their objections.
They cited the classics and laid out the consequences, trying to use ancestral rites and the safety of the realm to force the young new emperor to compromise.
Several elder statesmen who had served three reigns even presumed upon their lofty status and took advantage of their seniority.
Pointing at Lin Hanzhou on the Dragon Throne, they rebuked him with almost venomous fury.
"Your Majesty, you have only just ascended the throne. You should focus on stabilizing the people's hearts. You must not let a moment's temper drive you to such a reckless act!"
"We, your old servants, have the Great Sui realm and its people in mind. We beg Your Majesty to heed our counsel!"
The entire hall buzzed like a noisy marketplace.
Seated on the Dragon Throne, Lin Hanzhou's face was as impassive as water, and he radiated a bone-chilling killing intent.
He had not expected these officials to hold him in such contempt.
It seemed it was time to kill a chicken to frighten the monkeys.
But just then, Wang Duan, the Minister of Personnel, struck his forehead against the floor and cried out in grief.
"If Your Majesty does not rescind your decree, then I shall shed my blood here and prove my resolve with my death!"
At the sight of this, the corner of Lin Hanzhou's mouth curled slightly.
"Good. Since Your Excellency is willing to prove your resolve with your death, then let me send you on your way."
As he spoke, he slowly raised one hand.
The clamor throughout the hall died away in an instant.
Everyone's gaze instinctively focused on that long, powerful hand.
"Xuan Ya."
Lin Hanzhou uttered the two words softly. His voice was not loud, yet everyone in the hall heard him clearly.
The moment the words left his mouth, several shadowy figures emerged soundlessly from the darkness.
They were the Shadow Guards who had appeared in the plaza the day before.
At their head was none other than their commander, a Xiantian Third Level expert—Xuan Ya!
Their appearance made no sound, as if they had always been part of the darkness.
With their arrival, a cold, bloodthirsty aura instantly enveloped the entire Hall of Supreme Harmony!
When had the officials of the entire court ever witnessed such a scene?
Every one of them turned deathly pale, not daring to make a sound.
Only then did they remember that the new emperor before them had carved his way to the throne overnight, stepping over the corpses of his two own brothers!
"Drag out Wang Duan, Minister of Personnel; Chen Jingzhi, Secretariat Director; Li Jiancheng, Censor-in-Chief...and the others."
Lin Hanzhou's gaze swept coldly over the kneeling crowd below as he called out seven or eight names in succession.
Every one of them had been among the most vociferous opponents moments ago.
"Your Majesty... What... What are you going to do?"
Wang Duan's face changed drastically, and his voice trembled.
He could not understand why things had taken this turn. Wasn't the new emperor supposed to stop him from proving his resolve with his death?
Lin Hanzhou did not answer him, instead issuing his command as if to himself.
"Forget it. Just behead them here and now. It'll be more convenient."
Boom!
Those words were even more shocking than the three decrees combined.
"No! Your Majesty! You can't do this!"
"I am a three-reign elder statesman! You dare kill me?!"
"An incompetent ruler! You're an incompetent ruler!"
The officials whose names had been called came to their senses, then began struggling and cursing like mad.
They had never dreamed the new emperor would dare to kill high-ranking court officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony on the very first day of his reign!
But the Shadow Guards moved far faster than they could curse.
Several Shadow Guards dragged the officials, who were accustomed to lives of luxury, to the center of the hall as if they were hauling around chicks.
The cold blades rose high, reflected in their horrified, despairing eyes.
"Stop! You mustn't!"
"Your Majesty, calm your anger! Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!"
The other officials were terrified out of their wits and hurried to plead for mercy.
But it was too late.
"Chhk!"
"Chhk!"
Several streaks of cold light flashed through the center of the hall at once.
Heads rolled across the floor. Blood gushed out, instantly staining the polished golden bricks crimson!
The officials who had been delivering impassioned speeches just moments ago were now nothing but headless corpses.
Their bodies lay in pools of blood, still twitching faintly.
The thick stench of blood rapidly spread, stinging everyone's nostrils.
The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony fell into deathly silence.
The sight of that bloody, brutal scene, with no room for appeal, left everyone utterly shaken.
They stared blankly at the corpses and blood on the floor, feeling as if their hearts were about to stop beating.
He...he had really killed them!
Without a trial, without discussion—right there in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he had killed them just like that!
What unbridled tyranny! What merciless cruelty!
Lin Hanzhou slowly rose from the Dragon Throne and looked down at the faces below, twisted with fear.
In a cold voice, he spoke one word at a time.
"I will say this one last time."
"From this day forward, the new policies I decree shall be the Great Sui's national policy! They are divine edicts! They are ironclad laws!"
"My decision is final. Anyone who obstructs these policies will be killed without mercy!"
"Kill—without—mercy!"
Those last three words were like a freezing wind blowing up from the depths of the underworld. They echoed through the vast hall and burrowed into the marrow of everyone present.
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
Someone was the first to drop to his knees. Then every official in the hall—whether they had opposed the emperor or remained neutral—fell to their knees in unison.
Their bodies trembled like sieves as they bowed their heads to the floor, not daring even to breathe too loudly.
"We...obey Your Majesty's decree!"
"We...will heed Your Majesty's teachings and swear to carry out the new policies to the death!"
"Your Majesty's new policies serve the people in every way! Your Majesty is a wise and virtuous emperor!"
The officials' trembling, fearful voices blended together, not a trace of opposition remaining.
They had clearly been cowed by Lin Hanzhou's thunderous measures.
As if they had any choice. When this lord said he would kill, he really did kill.
Even Wang Duan, Minister of Personnel and head of the Six Ministries, was dead. How could they dare disobey?
At that moment, the court was utterly subdued by an unprecedented display of iron-fisted force.
Lin Hanzhou glanced coldly at the ministers bowing before him and slowly sat back down on the Dragon Throne.
He knew this was only the beginning.
The submission he had won through slaughter was merely submission on the surface.
The true storm was only now beginning to brew beyond the palace walls.
Those deeply entrenched aristocratic clans would certainly do everything they could to stop his new policies from being implemented.
An undercurrent sweeping across the entire Great Sui was about to grow even more turbulent.
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