The Fall of an Aristocratic Clan

Even the Kong Family patriarch had lost his composure. The others fared worse.

Some were so frightened their bones turned to jelly. They collapsed to the ground, every hope extinguished.

A few quick-witted Kong Family servants sensed the calamity about to descend. While their masters were too panicked to notice, they gathered a few valuables and fled for their lives.

Moments ago, this had been an ancient Aristocratic Clan displaying the full depth of its heritage. Now it looked like a great mansion on the verge of collapse. "When an emperor flies into a rage, a million corpses fall and blood flows for a thousand miles. Such is the might of an emperor."

"The Kong Family may be one of the most illustrious houses under heaven, but once caught up in a disaster like this, I fear its chances are grim."

Li Shun followed Kong Zhao quietly into the mansion, taking in every scene of chaos.

As dread gripped him, he could not help growing curious about the mastermind who had played the entire Kong Family in the palm of his hand.

"Kong Changqing has lived for over five hundred years. His eye for deception can't be poor."

"To disguise himself as the reigning Grand Secretary and present an imperial edict without arousing the slightest suspicion..."

"That man's skill at passing off a fake as the real thing must have reached a near-miraculous level."

While Li Shun pondered this, Kong Zhao hurried over to Kong Changqing.

"Patriarch..."

Kong Changqing had weathered five centuries of storms. Kong Zhao's call brought him back to his senses at once.

"We were deceived?" Disbelief still lingered in his eyes. "But His Majesty's document is right there in my room..."

With the Kong Family crowding around him, he went straight to his study and brought