The Emperor Gan Once Wrote, Too

"What do you mean?" Li Shun could not help looking at Kong Zhao.

"A strong crossbow stays unstrung; the hollow-proud rely on bluster."

Kong Zhao avoided answering. He merely pressed two fingers together and carved another line of words in the air.

The writing made no sound, but its meaning could not have been clearer.

Staring at the meaningful look on Kong Zhao's face, Li Shun felt a sudden glimmer of understanding.

Such a damning suspicion could hardly belong to Kong Zhao alone. Most of the high officials at court likely thought the same.

After all, by any ordinary reckoning, if Emperor Gan truly still possessed the peerless power of the Heaven and Earth Realm, he could have quelled yesterday's earth-shaking turmoil in the Sacred Capital with a turn of his hand. There was no reason for him to sit high in his hall and let it run its course.

Yet from the moment the chaos erupted until it subsided, Emperor Gan had remained seated deep within the palace, silent and unseen. Such strange conduct could hardly fail to stir speculation.

But...

Could Emperor Gan truly be judged by ordinary reckoning?

Li Shun had his doubts.

Perhaps it was precisely because the rebels who had infiltrated the Sacred Capital yesterday still feared the emperor who had once suppressed four Sages single-handedly that they had not dared assault the inner palace. Instead, they had attacked the residences of the three highest ministers, casting stones to test the road ahead.

"First they burned the Imperial Tomb. Then they stirred up chaos in the Sacred Capital. These people seem to be growing bolder and bolder."

"But something is strange."

"If they're truly certain that Emperor Gan's vitality is failing and he's about to die, they could simply watch and wait. They've already endured