Li Sanshun tore open the newcomer's clothes.
Two short arrows were embedded in his back. The arrowheads had missed anything vital, and there were no signs of poison around the wounds.
He leaned closer and took a sniff.
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[Imperial guard blood aura detected.]
[Traces of hemostatic powder and Grey Feather Talisman Paper detected.]
[Soul-Calming Powder coated on the arrowheads.]
Bai Chongshan's people.
Gu Qinghe cut off the arrow shafts, and Zhao Rui stuffed a pill into the wounded man's mouth.
"What's your name?"
"Song Yuan, a third-rank guard of the Fourth Imperial Grandson's Mansion."
Song Yuan endured the pain and pulled a bronze token from his waist. The front was engraved with the Fourth Imperial Grandson's Mansion, while the back bore his name and blood seal.
Li Sanshun checked it over, then returned it to him.
"What happened at Guest-Welcoming Peak?"
"Bai Chongshan has rebelled."
Song Yuan took a few breaths, then finally explained.
Half an hour ago, Ji Jingyao had just received word from the Judgment Platform and was preparing to bring people over. But Bai Chongshan produced the Kin-Seeking Seal, sealed off the three mountain roads leading to Guest-Welcoming Peak, and announced that the imperial grandson had been attacked.
The gold-armored guards in the mission had meant to escort Ji Jingyao down the mountain. But the moment they stepped out of the courtyard, the Imperial Clan Locking Array rose beneath their feet.
All twelve gold-armored guards were trapped in the west courtyard.
The commander leading them had been felled by Soul-Calming Powder. No one knew whether he was alive or dead.
Xiong Baichuan set his Copper Hammer down on the ground.
"The Kin-Seeking Seal can control the mission's protective array?"
"The Kin-Seeking Seal is one of the master seals. Combined with the Fourth Imperial Grandson's personal seal, it can take control of the Array Disk at Guest-Welcoming Peak."
Gu Qinghe seized on the key point.
"Bai Chongshan also has Ji Jingyao's personal seal?"
"His Highness's seal hasn't been lost."
Song Yuan pulled a bloodstained sheet of paper from his clothes and spread it on the stone platform.
Two seal marks were on the paper.
One belonged to Ji Jingyao.
The other was stamped over the original. At its edge was half the pattern of a black mystic bird's wing.
"His Highness checked the Mission Seal Registry and only then discovered that after he came to Tai Xuan Sect, all six of the orders he issued had been altered."
Before the public blood test, Ji Jingyao had issued an order.
Only close Ji family bloodlines were to be tested, and no paternal line was to be predetermined.
But when the order reached Bai Chongshan, it had become: test for direct descendants of the Third Prince and immediately take them back to the imperial capital.
Before the congratulatory gifts entered the mountain, Ji Jingyao had also ordered them to be stopped.
But the gift procession came anyway, carrying Spirit-Peering Talismans, Breath-Tracking Incense, and Message-Transmitting Insect Eggs.
The message about returning to the clan, sent from the imperial capital ahead of time, had not been authorized by Ji Jingyao either.
Six orders.
Six alterations.
Only after the Blood Appraisal Disk forgery was exposed did Ji Jingyao begin rechecking his seals.
"After he found out, why didn't he hand everything over to Grand Elder Qi at once?" Zhao Rui pressed.
"His Highness cares about his pride."
Song Yuan lowered his head.
"He thought there was a mole in the mission, and that the imperial clan should clean house itself. Bai Chongshan had served the Third Prince's household for decades. His Highness never imagined he'd dare make a move."
Li Sanshun understood.
Ji Jingyao wasn't innocent.
He had wanted to take him back to the imperial capital, and he had indeed hoped to earn merit through Imperial Blood Fifteen.
But the Blood Appraisal forgery, the Sealing Registry plot to silence witnesses, and Xu Zhenchuan's seizure of power hadn't all been arranged by him.
This Fourth Imperial Grandson had thought Bai Chongshan was working for him. In the end, he was the mission's seal, set out in plain sight for all to see.
"Why did Bai Chongshan turn on him now?"
Gu Changyue picked up the bloodstained order and read it several times.
"Xu Zhenchuan failed to seize the array, and the old records weren't burned. Bai Chongshan can't hide anymore."
Li Sanshun picked up where he left off.
"So he stole the Kin-Seeking Seal and locked Ji Jingyao away first. As long as the imperial grandson is alive, he can claim he's protecting him. If the imperial grandson dies, he can pin the blame on Tai Xuan Sect."
Song Yuan nodded hard.
"His Highness said the same. He had me crawl out through the drainage tunnel in the west courtyard. I was only allowed to come find you."
"Why me?"
"Because Bai Chongshan wants you."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
He wasn't wrong.
Bai Chongshan had tampered with the Blood Appraisal Disk, sent the congratulatory gifts ahead of time, and had Xu Zhenchuan activate the Sealing Registry. Everything led back to Imperial Blood Fifteen.
With Guest-Welcoming Peak calling for help now, it looked every bit like a net waiting for Li Sanshun to walk into it.
Xiong Baichuan picked up his Copper Hammer.
"I'll take the Zhen Yue Peak disciples and break the array. You stay here."
"No."
Song Yuan struggled to sit up, anxious.
"Bai Chongshan has already declared that if there's a conflict at the Judgment Platform, it'll prove Tai Xuan Sect is plotting against the imperial grandson. In another half hour, he'll claim he's protecting His Highness and ask the Imperial Border Army to seal off the mountain."
"The Imperial Border Army can't enter Tai Xuan Sect," Xiong Baichuan replied.
"They don't have to enter the mountain."
Song Yuan produced an Urgent Message Talisman.
"They only need to surround Tai Xuan Sect and send word to the imperial capital that the imperial grandson was attacked. Then the sect won't be able to clear its name."
Gu Qinghe looked to her father.
Gu Changyue had already picked up the Hall Master's token.
"Leave the matter at the Judgment Platform to Zhao Rui. Take all the Old Dark Patrol Guards into custody, and preserve images of the four mountain roads as evidence."
He then selected twenty Law Enforcement disciples.
"To Guest-Welcoming Peak."
As soon as they left the Judgment Platform, Bai Chongshan's announcement rang out from the mountain.
"The imperial grandson has been attacked! The culprit came from Tai Xuan Sect!"
"Guest-Welcoming Peak is sealed by imperial clan order!"
"Li Sanshun and the Gu father and daughter have colluded with the old faction. No one is to let them approach!"
The three declarations echoed across every peak.
Disciples along the road all stopped.
Gu Changyue raised the Hall Master's token.
"Xu Zhenchuan's forged order has already been exposed. The Law Enforcement Hall is handling this case. Everyone else, clear the way!"
The mountain path soon opened.
Li Sanshun rode at the very front.
By the time they reached Guest-Welcoming Peak, golden Array Patterns had sealed off all three stone stairways leading up the mountain. Nearly a hundred mission guards stood outside the array, each holding a crossbow.
The general at their head recognized Song Yuan.
"Traitor Song Yuan, you colluded with Tai Xuan Sect to assassinate His Highness!"
"Bullshit!"
Song Yuan dismounted and bared his back to everyone.
"The arrows in my back were shot from inside Guest-Welcoming Peak!"
The leading general didn't order them to fire.
He stared at the wound on Song Yuan's back, then turned to Li Sanshun.
Not every mission guard belonged to Bai Chongshan.
They only knew that the imperial grandson had been attacked and Guest-Welcoming Peak was sealed. They had no idea Ji Jingyao had already been placed under house arrest.
Li Sanshun walked up to the array but didn't touch the Array Patterns.
First, he took a breath.
[Imperial sealing array detected.]
[Traces of Blood-Vein Black Iron mixed into the array aura.]
[Three array nodes have been replaced with foreign objects.]
Another counterfeit order from the Ding-Character Furnace.
Bai Chongshan had used a counterfeit sealing order to take control of the Guest-Welcoming Peak Array Disk, then used the Kin-Seeking Seal to keep the mission guards in check. The people outside thought they were protecting His Highness, while Ji Jingyao inside couldn't even get out the door.
Li Sanshun walked more than a dozen steps along the array wall.
A short arrow suddenly shot out from inside the array.
The mission guards all raised their crossbows.
The arrow landed at Li Sanshun's feet. Half a congratulatory card was tied to its shaft.
It was the same anonymous card sent to Tai Xuan Sect earlier.
The card read: "Ding Fire welcomes its master."
A few black flecks clung to one corner of the paper.
Li Sanshun pressed the flecks against an Array Pattern.
A gap immediately opened in the golden array light, only to fill in again moments later.
[Traces of Blood-Vein Black Iron of the same origin detected.]
[Can interfere with the Guest-Welcoming Peak array nodes.]
Gu Qinghe held down her sword.
"Can you open it?"
"There's too little iron dust on the card."
But Song Yuan pointed toward the gift tent outside Guest-Welcoming Peak.
Dozens of wooden gift boxes were piled there.
Every congratulatory card, every box lock—all of them had been touched by iron dust from the Ding-Character Furnace.
Li Sanshun had just started toward them when Bai Chongshan's voice rang out from the summit.
"Li Sanshun, if you dare touch those gifts, I'll kill Ji Jingyao first!"
Ji Jingyao's furious cursing immediately sounded from behind the array wall.
"Bai Chongshan, you altered my orders and stole my seal. How dare you use me to protect yourself?"
Right after that, a voice slipped through a gap in the array.
"Li Sanshun, open the gift boxes. The array nodes are in their bottoms!"
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