Zhao Feng walked over and stared at the corpse on the ground, remaining silent for a long time. He felt no thrill of victory, only a crushing weight, as though a stone pressed against his chest.
What was the mysterious identity of the Nine Nether Demon Sect's young master, and where was he? What was his next plan?
With the Nether Concubine's death, those questions had sunk into that silent darkness as well.
Seeing that the Nether Concubine's corpse had not dissolved like her double, he did not act rashly. Instead, he ordered Yue Lang to deliver it to the coroner for an examination first.
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace,
the Lantern Festival court assembly was about to begin.
Chengtian Gate, the main entrance to the imperial city, had already been thrown open. The vermilion gates slowly parted in the morning mist, releasing a deep, drawn-out rumble.
On either side of the gates, soldiers of Great Yan's imperial guard stood in polished armor, holding ceremonial golden melon-headed maces. They formed two straight walls of men stretching from Chengtian Gate to the foot of the ceremonial steps before the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Their golden armor gleamed in the rising sunlight, like an ocean of sunshine frozen in place.
Led by officials from the Ministry of Rites, over a hundred envoys from the Western Regions entered the imperial city through Chengtian Gate in succession. They came from a hundred nations and tribes, large and small, including Dayuan, Chechi, Loulan, Kucha, Khotan, Shule, and Wusun, and wore their peoples' grandest attire. Some had brightly colored turbans wrapped around their heads, some wore robes embroidered with gold thread, some carried curved sabers studded with gems at their waists, and others wore crowns bristling with feathers. Their colorful garments formed a flowing sea of