Three days later, a heavily guarded carriage slowly departed the Imperial City under the farewell of the gathered officials, heading east along the official road.
Among those seeing him off were powerful figures such as the current chief ministers, and even eunuchs from the palace—
Eunuch Wei, deeply trusted by the Emperor, was among them. He had come in the Emperor's stead to bid farewell. Had Li Kun not been unwell and unable to appear, the Emperor would surely have come in person.
"Master, leaving the Imperial City at a time like this—if something happens to the Emperor, won't it be too late for you to return? If someone else gains the initiative, I fear it will be difficult to deal with later."
Not far after leaving the Imperial City, a man dressed as a household servant spoke from horseback beside the carriage window.
The one seated within was the very man the officials had just seen off. The only person capable of moving the Emperor to send a representative to bid him farewell was Qiu Yan, the Minister of War, prospective chief minister, and Marquis of Pacifying the Realm, whose influence now blazed like the noonday sun.
The court assembly three days earlier had appeared to be nothing more than a clash of tongues and swords of words, yet behind it lay countless schemes, flashing blades, and drawn swords. Even though Qiu Yan existed in several bodies at once and surpassed all Donghua in both vision and strength, under the pressure of the starry-sky powers, he still had to accept the rules of the game if he wished to lay out his plans across all of Donghua. Thus, although Qiu Yan had already launched his counterattack in court and even cast down a spark capable of raising a storm,