When Lu Yuan left the Imperial City, the morning light had already climbed over the western palace wall.
The carriage bearing the Imperial Clan Court's plaque had left the palace shortly after dawn. By the time the empty seal case had been discovered in the bedchamber, the gate records checked, and Lu Yuan had finally set out in pursuit, a considerable amount of time had passed. Intercepting that carriage on the road was all but impossible. What he truly needed to seize was the last sliver of time before the ancestral temple closed its doors.
He tucked the Regent's Order Qian Renxue had given him inside his robes. Both checkpoints along the way let him through upon seeing it, without delaying him another moment. After leaving the Imperial City, Lu Yuan switched straight to the relay station's fastest horse. By the time the blue-gray rooftops of the Imperial Ancestral Temple appeared in the distance, his mount was covered in white foam.
As expected, the carriage had arrived long before him.
It stood outside the temple's side gate, the Imperial Clan Court's wooden plaque hanging from its shaft. Its four horses had already been unhitched, and only two people dressed as servants remained outside. Just as Lu Yuan dismounted, the third toll of a bell rang out from deep within the temple. Its heavy resonance passed through the high walls, making the steadily tightening gray thread of fate before his eyes tremble.
[Critical turning point: Imperial Seal]
Lu Yuan ignored the carriage and headed straight for the main entrance. Two imperial guards crossed their spears to bar his way. He handed over the Regent's Order. Though they let him pass after examining it, one still accompanied him.
"The Regent's Order permits entry to the outer hall. The Imperial Treasury