"Rumble..."
Thunder boomed, and countless people across the Capital City looked up, their expressions varied.
Countless mental projections, large and small, swept across the Capital City.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"A Manifestation! This must be a Manifestation!"
"Has someone uttered something astonishing again? Which academy produced such a gifted prodigy, one whose brilliance towers so high?!"
"The Hundred-Li Resonance Phenomenon-isn't this the first in decades?!"
"No, this doesn't seem to be the Hundred-Li Echo..."
"Could it be the 'Ten-Thousand-Li Chant' Manifestation?! Impossible! That hasn't appeared in a century!"
Each of those mental projections carried a different aura: explosive, calm, profound, ethereal, compassionate...
Just as these powerful figures were discussing it, an immensely forceful mental projection extended from the imperial palace, blanketing heaven and earth. Every powerful figure's voice was instantly silenced.
"Silence."
The voice was cold and calm.
The Manifestation in the sky seemed to freeze for a moment, then was forcibly dispersed.
At the same time, the mental projections immediately quieted down, though some still spoke in hushed voices.
"Why did Lin Xuanji suddenly turn up?"
"He's the Minister of Rites. It's perfectly reasonable for him to turn up."
"True. The Rites Department heads the twelve departments and oversees the imperial examinations and schools of thought. You could easily call it the Confucian Department."
"Shouldn't the appearance of good poetry be encouraged? Why did he suppress the Manifestation instead?"
"No idea, no understanding, no clue."
"You missed one: don't ask..."
The voices of those mental projections gradually faded, finally settling into silence.
Of course, all that concerned the higher echelons.
For many ordinary people, many residents of the Capital City, whatever those in the higher echelons said was beyond their awareness.
All they knew was that their hearts had thumped a few times.
And with just those