At dawn the next day, the sun rose in the east.
The Southern Commandant Office.
Several officials hurried along. Before they even entered the central office, they heard a bang. The Commanding Commissioner split his desk with a slap, thundering in fury:
"Jiangnan is about to rebel!"
"They dared assassinate a Deputy Thousand-Household Commander in full public view! Do Jiangnan's civil and military officials still recognize the law? Such savage defiance is intolerable even to Heaven!"
"If this isn't punished to the fullest extent, where will that leave the dignity of the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Who will dare go to Jiangnan to enforce the law from now on? Are we to let it harbor filth and corruption, its crimes towering to the skies?"
His words had barely fallen.
"Ouyang, watch your wording!" a commanding man in red robes snapped. Then he turned to the two senior dignitaries beside him and asked respectfully:
"May I ask the position of the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial?"
The Supervising Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial wore a python robe. Anger shrouded his soft-featured face as he said gravely:
"This cannot be tolerated. Have the Jinling garrison office assist in a thorough investigation at once!"
He stated his position in a single sentence.
The Directorate of Ceremonial depended entirely on imperial power, while the Embroidered Uniform Guard were the emperor's personal troops. The assassination was an outright provocation against imperial power!
A covert assassination and an attack in broad daylight were worlds apart.
An ordinary member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and an eighteen-year-old Deputy Thousand-Household Commander were even less comparable.
The incident could hardly have been more egregious!
"And you, Grand Secretary?" The deputy head of the Southern Commandant Office looked at the white-haired elder.
The Grand Secretary took a small