The third day.
The Divine Capital was draped in mourning white.
The great city lay beneath a solemn pall of grief.
Starting from Zhongling Street, armored soldiers bearing weapons filled the four surrounding streets, rank upon rank. They came from the Five City Troops Command-the elite troops stationed in the two counties under its jurisdiction.
On Ningrong Street, seventy or eighty Imperial Palace Experts from the Inner Court's twenty-four directorates had arrived, and every shop nearby had been sealed off.
Viewed from a distant tower, the streets below were densely packed. It was a terrifying deployment.
Never mind a pigeon circling overhead-not even a fly could escape.
The vast Rongguo Mansion was utterly silent.
Dressed in coarse hemp mourning clothes, Jia Zheng carefully supported Jia Mu as they walked around the estate. Several Imperial Palace Experts followed them, but Mother and Son paid them no heed, lingering fondly over every sweeping eave.
They arrived at the Dingguo Duke Mansion. Construction had stopped halfway, but the Gilded Plaque gleamed brilliantly. Jia Mu's eyes reddened at the sight, and her lips trembled as she said in a quavering voice:
"Three Dukes from a single household! How could future generations dare forget the glory of our Jia clan!"
"No one can erase the achievements of the Jia clan!"
With that, the Old Madam tottered back to the mansion.
She knew that, without Huan'er, the Jia Family would have faced a merciless reckoning after the Retired Emperor's death. They had supported the old sovereign, yet possessed neither influence at Court nor power in the military!
Worse still, the Jia Family had produced a figure whose power blazed like the sun, one who had broken completely with the reigning emperor, as irreconcilable as fire and water. Only destruction awaited them.
"Zheng'er, we can count our