"That old eunuch just now was so frightening... Judging by the look of him, he held a high position in the palace. I wonder who he was." A girl from the Cai Character Gate patted her chest, still shaken.
Another girl chimed in, "Yes, the way he looked at people was like a venomous snake. He chilled me to the bone."
Wu Xiaorui said nothing. Her delicate brows knitted slightly as the scene played over and over in her mind.
She could not shake the feeling that the old eunuch had looked at her strangely.
As if he were looking at someone he knew.
Was it her imagination?
She had never seen him before. Why had he looked at her like that?
Wu Xiaorui could not make sense of it, however hard she thought. A gaze could deceive, but the emotions buried deep within it could not be faked.
She thought about it for a long time without reaching an answer, so she stopped dwelling on it. Her thoughts drifted, and another figure involuntarily appeared in her mind.
The young man who always wore a smile touched with irreverence.
Chen Ye...
She wondered where he had gone, and whether he was safe with the capital in such turmoil.
In this life... perhaps they would never have the chance to meet again.
She let out a quiet sigh, but the hand hanging inside her sleeve unconsciously tightened around a cold hairpin.
She had found it in a forgotten corner of the Cold Palace after entering the palace and had ground it to an exceptionally sharp point.
Her mind was made up. To hell with the emperor; if he dared lay a hand on her, even if she could not kill him, she would make sure to stab a few bloody holes in him!
At worst, she would die.
A child of the jianghu feared no death!
The next day, daylight filled the sky.
The imperial court, which had been silent for several days, convened once more.
Wang Yuanzhi, Cui Lang, and the other powerful figures of the court had gathered early outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Their expressions varied as they exchanged glances.
When Chen Ye, clad in dragon robes, walked up the vermilion steps and finally took his seat on the dragon throne, the entire hall fell silent.
Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang's hearts both skipped a beat.
He was still the same person.
Yet his bearing had undergone an earth-shaking change.
In the past, Yang Zhao's eyes had been clouded, and his every movement had carried a trace of the frailty and madness of a man whose body had been hollowed out by wine and women.
But the Yang Zhao sitting on the dragon throne today held himself straight as a pine, his face as still as water. His eyes were as deep as an abyss as they calmly swept over the officials below, and he bore a majesty that made them afraid to meet his gaze.
Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang exchanged a glance, each seeing undisguisable shock and wariness on the other's face.
The court session proceeded according to routine.
The minister of war stepped forward and spoke at length about the fighting on the front lines, his words full of fine phrases such as "the officers and soldiers fought with their lives" and "the enemy's advance was repeatedly checked."
But which of the civil and military officials did not see the truth as clearly as a mirror?
Great Zhao's border defenses had long since been riddled with holes beneath the iron hooves of the grassland wolf cavalry, retreating at every turn. The so-called "repeated checks to the enemy's advance" amounted to losing ten cities and luckily holding on to one, then using that to paint a picture of peace.
Chen Ye sat upright on the dragon throne, expressionless and silent.
He observed the many faces of the ministers below, paying particular attention to Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang at the very front.
Chen Ye knew that the two of them led the powerful figures in the capital and were also the greatest threat to him, so his gaze held considerable interest.
The long, tedious morning court finally came to an end, and the officials bowed and took their leave.
Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang, however, stayed behind. The two knelt once more and cried, "Long live the emperor!"
"Your Majesty," Wang Yuanzhi said, kowtowing, "the winter solstice will arrive in a few days. By the rules of our ancestors, a great ceremony to sacrifice to Heaven must be held at the Temple of Heaven, to pay respects to Heaven and pray for the nation's prosperity and the people's peace."
"In previous years, Your Majesty's sacred person was occupied with affairs, and we ministers usually attended to this matter in your stead. But this year, the grasslands have invaded our borders, and displaced people have risen up everywhere. This is a warning from Heaven, a crisis for the realm. I implore Your Majesty to go to the Temple of Heaven in person this year and preside over the ceremony, to demonstrate your sincerity, calm the people, and deter the wicked!"
Wang Yuanzhi spoke with heartfelt conviction and righteous fervor. He bowed his head deeply, perfectly concealing the glimmer of chilling killing intent in his eyes.
He and Cui Lang had already settled their plans.
The imperial palace was heavily guarded, making it difficult to strike. But once the emperor left the palace, their opportunity would come.
They had secretly gathered several hundred deathsworn under their command, each a skilled fighter worth ten men. All they had to do was lay an ambush along the way, and emperor or not, he would die without a place to be buried!
The only uncertainty now was whether the emperor before them, whose temperament had changed so drastically, would leave his tortoise shell.
Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang's hearts rose into their throats as they awaited the final verdict.
Then they heard a cold, majestic voice from the dragon throne.
"My two beloved ministers speak wisely."
"For this year's winter solstice sacrifice to Heaven, I shall go in person."
At those words, Wang Yuanzhi and Cui Lang were stunned for a moment. Then wild joy surged through them, and they could barely keep from laughing aloud.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
The two kowtowed again and withdrew respectfully, entirely failing to notice the killing intent in Chen Ye's eyes as he sat on the dragon throne.
Of course he knew what those two old things were plotting.
Lure him into the trap?
What a coincidence. He had the same idea.
The situation in the capital was like a deadlocked game of chess. To break it, drastic medicine was needed.
He did not have the time to wear himself down in a drawn-out struggle with those great clans. Since they had offered him a knife of their own accord, he might as well seize the opportunity and settle matters in one swift battle.
As long as he crushed Wang and Cui, the two biggest troublemakers, the remaining shrimp soldiers and crab generals would be much easier to deal with.
For the next few days, Chen Ye practically lived in the Imperial Guard's camp.
He offered no lofty speeches. He had just one approach: scatter money!
Silver flowed out like water as rewards, and wine and meat were supplied without limit.
The Son of Heaven came in person to reward the troops.
The simple, heavy-handed approach proved surprisingly effective.
Most of the Imperial Guard's lower-ranking officers and soldiers came from humble backgrounds and naturally had little fondness for the great clans. Now, seeing how considerate the emperor was toward his subordinates, they could not help but feel deeply grateful, and their loyalty shot up.
Although it was still unrealistic to count on this army to take the field against the grassland cavalry, it was more than enough to deal with the powerful clans in the city.
Late one night, Chen Ye summoned Tong Lei, commander of the Imperial Guard, to a tent alone. The two talked by candlelight and plotted in secret for a long time.
Meanwhile, the Cui and Wang families were not idle either. The retainers and deathsworn in their residences were secretly mobilized, and an invisible net was quietly spreading open.
In the blink of an eye, the winter solstice arrived.
Before dawn, fine snowflakes began to drift through the air, falling thick and fast and cloaking the imperial city, soon to undergo a great upheaval, in a layer of white mourning garb.
Chen Ye glanced at the almanac sent over by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
"Auspicious for: sacrifices, travel, betrothal gifts."
"Great fortune."
He smiled and casually tossed the almanac into the brazier, watching it turn to ash. Then, with the palace maids attending him, he put on a black fox-fur coat against the cold and strode out through the palace gates.
Wind and snow filled the sky, and the man's killing intent was at its height!
It was time to flip the table!
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