Chapter 19

Shengjing, Imperial City, Golden Palace.

The first rays of dawn shone through, casting a faint golden hue on the carved beams and painted buildings, but they couldn't dispel the heavy, suffocating silence that gripped the hall. The air was stagnant, as if even breathing felt cautious and slow. Emperor Zhao Heng sat aloft on the dragon throne, his bright yellow robe accentuating his pale complexion. The dark pools beneath his eyes, like insoluble ink, darkened. His fingertips rested on the armrest, unconsciously twirling the cold nine-dragon jade pendant. The subtle scraping sound was amplified in the dead silence.

Officials stood in a row, hands hanging, their eyes fixed on their noses, their noses on their hearts, not daring to breathe. The secret report, brought over six hundred miles from Jiangnan yesterday, spread like a plague—leads were cut off, the imperial envoy's headquarters was helpless, and Feng Zijing's injuries were recurring... The boiling blood pot in Jiangnan, after the lid was lifted, was left with only a charred ashes! This was not only a slap in the face of the imperial court, but also a sword hanging over everyone's head. Who knew if the remnants of the "Yun Ze Society," the dark hands hiding in the shadows to smooth over any traces, would set their sights on the Golden Palace?

Zhao Heng's gaze, with the anxious intensity of a cornered beast, swept across the brooding azure to the left of the imperial steps. Gu Linzhi remained standing, his figure erect as a solitary pine tree, his dark formal attire as tranquil as a deep well amid the vibrant colors of the hall. He lowered his eyelids slightly, his gaze fixed on the cool, smooth gold bricks a step in front of him, as if the suffocating low pressure surrounding him, the scrutiny and oppression cast from the dragon throne, had nothing to do with him. This absolute, chilling calm was more oppressive than any roar.

"Your Majesty..." The Minister of War finally couldn't bear the devastating silence anymore and stepped out of the crowd. His voice was as dry as sandpaper. "Shen Mo, the Inspector General of the Jiangnan Circuit, has been ordered to march south with the Imperial Sword. According to the itinerary... he should have arrived in Hangzhou Prefecture today to take over the Imperial Commissioner's headquarters. With Censor Shen in charge, we will surely be able to..."

Before he finished speaking!

"Report--!!! Urgent report--!!!"

A shrill, distorted roar, like a night owl being strangled by the neck, suddenly ripped through the stagnant silence of the Golden Throne Hall! The sound came from far away, rushing in from outside the hall with a heart-pounding panic!

The entire hall was filled with shock! Everyone's eyes instantly turned to the huge palace door that symbolized supreme power!

A messenger, blood-soaked that his original uniform was barely recognizable, crawled like a demon from hell, pushing past the guards who were blocking his path and falling to the ground beneath the imperial steps! His face was covered in a smoky, black ash mixed with dried blood scabs, and a deep, bone-deep knife wound on his shoulder still oozed a sticky, dark red. In his hand, he clutched a bright yellow scroll, stained with mud and blood, and crumpled beyond its shape. It was the Imperial Sword Edict, the symbol of imperial power that granted Shen Mo the power of life and death!

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Lord Shen... Lord Shen... he..." The postman's throat made a hoarse sound, as if being strangled by an invisible giant hand. Every word was frothed with blood. "... dead! Censor Shen... had just... just arrived at the Hangzhou government office... to receive the seal... and less than... half an hour later... in... in the lobby of the imperial envoy's headquarters... in full view of everyone... he was... poisoned to death -!!!"

"boom--!!!"

Like thunder exploding from the blue sky, the deathly silent throne room was instantly detonated by this shocking news!

"What?!"

"Shen Mo... is dead?!"

"At the Imperial Envoy's Headquarters... Poisoned?!"

"Oh my god! This...this Jiangnan...is outrageous!!"

Exclamations, gasps, and incredulous chatter filled the hall like a flood bursting through a dam! Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly gripped everyone's heart! A dignified Imperial Censor, wielding the Imperial Sword and on the emperor's behalf, had just stepped foot in Jiangnan when, in the very hall of the Imperial Envoy's headquarters, a symbol of the court's majesty, he was poisoned in full view of the crowd?!

This wasn't just a slap in the face! This was a brutal trampling of the dignity of the court and the majesty of imperial power! It was a naked declaration of war!

Atop the dragon throne, Zhao Heng's body lurched violently! His face instantly turned from pale to a terrifying, deathly gray! He clutched the throne's armrests tightly, his knuckles crackling under the strain! An icy chill shot from the soles of his feet straight up to his head, freezing the blood in his body!

Shen Mo... is dead?!

The dog he had placed such high hopes on, the one he used to turn the tables, to nail Gu Linzhi to the ground or at least disrupt the situation in Jiangnan… before it could even start to bite anyone, it was poisoned to death right in front of him, in the Imperial Envoy Hall?!

"Who... who did this?!" Zhao Heng's voice was hoarse and shrill, filled with a sense of complete shock and rage, like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "Investigate! Investigate for me! Kill all nine of his clans! Kill all ten of his clans--!!!"

"Your Majesty..." The blood-soaked postman raised his head with difficulty, his eyes filled with extreme fear and confusion, "...I...don't know! Lord Shen...had just received the official seal...and...hadn't sat down yet...when he suddenly turned blue...spewd up black blood from his mouth...fell...fell to the ground and died! The coroner...the coroner examined it...and it was...the poison that kills instantly when it comes into contact with blood! It was mixed...mixed...mixed in the cup of tea...that Lord Shen used to moisten his throat! That tea...was...brought to him by a mute servant who had just been transferred to the headquarters three days ago! He...he had...committed suicide by taking poison! There's...nothing to be found, Your Majesty——!!!"

"boom--!!!"

The second thunderbolt struck Zhao Heng and all the court officials hard on their heads!

There is nothing to check!

A mute servant, a "dead man" who had just been transferred there three days ago, with no roots or background, and a cup of tea mixed with a deadly poison! Clean and neat, leaving no trace! This method was ruthless! Experienced! Precise! Like a ghost!

Fear, like visibly cold water, instantly soaked everyone's bones! Not only could the enemy easily wipe out any traces of the "Yunze Society," but they could also, in broad daylight, in the most august presence of the imperial court, use such decisive means to sever the emperor's newly extended tentacles! The power behind this, this unbridled madness... was simply terrifying!

Zhao Heng felt his vision go black, and the world spun! An immense, indescribable sense of fear and powerlessness, like an icy tide, completely overwhelmed him! His carefully laid-out chess pieces, his hopes for a comeback, were just… gone? Like an ant, crushed to death?! He didn't even know who his opponent was!

A fishy, ​​sweet taste suddenly surged up his throat! Zhao Heng gritted his teeth and swallowed the blood back! He couldn't fall! He was the emperor! He had to... had to...

In the chaotic and fear-ridden court, only that dark figure remained as calm as a mountain.

Gu Linzhi slowly raised his eyelids. His gaze, calm and unwavering, like a bottomless, cold pond, for the first time passed beyond the crimson before the imperial steps (where Feng Zijing had been carried to the palace), passed beyond the terrified officials in the hall, passed beyond the pale, precariously crumbling emperor on the dragon throne, as if penetrating the thick palace walls and landing a thousand miles away on the bloody Jiangnan.

There was no surprise or anger in his eyes, only a cold calmness of understanding. It was as if the cup of poisoned tea in the Jiangnan Imperial Envoy's headquarters, the rapidly cooling corpse, and the carefully planned assassination were all just a move he had foreseen long ago.

This extremely calm gaze, like the sharpest ice spike, fiercely pierced Zhao Heng's nerves that were on the verge of collapse!

It's him!

It must be him!

Only Gu Linzhi could have such means! Only he could be so ruthless! Only he could, from a thousand miles away from the imperial court, so precisely sever his only hope! He did it on purpose! He wanted to use Shen Mo's blood, the terror in the Golden Palace, to declare—Jiangnan, Gu Linzhi's, is his, Gu Linzhi's, forbidden land! Anyone who dared to lay a hand on him, even an imperial envoy, would pay the price in blood!

A rage of being completely ignored and blatantly provoked, mixed with a fear that penetrated deep into his bones, instantly burned away Zhao Heng's last bit of sanity like a poisonous fire!

“Gu Linzhi——!!!”

The emperor suddenly stood up from the throne, his body trembling violently with extreme anger and fear. His finger, like a poisoned spear, pointed directly at the dark figure below the steps! His voice was shrill, sharp, and filled with a hysterical roar of despair, resounding throughout the deadly Golden Palace:

"Is it you?! Is it you who did it?! Tell me! Jiangnan... what shameful things are there in Jiangnan that could make you so mad? You even dared to kill my imperial envoy! You even dared to trample on the dignity of the imperial court! In your eyes... do you still have me, your father and emperor?! Do you still have the country and people of Dayong——!!!"

The roar echoed wildly in the huge palace, carrying the emperor's last dignity and... the crazy accusations of being pushed to the edge of the cliff!

Dead silence.

The silence was even worse than before.

All the exclamations, discussions, and fears were instantly frozen by the emperor's earth-shattering accusation! Countless gazes, filled with extreme horror and disbelief, focused on the dark figure like spotlights!

Gu Linzhi finally moved.

He didn't argue, didn't get angry, and didn't even look at the emperor's hand pointing at him, trembling with anger. He simply raised his head slowly and calmly. His gaze, like eternal ice, pierced the stagnant air and met the eyes on the throne, burning with rage, fear, and despair, straight and calm.

That gaze was too deep, too quiet, too heavy. It seemed to contain the wind and snow of the northern border, the loyal souls of the Jingbei Army, the bloody waves of the south, and... all the calculations, filth, and unbearableness of this Golden Palace. Under such a gaze, Zhao Heng's surging anger and accusations suddenly seemed to have hit an invisible iceberg, instantly appearing pale, powerless, even... laughable.

The corners of Gu Linzhi's lips twitched upward ever so slightly. It wasn't a smile, but a cold, almost compassionate arc.

He did not answer the emperor's question.

He simply tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the messenger at the foot of the imperial steps, still prostrated in a pool of blood, trembling with extreme fear, and the blood-stained scroll of the Imperial Sword Edict tightly clutched in his hand. His gaze was calm, yet it carried an invisible, suffocating pressure.

Then he spoke. His voice was low, even a little muffled, but it was like a heavy lump of ice, striking everyone's heart clearly, suppressing the lingering sound of the emperor's roar and the turbulent waves in the palace:

"Your Majesty," Gu Linzhi's voice was calm, each word as clear as ice beads falling on a jade plate, "Imperial Censor Shen sacrificed his life for his country. Jiangnan... is indeed in imminent danger. Only drastic measures can deter the evildoers and eliminate the evil."

He paused slightly, his gaze returning to the pale emperor on the dragon throne. In his deep eyes, a cold light condensed like a needle:

"Your Majesty, Gu Linzhi, requests your permission."

"Go to Jiangnan in person."