Chapter 1
Everyone in Shengjing knows that the powerful official Gu Linzhi is all-powerful and ruthless.
In the Golden Palace, the young emperor was sitting on pins and needles, and the ministers were whispering like flies.
Gu Linzhi stepped out leisurely and requested a thorough investigation into the Jiangnan flood corruption case.
The ministers were stunned - this case implicated the Governor-General of Jiangnan whom he had promoted.
"Minister Gu, that's your disciple!" the censor exclaimed in surprise.
Gu Linzhi raised the corners of his lips slightly, his eyes cold and calm: "Precisely because he is a disciple, he should be thoroughly investigated."
He flicked his sleeves and turned around, his black python robe brushing past the cold gold bricks.
No one saw the secret report tightly held in his sleeve, and no one knew about the 30,000 soldiers who fell in the wind and snow in the north fourteen years ago.
The chess game in Shengjing City has just begun.
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At three quarters past the hour of Yin, the sound of the clapperboard, still chilled by the night dew, pierced the layers of high walls of the deep palaces of Shengjing, finally crashing to pieces beneath the vermilion walls of the imperial city. The sky was iron-grey, oppressive, and devoid of a single ray of light. Only the massive lanterns hanging high on either side of the palace gate swayed in the cool morning breeze, casting a dim, vast halo of light that illuminated the figures of the officials filing in like silent, swimming fish.
The towering Fengtian Hall stood like a dormant giant. Its golden bricks paved the floor, shining brightly, each one cold and hard, reflecting the intricate painted ceiling and the solemn courtiers standing below. The air was stagnant like jelly, weighing heavily on everyone's shoulders, and every breath was cautious and hesitant. The faint sound of discussion, like countless tiny mosquitoes, buzzed in the corners of the empty hall, but the moment someone glanced over, it fell silent, leaving only a heart-wrenching void.
The young emperor sat upright on a tall, golden throne decorated with coiled dragons. The twelve white jade beads dangling from his crown swayed slightly, obscuring most of his features but unable to conceal his restlessness. His knuckles whitened from the armrests, his body tensed imperceptibly, as if he were not sitting on a throne but a red-hot iron plate. His gaze occasionally glanced downward, a fleeting, searching glance, always landing on the figure standing at the forefront of the officials, like a drowning man grasping for a single piece of driftwood.
The man was clad in a black python robe, its dark gold cloud patterns flowing beneath the dim light of palace lanterns. He was as calm and composed as water, yet faintly possessed of a silent sharpness. His figure stood tall and straight, like a lone pine tree on a cliff. No matter how turbulent the undercurrents within the palace, he remained unmoved. Gu Linzhi. Prime Minister Gu, the all-powerful and influential minister.
His eyelids were slightly lowered, his face calm and composed, like a still pond. All the restlessness within the palace, the emperor's anxiety, the prying eyes of his ministers, seemed shielded from view by the invisible barrier surrounding him. He was like the calmest point at the center of a storm, the sole sober player on this vast chessboard, observing with aloof eyes the meticulously orchestrated scenes of life within the golden palace. Deep within his profound eyes lay two eternally cold pools, reflecting the splendor of the palace as well as the deepest darkness within the human heart, as if able to penetrate all pretense and lies.
"Ahem..." A deliberate clearing of the throat broke the suffocating silence. The emperor finally spoke, his voice trembling with a barely perceptible tremor, sounding a little thin in the empty hall. "My dear ministers... do you have anything else to report?"
There was a brief, dead silence. The air seemed even heavier, almost suffocating. Several officials standing in the back row shuddered, their eyes wandering, but no one dared to disrupt the frightening balance.
In this suffocating stalemate, Gu Linzhi moved.
He didn't raise his head, but took a perfectly natural step forward. The hem of his dark python robe brushed silently across the cold, smooth golden brick floor like still water. The subtle friction was remarkably clear in the dead silence of the hall. All whispers were instantly silenced. Hundreds of gazes, filled with surprise, awe, and speculation, were fixed on him.
"Your servant, Gu Linzhi, has a memorial to report." The voice was not loud, but every word was clear, like the sound of gold and jade colliding, instantly spreading to every corner of the hall, with a strange penetrating power, forcibly chiseling a hole in the stagnant air.
The emperor leaned forward almost imperceptibly, and the jade beads on his crown made a slight sound as they collided: "Mr. Gu...what are you going to report?" The tension in his voice almost overflowed.
Gu Linzhi raised his eyelids slightly, his gaze calmly facing the throne. His deep eyes remained calm. "Your Majesty, I request that you issue a strict order to thoroughly investigate the case of embezzlement of flood relief funds and grain in the three prefectures of Jiangnan. This case concerns the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of victims, the prestige of the imperial court, and even more so, the stability of the country. There can be no leniency!"
“Buzz!”
The deadly silent hall was like a deep pool into which a huge rock was thrown, and it suddenly exploded! The surprise, confusion, and even fear that had been suppressed for too long finally found an outlet. The ministers could no longer remain silent, and horror appeared on their faces. The Jiangnan flood corruption case? Everyone knew that Shen Ziqing, who had just been promoted to the governor of Jiangnan, was Gu Linzhi's trusted disciple! Shen Ziqing had a shallow foundation in Jiangnan. Without the strong support of Prime Minister Gu in the court, how could he have held that position? A thorough investigation of this case pointed the finger at Shen Ziqing, which was tantamount to Gu Linzhi personally slashing his own arm with a knife!
"This... Prime Minister Gu..." An old minister with white hair and beard spoke tremblingly, his turbid old eyes full of disbelief and confusion.
"Stupid!" A sharp cry erupted from the left-hand column of civil servants. Chen Bingzhi, the Left Vice-Chief Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, had a square face flushed crimson with shock and anger. He practically stumbled out of the column, his finger trembling slightly with excitement as he pointed directly at Gu Linzhi, "Minister Gu! Have you… have you been deceived by a traitor? Lord Shen Ziqing is your prized protégé, the one you personally promoted and appointed Governor-General of Jiangnan! A thorough investigation of this case? This… isn't this tantamount to cutting off one's own limbs and destroying one's own great power?"
Chen Bingzhi's voice was sharp and piercing, cracking with hoarseness as it echoed through the golden pillars of the hall, bringing everyone's astonishment to a crescendo. Countless eyes flickered between Gu Linzhi and Chen Bingzhi, holding their breath, awaiting Gu Linzhi's reaction, waiting to see where this sword, hanging over everyone's heads, would ultimately strike.
The emperor was completely frozen, his body leaning forward slightly, the jade beads on his crown shaking more rapidly. He stared at Gu Linzhi closely, as if he wanted to see even the slightest hesitation or flaw in that expressionless face.
Gu Linzhi's gaze finally shifted from the throne to the face of the censor, who was practically leaping with excitement. His gaze was eerily calm, like the deep, cold ice of the polar regions, devoid of any warmth. The corners of his lips twitched upward ever so slightly, a smile that could hardly be called a smile, more like a cold, metallic, sarcastic arc.
"You are wrong, Censor Chen." His voice remained steady, without any emotional fluctuations, but it was like invisible ice, instantly freezing all the anger on Chen Bingzhi's face. "Precisely because Shen Ziqing is Gu's disciple," he paused slightly, each word clear and distinct, like an ice spike hitting a golden brick, "he should be thoroughly investigated and severely punished!"
He pronounced the word "disciple" extremely clearly and heavily, as if it was carrying a tremendous force, hitting everyone's heart hard.
As soon as the words fell, the hall was filled with a deathly silence, the sound of a pin drop being audible. Chen Bingzhi, as if struck by an invisible hammer, stood there with his mouth open, the color drained from his face, leaving only a pale, bewildered expression. His throat gurgled, but he could no longer utter a single complete syllable. The other ministers were even more terrified, their breathing subconsciously slowed.
Gu Linzhi no longer looked at anyone. He flicked his sleeves with a crisp, decisive movement, one that brooked no argument. The wide cuffs of his dark python robe traced a cold arc in the air, its dark gold cloud patterns flickering in the dim light, like the sharp edge of a dormant dragon's scales. The cold edge of the fabric brushed silently against the equally cold, hard gold brick floor, making a subtle rustling sound.
He turned, no longer facing the throne, nor acknowledging the frozen air and countless pairs of horrified eyes behind him. With countless gazes fixed on him, the figure, as tall as a solitary peak, walked steadily out of the hall. Each step on the golden bricks made a clear, cold sound, echoing in the empty and silent hall like a drumbeat of some kind.
Outside the hall, the darkness of the Yin hour was being painstakingly dispelled by a thin layer of gray. Daylight was about to break, and the sky was still hazy and unclear. A slightly chilly morning breeze, carrying the lingering dampness of last night, rushed in through the tall hall door, ruffling a few strands of his drooping hair.
No one could peek into the depths of his wide sleeves, which draped at his sides. Beneath the cold, dark silk, a bony hand clenched tightly. Its nails dug deep into the soft flesh of its palm, causing a sharp sting, but it was nothing compared to the sudden surge of turmoil in its heart.
He clutched a thin, secret report that had just been delivered to the Prime Minister's residence at top speed via a secret line. The ink was still fresh, and every word carried a bloody chill that pierced his eyes:
"Urgent news from Jiangnan! The floods aren't natural disasters, but man-made! Shen Ziqing has confirmed that, in order to cover up the 'Jingbei Military Grain' case, he went so far as to breach the dikes and destroy the evidence! Over ten thousand people have been killed or injured, and countless more have been displaced! His heart is damned!"
Jingbei military rations!
These four words, like a dagger imbued with poison, stabbed fiercely into Gu Linzhi's heart, instantly detonating a blood-red storm that had been buried for fourteen years. The magnificent Fengtian Palace before him suddenly twisted and faded, replaced by a raging snowfall, the biting gale of the northern wasteland, the deafening sound of clashing swords and the roars of the dying!
The wind and snow blurred their vision, yet they clearly captured the young, desperate faces of their comrades. Hunger, like an invisible noose, snapped their bones and shattered their last hope. Blades curled, armor froze brittle, bodies stiff and numb in the bitter cold, yet they remained rooted to the front, using their last ounce of strength to plunge their spears into the enemy's chests. As they fell, they spattered not with blood but with dark red ice crystals.
"General...food...food..."
The hoarse cry was drowned in the wind, snow, and cries of slaughter, carrying with it endless resentment and questions. Thirty thousand lives, thirty thousand pairs of eyes that had not closed their eyes, were finally frozen on the frozen ground, stained with blood and covered in ice and snow.
The root cause of the devastating defeat that nearly brought the northern border of Dayong to its knees wasn't the enemy's cavalry, but the very rations that were supposed to keep them alive! These rations were mixed with moldy, stale rice, sand, and dirt, and might even have been poisoned!
Fourteen years.
Fourteen years of forbearance, fourteen years of planning, fourteen years of donning the mask of a powerful official, treading cautiously at the heart of the power vortex of Shengjing. Like the most patient hunter, he laid the most intricate net, waiting for the venomous snakes lurking deep in the shadows to reveal themselves. He climbed high enough, high enough to force even the behemoths who had once so easily wiped out the "Jingbei Military Grain" case to be wary of him, and to carefully conceal their claws and fangs in his presence.
Shen Ziqing, the chess piece he had single-handedly supported and who seemed to have a promising future, had now become the first crack in the bloody scar! In order to cover up the evidence of his crimes, he had even breached the dam, flooding several prefectures and treating the lives of thousands of people as worthless!
The bone-chilling cold, worse than the harshest snowstorms in the North, instantly froze his limbs, yet it also ignited a raging, all-consuming rage deep within his soul. That rage roared silently, threatening to burst through the shackles of his icy body.
His fingers clenched tighter within his sleeves, the knuckles rustling with excessive force, a subtle sound only he could hear. The pain in his palm, where his nails had pierced, became even more pronounced, and a warm, damp feeling quietly spread, soaking the tightly clutched secret document. This slight pain, however, slightly calmed the crimson storm swirling in his eyes.
He steadily crossed the high threshold of Fengtian Hall, a symbol of supreme authority. The oppressive silence and countless complex gazes within the hall were left behind. The morning breeze blew towards him, carrying the unique coolness of Shengjing's early summer, a mixture of dust and the scent of grass and trees.
The sky was fading, a ray of pale white glimmering across the eastern sky, barely dispelling the thick darkness, but still leaving the view hazy and unclear. The vast palace city revealed its massive and austere outline in the hazy morning light, its flying eaves and brackets like the jagged spine of a giant beast.
Gu Linzhi continued walking along the long, straight palace path, walking forward at a leisurely pace. The hem of his dark python robe fluttered gently in the cool morning breeze, and the dark gold python pattern on the corners of the robe occasionally reflected a cold luster in the thin sunlight.
He raised his chin slightly, his features as cold and hard as stone. Deep within his deep eyes, those two eternally cold pools finally rippled. No longer was there the cold sneer he'd shown to the courtiers, but now a nearly cruel, all-seeing clarity, and beneath that, a determination powerful enough to burn everything to the ground.
The chess pieces had moved, whether actively or passively, and were already in the game. Shen Ziqing? Jiangnan? These were merely the first ripples that surfaced. The true behemoths, the masterminds who treated the lives of 30,000 loyal souls and countless disaster victims as worthless, lurked deep beneath the bottomless waters of Shengjing.
They thought fourteen years was enough to cover everything. They thought Gu Linzhi was so powerful, he was only after power.
The cold curve at the corner of his lips deepened a little more at an angle where no one could see.
very good.
The chess game of Shengjing City, with the country as the board and all living beings as pieces, and the fight without regrets in making moves, has only truly begun at this moment.
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