Forbidden City, northwest corner.
This was a forgotten corner, where even the wind carried a decaying, musty smell.
The Cold Palace.
A living tomb that imprisoned countless resentful souls and unwilling individuals.
However, in a room in the deepest part of this tomb, there was no hint of decay.
Thick, clean felt was laid on the floor, and in the charcoal basin in the corner, high-quality silver-thread charcoal burned silently, dispelling the chill of late autumn. On the table, there was even a plate of freshly peeled, crystal-clear lychees.
Within the Cold Palace, such extravagance was an immense blessing.
The deposed Empress, Consort Gu, was leaning against a soft couch, dressed in plain clothes, yet unable to conceal the deep-seated malice and... ambition in her eyes.
She did not cry, nor make a scene, nor even show the slightest despondency from being cast into the Cold Palace.
In her beautiful Phoenix eyes, a flame burned more fiercely than charcoal, as if it wanted to incinerate this cage, and even the entire Imperial Palace.
A young eunuch responsible for sweeping was kneeling on the ground with downcast eyes, gently wiping the dust from her shoe tips with his sleeve.
“Is the matter settled?”
Consort Gu’s voice was very soft, like a lover’s whisper, but it made the young eunuch’s body tremble uncontrollably.
“Reporting... reporting to Your Ladyship, the letter has been delivered to the Master.”
“Mm.”
Consort Gu nodded in satisfaction, her slender fingers picking up a lychee and slowly bringing it to her mouth, savoring its sweetness.
After a while, she spat the pit onto a clean white silk handkerchief and issued her second command in an almost cruel, pleased tone.
“Tell the people outside that it’s getting cold, it’s time to start a fire.”
“And pass a message to Father.”
She paused, a malicious smile curving her lips.
“Just say that the Capital’s granaries are almost empty.”
“Let those rats who beg for food all day also come out and gnaw at the Foundation of the Dragon Throne.”
“Yes, this servant obeys.”
The young eunuch kowtowed and backed out of the room, not daring to breathe loudly.
Consort Gu watched his disappearing back, slowly closed her eyes, and a sickly, intoxicated smile appeared on her face.
He Sui.
You think you won by sending me to the Cold Palace?
You are wrong.
My Gu Family’s forte has never been reasoning in the Imperial Court.
But rather... flipping the table.
I want you to witness with your own eyes how your subjects riot from hunger, and how the Capital under your feet turns into a living hell!
I want you to kneel before me, begging me, begging my father, to return to this table of power!
...Meanwhile, outside the Capital.
The Tonghui River, which runs north to south and feeds millions in the Capital, was deathly silent today.
No, not silent.
It was a volcano about to erupt beneath the dead silence!
Thousands of Canal Transportation boats were haphazardly blocking the entire river, extending from the upstream docks to the unseen end downstream, forming an unbreakable water-based Great Wall.
On the boats and along the banks, tens of thousands of Canal Transportation workers stood densely packed.
They held no weapons, but their dark, rough faces, weathered by years of sun and wind, were filled with the same aroused anger and brutality.
“Down with tax increases! Down with exploitation!”
“If the Imperial Court won’t let us live, we won’t let the Capital live!”
“Open the boats! Open the boats! Starve those lords of the Capital!”
A brawny man, shirtless with a descending tiger tattooed on his chest, stood at the bow of the largest cargo ship, raising his arms and shouting.
He was Sun Ba, the Chief Leader of the Capital’s Cao Gang, nicknamed “Iron-Armed Jiaolong.”
A Jianghu Hero who rose from a street hooligan with the Gu Family’s support, he understood no grand principles of state, only the Gu Family’s silver and power.
At this moment, he was spewing saliva as he roared at his subordinates:
“Brothers! That dog Emperor ascended the throne, did nothing, and first thought of squeezing us poor wretches for money! He wants to increase our Canal Transportation tax by 30%! This is to force us to our deaths!”
“If we don’t resist, next year! The year after! Our whole families will starve to death on the Grand Canal!”
“Today, we’ll block this river! I want to see whose bones are harder, ours or his Emperor’s Dragon Throne!”
“Roar—!”
Thousands of people roared in unison, their voices shaking the surroundings, startling the birds on the riverbanks into frantic flight.
A massive storm, under the guise of an unfounded charge, was brewing furiously outside the Capital gates!
News flew into the Capital like snowflakes.
Suddenly, prices soared in the city, and people were in a state of panic.
Long queues formed outside rice shops, and people fought tooth and nail for half a bag of stale rice. Some small shops simply closed down, and the entire Capital was shrouded in panic and oppression.
A crisis capable of shaking the Empire’s Foundation had already erupted!
...Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Outside the Hall, the wind was rising, presaging a storm.
Inside, however, it was warm as spring, quiet and peaceful.
He Sui didn't even wear his Dragon robe, only a loose, moon-white everyday gown. He stood by the window, meticulously pruning the withered leaves of a cymbidium orchid.
His movements were neither hurried nor slow, as if the immense unrest outside, enough to vex any Emperor, was merely an autumn breeze outside the window.
Xiao Anzi glided into the Hall silently like a ghost, kneeling on the ground, his voice carrying an uncontrollable urgency.
“Your Majesty, the Tonghui River... is in chaos!”
“Thousands of Cao Gang members have blocked the river. Food prices in the city have tripled within half a day! If this continues, within three days, there will be great unrest in the Capital!”
He Sui’s golden scissors clicked, snipping off the last withered leaf.
He didn't turn around, nor did he stop his movements. He simply asked in a terrifyingly calm tone:
“Can My ears hear the sounds from the river?”
This question, light as a feather, was like an invisible bolt of lightning, instantly striking Xiao Anzi’s mind!
Xiao Anzi suddenly looked up, and in his eyes, usually downcast, a chilling ruthlessness and sharp glint, completely unsuited to his status, instantly erupted!
He understood.
His Majesty was not asking if he knew.
His Majesty was testing him, testing how sharp his “ears,” placed in the shadows of the Empire, truly were!
“Reporting to Your Majesty!”
Xiao Anzi’s back instantly straightened, his voice becoming steady and sharp, without a trace of panic.
“This servant’s ears not only heard, but also saw clearly!”
“The three ‘little rats’ this servant planted in the Cao Gang sent back the message half an hour ago!”
He raised his head, his eyes flashing with cold killing intent.
“Sun Ba, the Chief Leader of the Cao Gang, entered the Gu Manor three nights ago. Yesterday, several of his hall masters drew one hundred thousand taels of silver from the Gu Family’s accounts, to buy people’s loyalty and incite the Canal Transportation workers!”
“The so-called ‘tax increase’ is pure fabrication! It’s the Gu Family behind the scenes!”
“Their goal is to use the livelihoods of the city’s populace to force you to yield, reopen the Grand Secretariat, and restore Gu Bingqian’s power!”
His words, like a volley of cannon fire, were clear, precise, and ruthless!
Stripping the entire conspiracy bare, leaving no concealment!
This was the true face of Wang Shunan, the Emperor’s confidant!
“Not bad, My Anzi has not disappointed Me. I can entrust him with establishing the Eastern Depot later.”
He Sui praised silently in his heart, but his expression remained impassive.
Just then, a young palace maid responsible for sweeping the Hall entered quickly, carrying a water basin and bowing her head.
As she passed Xiao Anzi, her footsteps paused almost imperceptibly, and a water-soaked willow leaf silently slipped from her sleeve, falling right in front of Xiao Anzi’s knee.
The young palace maid seemed completely unaware, changed the water basin, and hurried away.
The entire process was seamless.
Unless one deliberately observed, no one would notice this fleeting detail.
But the moment Xiao Anzi saw that willow leaf, his pupils suddenly contracted!
This was their highest Rank of internal warning!
Something had changed in the Palace!
He quickly picked up the willow leaf and, using the motion of kowtowing, hid it in his sleeve. Then he looked up again, his voice now carrying a hint of gravity.
“Your Majesty, the Palace... is also not clean.”
“This servant’s ‘eyes’ saw that an incense stick ago, in the direction of the Cold Palace, someone was using the flickering of lamplight as a signal to send messages outside the Palace.”
He took a deep breath, instantly connecting the two clues, and drew a chilling conclusion.
“That one in the Cold Palace is lighting the way for the chaos outside the Palace!”
“They are trying to coordinate from inside and out, one creating civil unrest outside the Palace to shake the Empire’s Foundation, the other stirring up trouble inside the Palace to disrupt the Palace’s security!”
“A two-pronged approach, forcing the Emperor to abdicate and seizing power!”
The air in the entire Hall of Mental Cultivation seemed to be completely sucked out at this moment.
A vast dark web, extending from inside to outside the Palace, from the Imperial Court to the Jianghu, had silently spread, intending to completely strangle this young Emperor!
However—
“Heh.”
A very light, yet utterly mocking, cold laugh escaped He Sui’s lips.
He finally turned around.
On his refined face, there was no panic, no anger, only a cold, indifferent, and... pleased expression, as if watching a clown perform.
He walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked at the distant Capital night, which was beginning to stir with fear, a cruel curve on his lips.
“Want to compete with Me in numbers?”
“Very well.”
He suddenly turned, and in his dark eyes, an unprecedented, world-shaking dominance and killing intent erupted!
“Issue My decree, summon Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Zhou Chun, to appear before Me immediately!”
Moments later, Zhou Chun, filled with Evil Qi, and the stern-faced Xiao Anzi, knelt on one knee before He Sui, one on his left, one on his right.
One was the Imperial power’s strongest overt violent organ.
The other was the silent, poisonous fangs hidden in the darkness.
He Sui looked down at his two sharpest blades and issued a cold command, one that could make the entire Capital flow with blood.
“My ‘ears’ and ‘eyes’ should also be shown to the world.”
He enunciated each word, his voice turning into thunder, echoing through the Hall!
“Go, and for Me, inch by inch... tighten this net over the Capital!”