The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, in the twenty-third year of jiajing.
Inside the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
Huang Jin knelt on the ground, recounting everything he had seen and heard the previous night.
He spoke with extreme detail, especially regarding the traces of the battle between Li Miao and Emperor Jianwen. He meticulously described who used what moves, how far each person was repelled, and the amount of torn flesh and cloth left at the scene, without missing a single detail.
By the time he finally finished speaking, the sun was already high in the sky.
Huang Jin waited for a moment, and seeing that the Emperor had not spoken, he continued to present his conclusions.
“Your Majesty, this matter is not solely the work of the Ming Cult rebels.”
“Oh?”
The Emperor responded noncommittally.
“If it were only the Ming Cult and the Yang Family, they absolutely could not have accomplished what happened last night.”
Huang Jin stated unequivocally.
“The Ming Cult’s capabilities have been thoroughly understood over the hundred-plus years since the founding of Great Shuo. If not for this, Eunuch Wang would not have suggested withdrawing the guards and setting an ambush with ten retainers.”
“Last night’s events were truly a series of unfortunate coincidences that allowed the Ming Cult to exploit a loophole.”
“If the imperial mausoleum’s defenses had been normal, and the Ming Cult’s Celestial Realm cultivators had broken into the Xiaoling Mausoleum, as long as Lord Yin and Lord Wang could have held them off for a short while, the guards and Xiaoling Guard would have arrived, and they would surely not have succeeded, and would even have lost their lives.”
“However, Eunuch Wang’s plan cannot be said to have been flawed either.”
Since Wang Zhi was already dead, Huang Jin did not kick him while he was down, but spoke truthfully.
“There are three reasons why this matter went awry.”
“Firstly, the imperial mausoleum guards were withdrawn, and the Xiaoling Guard, following orders, did not go to provide support in time, which gave the Ming Cult rebels the opportunity to break into the tomb.”
“Secondly, since Yang Lixuan’s death thirty years ago and Ji Tianrui’s usurpation of the Ming Cult, the Yang Family has rarely appeared. The few times they did appear, it was in opposition to the Ming Cult, displaying a stance of irreconcilable differences.”
“Yet, for some unknown reason, the two sides came together again, adding an elder who could hold back Lord Yin. This allowed that woman to enter the tomb and awaken Emperor Jianwen.”
“Thirdly, it is because of one person.”
Huang Jin slowly said.
“This person first broke into Your Majesty’s mausoleum. At the same time, the Ming Cult rebels broke into the Xiaoling Mausoleum. Eunuch Wang heard the commotion and, seeing that there was only one opponent, dispatched five retainers to support the Xiaoling Mausoleum.”
“At that time, Eunuch Wang was clearly planning to kill this person first, and then rush to support the Xiaoling Mausoleum.”
“However, to his surprise, the five retainers were defeated by this person, and even Eunuch Wang himself died in the line of duty.”
The Emperor pondered for a long time, then spoke.
“The one who fought Emperor Jianwen in Tianshou Mountain was also this person.”
“Precisely.”
Huang Jin said.
“It is precisely for this reason that I speculate this person and the Ming Cult rebels are not working together.”
“The Ming Cult rebels’ plan was to release Emperor Jianwen, but this person, after the Ming Cult left, pursued Emperor Jianwen and engaged him in a fierce battle.”
Huang Jin took out a cloth package from his In arms and spread it on the table in front of the Emperor.
“These are the items I collected from the scene.”
Inside were two pieces of flesh and two pieces of cloth.
“The flesh and cloth belong to that person and Emperor Jianwen, respectively.”
Huang Jin said.
“From the traces at the scene, it appears that neither side held back in this battle. They fought extremely fiercely, almost to the death.”
“Finally, Emperor Jianwen was the first to stop and flee, while this person pursued for a while. During the pursuit, they exchanged a few more blows. It was not until dawn that this person stopped and left.”
The Emperor glanced at the items on the table, pushed aside the two belonging to Emperor Jianwen, and picked up the two belonging to Li Miao.
He looked at Huang Jin, who immediately bowed his head, pressing his forehead tightly against the ground.
In the silence, Huang Jin heard a swallowing sound.
He shivered, closing his eyes tightly.
After a moment, the Emperor’s voice came from above.
“Strange.”
“What realm is this person in? Are these muscles and blood qi truly Adamantine?”
“Is there more?”
Huang Jin immediately replied, “There is.”
He took out another item from his In arms, placed it on the table in front of the Emperor, and then knelt on the ground again.
After a moment, the Emperor spoke again.
“It has changed again; this one is "Jiezi".”
“Heh, interesting.”
The Emperor glanced at Huang Jin.
“Do you have any leads on this person’s identity?”
Huang Jin immediately broke out in a cold sweat, trembling as he said.
“Your humble servant is incompetent; I only have some conjectures, which will require some time to verify.”
“Tell me.”
“Yes.”
Huang Jin slowly said.
“When this person fought Emperor Jianwen, he used dozens of extremely profound martial arts, many of which are secret techniques not passed down by various major sects.”
“Even if this person is a "Jiezi", without the original cultivation methods, merely by observing others’ moves and secretly analyzing them, it would be impossible to cultivate them to such a profound level.”
“In the world, there are only three places I can think of that collect such a vast array of knowledge in a short time.”
“The Palace, the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), and the Xiaoling Guard.”
“The Palace goes without saying. The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) have patrolled the martial arts world for many years, and their vault contains many scattered secret manuals and incomplete texts; as for the Xiaoling Guard, after Emperor Chengzu unified the world and confiscated the secret manuals of various major sects, he kept the originals in the Palace, while copies were sent to the Xiaoling Guard for their cultivation.”
“Therefore, this person should be related to either the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) or the Xiaoling Guard.”
The Emperor hummed and asked.
“Which side do you think it is?”
“The Xiaoling Guard!”
Huang Jin stated unequivocally.
“Firstly, the secret manuals collected by the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) are mostly incomplete, far less comprehensive than those of the Xiaoling Guard. In terms of possibility, the Xiaoling Guard is naturally more likely.”
“Secondly, there are no Celestial Realm cultivators within the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), but there are many within the Xiaoling Guard. This person’s martial arts are so profound, he must have a highly skilled master. At the very least, he could not have been trained by a mere peak-level expert.”
“Thirdly, the Xiaoling Guard is not loyal to Your Majesty!”
Huang Jin stated with certainty.
“Last night’s events: the Xiaoling Guard only arrived precisely after Emperor Jianwen was awakened.”
“Although Your Majesty had ordered them not to approach, the timing was so coincidental—they just happened to arrive after Emperor Jianwen was freed, and after arriving, they did nothing, merely watching Emperor Jianwen and the Ming Cult rebels escape. This makes one suspect whether they were complicit in guarding themselves.”
“And the motive is even more self-evident.”
“The Xiaoling Guard has never been loyal to Your Majesty, but to Emperor Chengzu!”
“And Emperor Chengzu…”
Huang Jin stopped, not daring to continue.
Because this matter already touched upon the most sensitive point of Great Shuo’s succession.
The successor personally chosen by Emperor Chengzu was not Emperor Chengzu, but Emperor Jianwen!
When Emperor Chengzu raised an army for the Jingnan Campaign, he was met with widespread support, eventually conquering the capital and forcing Emperor Jianwen to abdicate, making himself Emperor.
No matter how much history books embellish it or how nicely they put it, this was a rebellion!
If one were to follow Emperor Chengzu’s intentions, then from Emperor Chengzu onwards, all subsequent Emperors of Great Shuo were usurpers and rebels!