433: Chapter 443 Whose Knife?

Marquis Yongchang stood there dazed.

He stood at that wide-open city gate, on the dividing line between light and darkness.

The firelight illuminated the corpses covering the ground before him, their warm blood still flowing, with utter clarity. That was his final trump card, nurtured over ten years of painstaking effort and fed with countless gold, silver, and Medicinal Pills.

But now...

All gone?

Marquis Yongchang's body began to tremble uncontrollably and violently. It wasn't because of the cold, but an irrepressible fear originating from the depths of his Soul.

One move...

It couldn't even be considered a single move.

Just a lift of a finger, a wave of a hand.

That person had crushed all his hopes and all his reliance to pieces, just like crushing a swarm of ants!

"Sur... Surround him!"

Inside the city gate, that Imperial Guard Commander finally snapped out of his extreme shock. Looking at Marquis Yongchang standing alone amidst the pile of corpses, his voice trembled with excitement as he abruptly waved his hand.

"Clatter—"

Countless iron-armored Imperial Guards surged forward like a tide. This time, countless spears and broadswords from all directions were pointed at the military commander who had once made them fear him like a tiger.

This time, there was no one left to protect him.

"Ah—!!!"

Marquis Yongchang spun around abruptly. He didn't look at the Imperial Guards surrounding him, but instead let out a hysterical roar filled with endless despair and malice toward the direction where that green-robed figure had disappeared!

"Who are you! Who on earth are you!!"

"Why ruin my plans! Why!!!"

The only response he received was the ghost-like wailing of the night wind.

That figure had long since vanished without a trace, leaving no clues behind, as if he were a Reaper walking out of Hell specifically to harvest his hopes.

"Take him!"

With an order from the Imperial Guard Commander, several soldiers as fierce as wolves and tigers swarmed forward, pinning the despondent Marquis Yongchang firmly to the icy ground.

Cold and heavy shackles were once again locked onto his wrists and ankles.

But this time, besides the ashen despair in his eyes, there was also an incomprehensible, bone-deep confusion.

...

The escort party marched slowly through the silent streets.

Marquis Yongchang was supported by two burly Imperial Guards, his head lowered, saying nothing.

In his mind, the scene from outside the city gate just now replayed over and over again.

That figure in the green robe and bamboo hat, that casually lifted finger, that droplet of deep blue water that seemed to contain the weight of a world... and those Shadow Guards he took pride in, who were instantly obliterated like paper cutouts without any power to fight back...

What kind of power was that?

That was a power only immortals could possess!

Who... whose man was he?

He frantically searched his mind for all possible enemies.

The Emperor? Impossible! The Daxing imperial family had all their cultivation Legacies drained by the immortal masters of the Cloud Hidden Sect hundreds of years ago. The current Emperor was merely a Mortal with a Lifespan of less than a hundred years! If he had such power, why would he have endured him for so many years!

Then who could it be?

Those political rivals in court? Even more impossible! They were just a bunch of pedantic literati who only knew how to write and paint!

Name after name flashed through his mind, and one by one, he rejected them.

He couldn't find him.

He couldn't find an enemy who matched that green-robed figure.

A fear more terrifying than death itself began to grow wildly in the depths of his heart.

This fear of "not knowing who the enemy is," this sense of helplessness where he didn't even know whom to hate, was more agonizing than any torture.

It was as if he had given his all to be an enemy of the whole world, only to be lightly and casually crushed to death by an invisible giant hand descending from the sky.

He didn't even know who the owner of that hand was.

The escort party passed through a quiet alleyway.

Under the dim lantern at the alley entrance stood a familiar figure.

It was Xu Qing.

He also wore a green robe, his frame slender, standing there quietly, watching him in the prisoner carriage.

His gaze was complex. There was no joy of revenge, no showing off of a victor, only an indescribable calm that seemed to have seen through the vicissitudes of the world.

Marquis Yongchang's footsteps came to a sudden halt.

He broke free from the Imperial Guards' escort and, toward the alley entrance, asked the question that had been circling in his heart for a long time in a hoarse voice.

"That person... who is he?"

Xu Qing looked at him, at this arch-enemy who had made him endure for five years, who had caused him to lose his best friend, and who had ultimately led him to the pinnacle of power.

He was silent for a moment.

He only gave Marquis Yongchang an extremely slight shake of his head.

The answer was no longer important.

Marquis Yongchang was roughly dragged away by the Imperial Guards, his body struggling, his mouth still muttering, repeatedly asking the same question.

"Who... who on earth was it..."

"Whose... whose blade was it..."

He would never know the answer to this question until his death.

Because for Su Ming, he was just passing by and helped a friend sweep away the trash in the courtyard.

That was all.

...

At the third mark of the hour of the Rabbit, in the Golden Throne Hall of the Daxing imperial city.

On the imperial path carved from white marble, the hundred officials marched in formation. Even the Pure Stream Censors, who usually loved to talk loudly, kept their mouths tightly shut now, keeping even their breathing very low.

The atmosphere inside and outside the Golden Throne Hall was so chilling it felt as if ice water could be wrung from it.

Although the shocking events outside the East Straight Gate last night were strictly suppressed by the City Defense Camp and the Imperial Guards, the earth-shaking battle cries, the loud boom of the city gate being blasted open, and the subsequent movement of large numbers of Imperial Guards searching the city like wolves and tigers had long since spread through every manor in the capital.

Chen Yuan, the Marquis Yongchang who had held the northern military power of Daxing for thirty years, had actually attempted to escape from prison last night with the help of his privately raised death warriors, but was ultimately suppressed and recaptured.

Everyone knew that today, there would be a major move in the Golden Throne Hall. This was not just a reckoning for corruption, but a complete life-and-death reshuffling between imperial and military power, and between old nobility and rising forces.

A storm that had been brewing for five years was about to lift its final curtain.

Above the hall, the coiled Dragon golden pillars shimmered with a dim luster under the reflection of the ever-burning lamps.

The Emperor sat upright on the high dragon throne, his face hidden in the shadows of the imperial crown's tassels, showing no joy or anger.

But his hand resting on the armrest of the dragon throne was unconsciously and lightly tapping the golden dragon head, revealing the extreme clarity and decisiveness in this monarch's heart.

The officials stood in place and shouted "Long live the Emperor."

Before the Ceremonial Eunuch could read the Imperial Diary as per custom, a tall and straight figure stepped out from the ranks of civil officials without hesitation; it was the Left Vice Minister of Revenue, Xu Qing.

He held high a thick memorial wrapped in red silk with both hands, his steps steady as he walked right to the center of the hall.

"Your subject, Vice Minister of Revenue Xu Qing, has a memorial to present!"

Xu Qing's voice was clear and cold, like a frigid wind blowing across an ice plain, instantly sweeping through the entire Golden Throne Hall.

"Your subject impeaches Marquis Yongchang, Chen Yuan, for colluding with the enemy and treason, embezzling military funds, and privately raising death warriors. Last night, he even attempted to break out of prison by force and attack the inner city! Such actions, according to the laws of Daxing, are the foremost of the ten abominable crimes. His guilt is compounded, and he should be executed along with nine generations of his clan!"

P.S. I just discovered today that the manhua adaptation is out. I originally just wanted to browse it briefly, but I didn't expect to spend two or three hours on it...