Imperial Capital, within the Divination Pavilion. The Radiant Emperor slowly walked past one corpse after another.
The countless ministers behind him held their breaths, not daring to make the slightest sound. Almost half of the hall was covered in corpses—the fifty or so men under the white cloth were divination experts, the Empire’s greatest weapon against Evernight.
Those who could follow the Emperor here were important ministers, people qualified to know the Empire’s secrets and past.
The Empire had been fighting the dark races for a thousand years. In every generation, outstanding heroes would spring forth to take up this duty. It wasn’t just the heavenly monarchs; the divination experts of the Empire suppressing the Evernight prophets played a key role in the war. Lin Xitang was the most accomplished of them all. He not only fought against Evernight on the void continent but also had to deal with the Longevity Monarch’s internal aggression. In the end, he managed to take down the void continent and give the Empire an important foundation for development.
Although the man himself had fallen, people knew that several of his important plans were still in action. There was no lack of matters among them related to the national fate.
Seeing how important the manipulation of fate was to the Empire, it wasn’t difficult to guess the Radiant Emperor’s mood now that half of the best diviners were dead. The ministers who knew certain information felt uneasy and restless.
The Radiant Emperor crouched down in front of one of the corpses and lifted the cloth, revealing a young face underneath. The young man was only in his twenties, his eyes full of dark blood and his pupils gone. Even in this state, it was easy to see the terror and agony he had suffered before his death.
The Radiant Emperor covered the man again and stood up. “Where is the Empress?”
A divider at the end of the hall was pulled open, revealing Empress Li kneeling behind it. She had her head lowered in silence with her hands on her knees.
The Radiant Emperor glanced at her. “I gave you the Divination Pavilion to manage, and this is how you repay me?”
“It is my fault,” the Empress said without looking up.
The Radiant Emperor snorted. “It’d be great if it were all your fault. Tell me, how did they all die?”
“They died of backlash while performing divination.”
“Whose backlash?”
“Qianye.”
Realizing that the Radiant Emperor’s tone was growing harsher, a minister said, “From what I know, this matter isn’t just a backlash. Qianye had retaliated proactively and caused this calamity. This Qianye is a disgrace to the Empire! We must not let him off!”
The Radiant Emperor gazed quietly at the man.
The minister started to tremble all over and fell to his knees. “Please forgive my lack of manners! I spoke out of loyalty!”
The Radiant Emperor said, “I hear that Chen Rongzhi is your uncle. Tell me, why would this person leave his post to levy taxes on Fort Continent?!”
The minister shook all over. “I do not know the reason, but since Your Majesty has mentioned this matter, I must say that Qianye’s crimes are boundless. He killed an Imperial marshal! Where will we put our faces if we endure such an action? How will we face the Founding Ancestor and Martial Ancestor?!”
He spoke vehemently and with a voice full of righteousness.
The Radiant Emperor let him finish. “Are you done?”
A hint of hesitation flickered across the minister’s face. He glanced back at the group behind him before saying, “Speaking up has never been a crime in the thousand years of our history! I might not be capable, but I’m willing to put my life on the line.”
The Radiant Emperor broke out into laughter. “What grand words! There is indeed no crime in speaking up, but that’s only limited to loyal subjects! I’m more than willing to kill all those who come up with slanderous and false reports! What I want to know is why Chen Rongzhi ignored his important post just to rob some profits from Fort Continent? Are these taxes entering our Imperial coffers, or did they go to the Fifth Army Corps’ coffers… or perhaps Chen Rongzhi’s own pockets?!”
The minister replied hurriedly, “Your Majesty, Marshal Chen…”
The Emperor’s voice turned cold. “Who are you to interrupt when I’m talking? Or are you saying that you can ignore me just because I’m the son of an entertainer and you’re ministers from the previous reign?!”
These words contained a lot of weight. All the ministers fell to their knees, chanting that they would not dare do such a thing. That minister hesitated for a moment but also fell kneeling.
The Radiant Emperor paced about with his hands behind his back. “Qianye has always given his all for the Empire, and this is how we treat him? Whatever sentiments he has left for our country is entirely gone now. All of you know very clearly who caused this outcome. How many of you had the Empire’s best interests at heart when you did those things? To be frank, which of you can survive a hit from Qianye? Even so, you people keep provoking him repeatedly. What gave you this courage?”
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No one dared reply.
The Radiant Emperor roared thunderously, “You rely on the Empire’s name! You rely on the thousand years of our Ji family’s prestige! You rely on his gratitude toward my teacher, Marshal Lin. What do all of these things have to do with you?! It was Zining and Jundu who held the line when Nighteye rampaged through Blacksun Valley. Where were you people then?”
One of the ministers braced himself and said, “Your Majesty, we ministers plan and plot for the Empire, we are not proficient in combat! This is not a fair comparison.”
“Plan and plot for the Empire?” The Radiant Emperor laughed. “It looks like you people take me for an incapable ruler! Do you think I don’t know the selfish plots you’ve all been hatching? Those who have been making plans for the human race are people like Marshal Lin, Prince Greensun, and the Pointer Monarch. What does it have to do with you people?”
The Radiant Emperor’s eyes landed on the first minister, then glanced back at the crowd. “Remember, the Founding Ancestor is my ancestor. Whether or not I can face him a hundred years later is my business! Who do you think you are to drag my ancestor in to suppress me? And you say you want to back your words with your life? Do you think the younger generations are stupid enough to not see through your little schemes? Do you think you will have a clean name in historical records?”
The minister trembled all over. Just as he was about to speak, the Emperor swung his arms and sent a gust of wind in his face. The gale carried him into the air and slammed him into a pillar. Following the sound of fractured bones, the man had no more strength left as he fell limp to the ground. He was in unbearable pain, yet his consciousness was extremely clear. It would’ve been a wonderful luxury if he could lose consciousness at the moment.
The Radiant Emperor said coldly, “Issue my order! Chen Rongzhi abandoned his post and levied taxes without instruction. This is treason and an unpardonable crime! All nine generations of his family shall be executed.”
The messenger ran out to issue the orders.
The Radiant Emperor scanned all the ministers. “Who else wants to stand up for Chen Rongzhi, come out! It’s best if the mastermind shows himself.”
The ministers realized that something was seriously wrong; the Emperor today was full of killing intent. As intelligent people, none of them dared to step up to speak. Even if they wanted to criticize the Emperor, it would have to be when he wasn’t furious.
It was only now that some of them recalled that the Radiant Emperor was a heavenly monarch. How could such an expert be so easily deceived?
Seeing everyone’s expressions, the Radiant Emperor smiled. “You’re all quite smart, you know that things are developing in the wrong direction. There’s really no need to keep you all around now that the Chronicle of Glory has come to a successful conclusion. Those with personal schemes are simply courting death!”
The ministers were shaken, and no one dared make a sound. They were all secretly wondering what the Chronicle of Glory was.
The Radiant Emperor glanced at Empress Li. “Qianye is critical to the Chronicle of Glory. That’s something Marshal Lin has always told us repeatedly. Does the Divination Pavilion have nothing better to do? Why are half of the experts scrying Qianye?”
Empress Li said, “I really didn’t know about this, but I’m willing to accept punishment.”
“Accept punishment? Can you take responsibility if something goes awry with the Chronicle of Glory?” The Radiant Emperor said coldly, “You said you didn’t know about it, who was the mastermind?”
“Siman Rutian was the one in charge of assigning missions.”
“The one who died?”
“Yes.”
“Issue my order, execute all nine generations of Sima Rutian’s family! Do the same for whoever criticizes this decision!”
