He turned back to hold Yelu Inquru. Master Ziwei immediately rushed over to stop him, and Jing Hengbo also said: “What are you doing? You want to use this jar of mud on her? No!”
She shuddered, remembering the appearance of those strange people in the mountain’s belly. Those people had various odd reactions after using the mud from Yi Mountain’s swamp. If Inquru also became like that… she instinctively couldn’t accept it.
Yelu Tan looked at her keenly: “Why not? Have you seen this kind of mud? Where? Who was using it? Who was it used on?”
This usually cold person asked a string of questions in succession, unable to hide his urgent expression.
Jing Hengbo chuckled—she had no intention of answering him. The matters in the mountain’s belly were too important; she hadn’t even had time to tell Gong Yin about them.
She turned to look at Gong Yin, who was staring intently at the swamp mud in the jar, saying: “This is medicinal mud. It contains some… very strange things.”
He looked up, and his gaze met Yelu Tan’s directly.
One thoughtful, one wary.
Both understood the Snow Mountain, both knew that what was in this jar contained some extremely domineering medicines that grew in the Snow Mountain, capable of saving a person’s life but also potentially causing irreversible and unpredictable consequences.
In that moment when their gazes met, both were thinking: “This jar of mud—wasn’t it his handiwork? Then whose was it?”
Jing Hengbo had already understood Gong Yin’s meaning and hesitated with difficulty—to try to save Inquru’s life meant possibly risking her mutation. How should she choose?
Master Ziwei and Yelu Tan were still in a standoff. Jing Hengbo leaned down and whispered softly in Yelu Inquru’s ear: “Now you have two choices. Either die, or live but possibly… become a monster. What do you choose?”
She thought that with Inquru’s personality, she would definitely choose the first option.
Yelu Inquru was silent for a long time, then turned her face to “look” toward Master Ziwei who was blocking Yelu Tan.
At this moment her gaze was gentle and tender, like a section of starlight, twinkling softly and hazily in the sky. Jing Hengbo thought her eyes were truly beautiful, not at all like those of a blind person.
After a long while she said: “Death… has actually always been something I’ve looked forward to. Living is too tiring.”
Jing Hengbo compassionately stroked her face, then heard her say: “But I… want to persist a bit longer.”
Jing Hengbo’s hand froze. “Why?”
She didn’t know whether to feel sad or happy, staring blankly and wanting to cry.
Yelu Inquru squeezed her hand, whispering softly in her ear: “Look at the old immortal—has he changed a bit recently?”
Jing Hengbo hummed in agreement, thinking he had indeed changed. The immortal used to fly around unreliably in the sky, now he ran around unreliably on the ground.
“He seems to be falling for me a little,” Yelu Inquru said melancholically. “That won’t do, it won’t do at all…”
Jing Hengbo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry—wasn’t this what you wanted?
“The old immortal is a pitiful person, living his whole life in self-blame,” Yelu Inquru said quietly. “Always singing that fox song—actually in that song, his self-reproach is greater than his resentment toward others. Now he’s finally about to forget that song, and if I die at this time, die because of him again, he’ll truly never be able to emerge from it for the rest of his life… I originally only wanted to rescue him from past cruelties, but if because of me, I add another cruel wound to him, then what was the meaning of everything I did before?”
“Can’t you think about yourself more?” Jing Hengbo said, unable to bear it. “Yelu Inquru, I thought you were very carefree!”
“I’m only carefree about life and death. And precisely because I know the taste of being carefree, I hope the person I like can truly live carefree days without self-blame, doubt, guilt, and burdens.” Yelu Inquru smiled, touching her face and sighing: “The most carefree people have the most they can’t let go of. Bobo, whoever falls in love first is always the one who suffers. If we want to be carefree, let’s make an agreement for the next life—we’ll be reborn as two pigs. Eating and sleeping, then dying with one cut—how wonderful.”
“If you want to do that, go ahead—this sister won’t accompany you!” Jing Hengbo said angrily, but couldn’t help feeling sad again—was loving someone always like this? Thinking of him, doing everything for him, unable to be oneself anymore, yet still considering him first?
No, it wasn’t like that. Compared to Yelu Inquru, many people’s so-called love was too selfish.
Perhaps Inquru was like this precisely because she had once gained everything and lost everything, so she opened her heart and let everything pass like wind without holding grudges.
“I respect your wishes,” she said after a long silence.
Yelu Inquru smiled wearily. Although she didn’t care whether others supported her thoughts or not, encountering a kindred spirit was ultimately pleasant.
Jing Hengbo tucked in the blanket corners for Inquru, then turned and grabbed Master Ziwei: “Please! From now on, pay attention and be a normal person! Don’t let a good woman give everything for you only to end up disappointed. Even if Inquru doesn’t mind, I won’t forgive you!”
“Who cares about your forgiveness…” Master Ziwei brushed off her hand, picked up Yelu Inquru, kicked Yelu Tan in the butt, and said: “For her sake, I’ll trust you once—save her!”
Yelu Tan kept a cold face, taking the kick without moving, gritting his teeth: “For her sake, I’ll let you off once—stop wasting time, let’s go!”
The two men glared at each other like fighting cocks. In the end, whoever had higher martial arts took the initiative. Master Ziwei carried Yelu Inquru and left first, with Yelu Tan following. Master Ziwei kept cursing Yelu Tan while listening to his directions as they gradually disappeared.
Watching them, Jing Hengbo felt both warm and pained, couldn’t help leaning against Gong Yin’s shoulder, saying softly: “Gong Yin, let’s not be like this.”
“Hm?” He gently stroked her hair, wondering when it would grow long.
“Let’s not love but be unable to have each other like this. Let’s not wait until we’re about to lose everything to discover our feelings. Let’s not clearly love each other yet always do things against our hearts. Let’s not wait until the very end to discover our feelings, only to find we can no longer love. How long can a person’s life be? How long is the time when we’re capable of loving? How much time can we afford to waste on those games of you-guess-me-guess, you-chase-me-flee? I just want to treasure the present, for a long, long time. What about you?”
He looked at Yelu Tan’s retreating figure, thinking about the domineering medicinal essence in that jar of mud. A flash of coldness passed through his eyes, but this made him kiss her hair even more tenderly, saying: “Yes, I feel the same way.”
…
A black-faced man was running through the night wind.
He was a trusted commander sent by Yi Yiyi, bearing an important mission tonight—to deliver the order “no court session, ministers must not obey any commands from the palace” to every important minister, to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation.
He didn’t know that from the moment he turned away from Yi Yiyi’s side, someone had already quietly followed him.
The man first rushed to the Grand Chancellor’s mansion, the most loyal to the Great King, so the Grand Chancellor could help spread the information to all ministers while he could free himself to go to the palace and check for any abnormalities.
As he traveled through the night, still one alley away from the Grand Chancellor’s mansion, he suddenly saw lights approaching—a procession carrying an eight-bearer palanquin rushing toward the royal palace. He recognized this as the Grand Chancellor’s ceremonial guard and was startled. He hid to one side and made a secret signal.
Immediately someone in the palanquin said in a deep voice: “Stop the palanquin!”
The Grand Chancellor emerged from the palanquin, looked around, and said: “Tianji.”
Only then did the black-faced man come out, saying: “Dishu.”
Both men’s expressions relaxed.
Yi Kingdom excelled at disguises, with all kinds of masks impossible to guard against, so various passwords and signals changed frequently. These two phrases were the current password between the Grand Chancellor and the Great King’s secret guards.
“Grand Chancellor, where are you going in such haste?”
“I received secret intelligence that there seems to be unusual activity in the palace!” the Grand Chancellor said. “I was just going to personally request an audience with the Great King to inquire about the reason.”
The black-faced man’s expression tightened. He immediately explained that the Great King had gone out and ordered that no one should hold court, asking the Grand Chancellor to help spread the message.
The Grand Chancellor quickly ordered his guards to scatter immediately to various mansions to deliver the command, and personally invited him to go to the palace together to investigate what this unusual activity was about.
The two men traveled together, hurrying toward Yi Kingdom’s royal palace.
As soon as their figures disappeared at the end of the street, a small firework shot up from where they had just been standing.
In the hall of the Grand Chancellor’s mansion outside an alley, a group of black-clothed people saw this firework and chuckled, withdrawing the knives that had been at the hostages’ throats.
In the hall, all the people from the Grand Chancellor’s household were tied up, guarded by this group of black-clothed people, with bright knife light illuminating the terrified eyes of the hostages.
A black-clothed person stood below the steps, hands behind his back looking at the sky. On his wrist was a dark blue bee sting marking.
A subordinate beside him laughed: “The Grand Chancellor was quite sensible, didn’t dare play any tricks.”
Another person said: “With his whole family in our hands, would he dare to play games?”
The person looking at the sky chuckled and said: “They play fake games, we play real ones.”
…
Flapping sounds came from the darkness. Gong Yin listened carefully, as if identifying something. Suddenly he said to Jing Hengbo: “You seemed to know that Consort Li before?”
“Just played one round of mahjong and you remembered her name,” Jing Hengbo pouted sourly, then immediately added: “What about it?”
“Observing her expression, she seemed quite wary of the Empress Dowager. She knows you, probably also because of the Empress Dowager, right?”
“Just played one round of mahjong and you discovered her expression and grudges too,” Jing Hengbo said sourly again. “So what?”
Gong Yin patted her head like patting a little dog, quite fond of her random jealousy.
“Go talk to her,” he said. “We need her help.”
…
The black-faced man and the Grand Chancellor went straight to request an audience at Empress Dowager’s Ningde Palace.
With the Great King absent, the Empress Dowager was naturally the most revered. If there was any unusual activity in the palace, the Empress Dowager would naturally know most clearly.
It was almost time for morning court. The Empress Dowager had played mahjong all night and gained quite a bit. She had just gone to sleep, both tired and excited. Hearing the report, she was very impatient, but since the black-faced man was the most loyal and trusted guard leader beside the Great King, coming urgently for an audience at dawn, she naturally couldn’t ignore it. She had to suppress her temper, get up, and receive them.
When she came out, she found Consort Li was already there. Somewhat surprised, she snorted coldly: “You’re paying respects quite early today.”
“Your servant was afraid Your Majesty had stayed up all night and might harm your phoenix body, so I specially stayed up all night to stew bird’s nest and lily soup to bring to you early.” Consort Li hurriedly offered a porcelain bowl ingratiatingly.
Having played mahjong all night, the mentally fatigued Empress Dowager, seeing such a bowl of richly stewed soup, was indeed somewhat tempted. She gave a meaningful look, and a palace maid came forward to taste it first with a silver spoon, nodding to her. The Empress Dowager waited a bit more, then drank a few mouthfuls, saying: “You’re quite thoughtful. Come with me to see the guard commander.”
Consort Li hurriedly smiled and accompanied her to the outer room to see the black-faced man. The Empress Dowager was about to sit down and talk when she suddenly felt dizzy and feverish, with everything before her eyes swaying unsteadily. She instinctively tried to stand and call for the imperial physician, but her whole body suddenly lurched forward.
She fell right into the arms of the kneeling commander.
The commander was greatly alarmed—pushing wasn’t right, supporting wasn’t right either. Consort Li suddenly rushed over, supporting the Empress Dowager and patting her back repeatedly, crying out in alarm: “Oh no…”
With one pat, the Empress Dowager opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of red smoke, spraying it right onto the commander’s face.
The commander fainted.
The next moment he didn’t know what was happening.
When he regained consciousness slightly, he saw himself holding the Empress Dowager, having torn open her collar. The Empress Dowager’s eyes had rolled back and she was unconscious, while behind him came the sound of rushing footsteps. The Grand Chancellor appeared at the door with a shocked expression, pointing at him: “Seize this madman who dares to molest the nation’s mother!”
The commander stared in amazement, his mind foggy, wanting to speak but finding his tongue wouldn’t obey, his words coming out slurred.
A group of guards rushed over, pulling him away and tying him up—these were Imperial Guards not under his command.
His mind was still foggy, not understanding what had happened, when he heard the Grand Chancellor’s roar making his head buzz.
“Seize this madman and take him to the hall! Request the Great King’s judgment!”
The commander shook slightly, his slow mind taking a while to catch up—wasn’t the Great King not in the palace? Hadn’t he just told the Grand Chancellor that the Great King wasn’t in the palace? Why…
Before he could say anything, a group of people had already tied him up thoroughly and dragged him out.
…
In Yi Kingdom’s royal palace main hall, Ding’an Hall, the ministers had already arranged themselves in civil and military ranks, standing in formation, waiting for the Great King’s morning court.
As for that notification about not holding court—that naturally hadn’t happened.
When each minister entered, they would feel a breeze brush past their faces, as if icy cold claws had touched their faces, then that wind would disappear into the depths of the high, profound palace.
Everyone knew this was the “face verification” procedure, a daily required process. Everyone including the Great King had to pass through this checkpoint, to prevent anyone from truly exploiting loopholes in this face-changing Yi Kingdom.
These “face verification” personnel were said to be masters of lightness skills who appeared and disappeared like ghosts, and also masters of disguise who could tell real from fake faces with one touch. No one knew where these people hid, and they also had great authority—once they detected something wrong, they could stop the court session at any time.
Now everyone had passed the inspection and stood in formation. Sharp-eyed people noticed the frontmost position was still empty—the Grand Chancellor hadn’t arrived yet.
Just as they were wondering, they suddenly heard commotion in the square. A large group of people came pushing and shoving, with the Grand Chancellor walking angrily at the front. From far away the ministers could hear him shouting: “Such a madman is outrageous! Today I must request the Great King give him severe punishment!”
The ministers looked again—my, wasn’t that person tied up at the front the guard commander most favored and trusted by the Great King?
Some people began shaking their heads—the Grand Chancellor and the commander had a mediocre relationship, which was naturally also intentionally created by the Great King for court balance and his own stability. Precisely because of this, mutual attacks between them often couldn’t take effect, since both were the Great King’s right and left arms, and losing either would break the balance.
What was wrong with the Grand Chancellor today? Didn’t he know that trying to bring down the commander was almost impossible?
The group had already approached noisily, with the Grand Chancellor personally escorting the commander, pushing him toward the threshold and angrily saying: “Go in yourself and properly confess your crimes to the Great King!”
Just as the commander was about to stumble through the door, an icy cold hand suddenly reached out ghost-like, stopping him and meticulously touching his face without any carelessness. After a “hmm,” the hand also touched the Grand Chancellor who was about to follow through the door, then disappeared behind the palace door.
The Grand Chancellor snorted angrily, stepped through the door, and stood in his position. To his colleagues’ inquiries, he said loudly: “Tonight I was summoned to the palace and encountered this madman sneaking toward the inner palace. He had the right to freely enter and exit the palace, so I had no intention of interfering, but seeing his strange expression, I stood at the inner palace gate. Who knew I would then hear that something had happened in Ningde Palace inside—this madman… this madman actually rushed into Ningde Palace and attempted to… attempted to assassinate the Empress Dowager!” He pointed at the commander, so angry his chest heaved, unable to form complete sentences.
Everyone was somewhat surprised. Not to mention whether it was possible for the commander to assassinate the Empress Dowager, even if the Empress Dowager had been assassinated, the Grand Chancellor shouldn’t be this angry. That expression on his face seemed more like disdain and anger, with something hard to say?
Looking back at the commander’s face, some old veterans who had frequented pleasure quarters and brothels felt their hearts skip a beat—the commander’s askew gaze, the peach blossom color on his face, drool at the corners of his mouth, rapid burning breath… it looked like he had been drugged with some aphrodisiac.
Connecting this to the Grand Chancellor’s ambiguous meaning just now, his ambiguous expression, that kind of unspeakable anger and undisguised contempt, the ministers couldn’t help getting excited—could it be not assassination, but molestation?
That would be a huge matter!
A minister molesting the king’s mother was a crime punishable by lingchi death by a thousand cuts. No matter how magnanimous the Great King was, no matter how much he liked and trusted the commander, he couldn’t possibly tolerate such humiliation!
Of course, none of them believed the commander had truly gone mad enough to molest the Empress Dowager. That old lady—only a madman would be interested. It was probably a frame-up.
But this move was truly vicious.
How angry would the Great King be?
Everyone’s hearts began pounding. They all shrank toward the shadowy corners, tucking their heads into their necks, determined not to face the king’s wrath later, determined not to let themselves be seen by the Great King, determined not to go against the Great King’s will. Whatever the Great King said would be right, whatever he wanted they would do, to avoid being displeasing to the furious Great King and getting implicated.
Even the “face verifiers” who had been wandering like ghosts in the palace hall quietly withdrew, no longer making those smug, cold laughs.
For a moment the hall only echoed with the Grand Chancellor’s angry panting and the commander’s struggling whimpers, making the atmosphere even more tense.
Suddenly came an announcement: “The Great King arrives!” Everyone was shocked and turned to look, seeing the Great King holding a long sword upside down, striding with great steps, aggressively walking across the square.
His sword edge was still dripping blood, reflecting blinding light in the morning sun. A consort stumbled after him, grasping his hem and crying repeatedly: “Great King, please calm down! Calm down!”
Seeing this setup, the ministers’ panic increased, afraid the Great King’s sword would next fall on their own heads. They all shrank their heads deeper into their collars.
The Great King walked quickly with wind-like steps, the forward-pointing long sword dripping a line of blood. The “face verifiers” guarding the palace door, seeing the sword point arrive before the person, couldn’t help hesitating slightly, afraid that if they reached out their hands, the sword would pierce them.
With just this hesitation, the Great King had already rushed into the hall, and even the consort clinging to his robe hem was dragged stumbling inside.
He stopped and looked around with an iron-like expression, his whole body emanating intense killing intent.
Everyone consciously shrank into the shadows, following the Grand Chancellor in ritual prostration, not even daring to raise their heads.
They heard the Great King snort heavily and berate the tearful consort beside him: “This is the court hall—how did you follow here too? Stand aside!”
The consort covered her face and retreated to one side. No one paid attention to her. Looking at this scene, they supposed the Great King had been favoring this consort when he suddenly heard about this matter and flew into a rage, wanting to kill. The consort, frightened, had followed all the way, afraid something would happen—quite normal.
The Great King stood before the throne, holding the dripping sword upside down, staring fiercely at the group below. The ministers prostrated themselves in ritual, and the commander suddenly struggled to raise his head, saying with slurred speech: “No… not… he’s not… not!”
The Great King and Grand Chancellor simultaneously roared: “You still dare make excuses!”
“Clang!” The long sword was thrown down from the throne, piercing through the commander’s throat like lightning. Blood sprayed three feet.
The minister at the very front was sprayed with blood all over his body and face, screamed in shock, and fainted with rolled-back eyes.
The others hadn’t expected the Great King’s fury to reach such a degree that he would immediately kill his most beloved trusted aide. They were instantly silent as cicadas, repeatedly kowtowing.
“Drag him out!”
With one command, the commander’s corpse was dragged away, a line of blood extending past everyone’s feet. Looking at the commander’s wide-open dead eyes, everyone felt cold in their hearts.
Yi Kingdom’s Great King had an unpredictable temperament, but this was the first time he had killed someone in court like this. Now that even the commander, the foremost among important ministers, had been killed, the ministers weighed their own worth and didn’t dare even plead for mercy.
The Grand Chancellor took the lead in kneeling in the pool of blood: “Great King, please quell your anger! Please preserve your precious health!”
The ministers all kowtowed: “Great King, please quell your anger!”
Yi Kingdom’s Great King swept his gaze coldly around until everyone lowered their heads, then sat down on the throne. He said indifferently: “Very well, let’s begin the court proceedings.”
…
That consort cowered timidly in a corner shadow, head lowered, with no sense of presence.
No one saw the sly smile at the corners of her lips.
This “consort” was naturally Jing Hengbo, and the “furiously angry and intimidating” Yi Kingdom Great King on the throne was naturally Gong Yin.
This scene seemed effortless but was actually carefully orchestrated, with everyone’s reactions calculated—it was indeed a counterattack plan no less sophisticated than Yi Kingdom Great King’s kidnapping scheme.
Facing Yi Kingdom ministers who were all skilled in disguise, and the face verification checkpoint, making others afraid and not daring to investigate deeply was the only way to cover their own flaws.
Jing Hengbo greatly admired Gong Yin’s planning—he could actually bring her into the great hall in this way.
Her arrival had a mission.
She watched Gong Yin’s hand. Gong Yin’s index finger was pointing vaguely upward somewhere.
Jing Hengbo concentrated, and a row of blackened daggers slowly rose behind her.
If someone had shone a light at this moment, they would have seen the woman in the darkness with lowered eyes in concentration, behind her a row of black daggers suspended in formation, like divine black treasure light or dark wings, eerily intimidating.
The great hall’s lighting was dim, and the ceiling even darker. Those masters wandering in the palace depths didn’t know that the pitiful-looking consort was their death star.
The daggers moved toward a master following Gong Yin’s directions, silently and soundlessly.
Because this wasn’t controlled by internal energy, there were no internal energy traces or killing intent. The lurking master was completely unaware.
When the dagger was only 0.01 centimeters from the back of his clothes, it suddenly accelerated. Only then did the master sense danger and turn around abruptly, but it was too late—the dagger had already silently pierced his heart.
The dagger was extremely thin, plugging the wound so not a drop of blood flowed out.
Jing Hengbo waved her hand, positioning the corpse on a beam. The beam was wide enough that placing a corpse there wouldn’t be noticed.
Such actions happened simultaneously throughout the ceiling. Black daggers appeared and disappeared in the darkness, taking away the masters’ final light.
Killing one person might not be noticed by the ministers below, but the other “face verification” masters on the ceiling would definitely sense it. So at this moment, only Jing Hengbo’s cultivated ability to multitask could solve everything at once.
Bodies fell one by one, supported on beams in rows in the darkness. If someone had looked down from the ceiling at this moment, they would have been horrified.
Jing Hengbo had simultaneously killed all of Yi Kingdom Great King’s hidden masters in Yi Kingdom’s court hall, finally releasing some of the resentment in her heart.
And on the throne, Gong Yin’s plan to “seize Yi Kingdom empty-handed” could finally officially begin.
…
“The palace has been quite unsettled recently,” Gong Yin began, immediately fixing his gaze on the Grand Chancellor. “This king has decided to replace the palace guards. The original Imperial Guards will guard the imperial city instead, while the Grand Chancellor will lead the palace guard duties, protecting the eight palace gates. Anyone must possess this king’s edict and the Grand Chancellor’s warrant to enter or exit the palace during non-court hours. Violators will be killed without question.”
“Your subject receives the edict!” The Grand Chancellor immediately responded loudly.
Hearing this, everyone had no suspicions. The commander had just been found guilty and killed, so the Imperial Guards under his command naturally needed purging and replacement. Having the Grand Chancellor take over such important duties was as it should be.
“Spring is about to begin,” Gong Yin continued. “The border troops should also start drills and rotation. I heard that there was a clash with Jade forces at Yi Mountain recently, yet we failed to immediately expel the Jade army! In recent years of peace, military affairs have become lax. We really should drag those fat and lazy sons out for training! Order Yi Mountain General Lü Zhuohong to immediately rotate with Yi River General Chang Qing. His thirty thousand troops shall immediately march to the Yi River line for field exercises without delay!”
“Your subjects receive the edict!”
Several military officers exchanged glances—spring rotation and exercises were normal, but Yi Mountain and Yi River were far apart. This rotation would create temporary defense gaps at both Yi Mountain and Yi River, with no arrangement for nearby armies to temporarily garrison. What if neighboring armies took advantage?
They thought about it but dared not mention it, afraid the Great King was still angry and not thinking clearly for the moment. Better not to contradict him publicly—they could slowly persuade him afterward.
The military officers all adopted the strategy of self-preservation, standing with eyes on nose, nose on heart.
“Dongpi City reportedly has corruption and dereliction of duty. The Dongpi County Lord privately sold relief grain, using inferior goods, insufficient for emergency response during famine years, causing civil unrest. This case is assigned to the Minister of Personnel and Minister of Revenue to handle jointly. Depart for Dongpi immediately, investigate the case clearly, and report back promptly.”
“Your subjects receive the edict!”
“The Jade Queen has submitted a petition requesting open ports, asking to open Yonglian, Shata, and Fengshui counties as trading ports. Order the Deputy Chancellor to lead the Grand Justice to Fengshui County to negotiate with the Jade Queen’s envoys.”
The ministers were slightly surprised. Yi Kingdom had several waterfront ports that were very prosperous. Neighboring tribes had long coveted them and repeatedly made requests for mutual trade or borrowing waterways during diplomatic processes, but they had all been rejected by Yi Kingdom’s Great King. Had the Great King changed his mind today?
Puzzled as they were, they still had to accept the edicts. Gong Yin then issued several more orders, all transferring important ministers to external duties, with well-founded reasons that no one found suspicious. However, the Grand Chancellor keenly noticed that the people being sent far from the Phantom Capital were all important ministers with the right to enter and exit the palace and submit confidential memorials, all trusted and favored by the Great King, and most had daughters serving as consorts in the palace.
Now with these people sent far away, the possibility of detecting substitutes was reduced, and the possibility of the real king verifying his identity was also decreased.
Even realizing this, he dared not say anything—his whole family was still in their hands.
Finally, Gong Yin issued one last edict: “I’ve heard that neighboring countries have been active recently, planning to send assassins into our territory, using our country’s disguise techniques to steal and replace key positions. Which important minister they might impersonate is still unclear. Even impersonating this king is possible. Therefore, from today until this group is eliminated, beloved ministers without external duties must all remain in the Phantom Capital and not leave at will. Ministers on external assignment must only operate within designated city areas and not cross boundaries at will, to avoid being mistakenly killed by our border troops. Also, transmit orders to all regional garrisons and border troops: anyone who discovers any court official outside the Phantom Capital, including this king, shall be judged as fake and killed without question!”