“Is this snow? So cool and refreshing!”

“I’ve never seen snow in my entire life—these snowflakes are so beautiful!”

Everyone stopped and looked up at the sky. At dusk, the sun had already grown much fainter, the sky was hazy, and countless snowflakes spun as they fell. In mid-air the broken snow was misty, pulled by a gust of wind into endless spirals above people’s heads, like unfinished running script from a brush as large as a rafter.

The southerners who had never seen snow focused all their attention on those swirling flowers, so no one noticed that the snow was falling only within this area of Yannan Prince’s Manor. Beyond the distant walls, one could still faintly see the evening glow and pale sunlight.

While everyone was celebrating this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle and forgetting everything else, someone suddenly said quietly: “Snow flying in June—there must be a great injustice.”

Like a bucket of cold water suddenly poured over everyone’s heads, people froze for a moment and turned to look at the speaker.

Tie Ci stood with arms crossed in front of the coffin, her expression half-smiling, half-not, as she nodded her chin toward the coffin: “Talk about loyal devotion—one snowfall and you forget who’s lying here.”

The soldiers’ faces flushed red first, then remembering what they had seen earlier, someone immediately said angrily: “Snow flying in June is naturally because someone has desecrated the great prince’s tomb. Was it you!”

“If it’s related to me, why would I remind you? Why don’t you come closer and see why the great prince’s coffin fell from heaven, accompanied by June snow?”

After a moment of silence, a squad of soldiers approached with great wariness.

They saw a corpse that had rotted almost completely.

Obviously this scene had considerable visual impact. After a moment of quiet, the soldiers erupted in fury: “This is using some random person’s corpse to impersonate our late great prince! Our late great prince’s remains were specially treated by our Yannan shamans and the finest witch doctors using the most precious medicines. The body could be preserved without decay for a hundred years—this is not our prince!”

“Who dug up our prince’s tomb and used some random corpse to occupy his royal coffin! This is an insult! An insult to all of Yannan!”

“Those who insult our great prince, we will surely kill!”

With ringing sounds, countless blades flashed dazzlingly as they were brandished.

But they saw Tie Ci suddenly bend down.

The next instant she lifted out the white bones.

Another extremely impactful scene—Tie Ci holding the white bones with the leg bones hanging down, several green shadows flashing on the left leg.

Those nails.

Even Feng Huan in the distant capital knew that Yannan Prince’s leg was connected with nails, so naturally the people of Yannan all knew this even better.

After all, at the time this was miraculous medicine and caused quite a sensation. Later, when people came with heavy gold seeking that divine physician who could connect human bones with nails to save lives, one disappeared while the other was taken by someone else—another prince who took the divine physician to Liaodong, where he remained, and no one in the interior ever witnessed that miraculous nail bone-setting technique again.

The leg bone had already grown together with the nails and shouldn’t have been very obvious, but those nails were actually bright red in color while the bones were blue-black, so everyone saw them at once.

These white bones undoubtedly belonged to Yannan Prince.

This silence made everyone feel suffocated.

Tie Ci beckoned, and a short figure emerged from the crowd. A’kou looked serious as he handed over the tiger from his shoulder.

Tie Ci reached out her hand.

Just then, cold light flashed as something shot from the crowd behind Tie Ci toward her back.

Tie Ci acted as if she had eyes in the back of her head, reaching back without turning around to catch it.

But one pair of hands was faster than hers. Murong Yi pinched that arrow and casually threw the tiger toward the crowd. The tiger extended its long tongue in mid-air and with a slap, hit an ordinary-looking man in the crowd of people. That person immediately fell down with a face full of black qi.

The people hadn’t expected an assassin to be mixed among them and all retreated in shock, instantly creating three feet of distance between individuals.

Some stared at the tiger, recognizing that this tiger-striped frog was obviously a poisonous creature.

The tiger hopped onto Tie Ci’s shoulder and licked its tongue over the white bones. As that tongue tip lifted, everyone clearly saw a bit of gray-black powder scatter from the bones, which the tiger spat out with its long tongue and contentedly licked into its belly.

“There’s poison on the bones!”

Amid the exclamations, some disagreed: “Who knows if someone dug up the great prince’s remains, spread a layer of poison on them, then brought them here to frame others?”

Someone immediately retorted: “Are you blind? Didn’t you see that frog licked the bone marrow? Whose poison could reach the bone marrow after death?”

Suddenly everyone fell silent and looked up at the snow in the sky.

Snow continued falling heavily, landing on the blue-black bones, on the gorgeous coffin, on the yellow cloud-patterned dragon brocade that remained perfectly preserved with bright colors.

June snow—what injustice was it telling?

The coffin was made of finest agarwood, with five layers of nested coffins, treated inside and out to prevent decay, sealed tightly. Even the inner lining of gold-woven satin remained as magnificent as ever.

But the bones had already rotted like this.

The bones contained poison.

Yannan Prince had been poisoned to death.

The snow suddenly stopped. The prince’s manor was covered in frost and snow, with icicles hanging from the eaves, set against a cold moon that had finally climbed high in the sky, as if they had instantly crossed into a snow country.

At this moment everyone stood in Wanqing Garden, near the small garden that also had water channeled to form a pool, with artificial hills and winding corridors complete. Now the pavilion wings were covered in snow, with a figure in hemp clothes and wide robes standing upon them.

His robes and long hair swayed gently in the wind, with snow scenery before him and deep spring behind him. He stood between them with an otherworldly bearing.

He seemed to be holding a black box in his hands. Under everyone’s gaze, he slightly lowered his fingers.

The black box suddenly changed, becoming a black bottle from which black liquid poured endlessly. The liquid hung from the pavilion wing in a thin line that wind could neither break nor sway, then that line flowed on the ground, winding toward everyone’s feet.

The snow scene was crystalline with everything frozen, while behind them deep spring and early summer flowers blazed like fire. A black line flowed like a snake between them—the scene was indescribably eerily beautiful, making people instinctively retreat.

The “black bottle” in the hemp-clothed man’s hands seemed like a treasure vase, with black lines pouring endlessly from it. But they stopped three feet before the crowd, gathering again into the shape of a square box, piling higher and higher.

Until it became a large box five feet long and three feet wide.

This black box on the snowy ground looked solid and shiny, reflecting blue-purple light like the finest hardwood.

Someone gasped in shock.

Obviously recognizing what this was.

The hemp-clothed man beckoned, and a corpse appeared in his hand—from the clothing, a soldier from Kun Prefecture’s great camp, probably killed in the fighting outside. The hemp-clothed man casually threw this person into the black box formed by the insects.

The “black box” writhed strangely and rapidly, the entire “box” seeming to undergo countless rearrangements in an instant while maintaining its overall shape. Then came a teeth-grinding gnawing sound that made everyone’s skin crawl. Those with particularly good eyesight could already sense that the blue-purple light on this “black box” had intensified.

The hemp-clothed man continued standing coldly on the pavilion wing and snapped his fingers.

The “black box” silently collapsed, once again becoming black flowing water and black thin lines, flowing back into the hemp-clothed man’s hands.

Only that corpse remained on the ground, its leather armor shattered into countless pieces, while the exposed fingers and calves had lost both clothing and skin.

Deadly silence.

The vivid demonstration shocked everyone.

Until Tie Ci’s voice rang out.

“Yes, it was me who sent people to excavate Yannan Prince’s tomb.”

“Because of the treatment the You siblings endured, I didn’t believe Yannan Prince could enjoy his natural lifespan under certain people’s wolfish ambitions. Moreover, court reports mentioned half a year before Yannan Prince’s death that he was in robust health with no hidden ailments, maintained good health practices, and the prince’s manor supported famous physicians. Under such circumstances, why did he die without cause in just half a year?”

“You’ve seen the bones—they contain poison. And that nanmu coffin you just saw is the second nested coffin. These black insects are the final inner coffin.”

“I asked you before who you’re truly loyal to. Now with Yannan Prince’s poisoned remains before you and June snow above, I ask you again—who are you loyal to?”

“Will you still be loyal to that treasonous You Jun who killed his brother to usurp his position, bullied orphans, and secretly harmed his nephews?”

Wind swept through the courtyard, its leading edge icy cold while its trailing sound carried hidden heat, just like everyone’s current mood.

After a long time, there was no answer, only the clang of metal.

It was that spear-wielding archer—his long spear had fallen to the ground.

As the spear hit the ground, he seemed to come to his senses, staring down at it for a long moment. Suddenly he reached back to remove his bow and arrows from his back, throwing the quiver on the ground.

Then he turned and walked away.

As if receiving a signal, many people turned and left, while many others remained in place, looking at each other in confusion. Some still refused to believe and looked for the You father and son, wanting them to come out and confront the accusations, only to discover they had disappeared at some point.

But Tie Ci knew when they had disappeared—when Yannan Prince’s coffin fell from heaven and June snow began falling, You Jun had inconspicuously retreated. When Tie Ci lifted out the bones, he had already retreated into the crowd, taking with him a group of soldiers loyal to himself.

Retreating without fighting wasn’t his style, so Tie Ci could be certain that old Yannan Prince was indeed extremely beloved by the army and people. Though he had died only two or three years ago, his remaining influence persisted, and You Jun hadn’t had time to win over all the military loyalty to himself.

A few more years hence, that would be hard to say.

After all, You Jun was a very complex person.

For years before, this man had made no sound and was rumored to be quite mediocre. A few years ago, Tie Ci hadn’t even heard his name.

But a mediocre person couldn’t have remained silent and patient for so many years, then finally killed his brother and forced his nephew to seize great power.

Having done all this, he hadn’t damaged his official reputation or popular support in the slightest, nor received any criticism from court.

This was truly remarkable.

And from the moment she stepped into Yannan, everything she had experienced, both openly and secretly, had his shadow looming behind it.

He had even nearly taken her and Murong Yi’s lives.

Such a person, given time, could resolve anything.

But Tie Ci still didn’t stop him.

At that moment, revealing the truth was the first priority. If she had only focused on stopping You Jun without first clarifying the truth of Yannan Prince’s death, the army would have thought she was directly provoking them, and the enraged army really could have leveled this courtyard along with her.

You Jun was very good at seizing opportunities, knowing she couldn’t spare attention for him, so he walked away unhurriedly under her very nose.

The army’s loyalty had wavered, but Kun Prefecture’s power remained in his hands. By withdrawing in time to avoid being devoured by the army’s backlash, he could still hide within Kun Prefecture and become an underground emperor secretly manipulating events.

This calculation was quite shrewd.

But Tie Ci had made so many preparations for today—naturally she wanted more than just his disgrace and ruin.

She couldn’t get away herself, but that didn’t mean no one else could be used.

Duanmu had come, so naturally the魃族 people had come too. Tie Ci had already sent Duanmu a signal and heard those snakes, insects, and rodents lurking and passing through the grass. There was a faint fishy scent in the wind, pursuing in the direction You Jun had departed.

She even heard Feng Huan running breathlessly in the distance, calling for A’da and A’er.

Tie Ci thought that Murong Yi’s pirated bookstore would soon be able to add a new book. She had already thought of the title: “Sky-High Pampered Wife Runs Away with Crocodiles, Young Master Don’t Even Think of Chasing.”

The commander of Kun Prefecture’s great camp came forward, watching Tie Ci warily but not approaching to pay respects, only restraining his soldiers to retreat.

A squad of soldiers came forward to collect Yannan Prince’s remains, blocking Tie Ci from approaching.

Tie Ci hadn’t expected that revealing the truth would make Yannan’s army immediately bow down and shout “Long live.” Yannan had almost become a nation unto itself, with military and civilians recognizing only the You family. No one would dare risk great impropriety by actively approaching her at this time.

Unless the You family chose her.

The army retreated like a tide. The prince’s manor’s lights lit up one by one, the snowy ground reflecting pale red light and shadow like rouge on frost. The lush trees were half green, half snow—beautiful and clear, yet Duanmu on the pavilion waved his sleeve, stirring up a great wind that swept away this rare beautiful scene in a most unseemly manner.

Things too beautiful need not last long, or they would consume the good fortune of the latter half of one’s life.

Standing on the pavilion, he asked Tie Ci: “Where is he?”

Tie Ci answered: “I will take you to see him.”

Duanmu frowned slightly. The next instant he vanished, and the snow melted in an instant.

Tie Ci gazed at his departing figure, thinking that while the Three Madmen and Five Emperors were nominally equal in fame, this one was the true king and hegemon. It was said that he had disdained the title of Five Emperors back then and thus had no martial world title—the “Five Emperors” was just mentioned for convenience. But among the Five Emperors was also a Shadow Emperor, famous for stealth and assassination techniques, legendarily the ancestor of all assassins in the world. His whereabouts were elusive, coming and going without trace, with no one knowing his appearance or identity. Later, when the Three Madmen and Five Emperors collectively disappeared from view, this low-profile master also lost his traces. Now she had met most of the Three Madmen and Five Emperors herself—only this one remained to see if there would be a chance to meet.

But it would be better not to meet such a monster, since this one never appeared except to assassinate. Now in all of Yannan, who was most worth assassinating besides herself?

There were footsteps behind her. Tie Ci turned to see You Weixing smiling as he rushed toward her.

But he couldn’t reach Tie Ci’s side, as several elderly men suddenly blocked his path.