Li Jiǎo waited eagerly for Prince Rui to continue his “furthermore,” but Prince Rui stood up, patted his bottom, and walked away.

Li Jiǎo felt a breath stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down. Thinking of Qiao Zhao, her hatred deepened another layer.

Prince Gong of Xijiang’s health improved day by day, and before long, he had recovered completely.

Having fallen ill once, he was even more convinced that Great Liang was incompatible with him. He wished he could sprout wings and return to Xijiang, so his inquiries about the murderer of the Xijiang Princess became increasingly frequent.

Lan Shan used this opportunity to fan the flames before Emperor Mingkang, plunging the emperor into deep conflict.

Marquis Guanjun was the descendant of a traitorous rebel—executing him would perfectly suit his wishes. But Marquis Guanjun was such a useful blade. Once he was executed, where would he find such a sharp weapon again?

Without this keen blade, what if Northern Qi caused more trouble? Then he would have to focus his energy on fighting the barbarians again, which would greatly delay his pursuit of immortality.

But if he kept him alive without executing him, what if this blade turned against him?

To kill or not to kill?

Emperor Mingkang pondered this question all day, even neglecting to take his immortality pills. Finally, on this particular day, his expression darkened as he made up his mind: “Wei Wuxie—”

“This slave is here.” Wei Wuxie responded respectfully, secretly sighing in his heart.

It seemed the emperor had decided how to handle Marquis Guanjun.

As Emperor Mingkang’s confidant, Wei Wuxie had naturally observed the emperor’s struggles these past days.

“Bring me a copper coin.”

What?

This order was so unexpected that Wei Wuxie was stunned.

“What?” Emperor Mingkang glanced at him coolly.

Wei Wuxie dared not hesitate further and quickly fetched a copper coin to present to Emperor Mingkang.

Emperor Mingkang sat down at his desk and silently thought: If the era name faces up, I’ll execute Marquis Guanjun with one stroke; if “Fortune and Prosperity” faces up, I’ll keep Marquis Guanjun alive through the New Year.

After his silent recitation, Emperor Mingkang tossed the copper coin high into the air.

The copper coin spun several times in the air before falling. Wei Wuxie’s eyes went wide.

What was the emperor doing?

Under Emperor Mingkang’s slightly nervous mood, the copper coin landed on the desk. Both Emperor Mingkang and Wei Wuxie stared wide-eyed.

It was neither heads nor tails—the copper coin was standing upright!

What did standing upright mean? This was making things difficult for him!

Emperor Mingkang flew into a rage and slammed the table hard. The copper coin was knocked flying and rolled to the floor.

Emperor Mingkang, who had been about to leave, paused and ordered: “Wei Wuxie, see whether the copper coin on the ground is heads up or tails up.”

After waiting a while without hearing Wei Wuxie respond, Emperor Mingkang’s tone became even more displeased: “Wei Wuxie, what are you doing there without making a sound?”

Wei Wuxie secretly sighed and quickly replied: “Your Majesty, the copper coin fell into a crack between the steps.”

Emperor Mingkang strode over and kicked aside Wei Wuxie, who was bent over searching for the coin. Seeing that there was indeed a crack where the golden brick steps met, his face turned iron-blue: “What do you servants do for a living? Are you waiting for my palace to collapse before you know how to repair it?”

Wei Wuxie knew that Emperor Mingkang was venting his anger and knelt silently to one side.

Emperor Mingkang stared at that tiny crack and became stubborn: “Wei Wuxie, have someone pry this open for me. Today I absolutely must see which side of that copper coin is facing up!”

It was just such a small crack, and the copper coin had fallen right into it—wasn’t this deliberately blocking him?

Soon, Wei Wuxie led people to pry up the golden brick, silently praying: Copper coin, please just cooperate a little. Whether heads or tails, just give us a clear answer, won’t you?

The moment the golden brick was pried up, everyone, including Emperor Mingkang, craned their necks to look, only to see a fist-sized hole in the ground beneath the brick.

“What is this?” Emperor Mingkang was puzzled.

Everyone trembled and dared not speak.

“What exactly is this? Tell me immediately!” Emperor Mingkang erupted in anger.

A little eunuch couldn’t withstand the imperial wrath and blurted out: “A rat hole!”

“What?” Emperor Mingkang thought he had misheard.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, that’s a rat hole!” Having already spoken, the little eunuch decided to go all out.

“A rat hole?” Emperor Mingkang stared at the dark hole opening and pronounced these three words one by one, so angry that his lips turned white.

In his imperial study, the study of the sovereign of a nation, there was a rat hole, and that damned copper coin had fallen into the rat hole.

“Dig three feet into the ground and find that copper coin for me!”

He refused to believe in this bad luck!

After waiting another half hour, the formerly pristine imperial study now resembled ruins. The rat hole had finally been excavated to its bottom, which contained some cloth scraps and cake crumbs gnawed by rats.

Emperor Mingkang’s face was livid, his killing intent palpable: “Find that copper coin for me.”

“Yes!” Everyone rushed forward together. They heard several squeaking sounds, and a black-furred rat squeezed out through the gaps between people and ran away like the wind.

Emperor Mingkang watched helplessly as the rat, carrying the copper coin in its mouth, quickly disappeared. He was so angry he nearly fell backward: “Chase that rat for me!”

The rat was never caught. Emperor Mingkang looked at his unrecognizable imperial study and felt like crying. He was even more puzzled: Could that rat be sick? When disaster struck, instead of carrying away cake crumbs, what was it doing carrying off a copper coin?

The eunuchs dared not show any unusual expressions on their faces, but they thought: Could the emperor be possessed? Digging up the imperial study just to find a copper coin?

Wei Wuxie sneered inwardly, thinking: You fools, what do you know? What the emperor cares about isn’t the copper coin, but Marquis Guanjun’s life or death!

Emperor Mingkang’s impromptu coin-tossing feat ultimately yielded no answer, making his mood even more conflicted.

When Emperor Mingkang was in a bad mood, he wanted to go into seclusion, but remembering the consequences of his recent retreats, he silently dismissed the idea, making his mood even worse.

All the civil and military officials sensed the emperor’s fury and immediately felt insecure, developing a premonition that a storm was approaching.

And a real storm indeed came not long after.

This storm didn’t begin in the capital but started at Shanhai Pass, where a breeze suddenly became a terrifying tempest.

On a dark and windy night, the iron hooves of Northern Qi barbarians trampled through Shanhai Pass, bypassed Heyu County, and headed straight for the capital.

That night, the common people in the capital’s outskirts were sleeping soundly when the sound of iron hooves mixed with barking dogs outside awakened them from their dreams.

“Dad, Mom, what’s happening outside?” A young child sat up, rubbing his eyes.

The mother quickly embraced the child, coaxed him back to sleep, and asked the man beside her: “His father, could there be bandits outside?”

The man was a retired soldier. After listening to the sounds outside for a while, he put on his clothes and was about to get up: “It doesn’t sound like it. Those hoof beats are too orderly. Let me go out and see—”

The woman gripped the man tightly: “His father, don’t go out!”

“I won’t go outside. I’ll just go secure the main gate properly.”

Only then did the woman release her grip.

Unfortunately, one person’s strength was too meager when a great disaster struck. The main gate was soon kicked open, and the man who desperately resisted was killed by random blades in the blink of an eye.