The courtyard gate creaked shut with a squeak.

Yan Sanhe walked to the altar table, first set down the incense in her hand, rolled up her sleeves, lifted a wine jar, and poured liquor into each bowl.

Two thousand bowls—she proceeded neither hastily nor slowly, taking a full half-hour to finish pouring.

The fragrance of wine filled the entire courtyard.

She carried the last bowl of wine to the altar table and placed it beside the incense burner.

After completing this, she stood and rested for quite a while before using her left hand to take the incense and bringing the index finger of her right hand to her lips.

A gentle bite.

Blood dripped onto the tip of the incense;

Bringing it near the candle flame, the blood-stained incense tip burst into flames with a whoosh.

In that instant, heaven and earth changed color. Wind came, rain came, roiling black clouds continuously gathered around the blood moon.

Blood-dyed round moon, solitary night, cold heaven.

Sobbing sounds, crying sounds, wailing sounds… each voice seemed to emanate from the gates of the underworld.

Yan Sanhe’s expression remained somber as she inserted the incense into the burner.

If Young Master Pei were here at this moment, he would surely ask in astonishment: “Why is the smoke rising from this incense blood-red?”

Because there were too many wronged souls;

Because the resentment was too heavy;

Because a single thin stick of incense couldn’t bear the burden and needed another drop of Yan Sanhe’s blood to suppress it.

Amid the curling red smoke, Yan Sanhe slowly began to speak.

“Seven months ago, Imperial Observatory Director Zhu Xuanjiu passed away. When the coffin was lowered at night, it split three times. Simultaneously, the Second Mistress of the Zhu household died along with her unborn child—this omen was a heart demon.

At the request of his eldest son, Zhu Yuanmo, I undertook to resolve Zhu Xuanjiu’s heart demon. Upon careful investigation, I discovered that Zhu Xuanjiu was a complete and utter hypocrite. I also discovered that the true owners of the heart demon were all of you.”

As the words fell, the red smoke jumped violently several times, as if it could understand human speech.

“Zhu Xuanjiu’s heart demon was a blood moon, and the blood moon signifies weak righteousness, strong evil, abundant resentment, and fierce malevolence.”

Yan Sanhe raised her head to look at the sky. “This made me understand that your deaths involved grievances.”

The wind stopped, the rain ceased, and the sobbing, crying, and wailing sounds instantly vanished.

Heaven and earth returned to deathly silence.

Only the crimson blood moon overhead coldly gazed down at this world of mortal fires.

“In the thirty-first year of the Yuanfeng era, on the twelfth day of the seventh month, the witchcraft case occurred. Former Crown Prince Zhao Lin raised troops in rebellion. After his defeat, he took his own life.

Those who followed him, those in the Crown Prince’s residence who had connections with him—not one person survived. The source of this case was the witchcraft incident.

Through my investigation, I discovered that Gu Aliu was responsible for digging up the witchcraft dolls and delivering them to the Embroidered Uniform Guard;

Consort Xia was responsible for creating and burying the witchcraft dolls in the Former Crown Prince’s courtyard;

The formation composed of seven steel needles that appeared on the witchcraft dolls, as well as the Late Emperor’s birth date and time, were provided by Taiwei, Zhu Xuanjiu’s personal attendant.

But Taiwei was merely a puppet. The instigator was Zhu Xuanjiu.

Thus, the key participants in the witchcraft case have been brought to light.

However, Gu Aliu, Consort Xia, Zhu Xuanjiu, and Taiwei were all just puppets. The one truly manipulating from behind was the current Emperor, Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji’s purpose in executing this scheme was to bring down the Crown Prince and realize his years of ambition—to ascend the throne and become Emperor.

In the end, he succeeded, while all of you became wronged souls before the gates of the underworld.

Your heart demon originated from the witchcraft case and formally took shape after the military defeat.

Consort Xia died at the hands of Crown Princess Liang Sunyi on the night of the rebellion; Gu Aliu was subsequently silenced.

Because Zhao Ji is the Emperor, you could do nothing to him, so you could only lie dormant for many years, waiting for Zhu Xuanjiu’s natural death.

Your demand was to reveal the true culprit of the witchcraft case to the world, to clear your grievances. But unfortunately…”

Yan Sanhe closed her eyes gently, her voice ineffably sorrowful.

“You will never see that day.”

As the last word fell, black mist surged from the cracks between the flagstones. A fierce wind blew, and in an instant, the black mist swallowed Yan Sanhe…

…

The desolate wilderness was silent.

The blood moon seemed to weep.

Beneath the towering tree, Zhu Xuanjiu’s corpse still lay stiffly, though now it had been gnawed down to nothing but a skeleton.

On the tree perched crows so densely packed—far more than two thousand, truly countless.

At the very top of the tree stood a completely black crow, proud and aloof, with eyes of deep black containing bone-chilling coldness.

The Yin Realm again.

As Yan Sanhe met those eyes, the mask-like calm on her face slowly cracked.

Yes.

Those features—how similar they were to his, even the coldness in the eyes identical.

What should I call you—she wondered to herself.

Yan Sanhe suppressed the emotions in her heart and slowly began to speak.

“‘Boiling beans on a beanstalk fire, the beans in the pot weep and sigh. We grew from the same root—why such haste to fry?’ Cao Zhi’s seven-step poem contains not a single character for ‘kill,’ yet captures completely the brutality of succession struggles.

Qin Er Shi Huhai—

Though the youngest son, in fighting for the throne, he ordered the death of Crown Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian, and didn’t hesitate to kill all his own brothers and sisters.

Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian—

Consecutively killed five princes of the Zhou imperial clan, forced his eight-year-old grandson to issue an abdication decree, modestly declined three times before accepting heaven’s mandate, and thus became Emperor.

Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin—

Launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident, personally shot and killed the Crown Prince—his own elder brother Li Jiancheng—forced his father to become Retired Emperor, and made himself Emperor.

Empress Wu Zetian—

The target of her usurpation was her own biological son. She killed one and deposed another, establishing the Great Zhou.”

Yan Sanhe smiled strangely at the crow perched high above. “Victory and defeat, king and bandit—do you know where you lost?”

The crow looked coldly at Yan Sanhe.

“You lost because you weren’t ruthless enough, weren’t poisonous enough, weren’t ambitious enough, didn’t have enough methods, weren’t heartless enough, weren’t vicious enough, weren’t shameless enough!”

Yan Sanhe sneered coldly. “In summary, you lost on the two characters: benevolence and filial piety.”

The crow suddenly flapped its wings. In the next instant, it had already landed an arm’s length from Yan Sanhe.

Up close, Yan Sanhe could clearly see the towering fury in its eyes.

The blood moon overhead seemed to redden several degrees.

The eyes of the crow multitude also changed, becoming filled with murderous intent.

If eyes could speak, the crows would have rebuked Yan Sanhe in unison: Evil creature, how dare you speak such treasonous words!

Yan Sanhe’s cold smile deepened threefold.

“From the moment of your birth from your mother’s womb, you were designated Crown Prince. Under the protection of Empress Xiaoxian, you grew smoothly and favorably into adulthood.

Who was Empress Xiaoxian?

The woman the Late Emperor most respected—bar none. After she died, the Late Emperor even suspended court for three days in her honor.

You were Empress Xiaoxian’s legitimate eldest son. Barring any accidents, this identity was sufficient to protect you in smoothly ascending to the throne.

Yet after the witchcraft case occurred, the Emperor paid you no attention, letting you crawl back and forth like an ant on a hot griddle.”

Yan Sanhe stepped forward, looking directly into the crow’s eyes.

“Why was this?”

Beneath the blood moon, the crow’s pitch-black pupils slowly widened, and behind it, the pupils of thousands of crows also slowly widened.

“Because you disappointed him; because you stood on his opposing side; because you used your benevolence to highlight his evil!”

Yan Sanhe spoke word by word.