Among the court’s eighty-some princes, only one harbored great ambitions, and that was “Ten Thousand Taxes Tang,” whose fief was in Jiangnan.

The prince nicknamed “Ten Thousand Taxes Tang” wasn’t actually surnamed Tang. Like other imperial family members, his true surname was Zhu with the given name Zhi. “Tang” was merely his princely title. As for why he bore the peculiar name “Zhi,” according to his father, it was for the sake of the common people—should Zhu Zhi ever ascend to the throne one day, no one would need to avoid using this character.

Becoming emperor was naturally spoken in jest. Too many people wanted to be emperor, and Zhu Zhi was merely a prince. Even if a great plague struck Beijing and half the imperial family died, the throne would hardly fall to him. So the character “Zhi” had nothing to do with taboos but was assigned according to the family genealogy, just as Prince Chuan was named Ying, Prince Hui named Qi—their names all bore the “ear” radical. This was ancestral teaching that could not be changed.

As a member of the imperial family, Prince Tang had a name even before birth. Besides this, he had many other things waiting to be inherited. According to this dynasty’s laws, every prince received a thousand-acre fief plus an annual stipend of ten thousand dan of grain. Additionally, he had about a hundred personal guards and over a thousand servants. Of course, he needn’t do any real work—just lying at home enjoying himself would suffice. This sounded quite pleasant, but for the ambitious Prince Tang, it was actually a very arduous task.

As a child, Prince Tang loved reading and wanted to take the imperial examinations to become the top scholar. But his father told him that a top scholar’s official rank was lower than a prince’s, so there was no need to take the exam. Prince Tang wanted to join the military, but his father also advised him not to do such foolish things, because a commander’s noble rank wasn’t as high as a prince’s—if he really went to the battlefield, who would dare command him? So his father advised him not to think such wild thoughts, but to spend his days gambling and drinking, occasionally taking a concubine home—that was proper business.

Not everyone loves gambling and drinking, and not everyone wants to marry seven wives. At least Prince Tang didn’t like it—he had not the slightest interest in such things. He had considered suicide, but couldn’t bring himself to do it because he knew there was still a burning flame in his heart… He wanted to accomplish something… He wanted to accomplish something magnificent and earth-shaking, preferably something that even Taizu and Chengzu had never achieved—that would make life worthwhile.

Taizu was a killing maniac, Chengzu a killing demon. Throughout history, those who wanted to accomplish great things rarely avoided killing, and those who wanted to kill without paying the price needed to hold great power. As for which position held the greatest power—that need not be said. However, Prince Tang knew this path was impassable for him. He was only a distant relative of the emperor, couldn’t even touch the armrest of the throne, and this imperial position would never fall to him. So Prince Tang understood early on that if he wanted to surpass Taizu and Chengzu and sit above the king, he had to take the second path—a force that could rival imperial power:

“Money can make devils push millstones.”

Which was greater, money or power? Prince Tang believed money was greater. Because everything in the world had a price. From a bottle of wine to a piece of land, even men’s lives and women’s legs—everything had a price. The wonderful thing was that although goods were the same, prices could differ between north and south, between Jiangnan and Jiangbei, between spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Even in the same county, the same village, each person was willing to pay different prices. So as long as the timing was right and the price was right, he could profit from it.

Prince Tang was such a person. Once he believed in something, he would never doubt it again. So Prince Tang believed in money’s power more than anyone and dared to use that power more than anyone. From blackened porcelain bottles to moldy tofu, from barren land that couldn’t grow rice to down-and-out scholars and unsuccessful peddlers—anything that looked like garbage in the eyes of the world, he dared to spend money to buy. Because of this, Prince Tang became a famous madman. Every child in the imperial family was repeatedly warned never to learn from that “Mad Tang” Zhu Zhi.

Several years passed, and Prince Tang’s two hundred advisors told him that his black porcelain bottles had become cloisonné, moldy tofu had become stinky tofu, and even the barren land was covered with exquisite gardens that famous merchants and wealthy magnates competed to purchase. Prince Tang also transformed from “Mad Dog Tang” in the eyes of imperial relatives into the world-renowned “Ten Thousand Taxes Tang.”

Haha! Prince Tang laughed. Though he held no imperial throne, he could sit atop money houses, cloth shops, and great granaries. With his beloved generals helping him venture into the court’s weapons supervision business, money begetting money and interest compounding interest, his wealth grew like a rolling snowball. So whenever Prince Tang counted his banknotes, he was glad he hadn’t become emperor, because his wealth was already above that of kings and no longer subject to court restraint. Compared to Taizu and Chengzu of old, he was more carefree, happier, and more able to do as he pleased—he was the greatest figure throughout history!

Haha! Haha! What was “His Majesty” compared to this? Didn’t he still need “Lord Ten Thousand Taxes” to support him? Prince Tang became even happier, but his happiness came to an abrupt halt in his thirty-ninth year, because he encountered someone—another figure who had risen from nothing, someone whose name could stop soldiers and make workers kneel: Jiang Chong. From then on, Prince Tang finally understood one thing: “Which is greater, money or power?”

Which was greater, money or power? According to Prince Tang’s method, this could be calculated by price. Take Liu Angtian’s military authority, for example. He commanded a hundred thousand troops, with common soldiers receiving ten taels monthly salary, totaling a million taels monthly for the entire camp, plus weapons, war horses, and death and injury compensation, often calculated in multiples. So Liu Angtian had to carry away nearly two million taels from the treasury each month. Prince Tang was called enormously wealthy, but his actual family fortune was only thirty-five million taels. If he had to support Liu’s army, how long could he sustain it?

Wealth doesn’t last three generations. If Prince Tang had to support the nation’s million troops, he could at most last three months, but Liu Angtian could enjoy his position of power for twenty years. This being so, Prince Tang appeared mighty but was actually vulnerable. He couldn’t even defeat the “Grand Commander of Northern Expedition,” let alone stand as equals with the two great ministers Jiang Chong and Liu Jing. So when Jiang Chong took a fancy to his dyeing workshop, Prince Tang could only painfully part with it. Later, when Lord Jiang found the weapons business profitable, Prince Tang could only offer it with both hands. In the end, whatever Prince Tang did, Lord Jiang would inevitably arrive with a smiling face. In his resentment, Prince Tang could only flee back to his fief to live in seclusion, swearing never to do business again.

“Within the four seas, all is the king’s land.” Before these eight characters, even if someone could buy all the land under heaven, he still wouldn’t be the master of this world. So Prince Tang understood—the world’s greatest business was neither dyeing and weaving nor building houses, but “for the country, for the people, for the greater self.” In any case, heaven has no two suns, earth no two masters. Since this human world must have a monkey king, it would be best if that monkey king were his son. So Prince Tang had long made up his mind—no matter what this “succession case” required in terms of killing or arson, he would fight to the last soldier. If his son Zai Hao didn’t sit on the imperial throne, he would never let the matter rest.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, in the cold of the first month, Prince Tang looked up and saw the first barrier on the path to power: the “Meridian Gate.”

The Meridian Gate opened three main entrances with side gates on the left and right, magnificent and towering, called the “Five Phoenix Tower.” But no matter how grand this gate was, those familiar with court affairs knew that this Meridian Gate had only one purpose—it was a boundary line. Once crossed, one would enter a place called the “Great Within.”

The Great Within was a mysterious place housing three types of people. The most numerous were women, the unique one was a man, and those who performed menial tasks and suffered humiliation were the third type. They were neither men nor women, commonly called “Eunuchs” and officially titled “Palace Attendants.” Prince Tang had now come to find such a “Eunuch.”

“Eunuch…” Prince Tang approached the Meridian Gate and called out in a low voice: “Eunuch Fang, please open the door quickly. I am Prince Tang.” Prince Tang called out several times, but there was no movement behind the gate. He frowned, knowing the eunuch was having a tantrum again, and had to press his head and face against the door panel, changing his tone: “Chief Manager, I am that Zhu Zhi. We had an appointment—surely you haven’t forgotten, honored sir?”

Prince Tang softened his stance, pleading and shouting, but the great gate remained tightly locked, leaving one at a loss. A nearby attendant whispered: “Your Highness, have you forgotten some password?” Prince Tang exclaimed and then remembered that treasure, hurriedly taking a stack of paper slips from his bosom and stuffing them through the door crack.

The paper slips were thin but worked like keys, because written on them was a line: “Fengtian Bank Draft, One Hundred Taels.” Once the banknotes were inserted, there was a “click” sound and the palace gate indeed opened. From the left side gate, a head emerged, laughing softly: “Oh, Your Highness… you’ve finally graced us with your presence.”

The most useful key in the world was this piece of paper. With great difficulty seeing the gate open, the attendants looked inside and saw a smiling old eunuch standing before them. His skin was crystalline and completely fair—this was the current Chief Manager of the Great Within and Eastern Depot, Eunuch Fang.

“Greeting Prince Tang.” Chief Manager Fang waved his hand, and behind him twelve little eunuchs all knelt down, raising their hands high.

They say beggars ask for food, bandits ask for lives, and naturally those who ask for money are these creatures. Prince Tang was shrewd—seeing everyone’s palms turned upward, he hurriedly took out a thick wad of banknotes from his bosom. Just as he was about to distribute rewards, there was a “swoosh” sound as a hand appeared and intercepted the banknotes halfway. It was the “big boss” Chief Manager Fang.

Giving money had an order—the big boss’s belly couldn’t be full before the little minions could eat bananas. Seeing Prince Tang’s apologetic face, Chief Manager Fang snorted and grasped the banknotes in his hand. His movements were quite nimble—just by gripping the banknotes and lightly flicking his fingers, he determined there were a hundred banknotes in his palm, each worth a hundred taels, totaling exactly ten thousand taels.

The Meridian Gate was the first line of defense for the imperial city. To open it at midnight naturally required a high price. Chief Manager Fang smiled grandly, about to pocket the bribe, when he suddenly saw the little minions drooling, apparently all clamoring to be fed. Chief Manager Fang snorted: “Look at you all being envious—I’ll reward it all to you.”

Chief Manager Fang was truly magnanimous. Without another word, he raised his hand and threw out all the banknotes in his palm. Seeing their superior so generous, the eunuchs were naturally delighted and surprised, hurriedly catching the rewards. After carefully counting and finding the banknotes to be ten sheets thick, a full thousand taels of silver, they couldn’t help but exclaim joyfully: “There are a thousand taels here! Your Highness is truly generous!” Just as they were about to divide the spoils on the spot, they suddenly remembered the big boss was still empty-handed and hurriedly divided the banknotes into two portions, respectfully presenting them.

Chief Manager Fang squinted: “I don’t need my share—give it all to you.” The minions protested: “That won’t do! Everyone gets fifty taels, the Chief Manager should take five hundred taels—that’s not excessive.” The five hundred taels were forcibly presented, and Chief Manager Fang didn’t refuse, tucking them into his bosom. Just as he was about to say some pleasantries, he suddenly saw Prince Tang with his mouth agape, staring at him in shock. Chief Manager Fang’s face reddened as he hurriedly said: “Your Highness has waited long—come, come, please this way.”

The second barrier after the Meridian Gate was Fengtian Gate’s great plaza. Now in the black night, Chief Manager Fang took the lead entering the Great Within. The plaza appeared dark, quiet, and unfathomably deep. Prince Tang, deeply afraid of encountering imperial guards, was naturally anxious, and his attendants also followed step by step. Chief Manager Fang chuckled: “Your Highness, tonight His Majesty has gone to Hongluo Temple to worship Buddha. In this Great Within, you are the highest authority. Even if you wanted to charge straight into the rear palace, that would be entirely at your discretion.”

The rear palace was where the emperor’s favored concubines lived together, truly the most forbidden of forbidden places. Hearing such treasonous words, Prince Tang was naturally scared out of his wits: “Chief Manager! This prince has never entered the palace in his life. Having the rare opportunity to come here, you… you mustn’t joke around—Zhu Zhi cannot bear such guilt!”

Chief Manager Fang laughed heartily, while a little eunuch beside him showed complete amazement: “Your Highness, is this really your first time entering the palace?” Prince Tang sighed: “What else could it be? During the Jingtai years, this prince feuded with Jiang Chong and was forced to avoid living in the outer provinces. How could I be qualified to enter the palace for an audience?”

Chief Manager Fang had also heard about Prince Tang’s early humiliation by Jiang Chong and his subsequent misfortune. Hearing him laugh: “Your Highness, don’t be sad. Though this is your first time entering the palace, shortly our family will take you straight to the dragon’s lair, ensuring your trip is worthwhile.” Saying this, he put his arm around the prince’s shoulder, lowered his voice and laughed slyly: “The examination questions for this succession case are all stored in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Shortly we’ll sneak in and copy those questions… hehe… After that, this imperial palace will be your home—come when you want, leave when you want. How delightful!”

Seeing Chief Manager Fang laughing toward the sky, the eunuchs also winked and said: “Congratulations to Your Highness, felicitations to Your Highness.” Saying this, they extended their hands palm upward. Prince Tang naturally hurriedly took out banknotes and rewarded each person one sheet—everyone who saw got a share.

Now, why did Prince Tang enter the palace secretly at night? It turned out he came to steal examination papers for his son. Originally, to select the Eastern Palace crown prince and avoid favoritism through personal connections, the emperor ordered the adoption of the imperial examination method, dividing into civil and military tests to examine the literary and martial talents of the eight great princes. He thought this method was fair, favoring no one, but unexpectedly “the path rises one foot, the demon rises ten feet”—this Chief Manager Fang was actually secretly selling examination questions, which was truly completely unexpected.

“Chief Manager…” Prince Tang was still somewhat worried, asking in a low voice: “These examination questions… should only be sold to my family, right?” Chief Manager Fang snorted: “Of course! What kind of relationship do Your Highness and this seat have? How could we possibly sell one question to two buyers? Cover all bases?” Saying this, he patted the prince’s back reassuringly: “Rest assured, this time you have exclusive rights. When you enter the examination hall, you’ll know.”

In this era, when sons died in battle, it was undoubtedly the fathers who suffered. Seeing that he would shortly steal examination questions for his son, afterward he’d still need to find an expert to help with the answers. But several Hanlin Academy scholars charged too highly and their answering skills weren’t very good—it was indeed a worry. But troubles weren’t limited to one thing. After all, once answers were prepared, his son would still need to memorize them. Unfortunately, Zai Hao had a poor memory—if he then clamored for cheat sheets, it would inevitably be another troublesome matter. Forget it… disguise techniques would be more useful… Since the emperor had never seen Zai Hao, he could simply disguise himself as a ten-year-old child and take the exam—then he wouldn’t need to spend any money…

Prince Tang walked along sighing all the way. Thinking of disguise techniques reminded him of Jiuhua Mountain, and thinking of Jiuhua Mountain immediately brought to mind that square face. He hurriedly asked: “Chief Manager, how is this prince’s ‘Hundred Longevity Armor’? Have you delivered it to Grand Commander Wu?” Chief Manager Fang laughed: “Rest assured, the item entered the Wu family gate long ago. It’s absolutely foolproof.”

Hearing that the Grand Commander was so easily bribed, Prince Tang was stunned: “Isn’t Wu Dingyuan very incorruptible? He accepted it so easily?” Chief Manager Fang laughed: “Incorruptible my ass! In an incorruptible official’s house, if you search thoroughly, stones can bounce out gold. Let me tell you, this Wu Dingyuan’s methods of gathering money are so fierce, his accumulation so vast, even this seat sighs with inferiority.” Seeing the eunuchs looking at each other and laughing, Prince Tang didn’t dare listen to more of these secrets and hurriedly lowered his head and walked quickly away.

During the idle talk, he could already hear the sound of flowing water. Prince Tang focused his gaze and saw in the darkness a river flowing through the center of the great plaza—this was the artificially excavated “Inner Golden Water River.” Looking at the river surface, five white marble bridges were built, with carved dragon balustrades, looking quite majestic—this must be the famous “Golden Water Bridge.”

The third barrier on the path to power was this Golden Water Bridge. Whether common people or beggars and bandits, as long as they could cross this Golden Water Bridge, from then on they could leap like carps through the dragon gate and become important national figures. Prince Tang gazed at the bridge surface, thinking of the deeds of powerful ministers throughout this dynasty’s history, and couldn’t help but feel emotional: “Chief Manager, when Grand Commander Wu and the others come for morning audience, they must kneel here, right?”

Chief Manager Fang laughed: “Need you ask? Every dawn when day breaks, no matter how high your official position or how many generations of noble title you hold, you must obediently kneel by this bridge and wait to hear His Majesty’s summons. At that time, when the long night has just ended and the rising sun first appears, looking down from the Three Great Halls, the Golden Water River sparkles with myriad lights, plus the orderly ranks of civil and military officials—that’s what you call magnificent!”

Prince Tang secretly nodded, knowing that imperial power was so great that no matter how talented a person was, they still had to listen to the emperor’s use to achieve anything in this world. He carefully observed the Golden Water River’s scale and asked again: “Looking at this river’s massive engineering, when it was first excavated it must have cost millions of dragon silver, right?” Chief Manager Fang scoffed: “Millions of dragon silver? You think we’re building a latrine? It was hundreds of millions!”

Prince Tang was shocked. Having built countless exquisite gardens, he was this dynasty’s architectural expert. Hearing of such enormous expense, his face showed complete surprise: “Hundreds of millions? It’s just digging a big drainage ditch—how could it require so much money?”

Chief Manager Fang spat: “Your Highness, this imperial palace Great Within is hardly ordinary! Even a single brick or tree probably costs fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver.” Saying this, he pointed toward the bridge surface proudly: “Look at those railings there…”

The prince and his attendants were all entering the palace for the first time. They all bent over and stared intently at the dragon-head railings, looking exactly like country bumpkins. Chief Manager Fang’s Beijing accent was drawn out sky-high as he said grandly: “Don’t think these railings are plain and unremarkable! This seat tells you, these railings have a mechanism—when it rains, all these dragon heads will spout water, from here all the way to the Golden Throne Hall. Several thousand dragon heads simultaneously bringing sweet rain—this is called ‘Thousand Dragons Spitting Pearls,’ extremely magnificent…” Prince Tang said in amazement: “Wait, you said spitting pearls… Golden Water Bridge dragons spitting pearls?”

Chief Manager Fang snorted: “Don’t believe it? Tomorrow when heavy rain pours down, all these dragon heads will spout water. You come to the palace then and take a look—won’t you understand?” Just as he was speaking, suddenly a eunuch laughed: “Eunuch, you forgot the court is suffering drought!”

“Go to hell.” Chief Manager Fang turned angry eyes sideways and immediately delivered a slap, making that eunuch cry loudly. The Zhengtong dynasty’s drought and little rain was known by all, young and old—how could anyone touch on such bad luck? Chief Manager Fang spat and shouted: “You bastards, listen—our His Majesty has gone to Hongluo Temple to pray for rain! Maybe right now Heaven will bestow its favor!” Saying this, he raised his palm toward the sky and shouted: “Heaven sends sweet rain!”

After waiting for quite a while, Heaven naturally showed no movement, and even the eunuchs were lowering their heads and dozing, apparently taking him for a madman. Chief Manager Fang felt awkward and could only shout: “Understand? Anyway, our palace spent hundreds of millions of taels—everything is priceless treasure! Today we’ve let you country folk open your eyes wide!” Prince Tang murmured: “Yes, yes.” He didn’t dare argue and was about to leave quickly when suddenly he cried “Ah!” in pain, his body pitching forward and falling into his attendants’ embrace.

The attendants were alarmed and hurriedly looked down, shocked to see a broken stone slab on the bridge with a jagged hole in the center, even growing two weeds—naturally causing someone to trip and fall. Prince Tang said in shock: “Chief Manager, didn’t the palace spend hundreds of millions of taels? Why not fix this broken brick?”

“Broken brick?” Chief Manager Fang looked blank: “What broken brick?” Saying this, he looked down and examined it for a long time, his expression suspicious. Prince Tang was getting somewhat angry, thinking that his lifetime of tax payments had unexpectedly been used this way. For a moment, he raised his foot and stomped hard on the broken hole, making stone fragments fly everywhere, angrily saying: “Chief Manager! Are your old eyes dim? If this isn’t a broken brick, what is it?”

Chief Manager Fang examined it closely for a long time before exclaiming “Ah!”: “You mean this spot? This isn’t a broken brick at all! This is a priceless treasure!” Saying this, he bent down and took out silk to cover the broken hole, lovingly protecting it there. Prince Tang looked quite displeased and said coldly: “Why can’t this brick be replaced? Can the Chief Manager give a reason?”

“Listen clearly.” Chief Manager Fang coughed and then sighed toward the sky: “This brick is for the country, for the people, everything for the citizens.”

Hearing this brick was so absurd, Prince Tang was naturally dumbfounded, and the eunuchs also looked at each other in disbelief. Chief Manager Fang shook his head and swayed for a while, then said: “You think our family is talking nonsense, right? Listen well—this brick isn’t for ordinary people to stand on, but where the three-generation Grand Commanders stand during morning court. Whenever the nation faces difficulties, they stomp their feet hatefully. Not only has Qin Baxian kicked it and Liu Angtian trampled it, even Wu Dingyuan often adds a couple of kicks. Look—after forty years of kicking and beating, this brick has become like our suffering rivers and mountains…” Saying this, he held up the broken brick and cried: “Shattered…”

While still sobbing sadly, Prince Tang and the others had already walked far away, hearing a little eunuch shouting from a distance: “Chief Manager, we’re still waiting to steal the examination questions—are you coming or not?” Chief Manager Fang hurriedly responded. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to stomp chaotically at the broken hole, turning the small hole into a big deep pit. With such a large pit, even if a blind person entered the palace in the future, they wouldn’t fall in.

Everyone passed over the matter and continued walking. Before long, suddenly their eyes darkened as a black shadow appeared ahead blocking their path, appearing towering and magnificent like a giant looking down at them. Prince Tang was greatly shocked and hurriedly asked: “What… what is that thing?” Chief Manager Fang put away his rogue manner and bowed: “Answering Your Highness, this place is Fengtian Gate.”

The world’s number one gate was called “Fengtian.” This gate faced south with unparalleled grandeur, being the place where the emperor held court at the gate. Whether it was the former Emperor Jingtai or the current Emperor Zhengtong, all national policies were decided here. Prince Tang’s heart was uneasy as he asked in a low voice: “Chief Manager, may this prince go look under the gate?” Saying this, he offered banknotes with a pleading expression. Seeing the prince buying tickets, Chief Manager Fang couldn’t very well refuse and could only cough: “The imperial gate’s precious platform is a place of national importance—Your Highness may go and return.”

Surrounded by the eunuchs, the group came to directly in front of the imperial gate. Prince Tang looked up in reverence and saw this gate was majestically towering—even in the dark night, one could feel that solemn atmosphere. Prince Tang no longer dared to joke, and in his inner awe walked toward the base of the gate. In an instant, he saw a golden platform with an incense burner placed in front, carved with the forms of rivers and mountains. Looking at the platform’s side railings guarded on five sides, directly ahead were nine heavenly steps leading straight to the dragon throne.

Nine and five… Thinking of these two numbers, Prince Tang was struck as if by thunder, knowing he had seen the true imperial throne. Just as he was about to approach two steps closer, Chief Manager Fang grabbed him and frowned: “Your Highness, where do you think you’re going?” Prince Tang coughed: “This prince wants to go up and have a look—is that possible?” Chief Manager Fang shook his head: “No.” Prince Tang offered banknotes, but Chief Manager Fang blocked his way: “Your Highness can look at other things, but this imperial throne cannot be viewed. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, that would be troublesome.”

Prince Tang said in surprise: “Goes wrong?” He looked left and right but saw no patrolling guards, hurriedly saying: “There’s no one around—what could go wrong?” Chief Manager Fang sighed: “Your Highness doesn’t know—this precious throne is somewhat… somewhat sticky. No matter who goes up there gets stuck to it permanently.”

“Stuck to it?” Prince Tang was greatly shocked, thinking of dead mice on animal traps, and said in alarm: “What? Has His Majesty set up mechanisms here?” Chief Manager Fang shook his head: “You’re overthinking. This seat is for His Majesty to sit on—who would dare install any mechanisms?”

Prince Tang breathed a sigh of relief: “If that’s the case, what harm is there in taking a look?” Just as he was about to rush forward, he was blocked again. Chief Manager Fang sighed: “Your Highness, if you insist on looking, our family can’t very well stop you. But you must provide some collateral.”

Seeing Chief Manager Fang desperately wanting money, Prince Tang wasn’t afraid and immediately took out a large handful of banknotes, stuffing them all over. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Chief Manager Fang pulled him back and shook his head: “Your Highness, this amount isn’t enough.” Prince Tang snorted and removed the ring from his hand, angrily saying: “This is top-grade jade from Laos, worth a hundred thousand taels of silver—is that enough?”

Chief Manager Fang shook his head indifferently: “Your Highness, what you want to see is the imperial throne—what can a hundred thousand taels serve as collateral for? Come, hand over the keys to your money houses.” The reason Prince Tang was wealthy enough to rival a nation was half because he controlled money houses. He snorted and said loudly: “Chief Manager, don’t go too far.”

Chief Manager Fang shook his head: “Your Highness, this is collateral, not robbery. After you’ve viewed the golden platform’s precious throne, our family will naturally return the deposit to you.” Prince Tang snorted and had to tear off a large string of keys from his waist, saying resentfully: “Thirty-five million taels of silver, forty boxes of gold bars, flying money that works in twelve provinces’ money houses—it’s all in your hands now.” Seeing the treasury keys here, all the eunuchs couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement. Chief Manager Fang remained noncommittal, simply letting go of his hand to indicate the prince could do as he pleased.

“Bastard? Who cares about your stinking precious throne…” Prince Tang muttered under his breath as he quickly walked up the nine heavenly steps, secretly cursing in his heart.

Prince Tang wasn’t speaking casually—he truly meant it. What imperial throne might make others drool with envy, but in his eyes it was like a bone-attached maggot that brought nothing but irritation. Thinking of how he had paid taxes his entire life, daily oppressed by this throne—during the Jingtai era when the emperor wanted to campaign against barbarians, he was the first to eagerly empty his pockets, only to see the entire army corrupt from top to bottom. Later, when Emperor Zhengtong wanted to punish criminals, Prince Tang also happily donated, only to see the officials sleeping soundly. Sometimes when his heart worried about where the silver went and he timidly came to ask about results, he only received a furious roar: “Rebel! Do you want to spy on state secrets?”

Prince Tang grew even more furious. What Emperors Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and Kings Wen and Wu—their salaries all came from his “Lord Ten Thousand Taxes'” pocket, yet these bandits still claimed to be sages, full of talk about court benevolence and wearing expressions as if they had done him favors. So Prince Tang had long made a great vow—though he had no connection to the imperial throne in this lifetime, sooner or later he would come before the imperial couch and spit a mouthful of pus and phlegm to resolve the hatred in his heart.

Using thirty million taels as collateral, he could finally vent his anger. Prince Tang resentfully climbed the nine heavenly steps. Along the way, he didn’t step on any mechanisms, but the steps were made of pure gold inlaid with precious stones and agates, making walking quite awkward. No wonder emperors throughout history always had short lifespans—walking on gold all day, how could they avoid falling to death occasionally?

Prince Tang smiled coldly, feeling somewhat satisfied in his heart. With great difficulty passing through the steps and reaching the precious throne, he saw behind the seat a jade screen, looking crystal clear and emerald green, its natural patterns forming a divine dragon. Looking at the five-sided armrests carved with coiling dragons and phoenixes, the workmanship was exquisite—also a priceless treasure.

Seeing the precious objects before him, Prince Tang suddenly chuckled, then looked up to the sky and exclaimed, working up a mouthful of phlegm. The eunuchs watching from afar suddenly saw Prince Tang puffing out his cheeks—this mouthful of phlegm was both thick and abundant, shocking them greatly. Just as they were about to rush forward to stop him, Chief Manager Fang only smiled and waved his hand, indicating there was no problem.

In the silence, Prince Tang opened his mouth and was coldly chuckling, about to spit on the precious throne, when suddenly his eyes lit up as if he had seen something. This mouthful of phlegm somehow couldn’t be spat out. The eunuchs were stunned: “What… what’s he doing now?” Chief Manager Fang smiled slightly: “Look where he’s looking.” The eunuchs focused their gaze and saw Prince Tang standing on the golden platform, staring blankly toward the south as if stupefied. Everyone was confused: “Has he… has he seen a ghost?”

Chief Manager Fang shook his head: “Ridiculous. Below Fengtian Gate, even the nine heavenly gods and Buddhas wouldn’t dare descend casually—what spirits would dare approach?” He gazed toward outside the imperial gate and sighed: “Let me tell you—he has climbed onto the dragon’s back.”

Beijing was called “Eight-Armed Nezha City,” harnessing an angry dragon to oversee the world. To outsiders, this was merely legend, but Chief Manager Fang, who accompanied the emperor to morning court daily, knew these words were not false.

The imperial throne was no ordinary place. It was located on Beijing’s central axis. When a person came to the imperial throne and sat upright facing south, instantly his body would align with that axis. At that moment, Fengtian Gate, Meridian Gate, Five Phoenix Tower, Chengtian Gate, and even all the government offices and judicial departments—all of the capital’s scenery would be cut into neat halves by this line. That majesty and grandeur was like straddling a divine dragon’s spine, sufficient to control the world.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees”—the final barrier on this path to power was Fengtian Gate. Before this golden platform, Jingtai dynasty’s Jiang Chong, Liu Jing, Liu Angtian… and even more ancient figures like Qin Baxian and recent ones like Wu Dingyuan—they all knelt and prostrated before this throne. They were not the emperor’s slaves, but pledged loyalty to the four characters behind the imperial seat: “The World and Nation.”

The world and nation, facing south as king—wherever people gathered, inevitably a throne would emerge. It was the sage ruler’s high altar and also the tyrant’s slaughterhouse. Though it might harm the people, it could also bring ten thousand generations of peace—it all depended on who sat upon it. If Prince Tang wanted to defile it, that would be easy enough, but to restore the throne’s dignity—how difficult that would be!

Now in the deep night, all the stars in the sky gathered to guard the throne’s dignity. But Prince Tang was flustered. He stood there stupidly holding that mouthful of phlegm, not knowing what to do, because he had already mounted the dragon’s back. He stared blankly at that precious throne, thinking of a lifetime of being extorted for silver by it, truly wanting to spit a mouthful of phlegm to completely destroy it. But reconsidering its hidden meaning, he couldn’t bear to do so.

What to do? What to do? In the complete silence, Prince Tang stared blankly at the precious couch. Suddenly his heart warmed, his pupils dilated, his breathing quickened, and his eyes saw a third path.

Yes! How could he forget those two characters? Reform! “If you can one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renovation!” As long as there could be improvement, everything would be renewed. As long as there could be reform, the entire nation would be new. Only by having the Son of Heaven step down from the throne to be with the people, advancing with the times—only then could this throne be renewed. That would be true “Mandate of Heaven.”

This throne couldn’t be destroyed—it still had use, because there were still people who could transform it.

“Long live! Long live! Long live forever!” Suddenly Prince Tang’s throat burst with a great roar. He spread out his yellow robe’s hem, gazed toward the south, and ascended to the throne.

Seeing Prince Tang sit upon the throne as if donning the yellow robe, beginning to rule by Heaven’s mandate, the eunuchs couldn’t help but be shocked, saying in trembling voices: “Chief Manager, it’s over… His Highness has also gotten stuck. What… what do we do?”

No matter who came to the throne, they all got stuck to it permanently, becoming mindless idiots. But Chief Manager Fang was prepared and wasn’t afraid. He said directly: “Don’t panic—he still has collateral with me. I’m not afraid of being unable to wake him.” Saying this, he clapped his hands vigorously and called out: “Your Highness, get up quickly! We should go handle proper business.”

“Audacious.” Two gazes slanted slightly as Prince Tang’s face darkened, saying sternly: “Do you want to obstruct reform?” The eunuchs looked at each other, and Chief Manager Fang was also completely confused: “Re… form? Your… Your Highness wants to reform what?”

“Hmph…” Prince Tang raised his head, dragon nose snorting, dragon voice proud: “The court’s accumulated evils run deep. I will reform everything. Whoever dares obstruct will die.” The eunuchs were horrified to hear this. Chief Manager Fang shook the keys in his hand and called out: “Your Highness, stop joking! Your money is all here. If you still want to get it back, then come down.”

“Begone.” Prince Tang closed his eyes calmly: “To seek reform, I am willing to sacrifice my life—what is a little money? No matter what person or matter, don’t think of making me get up.”

Seeing the prince sitting like an old monk in meditation, stuck very firmly, the eunuchs became flustered: “Chief Manager, what do we do now? Should we go find Consort Li?” Chief Manager Fang was extremely troubled: “It’s useless. His symptoms are strange, different from Prince Xu and Prince Feng. I think even if Consort Li stripped naked, he wouldn’t glance at her.”

Earlier this year when Emperor Zhengtong went to the Temple of Heaven to worship ancestors, Prince Xu and Prince Feng also took the opportunity to tour the imperial city. At that time, they both, like Prince Tang, had gotten stuck to the throne, babbling about rear palace pleasures and couldn’t be persuaded to get up. Fortunately, the imperial city beauty Consort Li happened to pass by, and with her peerless appearance and coquettish voice, she managed to lure the two princes down. But seeing Prince Tang full of reform talk, his symptoms so strange and unprecedented, they didn’t know how to get him down.

Seeing Prince Tang closing his eyes solemnly, apparently wanting to settle down permanently up there, the eunuchs were full of panic and whispered: “Chief Manager, what do we do now? Should we go up and use force?” Chief Manager Fang waved his hand: “Don’t act rashly. He’s mentally unclear now. If we forcibly drag him, he’ll definitely think a coup has come and will fight to the death.”

The more self-important a person was, the stickier their bottom usually became. Chief Manager Fang’s mind turned slightly, knowing he couldn’t use force, so he put on a submissive appearance and stepped forward: “Your Highness has the heart to reform and benefit the ten thousand people—our family admires this greatly. But Your Highness, everyone wants to reform, not just Your Highness alone. You’ve been reforming for so long—shouldn’t you come down to rest and let someone else go up…?” The eunuchs hurriedly said: “Yes, Your Highness! We’re also waiting to go up and reform!”

Chief Manager Fang was speaking along these lines to penetrate Prince Tang’s inner thoughts and slowly lure him down. Indeed, Prince Tang’s body moved slightly as he murmured: “Yes, I seem to have sat too long…” The eunuchs were overjoyed and were about to step forward to welcome him, when suddenly Prince Tang exclaimed “Ah!” and with a heavy thud of his bottom, sat back down and closed his eyes to meditate again.

Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “What happened? Did Your Highness strain your back?” Just as he was about to step forward to check, he heard Prince Tang sigh: “Stay back—don’t come near.” The eunuchs stepped forward two paces in surprise: “Why?” Prince Tang pointed angrily: “Get away! You fake reformers actually want to force out this true reformer—do you think I don’t know? All of you get away!” The eunuchs were dumbfounded, never imagining that reform had true and false distinctions. Seeing Prince Tang entrenched and refusing to leave, apparently wanting to die on the throne, Chief Manager Fang could only smile bitterly: “Your Highness, forget it. Whether you’re truly reforming or falsely reforming, you only have a hundred years to live. Come down quickly—you can’t finish reforming.” The eunuchs also said: “Yes, Your Highness! Who doesn’t face death? The world’s accumulated evils are deep—you should come down and rest earlier.”

“Yes… who doesn’t face death…” These words moved Prince Tang again. He stared blankly at the horizon and said in a trembling voice: “Though I am brilliant and divine, wholehearted in reform, I also only have a hundred years to live. This… after I pass away, what will happen to the world’s common people?” Saying this, he covered his face and wept, overcome with grief. Chief Manager Fang knew his plan was working and hurried to console him gently: “Your Highness, don’t cry! Human strength has its limits—don’t be stubborn. Come down quickly…” Just as he was about to persuade further, he saw Prince Tang’s eyes light up as he said joyfully: “Wait! Though I will die, reform can continue without interruption.” Chief Manager Fang said in amazement: “Why?” Prince Tang laughed: “I still have a son!”

“Damn…” The eunuchs were extremely horrified. Seeing this Prince Tang’s self-sacrifice for reform wasn’t enough—he even wanted to drag his son into it. With father dying and son succeeding, elder brother ending and younger brother continuing, who knew where this would end!

Chief Manager Fang was furious and didn’t know what to do when suddenly his mind awakened, thinking of the story of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. He hurriedly raised his voice and shouted: “Someone come! Quickly bring the elixir of immortality to give His Highness!” Hearing the four words “elixir of immortality,” Prince Tang immediately cheered and rose, rushing straight down from the throne, saying joyfully: “Excellent! I can reform forever!”

With a thud, the prince fell to the ground, tumbling face-first. The eunuchs, harboring resentment, immediately punched and kicked him, shouting: “Reform your mother’s head! Beat you to death!” Just as they were about to vent their anger thoroughly, footsteps clattered outside as all the attendants rushed in, shouting: “What are you doing?” The attendants rushed forward to help the prince up. Prince Tang, seeing his clothes disheveled and himself lying on the ground, couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise: “Eh? How… how did I end up lying here?” The eunuchs angrily said: “Still playing dumb? You got stuck to the throne—have you forgotten?”

Prince Tang’s face reddened. Seeing Chief Manager Fang still holding his keys, he hurriedly snatched them back apologetically: “Sorry, sorry—this prince was momentarily confused. Please forgive me, Eunuch.” Chief Manager Fang was used to such things and sighed: “Forget it. The stickiest thing in the world is this throne. If it weren’t so sticky, how could all those who sat on it for thousands of years never get down?”

Everyone suddenly understood, realizing the imperial throne was extraordinary. Once an ordinary person sat on it, not only could they never get up for life, but father would pass to son, son to grandson—for thousands of generations all would stick to it. Prince Tang sighed in his heart. Looking at the imperial throne, he suddenly thought of his great reform enterprise and couldn’t help sighing: “Heroes and gallant men, poets and scholars—all are just common people… Alas… Though the world has many outstanding talents, once they truly sit on the throne, how many would willingly step down?”

Since ancient times, emperors donning the yellow robe all relied on murder and deception. Having finally fought and lost half their lives to climb onto the dragon’s back, how could they easily come down? No wonder throughout history, emperors only gave up power when they died or were forced down by palace coups. To find one willing to voluntarily abandon the imperial position was absolutely unique. Chief Manager Fang laughed: “Enough, enough! If there really were someone in this world willing to step down voluntarily, they’d either be crazy or stupid—how could they have climbed to the emperor’s position in the first place?” The eunuchs also laughed: “Yes! If there really were such a freak, that would be a sage—why would we need to make him step down?”

Amid the laughter, everyone left completely, leaving all around in silence. Only on Fengtian Gate could be seen carved beams and painted rafters depicting two elders—on the left was “Yao,” on the right was “Shun.” Poor these two old men had stood up there for hundreds of years. Though people came and went below their feet, no one bothered to look at them, let alone know what they had done.

Leaving Fengtian Gate, another magnificent hall appeared ahead, with dragon-carved stone steps surrounded by three-tiered golden platforms—this was “Fengtian Hall,” one of the Three Great Halls. This hall’s architecture was magnificent, displaying imperial majesty—commonly called the “Golden Throne Hall.” Chief Manager Fang stopped and asked: “Your Highness, would you like to enter the hall to look?”

After the previous disturbance, no one was in the mood. Seeing Prince Tang shaking his head repeatedly, Chief Manager Fang said: “Right, let’s go steal the examination questions instead. Let’s not cause more trouble.” Saying this, he led everyone toward the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation was located west of Qianqing Gate, adjacent to the emperor’s sleeping quarters. Currently it was the examination hall for the eight princes. Without Chief Manager Fang’s insider theft, it wouldn’t be easy to break in. Everyone circled around the Golden Throne Hall and walked west. Suddenly they passed a great hall that appeared cold and desolate, looking extremely sinister in the darkness. Prince Tang stopped and asked: “Chief Manager, what place is this? Why is it so sinister and frightening?” Chief Manager Fang sighed: “This is Renzhi Hall. After our emperor passes away, his spirit will rest here.”

The scene ahead was gloomy and bleak. This Renzhi Hall, commonly called “White Tiger Hall,” was where the emperor’s coffin would be placed. Currently Emperor Zhengtong was in good health, so the hall was naturally empty with no guards walking before the gate. Prince Tang stared intently and suddenly said: “Chief Manager, may this prince go in and have a look?”

The eunuchs were slightly stunned. Seeing this place desolate and lonely with neither antiques nor treasures, they wondered why it was worth touring. Chief Manager Fang frowned: “Your Highness, there’s really nothing good to see here. If you want to sightsee, why not return to Fengtian Hall?” Just as he was about to speak, suddenly his hand tightened as another thick stack of banknotes appeared. He heard Prince Tang say: “Chief Manager, this prince just wants to look here—is that possible?”

“Fine…” Chief Manager Fang yawned: “We’ll risk our lives to accompany you—we’ll tour this haunted house with you.” The group climbed the steps and entered the hall. Indeed, it was empty all around—truly nothing to see. Chief Manager Fang sighed: “Your Highness, look at whatever you want. Don’t say our family is stopping you.”

The eunuchs chuckled, knowing the chief manager was joking. Who knew Prince Tang took it seriously and actually walked to the wall, knocking and tapping there, not knowing what he was doing. Chief Manager Fang walked over laughing: “Your Highness, Renzhi Hall has no people, only ghosts. If you keep knocking, don’t let the ghosts open the door!” He laughed heartily, but suddenly the wall in front made a sound and the entire surface rose up.

“My God!” The ghost door had truly opened! Chief Manager Fang’s soul flew beyond the heavens, and the eunuchs also cried out in horror, tumbling to the ground one by one.

A dark secret passage appeared before them, pitch black and leading to unknown places. Everyone stared in amazement, but Prince Tang smiled slightly: “It seems the rumors were true.” Chief Manager Fang stammered: “What… what rumors?” Prince Tang laughed: “Eunuch, you’ve forgotten. When the Eastern Depot experienced that deadly catastrophe years ago—what was it for?”

Chief Manager Fang’s teeth chattered as he said coldly: “Could it be this secret passage is… is from back then… back then…” Prince Tang smiled: “Forgotten your old boss’s name? Let me tell you—this secret passage is where your old boss, Eastern Depot Chief Manager Liu Jing, launched his coup years ago.” Saying this, he waved his hand and commanded: “Brothers, remove your disguises.”

At Prince Tang’s command, the eight attendants immediately removed their clothes and hats, revealing their true attire. These people had varied appearances—some with dark skin, some with high nose bridges—all were foreign individuals, definitely not ordinary princely guards.

Martial arts masters had arrived! This group of experts weren’t from the Central Plains. Under their clothes they still hid weapons—knives and swords—all possessing extraordinary skills. Chief Manager Fang broke out in cold sweat. He looked at Liu Jing’s secret passage, then at the large group of masters, and said in a trembling voice: “Your Highness, you… you didn’t come to steal examination questions? What… what is this about?”

“Steal examination questions?” Prince Tang narrowed his old eyes as the attendants laughed heartily. Seeing the eunuchs’ horrified faces, Prince Tang put away his smile and said solemnly: “Eunuch Fang, what imperial examination, what succession conference—this prince has never taken them seriously. I entered the palace today specifically to enter this secret passage.” Saying this, he waved his hand: “Men, prepare to enter the tunnel.”

Swish, swish, swish—the attendants drew their weapons and stood beside the prince, ready to charge into the secret passage at any moment. Prince Tang glanced back and smiled: “Chief Manager Fang, don’t stand there dazed—come along.”

Over ten years ago, the court experienced a great disaster with widespread implication and destruction, all originating from Liu Jing’s coup attempt. At that time, Chief Manager Fang was just a food-serving eunuch. Watching his predecessors tortured to death one by one, he was naturally scared out of his wits. Later he escaped the deadly catastrophe. Since then, the Eastern Depot had no old hands—the monkey became king because all the capable people had died. He climbed year by year and with great difficulty took over Liu Jing’s position. Who knew this secret passage would appear in the world again—was it going to drag him in too?

Seeing Prince Tang smiling at him, eighty percent intending to risk his life, Chief Manager Fang’s whole body went soft. While wiping his tears, he cried and pleaded: “Your Highness, Old Fang is old with low martial arts—I can’t help.” Prince Tang smiled: “Eunuch, don’t reject people from a thousand li away. This prince has always considered you a confidant.”

The way of coup attempts required gambling with one’s life and property. Seeing Liu Jing’s fate right before his eyes, Chief Manager Fang had already knelt on the ground, covering his face and crying: “No… I can retire and return home in two more years. Your Highness, spare me!” The other eunuchs, seeing their boss crying, wailed even more loudly, already kowtowing like pounding garlic. Prince Tang sighed: “Chief Manager, how can one cherish life when doing great things? Don’t disappoint me.” He stepped forward two paces and was about to reach out to help when suddenly Chief Manager Fang flipped up and shouted: “Strike!”

Capture the bandit leader first, shoot the horse before the man—Chief Manager Fang’s words had barely emerged when his right-hand whisk immediately flew toward the guards, then his left hand shot out toward Prince Tang’s pulse point. He was already shouting loudly: “Someone come! Go report to Lord Wu! Say Prince Tang Zhu Zhi intends rebellion!”

Chief Manager Fang was after all the Eastern Depot’s number one figure, extremely quick to assess situations. Seeing the situation unfavorable, he immediately struck first. Prince Tang had no martial arts skills and was about to be captured when at that moment an attendant struck with his palm, already exchanging blows with Chief Manager Fang.

Chief Manager Fang smiled coldly. Though his martial arts as Eastern Depot Chief Manager couldn’t compare to Wu Dingyuan’s, he was still one of the top experts in the current depot guards. Especially this “Eagle Claw Grappling Hand” technique he had practiced to perfection—once an enemy engaged him in grappling combat, it was “using one’s weakness to attack the other’s strength” with no chance of victory.

Both sides held each other with palms. Chief Manager Fang, relying on his “Eagle Claw Hand’s” power, had quickly grasped that guard’s wrist, then twisted his right palm and placed his left palm on the shoulder, pressing the opponent’s body down. Just as he was about to separate tendons and dislocate bones, twisting off the opponent’s wrist, suddenly his fingers loosened as that attendant bent down, his body turning in a circle and somehow getting behind him.

Chief Manager Fang was greatly alarmed. Joint control was extremely painful—once grasped and pressed down, one could never break free again. How could this person feel no pain and easily escape his grasp? Chief Manager Fang was greatly panicked. Just as he was about to turn and defend against the enemy, he suddenly felt joint pain, then a great force from his shoulder, forcing his knees to the ground as the opponent firmly controlled him.

In the finger-strength duel, Chief Manager Fang was defeated within three moves. In pain and panic, he said in a trembling voice: “What… what kind of martial arts is this?” Prince Tang smiled slightly and explained: “This is soft bone technique. My attendant is from Tianzhu, skilled in yoga and soft bone arts, having dominated Tianzhu for over ten years. For the Chief Manager to play grappling with him—that’s right up his alley.” Chief Manager Fang was in such pain that cold sweat streamed down his forehead. Regardless of everything, he shouted at his disciples: “What are you standing there for? Quickly escape! Go find Wu Dingyuan!” Hearing their superior’s furious roar and curses, the eunuchs finally came to their senses and immediately swarmed away in flight, crying: “Lord Wu, quickly come save us!”

The Zhengtong dynasty’s number one expert was Wu Dingyuan. He commanded heavy troops and was extremely loyal to Emperor Zhengtong. If anyone in the capital staged a rebellion, he would be the first opponent. No matter how strong this Tianzhu master’s martial arts were, what was he worth in the eyes of a “True Dragon of a Generation”?

Amid the panicked cries, the eunuchs were about to rush out of the hall when Prince Tang remained unalarmed and said calmly: “Ruizuo.” With two crisp sounds, wooden clogs dropped to the ground. The eunuchs exclaimed in surprise, and before they could find an alternate route, a pair of bare feet appeared before their eyes. Looking at those big toes, black and widely separated from the other four toes in a strange formation—they didn’t know what region this person was from.

“Japanese pirates?” Chief Manager Fang was the first to recognize the person. The eunuchs hurriedly looked and indeed saw a short man had appeared in the hall. This person was less than five feet tall, resembling Wu Dalang in stature, yet his face was stern and dignified like Wu Song’s appearance. It was truly like the Wu brothers combined—completely mismatched. Though the eunuchs were in danger, they still found it amusing.

“Ruizuo…” Prince Tang said indifferently: “Draw your sword.” A weapon was slowly raised. The eunuchs focused their gaze and saw the weapon was fire-red in color—neither quite a knife nor quite a sword, about four feet long and slightly curved, truly unprecedented. Looking at that person’s slanted eyes and sunken shoulders, his stance was very steady. Chief Manager Fang, seeing his minions filled with fear, was furious: “What are you afraid of? Haven’t you practiced martial arts? Quickly show your weapons!”

The eunuchs exclaimed and then remembered they too had martial arts skills. Immediately they displayed their personal weapons—iron plaques, iron flutes, iron fans, and even jade hairpins and jade combs—all court daily items. Apparently the eunuchs, unable to openly carry knives in daily life, had mastered these strange weapons, which presumably had clever mechanisms and uses.

Strange weapons faced off against an Eastern ocean Japanese sword. Both sides’ forces confronted each other in a standoff. Prince Tang had eight attendants while the Eastern Depot had twelve eunuchs. Prince Tang was quite magnanimous—he didn’t threaten hostages but simply walked to Chief Manager Fang’s side and smiled: “Eunuch, we happen to have a chance to practice our troops. Let’s see whether your men are stronger or my subordinates are superior?”

Seeing the Eastern Depot’s disciples trembling all over, cowering before even fighting, Chief Manager Fang was furious with shame. He suddenly grabbed a jade bottle from the table and threw it fiercely at the Eastern ocean warrior, shrieking: “You bastards! Charge together!” Inspired by their superior’s battle cry, the eunuchs simultaneously thrust out their weapons. That “Ruizuo” also stomped his wooden clogs heavily, making the entire hall ring with crisp sounds.

The jade bottle came with great speed, flying over first. Following behind the jade bottle were twelve strange weapons. Suddenly there was a swishing sound as blade light flashed. Everyone saw clearly that the jade bottle split in mid-air into upper and lower halves, the cut extremely smooth. Even more horrifying, the water inside the bottle was also cut in half, the cut surface extremely flat.

With a splash, water scattered on the ground, creating two puddles in the hall. Looking back at the Eastern ocean warrior, he had already returned his blade to its sheath and bowed to the prince. Prince Tang smiled: “Chief Manager Fang, the outcome is decided. What do you have to say?” Chief Manager Fang angrily said: “Who lost? My subordinates are all still alive!” Just as his words ended, there was a clang as half an iron ruler fell to the ground, followed by a section of whisk dropping down. In an instant, iron plaques, iron rulers, silk ribbons, and soft ropes all broke into two pieces.

All the eunuchs were stunned. They looked at the half-weapons in their hands, still in shock, when suddenly there was a “rip” sound like tearing silk. The eunuchs looked down and saw their cotton robes had split open, revealing their inner garments. Just as they reached to cover themselves, there was another “hiss” as the inner garments tore, revealing bare chests.

Below the chest were blood and internal organs—if it broke further, that would be… In silence, the eunuchs stared blankly at their chests, seeing skin slowly splitting open in a line, seeping deep red blood…

“Ah!” Everyone was greatly alarmed and hurriedly covered their chests, fearing disembowelment. Prince Tang laughed heartily: “Rest assured, my ‘Ruizuo’ is very measured in his strikes. He came with Japanese tribute envoys to Beijing for New Year celebrations, and this prince borrowed him for use. Everyone, please appreciate whether this prince’s thirty thousand taels of silver was worth it or not?”

“Worth it! Worth it!” Chief Manager Fang, knowing his life hung by a thread, hurriedly laughed heartily: “Congratulations Your Highness! Felicitations Your Highness!” The eunuchs were also opportunistic types who, having narrowly escaped death, hurriedly imitated their superior’s manner, simply laughing and kowtowing. Prince Tang laughed: “I’ve made a fool of myself, made a fool of myself. Come, Chief Manager, let’s talk less…” He pointed toward the secret passage entrance and smiled: “Come, let’s bravely charge through the gates of hell together and see the underworld.”

“No, no! No!” Chief Manager Fang’s soul flew beyond the heavens as he frantically shook his hands.

Seeing that this coup was truly a desperate gamble—once undertaken, it was equivalent to betting nine generations’ lives—the eunuchs, hearing they had to go to hell, immediately wailed loudly. Prince Tang sighed: “Chief Manager Fang, we’ve already fought—please do me this favor.” As he spoke, eight attendants surrounded them, completely encircling Chief Manager Fang. The Tianzhu monk stood silently in front, the Eastern ocean swordsman watched like a tiger from behind, and nearby were six other foreign individuals, each with bright, piercing eyes—all extraordinary figures.

Chief Manager Fang broke out in cold sweat. Seeing himself advanced in years, able to retire and return home in just two years, it really wasn’t worth playing this game. But if Prince Tang relied on strength to force him, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t die violently. Knowing that one wrong answer could cost his life, he could only smile bitterly: “Your Highness, allow our family to ask one more question. This succession case hasn’t reached its final moment—we don’t know who will win. You… you have a perfectly good righteous path, so why take this dangerous gamble?”

This question indeed hit the crucial point. Among the current eight great princes, the five kings “Hui, Tang, Xu, Feng, Lu” were most watched, and among the five kings, Prince Tang’s heir Zai Hao and Prince Hui’s heir Zai Yun had the greatest power, evenly matched. Now that Emperor Zhengtong’s imperial edict was not yet decided, since Zai Hao still had hope of selection, why would Prince Tang suddenly rebel? Hearing this, the eunuchs immediately cried and shouted: “Yes! Your Highness! You should take the righteous path! We can still steal examination questions, scatter bribes, send beautiful women—why take this evil path?”

“Chief Manager… stop deceiving yourself and others.” Prince Tang sighed and glanced sideways at Chief Manager Fang, saying calmly: “You should also know that Zai Hao has long had no hope.”

Chief Manager Fang, suddenly hearing this, couldn’t help exclaiming: “Your Highness, you… why do you speak such defeatist words? Do you think our family has betrayed you?” Prince Tang shook his head: “Chief Manager, don’t misunderstand. This prince only feels gratitude toward you, without the slightest dissatisfaction.” Chief Manager Fang snorted and decided to speak openly, saying loudly: “If that’s so, Your Highness, why resort to this desperate measure? I’ve run around everywhere for you and endured people’s cold stares, yet you’re causing trouble here? Your Highness! Are you really that afraid of ‘Lin Hui De Qing’?”

Currently, the court’s most powerful forces were the four kings “Lin Hui De Qing.” These four princes commanded millions of troops with power so strong it could be seen by all. Presumably Prince Tang’s treasonous intentions were forced out by them. Hearing this, the eunuchs immediately filled with righteous indignation and roared: “Your Highness, don’t fear them! We’ll go to their homes shortly and burn their entire families to death to vent your anger!”

Prince Tang smiled and said: “Thank you all for your kind intentions, but this prince’s actions have nothing to do with the four kings.” Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “You… you really don’t fear them?” Prince Tang said calmly: “‘Lin Hui De Qing’ have great power but are not unbreakable. After all, they are four people, so there are cracks to exploit. Once I send some silver over, this breach will become even larger.”

Chief Manager Fang secretly nodded, seeing that Prince Tang using divisive tactics to deal with the four kings showed deep understanding of the essentials. But strangely, since Prince Tang had clever plans to deal with Prince Hui, this succession case should proceed smoothly—so why was he taking this extreme approach? Could there be some other power force gathering in the court?

Amid the confusion, a eunuch shouted loudly: “I know! I know who Your Highness fears!” Prince Tang smiled slightly: “Who do I fear?” That eunuch shouted: “Your Highness fears Prince Lu Yun Zhi—he has even more money than you!”

Among the current court princes was also a great tycoon—Prince Lu Yun Zhi, who resided in Dongchang Prefecture. This person, relying on his ancestors’ legacy, had accumulated vast gold and silver reserves in his home, not necessarily inferior to Prince Tang’s wealth. Hearing the eunuchs’ wild shouting, Prince Tang couldn’t help laughing heartily: “Esteemed eunuchs, Prince Lu is like buying a casket and returning the pearl—a laughingstock to the world. His money is dead money—how can it compare to this prince’s ever-flowing, endless supply? If you compare this miser to this prince, you’ll inevitably invite the world’s ridicule.”

Chief Manager Fang pondered repeatedly, becoming more puzzled. Seeing that Prince Tang feared no one, why would he conflict with the emperor? Could someone in the rear palace be antagonizing him? Thinking and thinking, suddenly inspiration flashed as he clapped his hands and shouted: “Your Highness, I know! Is Qiong Wuchuan targeting you?” Prince Tang frowned: “Qiong Wuchuan?” Chief Manager Fang hurriedly said: “Yes! In this succession case, he supports Prince Chuan and has long regarded you as a thorn in his side. Your Highness, did he force you into this situation?”

Hearing this, Prince Tang laughed heartily: “Chief Manager, you misunderstand. I have no old grudges with Qiong Wuchuan, no recent enmities—why would he harm me? Even if so, he’s an old man near death—what can he do to this prince?” Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “Your Highness, don’t be stubborn! He’s the current National Uncle. Even if you don’t fear him, you should fear his daughter, right?”

Ziyun Pavilion—the court’s number one external relative power, whose leading figure was Qiong Wuchuan. This person’s influence spread throughout the court and countryside, and his daughter was the current empress. If he wanted to oppose Prince Tang, he would indeed be a formidable enemy. Hearing this, Prince Tang stroked his beard and laughed: “Eunuch, these words show no insight. If Qiong Wuchuan truly had great talent and strategy, he would have joined the ranks of powerful ministers during the Jingtai era—why wait until Jiang, Liu, and Liu all died before showing courage in the Zhengtong court?” Saying this, he shook his head in disdain: “This person relies on his daughter’s influence—he’s no hero. Though he may be successful for a time, it won’t last long.”

Chief Manager Fang guessed several people but got none right. Still wanting to waste time, he saw the Eastern ocean warrior “Ruizuo” approaching slowly with his fierce blade. Chief Manager Fang trembled all over and said in a shaking voice: “Your Highness… who in the court is targeting you… You… please tell us quickly, and Old Fang will help you decide…”

Prince Tang sighed: “Eunuch, stop pretending to be foolish. This prince’s true great enemy in the court is…” He raised his hand, and the Eastern ocean warrior behind him immediately shouted and drew his blade, slashing directly at Chief Manager Fang.

“Your Highness!” A calamity fell from heaven as Chief Manager Fang naturally screamed: “Our family hasn’t obstructed you!”

After the scream, Chief Manager Fang only felt a chill on his shoulder. He sat dazed on the ground and saw Prince Tang with a half-smile crouching down, looking at Chief Manager Fang’s right arm: “Chief Manager, do you understand now? Who is my enemy?” Chief Manager Fang stared blankly at Prince Tang, seeing him examining his right arm, and in that instant understood everything.

Though there were many gangs and sects in the world, only one group could be identified by branding—those four characters. Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “Your Highness… you… you fear the Zhenguo Iron Guard?”

Once the four words “Zhenguo Iron Guard” were spoken, silence fell all around. All the eunuchs fell silent as cicadas, hearing only the whooshing wind outside blowing against the window frames, as if someone were spying nearby. Prince Tang sighed, seeing Chief Manager Fang’s right arm was clean with no markings, and covered his skin, sighing: “You’re right. Until the Zhenguo Iron Guard is eliminated, never mind whether my son Zai Hao can become emperor—even our family’s great rivers and mountains will be snatched away by this group of thieves.” Chief Manager Fang’s face turned deathly pale as he lowered his head, unable to speak for a long time.

If the court was a great chessboard, Emperor Zhengtong was the “general” in the city, Wu Dingyuan was the “minister” holding military power, the six ministry presidents and five temple ministers were the “chariots, horses, and cannons”—but this Zhenguo Iron Guard, they were neither soldiers nor pawns. They were that great chessboard itself.

The “Zhenguo Iron Guard” acted secretively yet were omnipresent, following like shadows. Thus in the court, from emperors above to county magistrates below, everyone had a black shadow beside them. They fought for power and battled each other, not knowing they had never left that great chessboard and couldn’t escape the “shadows'” arranged game.

This was a life-and-death battle. If Zai Hao became emperor, the first thing to eliminate should be the “Zhenguo Iron Guard.” Otherwise, he could only be a wooden puppet. Similarly, the “Zhenguo Iron Guard” wouldn’t show mercy—they would definitely strike first. Seen this way, Prince Tang’s far-sighted planning had already seen the situation after the succession case, so no wonder he took this dangerous gamble.

Seeing Chief Manager Fang’s face ashen and unable to speak for a long time, Prince Tang couldn’t help smiling: “Chief Manager, why don’t you tell me—what should we do now? Should we also go find the big shopkeeper, kowtow and ask him to burn a brand and redden our bottoms?” Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “That… that’s also a method.” Prince Tang said coldly: “Don’t make such jokes. This prince didn’t submit to Jiang Chong back then and won’t submit to the inn now. You point out a clear path—what should this prince do?”

Chief Manager Fang’s face was pale. He looked at the warriors under the prince’s command, then glanced at the secret passage Liu Jing had left behind, suddenly sighed toward heaven, sat down on the spot and said: “Your Highness, forget it… Actually, whether Zai Hao becomes emperor or not isn’t that important. Instead, you should leave yourself an escape route and not risk your life.”

“Bastard.” Prince Tang leaned close and said sternly: “You, Old Fang, are an outsider who can escape at any time, but what about me and Zai Hao? Do you think if we lose this game, we father and son will still have our lives?”

Once the gamble was placed, there was no room for regret. To permanently withdraw, one could only wait for the day of death. Chief Manager Fang, having run around for Prince Tang these past years, also knew his determination. Not knowing how to persuade him, he could only sigh: “So be it—then kill me. Old Fang will die as he dies, absolutely not implicating his family.”

This was a certain death game—Chief Manager Fang absolutely wouldn’t play and indeed decided to die. Hearing this, the eunuchs felt inner grief, knowing they would die whether they staged a coup or not, and all began crying. Prince Tang, hearing his heroic words, couldn’t help smiling: “Don’t cry, don’t cry—why don’t you all ask how I know about this secret passage?”

This indeed reminded Chief Manager Fang. Back then, only Jiang, Liu, and Liu knew this secret. When the Eastern Depot was destroyed and Zhengtong was restored, the court suffered heavy casualties, and this secret passage’s mysteries were forgotten. Seeing Prince Tang find it so easily, there must be some reason.

“Chief Manager…” Prince Tang was about to reveal the secret. He put his arm around Chief Manager Fang’s shoulder and whispered: “Honestly, this prince obtained…” Saying this, he narrowed his eyes, smiled, and pointed toward heaven: “The Heavenly Tablet.”

“Heavenly Tablet?” Chief Manager Fang was completely amazed, not understanding this statement. Just as he was puzzled, something appeared in his hand. He looked down hurriedly and immediately exclaimed loudly. The nearby eunuchs also crowded around, saying in trembling voices: “So beautiful…”

Indeed beautiful—what Chief Manager Fang held was a ruby, egg-shaped, with color so deep it was like fresh blood. Holding it actually dyed his clothes and face deep red, showing how pure this object’s color and light were. Chief Manager Fang rubbed his eyes. Though he had long resided in the palace and seen countless rare treasures, he had never seen such a massive ruby. Sensing something unusual, he murmured: “Your Highness… this thing is so precious and rare—it wasn’t bought, was it?” Prince Tang smiled: “Of course not—a woman gave this to me.”

Chief Manager Fang thought he was teasing him and couldn’t help smiling bitterly: “A woman? Sounds quite wealthy—could it be some heavenly maiden?” This was meant as a joke, but Prince Tang stared at him intently and nodded with a smile. Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “Really a heavenly maiden?”

Prince Tang smiled: “This gemstone has a name—it’s called the ‘Tamerlane Ruby.’ I shouldn’t need to say the rest, should I?” Chief Manager Fang stared blankly, then suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed: “Really a heavenly maiden!” Just as he was about to shout loudly, he saw Prince Tang raise a finger to his lips with a smile at the corner of his mouth. Chief Manager Fang was both shocked and delighted: “Your Highness, you… you really saw her?”

Prince Tang chuckled: “This is a heavenly secret that cannot be revealed. Come, Chief Manager—this prince already has heavenly mandate protecting him, sufficient to contend with the Zhenguo Iron Guard. If you also want to play this game, then follow along.” Saying this, he clapped his hands and took the lead entering the secret passage.

Chief Manager Fang stared at the black hole before him, but hope secretly arose in his heart. Though he didn’t know if the “heavenly maiden” was the legendary woman from rumors, once she had truly arrived in the Central Plains, the situation should change. He gritted his teeth, thinking of the principle that wealth comes from risk, and immediately rushed forward shouting: “Your Highness! Let our family assist you!”

Chief Manager Fang charged into the secret passage. His disciples looked at each other and couldn’t help crying loudly: “No! We don’t want to die!” The Eastern Depot eunuchs’ grief came from within, but since their boss had already plunged in, the disciples had no choice but to follow. Indeed, the attendants kicked and beat them, forcing them one by one into the secret passage.

With a soft click, the secret passage closed. Before them was pitch darkness, dust everywhere. The eunuchs couldn’t stand the fright and scattered like mice, crying and wailing. Chief Manager Fang shouted: “Stand properly and don’t lose the Eastern Depot’s dignity.” The eunuchs wept and barely huddled together. Chief Manager Fang snorted and was about to take out flint to light a fire when Prince Tang stopped him: “Wait before using fire. This passage has been closed too long—there might be marsh gas.”

Chief Manager Fang agreed, but with darkness all around and no firelight to help, how could they identify the path? Just as he was troubled, he saw Prince Tang reach into his robes, and in an instant, fluorescent light appeared in the darkness, illuminating the entire tunnel.

A night-luminous pearl! Prince Tang’s palm held a glowing pearl that shone softly like a full moon—this was the famous rare treasure “Sea-Emerging Pearl.” This object, hidden in the deep sea and illuminating cold oceans, was a treasure rarely seen in a century, yet Prince Tang used it as an oil lamp, showing that this man’s wealth truly rivaled nations—his reputation was well-deserved.

Prince Tang before them was truly wealthy—his ruby was egg-sized, his night-luminous pearl brighter than torches. The eunuchs, meeting such a brilliant master, immediately crowded around him weeping: “Your Highness, we were momentarily confused and lost our loyalty—please don’t blame us.” Prince Tang laughed heartily: “Gentlemen, why say such things? Since you all have the intention to follow today, you shall naturally share wealth and honor with this prince in the future.” Hearing the words “wealth and honor,” the eunuchs immediately snorted through their noses and light shone in their eyes. All sadness was swept away as they waited to charge into the darkness.

Prince Tang smiled and handed the night-luminous pearl to the Tianzhu master, ordering him to lead the way ahead. Everyone proceeded forward, walking several hundred feet continuously. The passage felt gloomy and foul-smelling—who knew how much mud and dust had accumulated. Chief Manager Fang covered his nose and said in a muffled voice: “This Liu Jing was truly capable—to dig such a large hole without anyone knowing.” Prince Tang laughed: “Chief Manager, you’re wrong. Though Manager Liu was indeed mysterious and capable of the impossible, look at this passage yourself—does it look like it was secretly dug?”

Chief Manager Fang’s heart trembled. Looking at this secret passage penetrating deep into the imperial city area, excavation and construction would inevitably alarm the rear palace concubines. Even someone as clever as Manager Liu probably couldn’t manage it. He turned his thoughts and pondered: “If so, could this be Jiang Chong’s work?” Prince Tang laughed: “Wrong again. Jiang Chong was Emperor Jingtai’s loyal dog—why would he dig a big hole under his master’s bottom?”

Chief Manager Fang knew this was so but couldn’t guess, so he could only say: “This… could this be dug by the emperor himself?” Prince Tang sighed: “Correct. But this secret passage wasn’t excavated during the Jingtai era…” He reached out to gently touch the stone wall and sighed: “This was carved out by Emperor Longqing.”

“Emperor Longqing?” The eunuchs were greatly shocked. This Longqing Emperor was none other than the father of Wu Ying and Jingtai—the world’s foremost orthodox sovereign. Thinking of his absolute imperial authority and solid foundation, they didn’t know why he would dig up his own foundation—could he have wanted to stage a coup against himself?

In the complete silence, no one could understand the logic. Chief Manager Fang, experienced and cunning, suddenly realized: “I understand—this is an escape hole!”

Throughout history, emperors had no other skills, but their escape abilities were first-rate. When the country was destroyed and families ruined, they would all open the great doors and rush out desperately, still afraid of leaving behind too little gold and silver treasures. Hearing the eunuchs repeatedly agree, Prince Tang was furious: “Audacious! When the country exists, the Son of Heaven exists; when the country perishes, the Son of Heaven perishes! Our dynasty’s emperors eat the people’s grain and collect the people’s taxes. Once they cannot protect the people, they should commit suicide to show responsibility! How could they prepare secret passages to escape?”

The prince spoke with righteous words, but the eunuchs exchanged glances. After all, throughout history there were so many precedents—first Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fleeing with his head in his hands, then Emperor Huizong of Song crying for help. Each broke their kingdoms and then fled with heads covered—who was willing to take responsibility? As for those who jumped into the sea and committed suicide, most were unlucky children serving as scapegoats. To say there was truly an emperor who shared life and death with the world, committing suicide in his dignified capacity as a nation’s Son of Heaven to show responsibility—that would indeed be a marvel throughout history.

Chief Manager Fang coughed several times, knowing that matters involving royal dignity shouldn’t be casually mocked, so he said: “Your Highness teaches correctly. But what was this secret passage used for? Could it be…” Not knowing how to phrase it, he could only say randomly: “Was it for Emperor Longqing to play hide-and-seek?”

The eunuchs quietly giggled, and Prince Tang couldn’t scold anymore. He sighed: “Honestly, this prince entered the palace tonight purely because of the gemstone owner’s request. She hopes to investigate why Liu Jing was defeated.”

Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “Is this worth investigating? Back then Liu Jing was betrayed by Hu Zhong!” The eunuchs, being of low rank and not knowing who Hu Zhong was, just mumbled agreement. Prince Tang sighed: “Perhaps so, but the gemstone’s owner told me she said this secret passage is no ordinary place. Perhaps the day Liu Jing learned this secret was already the day his downfall was destined.”

The eunuchs said in surprise: “Why?” Prince Tang sighed with emotion: “The gemstone’s owner said this secret passage involves a curse on our imperial family. Because of this curse, the world has been in turmoil for many years and still hasn’t calmed down.”

“A curse?” The eunuchs looked at each other, momentarily puzzled. Prince Tang sighed: “It’s said that until this curse is removed, no matter who ascends the throne in the future, no one will sit stably on the dragon court. So she hopes this prince can investigate the matter thoroughly. When the new ruler ascends the throne in the future, she can leave with peace of mind.”

Everyone found it stranger the more they listened, and for a long time no one spoke. Looking at this secret passage before them, so rarely known—if it was truly excavated by Emperor Longqing, probably even great ministers like Qiong Wuchuan and Wu Dingyuan had never heard of it. But Prince Tang claimed to be entrusted by someone—what person could entrust him with such secrets? And what ability did that person have to uncover such ancient secrets from previous dynasties?

Chief Manager Fang secretly calculated and more or less guessed some of the inside story, but since the situation wasn’t clear, he didn’t dare say much. He simply put away his joking manner and silently followed behind.

After walking about a hundred feet, the Tianzhu master suddenly stopped and spoke some strange words. Prince Tang, being learned, didn’t need a translator and nodded: “There’s a secret chamber ahead—this should be where Liu Jing staged his uprising.” Chief Manager Fang’s heart trembled, knowing they had reached the Jingtai dynasty’s most tragic place. The Tianzhu master led the way, Prince Tang followed closely behind, and the rest entered in single file.

Though ten years had passed, the secret chamber before them was still extremely terrifying. All around were broken bricks and rubble, the eastern wall completely in ruins as if smashed to pieces by some expert. The other walls were riddled with bullet holes, and iron bullets and gun pellets still remained on the ground. Though much time had passed, one could imagine the tragic scene of guns firing in unison back then.

Chief Manager Fang bent down to pick up a bullet, saying in shock: “Good heavens! This Jiang Chong was truly ruthless to treat our Eastern Depot people this way.” Prince Tang sighed: “Without poison, one cannot be a true man. Haven’t you seen how His Majesty has treated his remaining followers these past years?”

Since the Zhengtong dynasty’s establishment, to eliminate Jiang’s faction, the emperor used the Three Great Cases as pretense to implicate countless former dynasty remnants. His methods were crueler and his reach broader than even Jiang Chong’s.

Chief Manager Fang snorted: “Winners become kings, losers die completely. When cutting grass, one must remove the roots. Otherwise, when they revive from the ashes, it’ll be our turn to die.” He chattered on, then suddenly saw several pools of dried bloodstains on the ground and asked: “Whose blood is this? Could it be Manager Liu’s?” Prince Tang shook his head: “Manager Liu was mysterious and elusive—how could he die at the hands of petty villains? This is Xue Nu’er’s blood.”

The first to die tragically in the Eastern Depot coup was Xue Nu’er. Now that times had changed, the eunuchs heard the name of the Great Within’s number one expert, but all looked blank—not one knew his great name. Prince Tang sighed deeply and shook his head: “Gentlemen, though our Zhengtong dynasty has been established for ten years, investigating who first shed blood and died—it was this Xue Nu’er. Chief Manager Fang, this person was at least a predecessor of your Eastern Depot. You should bow to him.”

Hearing the eunuchs still debating whether Xue Nu’er was male or female, Chief Manager Fang shouted: “You bastards! All have no memory! Have you forgotten who you feared most as children?” The eunuchs’ hearts jumped as they remembered that powdered-face, red-lipped old demon, and immediately scattered in all directions, fleeing into the secret passage.

Legend had it that Xue Nu’er had a violent temperament—who knew his popularity was this bad? Chief Manager Fang muttered a few words. Though he had no personal relationship with Xue Nu’er, he at least pressed his palms together and bowed several times—better than nothing.

The group proceeded into the secret passage. This tunnel seemed endless, leading to unknown destinations. But everyone followed behind Prince Tang and felt relatively safe. After all, Prince Tang came from a merchant background and was best at calculating risks. This trip, with both precious pearls and experts, was well-prepared. That Tianzhu master had practiced soft bone techniques—if the passage ahead encountered mechanisms, his nimble body techniques could surely provide early warning.

After several more li, the path suddenly opened up. Prince Tang took out a compass to measure and nodded: “From here, we’ve already left beneath the Forbidden Palace.” Chief Manager Fang looked around and saw the path was quite wide, able to accommodate several people walking side by side. He whispered: “This is for coup forces to march through, right?” Prince Tang nodded: “Correct. This area is no longer under the Forbidden Palace, so if Liu Jing wanted to expand freely, he could indeed go all out.”

Seeing the secret passage’s massive construction, the eunuchs thought of their old ancestor’s capabilities and all felt greatly proud, considering it an honor. Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “Duke Liu was truly capable. If not for one wrong move back then, he would be the one in charge today.”

Prince Tang laughed heartily: “Hearing the eunuch’s words, do you think those with ambition should be like this?” Chief Manager Fang was so frightened his face turned white: “Absolutely not! Our family’s life is for eating—don’t mislead me.” Amid the joking, the tunnel continued forward. After another hundred feet or so, moisture grew heavier underground and foul smells became overwhelming. The eunuchs couldn’t stand it and began cursing each other: “Who farted?” “It’s you!” “Not me!” Chief Manager Fang scolded: “Shut up! This isn’t flatulence—it’s marsh gas.”

Marsh gas suddenly emerged from underground. Chief Manager Fang’s breathing became labored. He tried to gather his vital energy several times but couldn’t clear the stuffiness in his chest. Looking at the eunuchs, they were already dizzy and their steps had all slowed down. Chief Manager Fang worried and hurriedly said: “Your Highness, the marsh gas ahead is thicker. Should we… should we continue?” Prince Tang was already gasping for breath. He waved his hand hoarsely: “Press on. If we can’t get through tonight, we’ll have to wait another year.” Emperor Zhengtong rarely left the palace. Without this annual rain-praying ceremony, there would be no good opportunity to break into the palace tonight. Chief Manager Fang understood this and could only shout: “Hurry! Hurry! Everyone pick up the pace! Don’t delay!”

The stench ahead was overwhelming and breathing was difficult, but the court’s secrets were right before them. Once they reached the tunnel’s end, all mysteries could be revealed at once—why Liu Jing failed, why Emperor Longqing built this secret passage. The eunuchs summoned their courage and walked frantically with heads down, while Prince Tang was carried on someone’s back. As they walked, they suddenly heard exclamations from ahead, with eunuchs shouting: “Chief Manager! There’s no path!”

Chief Manager Fang hurried forward and was shocked to see a giant rock blocking the way ahead. He snorted, not expecting the path to be sealed off, and quickly shouted: “Everyone come here together and push this big stone away!” At the chief manager’s command, everyone crowded forward, one supporting another, working together to push. The sounds of “Heave!” and “Ho!” were endless, but with eunuchs shrieking, the prince gasping, and experts growling, the giant stone remained unmoved.

The marsh gas grew thicker all around, making it hard for the eunuchs to breathe. Wanting to retreat but fearing they couldn’t hold out, they dug frantically in the tunnel soil, hoping to excavate a way out. Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound as muddy water sprayed from the ground, and earth and stones from both sides of the tunnel fell down—the soil was quite loose. The eunuchs were overjoyed: “There’s a way out! Dig quickly! Everyone dig quickly!”

As they dug deep into the soft earth, strange sounds came from deep in the tunnel, like a dragon’s mournful cry. Chief Manager Fang was alarmed: “Stop! Don’t dig anymore!”

Chief Manager Fang was too late. Hearing rumbling sounds, earth and stones collapsed deep in the tunnel, blocking the way, but the muddy water in front rose higher and higher, reaching their knees in the blink of an eye. The eunuchs cried and wailed, wanting to flee toward the back of the tunnel, but there was no way out. They could only weep: “Chief Manager! Chief Manager! Save us!” Chief Manager Fang was already panicking and hurried to push the giant stone. In his confusion, he suddenly touched a line of carved characters. Feeling along, he found: “Jiang Chong destroyed Liu Jing here.”

“We’re doomed!” Wailing filled the tunnel. Chief Manager Fang also smiled bitterly in amazement. Seeing how cautious Jiang Chong was, after discovering this mechanism, he must have ordered ambushes at the exit. Indeed, tonight “Dead Jiang Chong kills Living Chief Manager”—the Eastern Depot would suffer a second destruction here. The eunuchs, unwilling to wait for death, could only throw themselves at the giant stone, beating and crying: “Help! Someone come save us!”

Just as complete annihilation seemed certain, someone said: “Rui… Ruizuo, come forward and clear the way…” With a swish, a short man drew his long blade and squeezed out from the crowd—the Eastern ocean warrior had come forward.

Japanese swords were exceptionally sharp, and when masters practiced to the highest level, they could often cut through rock with one stroke. With this “Ruizuo’s” skill, he might be able to help everyone escape. Chief Manager Fang was overjoyed and hurriedly said: “Everyone stand against the walls—don’t block the way.”

The muddy water gradually rose to waist level, making the situation more critical. Ruizuo waded through the water, stopped before the giant stone, and slowly held his breath and concentrated. Suddenly hearing a strange roar of “Heave!”, fierce wind broke through the air as Ruizuo raised his blade above his head and struck down heavily. The eunuchs naturally cheered: “Success!”

The eunuchs eagerly crowded around to watch, waiting for the great stone to shatter and earth to split, but after a long while, they saw the big stone still squatting there perfectly intact, except for two knife marks crossing in an X on the stone’s surface—nothing else had changed. Chief Manager Fang was so angry tears seeped from his eyes as he cursed: “Useless Japanese pirate! Besides bullying eunuchs, what use are you? Our family will slaughter you first!” Just as he was cursing, suddenly there was a metallic clang as a weapon thrust out from the crowd. A golden awl appeared in the rock, with the awl point entering precisely at the heart of the X-shaped cuts.

“Heave!” A strong man stood in the crowd—this person had a waxy yellow complexion, apparently a Southeast Asian. He lifted his head and struck with a thud. His head hit like an iron hammer, and the golden awl, receiving great force, slowly penetrated into the rock. The eunuchs cheered and shouted: “Iron Head Technique! We’re saved! We’re saved!”

Amid the thudding strikes, the golden awl penetrated several feet into the stone’s heart. The Southeast Asian strongman pulled the awl out forcefully, leaving a deep hole in the stone surface. At this moment, another attendant came forward—this person was thin and held a large bamboo tube, though no one knew what was strange about it.

Just as they wondered, that person bent down and placed the bamboo tube at the stone surface’s gap, then took a deep breath.

During the breathing, that attendant’s chest swelled bigger and bigger. Suddenly, breath blew through the bamboo tube, and black powder drifted out, full of pungent smell. Chief Manager Fang was greatly shocked: “Gunpowder!” Just as his words emerged, he was already fleeing backward. The eunuchs, not wanting to be left behind in mortal danger, also called for their fathers and mothers.

“Help!” A thunderous explosion was deafening. A fierce wind swept past them, rushing outward. In an instant, the great stone collapsed, earth shook and mountains moved, and filthy water suddenly gushed like a spring, washing everyone out together.

“Mama!” Chief Manager Fang was first to be washed out. He lay on the ground covered in mud, thinking of his narrow escape from death all for the court’s great secret. He couldn’t help gnashing his teeth. Just as he was searching around for secrets, he suddenly heard sobbing nearby: “Woo woo… there are bad people…”

Chief Manager Fang stupidly raised his head and saw himself in a granary with straw covering the ground. On the straw lay a scantily clad girl with a disheveled boy pressed on top of her. Both looked terrified and were staring at Chief Manager Fang.

“What the hell?” Chief Manager Fang was stunned—young men and women stacked up, having fun in the granary. Chief Manager Fang stood dumbfounded, thinking of his narrow escape from death only to have this scene waiting before him. He immediately jumped up and rushed toward Prince Tang, furiously shouting: “Damn it, Your Highness! This… this is our court’s great secret?”

Prince Tang was also in a sorry state. Helped up by his attendants, seeing the young boy and girl huddled together in great fear, he too was completely bewildered. He looked around for a while before gasping: “You two… don’t be afraid. We are court officials. May I ask… what are your honored names?” The youth was quite honest and murmured: “I… I’m called Yang A’zhong…” Then pointing at the girl, he said shyly: “She… she’s called A’xiang… she’s my girl…”

Just as they were frightened, they suddenly saw Chief Manager Fang staring lecherously at the girl as if with intentions. The youth couldn’t help being alarmed: “What are you doing! Don’t touch my A’xiang!”

“Touch your ass!” Chief Manager Fang was annoyed and shrieked: “Who wants to touch your A’xiang! This eunuch only wants to touch you!” Saying this, he grabbed the youth and felt all over his body, shouting: “Quickly tell me—what place is this?” The youth was horrified, never expecting this person didn’t love women but came straight for him. He cried tearfully: “This… this is Little Mirror Lake…”

Chief Manager Fang turned to look outside the temple and saw a nearby swamp with reeds growing everywhere and mud all around. Presumably the marsh gas from before came from here, making him even angrier: “Little Clean Lake? Clean your big head! This is clearly a mud swamp!” Just as he was about to feel around and punish severely, he heard Prince Tang say: “Right, this is the place—this location is correct…”

The eunuchs were slightly stunned and all quieted down, not knowing what was suspicious about Little Mirror Lake. Prince Tang took a deep breath and said again: “Young brother, this used to be a broken temple, right?” The youth said in surprise: “Yes, that was when I was small—how do you know?” Prince Tang sighed: “Right, Liu Jing used this as his base back then.”

The location was correct—the temple was a broken temple, the lake was Mirror Lake. Though times had changed, one could still see traces of the past. Chief Manager Fang frowned: “Your Highness, what next? Didn’t you say there was some damn curse here?” Prince Tang couldn’t figure it out either. He walked around the granary and pondered: “That’s right… The gemstone’s owner told me she said as long as we left the secret passage and casually asked someone, we could find clues left from back then… and slowly solve the mystery…”

Chief Manager Fang was so angry he laughed instead: “Casually ask someone, right?” Saying this, he grabbed that youth and shouted: “You brat, confess quickly! What’s the court’s greatest secret? Speak!” How could that youth know anything? He immediately cried for help while that girl rushed forward to save him, shrieking: “What are you doing? Let him go!”

Just as they were fighting, footsteps came from outside the granary. Someone shouted: “Yang A’zhong! You abduct my A’xiang—do you want to die?” Another person added: “Right! A friend’s wife should not be trifled with—you play with A’qiang’s woman and still want to live?” As they spoke, the granary door opened and a group of youths rushed in with clubs, ready to settle accounts with Yang A’zhong. But they saw before them a mud-black person holding “A’zhong” in his left hand and “A’xiang” in his right, glaring fiercely at them. The youths’ souls flew away as they cried in shock: “A ghost!”

Chief Manager Fang laughed heartily, grabbing left and right like a hungry tiger pouncing on sheep. Seeing one with red lips and white teeth, he quickly dropped the young man and woman, pulled him into his embrace and shouted: “You brat, confess honestly to me! What’s the court’s greatest secret?”

The attendants, seeing the boring drama, all turned away. Chief Manager Fang, enjoying himself, only kept grinning wickedly. Poor that handsome youth had come to beat someone up, but now being felt all over by Chief Manager Fang, was already scared with white face turning red and red lips turning white, panicking: “You… what do you want me to confess?” Chief Manager Fang grinned wickedly: “Whatever you have, confess it! Tell me quickly!” Saying this, he reached out to tickle under that youth’s armpits.

“Haha… haha… I have, I have, I have secrets to confess…” That handsome youth looked at A’xiang and laughed: “I… last month I also… also came to the granary with A’xiang.”

“Wah! You said it!” The girl covered her face and wept. The youth looked amazed and envious. Immediately two fierce men came to kill, roaring: “Yang A’qing! A friend’s wife should not be trifled with—I’ll kill you!” Saying this, they worked together to lift that handsome youth, landing punch after punch. That handsome youth shouted loudly: “Don’t misunderstand—she… she just wanted to supplement the family income. I was helping her!”

“Bullshit!” Bang bang, continuous punches. Yang A’zhong fought left and right, Yang A’qiang kicked with flying feet. Seeing Yang A’qing nearly dying, Chief Manager Fang blocked the two men and laughed: “Alright, alright! Seeing you three so accomplished, why not follow this eunuch back to the palace? I guarantee in the future all four elements will be empty and you won’t need to fight over anything!”

Those youths didn’t understand what he was saying and still gnashed their teeth cursing each other. Chief Manager Fang smiled as he surveyed the crowd, selecting suitable disciples. He saw a youth hiding in the crowd and peeping—clearly another with a face like jade and extremely outstanding appearance. He couldn’t help laughing: “You children are quite good-looking—truly rare. Come, what’s your name?”

“I’m called A’ming.” That jade-white youth had delicate features but rather foolish eyes. Chief Manager Fang loved stupid boys most and couldn’t help chuckling: “A, a, yi, yi—another ‘A’ generation. Little A’ming, what’s your surname? Don’t tell me it’s ‘A’?” That youth hurriedly said: “I… I’m not surnamed A. I… I’m surnamed Yang.” Chief Manager Fang teased the child for a while and laughed: “Another surnamed Yang.” Just as he was about to pinch cheeks, he heard Prince Tang exclaim: “Wait—another one surnamed Yang?”

That A’ming felt slightly surprised, not knowing what was strange about being surnamed Yang, and said: “Yes.” Everyone was slightly stunned, not knowing why the prince asked this, but Prince Tang hurriedly pulled over “A’zhong”: “Young brother, you… you just said you’re also surnamed Yang?”

That Yang A’zhong roared: “I don’t change my name when walking or sitting—I am Yang A’zhong!” Saying this, he rolled up his sleeves and pointed angrily: “Yang A’qing, come meet your doom!” The fierce tiger pounced, scaring A’qing to cry: “Help! Yang A’gen, quickly come help me!”

Another surnamed Yang appeared, named “A’gen.” This person was strong and sturdy, barefoot without shoes, clearly accustomed to rough work. But this person was also strange—despite being used to such rough work, his complexion was still quite fair and delicate, as if naturally unable to tan.

Prince Tang became more nervous the more he looked. He immediately took out a gold ingot and shouted loudly: “Quickly tell me! Who else is surnamed Yang? I will reward handsomely!” Under heavy reward, there must be brave men. The youths were stunned for a moment, then all shouted loudly: “I’m surnamed Yang!” “I’m also surnamed Yang!” “We’re all surnamed Yang!”

Yang A’ming, Yang A’zhong, Yang A’qing—everyone competed to be first. Suddenly a girl said: “I… I’m also surnamed Yang.” The youths roared loudly: “Nonsense! You’re surnamed Zhou!” That girl panicked: “I… I’m taking my husband’s surname. I’m going to marry someone surnamed Yang in the future…”

Amid the commotion, even the most casual observer understood that the children before them were all surnamed Yang. Needless to say, there must be a “Yang Family Village” nearby to have so many children with this surname playing here. Prince Tang took a deep breath and turned to exchange glances with Chief Manager Fang. Though they didn’t speak, both understood that the other must have thought of that name.

Those resounding three characters—among all surnamed Yang in the world today, no one had greater power than him. His name was…

“Yang Suguan?”

In the dilapidated farmhouse sat an old man about sixty or seventy years old. He held a paper slip sent by Prince Tang and murmured the name “Grand Secretary of Zhongji Hall.”

Near midnight, many villagers watched and discussed the scene in the thatched house. Eight guards stood outside, twelve beardless men stood inside, and two people sat at the table—one was Prince Tang, the other Chief Manager Fang. Before them also sat someone surnamed Yang—he was “A’zhong’s” grandfather, the village’s only literate elder.

No one could have expected that outside the secret passage was Yang Family Village, less than five li away. The entire village of over a thousand villagers couldn’t find a single new garment. Seeing this place so impoverished, without “Yang A’zhong” and others as guides, outsiders would hardly find the location easily.

The old man before them looked down at the paper slip and murmured: “Yang Suguan? You’re looking for him?” Prince Tang nodded repeatedly, knowing the Yang surname in court must have some connection here, and hurriedly said: “Thank you, honored elder. May I ask if this Yang gentleman ever lived in the village?”

“Don’t rush… let me think first…” The old man rubbed his eyes and pondered bitterly. Yang Suguan held first-rank office and was famous throughout the world, having served as Director of the Bureau of Operations in the Ministry of War, Expositor of the Five Classics, and Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Currently he was the cabinet’s youngest Grand Secretary. With such a figure before him, the old man still couldn’t make sense of it. He muttered: “Yang Suguan… Yang A’su… Yang A’guan…” He calculated on his fingers for a while, then suddenly asked his grandson: “A’zhong, is there anyone in the village called ‘A’guan’?”

“No such person!” Yang A’zhong gnashed his teeth, still glaring hatefully at Yang A’qing outside the door. Prince Tang and Chief Manager Fang exchanged glances and shook their heads, having to pick up the brush again to write another slip: “What about this name? Has the elder ever heard of it?”

“Yang Shaoqi?” The old man squinted his dim old eyes and frowned: “Yang A’shao… Yang A’qi…” He calculated on his fingers for a long time but fell silent, apparently never having heard of this person either. After hitting several dead ends, Chief Manager Fang couldn’t help muttering. Prince Tang wasn’t discouraged and picked up the brush to write another name: “What about this person? This one is older—perhaps the elder has heard of him?”

“Yang Yuan?” The old man looked carefully and couldn’t help exclaiming. Prince Tang was overjoyed and hurriedly said: “Does the elder know him?” That old man said happily: “Of course I know him—quite familiar too.” Saying this, he waved and shouted: “Yang A’yuan! Come here!” Hearing the call, a thin man emerged from the crowd, stuck his head in the door and waved with a smile: “Your humble servant Yang A’yuan—are you gentlemen looking for me?”

Prince Tang covered his face with his hand, Chief Manager Fang chuckled and cursed, while nearby eunuchs stroked their non-existent beards and yawned.

Those living in the capital all knew that the Yang family’s head had long disappeared. Ten years ago, Yang Yuan went to Shuiding River on business and accidentally fell into the water, drowning without a trace. Poor the dignified Grand Secretary was left with only a cenotaph. If the thin man before them was really “Yang Yuan,” he was probably possessed by an evil spirit.

Seeing this “Yuan” was not that “Yuan”—a difference of 108,000 li—the prince was naturally dejected. Chief Manager Fang leaned over and whispered: “How is it? Can we continue investigating?” Prince Tang, unwilling to return empty-handed, asked quietly: “Chief Manager, does Yang Yuan have any courtesy name?”

If Yang Yuan was truly from this hometown, he would normally use his childhood name, like “A’zhong” and “A’qing.” But after so much time, no one could remember what Yang Yuan’s courtesy name or style name was. Prince Tang was full of worry and at his wit’s end. He drank some hot tea and was pondering when he suddenly heard the eunuchs urging: “Your Highness, let’s leave quickly! It’s already midnight—we must return to the palace before dawn!”

Hearing this, Prince Tang had already stood up but sat back down, murmuring: “Before dawn… dawn light… light…” Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “Your Highness, what’s wrong with you?” Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard the prince slap the table and shout: “A’guang!”

The villagers exclaimed and looked at each other. Prince Tang took a deep breath, directly grabbed the brush and quickly wrote three characters, shouting: “Elder, look at this name.”

“Yang Xingguang?” Everyone leaned forward together and spoke this name in unison.

The room fell silent, but then the old man exclaimed: “A’guang?” Prince Tang was overjoyed and shouted: “A’guang!” The eunuchs didn’t know why they were going on about “guang” this and “guang” that—were they going to eat everything clean? Just as they wondered, the old man opened a drawer and rummaged around, slowly finding a paper slip. He looked down and compared for a long time, then suddenly said in surprise: “Indeed, A’guang is really called this name.” Then he raised his head: “This gentleman, you… how do you know A’guang?”

Prince Tang couldn’t contain his joy and clapped his hands, saying to Chief Manager Fang: “Got it! Yang Yuan is Yang Xingguang!”

Yang Yuan, courtesy name Xingguang, Jingtai 17th year imperial examination jinshi. These two characters “Xingguang” were precisely the courtesy name of the “Grand Secretary of Zhongji Hall.” Prince Tang had stumbled upon the clue by accident. He let out a long breath: “Elder, I’m A’guang’s friend—I’ve been looking for him for over ten years. Did he used to live here?” The old man smiled bitterly: “You’re also looking for him? What bad luck—we’ve also been looking for his whereabouts all along.” Prince Tang looked puzzled: “You’re also looking for him? Why?”

Before he finished speaking, a thick stack of paper slips was presented, followed by the old man’s bitter smile and grandson’s loud laughter. Everyone in the room from top to bottom, even the villagers peeping outside the door, all laughed heartily: “A’guang! A’guang! Spent it all clean!”

Chief Manager Fang exclaimed, not understanding, and hurriedly said: “Spent it clean? What spent it clean?” The villagers laughed heartily: “Money! If not money, what else could be spent clean?”

The villagers smiled knowingly as Chief Manager Fang also awakened, realizing A’guang was a pauper. The old man sighed and opened the thick stack of paper slips: “These are the IOUs A’guang wrote, totaling over sixty taels of silver—equivalent to two donkeys.” Chief Manager Fang’s heart trembled as he hurried to look at the IOUs’ signatures. He saw a messy mark drawn above, and the debtor was indeed “Yang Xingguang.” He coughed and leaned over: “Your Highness, something’s strange.”

Indeed something was strange. Yang Yuan was one of the previous dynasty’s five Grand Secretaries, with vast wealth and profound learning. How could he possibly borrow money in his hometown and not repay it? Prince Tang, fearing he had the wrong person, flipped through more IOUs. Seeing the paper yellowed and the dates from early Jingtai years, he pondered and said: “Elder, A’guang never came back all these years?” The old man sighed: “Of course not. After this kid borrowed a pile of debts, he hid in other places. Not just one household in our village was harmed.”

Chief Manager Fang asked again: “Elder, did this person do other bad things before?” The old man said: “Not really. A’guang was an idle loafer. Besides occasionally getting drunk, he never did anything particularly bad.”

Hearing this, Chief Manager Fang understood immediately and leaned over to whisper: “Your Highness, no need to ask further—this person is not Yang Yuan.” Prince Tang sighed: “How can you tell?” Chief Manager Fang whispered: “Need I even think? Why would a dignified Cabinet Grand Secretary flee to other places over a few taels of silver and not dare return home?”

Prince Tang’s heart sank straight down. Seeing that after all his tremendous efforts, he had come to Yang Family Village in Hebei, the ancestral home, only to come up empty-handed again. He slumped in his chair, staring blankly for a long while before saying: “Honored elder, why did A’guang owe you money? Was it because he loved gambling?”

The old man smiled bitterly: “You could call it gambling. This young man would go to the provincial capital every three years to gamble big, but he always lost, and gradually became broke.” Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “Gambling once every three years? What kind of gambling is this?” The old man laughed dryly: “The court’s gambling.” Chief Manager Fang was about to ask more when Prince Tang pulled him back: “He means the imperial examinations.”

Chief Manager Fang suddenly understood. Since ancient times, the imperial examinations had been a fire pit that attracted thousands upon thousands of scholars to jump in, yet there was only one top scholar. Every time the results were announced, one family celebrated while ten thousand wept. Looking at “A’guang’s” unfortunate fate, he must have been one of those families weeping with their heads in their hands.

Thinking of how scholars were poor and destitute, often borrowing from east and west to take examinations, this A’guang must also have been a poor scholar. Chief Manager Fang asked again: “What happened later? Did this ‘A’guang’ pass the examination?” Before he finished speaking, the villagers were already chuckling. The old man shook his head: “Heh heh, if that boy had passed the juren examination, I could have become the top scholar too.” Prince Tang frowned: “What? A’guang wasn’t good at studying?”

The old man shook his head: “This person was actually quite clever, but unfortunately too lazy. Everything was just talk with no action, all lip service… Sigh… I advised him long ago to be content and focus on farming, but good words fall on deaf ears—even dogs despise them. I just let him eat shit.”

Hearing this, even Prince Tang didn’t want to ask anymore. Seeing this “A’guang” was incompetent and failed examinations for years, how could he compare to Yang Yuan’s world-renowned literary talent and photographic memory? To say they were the same person would truly be laughable. He sighed several times and asked: “Honored elder, are there other Yang Family Villages in Zhili Province?” The old man shook his head: “I wouldn’t know about that. But speaking of the closest to Beijing, that would be our village.” Hearing the eunuchs coughing frequently, all urging him to leave, Prince Tang had lost hope and was about to depart when suddenly his heart stirred. Thinking of the many handsome young men in the village, he hurriedly said: “Wait, I have one more question. What did this A’guang look like? Do you still remember?”

“I remember!” Before the old man could speak, an old woman emerged from the back kitchen. She was all smiles and hurriedly said: “That A’guang was a natural beauty—fair skin, sweet mouth, a pair of eyes that seemed to talk, blinking and blinking. No one in the entire village could compare to him…”

Yang Family Village had many handsome people, as everyone had seen with their own eyes, and Chief Manager Fang had even felt with his own hands. This “A’guang” must have been a rare beauty. Prince Tang had lived in outer provinces for long and wasn’t clear about Yang Yuan’s appearance, but looking at the style of the brothers Yang Suguan and Yang Shaoqi, presumably their father wouldn’t be far behind either.

He pondered for a long while and was about to ask more when he heard the old man spit: “Women have no sense! What use is a pretty face? When there’s no food at home, can you eat your husband’s face? That Yu woman was just as stupid as you to end up so poor…” The old woman retorted: “Look how sour you are! Miss Yu was willing—what business is it of yours to nag?”

“Damn! Who’s nagging?” The old man roared furiously and struck the table hard with his fist, while the villagers outside covered their mouths and laughed secretly, watching as if it were a good show. Prince Tang, hearing that A’guang seemed to have a wife, hurriedly asked: “Surnamed Yu? Who is this again?” The old man quickly restrained his anger: “This Miss Yu was a Jiangnan beauty who came north to stay with relatives and ended up living in the village, but was ruined by that scoundrel.” The old woman mocked: “Just because she didn’t marry you doesn’t mean she was ruined.”

“Damn! Who ruined whom?” The old man was furious to the point of madness and was about to overturn the table. Amid the chaos, Prince Tang pondered slightly and hurriedly asked Old Fang: “What’s the Yang family matriarch’s surname?” Chief Manager Fang whispered: “Surnamed Yu, that’s right.”

There was a pattern! Prince Tang was overjoyed. Seeing that Yang Yuan’s wife was surnamed Yu, and this “A’guang” also had a wife surnamed Yu—could there be such coincidences in the world? Hope arose in his heart, but he didn’t dare ask casually. He picked up his cup, drank some coarse tea, and thought carefully before saying: “Honored elder, when was the last time you saw A’guang?”

“Jingtai 14th year.” The old woman emerged again, lifting the curtain with a smile: “That year A’guang came home to borrow money, saying he wanted to try the examinations one more time, and never returned after that.”

“Cheap woman! Whose side are you on?” The old man roared furiously and threw the curtain back. Seeing everyone looking at him, he quickly coughed a few times: “No need to argue with women.” Prince Tang made no comment and only smiled: “What happened next? Didn’t you go find Miss Yu for the debt?” The old man’s face reddened and he hurriedly said: “There was no way! We couldn’t find A’guang and feared he’d absconded with the money, so we went to his house to find people. Later Miss Yu gave us the house as collateral and left with her child…”

“Wait…” Prince Tang said in surprise: “Child? A’guang had a child?” The old man said: “Yes, that child was much better than his father. Six or seven years old, quiet and spoke little, with bright, piercing eyes. When we drove the mother and child out, he didn’t cry or make noise and even knew to comfort his mother…” Prince Tang’s heart trembled as he exchanged glances with Chief Manager Fang and hurriedly asked: “What was this child’s name?” The old man frowned and thought hard: “Let me think… this child seemed to be called… called something or other…”

“Guanguan.” The old woman poked her head out again and smiled: “I remember that child was called this name.”

Prince Tang was shocked and couldn’t help sitting up straight: “Guanguan?” The old woman smiled: “Yes, Guanguan, Guanguan. Miss Yu was from the south and gave her son this pet name—it sounds nice, like singing a tune.”

Guanguan, Guanguang, Yang Suguan. The details matched one by one. This “A’guang” not only had a wife surnamed Yu but also had a son with the pet name “Guanguan,” exactly the same as Yang Yuan. To say there could be such coincidences in the world was truly hard to believe. But strangely, if “A’guang” was truly “Yang Yuan,” when he passed the imperial examinations he would have been proud and returned home in glory—how could he have fled without a trace? Moreover, this “A’guang” was lazy and incompetent, while Yang Yuan was shrewd and reserved. These two had completely opposite personalities—how could they be the same person?

The more Prince Tang thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Unable to find any logic, he said: “Honored elder, I’d like to see A’guang’s ancestral grave.”

Everyone was slightly shocked, knowing Prince Tang wanted to investigate three generations. Prince Tang, being a shrewd person, slipped a banknote into his words: “Honored elder, please accommodate me. I want to burn some paper money for A’guang’s ancestors.” They say money makes things easy. The old man didn’t dare neglect and stared at the banknote while smiling apologetically: “Too much, too much.” Just as he was pretending to decline, the old woman had already snatched the banknote and smiled: “Gentlemen, please come this way.”

The group prepared incense, candles, and paper money and headed toward the Yang family ancestral graves. After walking a short while, they could see a family temple, behind which was a large earthen mound with square tablets and yellow earth—countless graves, not knowing how many hundreds or thousands were buried there. The old woman explained: “This is their Yang family’s ancestral burial ground—men buried left, women buried right. After death, husbands and wives don’t associate.” The old man angrily said: “What do you mean don’t associate? Don’t money associate?” Saying this, he raised his hand and shouted: “Give me the banknote!” The old woman snorted coldly and walked away. The old man’s anger rose from his heart as he chased after her cursing. The children and grandchildren saw this and all came to mediate, with even Chief Manager Fang joining the commotion.

During the arguing, everyone came to several lone graves. Seeing the old man too angry to speak, the old woman smiled again: “These two graves hold A’guang’s father and grandfather generation. His grandfather was called Yang Qi, the sixth uncle in the clan. His father was called Yang Xin, same generation as my husband—we all called him Fourth Brother.” She rambled on for a while, then pulled over her grandson: “A’zhong, burn paper money.”

The eunuchs sighed, thinking tonight was supposed to be Lantern Festival but had turned into Qingming ancestor worship, paying respects to dead people everywhere—first Eastern Depot old predecessors, then Yang family old ancestors. Truly unlucky to the extreme. Everyone carelessly burned some paper money, then Prince Tang bent down to examine the tombstone carefully. He saw only a few sparse words carved above: “The gentleman’s name was Qi… a son of the Guanxi Yang clan, born in the Yongle years, died in the first year of Wu Ying… lived fifty-seven years…”

Seeing the inscription was so sloppy, Prince Tang couldn’t help being amazed: “Who erected this tombstone? How could it be done so carelessly?” The old man laughed coldly: “Who else could it be? If not that unfilial descendant A’guang, who would save this money?”

Carving characters on tombstones cost at most three to five taels—this A’guang was truly penny-pinching. The old woman smiled: “Fine! Better if A’guang erected a tower-high big tombstone and put it at the village entrance for everyone to see, so you could all learn a few more characters.” Hearing this, all the Yang-surnamed people’s faces reddened, apparently due to illiteracy.

So-called epitaphs—the inscription was like poetry, the record like prose, engraving the deceased’s rank and name, serving as the main text. Divided into three-character, four-character, and seven-character forms, with one sentence per rhyme or two sentences per rhyme patterns, extremely particular. Seeing Yang Family Village was a poor remote place, if they really erected a huge stone tablet here, it would seem out of place.

Prince Tang understood this and said no more, turning to look at another tombstone and reading: “The gentleman’s name was Xin, a son of the Guanxi Yang clan, born in the Longqing years, died in the first year of Wu Ying, lived twenty-three years.” Reading to this point, he couldn’t help but shiver slightly: “Died in the first year of Wu Ying? How did father and son both die in the same year?”

Everyone was extremely surprised and all looked at the old man, who sighed: “There was a fire.” Everyone said in amazement: “Fire? The fire was that fierce?” The old man sighed: “This was fate. Our Sixth Master’s branch was originally quite prosperous, running a large dyeing workshop in the village and accumulating considerable money. As a result, one year there was a big fire at home that not only burned Sixth Master to death but also burned the manor to the ground.”

Prince Tang took a deep breath and asked: “What about A’guang? How did he escape the disaster?” The old man sighed: “Those days he and his mother had returned to her maternal home and thus saved their lives. But his mother’s life was also short—less than a few months later she drowned in the river. Sigh… this family was truly plagued with disasters, as if cursed by someone.”

Hearing the word “curse,” Prince Tang’s heart naturally trembled. Tonight they had exhausted their efforts—from the palace into the secret passage, from the secret passage to Little Mirror Lake, slowly finding Liu Jing’s coup location, then following clues thread by thread to Yang Family Village. All this painstaking effort was to discover the purpose behind “Emperor Longqing’s” excavation of the secret passage. Now suddenly hearing the word “curse,” everyone felt ominous in their hearts.

Thinking of that imperial family curse, Chief Manager Fang felt a bit afraid and probed: “Old sir, this… this Yang Qi’s family didn’t live by Little Mirror Lake, did they?” At this question, the old man couldn’t help being surprised: “Yes! That granary used to be their old home. How did you know?” Chief Manager Fang hit the mark with one question and couldn’t help smiling bitterly twice, exchanging glances with Prince Tang. Both saw the unease in each other’s eyes.

Back then, Emperor Longqing’s deep excavation of the secret passage was a massive project, yet no one understood why. But even more surprisingly inexplicable was that this secret passage actually led all the way to a rural commoner’s ancestral home? It was truly puzzling. Chief Manager Fang felt afraid and whispered: “Your Highness, don’t ask further—this matter is haunted.” If Chief Manager Fang was afraid, naturally Prince Tang was too. His heart was both anxious and horrified, so he only paced by the graves in thought, trying to investigate the complete story clearly.

Walking and walking, he suddenly saw a small earthen mound beside the grave, overgrown with weeds, without tablet or inscription. Prince Tang was slightly startled and immediately stopped: “Honored elder, what is this?” The old man’s expression was hesitant and he was slow to answer. The old woman beside him said: “Here lies Sixth Grandfather’s daughter. A’guang called her aunt.” Prince Tang said in surprise: “Daughter? How could she be buried with her father?” The old woman showed pity: “This daughter was unmarried. That year when Sixth Master’s house caught fire, she was burned to death along with him.”

Everyone exclaimed in sympathy, but then Chief Manager Fang said: “Wait—shouldn’t Yang family women all be buried on the right side of the mountain foot? How could she be buried here?” This hit the nail on the head, making everyone pay attention. The old woman shook her head and sighed, unwilling to speak, while the old man laughed dryly: “To be honest with you all, our Sixth Grandfather’s daughter was unmarried but also didn’t maintain chastity. You… ahem… understand the meaning?” Everyone exclaimed, realizing this woman had brought shame to the family. If she wasn’t some wealthy family’s concubine, she had given birth out of wedlock—nameless and statusless. No wonder she had to stay forever by her father’s side. Without her father’s protection, who would take her in?

Amid the sighs, the old woman seemed to have something to say, but the old man desperately made eye signals. Chief Manager Fang was extremely observant. Seeing their meaningful glances, he detected something unusual and hurriedly said: “What? Is there more?” The old woman hesitated for a long while, then said quietly: “It’s past midnight—I’ll go back first.”

Everyone had visited the graves and investigated A’guang’s three generations clearly. His grandfather was named “Yang Qi,” his father was called “Yang Xin,” and he had an aunt who served as someone’s concubine—all died in a great fire. But speaking of it all, whether A’guang was Yang Yuan or not, no one knew. Even with Prince Tang’s shrewdness and Chief Manager Fang’s alertness, they still couldn’t see the truth.

Tonight’s clouds were strange—sometimes covering the Lantern Festival bright moon, sometimes drifting apart. At a glance, they looked like a huge ghost face watching human activities. Chief Manager Fang looked up at the sky, his heart secretly bristling with fear: “Your Highness, I think we’ve investigated everything we should. Can we leave now?”

Prince Tang pondered for a long time, slowly turning his gaze toward the mountaintop, looking at the Yang family ancestral temple. He had a vague feeling that Liu Jing’s discovery of the secret passage was somehow related to Yang Yuan, and this “Grand Secretary of Zhongji Hall” was mysterious and must have some connection with that “A’guang.” The spider silk and horse tracks were linked together—to solve all the mysteries, he must investigate further.

Prince Tang made up his mind and bowed to the old man: “Honored elder, I’d like to visit your Yang family’s ancestral temple. Please trouble you to lead the way.” Before the old man could complain of fatigue, the eunuchs were already crying bitterly: “Great King! You’ve investigated his ancestors for three generations—do you want to copy his genealogy too?” The eunuchs had been busy all night and naturally yearned to return home. Prince Tang consoled them: “Since we’re here, let’s be at peace. This is the last place—we’ll leave after taking a look.”

In the dead of night, the old woman was tired and had already taken her grandson home. Now only the old man remained to lead the way. The group climbed the hill, and by the silver-white moonlight they could see an ancient temple standing on the hilltop—facing Mirror Lake in front, backed by the hill behind. Though it had been neglected for years, one could still see that the original feng shui layout was quite extraordinary, showing that the Yang family ancestors must have produced several heroes.

Chief Manager Fang chuckled and said casually: “Honored elder, looking at this ancestral temple’s impressive momentum, I suppose you’re descendants of the ‘Yang Family Generals’?”

Throughout history, the first Yang surname hero was the “Yang Family Generals” who resisted the Liao Dynasty and protected the borders. Seeing the handsome men and beautiful women of Yang Family Village with dignified appearances, they might truly be descendants of Yang Ye and Yang Yanzhao. The old man laughed heartily: “We wouldn’t dare claim that. But we are descendants of ‘Four Knows Hall’—everyone in the world surnamed Yang has some blood relationship with us.” Chief Manager Fang exclaimed: “Four Knows Hall? What’s that?” Prince Tang was learned and immediately leaned over to whisper: “That’s their hall name.”

Yang clan descendants spread far and wide. Just the famous hall names numbered two: one called “Guanxi Hall,” the other “Four Knows Hall.” After the “Yongjia Disaster” and “An-Shi Rebellion,” clansmen migrated south and east, gradually spreading everywhere. Besides this, there were many granted and changed surnames—like the Southern and Northern Dynasties’ “Yuchi clan” changing surname to Yang, “Mohulu” also changing surname to “Yang” during Emperor Xiaowen’s time, and even Zhuge Liang granting barbarian tribes the surname “Yang” when pacifying the borders. No matter how mixed the clan bloodlines became, the direct line was only one branch—descendants of the Spring and Autumn period’s “Minister Yangshe,” historically called “Yang Clan Orthodox.” This was the ancestor of “Four Knows Hall.”

Everyone didn’t understand the Yang clan’s origins and couldn’t joke carelessly. Seeing the old man open the side door, they followed one by one.

Everyone came to the front courtyard and looked carefully, their hearts trembling again. This ancestral temple’s architecture was actually quite magnificent, divided into inner and outer sections. The first section was for worshipping heaven—with a high court and deep yard, a huge incense burner placed in the center, extremely impressive. The second section was the Yang clan’s ancestor worship area. From afar, they could already see the three large characters “Four Knows Hall” in a giant scroll, with bold brushwork and extremely imposing momentum.

Prince Tang knew this was someone else’s ancestral temple and outsiders shouldn’t disturb it casually, so he said: “You all stay here and guard. Chief Manager, let’s go in together.” Chief Manager Fang was a natural slave—seeing himself favored, he couldn’t help snorting and ordered the eunuchs to remain in the outer courtyard while he and the prince walked toward the inner hall.

Arriving before the hall, numerous memorial tablets surrounded them—these must be the Yang family’s ancestors. A rush mat was placed in the hall for descendants to kneel on. Prince Tang said: “Honored elder, did A’guang often come to the temple to worship ancestors?” The old man lit incense while saying: “Yes, every year before and after examinations he would come here to burn incense and pray for blessings, hoping for ancestral protection.”

The greatest honor in a scholar’s life was passing the imperial examinations—opening the family temple to worship heaven and ancestors to bring glory to the family name. But among the tens of millions of scholars in the world, there was only one top scholar. What must have been the feelings of those like “A’guang” who failed examinations year after year?

Prince Tang looked up and saw hundreds of spirit tablets surrounding him. He pondered slightly and knelt beside the rush mat. Chief Manager Fang said in surprise: “Your Highness, is there something unusual?” Prince Tang shook his head: “Nothing, just wanted to experience A’guang’s feelings back then.” Chief Manager Fang laughed dryly: “Need to experience that? That boy must have often knelt here for three days and nights after failing.”

Poor A’guang took examinations again and again, yet failed repeatedly, finally becoming a swindler and thief. When he was at his wit’s end, what was he thinking? Would he hang himself in the ancestral temple?

Vaguely, everyone felt cold, as if seeing “A’guang” kneeling and kowtowing, covering his face and weeping bitterly.

All around was quiet—only three living people in the hall but hundreds of dead people’s spirit tablets. The atmosphere was somewhat gloomy. Chief Manager Fang couldn’t help feeling afraid, but Prince Tang showed no fear. After all, he was a descendant of this dynasty’s Taizu—with protection from the three realms, he naturally feared no ghosts or demons. Chief Manager Fang was both cold and tired and really wanted to leave. He looked up and saw the three characters “Four Knows Hall” and hurriedly said: “Honored elder, who wrote this hall name and what’s its origin? Please tell us quickly.”

Wind blew and snow was cold—dark clouds came quickly from the horizon, slowly drifting to the mountaintop and obscuring the moonlight. The old man also felt cold and pulled his clothes tight, saying in a trembling voice: “This… this hall name was written by our great ancestor. It’s meant as a warning for descendants.” Chief Manager Fang frowned: “Great ancestor? Who was that?” The old man said: “Our great ancestor was named Yang Zhen—he was a Tang Dynasty high official who served as Governor of Jingzhou.” Chief Manager Fang nodded: “I see. So what does ‘Four Knows’ mean?”

The old man breathed on his hands for warmth: “The story goes like this: when our great ancestor was an official in Jingzhou, one year a high court official came to him to do bad things. At midnight, he sent an envoy to tell our great ancestor about the bad deed. Hearing it violated his conscience, our great ancestor sternly refused. The envoy quickly persuaded: ‘Duke Yang, it’s midnight now with no one around—heaven doesn’t know, earth doesn’t know. What are you worried about?’ Hearing this, our great ancestor immediately replied: ‘Who says this matter is unknown? In my view, at least four know about this matter.'”

Prince Tang heard the crucial part and his heart couldn’t help trembling, but the old man fell silent. He frowned slightly and turned around sharply, only to see the old man with his mouth agape and Chief Manager Fang also horrified with tongue sticking out. All four eyes were staring behind him as if seeing ghosts. Prince Tang was stunned—behind him were only the three characters “Four Knows Hall.” How could this make these two men stare in shock? Could the Yang family’s old ancestor be manifesting? He frowned tightly: “Honored elder, which are the ‘four knows’? Speak!”

“Heaven knows…” At this moment, a sinister voice truly came to his ear and spoke two more words: “Earth knows…”

Heaven knows, earth knows? Prince Tang was dumbfounded. He slowly lowered his eyes and saw a cold, sharp blade at his heart. He heard again: “You… know…” Silently, that blade had already pierced his clothes and pressed against his left chest between two ribs. At the moment of death, Prince Tang steeled his heart and let out a piercing scream…

“I know!” In the sudden moment, regardless of everything, he reached into his robes and pulled out a gun handle.

“Your Highness! Escape quickly!” Chief Manager Fang finally came to his senses. He cried out miserably and immediately formed a claw with his right palm, pouncing to rescue. But there was a loud bang as Prince Tang fired regardless of everything, though his heart was also heavily stabbed with a blade.

“Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know”—this was the “Yang Family Four Knows.” But just as he understood the meaning, Prince Tang had already lost his life. Immediately the old man was so frightened he cried loudly: “Come quickly! Come quickly!”

The attendants heard the crying and rushed into the hall. Amid sinister laughter, they saw a black-clothed figure hanging upside down before them. He was thin and small, wearing a face mask, suspended in mid-air. The dagger in his hand still dripped with red blood, drop by drop falling to the ground.

“Kill him!” Chief Manager Fang shrieked miserably. With a shout, the Southeast Asian strongman wielded his golden awl, the Tianzhu monk rushed forward to rescue, and the “First Eastern Ocean Warrior” had already drawn his blade. All surrounded and attacked that figure.

In the sinister atmosphere, the black-clothed figure’s body quietly floated up, avoiding the mass of weapons, then flipped upside down to the main beam like a ghost. The attendants were greatly alarmed, but Chief Manager Fang was already shocked and angry: “What are you afraid of! This person has ropes tied to his body!” As he spoke, a black shadow flashed before their eyes—the assassin had already escaped through the ventilation window.

The assassin came and went freely. Chief Manager Fang knew he couldn’t catch up and hurried to crawl beside the prince, crying: “Your Highness, don’t die!” Prince Tang had been stabbed in the heart—a fatal wound that could stop his breath at any moment. The eunuchs were flustered and were about to bandage and stop the bleeding when they heard a cough as Prince Tang himself pulled open his outer clothes, revealing golden silk threads in his inner garment.

“Good heavens…” Prince Tang threw the short gun on the ground and gasped: “Nearly cost this prince his life…”

“Golden silk armor!” The eunuchs cheered and shouted: “Your Highness’s life is saved!”

The world’s number one protective device was the peerless “Hundred Longevity Armor,” followed by the expensive “Golden Silk Garment.” Prince Tang was indeed shrewd—though he had given away the Hundred Longevity Armor, he still remembered to wear this “Golden Silk Garment,” which saved his life in the critical moment. Chief Manager Fang breathed a sigh of relief and examined the wound closely, seeing that the precious garment’s golden threads had already broken inch by inch, and blood was visible on the skin, showing how heavily the assassin had struck. If Prince Tang hadn’t fired his gun in self-defense just now, forcing the assassin to withdraw and pull back his arm, he would have been killed on the spot.

Chief Manager Fang recalled the assassin’s appearance—thinking of how exceptionally short the person was and holding a strange-shaped dagger—he couldn’t help thinking of someone and said in alarm: “Let’s go quickly! That person just now was ‘Zhaoduluo’—he still has accomplices!”

The eunuchs asked blankly: “Zhaoduluo? Who is he?” Chief Manager Fang didn’t know how to explain and could only hurriedly carry Prince Tang and rush out. The eunuchs were confused in their hearts. Though they didn’t know what the chief manager feared, they followed and ran into the courtyard. When everyone reached the main gate and was about to open it and exit, they suddenly heard a loud bang—the great gate was punched by someone, causing the door bar to shake faintly.

Bang… bang… The great gate shook continuously. Outside seemed to lurk wild bulls and fierce beasts. Everyone looked at each other in alarm. The old man couldn’t help rubbing his eyes and murmuring: “Who’s knocking at the door?” In the dead of night, outside the ancestral temple was a graveyard. If someone came knocking at this time, it would be a ghost, not a person. Chief Manager Fang was filled with fear and shouted loudly: “Who’s there?”

As soon as he spoke, the shaking outside the door ceased and became completely silent. Prince Tang took a deep breath, knowing there must be some strongman outside. However, this expedition was well-armed—he had brought eight foreign experts as bodyguards, Chief Manager Fang had twelve eunuchs under him, plus Chief Manager Fang himself, totaling twenty-one martial artists. His heart settled slightly as he looked at the Southeast Asian strongman: “Yiva, you go ahead and clear the way.” With fierce beasts lurking outside the door, Prince Tang sent out his first strongman. This “Yiva” came from the Srivijaya Kingdom, with strength so mighty he dominated Champa, Khmer, Kalandan, and over ten other Southeast Asian nations. Surely brute force against brute force would not suffer any loss.

In the silence, the Southeast Asian strongman raised his golden awl and advanced to clear the way. The experts, skilled and bold, surrounded Prince Tang at their center and slowly approached the main gate. The Southeast Asian strongman, confident in his unmatched strength, simply removed the door bar and pulled open the door panel. Looking outside, he saw pitch darkness with no apparent ambush and made a gesture indicating everyone could proceed.

Hiss… In the darkness came the sound of faint breathing. The eunuchs jumped in fright and screamed loudly: “Someone’s there!” Everyone quickly retreated and saw a black shadow appear outside the door. With arms crossed and completely black, it had somehow concealed itself from everyone’s sight.

Bang! Bang! Boom! The black-clothed figure began to step forward. This person’s strength was tremendous—just a few steps made the stone ground crack faintly. Chief Manager Fang cried in alarm: “Quick! Quick! Push the door shut!” The Southeast Asian strongman roared low, dropped his golden awl, and pushed the door with both hands to close the panel. Suddenly there was a muffled sound as a large black palm extended from outside, blocking the door’s path, followed by a surge of strength as the black shadow tried to enter.

The black shadow was trying to get in! The Southeast Asian strongman rushed forward and exerted all his strength to push the great door shut, but the door panel opened inch by inch inward. The newcomer’s strength was extremely great—no matter how the Southeast Asian strongman planted his feet and gritted his teeth, he couldn’t stop the retreating momentum. Chief Manager Fang shrieked: “You bastards, what are you standing there for? Go help him!”

The eunuchs were greatly alarmed and rushed behind the Southeast Asian strongman, shouting together in hopes of lending him aid.

Both sides—one inside the door, one outside—competed with strength. Twelve eunuchs formed a human chain as the Southeast Asian strongman’s support. With everyone shouting in unison and working together, the door panel slowly moved outward, pushing that black shadow back. Chief Manager Fang personally rushed over shouting: “Everyone attack together!”

All the experts came forward—not only Chief Manager Fang entered the fray, but even the old man came to help. With united efforts, the black shadow’s body gradually leaned back and his single palm gradually retreated, apparently unable to withstand this massive force. Just as the door panel was about to close, suddenly the breathing sound changed. The black shadow took a deep breath, withdrew his palm backward in a semicircle, and with a great roar of “Heave!” released his palm force. With a thunderous crash, the great door split into pieces, and the eunuchs flew out like broken kites, tumbling to the ground one by one.

“Aiya… Oh my goodness…” Chief Manager Fang painfully crawled up and saw a black-clothed giant emerge beneath the great door. His figure was stout with protruding belly, plus a black-hooded mask—his strange and fierce appearance was no different from the Yaksha King in Buddhist paintings!

Amid heavy footsteps, the Yaksha spirit arrived with earth-shaking presence. The Southeast Asian strongman bore the brunt. With an angry roar, he employed his Iron Head Technique—bending forward like a wild bull charging frantically. With a muffled sound, his head heavily struck the enemy’s belly, then his hands encircled the Yaksha spirit’s waist, using the “Jade Belt Around Waist” bone-crushing technique to fight desperately.

Squeak… squeak… The boots grinding against stone floor made strange sounds. The Southeast Asian strongman’s feet desperately pressed against the ground, but his body kept retreating. Everyone watched in horror as the Yaksha spirit opened both hands and strode forward as if entering an uninhabited realm.

With a thunderous crash, the Yaksha spirit reached out and grabbed the Southeast Asian strongman’s vest with one hand, throwing him heavily to the ground, then stepped into the courtyard. His majestic angry gaze frightened all the eunuchs into screaming. Though Prince Tang was alarmed, he remained calm and immediately gritted his teeth and commanded: “Vanda, advance to meet the enemy!” At Prince Tang’s command, the Tianzhu expert immediately entered the scene. Seeing this black-clothed giant’s tremendous strength and massive build, they absolutely couldn’t fight him head-on. To “overcome strength with softness,” only the Tianzhu expert could accomplish this.

With the situation critical, the Tianzhu expert didn’t wait for polite challenges but immediately rushed forward. Both sides extended one hand, ten fingers interlocking. The black-clothed giant, relying on his great strength, was about to lift the man up, but the Tianzhu monk had already activated his soft bone divine technique. With one joint twist, he had somehow gotten behind the enemy, then with knee pushing up and palm pressing down, he had firmly controlled his opponent.

Once a person’s joints are controlled, even with tremendous divine strength, they cannot use it. Prince Tang was overjoyed and said again: “Ruizuo, finish him off.” Ruizuo drew his blade and was about to rush over when suddenly the black-clothed giant lowered his body, his wrists spinning in circles, and somehow also got behind the Tianzhu expert.

This soft bone technique move immediately left Chief Manager Fang dumbfounded—he never expected this person’s body to be so massive yet his bones so flexible. Just as he was horrified, there was a sharp crack as the Tianzhu expert screamed toward heaven, having his joints twisted free by his opponent.

The newcomer’s martial arts were extremely profound. His strength far exceeded the Southeast Asian number one strongman, and his bone flexibility matched Tianzhu secret divine techniques. This person had learned everything and could do anything—truly unknown origins. Seeing two great experts already defeated, Prince Tang gritted his teeth hatefully: “Everyone stand back! I’ll deal with him myself!” He raised his short gun and fired at that person. With a thunderous boom amid swirling smoke, the black-clothed giant was seen in a horse stance with left fist at waist and right fist straight forward, his fist completely undamaged while a gun pellet lay on the ground.

Seeing such iron fists existed in the world, the eunuchs were horrified speechless. Prince Tang said in amazement and trembling voice: “What… what kind of martial arts is this?” Chief Manager Fang stared blankly at that person’s fist and foot stance and said in horror: “This… this is Shaolin Temple’s Luohan Fist…”

All martial arts under heaven originated from Shaolin. The temple’s warrior monks had fists like iron and stone, strength like bulls, and were also proficient in yoga soft bone techniques. If this black-clothed strange man wasn’t a Shaolin warrior monk, how could he combine all the world’s divine techniques?

Amid the horror, the black-clothed giant slowly bent down and picked up the golden awl left by the Southeast Asian strongman, then looked sideways at Prince Tang. With a thunderous angry roar, the golden awl came smashing down. Prince Tang covered his face and screamed: “Ruizuo! Draw your blade!”

Eastern Ocean’s number one fast blade had become the last life-saving treasure. With a low swish, the Japanese sword fast as swift wind met the golden awl head-on and like tearing silk, cut it into two pieces. That “Ruizuo” not only could enter to save people but also pressed his advantage relentlessly. With left hand at waist and right hand swinging the blade horizontally, he was about to cut his opponent in half.

The Japanese sword was incredibly sharp, able to cut gold and break rock. No matter how hard that Yaksha’s fists were, they couldn’t block the lightning-fast cutting blade. Just as the blade edge was about to strike, the Yaksha giant roared angrily: “Niraya!”

The Yaksha King bent down and gripped the large incense burner with one hand. With thunderous wind roaring, the incense burner flew over the Japanese pirate’s head, frightening him to kneel on the ground, nearly being smashed to pulp.

“Help!” The incense burner flew out and smashed into the stone mortar. The eunuchs immediately scattered and fled. Chief Manager Fang was scared mad and had already led the frantic escape. The other Tianzhu expert, Southeast Asian strongman, Eastern Ocean fast blade, and even the village old man all greased their feet and rushed out the door following Chief Manager Fang. In their desperate flight, Chief Manager Fang looked left and right and suddenly felt one person missing from the team. He cried out in alarm: “Go back quickly! His Highness hasn’t left yet!”

Everyone was greatly shocked and hurried back, only to see Prince Tang still standing stupidly in the courtyard, facing off with that Yaksha spirit.

The Yaksha spirit had infinite divine power. Seeing the incense burner weighed hundreds of pounds yet he could lift it with one hand—this was no longer a martial arts realm but demon magic and sorcery. The experts didn’t know how to defend against the enemy. In their panic, they heard the strange roar again: “Niraya!”

The incense burner came smashing through the air. The black-clothed giant bared his teeth and grinned, again displaying divine power. Seeing this object so heavy, when it struck head-on, never mind Prince Tang wearing “Golden Silk Garment”—even with an extra layer of “Hundred Longevity Armor,” he’d probably be smashed to pulp. Amid the horror, Chief Manager Fang actually danced about crying and laughing: “It’s over! His Highness will become meat pie!”

With a metallic clang, the incense burner flew sideways three feet and crashed to the ground, shattering bricks everywhere. The prince looked down at his own body and found himself surprisingly intact. In confusion, everyone quickly turned to look and saw a tall man had appeared beside the prince, left fist raised high—he had actually deflected the incense burner with his fist!

In the night, the final reinforcement had finally arrived. This person had a tiger brow and leopard face with long black hair draped over his shoulders. In the moonlight’s reflection, that black hair was actually bright as pure silver.

The experts on scene came from all directions—Tianzhu people looked like charcoal, or there were Japanese warrior dwarfs with strange builds—but only this one looked human. Chief Manager Fang loved mighty men most in his life. Seeing this heroic appearance, he couldn’t help being overjoyed: “Who are you?”

“Sha Jin!” The black-clothed giant roared furiously: “It’s you again, you bastard!” Amid loud crashes, the Yaksha spirit rushed forward and was already grappling with the tall man. Both had tremendous divine power—one wielding an incense burner, one pulling up tree trunks, fighting until sand and stones flew. That man resisted the attacks with full strength while calmly saying: “Your Highness, please leave first. We’ll meet again in the capital.”

Though Prince Tang was in chaos, he still maintained propriety and said hoarsely: “Thank… thank you General Mieli for your assistance…”

“General Mieli?” Chief Manager Fang asked strangely: “Your Highness… is this person also your subordinate?” Prince Tang gasped: “No… no, he… he is the gemstone owner’s subordinate… called Tamerlane Mieli…”

That tall man was very resilient—despite taking repeated heavy blows from the incense burner, he could still stand firm. Looking at his counter-attack moves, they were quite strange—punches like hooks, fist edges like blades, apparently not Central Plains techniques. Chief Manager Fang grew more suspicious the more he watched. Just as he was about to ask more about this person’s origins, he heard another thunderous crash as the incense burner was thrown over again, frightening him to bolt through the door screaming: “Run quickly!”

The eunuchs cried and fled. Under the prince’s leadership, they grabbed the old man and rushed down the mountain. Just reaching level ground, they saw another person approaching in the distance. He carried an umbrella as if a villager out for a stroll. The eunuchs, not knowing danger from safety, quietly passed by that person. Just as they were afraid, they suddenly heard that person say coldly: “Which one is Prince Tang Zhu Zhi?”

Everyone turned to look and were shocked to see the umbrella-carrier dressed in black with a black hood—yet another faceless one. Chief Manager Fang immediately screamed miserably and fled in panic carrying the prince. The Eastern Ocean warrior roared loudly and immediately drew his fierce blade to slash at the iron umbrella man.

Iron Umbrella Demon battled Japanese Blade Maniac. Chief Manager Fang knew he had encountered “Gongpiluo” of the Twelve Divine Generals. Soon the Central Plains monster would battle the Eastern Ocean Japanese pirate—better not bring shame to foreign lands. He carried the prince and fled desperately for life. After about half a li, another person appeared ahead. This person held a vermillion red precious pestle and waited in the field ridge—needless to say, another iron pestle demon had arrived.

“Go kill him!” Chief Manager Fang’s hair stood on end as he immediately kicked out the Tianzhu expert. Amid jabbering Sanskrit, both sides fought fiercely. As for who won or lost, that was beyond caring about.

Everyone fled for their lives along the way. Soon came a fan-waver, then a top-spinner. Seeing countless checkpoints, Chief Manager Fang could only respond to each move, kicking out a foreign expert to block whenever enemies barred the road. Just reaching Yang Family Village, the experts were completely exhausted. The eunuchs tiptoed fearfully when suddenly another figure appeared on the road. He held a broom and had blocked the road—apparently a sweeping demon. The old man was scared out of his wits and cried: “Here comes another!” Just as he was about to turn and flee, that person said in surprise: “Old man, why are you running? I’m not hitting you.”

Everyone looked carefully and saw before them an old woman—the Yang family old man’s wife had arrived. The old man cried and ran forward shouting: “Old woman! I nearly died before seeing you!” The old woman hugged him and said in surprise: “What’s this about, you old goose? Acting fashionable at your age?” Just as she was puzzled, she heard Prince Tang say hoarsely: “Old woman, we need to travel… Do you… does your village have a horse cart? We’d like to borrow one.”

The eunuchs breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they could escape by cart, but heard the old woman say in surprise: “Borrow a cart? No need to borrow—your friends have come to get you!” Saying this, she turned and waved toward the distance: “Gentlemen, your friends have returned! Hurry over to pick up your people!”

Hearing this, Chief Manager Fang said nothing and immediately fled carrying the prince. The eunuchs still didn’t know life from death and only laughed heartily: “Reinforcements have arrived!” Just as they were waving and laughing, they heard thundering hoofbeats in the distance as a large group of mounted warriors came galloping. Amid flying dust, the men slowly drew long blades from behind their backs—they were about to slaughter on the spot.

The “Zhenguo Iron Guard” elite had arrived—eighteen riders in a line, their imposing presence frightening the eunuchs into running wildly. Rumble, rumble—dust swept past as the large group of mounted warriors gave chase. The old man called for his father and mother, about to flee with the eunuchs, but was grabbed by his old woman who said in surprise: “Why are you running? What’s it to you?” The old man also blinked and said in amazement: “Yes, what’s it to me? Why should I run?”

“It’s nothing to do with me! Nothing to do with me!” The eunuchs exerted all their nursing strength and charged wildly. After a hundred feet, they finally caught up behind Chief Manager Fang and immediately cried: “Eunuch! Where do we run now?” With pursuers approaching from behind, Chief Manager Fang didn’t know what to do. He immediately used his specialty skills—seeing a forest ahead, he immediately dove in; seeing a big tree in the forest, he immediately circled around it; suddenly seeing a grass patch by the tree, he rolled right in. Using several moves in succession, he had already escaped into a sorghum field and fled desperately.

The sorghum stalks were extremely tall, sufficient for hiding. The eunuchs were about to crouch for dear life when they heard continuous swishing sounds. The eighteen riders lined up and slashed horizontally with long blades, cutting down sorghum stalks like mowing grass. The eunuchs knew their heads were doomed and could only dart out from the sorghum field, only to realize before them was a vast plain with nothing left for cover.

The cavalry was about to arrive. If both sides ran onto the plain, in a foot race, how could two legs outrun four? The eunuchs grew cowardly and hurriedly took out banknotes, hoping to buy their lives with silver. Prince Tang gasped: “It’s useless… the inn people cannot be bought—they absolutely won’t negotiate with us…” The eunuchs cried: “Then what should we do?”

“The situation has reached this point—turning back is also useless.” Prince Tang pointed north and gritted his teeth: “We charge back to Beijing!”

“Charge!” The eunuchs cried and wailed as they all rushed forward. From the sorghum field came the neighing of horses as the assassin riders flanked from left and right wings. Several swishing sounds in the darkness as enemy riders all raised their blades. Prince Tang lay prone on Chief Manager Fang’s back and fired his gun backward. Though knowing there was no accuracy in the darkness, he still frequently loaded powder, hoping to slow the pursuing soldiers’ momentum.

Rumble, rumble—eighteen riders entered the grassland like cats catching mice, several times pressing close for slaughter in dangerous situations. But at this moment, Chief Manager Fang screamed: “Your Highness! Look!”

A column of dust rose to the sky at the horizon. Even the grassland was gone now, leaving only a broad official road. At that road’s end in the distance, there seemed to be a large cavalry force galloping toward them!

When it rains, it pours—the “Zhenguo Iron Guard” had reinforcements coming. This time, who knew how many troops had arrived, making the earth rumble like thunder. Wolves in front, tigers behind—Chief Manager Fang no longer had strength to carry the prince and simply sat down on the ground, waiting for someone to deliver a killing blow.

Horse neighing—the cavalry behind was only a few feet away, while ahead thundered like artillery with dust flying everywhere. Prince Tang gritted his teeth and was about to close his eyes for death when suddenly a flying banner from the north entered his sight—exactly the two characters “Tiger Might.”

“Royal Guard Army!” Prince Tang raised his voice and shouted: “Let’s get out of the way quickly!” He summoned his last strength to grab Chief Manager Fang and roll together into the roadside ditch. The other little eunuchs, not to be outdone in escaping, all jumped down together.

Rumble, rumble—the first banner flew ahead, showing “Tiger Might,” followed by “Dragon Cavalry,” “Leopard Strategy,” “Phoenix Soaring”… The Royal Guard Army’s heavy armored cavalry had arrived. Sand storms rose to the sky, snow and mud mixed with dust shaking more than ten zhang high. Before them was exactly the “Royal Guard Army’s” “Cavalry Three Thousand Battalion” with flags of “Tiger Might,” “Dragon Cavalry,” “Leopard Strategy,” “Phoenix Soaring”… all cavalry guard stations had arrived—who knew how many troops were here.

The world’s number one heavy armored cavalry was not outside the pass among the Mongols, but inside the pass in the Central Plains. Since the Battle of Yehuling in the Jin Dynasty, the world had never seen such cavalry expedition momentum. Where their power reached, heaven and earth truly changed color—no one could challenge their edge.

Whoosh, whoosh—fast horses swept past. Chief Manager Fang gasped breathlessly. Hiding in the sorghum field’s ditch, he hurried to observe the “Zhenguo Iron Guard’s” movement, only to see the enemy had already turned their horses around, separated by the great army on the opposite side of the great grassland, unable to break through anymore.

Cavalry shook the earth—wave after wave of troops rushed past. A full incense stick’s time passed and still seemed endless. Seeing countless military banners in the distance surrounding a great flag named “Cavalry Three Thousand Battalion,” and farther still the general army’s name “Royal Guard.” As the commander’s flag approached, Prince Tang hurriedly climbed up and waved his hand hoarsely: “Prince De!”

Prince Tang’s shouts couldn’t reach far, so the eunuchs opened their shrill voices and shouted together: “Prince De! Prince De!” Chief Manager Fang, seeing the other party ignoring them, hurriedly picked up a stone and threw it forcefully at the commander’s flag.

“Whoosh”—the stone hit someone. The commander’s flag hesitated slightly, and instantly horse hooves shook the earth as the entire army surged aside. Chief Manager Fang stared blankly, seeing horses surrounding him on all sides, then with clanging sounds, thousands of long blades were drawn, “click” heavy strings tightened, ten thousand hard crossbows opened, all pointing at the unlucky devils below.

“Don’t act rashly! Don’t act rashly!” Chief Manager Fang was greatly alarmed: “This family is Eastern Depot’s Fang Wannian! Don’t act rashly!” This Chief Manager Fang was originally called “Fang Wannian.” Since rising to high position, his subordinates heard him give his own name for the first time, showing the “Royal Guard Army’s” military might was truly overwhelming—even this dynasty’s chief eunuch couldn’t withstand one scare.

In the distance, cavalry like the sea parted as a princely banner moved toward them—exactly Prince De of the “Lin Hui De Qing” had arrived. These four princes were the Son of Heaven’s confidants, normally leading the “Son of Heaven’s Personal Army,” obeying only Emperor Zhengtong’s orders alone. Not only did Chief Manager Fang fear them, even Wu Dingyuan’s “Zhengtong Army” had to be wary of them.

Horse hooves clip-clopped as a messenger guard rode over. Sitting on his horse, he said coldly: “Which Eastern Depot member has come? Do you have credentials?” Chief Manager Fang, seeing the newcomer wasn’t Prince De himself, couldn’t help being stunned. The messenger guard grew impatient and shouted loudly again: “Credentials!” Chief Manager Fang, arrogant all his life, had now fallen to “a tiger fallen to flat ground.” He took out his official tally from his bosom and smiled apologetically: “This family is Eastern Depot’s Fang Wannian… may I ask, officer, where is Prince De?”

The credential was thrown back. The guard sat high on his fine horse and said coldly: “His Highness has official business and no time to see you.” Chief Manager Fang was so angry his whole body shook, but didn’t dare contradict. He heard the guard lecture: “When the Royal Guard Army marches, all officials under heaven may not obstruct. Next time there’s such discourtesy, don’t blame us for executing first and reporting later.” Immediately raising his voice sternly: “Did you hear?”

“We heard!” The eunuchs had no backbone and all knelt to answer. Chief Manager Fang was so angry he saw stars, but under someone’s eaves, one must bow one’s head. He could only endure and say: “Officer, don’t be angry. This family also has imperial orders and just left the palace on imperial decree. We encountered bandits on the road and suffered minor injuries… need to borrow a few horses from Prince De…”

“Enough.” That guard had no patience whatsoever. Hearing the other party wanted to borrow horses, he made an eye signal, and a group of soldiers surged from behind, leading out over ten war horses and handing them to the eunuchs. Chief Manager Fang wanted to curry favor with them and took out several banknotes from his bosom, indicating tips. Several guards took them and looked, but only snorted and threw them to the ground, not bothering to look.

The Royal Guard Army was the Son of Heaven’s personal army—how noble their status! How could they care about a few taels of silver in tips? Seeing the little soldiers acting arrogantly and throwing the banknotes back actually made the eunuchs rush to grab them, angering Chief Manager Fang to curse: “Don’t touch them! Take them and burn them!”

Prince Tang didn’t want to deal with the Royal Guard Army. He gasped for a while and was about to struggle to get up when he heard suona horns sounding high from the formation, followed by commands: “Cavalry Battalion listen up! Full army advance… push toward Bazhou!”

Rumble, rumble—the great army moved again. The wilderness troops continuously surged forward, formations stretching endlessly, seemingly urgent to travel. Prince Tang said blankly: “Bazhou? What are they going to Bazhou for?” Chief Manager Fang cursed: “Who cares if they live or die? Tonight’s had enough strange events.”

Prince Tang nodded. Tonight he had experienced repeated frights and was already exhausted. He and Chief Manager Fang supported each other mounting horses and galloped toward the imperial city.