The New Emperor

Half an hour later, the jujube-red, towering palace walls reappeared before Li Huowang. Standing at their base, craning his neck to look up, the mountain-like pressure of their presence washed over him.

He had no fond memories of this place. He just wanted to get this errand over with as quickly as possible.

Led by the eunuch, they continued deeper into the palace. Even though he had been here once before, this maze-like inner court still left him disoriented.

They didn't pass any of the golden main halls this time. Li Huowang judged that their destination wasn't the emperor's core residence, but rather the auxiliary building complexes on the periphery.

Speaking of the Great Liang Emperor, Li Huowang recalled the intelligence he'd gotten from Liu Zongyuan last time—that the emperor was on his deathbed. If that information had been reliable, the man should have been buried by now.

Just as his thoughts were wandering, the leading eunuch stopped before an arched gate and said in that neither-male-nor-female voice, "Here it is. The Grand Steward is inside."

"Auntie's tellin' ya, this Grand Steward has some history. He used to be in the Supervisory Heavenly Office too, so he's practically one of our own. Easy to talk to." Lian Zhibei put on the airs of a seasoned hand, leaking insider information to Li Huowang.

The two of them stepped through the arched gate, Lian Zhibei leading the way. She seemed to know the route.

Soon, inside a storeroom, they found the so-called Grand Steward of the eunuchs.

Upon learning of Li Huowang's and Lian Zhibei's purpose, the square-jawed eunuch's face twisted with displeasure as he complained in his pinched voice.

"Ai-yo-yo, how do you people at the Supervisory Heavenly Office get things done? Nearly three months, and you're only delivering it now! This is the last piece we were waiting for; the Grand Preceptor is just about frantic with impatience! And I get punished along with everyone else because of your delay!"

"Eunuch Cao, you were an old hand at the Office yourself, so you know how hard this thing is to get ahold of. We exhausted a lot of effort to catch it. Just look at how fresh this one is."

Lian Zhibei seemed very skilled at dealing with eunuchs. A few words, and she had the man surnamed Cao grinning from ear to ear.

Soon, a sheet of paper stamped with a red seal was placed in Lian Zhibei's trembling hands. "I presume I don't need to waste my breath telling you which warehouse to draw from?"

Having said this, Eunuch Cao stopped paying them any attention. He wrote something down, then tossed it into a bronze brazier to burn.

Watching the ashes rise and drift toward the window, the expression on Eunuch Cao's face relaxed considerably.

Then he turned and ordered other eunuchs to use a jade dish inlaid with agate to pack the Ling Nie in the box.

"Well, you're busy, Grand Steward. We won't disturb you any further." Lian Zhibei, smiling obsequiously, dragged the paper behind her as she backed out of the room.

"They don't just pay out the yang life directly here?" Li Huowang asked in a low voice.

"Of course, of course we have to get it from the warehouse. Let's go quickly. We have one more trip to the treasury. Do you have any loose silver on you? It's easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to handle the little devils. We need some loose silver to bribe the treasury eunuchs."

"This damn place and all its red tape!" Li Huowang couldn't help but frown.

Just as Lian Zhibei was anxiously reminding Li Huowang to keep his voice down, a long, drawn-out announcement call pierced through layer after layer of gates. "His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, arrives~!"

Hearing this, Lian Zhibei's expression changed. She immediately went to a corner of the wall, knelt properly with both knees on the ground, and pressed her forehead firmly against the floor.

Li Huowang, however, felt a surge of cursing rise up in his heart. He had no intention of kneeling for this new Great Liang Emperor. He simply walked over beside Lian Zhibei, shifted his body's color to match the ground, and turned invisible.

"His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, arrives~!"

The name was called out three times before Li Huowang finally saw the main event. Clad in a black robe, a golden, jade-beaded crown atop his head, the new Great Liang Emperor slowly approached, surrounded by a retinue of maids and eunuchs.

When Li Huowang's excellent vision clearly made out the man's face, his pupils suddenly constricted. He had seen this Great Liang Emperor before.

He was the same young man who, when Li Huowang had celebrated the Shangsi Festival with Miao Miao, had tricked him into buying a fake jade cat for five hundred taels of silver!

The Emperor's procession drew nearer. As it passed by, Li Huowang, after a careful look, was absolutely certain: the person he'd run into that night was this man.

"He's the new Great Liang Emperor?!" Li Huowang truly hadn't expected this. He hadn't imagined the new emperor would sneak out of the palace on the Shangsi Festival to go look at the unmarried girls.

But on second thought, it did seem like the kind of absurd thing a teenager his age might do.

Even though he knew this person was the Great Liang Emperor, Li Huowang had no intention whatsoever of trying to curry favor. In just these few months, they'd already swapped out three emperors. The throne of Great Liang didn't seem like such an easy seat.

Li Huowang, still invisible, watched silently. Just as he thought he might get through this without incident, a white-haired, blind-eyed old Daoist beside the new emperor suddenly snapped his eyes open and swept his gaze towards Li Huowang's position. "Who goes there?!"

At this shout of alarm, the new emperor was instantly submerged within a crowd of eunuchs and maids. Guards, seemingly appearing from nowhere, surrounded Li Huowang's position.

Just as the guards were about to thrust their weapons toward him, Li Huowang immediately revealed himself and raised his Supervisory Heavenly Office medallion.

The atmosphere froze. The guards were visibly hesitant. This man didn't seem to be an assassin. But if he was from the Office, why was he hiding here when meeting His Majesty? They all turned their heads toward the Grand Preceptor, waiting for his orders.

"Who are you?! And why are you here?!" The words were ordinary, but Li Huowang felt his breathing become labored, his body difficult to move.

This man's strength was absolutely terrifying. After obtaining the identity of Hong Zhong, Li Huowang hadn't felt this kind of oppressive pressure for a long time.

Li Huowang looked up at the old Daoist who had spoken. He had also been present when the Supervisory Heavenly Office fought the Zuowandao. This was the Great Liang Grand Preceptor, the one who had been continuously performing rituals with the sword of constellations.

Lian Zhibei, beside him, quickly came to her senses and handed over the paper in her hands to prove their innocence. "We are here merely on official business for the Office! To have startled His Majesty is a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths!"

Once it was confirmed to be a misunderstanding, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

The Great Liang Grand Preceptor, his face full of displeasure, said to an old eunuch, "What were you thinking? You dare let an authorized Supervisory Heavenly Office operative enter the palace?"

Just as he was about to say something more, he was interrupted by a voice of delighted surprise. "It's you!!"

The new Great Liang Emperor walked out from the crowd in joy, heading toward Li Huowang.

But he didn't make it. When he was almost there, two old eunuchs blocked his way.