The Gold Token and the Scorched Man

“Find them! Search thoroughly! I want his entire clan executed by slow slicing!” Ji Lin’s enraged roar echoed through the palace hall.

Below him, the assembled officials stood in perfect silence, their crescent tablets held in both hands, lined in a row, staring at the spotless floor.

“Are you all deaf? Hah? Are you all deaf? My Empress Mother! And my Imperial Sister! People of such noble status—left to rot in the wilderness like stray dogs!”

“Hahaha! Is this still the Ji family’s empire? Is this still the realm of Great Liang?” Thick stacks of memorials were hurled from the towering Dragon Throne by Ji Lin, scattering down upon them.

When the loose documents landed on the officials’ heads, finally, someone spoke.

A portly military official stepped forward. “Your Majesty, according to reports gathered from survivors, the one who killed the Empress Dowager was certainly a rogue cultivator!”

“I do not care what kind of cultivator he is! I want his head!! Within three days, I need to see his head!”

The morning court ended under this oppressive atmosphere. As a furious-faced Ji Lin crossed through the palace toward his own bedchamber, every eunuch and palace maid in the entire complex held their breath, terrified of attracting the emperor’s ire.

But the moment Ji Lin entered his chambers, the anger on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a kind of bloodthirsty satisfaction.

“Erjiu, you did well this time. Your sword is truly both sharp and effective! Far more practical than those who only flap their lips. Speak—what reward do you want?”

The moment Ji Lin finished speaking, Li Huowang’s form appeared from the left of the massive gold-threaded sandalwood table. “Your Majesty, I do not want an official post, nor do I want gold. I simply believe that Your Majesty is the one destined by Heaven to rule.”

Ji Lin, draped in his dragon robe, pushed at his slightly slipping left cheek and walked half a circle around Li Huowang, hands clasped behind his back. “Heh heh. No post, no gold? So you want me to owe you a favor then?”

Faced with Ji Lin’s inquiry, Li Huowang said nothing.

Since he had already demonstrated his immense value, the next step was naturally to calculate how to use Ji Lin to deal with Dice.

Ji Lin reached out and slapped Li Huowang’s left shoulder, then raised his other hand to wave at the old eunuch standing by the wall holding a tray.

Ji Lin picked up a gold plaque engraved with a dragon pattern from the tray and pressed it into Li Huowang’s hands. “This is a Gold Life-Saving Token. With this, even if you commit a heinous crime in the future, it can redeem your fault.”

Li Huowang felt the heavy gold ingot in his arms and immediately discerned another layer of meaning. This thing would only work as long as Ji Lin was emperor. If someone else ascended the throne, this token would be fit for nothing but a pawn shop.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Ji Lin stepped forward, staring intently into Li Huowang’s eyes. “I know this doesn’t make up for your contributions. But rest assured—as long as I survive this ascension, you will be my greatest meritorious official!”

“Your Majesty… do you hate the Zuowandao?”

Ji Lin was taken aback by the question. Why had they suddenly veered back to the Zuowandao?

“Your Majesty, do you hate the Zuowandao?” Li Huowang asked again.

“Of course! My Imperial Father died because of the Zuowandao! They are my father’s murderers!” Ji Lin ground his teeth.

Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded with relief. He raised his hands in a Daoist salute toward Ji Lin. “Your Majesty, I understand. Who should I kill next?”

He had shown his hand just enough for now. These two heads alone would not be sufficient to make Ji Lin help him.

“No rush, no rush. I want to see how the others react first. This matter is troublesome. You are skilled at killing, but after the killing, how to turn their supporters into my supporters—that, I’m afraid, you cannot help with. Go back and rest for now. When it is time to strike again, I will send someone to notify you.”

Before long, Li Huowang was escorted out of the red palace walls by a contingent of imperial guards.

On the way home, his expression grim, Li Huowang replayed Ji Lin’s every reaction, analyzing the meaning behind each shift in his face.

The old Ji Lin had been a straightforward man, saying whatever was on his mind. But Li Huowang did not know if he was still the same now.

From the perspective of interests, the emperor of Great Liang was naturally opposed to the Zuowandao. If he wanted to deal with Dice in the future, it would make sense for them to refuse neither logically nor emotionally.

But right now, a doubt gnawed at Li Huowang’s mind: why had Dice specifically ensured Ji Lin ascended the throne? What benefit did Ji Lin’s accession bring to him?

Without understanding this, even if Ji Lin was willing to mobilize the might of Great Liang’s official apparatus against the Zuowandao, Li Huowang dared not reveal everything to him.

“Could Ji Lin be a pawn of the Zuowandao?” Li Huowang’s inner alarm bell screamed.

“Brother Li, rest assured. Ji Lin cannot be a Zuowandao. No matter how incompetent the Supervisory Heavenly Office may be, they would not allow such an important person under their watch to be replaced by a Zuowandao.”

Zhuge Yuan’s words dispelled Li Huowang’s concern. He nodded, pondering his next move to break the deadlock.

It was extremely difficult. Because for every possibility he considered, he had to reverse-think it: would Dice have already anticipated this?

“Dad! You’re back? I made you some steamed buns!”

Li Sui blocked him right at the door, proudly displaying her achievement.

Looking at the lumps of dough in the pot—each one a scorched-black, unrisen, lifeless mass—Li Huowang forced a strained smile and picked one up, shoving it into his mouth.

Though he knew that he could not rush in dealing with an enemy as powerful as Dice, the thought that Miao Miao was in his hands made it impossible for his heart not to race.

He patted Li Sui’s white skull, and some of the exhausted, burning anxiety in his heart finally eased.

“Dad, did I make them tasty?”

“No. Don’t make them again next time.”

“Why aren’t they tasty? I think the buns I made are super tasty.”

As they were talking, a knock came at the door that had just been closed. “Great Elder. Zu Yi requests an audience.”

Seated on the long bench, Li Huowang stopped chewing and looked toward the door along with Li Sui.

“The door is unlocked. Come in.” Li Huowang’s voice was cold, as if he was not at all surprised that this person had followed him.

When this man had directly rebelled and helped him deal with the Eldest Princess, Li Huowang had known the matter was not over yet.

The wooden courtyard door was pushed open. A man wearing a black veiled bamboo hat and a loose, wide-sleeved robe stepped inside.

His entire body was concealed. The only information Li Huowang could glean was the pungent smell of charcoal emanating from him.

Li Sui, with her sharp sense of smell, immediately identified that this was the man whose entire body had once been wreathed in flames.