Court Dismissed

Li Huowang, exuding a murderous aura that made people instinctively recoil, led his horse slowly into Shangjing City. His red Daoist robe had become even more blood-stained.

Wherever he walked, no one dared to approach; they all gave him a wide berth.

Such a sight naturally attracted the attention of Shangjing's spies, but this was far from the first time. They had all grown accustomed to it.

This one belongs to the Emperor. Don't stir up trouble if you know what's good for you.

Li Sui, once again wearing the skin of the late Princess Anning, sat sideways in the saddle. She looked somewhat tired, her little head bobbing slightly with the rhythm of the horse's hooves.

Oxheart Village was quite far from Shangjing, but Li Huowang had been going everywhere to clear out Fa Sect strongholds, and the area around Oxheart Village was no exception.

Taking advantage of that opportunity, she had also gone back to retrieve her skin, to let the others know they were safe, and to tell them the tragedy of the Lyu Family Opera Troupe.

As soon as he entered Shangjing, Li Huowang didn't go anywhere else. He headed straight for the Supervisory Heavenly Office.

“Where else is the Fa Sect raising their banners in rebellion?” Li Huowang asked the man behind the counter.

“R-right away, sir... please wait a moment.” Nangong Yun, his forehead beaded with sweat, quickly consulted the records.

He was a shrewd man with wide connections. The person before him had curried favor with the imperial power; his status was nothing like it used to be.

“Sir, well, at present, within the six circuits of the Great Liang, the tough nuts the Fa Sect dared to show their faces have mostly been dealt with. You deserve a great deal of the credit for that. Ah, right, the reward for this assignment—I'll settle it for you right now.”

Hearing this, Li Huowang waved his hand and turned to leave. “Forget it.”

All his running around recently hadn't been for the Yang Life Pills from the Supervisory Heavenly Office. This Faith that worshipped the Child-God Yuer Shen could not be allowed to develop. If it was, today's Great Qi would be tomorrow's Great Liang.

Leaving the Supervisory Heavenly Office, Li Huowang decided to go to the palace and ask Gao Zhijian about the situation. Having dealt with the Office quite a bit, he knew full well that the assignments they posted weren't the whole story.

He wouldn't stop until the Fa Sect was completely eradicated, root and branch.

Just as Li Huowang walked out, an unexpected person appeared before him.

It was Lyu Xiucai, with a bronze coin sword strapped to his back. His eyes were bloodshot, his face covered in stubble, and he was leading two horses that were foaming at the mouth and on the verge of collapse. He stood there.

“Master... where is my father?” Lyu Xiucai’s voice was hoarse and filled with exhaustion, as if he already knew something.

Li Huowang said nothing, leading him towards his small house.

The moment the main door was pushed open, before he even stepped inside, Lyu Xiucai heard the sound of opera singing, a tune he had heard countless times before.

Trembling, Lyu Xiucai walked further in. Finally, through an inner room with iron bars welded onto the window, he saw the raving Lyu Zhuangyuan.

Shut inside the room, Lyu Zhuangyuan was like a general on a stage, singing opera with a majestic, spirited air.

“My wife and mother... whom shall I depend on? I gaze towards home, the road so far... In this mortal world, I have wasted my youth...”

Though there was no musical accompaniment, decades of training still allowed Lyu Zhuangyuan to perform it with authentic skill.

“Father!” Lyu Xiucai grabbed the iron bars, shouting hoarsely towards the inside.

Yet, the white-haired Lyu Zhuangyuan showed no reaction, continuing to sing.

Just then, an old eunuch came down from the second floor carrying Xiuer in his arms. When he saw that Li Huowang had returned, he immediately knelt before him. “This servant greets His Lordship. During your absence, Master Lyu has been well; he eats and sleeps fine.”

Li Sui reached out and took Xiuer from his arms, gently teasing her with a tentacle, but Xiuer still wouldn't open her mouth to speak a single word.

“Master... what about my elder brother? And my sister-in-law?” Lyu Xiucai turned around, his eyes reddening, clenching his teeth as he asked.

Following Li Huowang’s gaze, Lyu Xiucai saw the two white pottery urns on the cabinet, each covered with a strip of red paper.

Lyu Xiucai walked over, reached out, and hugged the two urns, weeping bitterly. He had once had a family.

He hadn't liked that family. His stubborn father, his meek elder brother, his miserly and harsh elder sister-in-law... but now, they were all gone.

He had only disliked it. He hadn't wanted this family to fall apart.

After crying for a long while, Lyu Xiucai asked again, “Master, what about my nephew? Where is Lyu Tongsheng?”

“I don't know. He should have been with your father before. Your father went mad, and he doesn't know where he went either. I cast a divination before and didn't find him. He probably died in that chaos.” Li Huowang replied curtly.

Upon hearing this, Lyu Xiucai shot to his feet, pointing at Li Huowang, tears streaming down his face as he shouted, “You! This is all your fault! Yours and Gao Zhijian’s! Why did you bring them to this place?! Why did you send him to that opera house?! Why did you send them here to enjoy a life of luxury!! If they had stayed in Oxheart Village, none of them would have died!”

Li Huowang stood there, cold and unmoved.

After venting his anger at Li Huowang and then at Gao Zhijian, the despairing Lyu Xiucai wailed and collapsed to the ground, reaching up to slap himself repeatedly.

The sound of slapping rang out continuously. He hit himself harder and harder, until blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he still didn't stop.

Seeing Lyu Xiucai's face swollen from the slaps, Xiuer struggled out of Li Sui's arms and threw herself into Lyu Xiucai’s embrace.

The slapping stopped. Lyu Xiucai held his only niece close, sobbing painfully.

Watching this scene, Li Huowang turned and walked towards the Imperial City.

It wasn't that he was cold-blooded. It was just that, during this time, he had witnessed this kind of tragedy too many times to count.

If the Fa Sect weren't completely eliminated, then these kinds of painful events would only keep happening.

Li Huowang once again entered the Imperial City. This time, no one stopped him, though he could still feel eyes upon him from all directions.

The hidden sentries were all watching him. But Li Huowang didn't care. He was long used to being watched.

The path was smooth, and Li Huowang arrived inside the main hall. When he saw that Gao Zhijian was in the middle of the morning court session, he simply shifted his position to become invisible and waited quietly for the session to end.

“Your Majesty, a great drought has struck the Qingshang Circuit. The blight stretches for a thousand li.”

“Your Majesty, the grain storage in the Hedong Circuit has caught fire. The refugees from Great Qi are suffering a severe food shortage.”

Sitting on the dragon throne, Gao Zhijian rubbed his temples in frustration. “These have already been submitted in memorials. Is there nothing else to report today?”

As soon as he finished speaking, a military official below, holding a crescent-shaped tablet, glanced in Li Huowang’s direction before stepping forward and saying, “Your Imperial Majesty, the envoy from the Kingdom of Hou Shu swallowed gold and took his own life at the courier station yesterday. This is his final letter, written in blood. Every character is blood, every sentence tears. He implores Your Majesty, with all his heart, to send troops to save Shu.”

After he finished, a man standing behind him stepped forward as well. “Your Majesty, the envoy from Qingqiu carries the Qingqiu Khan’s personal token, a cloisonné gold blade, and requests an audience.”

“Sigh.” Gao Zhijian let out a deep sigh, stood up, and waved his hand dismissively as he walked towards the back. “Court is dismissed.”