Du Yun was still standing in place, the light in her eyes already gone.

Her body swayed before she slumped to the side near the wheel of the carriage.

The hairpin slipped from her hair, bouncing off the bluestone pavement as beads rolled everywhere.

The street was quiet for less than a breath before a maid's scream shattered the silence.

"Ah——!"

She staggered backward, her back crashing against the carriage body, shaking so hard she could barely stand.

Pointing at Yu Wantang, her fingers trembled wildly in the air as her voice turned sharp and cracking.

"You... You dared to kill the young mistress! Killing someone in broad daylight! The Prime Minister will not let you off! He won't let the Yu Family go..."

"Do I need him to let me go?" Yu Wantang reversed her blade and struck again.

The maid's voice cut off.

She lunged forward two steps, collapsing beside Du Yun.

The goose-yellow silk and blue-gray cotton lay close together, both stained the exact same color by blood.

The coachman tumbled down from the shafts, prostrating himself on the ground with his forehead pressed against the earth, trembling all over and not daring to breathe a single gasp.

Yu Wantang flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed it with swift movements.

She lowered her gaze to scan the two people on the ground, then glanced at the carriage blocking the middle of the road.

The glazed lamp was still lit, its flickering candlelight casting a glow over the dark red pooled across the ground.

She raised her eyes and looked ahead at the pitch-black palace walls.

"Perfect, that saves me the trouble of going back to look for them later."

She spurred her horse around the carriage, the dark iron horseshoes treading across the long street and leaving several dark red hoofprints behind.

Two hundred mansion guards followed closely behind her, their neat footsteps crushing over the bluestone pavement as they advanced toward the imperial palace.

The system finally squeezed out a voice: "Host, the one you just killed was the female lead."

Yu Wantang looked at the increasingly close outline of the palace walls ahead as the night wind blew her loose strands of hair.

"Mhm, so what? If I killed her, I killed her."

"In my story, there is no need for a female lead."

"Of course, there is no male lead either."

...

Inside the Imperial Study, the fourth stick of dragon saliva incense was already burning down.

Zhao Heng sat behind the imperial desk, holding the third memorial in his hand, yet he hadn't taken in a single word.

The ink on the memorial blurred into a mass before his eyes, refusing to focus.

He tossed the memorial onto the desk, looked up toward the palace doors, but there was still no movement.

"Wang Dean."

"This old servant is here."

"Has any news come from the Generals Mansion?"

Wang Dean bowed deeply, replying cautiously: "Reporting to Your Majesty, no news has been sent back yet.

However, Lord Zhou has always handled matters reliably, presumably..."

"Reliable?" Zhao Heng sneered, tapping his fingers heavily twice on the imperial desk.

"He has been gone for nearly an hour. How long does it take to surround a Generals Mansion?"

Wang Dean dared not reply.

Zhao Heng stood up, pacing back and forth in the grand hall with his hands behind his back.

The candlelight cast his shadow onto the gold-brick floor, dragging it out long and short by turns.

After walking back and forth twice, he suddenly stopped.

"Prime Minister Du."

Du Ruhai stepped forward half a step from the corner, bowing slightly as he said: "This old subject is here."

"I suddenly remembered something." Zhao Heng turned around, staring at Du Ruhai.

"Do you think if the Yu Family defies the imperial decree, they will contact other ministers in the imperial court?"

Du Ruhai lowered his eyes halfway, not answering immediately.

"Yu Huaiyuan holds extremely high prestige in the military, and there are probably quite a few people in the court who have friendly ties with him."

Zhao Heng spoke faster and faster.

"Regarding tonight's events, what if someone leaked information to the Yu Family in advance, or—"

He paused.

"Or what if the Yu Family has already sent people to contact those individuals while I am still kept in the dark."

Du Ruhai raised his eyes, his gaze flickering under the candlelight.

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

Zhao Heng walked to the imperial desk, supporting himself with both hands on the tabletop.

His voice lowered, but his tone became even heavier: "Call everyone into the palace.

Tonight, summon everyone from the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Censorate holding the fourth rank or above into the palace.

Tell them I have important matters to discuss."

Wang Dean was stunned for a moment: "Your Majesty, it is already past the hour of Hai, and the palace gates are all closed..."

"Then open them again." Zhao Heng interrupted him, his voice as hard as stone.

"Transmit my imperial decree, open the palace gates, and summon them to enter the palace immediately."

Wang Dean hurriedly bowed in compliance, turned around, and ran out of the hall.

"Wait."

Zhao Heng called out to him and added another sentence: "Send someone to notify the Prime Minister's Mansion as well, and have Prime Minister Du's family members enter the palace too.

Tonight is not peaceful; the palace is safer than outside."

Du Ruhai bowed slightly: "Your Majesty is considerate; this old subject is unworthy of such favor."

"Prime Minister Du need not be overly courteous." Zhao Heng waved his hand.

"You are my pillar of state, so naturally I must protect you thoroughly.

Once tonight passes, I will still be counting on you to clean up the mess left behind by the Yu Family."

Du Ruhai lowered his eyes, the curve of his lips hidden by his beard.

This young emperor's imperial mind-games were becoming more and more practiced.

But it didn't matter.

Once the Yu Family's military power changed hands, he would be the sole existence in this imperial court, beneath one person and above ten thousand.

"This old subject thanks Your Majesty for your great grace."

Du Ruhai cupped his hands in a salute, his tone submissive to perfection.

Zhao Heng nodded and sat back down behind the imperial desk.

He picked up his teacup intending to take a sip, but finding his fingers trembling slightly, he put the teacup back down.

The imperial guards had already sent people out, and the Generals Mansion was surrounded.

Logically speaking, even if the Yu Family had the ability to reach the heavens, they should still be trapped, yet he still felt uneasy in his heart.

"Prime Minister Du."

Zhao Heng spoke again, his voice a bit lighter than before.

"Do you think I am overthinking things?"

Du Ruhai raised those eyes that were always half-lowered, looking at Zhao Heng.

"Your Majesty is not overthinking."

He said, his voice remaining unhurried.

"Your Majesty hasn't thought enough.

In extraordinary times, an extra ounce of caution brings an extra ounce of security."

Zhao Heng stared at him for two seconds, then leaned back against the back of the chair and let out a long breath.

"With Prime Minister Du here, I can rest easy."

Du Ruhai bowed slightly once more, without replying.

Outside the hall, a sudden gust of wind rose, drilling through the cracks of the door and blowing the candlelight uniformly to one side.

The shadows all over the hall swayed along with it.

...

In the main hall of the Generals Mansion, the candlelight was still burning.

Yu Huaiyuan sat in the grand armchair, his battlefield saber resting close to his hand.

The scratches on the scabbard gleamed with a dull light under the candlelight.

He had already changed into a dark everyday robe, belted at the waist, with straight shoulders and a straight back.

Mother Yu sat beside him, her handkerchief clenched and loosened, loosened and clenched again in her hands.

Wantang and the others had been gone for nearly half an hour.

When they left, imperial guards blocked the way outside the mansion gates, but failing to stop them, they stepped aside instead.

When a servant came to report this, Yu Huaiyuan only nodded without saying much.

The imperial guards surrounding the mansion was within his expectations, but the imperial guards making way was something he hadn't anticipated.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside the wall.

It was scattered human voices traveling in from outside the mansion.

Judging by the sound, they were knocking on the residences on both the left and right sides.

Mother Yu suddenly straightened her body, turning her head to look outside the wall as her face turned pale bit by bit.

Yu Huaiyuan was also listening.

After listening for a moment, his brows furrowed slightly.

Everyone living on this street was an imperial court minister.

Which person up above had arranged for these people to come?