In the resplendent great hall, the Longshun Emperor sat in the place of honor, abandoning all propriety as he clutched a golden goblet, indulging in fine wine. His cloudy eyes followed the alluring dancers intently.
Suddenly, the music quickened its pace.
A dancer leapt and twirled on bare feet, the golden bells on her ankles chiming crisp and clear. Her arms swirled red silk ribbons, her flowing sleeves like flower petals in the rain, her graceful form chasing after startled geese.
The Longshun Emperor watched, entranced, when Imperial Consort Yao's shocked exclamation broke through his reverie: "Prince An still hasn't arrived?"
"He truly has less and less regard for Your Majesty!"
Her words successfully ignited the Longshun Emperor's fury.
Just as she was feeling smug, the sound of synchronized footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the hall.
Looking towards the source, they saw the Blackfeather Guard, clad in black armor, pour into the hall and quickly spread out to both sides.
This unexpected turn of events interrupted the decadent music.
The dancers, frightened as quails, prostrated themselves on the ground.
The Longshun Emperor, both shocked and enraged, stood up and violently hurled his golden goblet to the floor.
"How dare you!" he roared. "What do you think you're doing?"
The Blackfeather Guard had always protected the imperial lineage, yet now they dared to openly defy him? What could this mean?
A cold wind gusted into the great hall as a man in purple robes embroidered with pythons ascended the steps, seeming to ride the wind.
Recognizing his face, the Longshun Emperor narrowed his tiger-like eyes and snarled, "Traitorous son!"
"Are you staging a rebellion?!"
Li Shuchen's gaze was ice-cold, his eyes blazing with a biting chill.
"Royal Uncle," he said. "I dare not accept the title of 'traitorous son.' After all, I am merely your nephew."
Under the influence of alcohol, the Longshun Emperor blurted out, "Traitorous nephew!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he sobered instantly.
What had he just said? What had he inadvertently admitted?
The Longshun Emperor tried to speak again to salvage the situation, but bit his tongue, hissing in pain.
Eunuch Feng, usually so adept at reading the room, did not anxiously come to check on him as he normally would. Instead, he gazed fawningly at Li Shuchen.
Despicable!
In the hall, Li Shuchen let out a derisive laugh. "Royal Uncle, you've been a cuckoo in the nest for far too long. Isn't it time you moved along?"
Hearing this, the Longshun Emperor flew into a rage.
"Guards! Throw Prince An into Zhao Prison!" he commanded, his finger shaking as he pointed at Li Shuchen. "No, I've changed my mind. Execute Prince An immediately!"
"Draw and quarter him! Death by a thousand cuts! I want him to die without a proper burial!"
However, the Blackfeather Guard, sworn to protect the emperor for generations, remained motionless, their hawk-like gazes fixed coldly upon him.
The true Longshun Emperor had been murdered right under their noses – this was a disgrace to this generation of the Blackfeather Guard!
Ever since Li Yuanshan had planted the seed of doubt, they had been secretly investigating the truth of what happened years ago.
It wasn't until Prince An provoked the Empress Dowager, forcing her to admit the existence of twins and revealing that the true Longshun Emperor had a mole on his buttock while the impostor did not, that the Blackfeather Guard, after discreetly verifying this information, finally switched their allegiance.
They were sworn to protect only the legitimate emperor.
With the true Longshun Emperor dead, Prince An, as the eldest son of the first wife, was rightfully the next emperor.
It was their duty to follow Prince An and set things right!
No one knew the imperial palace better than they did.
They had arrived silently, advancing straight to the great hall. At the same time, they had dispatched some of their number to control the leaders of the Imperial Guards and to hunt down the Marquis of Xianping.
"Earlier, when Li Yuanshan presented witnesses and evidence, Royal Uncle, you said it wasn't convincing enough. Today, I've specially invited the Imperial Grandmother to join us. Surely her words will be enough to convince you?" Li Shuchen's gaze, tinged with intimidation, swept over the courtiers in the hall who were as silent as cicadas in winter. He smiled, "And all of you as well."
"Prick up your ears and listen carefully to learn who the real traitors and rebels are!"
The courtiers kept their heads bowed, secretly stealing glances at the devastatingly handsome man in the hall, their pupils suddenly constricting.
Prince An was standing up!
He wasn't crippled!
His imposing demeanor naturally drew people's gazes upward.
Looking back at the false Longshun Emperor, despite standing in an elevated position, he was thoroughly overshadowed.
It was like comparing a dragon to an insect.
At this moment, the Empress Dowager, who rarely left her quarters, was brought in.
She seemed to have aged years in an instant.
Empress Dowager Wang clutched her prayer beads tightly, steeling her heart against the pleading look in the eyes of the Longshun Emperor on the throne, deliberately ignoring him.
She couldn't let the Li Dynasty fall during her watch.
Li Shuchen had meticulously recounted to her the miserable state of the common people at the borders, and enumerated the crimes of the false Longshun Emperor one by one.
Including how the impostor had cruelly murdered the true Longshun Emperor and taken his place.
The true Longshun Emperor had grown up at her knee, from his first words to his first steps, from Eastern Palace crown prince to ascending the throne. He had always been filial and attentive to her.
This bond was something the impostor could never match.
Empress Dowager Wang closed her eyes, her voice hoarse with emotion.
"I did indeed give birth to twins back then," she said. "The second-born did not die, and is in fact the current emperor. At first, I didn't notice, but as time passed, I naturally realized he was not the original emperor." It was her refusal to face reality that had allowed the impostor to continue his deception until now.
These few short sentences were like daggers stabbing into the Longshun Emperor.
Was he being abandoned once again?
Simply because he was born a bit later, the previous emperor had ordered him drowned, and the Empress Dowager had rationally complied.
Had they ever felt even a shred of guilt towards him?
No!
In this magnificent palace, everyone was cold-blooded and heartless!
The Longshun Emperor now bitterly regretted not having eliminated the Empress Dowager earlier.
For the sake of a pitiful amount of maternal love, he had allowed the greatest threat to remain.
Empress Dowager Wang opened her eyes and looked directly at him:
"This son killed his brother and usurped the throne. The evidence is irrefutable!" Then, the witnesses and physical evidence that Li Shuchen had shown her were presented one by one to testify.
The Longshun Emperor laughed maniacally.
"So what if it's fake? Am I not still of the previous emperor's bloodline?" he raved.
"As long as I kill all of you, I'll still be emperor! Hahaha..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, one of the dancers who had been prostrate on the ground suddenly sprang up, driving a golden hairpin into his chest.
Without the protection of the Blackfeather Guard, the Longshun Emperor was helpless against the vicious female assassin.
He coughed up a mouthful of black blood and laughed wildly:
"Even if you kill me, you won't win the empire! The Marquis of Xianping... the Marquis of Xianping..."
The dancer's delicate brows furrowed as she pulled out the hairpin, deliberately targeting his throat, heart, and arteries.
Blood splattered across her face, making her appear both bewitching and beautiful.
She had finally avenged her sister!
When her sister had been taken into the palace, she had been pregnant. When she was finally sent out of the palace, she was wrapped in a tattered mat, her body covered in bruises, and dumped in a mass grave.
Her brother-in-law had been too cowardly to oppose the emperor.
But she, raised by her sister, dared!
She had unhesitatingly accepted the olive branch extended by Mr. Gongsun, diligently studying both dance and martial arts, waiting for the right moment to appear and kill the dog emperor with her own hands!
The dancer stood up, drenched in blood, her smile breathtakingly beautiful. "Sister, I've avenged you. Wait for me."
Mr. Gongsun had taught her:
Speak less before killing.
Finish the kill, then talk.
She had deliberately revealed her motive, distancing herself from Prince An's household, and then unhesitatingly took her own life, leaving no loose ends for Prince An's faction.
This was the path she had chosen.
Even though Mr. Gongsun had said he could find a way to spare her life, she had achieved her revenge and no longer had any desire to live. She wanted to find her sister and tell her personally that she had stabbed the dog emperor nine times!
After the emperor's death, a young eunuch timidly asked, "Should we toll the death bell...?"
Li Shuchen cast a cold glance his way. "He doesn't deserve it."
"Chief Historian, step forward."
"Your subject is here."
"I command you to correct the historical records and reveal the truth. The Longshun Emperor died in the eleventh year of Longshun. Thereafter, the deposed emperor usurped the throne."
"The selling of official positions, excessive taxation, lavish construction projects, and debauchery were all the deeds of the deposed emperor. They must be recorded faithfully."
Although his father had preferred male companions, he had been kind and generous to the common people, worthy of being called a good emperor.
The reason he was named Li Shuchen, rather than Li Shucheng, was because his father had once said:
The people are precious, the ruler is light.
The emperor is merely a special servant of the common people, and he hoped his son would love the people as his own children.
He would not allow the false Longshun Emperor to tarnish his father's reputation.
The deposed emperor deserved to be nailed to history's pillar of shame, bearing the weight of his own crimes!
Li Shuchen signaled to the Blackfeather Guard, who immediately went to collect the deposed emperor's corpse.
His mother had been burned alive in the Phoenix Feather Palace by the deposed emperor, a grudge he had never forgotten, nor dared to forget.
While publicly giving him a grand burial, privately the deposed emperor's remains would be ground to dust!
He too would be consumed by fire, leaving not even ashes behind!
At this moment, the courtiers noticed that the new emperor's eyes were bloodshot, his entire demeanor austere and chilling.
As the midnight bell tolled, Li Shuchen's gaze turned to the distance.
This New Year's Eve, he hadn't been able to spend it with Huan.
