Chapter 193: The Qian Emperor Once Wrote

“What do you mean?”

Li Shun could not help but look toward Kong Zhao.

“A strong crossbow cannot remain drawn forever. The vain rely on their own bravado.”

Kong Zhao avoided answering directly. Instead, he extended two fingers and once again inscribed those words in the air.

The writing made no sound, yet its meaning was already laid bare.

Staring at the profound expression on Kong Zhao’s face, a flicker of understanding suddenly passed through Li Shun’s heart.

Such a heart-piercing judgment could hardly be Kong Zhao’s opinion alone. Most of the high officials in the imperial court were likely entertaining the same suspicion.

After all, judging by common sense, if the Qian Emperor truly still possessed the peerless cultivation of the Heaven-Earth realm, then a disturbance as earth-shaking as yesterday’s chaos in the Sacred Capital could have been suppressed with a mere turn of his hand. There would have been no reason for him to sit high within the imperial palace and simply watch it unfold.

Yet the fact remained that from the moment the upheaval erupted until everything finally settled, the Qian Emperor had remained seated within the depths of the forbidden palace, utterly silent and unmoving.

Such abnormal behavior naturally invited endless speculation.

But...

Could the Qian Emperor truly be judged by common sense?

Li Shun was deeply skeptical.

Perhaps it was precisely because they still harbored a lingering reverence for that eternal emperor who had once single-handedly suppressed four Sages that the rebels who infiltrated the Sacred Capital yesterday had not dared to recklessly attack the imperial palace.

Instead, they had targeted the residences of the Three Excellencies, using the attacks as a stone to sound the waters, testing the depths of the situation first.

“From burning the Imperial Mausoleum to causing chaos in the Sacred Capital, these people seem to be growing bolder and bolder.”

“However, something feels strange.”

“If they truly believe that the Qian Emperor’s vital essence is failing and that his death is imminent, they could simply wait patiently and let nature take its course. They have already waited for more than five hundred years. Why are they suddenly so anxious now, repeatedly stirring up trouble to test the waters?”

“What exactly are they so anxious about?”

Although Kong Zhao served as an Investigating Censor, he was clearly extremely interested in the secret affairs of the imperial court and the world beyond it.

As he gossiped with Li Shun, the excitement in his eyes was difficult to conceal.

Only when he sensed faint footsteps approaching from outside did he stop writing in the air. His expression immediately became solemn, returning to the usual cold composure he wore.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in,” Kong Zhao said indifferently.

A servant dressed in blue pushed open the door and bowed respectfully.

“Third Young Master, the Ancestor has summoned you. He asks that you go see him.”

Kong Zhao ranked third among the direct descendants of the new generation of the Kong Clan, so the servants of the residence respectfully addressed him as Third Young Master.

“The Ancestor summoned me?”

A trace of surprise appeared on Kong Zhao’s face. He immediately nodded.

“I understand. You may leave for now.”

Kong Zhao was just about to leave when Li Shun suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, Senior Brother Kong, yesterday the communications within the Sacred Capital were sealed off. What exactly happened?”

“Was it like the outside world, where all communications simply became impossible? Or...”

A trace of surprise flashed through Kong Zhao’s eyes.

“I didn't expect Junior Brother’s perception to be so sharp. There are countless mighty cultivators within the Sacred Capital. If the communications had simply been forcibly severed, the senior officials of the imperial court would have noticed something was wrong immediately. Those petty villains would never have been able to organize such a fierce assault.”

“The truth is, from the perspective of everyone within the Sacred Capital, all communication with the outside world remained completely unobstructed yesterday, just as usual. It was only that...”

Li Shun’s gaze sharpened as he cut in.

“What they actually connected to was not the real person on the other end, but a false illusion?”

Kong Zhao nodded slightly, then a trace of puzzlement appeared on his face.

“Judging from Junior Brother’s expression, could it be that you have encountered a similar method before?”

Li Shun narrowed his eyes.

He was certainly familiar with this sort of 'telecommunications scam.'

Back when he was in Lengshan County, Han Sushi had relied on precisely this sort of heaven-defying deception to fool Fang Xun before calmly rescuing Jiang Chongguang.

Thinking back on it now, yesterday’s astonishing method of sealing off the Sacred Capital was almost identical to what Han Sushi had done in the past.

The only difference was that Han Sushi could, at most, sever and deceive the communications of a single person.

The divine ability that descended upon the Sacred Capital yesterday, however, was like a curtain of heaven enveloping the entire imperial city.

The number of people deceived by it was not merely in the thousands.

“Han Sushi seems to have come from a Daoist lineage.”

'It seems yesterday’s incident cannot be separated from the Daoist sects.'

Thinking this, Li Shun told Kong Zhao about what Fang Xun had experienced before his death.

“My master remained deeply troubled by this matter and mentioned it to me several times. When I heard about the situation in the Sacred Capital yesterday, the method immediately felt familiar, which is why I asked.”

“Han Sushi?”

Kong Zhao seemed somewhat unfamiliar with the name.

Li Shun reminded him again.

“He and that remnant of the Xiang Nation, Jiang Chongguang, were the true instigators behind the incident involving Shentu Xin burning the Imperial Mausoleum.”

“It was him!”

Kong Zhao suddenly understood.

Then his expression changed drastically.

“Senior Brother Kong, could it be that you know this man’s origins?”

Li Shun lowered his voice as he probed.

Earlier, when they had been discussing such taboo secrets as the Qian Emperor, Kong Zhao had remained perfectly composed, writing freely in the air and clearly enjoying himself.

Yet now, merely mentioning Han Sushi’s master and sect lineage had caused him to adopt an extremely guarded and apprehensive expression.

This only made Li Shun even more curious.

Could there be someone in this Great Qian world even more terrifying than the Qian Emperor?

Seeing Li Shun staring intently at him, Kong Zhao hesitated.

After remaining silent for a long while, he finally whispered,

“Junior Brother Li, wait here for a moment. I’ll be back shortly.”

Before he had even finished speaking, he hurried away like a gust of wind.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, Kong Zhao hurriedly returned.

Before entering the room, he cautiously glanced around, his expression exceedingly wary. Once inside, he immediately locked the doors and windows from within. He then formed several hand seals, laying down a series of restrictions that completely sealed the entire room.

Only after doing all this did Kong Zhao carefully remove a sheet of paper from his robes.

It shimmered with brilliant golden light.

With utmost solemnity, he pushed it toward Li Shun.

Li Shun looked closely.

The golden sheet was densely covered in tiny characters. Every stroke flowed with a natural grace, utterly devoid of any trace of deliberate ornamentation.

It was artistry approaching the Dao itself.

With merely a glance, Li Shun felt an indescribable sense of clarity and exhilaration arise within his heart.

'There is actually handwriting this exquisite in the world?'

Li Shun had studied under the Confucian lineage. Combined with Fang Xun’s memories and his own attainments in calligraphy and literature, he had always prided himself on possessing considerable skill with brush and ink.

Yet compared to the words written upon this golden sheet, his own calligraphy was like the faint glow of a firefly before the radiance of the bright moon, utterly eclipsed.

There was no need to even comprehend the meaning behind the words.

Simply examining the structure of each individual character revealed an indescribable beauty, as though endless Daoist resonance were concealed within every stroke.

Li Shun stared for a long while, completely entranced.

Only after quite some time did he gather his thoughts and shift his attention back to the content of the writing.

[In the fifty-eighth year before the New Calendar, I raised an army to conquer You. On the march, we reached Huangshi Mountain, where we encountered a river. I wished to lead my army across by the stone bridge, yet despite every possible method, we were unable to cross. Just as I was filled with shock and doubt, I caught sight of an old man sitting beneath the bridge, smiling as he gazed at me. I knew at once that he was no ordinary man, and hurried forward to bow deeply.]

[The old man said, “Your journey from here will surely bring you great disaster.” Though displeased in my heart, I nevertheless humbled myself and asked him how I might avert it. The old man shook his head and said, “It is Heaven’s decree. If you proceed, defeat is certain.”]

[At that time, I had already conquered two nations in succession. My might shook the world, and my spirits were at their peak. I believed that there was no one beneath heaven who could stand against me. How could I possibly heed such words? I therefore flung my sleeve and ignored him. The old man shook his head once more and vanished in an instant. When I reached You, my army was indeed utterly defeated and forced to retreat.]

“Hmm?!”

The passage itself was not difficult to understand. It merely recounted an old anecdote from fifty-eight years before the founding of Great Qian.

But the person who had written it...

Judging solely from the tone of the writing, it was actually written by the Qian Emperor?!

Once Li Shun finished reading, Kong Zhao hurriedly retrieved the golden sheet like a startled bird, his expression filled with utmost solemnity.

He then hurried out of the room once again to return it to its secret resting place.

When Kong Zhao finally returned, Li Shun could no longer restrain his curiosity.

“Senior Brother Kong, that page of golden paper just now, what exactly was it...?”

Kong Zhao answered in a hushed voice.

“After Great Qian was founded, the Grand Historian once compiled the [Record of Imperial Exegesis], meticulously documenting every matter, great or small.”

“However, as for the period before Great Qian was founded...”

“Every medium in the world capable of leaving behind a record was erased. Later generations have no way of glimpsing that history.”

“There is only one exception.”

“And that is the work personally written by His Majesty.”

“Its name is the [Emperor's Exegesis].”

“Only the Emperor could interpret it. Only the Emperor could record it. Only the Emperor could preserve it.”

“This was personally written by His Majesty himself. There is only one original copy remaining in the entire world, sealed deep within the old residence of the Grand Historian inside the imperial palace.”

“Looking across the world, there are exceedingly few people qualified to see the [Emperor's Exegesis] with their own eyes. And those fortunate enough to copy down even its handwriting are rarer still.”

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[T/N:- The previously used Record of Emperor's Exegesis has been changed to Record of Imperial Exegesis to avoid confusion with the later Emperor's Exegesis.]