Xiangge pressed his hand against his mouth, eyes widening. A sharp nausea rose through his chest, leaving a bitter taste on his tongue.
Mingxuan's spiritual energy filled the hall, vast and suffocating. Xiangge's vision dimmed, his limbs numbed.
Thunder rolled above Yunshan, drowning the faint cries outside the hall. Amid the rumble came the delicate sound of chiming bells.The enormous iron doors burst open. A gust of wind and mist swept in. Lanterns flickered. Shadows twisted.
A pale bare foot stepped onto the jade threshold. Around the ankle, a string of silver bells jingled.
The sound froze the hall.
In Xuan Huang, bells were tied around the ankles of those who died young, so their next life would begin in peace.
A slender figure entered, white mourning robes dragging across the jade floor, dripping with rainwater.
A guard at the entrance stumbled backward in terror, dropping his sword. The stench of rain and corpses reached him before seeing anything else. Maids screamed.
Some courtiers stumbled to their feet; others remained frozen on their knees. Weapons scraped free of sheaths. Horror rippled like wind through tall grass.
The woman walked in slowly, unfazed by the chaos. Her face was half veiled by long black hair. What little skin showed was the color of ash. Beneath her collar, faint veins spread like dark threads across her throat.
Her head tilted, slowly, as though listening to something the living could not hear. When her lips parted, a thin breath of frost escaped.
Someone whispered, trembling. "Con...Consort Shenya..."
Lushen went white. "Impossible..."
Even Yinsang Jun stood motionless, face drained of color.
At the name, Xiangge's hands trembled. His fingers curled into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms. His eyes burned red. But he did not turn. He could not. Looking at her would shatter what little control he had left.
Shenya stopped before the Emperor. She bowed stiffly, her wet hair sliding forward like a curtain.
"Shenya greets Junshang," she said, her voice hoarse. "Why did Junshang summon me?"
Her words ripped through the silence like thunder.
The officials stared, unable to breathe.
Summoned?
Summoned the dead!?
No one doubted the Emperor's power. But to call back the dead...
Mingxuan stood at the first jade step to the throne. "Lushen said the truth about your murder cannot be known unless you come yourself."
Shenya's lips stretched into a stiff smile. She tilted her head slightly, gaze sliding toward Lushen. Her smile broadened. Something dark lingered in her blackened eyes. The air turned colder.
"Shenya thanks Junshang for seeking justice for a mere consort like me. Am I free to speak?"
"Yes."
"I suffer from a rare heart ailment," she began. "I have concealed it for months. Only Lord Xuanji knew. He treated me in secret."
Shenya's eyes lifted slightly, their depths unreadable.
"Last evening I went to his residence as usual and found he had departed for urgent duties in the city. Since my wait... would have been long, I thought to fetch the medicines myself from the storeroom."
She paused, as though collecting a memory. "The chamber lies just above the alchemy-basement. I heard voices below... men's voices. It startled me. No one was ever permitted there."
Xiangge's palms clenched behind his back. He didn't speak. His cheeks scorched before he realized they were tears. He shut his eyes.
"I looked through the narrow gap of the door," Shenya continued. "And I saw them. Lord Hanxu and Lord Lushen."
"Wait! Hanxu's voice cracked. "That's a lie! I was in the ministry office that night. My subordinates can prove it–"
"Hanxu." Mingxuan's tone was soft but sharp enough to slice through ice. "Let her speak."
The hall fell silent again. Xiangge's throat tightened; he lowered his gaze.
Shenya's lips moved once more. Her voice was flat, detached, as if she were reciting someone else's memories.
"They were searching for something. Desperately."
A shadow flashed across Mingxuan's face.
"They were plotting against Lord Xuanji," she continued. "I heard them mention Nuanxi, Blood Moon Sect, and framing Lord Xuanji. They also spoke of something about Divine P–"
Mingxuan's fingers twitched. A thunderclap split the sky before she could finish. The hall shook. For a brief, blinding moment, her words vanished in the roar.
When the sound faded, all that remained was the echo of rain against the roof tiles and the tightness in every man's chest.
"I remember fear," Shenya said faintly, the words drifting from her lips like smoke. "I turned to run, but my foot caught the edge of a vase. It shattered. The noise drew their eyes."
She paused, as if reaching through fog for the next memory.
"They seized me. Lord Hanxu attacked me. Everything blurred, and before I blacked out, I heard them speaking... planning to use my name, to accuse Lord Xuanji to arrest him."
She paused.
"After that," her voice thinned, trembling between the living and the dead, "Lord Lushen violated me."
The air shattered.
No one spoke. No one even breathed. Faces turned white as bone.
Lushen's lips trembled. "Consort Shenya, what nonsense is this? If you fainted, how could you see anyone?"
Shenya turned her head slowly toward him. Her movements were stiff, unnatural, as if her body remembered how to live but her soul did not.
"That voice," she murmured. "The same one that cursed me before you threw a dagger laced with Jinghuo after you did that to me. I remember that voice."
The hall filled with dread.
A female minister in amethyst and silver suddenly spoke, her voice steady despite the tension. "Now that the consort has spoken, allow this subject to testify, Junshang. This subject witnessed Lord Lushen harassing her on more than one occasion."
Another official in flaxen and silver added gravely, "I confirm this, Junshang. The princess was not treated as she should have been."
Several heads nodded in agreement, courage rippling through the hall like a tide.
Xiangge's fingertips trembled. He never raised his face to look at the princess standing beside him. However it ended, he knew it would break his heart.
Lushen's lips parted. His face was pale, blood drained from every trace of color.
Mingxuan raised his voice. "Hanxu, proceed with the trial."
Hanxu swallowed hard. His knees felt weak beneath him. When he spoke, his voice came out rough.
"Requesting testimony from those who witnessed Lord Lushen's misconduct toward the princess."
The hall stirred faintly.
More than thirty people bore witness, including officials, guards, and maids.
Mingxuan looked toward Lushen, expression dark. "Lushen, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Lushen did not speak.
Mingxuan stood tall, hands clasped behind his back. His gaze shifted to Shenya. "The court finds Lushen guilty. Shenya, the judgment is yours."
Shenya remained silent for a long moment. Then she lifted her face toward the jade steps.
A painful, almost delicate smile stretched across her lips, cold lines of blood and tears tracing her cheeks. The remnants of her beauty still remained.
"To take that step is to promise a life shared, you pledge to walk together... until your hair turns white, until your hands grow frail, until death parts you. At Xuan Huang... such is the eternal vow of love."
Mingxuan's voice was cold. "Permission granted."
Shenya's lips curled wider. "This consort thanks Junshang for everything. For everything," she repeated, slowly, meaningfully.
For a moment, the depths of her eyes dimmed, as if suppressing a thousand inexplicable emotions before they died like ash after embers.
Then she turned and stepped toward Lushen.
The gratitude in her face twisted into something horrifying, venomous, a smile cold and murderous. Beneath it lingered a chill that could freeze marrow. Each step she took was a slow countdown to ruin.
"Husband, let's go home!"
The cry that followed shattered the hall, echoing through the pillars like jade cracking beneath ice. Xiangge's back trembled; goosebumps raced across his skin. That was Lushen's voice.
Xiangge heard it all. The wet tear of flesh. The soft snap of joints giving way. The hiss of a breath cut short.
Maids screamed as officials staggered back, faces drained. Thunder rattled the roof tiles.
At that moment, Xiangge turned. He didn't know whether by chance or intent, but the scene before him was swallowed by black and gold.
Mingxuan stood with his back to him, tall and still, blocking the horror ahead. The faint scent of sandalwood threaded through the smell of blood.
Xiangge froze. When did Mingxuan come down the stairs? The world behind that figure dissolved into silence. His skull throbbed; his thoughts turned white. He lowered his head, unsure if it was gratitude or nausea twisting in his chest.
A female official, pressed near the edge of the hall, watched in horror as the scene unraveled.
Her fingers clenched, arms tight to her sides. It made her skin crawl.
Shenya grabbed Lushen by the torn collar and dragged him across the jade floor. The tiles shone wet and red beneath his path.
Lushen's face was a bloody ruin. One eye was gone. His throat was torn, leaving a hollow gap, revealing bones. His ripped abdomen spilled parts of his intestines.
Muscles twitched and spasmed as he clawed desperately at the cold jade tiles, fingers scraping and slipping.
He was still half alive.
By now, almost everyone in the hall was frozen, paralyzed by what they had just witnessed. No one dared step forward to help.
Lushen's body was dragged out, leaving a hideous trail behind him.
The blood stretched across the jade floor like a dark river. The scent of iron hung heavy in the air, mingling with the faint, lingering stench of corpses.
The female official immediately knelt down and vomited.
Mingxuan walked toward Hanxu.
"So, Hanxu, did you find what you were so desperate to search for inside Yumeng Palace?"
Hanxu's face twisted, rage storming in his chest.
"You'll never know!" His teeth bared like a snake's fangs. His laughter filled the hall, harsh, and bloodcurdling.
"You'll save him today. But the darkness is coming... Xuan Huang is already dead! What empire of forty-two kingdoms? Junshang, can you save them all?"
The laughter faltered into a rasp. His words lingered like frost, crawling down every spine in the hall. It wasn't a statement anymore. It was a curse.
Mingxuan's gaze did not waver. He leaned closer and spoke in a low voice that only Hanxu could hear.
"What did Yu Zhanfeng promise you in exchange for the Pearls and Xuanji? The Throne of Xuan Huang?"
Hanxu froze. Mingxuan's power reached farther than he had ever imagined, deep enough to pierce the mind itself.
A sharp ache throbbed in his skull, breaking his thoughts. His hand went to his forehead by reflex.
Mingxuan's lips curved faintly. "So you also know the truth about Xuanji." He paused, letting the silence stretch. "Zhen is impressed. But listen carefully. Zhen will tell you something Yu Zhanfeng didn't."
He stepped closer, the air between them tightening. "Why did Zhen destroy his family and take the crown from him back then?"
Hanxu's head buzzed. The words pressed through his mind, fragments merging into place. Then, with merciless clarity, the realization came.
Mingxuan was still human. Mortal. Yet storms obeyed him. The dead answered his call.
How had he not seen it before?
How can Mingxuan be so powerful? Unless... It was him who bore the Divine Pearls?
Hanxu's breath caught. He could no longer bear it. Ten years of planning, ten years of careful deceit to trap Xuanji, all went into waste just like that.
And now, with only a few words, the Emperor had laid everything bare.
If he lingered another moment, he knew Mingxuan would uncover the rest. The secret network. The hidden hands that had helped him.
There was only one way left. He reached for the dagger at his waist. Without hesitation, he drew it across his throat.
Blood spattered across the jade floor. His body collapsed, lifeless.
Mingxuan stared at the dark red pool spreading beneath him. His face was expressionless under the lantern light.
With a flick of his sleeve, the corpse ignited in raging white fire, leaving not even ash behind.
The officials stared, their faces pale with terror. No one dared to move.
"Imperial decree!" Mingxuan raised his unfaltering voice and the officials knelt down at once.
"Seal all exits of the palace. No one leaves until Zhen commands. Hanxu's house shall be investigated. Every servant, every record, bring them before Zhen within three days. Anyone found complicit will share his fate."
His gaze swept over the kneeling officials.
"From this moment, House Hanxu is stripped of title and seal. All members shall be placed under guard until Zhen decides their fate."
He paused. Danger flickered in his eyes.
"Lushen's kin are to be delivered to the Ministry of Punishments. If the rot began in one house, Zhen will see how deep it runs."
The officials lowered their heads to the jade floor in unison.
Mingxuan rose slowly up the white jade steps, his black-and-golden robes dragging down the stairs.
"All of you, leave!" He stood on the highest step, facing the throne. "Tomorrow, Zhen will not hold court sessions!"
The officials bowed once, and filed out one by one. The hall gradually emptied, slipping back into its usual silence.
Only Xiangge remained.
"Does Zhen need to issue a special edict to ask you to leave?" Mingxuan's voice was cold.
Xiangge's chest tightened. His eyes burned, moist with tears. He felt raw. Fragile. A thousand emotions tangled in his heart. Fear, longing, grief, and an ache he could not fathom.
He wanted to leave, he knew he should, but he could not. Something held him to the spot, to the presence of the Emperor, to the impossible gravity of the moment.
Why should Mingxuan go this far?
Xiangge did not know. He did not want to think further.
The ache in his throat, the pain in his knees, the spine injury, everything came down all at once, like an immense weight pressing down on him.
Mingxuan reached for a letter from the stack on the jade desk, unrolling it with unhurried grace. The motion was calm.
Too calm.
His eyes, however, did not leave Xiangge.
"You think I don't know you wrote them?" He said meaningfully.
A suffocating silence stretched between them. Xiangge's jaw tightened. "It was you who forced me to lie."
Mingxuan did not speak for a long time. His face was half hidden in the shadows. Then he silently waved his hand.
The maids and the eunuchs in the hall withdrew swiftly. The enormous door was closed.
Xiangge suddenly wanted to leave.
But Mingxuan's voice came coldly.
"Stop."