In the illusionary realm within the Historical Record Jade Slip, Mo Xi slowly opened his eyes.
He discovered that he was lying in an endless darkness. All around him was a vast, boundless night sky. Across the firmament stretched a band of blue-green light, and on that band flickered small seal-script characters, their brightness constantly shifting.
Suddenly, a hollow voice descended upon him from the heavens, hoarse like a worn-out scroll—
“What matter… do you seek to read?”
This was the invitation that appeared now that the Historical Record Jade Slip had finally been pieced together and could trace the past.
Mo Xi propped himself up and sat down, facing the green-blue band of light that twisted and writhed across the night sky like a mist-shrouded azure dragon.
“I want to know whether Gu Mang has ever harbored any hidden circumstances concerning treason within this past year.”
“……”
The band of light continued to twist and coil without the slightest change.
Just as Mo Xi’s hope gradually began to fade, thinking that perhaps the jade slip had not recorded anything concerning the past, the band of light suddenly erupted with dazzling radiance.
Immediately afterward, countless flickering seal-script characters gathered and twisted together, transforming into the hazy form of a colossal dragon that seemed to reach from heaven to earth.
Its long snout and slender eyes were imposing, its mane flying wildly. In an instant, within the primordial universe created by the jade slip, clouds and thunder erupted, while winds and waves surged!
The illusory dragon’s powerful claws and scales propelled it upward toward the Ninth Heaven, before it suddenly dove down and flew toward Mo Xi, who was as tiny as a single grain of millet beneath heaven and earth!
In an instant, sand and dust rolled violently. The raging blue-green brilliance was so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open.
With a thunderous boom!
Mo Xi’s final sensation was of that enormous dragon descending like torrential rain from the heavens, its light like ten thousand arrows piercing straight through his soul.
“Yesterday… has… already… died…”
A faint sigh echoed, like the final warning to the person peering into the scroll.
“You… should… be… broad…minded…!”
The multicolored radiance interwoven in countless hues pressed into his eyes like falling snowflakes, invading his pupils, as though it intended to force every moment of time engraved within the jade slip into this fleshly body in a single night.
Suddenly, the light went out.
Mo Xi gasped for breath. Remnants of crisscrossing intense light still flickered before his eyes, preventing him from immediately seeing which day eight years ago the Historical Record Jade Slip had brought him back to.
He remained standing where he was, blinking hard, occasionally shaking his head, trying to restore his vision as quickly as possible.
At this moment, he could only tell that he had arrived somewhere extremely dim. He could hear the soft patter of rain striking the eaves and tapping against the windows. The rain was falling fiercely, streams of water gathering and rushing wildly across the roof tiles.
After a while, someone arrived.
Footsteps came from a distance and stopped about a foot away.
The rain roared.
The person did not speak immediately. Just as Mo Xi was almost beginning to think that the footsteps he had heard were merely an illusion, a familiar voice finally broke the silence.
The newcomer said,
“Commoner Gu Mang pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
That voice, light as drifting snow, was like a thunderclap, suddenly jolting the blood throughout his entire body!
Illusory images were still swaying before Mo Xi’s eyes, and a buzzing roar filled his ears, but he had no time to care about the intense dizziness. He abruptly turned his head.
The night wind blew in, carrying the rain as well as the rich, sweet fragrance of magnolia blossoms blooming in the evening.
They said that among human memories, the sense of smell was actually engraved the deepest and was the hardest to erase.
The moment Mo Xi smelled this scent, even though he still could not clearly see where he was, it was as though he had suddenly received enlightenment—
The Golden Terrace.
The Historical Record Jade Slip had actually brought him back to the most secretive and most inaccessible pavilion in Chonghua’s royal city!
The Golden Terrace had been built before the rear mountains of the royal city. Its flying eaves and bracket sets rose proudly above nine hundred and ninety-nine long steps.
The entire terrace had been constructed from yellow pearwood. The entire palace was assembled using mortise-and-tenon joints, without a single nail or drop of glue, relying entirely on the gradual interlocking of the wood.
Around it grew vast stretches of Longtongue Jade Magnolias brought from the immortal islands of the Eastern Sea. Their blossoms were a mixture of crimson and white, shaped like carp tails. They never withered throughout the year, and their fragrance was rich and exceptionally distinctive.
As the saying went, “For the gratitude of the Golden Terrace, raise the Jade Dragon and die for Your Majesty.”
Throughout the generations, only the ministers whom the ruler valued and trusted most were permitted to ascend to the top of the Golden Terrace.
Countless cultivators had been entrusted with their parents’ fervent hopes from childhood, their parents wishing that one day they would receive the ruler’s summons and ascend these nine hundred and ninety-nine steps with glory beyond what ordinary people could ever attain, carrying a three-foot sword and accomplishing an unparalleled feat.
Mo Xi himself had only received a banquet at the Golden Terrace after swearing an oath before the Heavenly Tribulation, becoming one of His Majesty’s “trusted ministers.”
Therefore, he had never imagined that the first place the jade slip would take him back to would actually be the Golden Terrace.
Even less had he imagined that His Majesty had once summoned Gu Mang to the Golden Terrace.
Before he could think any further, he heard His Majesty say faintly, “Marshal Gu, you have finally arrived.”
The spots of light before his eyes were still swaying, but they were no longer as dazzling as before.
Mo Xi closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he waited for a moment. When he opened them again, he could finally see the scene before him clearly.
It was a stormy night, and the time could not be discerned.
The gauze curtains surrounding the Golden Terrace were blown about by the wind and rain, gathering and scattering like drifting smoke.
His Majesty’s back was straight as he sat formally upon the mat.
Beside him were vermilion railings carved with coiling dragons and seas of clouds. A bamboo blind hung half-rolled, while outside, torrential rain poured down. Pearls of rainwater splashed into the Golden Terrace, but His Majesty paid them no mind.
He withdrew his gaze from the distant green mountains, which were almost blurred beyond recognition, and through the hazy candlelight, looked toward the entrance of the terrace.
Mo Xi followed his gaze—
After the Time Mirror, he once again saw Gu Mang from eight years ago.
But the Gu Mang within the Historical Record Jade Slip appeared even colder and more aloof.
A bolt of thunder split across the sky, and the flash of lightning illuminated Gu Mang’s face, making him appear almost sinister.
“Marshal Gu, please come in.”
Gu Mang pursed his lips. He was still holding a folded oil-paper umbrella, water dripping steadily from it.
There were no attendants on the Golden Terrace. Gu Mang himself leaned the paper umbrella against a corridor pillar before walking slowly into the terrace, carrying the chill of the rain with him.
“Sit.”
His Majesty gestured toward Gu Mang.
“I have been sitting here alone through the middle of the night, waiting with longing. At last, I have managed to wait for you.”
Gu Mang took his seat on the other side of the mat.
Judging by his expression, aside from coldness and loneliness, there was also a faint trace of confusion between his brows.
He seemed not to understand why His Majesty had summoned him to the Golden Terrace, and he had probably never imagined that His Majesty would summon him here at all.
Sure enough, after a while, Gu Mang asked, “May I ask what important matter Your Majesty has summoned me here for?”
His Majesty did not answer immediately.
He toyed with the small red-clay stove in front of him, using a little green bamboo fan to make the tea boil more vigorously.
Scalding steam rose into the damp, chilly wind, only to be swallowed by the curtain of rain in an instant.
On this night of violent winds and sudden downpours, His Majesty said, “Marshal Gu, do you particularly hate me now?”
“……”
“I heard that Lord Xihe invited you for a drink. You told him that you were very tired, that you could no longer hold on…”
Gu Mang said coldly, “Did Your Majesty send someone to follow me?”
His Majesty continued fanning the green bamboo fan without denying it.
“Why would Your Majesty do this? You have already stripped me of my military rank, taken away my military authority, and confined all of my remaining troops.”
After a pause, Gu Mang continued, “You even sentenced my best brother.”
“I am merely a commoner now, with broken wings and nowhere to fly. Your Majesty need not waste any more effort on a commoner like me.”
His Majesty repeated, “I am only asking you one thing, Marshal Gu. At this moment, do you hate me to the very core?”
“……”
“Actually, you don’t need to answer. I already know.”
“You fought for this nation for so long, risking your life for it. In the end, aside from yourself, you had nothing left. I took everything away from you—even when you begged me in front of the entire court to grant your brothers a tombstone, all you received was ridicule and reprimand.”
His Majesty gave a soft laugh.
“If you could, Marshal Gu, you would probably have already torn my bones apart and boiled them into soup, wouldn’t you?”
Gu Mang said, “Did Your Majesty summon me here today just to make idle conversation?”
The ice-cracked porcelain kettle had boiled. Its lid rattled with a crisp clinking sound.
His Majesty picked up the handle wrapped in bamboo strips and poured two cups of strong tea, one for himself and one for Gu Mang.
His long fingers pushed the teapot toward Gu Mang.
His Majesty said, “No. I came to you to clear someone’s name.”
It was as though a crack had suddenly split open in a sheet of ice.
The face that had been as cold as a mask suddenly revealed an emotion belonging to a “human being.” Gu Mang immediately lifted his eyes.
For some reason, his lips trembled slightly as he stared fixedly into His Majesty’s eyes.
After a long while, he forced out a single word.
“Who?”
Outside the curtains, lightning flashed.
The pale light illuminated the night and the green mountains, as well as the eyes of the two men facing one another as they talked by candlelight.
His Majesty said, “The person you are thinking of.”
“……”
“Lu Zhanxing.”
Boom!
A thunderclap exploded across the sky!
That earth-shaking roar seemed like a sharp sword piercing straight through the heavens. Its reverberation trembled through the roof and stabbed directly into Mo Xi’s heart!
Bone-deep coldness surged up his spine like a monstrous tide.
Lu Zhanxing was… innocent?
More importantly, His Majesty knew that Lu Zhanxing was innocent?
A strong wind drove the rain sideways, instantly extinguishing several candles.
The light on the Golden Terrace grew even dimmer.
Even so, Mo Xi could still clearly see Gu Mang’s expression—
Terrifyingly pale.
Clearly, Mo Xi was not the only one shaken by this news.
Gu Mang was suddenly rooted to his seat, his entire person completely dazed.
After a long while, it was as though life had been injected into a puppet. Gu Mang finally asked, each word slow and deliberate:
“What?”
His Majesty said, “Lu Zhanxing was wrongfully accused.”
“……”
“Your brother was framed.”
Gu Mang already looked as pale as a corpse.
The wind brushed against the several linked palace lanterns burning on the high terrace, and the trembling, flickering light cast by the lanterns illuminated his bloodless face.
Rain poured down in all directions.
A moth that had somehow taken shelter beneath the eaves thought it had escaped the clutches of the storm, but it did not know that a graveyard for it was also waiting on this high terrace.
It fluttered its wings near the swaying flames, as though at any moment it might rush toward the light that devoured lives.
After a long time, Gu Mang finally said, “…Is Your Majesty joking?”
“I knew you would react this way.”
His Majesty pushed the teacup a little closer to Gu Mang.
“Drink. It will be cold if you don’t. This is Peach Blossom Spring Immortal Tea left behind by Imperial Grandfather. There were only five pieces in total. When Imperial Grandfather became Prime Minister, he once opened one piece and served it as tea to express his respect. Today, I offer you the second piece to taste.”
At this point, Gu Mang was no longer merely shocked.
He was furious.
He was terrified.
He was like an animal being toyed with from all sides, utterly bewildered by the carrot and the stick. He did not even know what the person before him was trying to do, what he wanted from him, or whether the next thing awaiting him would be honey or a leather whip.
He abruptly stood up, his chest heaving as he looked down upon the most honored and most powerful man in all of Chonghua.
“What exactly does this mean?!”
From the side, Mo Xi could already see that Gu Mang had probably exhausted every ounce of restraint he had accumulated throughout his life just to keep himself from shouting in anger.
But Gu Mang’s hands were trembling, his fingernails already digging deeply into his palms.
His Majesty lifted his teacup and looked calmly at Gu Mang.
The fierce, mournful wind whipped his broad sleeves, making them billow loudly.
Only then did Mo Xi notice that tonight, His Majesty was not wearing any formal imperial robes or crown.
He was dressed only in the most ordinary clothing, with a simple white-jade hairpin holding his black hair in place.
“It means… I’m sorry, Marshal Gu. I owe you.”
After saying this, he paid no attention to the stunned and confused look in Gu Mang’s eyes.
Instead, he drank the strong tea in his cup in one go, then tilted the empty cup toward Gu Mang.
Gu Mang took a step backward, mumbling incoherently, his lips trembling as they moved.
But even without hearing his voice, Mo Xi knew what he was saying.
Lu Zhanxing was wrongfully accused… Lu Zhanxing was wrongfully accused…
“What was he falsely accused of… What was he falsely accused of?”
Gu Mang suddenly became confused.
His hoarse voice rose gradually from low to high, from slow and measured to increasingly frantic, from murmuring to finally screaming hysterically:
“Wasn’t he the one who killed the envoy from Fengming Mountain?! Wasn’t he?! Why didn’t he tell me? Why didn’t he plead his innocence? Why are you suddenly telling me all this? Why is the person telling me this actually you?!”
His pupils contracted as he stared at His Majesty’s unchanging face.
He had truly lost control of himself.
So much so that a commoner bearing a criminal sentence actually dared to speak to an imperial noble like this.
So much so that Gu Mang, who had always been exceedingly cautious and deferential before nobles, actually dared to address His Majesty directly as “you.”
And His Majesty?
He slowly raised his head.
The ruler, who had always been suspicious and violent, unexpectedly did not reprimand Gu Mang for his breach of etiquette.
His Majesty said, “No. In the battle at Fengming Mountain, the envoy was indeed personally killed by Lu Zhanxing.”
“……”
“No one framed him, and no one forced him—but…”
Seeing Gu Mang’s swaying, almost collapsing figure, His Majesty paused for a moment.
Then, from his Qianqian sleeve, he took out a white chess piece mottled with dried, bright-red blood and gently placed it on the table.
“He was deceived by another person. Without even realizing it, he willingly became someone else’s chess piece.”
His Majesty’s fingertip moved away from the table.
His voice was soft as he said, “Marshal Gu, you have extensive knowledge of forbidden arts. Take a look… Do you recognize this white chess piece?”