The Human Emperor

Gao Lishi!

Everything had once more circled back to him!

If he was the one responsible for the missing records in the palace, then he was inevitably involved with the fire in the Yan Clan as well.

But Gao Lishi was hailed as a virtuous and loyal eunuch. Why would he do such a thing?

Wang Chong began to deeply ponder this matter.

“I truly did not think it would be Eunuch Gao.” A voice came from the inner hall, and Xu Qiqin, dressed in a white dress, slowly walked out.

In this entire matter, from Gao Lishi all the way to the Yan Clan, Xu Qiqin had been involved, and Wang Chong did not try to hide things from her.

The same was true for his audience with Zhang Tianlin.

“What do we do now?” Xu Qiqin asked.

After a few moments of silence, Wang Chong said, “It seems we will have to find Eunuch Gao again. No one will understand this matter more than him.”

“That’s pointless. Eunuch Gao already said whatever he’s willing to say at Mountain Water Pavilion.

“Moreover, we probably won’t be able to find Eunuch Gao anymore.”

Xu Qiqin took a letter from her sleeve.

Wang Chong’s eyebrows rose upon seeing the letter.

The letter flew like an arrow into Wang Chong’s hand.

Upon glancing at the letter, Wang Chong felt his heart sink.

“This was information that I just received.”

Xu Qiqin began to speak in a soft and gentle tone.

“Our reports say that Eunuch Gao disappeared after the meeting at Mountain Water Pavilion, and that there’s a new eunuch serving at the Sage Emperor’s side. At present, we are doing all we can to find Eunuch Gao’s whereabouts.”

Eunuch Gao had disappeared. His appearance at the court session had been a flash in a pan, and there had been no news of him after that.

If they could not find Eunuch Gao, they would not be able to investigate the truth.

“No! There’s still a way. Eunuch Gao did not go alone back then,” Wang Chong pensively said.

Before leaving, Zhang Tianlin had offered an important piece of information. Thirty-some years ago, on the day of the incident, Eunuch Gao had not come alone.

He had brought several eunuchs and guards with him.

For destroying court records, the more secretive it was, the better. In normal circumstances, Eunuch Gao should have come alone.

Unfortunately, destroying something in the palace was no easy matter.

Fire was forbidden in the palace, and burning things out in the open would easily attract attention. In addition, Eunuch Gao was a powerful martial artist, so he didn’t need to go through all that trouble. He could simply use his Stellar Energy to vibrate everything into bits and pieces.

But in the library, so many paper fragments would attract notice. Once Zhang Tianlin and the others discovered this oddity, they would immediately report it to their superiors, and it wouldn’t have taken thirty-some years to discover the incident.

The palace has many eyes and mouths. If one didn’t want to be noticed, the best method would be to claim that one was borrowing the books to read them… Wang Chong inwardly muttered to himself.

The palace records differed from those of the Yan Clan. Whether one was a high noble, general, minister, or sovereign, the Yan Clan forbade anyone from reading its records.

As for the records of the palace, while ordinary people would find them difficult to be perused, they could still be perused. They simply needed to register for every item that was checked out.

It was very normal for someone of Eunuch Gao’s status to come over with people to borrow some of the palace records.

“We just need to find the people who were with Eunuch Gao at the time and we’ll naturally find out where those books ended up,” Wang Chong said to himself.

Open fires could not be used in the palace, and Stellar Energy could not completely destroy the books, leaving behind large piles of paper fragments that could draw suspicion. Thus, even if Eunuch Gao wanted to destroy those books, he would have a hard time of it, with limited choices.

Since Eunuch Gao was the perpetrator, he would have not left behind too much evidence. Only by carefully searching every nook and cranny would one be able to find a flaw.

……

On an overcast day three days later, Wang Chong arrived with Xu Qiqin and a few others in front of a residence.

Wang Chong looked up at the somewhat decaying signboard and read out the name. “Zhou Residence!”

This was an extremely old house, dark and shabby. But from its scale, one could imagine how prosperous it had once been.

Many people lived within the capital, and people moved in and out with abnormal frequency. There were many rich and prosperous merchants. Some of them experienced sudden crises that caused them to hastily leave the capital without settling their property. Others grew wealthier and changed residences, with their old residences no longer able to please them.

For various reasons, these residences would be left vacant for long periods of time and slowly abandoned. The Zhou Residence was one of these.

There were many estates like this in the capital. The majority of them were just empty shells with almost nothing inside.

“Oh, I’m going to buy some steamed buns!”

As the party inspected the estate, the main gate opened. A young child with a paper pinwheel in hand skipped out of the door, several copper coins in his other hand. He passed the group and quickly vanished into the distance.

The astonished party followed the boy with their eyes as he ran off.

“I’ll go in first,” Wang Chong suddenly said. “Qiqin, come with me. The rest of you, wait here.”

“No. I’ll stay with them and wait for you.”

Surprisingly, Xu Qiqin remained standing with the others, softly smiling as she refused.

After a momentary daze, Wang Chong understood. “Okay!” He stepped over the threshold.

Xu Qiqin watched as Wang Chong vanished into the estate, a faint smile on her lips.

The investigation had reached its final stage, and they were finally close to the core of the matter. The Sage Emperor, Eunuch Gao, Duke Jiu, Minister Yao, Old Master Yan… all of these people were powerful individuals, forming the highest echelon of the empire, and all of them had been conspiring together over this single incident.

For some matters, she could assist Wang Chong and help him find the answer he needed, but when the time came for the answer to be revealed, it was enough for him to go alone.

She simply needed to wait on the side and provide support.

As a woman, she considered it an essential skill to know when to go and when to stop!

……

The light in the residence was not very good. Even though it was daytime, the insides were gloomy, and besides that, the air was very humid. Wang Chong could even see moss growing in a few corners.

One could understand from this why the original owner had abandoned the place.

Before Wang Chong could go very far, an elderly voice called out, “What honored lordship has come from the palace to visit? This old man’s feet are not strong, so forgive me for not coming out to welcome you!”

Wang Chong followed the voice, and in one of the rooms of the residence, he saw the speaker.

This was an elder of seventy-some years, and while he resided in this rather dark, shabby, and humid residence, the old man was very neat and tidy, not a strand of his long hair out of place.

His back was straight and the way he bore himself did not make him seem like an ordinary old man. He stood out like a sore thumb in this place.

But when Wang Chong saw his eyes, he felt his heart leap.

Where the man’s eyes should have been were two large and gruesome cavities.

This man was blind. He could see nothing!

Wang Chong quickly got ahold of himself.

Wang Chong glanced at the man’s black clothes and realized something.

While there seemed nothing special at first glance, there were a few golden threads on the brim of his sleeves.

These clothes could only be worn by those from the palace.

Wang Chong suddenly stopped and asked, “How did you know I was from the palace?”

This old man gave off a very unique feeling. His bearing and tone were not those of an ordinary person. Moreover, Wang Chong had already restrained his energy, and this blind elder should not have been able to see him, but he had somehow been able to guess that he was from the palace.

“Heheh, this old man’s eyes are blind, but his mind is not. Ordinary people do not walk like Milord, without any sound. This old man once served in the palace, so he knows that only those lordships of very high status walk similarly to Milord. But Milord seems to be of higher status than any of those other lordships,” the blind elder calmly said, giving off an all-knowing feeling.

“This one is Wang Chong. I have come over an incident from thirty years ago!” Wang Chong said, not hiding his status.

“It is Your Highness the King of Foreign Lands?!”

The blind elder showed a hint of shock on his face. Although he had asked the question, he seemed certain of Wang Chong’s status.

“I did not think that the honored King of Foreign Lands of Lingyan Pavilion would honor my humble abode. This old man is honored! Your presence truly brings light to my home!”

“Venerable Sir once worked in the palace’s Compassionate Virtue Hall?” Wang Chong said.

“Yes! This old man had no abilities, so he could only do a few miscellaneous tasks in the palace. It was an unimportant and unnoticed life!” the blind elder freely admitted, smiling.

“The only person in the empire responsible for burning all the discussion and memorials of the sovereign, Prime Minister, and the officials is not some unimportant person, nor is the job one that anyone can do!” Wang Chong sternly said.

After following Zhang Tianlin’s clue and investigating the people Gao Lishi had taken with him into the library, Wang Chong had discovered to his surprise that the person who held the highest secrets of the empire, the Sage Emperor’s life before his enthronement, was this blind elder.

Gao Lishi did not personally destroy the books, nor did he privately burn them. Rather, he went through the proper channels. In the middle of the night, when no one else was around, he had brought the palace records to the Compassionate Virtue Hall, where they were all burned to ash in the open.

These palace records had been mixed in with the other memorials to be burned.