Firmament Sword

Who was it?

This was the question on many people’s minds.

So much so that during this morning’s court session, countless high-ranking ministers wore faces as grim as if there’d been a death in the family, yet not a single one said a word.

It wasn’t until two ministers, who were particularly close, huddled together and began to whisper.

”Lord Dongfang, why the long face?”

”Sigh, don’t ask. A strange thing happened at my home this morning... Lord Miao, you don’t look so well either. Could it be that your family also...?”

As they spoke, they both froze, then cautiously glanced around.

Lord Miao then said softly, ”Don’t ask. This morning, I got up and went to my study to prepare a memorial about the Southern floods. But who would have thought? Right there on my desk were two calligraphy slips... The handwriting on them was clearly mine. Even I thought I had written them! But the problem is, I never did!”

”What? Lord Miao, you too?” Lord Dongfang whispered, his face a mask of shock. ”In my study, there were three or four such slips. The handwriting is mine, no doubt about it. But when the fuck did I ever write that kind of lewd poetry? Fuck!”

Lord Dongfang was clearly livid, even letting curses fly. But it was precisely this that revealed the tension in his heart.

”How could this be? Is someone playing a prank?” Lord Miao looked just as tense. He then said, ”If someone used this handwriting to submit a suicidal memorial to His Majesty, wouldn’t that be fucking disastrous for us? We could get our entire clans executed!”

Lord Dongfang let out a sigh that sounded like he had a toothache. He glanced at the other high-ranking ministers around them, the vast majority of whom wore the same grim expression.

He couldn’t help but nudge Lord Miao’s arm and whisper, ”Have you noticed? The atmosphere today is off. It’s not just the two of us. Look at the other high officials, they seem...”

”Could it be... they all received them too?” Lord Miao said, horrified. ”If that’s true, then this matter is serious!”

”Indeed. Forget who did it for a moment. Right now, there’s only one thing I want to know: who the hell wrote these slips!” Lord Dongfang said angrily. ”This is terrifying. The forger’s handwriting is so good that even I can’t tell it apart from my own, let alone my subordinates!”

”Shh, don’t say any more. Let’s just watch the others,” Lord Miao said, holding back the furious Lord Dongfang.

Sure enough, after a while, the group of court ministers could no longer contain themselves. They gathered in twos and threes and began whispering.

Although Lord Miao and Lord Dongfang couldn’t hear clearly, they managed to catch fragments floating from the conversations, words like ”calligraphy slips,” ”handwriting,” and ”I didn’t write it.”

The two looked at each other, finally understanding. Something big was about to happen.

Just then, a voice called from outside: ”Prime Minister Wei has arrived!”

Prime Minister Wei Feng, whose power overshadowed the entire court, was always the last of the officials to arrive. When Prime Minister Wei appeared, it meant the Emperor would be there soon.

The ministers, who had just been gathered and whispering, immediately fell silent. Their expressions quickly calmed as they stood in place to respectfully greet Prime Minister Wei.

A few, however, remained standing coldly where they were, their faces still grim, as if they hadn’t even seen Wei Feng.

Lord Wang Moxuan, Lord Sun Yunpeng, Lord Zhao Wenzhao, and Lord Leng Mengde—all top-ranking officials among the Nine Ministers—watched the approaching Wei Feng with cold, sharp eyes.

Although their power didn’t overshadow the court like Wei Feng’s, they were still great officials of the Nine Ministers. Deep down, they were not afraid of this Prime Minister.

Of course, it was an indisputable fact that the Civil Servant faction was currently led by Wei Feng, and these men had always shown him a certain degree of respect.

But today was different!

Unlike the other court officials, who wouldn’t dare voice their suspicions, or even dare to suspect *that person*, these men were different.

They didn’t care for such scruples. When the few of them met this morning, being court officials on the level of old foxes, they had naturally noticed something was off with each other.

A brief exchange was all it took to get the answers they were looking for.

At the same time, they all thought of the same person, almost in unison.

Who among all the civil and military officials of the court had the highest level of calligraphy?

Prime Minister Wei Feng!

It could only be Prime Minister Wei!

A grandmaster who had integrated the strengths of his predecessors to form his own unique school of style!

Among the homes of these high-ranking ministers, which study didn’t have one or two pieces of Prime Minister Wei’s calligraphy hanging on the walls? If you didn’t have one, you’d be too embarrassed to call yourself a court minister!

Even the Emperor’s Imperial Study had Prime Minister Wei’s calligraphy on display!

If there was anyone who could imitate their handwriting so perfectly that even they themselves couldn’t tell the difference, and who would actually do such a thing, it could only be Prime Minister Wei!

’Fucking hell, what is that old bastard trying to do?’ Lord Leng Mengde roared inwardly as he watched the approaching Prime Minister Wei, the coldness on his face gradually receding.

He glanced at the others beside him. Though a trace of lingering anger remained deep in their eyes, their expressions had already changed in time.

”Greetings, Prime Minister Wei!”

”Greetings, Lord Wei!”

”Good morning, Lord Wei!”

”Good morning, Prime Minister Wei!”

A group of people stepped forward to greet Wei Feng, their attitudes enthusiastic and their faces wreathed in smiles, no different from any other day.

The unease that had been hanging in Wei Feng’s heart finally eased a little.

He thought to himself: ’Perhaps... the thief just thought there were valuable treasures in my study and accidentally took these things...’

As he was thinking this, Wei Feng looked up and happened to catch an ice-cold glint flash deep in the eyes of Wang Moxuan, the Minister of Revenue.

Wei Feng’s heart suddenly tightened. He carefully observed the smiles of those greeting him—they were less natural than usual.

Wei Feng’s hands, hidden in the sleeves of his robe, finally couldn’t help but clench into tight fists.

He closed his eyes for a moment, let out a long breath, and then put on a gentle smile, returning the greetings to the crowd.

Only one thought remained in his mind: ’You... have no proof! Even if you suspect me, what can you do?’

Yes, at this point, this was all Wei Feng could think.

No matter what, as long as the Emperor didn’t want him to fall, then he, Wei Feng, was safe!

’And His Majesty... would never want me to fall!’

With this thought, Wei Feng finally regained his composure.

The moment Huangfu Haoran arrived for the morning court session, he sensed that the atmosphere was strange. It seemed as if everyone was weighed down by heavy thoughts.

Although it wasn’t written on their faces, how could he, having been an Emperor for so many years, fail to notice such a change?

After listening with a frown to an old minister who fumbled through his memorial with countless errors, Huangfu Haoran waved his hand and said faintly, ”I am tired. Let’s conclude the morning court session here for today.”

After returning to the Imperial Study, Huangfu Haoran casually summoned a person, gave him a few whispered instructions, and the person subsequently vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, upon returning to their own domains, these high-ranking ministers almost immediately launched a vigorous house-cleaning.

These men naturally didn’t dare to openly confront Prime Minister Wei. In fact, even if they had the guts, they had no evidence to prove that Wei Feng was behind this.

They feared that not only would their investigation fail, but they would also be counter-accused, and might not even be able to keep their official posts.

But how could they simply swallow this humiliation?

For so many years, using this method, just how many spies had the perpetrator planted around them? How many people had he bribed without their knowledge? How many things had been done for him?

Just thinking about it was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

Take the Ministry of Revenue, for example. The perpetrator only needed to imitate Lord Wang Moxuan’s handwriting, write a letter to a high-ranking official in the ministry, and order him to do something.

When an order came from a direct superior, the official would naturally do everything in his power to carry it out...

The consequences...

Wang Moxuan was the first minister to launch an internal investigation, because he suddenly remembered several incidents, both large and small, that had occurred in the Ministry of Revenue over the years.

He had dismissed several officials because of them, but without exception, every one of those officials had appeared extremely wronged at the time of their dismissal.

He still remembered one official he had dealt with personally. The man’s eyes, as he looked at him, had been filled with resentment.

But how could Lord Wang have thought too much about it back then? These subordinates of his managed the empire’s finances and grain. None of their hands were completely clean. An investigation was just an investigation. As the dignified Minister of Revenue, where would he find the time to care about the feelings of those being investigated?

But thinking about it now, it was very likely that the look in those officials’ eyes had meant: ’My lord, you were the one who ordered us to do these things! How can you turn around and investigate us for it? Aren’t you just setting us up?’

At this thought, Wang Moxuan felt the urge to curse his mother. After court was dismissed, he returned to the Ministry of Revenue, and the first thing he did was summon all his subordinate officials.

Then, a series of orders were issued, and the entire Ministry of Revenue was thrown into chaos.

Similar scenes played out in the other ministries of the court. After almost every lord returned, their first order of business was to investigate!

Investigate what? It didn’t matter! Even if there was nothing, they had to investigate!

They just had to investigate!

They had to dig something up. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to calm their fear-filled hearts.

The Emperor’s side quickly received news of this. The every move of the high-ranking ministers could not escape Huangfu Haoran’s notice.

As a successful Emperor, he could choose not to intervene in certain matters, but he absolutely could not be ignorant of them!

An Emperor who was kept in the dark about everything would be incredibly lucky not to be branded a fatuous ruler!

As Huangfu Haoran listened to the constant stream of reports from the person beside him, he grew increasingly furious. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself from slamming his palm down on the desk in the Imperial Study.

BANG!

A loud crash echoed.

The room was instantly plunged into dead silence.

The person who had been reporting was so frightened he immediately dropped to his knees, trembling, not daring to make another sound.

WHOOSH!

Huangfu Haoran let out a long breath and said softly, ”You may leave. I... know everything.”

The subordinate also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the Emperor didn’t vent his anger on him, everything was fine.

Inside the Imperial Study, it was quiet.

Then, the eunuchs and Palace Maids outside suddenly heard a loud series of CRASHES and CLATTERS from within... It sounded like something had been smashed to pieces.

Everyone’s face turned pale, and they fell deathly silent.