As spring was coming to an end, Mingde had finally fully recovered. Both the Qianwan Emperor and Hu Zhicheng agreed that he could be discharged.

In fact, he had been well enough to be discharged for a while. Not only could he walk around freely, he even had the strength to smash the last hard jade ornament in Qingzhen Palace into tiny pieces. When the Qianwan Emperor stared at the pile of fragments that were completely unrecognizable, he finally realized that the kitten's claws had been sharpened enough. If he stayed any longer, the emperor himself would be in danger of getting bloody scratches all over his face.

The emperor issued a decree that Shangguan Mingde, the Ministry of Revenue's Attendant Censor who had sincerely repented and served meritoriously after violating court etiquette, was not only to be recalled and reappointed, but also promoted to be an official in the Ministry of War.

He was allowed to attend court to discuss state affairs and was bestowed a hundred catties of gold. After an entire spring of suppression, this obscure yet unusually favored illegitimate son of the Shangguan family had miraculously re-entered the center of the top echelon of power.

Bang! Outside Zhengtai Palace, Zhao Mengshan, the beloved younger brother of Ding Huang's concubine, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Cities Guards and a Minister Assisting in Government, threw down his sword. Pointing at the nose of a fourth-rank imperial guard, he cursed, "How dare you! This official is here on Minister Ding's orders to submit a memorial to the throne, and you, a mere guard, dare to stop me?"

Ding Huang's power was at its peak, not to mention Zhao Mengshan was a confidant among confidants of the Ding family. Normally, no one dared to stop him from entering the front court. That guard was a young scion of an official family who had recently arrived.

Vigorous and ignorant of the ways of the world, he straightened his sword and said loudly, "The late emperor decreed that anyone who comes without an imperial summons must kneel outside Zhengtai Palace and wait to be called in by the guards before entering!"

This rule had been set a long time ago. Now, some powerful court officials, under the deliberate flattery of the inner palace eunuchs, had almost all ignored this rule. Usually when they came to request entry into the hall, not only did they not kneel, on the contrary, the inner palace officials would respectfully serve them fragrant tea and fresh fruit. How could there be guards who didn't know any better and insisted on making them kneel and wait?

Zhao Mengshan pushed the guard aside and shouted, "Where is the chief eunuch of the inner palace? Someone is causing trouble, hurry and come arrest him!"

The guard retorted sharply, "Lord Zhao, if you refuse to obey the decree and make a scene, don't blame this humble official for taking action!" With that, he was about to draw his sword.

Amidst the chaos, a gentle, infinitely graceful voice suddenly rang out, "Oh my, who is this?... How bold, who dares to startle our Lord Zhao?"

The two men who had been entangled turned their heads and saw Shangguan Mingde, wrapped in a plain white cotton robe, smiling slightly as he stood at the foot of the steps. Although the sun was shining brightly, he stood in the shadows of the palace walls. The rich youthful color enveloped in the gloom made him look like a silent, suddenly appearing deep palace ghost at first glance, which was frightening.

The guard had never seen him before and hurriedly shouted, "Who goes there?"

Shangguan Mingde glanced at him and suddenly exploded, shouting sternly, "Just a mere fourth-rank guard official, and you dare to block the way of Lord Zhao, who is currently most favored by His Majesty? Don't you know that with the holy grace Lord Zhao enjoys, he can already disregard the late emperor's decrees as nothing?"

It was as if a lion's roar had suddenly erupted from the fragile vocal cords of a pale rabbit. The guard and Zhao Mengshan were both stunned.

Shangguan Mingde said, "Release him at once!"

The guard hurriedly let go, and Zhao Mengshan immediately straightened his front lapel and sleeves, huffing angrily, "Lord Shangguan..."

"Lord Zhao, there's no need to be alarmed," Mingde said in a methodical manner. "When we go in to see His Majesty later, this humble official will definitely help you seek redress. You, sir, are an imperially appointed third-rank high official. To suffer such grievances because of a small decree from the late emperor is truly intolerable to Heaven and lamentable to Earth."

Zhao Mengshan was startled. "Nonsense, this official did not..."

"What are you all standing there for?" Mingde immediately turned to scold the inner palace eunuchs who were standing dumbfounded to the side. "How did Eunuch Zhang in the palace train you? Lord Zhao has suffered such grievances, yet you only know to stand foolishly to the side? If this is the case, what use is it for you to eat the imperial grain and take the imperial salary?"

The inner palace eunuchs panicked and didn't know which way to turn. "Lord Shangguan, we, we did not..."

"Hurry and go call Zhang Kuo! As the chief eunuch most trusted by His Majesty, he actually allows his subordinates to be like this. He has truly failed His Majesty's grace! Truly disappointing to His Majesty! Truly chilling to the hearts of the people!"

The inner palace eunuchs looked at the dumbfounded guard, then at Zhao Mengshan who was unable to explain himself. They immediately jumped up like rabbits whose tails had been stepped on and scurried away.

Only then did Zhao Mengshan react. If Zhang Kuo came, he would definitely be able to convey the emperor's decree on his behalf. He had indeed offended the guard first.

Caught in the wrong by this Lord Shangguan, who was sharp-tongued, unreasonable even when he had no reason, let alone when he did have reason, if he exaggerated and fanned the flames, it would definitely blow up into a huge storm.

Zhao Mengshan tried to explain stiffly, "Lord Shangguan, this official is only here on Minister Ding's orders to submit a memorial. If I cannot have an audience with His Majesty..."

Shangguan Mingde's skill was to be able to pick out the one sentence he could use to make a big fuss and distort the meaning from a bunch of meaningless words, and then grab that sentence and pull out a righteous and forceful epic.

Almost at the same time, he interrupted Zhao Mengshan, "Lord Zhao."

"...Ah?"

"Submitting memorials and having an audience with His Majesty are a minister's supreme honor and duty for such important matters. Why can't Minister Ding come in person?"

"..."

Shangguan Mingde took a step forward, almost eye to eye and nose to nose with Zhao Mengshan. "What does Lord Zhao think?"

Zhao Mengshan could almost feel the sharp chill emanating from Shangguan Mingde. "L-Lord Shangguan has misunderstood. Minister Ding, he just..."

"Does Lord Zhao think this humble official misspoke? Submitting memorials and having an audience with His Majesty, aren't these a minister's supreme honor and duty for such matters?"

"No, no, Lord Shangguan is r-right..."

"Then since this is a minister's supreme honor and duty, why does Minister Ding not deign to see His Majesty's holy countenance and instead has Lord Zhao come in his place?"

"No..."

Poor Zhao Mengshan wanted to say that it was already common for Ding Huang to send his disciples to submit memorials and handle matters on his behalf. Moreover, entering the Zhengtai Palace did not necessarily mean meeting the Emperor, as the memorials were often just handed over to the eunuchs in charge of stationery outside the Imperial Study.

But he couldn't say it, because whether intentionally or not, every time Mingde took a step forward, he took a step back. When Zhao Mengshan had nowhere to retreat and was pressed tightly against the wall, Mingde mercilessly stepped forward and stomped hard on his foot.

"Ah!" Zhao Mengshan's face contorted in pain.

Shangguan Mingde interrogated him relentlessly, sentence by sentence: "Why can't Minister Ding come in person to submit the memorial and have an audience with the Emperor? As a minister assisting in governance, his every move sets an example for all officials in the land. Is Minister Ding's action not announcing to everyone that officials don't need to personally present documents to the Emperor? That officials are encouraged to take concubines and have the concubine's brother report on their achievements to the Emperor? Or does Minister Ding actually want the Emperor to personally visit the Ding Manor to ask for the memorial?"

Zhao Mengshan felt waves of dizziness. Shangguan Mingde's sharp, incessant voice, shooting out words like bullets, made his temples feel like they were about to explode.

He instinctively knew he was being dragged into a whirlpool of rhetoric, but Mingde's logic was too powerful. He really had no way to refute this seemingly righteous but forceful reasoning.

Just then, a shrill voice came from the direction of the Nine Cities Guards: "Eunuch Zhang has arrived--"

Zhao Mengshan immediately knelt down: "Eunuch Zhang, please clear my name of injustice!"

Zhang Kuo walked over with a hunched back and amiable smile. He first respectfully bowed to Shangguan Mingde, then stood up and reached out to pull up Zhao Mengshan with an extremely surprised and fearful expression: "Oh my! Lord Zhao? What injustice has befallen you, Lord Zhao? You're scaring this servant to death!"

...The key point was, Zhao Mengshan actually didn't know... what injustice he had suffered.

He just instinctively felt he had been wronged, but in reality, he couldn't say what the injustice was.

...Offending the guards? The guards were speaking on the authority of the late Emperor's decree.

...Offending a censor? Shangguan Mingde didn't even lay a hand on him.

...Then where was the injustice? Did anyone do anything wrong?

Zhao Mengshan was stunned. Mingde lightly covered his mouth and coughed a few times in an exaggerated manner.

"Eunuch Zhang, ...I feel a bit unwell..."

Zhang Kuo was very tactful: "The sun is indeed too strong..."

"I think I'll head back..."

"Safe travels, my lord..."

So Zhao Mengshan could only watch helplessly as Shangguan Mingde, who had just been domineering and sharp, coughed weakly and walked away slowly under the dazzling sunlight, wearing an old cotton robe that looked worn from long use, infinitely fragile.

No matter from which angle one looked, that was the figure of an upright and honest official, one who was clean and dedicated to public service, wasting away from pent-up frustrations.

That afternoon, Zhao Mengshan had no choice but to kneel outside the Zhengtai Palace for over two hours. According to Eunuch Zhang, the Emperor had not woken up from his afternoon nap, so if he wanted to submit the memorial, he could only wait a while.

So everyone passing by saw the usually proud disciple of Minister Ding, Zhao Mengshan, kneeling under the sun. Holding a memorial in his hands, under Zhang Kuo's apologetic gaze, he didn't dare move at all while waiting for the Emperor's summons.

Everyone knew that Shangguan Mingde, deeply favored by the Emperor, had firmly sided with Minister Xia and was making things difficult for the Ding family at every turn. When Ding Huang learned of this, he angrily smashed the exquisite porcelain teacup in his hand to pieces, fuming: "Shangguan Mingde, isn't he just a youngster? Relying on a bit of imperial favor to go against me, does he think he has multiple heads?"

His disciple Wang Chongjun sighed: "It was only last time when we followed your orders, my lord, to lure him to the brothel. We originally thought after a whole spring passed without the Emperor mentioning him, he had already been suppressed. Who knew he would rise again so quickly... He must have remembered the grudge against us."

Ding Huang was silent for a while before quietly saying: "Since he can't be suppressed, let's be more direct then..."

Wang Chongjun was startled. He saw a flash of severity pass across Ding Huang's white-bearded face in an instant.

That night, after Mingde finished his official duties and was passing through the long corridor of Zhengtai Palace, preparing to return to the Shangguan residence through the side passage, although the Qianwan Emperor had always wanted to remove him from the Shangguan household, Mingde had firmly declined.

It was not realistic for the Qianwan Emperor to visit the Shangguan residence every night, but who cared if the person who was supposed to be living in an imperial bestowed residence was actually there or not?

Although the Shangguan household was not a good place, it was much more comfortable than the imperial bed every night.

The youth's thin body was wrapped in a loose, light green robe. With the waistband tied, it seemed like he could be grabbed by a single hand and easily snapped in half. A slender, pale, and elegantly boned hand held a palace lantern, its bloody color reflected on the light-colored sleeves. He slowly advanced in the endless spring night, hauntingly beautiful and graceful, making one's heart tremble.

The thick spring night floated with the faint fragrance of phoenix marrow incense. In the night air like a long river, only that speck of blood-red color could be seen slowly receding, as light as a dream, without making a sound.

The assassin took a deep breath and leapt down silently from the tree branch. A poisoned dagger sliced through the air, straight as an arrow, aimed at the thin figure behind the palace lantern.

A flash of pale blue light from the blade, as if countless splendors had passed in an instant.

That brilliance streaked across the night sky like a meteor, fleeting at the fingertips. The assassin only felt a chill slowly rising from his spine, almost making him shiver. The young man reached his hand over his shoulder from behind, grasping the assassin's wrist that held the dagger. The blade stopped merely an inch away from his body, unable to advance any further.

The assassin tried to break free, but the hand clutching him was like an iron vice, causing cold sweat to instantly break out on his forehead.

Lord Ding had said that this young man had no martial arts skills, not only that, but his body was also very weak, suffering from terminal illness, coughing to the point of fainting.

This young man was indeed very thin, wearing a loose, oversized robe that seemed like it would be blown away by a gust of wind.

But it was this slender, beautiful hand that lightly rested on his wrist, casually yet precisely grasping the vital point. The chilling sensation from the fingertips, like a venomous snake, slowly crept along his skin, bit by bit invading his bones.

The assassin fiercely tried to withdraw his dagger, and at that moment, the young man turned his head and gave him a faint smile.

How to describe that smile?

It was like countless flowers silently blooming on a spring night, with endless prosperity clamoring in an instant, the lush colors too vivid to dissolve, flowing across the ground. Such grandeur could only be matched by boundless blood.

The assassin felt a chill in his heart.

Everything before his eyes gradually darkened, and the palace lantern held quietly in the young man's hand flickered with a scarlet glow, slowly moving away from him.

He collapsed to the ground.

Blood slowly meandered on the ground, like countless little snakes flicking their crimson tongues. He hazily saw the young man's face, still smiling, then turning his head and gracefully departing, almost soundlessly.

The night breeze blew, taking away the last bit of warmth from his body. That hint of green robes suddenly fluttered, instantly disappearing beneath the endless ancient palace walls of the imperial city.