Inside Minghe Pavilion, Medicine Master Mo Ke sat on the steps, drinking away his gloom, one cup after another, as if he had suddenly aged many years. “Duke, Duke, someone has come from the palace!” The steward ran in to report. He saw Medicine Master Mo Ke sitting wan and alone in the empty banquet hall and asked, “Shall I send them away?” Not long after, Medicine Master Mo Ke regained his energetic demeanor. In the reception hall, he found a familiar eunuch and greeted with a cupped-hand salute, smiling, “Eunuch Li, what brings you here so late at night? A decree from His Majesty?” “You flatter me, Duke,” Eunuch Li said quickly. “It’s not a decree. The announcement from the Divine Marquis Estate startled the Empress Dowager awake, and His Majesty is also deeply unsettled. He hopes Duke might enter the palace to calm the hearts of the people.” “Oh?” Medicine Master Mo Ke gently stroked his beard. Eunuch Li leaned in and whispered, “The young Emperor has been growing more timid lately. He was jolted awake by the announcement, fearing thieves would come to kill him. He hopes you can enter the palace to protect him.” Medicine Master Mo Ke was both amused and exasperated—for his daughter really was a thief. “Nothing unusual recently?” He nodded, went out, and summoned Feng Qian, the Military Secretary of the Jin Commandery Estate, to verify that nothing was amiss within the palace. Only then did he agree to follow Eunuch Li into the palace. Even so, he brought a team of guards with him. As soon as Medicine Master Mo Ke entered the palace, the young Emperor Medicine Master Jueluo came out to greet him at the front hall, treating him with the courtesy due an elder brother. Though the age gap was vast, they were indeed of royal kin. Mo Ke accepted it calmly and returned the gesture. He then said, “This old subject has come late. For Your Majesty to greet me personally—this truly overwhelms me.” “Brother, please follow me to Hall of Compassionate Benevolence,” the Emperor said as he walked. “The Empress Dowager is advanced in age. After being startled by the announcement, she scolded the palace staff and has been drinking endlessly, her moods volatile. She has long ignored my advice. Tonight, I summoned you in hopes you could persuade her.” Mo Ke first declined, “This is a family matter of the royal house; this old subject should not interfere.” “Brother, you are of the Great Zhou’s royal clan. How could a family matter not concern you?” The Emperor took out the 《Proclamation on Alcohol》 from his robes and handed it to Mo Ke. “If anyone in the world can recite this to admonish the Empress Dowager, it’s you.” Medicine Master Mo Ke gently stroked his beard, smiling as he accepted the 《Proclamation on Alcohol》, quite satisfied with the Emperor’s attitude. Within the Hall of Compassionate Benevolence, the Empress Dowager had already seated herself behind the curtains upon hearing of Duke of Jin’s arrival. The palace staff had tidied up the hall, but as soon as Mo Ke entered, he still caught a whiff of alcohol. His doubts regarding the Emperor’s request vanished. Since no guards were needed to meet the Empress Dowager, he entered alone. Cushions had already been prepared inside. As Mo Ke sat reading the 《Proclamation on Alcohol》, the Emperor stood respectfully behind and to the side, calm and deferential. Yet as the reading continued, his expression gradually turned blank, half his face illuminated by the palace lamps. “Your Majesty, the Dukes of Yan, Wu, and Tang are already waiting outside.” Mo Ke paused. Three of the Six Pillars of State had arrived? He immediately stopped reading and asked, “Your Majesty—” With a mechanical click, the floor beneath Mo Ke’s seat turned into a trapdoor and opened wide. He was about to fall, but being a Third-Stage Messenger, and well-equipped with tokens, he struck the ground fiercely and was on the verge of escaping the trap! The curtain suddenly lifted—not revealing the Empress Dowager, but a strange-faced middle-aged man: the last of the Six Pillars of State, Duke of Wei, Chu Luoyan! He raised a hand and pushed, forming a wall of air above Mo Ke. Though harmless, it crushed Mo Ke’s final chance of escape, forcing him down into the pit! The trap was only four zhang deep. Coupled with his defensive tokens, Mo Ke was unharmed. But as he landed, he heard countless bottles shatter. His hand touched the ground—thick, sticky liquid. The narrow pit reeked of a pungent scent—it was fire oil! “Empress Dowager, you see this! This shameless traitor dares to murder this old subject!” Mo Ke roared. “If Ancestor Changqiu finds out, even as Emperor, your only path is death! Stop this villain now—there’s still time!” The other Dukes who had entered the hall were equally stunned. They had only come by the Emperor’s summons, unaware such an event would unfold. Seeing the once-arrogant Duke of Jin trapped, the Emperor stood silent at the edge. Everyone realized: tonight, the Great Zhou would undergo drastic change. “Ancestor Changqiu is already dead.” the Emperor said coolly. “Just yesterday, word arrived from the Secret Realm of the Immortal Crane. Ancestor Changqiu passed away within, and the realm is once more overrun with demons,” Duke of Wei Chu Luoyan said as he walked behind the Emperor, speaking to Mo Ke in the pit. “And you—are the true traitor.” Follow current novᴇls on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✦𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✦𝓷𝓮𝓽 The Medicine Master Family had two Foundation Builders. Mo Ke had long held imperial power by virtue of Foundation Messenger Medicine Master Changqiu’s trust. So long as Changqiu lived, none dared challenge Mo Ke, not even when he plotted the murder of Zhao Yuanbao—whose own ancestors had once produced a Foundation Builder. The family’s other Foundation Builder was a distant niece of the Founding Emperor of Zhou, with only faint blood ties to the current royal family. She never involved herself in court affairs. At this moment, palace servants presented two items before the Dukes: gloves soaked in black oil, and unlit torches and candles. They instantly understood the Emperor’s intent. Duke of Yan, Yu Jin, was first to put on the black-oil gloves. He lit his palm with a candle, then used the burning hand to light the torch—thus imbuing the flame with spell-breaking power. “Duke of Yan, Yu Jin, pledges to execute the traitor for the Great Zhou!” “Duke of Wu, Helan Shangle, pledges to execute the traitor for the Great Zhou!” “Duke of Tang, Li Fu, pledges to execute the traitor for the Great Zhou!” “Duke of Wei, Chu Luoyan, pledges to execute the traitor for the Great Zhou!” Except for the murdered Zhao Yuanbao and the trapped Mo Ke, all six Pillars of State had now taken their stance. They raised their blazing torches, awaiting the Emperor’s command. The Emperor called over a palace servant. Amid the crowd’s uneasy stares, he plunged his fist into the black oil, lit it with a candle, then lit his torch with the burning hand. Though his flesh burned in the flame, his face showed no pain—nor hatred, nor joy. As if he had long prepared for this day, every emotion worn away by the wait, leaving only resolve. “I, the Emperor, vow with you all to restore the Great Zhou,” Medicine Master Jueluo declared. “Let Medicine Master Mo Ke be the sacrifice!” “Let Medicine Master Mo Ke be the sacrifice!” Five torches dropped in unison. No matter how he struggled, what was to burn—burned. The trap filled with thick smoke and unbearable heat. None dared approach. But within, Mo Ke laughed madly: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Ancestor Changqiu is dead, and instead of hiding it, you use the chance to kill me! What folly! The foundation of the Medicine Master Family lies not with me, not with you, but with Foundation Building! If we worked together, we might hold back the wolves. Now with me dead, and no recognition from the ancestor—how will you suppress those treacherous beasts? You’re the one who’ll bury the family legacy, not me!” “But I haven’t lost. I still have hope, I still—” His voice, like a curse from hell, echoed endlessly through the hall. Only when the flames fell silent did the Emperor speak: “Send the order—seal the Jin Commandery Estate, arrest all remnants of Mo Ke’s faction: Medicine Master Xun, Medicine Master Shen, Feng Qian, Yu Yi, and…” “Medicine Master Mo Ke’s daughter—Medicine Master Wen.”