It was a cool and still night. Liu Bingyi had dismissed all his attendants and now stood alone in the empty Xuan Shi Hall.
Despite having severely damaged Huo Guang's prestige earlier that day, the 'system's' real-time scan continued to issue faint red alerts.
[System detection: there are 32 eavesdropping points and 14 blind spots in the current environment.]
Sources of surveillance: Remnants of the Huo family, eunuchs in the inner court and secret probes from Chang Le Palace.' A cold smile curled at the corner of Liu Bingyi's lips. He slowly walked to the enormous golden nanmu imperial couch, sat cross-legged and closed his eyes slightly. To onlookers, the new emperor appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep, exhausted from the day's events. However, deep within his consciousness, a revolutionary change was quietly unfolding. 'System, calculate all my prestige points since my ascension to the throne and initiate a full upgrade.' "
[Ding! Reputation Points Balance: 128,000.]
Consuming 100,000 Reputation Points. System Version upgraded from 1.0 [Hidden Dragon in the Commonwealth] to 2.0 [Imperial Brain]."
With Liu Bingyi's command, his consciousness space instantly transformed from a void into a futuristic golden palace, with countless chains of golden light intertwining wildly in the air. The previously singular functional modules began to reorganise and expand.
[Upgrade complete! System 2.0 unlocked.] Exclusive features:
"Heavenly Eye" (Passive): The host's perception radius of the palace expands to 5 kilometres. Any whispers directed at the host will be automatically captured and converted into text.
"True Dragon Deduction" (active): Allows simulation exercises of court situations. After the host provides intelligence, the system can deduce Huo Guang's response strategy in 0.1 seconds.
'Jinyiwei – Combat Power Sharing': As the mastermind, the host can instantly project a portion of their combat power or skills to any Jinyiwei, achieving the effect of having an army of one.
The instant the system upgrade was completed, Liu Bingyi's consciousness detected an extremely faint sound of tiles rubbing together. 'Got you.' A 'Heavenly Gate Assassin', cloaked in invisibility, stood panting on the rafters of the Xuan Shi Hall, trying to spy on the emperor's sleeping posture. He thought he had merged with the darkness, unaware that, in Liu Bingyi's visual template, his entire body was radiating a bright reddish heat.
Liu Bingyi didn't open his eyes, but simply flicked his fingertips lightly on his knee.
[Skill activated: Emperor's Sword Qi – Silent Kill]
An invisible, compressed-air blade pierced the void, precisely severing the assassin's trachea. He didn't even have time to struggle. With a swift movement, Liu Bingyi used his inner energy to support the corpse and place it silently on the roof beam.
[Ding! Fragment of Crown Prince Wei's dying wish detected: Location locked: west suburbs of Chang'an, at the location of the mute boy.
[System prompt: The boy carries not a paper will, but Crown Prince Wei's 'bloodline memory'.'
Liu Bingyi opened his eyes, a golden glint flashing deep within his pupils. He could feel the surging power within him, giving him an absolute sense of control over the entire palace.
'Huo Guang, you spent decades weaving this net.' He stood up and, with a flick of his sleeve, instantly extinguished the flickering candlelight in the hall.
'But I only needed one night to turn your net into my hunting ground.'
Liu Bingyi remained seated with his legs crossed, but his consciousness had silently extended via the system's detection waves to the General's Mansion, which was located several miles away from the Xuan Shi Hall.
[System notification: Signal received in the secret chamber of the General's Mansion.' Automatic voice translation and background noise filtering in progress...
'That peasant... he was definitely faking it in the main hall!' Huo Guang's hoarse, furious voice exploded in Liu Bingyi's mind. 'Three thousand elite soldiers, all vanished overnight. This is beyond the capabilities of a mere farming grandson of the emperor. He must have a powerful backer, or perhaps he's connected to the legacy of the Crown Prince!"
'Father, calm down.' This was Huo Yu's voice, tinged with ruthlessness. 'Since he dared to kill our men, we'll go all the way. At next month's ancestral worship ceremony, we'll expose his illegitimate lineage for all to see. As long as the Empress Dowager approves and says he's an imposter, he'll have to shed his imperial robes in blood!'
Liu Bingyi sneered. [True Dragon Deduction] instantly activated, dozens of countermeasures flashing through his mind.
Just as he was preparing to delve deeper into the Huo family's trump cards, a blinding red light suddenly appeared on the system panel.
'[Warning!] [High-frequency resonance detected in the host's bloodline].'
[Direction: 15 kilometres west of Chang'an]
[Source: the mute boy (carrier)]
[Status: The target is being hunted by an unknown force and bloodline memories are about to dissipate.
Liu Bingyi suddenly opened his eyes, golden patterns flashing briefly in his pupils. The mute boy actually possessed the truth that Crown Prince Liu Ju had sealed away with a secret technique before his death: fatal evidence that could strip Huo Guang completely of his political legitimacy. 'Lei Zhen, Chi Lian, come out,' shouted Liu Bingyi, and two dark figures immediately appeared before the imperial bed. 'I need to leave the palace to fetch someone personally.' For an ordinary emperor, leaving the palace was an impossible task, but for Liu Bingyi, who possessed System 2.0, it was merely a simple obstacle avoidance game.
[Skill Activation: Phantom Illusion (Passive Concealment)]
Effect: The system interferes with the optic nerves of all nearby sentries, causing them to experience the illusion of 'no one here' for five minutes.
Dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and draped in a dark cloak, Liu Bingyi moved like a black lightning bolt across the heavy walls of Weiyang Palace. The black-armoured guards at the gates felt only a slight breeze. Looking down, they found not a single footprint on the ground. In a patch of withered reeds on the western outskirts of Chang'an,
A ragged boy, looking about fourteen or fifteen years old, staggered forward, making gurgling sounds but unable to speak. Six masked assassins armed with crossbows were slowly tightening their encirclement behind him.
'Hand over that bronze box and I'll give you a quick death,' sneered the assassin leader as he pulled the trigger.
Just as the arrow pierced the air, a short sword, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, struck it down. 'You dare touch my man?'
Liu Bingyi slowly emerged from the darkness. With each step he took, the surrounding air seemed to freeze. The six assassins were horrified to find themselves paralysed, their hearts skipping a beat.When the boy saw Liu Bingyi, his terrified eyes cleared instantly. Ignoring the assassins' threats, he knelt on the ground and bit his tongue hard, spitting blood onto the rusty bronze box in his arms.
[Ding! Crown Prince Wei's "Bloodline Memory" has been detected.
[Connecting to the Sea of Consciousness... 10%, 50%, 100%...]
A series of bloody scenes spanning over a decade flooded Liu Bingyi's mind: the truth behind the witchcraft scandal; Emperor Wu of Han's secret edict before his death; and how Huo Guang had altered the will, forcing Crown Prince Wei to his death.
Liu Bingyi stood rooted to the spot, his murderous aura so intense that it almost seemed to solidify.
'So this is the real scourge of witchcraft.' He looked at the six terrified assassins and slowly raised his right hand. 'Since you are the lackeys of the Huo family, take this truth to hell and apologise to the late Crown Prince.'
[Ding! The system is analysing 'Bloodline Memory'...]
[Loading scene: The second year of the Zhenghe era, deep within Changle Palace.
The image of the elderly Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, appeared in Liu Bingyi's mind. The emperor, who had once swept across the Xiongnu, was now writing his final secret edict amidst the smoke of ambergris, his hands trembling.
'Huo Guang... This man can be used or killed. If the crown prince is dead and Bingyi's grandson returns to the throne, this edict will be your weapon to eliminate Huo Guang!'
Liu Bingyi suddenly opened his eyes, his breathing becoming heavy.
The so-called 'Witchcraft Affair' was not Emperor Wu's folly, but rather Huo Guang's attempt to use the situation to eliminate the Wei clan, his maternal relatives, once and for all. Emperor Wu realised all this before his death, but due to his weakening condition, he could only entrust this earth-shattering 'reversal edict' to his most loyal Eastern Garden Guards, the ancestors of this mute boy.
The mute boy knelt before Liu Bingyi and laboriously wrote two characters in the mud with his bloodied fingers: 'Gui Chen' (Return to Dust).
'Gui Chen... return to dust, and return to the royal family.' Liu Bingyi helped the boy up, his eyes revealing an unprecedented sense of responsibility. 'I will heal your voice so you can tell the world who the true traitors are at the ancestral worship ceremony.'
[System Feedback: Special Follower Acquired — Gui Chen]!
Attributes: Descendant of the Wei Clan; naturally immune to mind control.
Function: 'Human Recorder', capable of perfectly replicating the voice frequencies of Emperor Wu during his lifetime.
Liu Bingyi did not immediately take the boy back to the palace.
Instead, he turned his head towards the General's Mansion, a dangerous smile playing on his lips. 'Lei Zhen, Chi Lian.'
'Seal these six heads with sealing wax and place them in the copper box that the six assassins were planning to take.' Liu Bingyi tossed the copper box to Chi Lian, his voice icy cold. 'Tonight, I'm going to give General Huo a gift that will keep him up all night.'
Late at night, in the ancestral hall of the General's Mansion...
Huo Guang knelt before the ancestral tablets, awaiting news from the western suburbs. 'Thump!' A heavy copper box flew over the wall and landed precisely in the centre of the altar.
Overjoyed, Huo Guang thought the assassins had brought back evidence and hurriedly opened the copper box. However, instead of the Crown Prince's edict, he saw six heads with their eyes wide open in death.
Even more devastating was the fact that each of the six heads had a slip of paper stuffed in its mouth. When pieced together, they read:
'The calamity of witchcraft and sorcery, I already know.' Huo Guang coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the prayer mat. He knew this was more than just revenge; it was Liu Bingyi's final ultimatum.
'Ding!'
Reputation Value: +60,000 (Mastered the core historical truth and gained the right to deliver a devastating blow).
Unlocked Ultimate Skill: Turning Clouds and Rain (Can directly summon meteorological phenomena during the ancestral worship ceremony and perform miracles in conjunction with Bloodline Memory).
Liu Bingyi stood atop a high mountain, overlooking the gradually awakening city of Chang'an.
The System 2.0 within him was operating frantically, transforming the blood-red memory into the sharpest political weapon.
'Huo Guang, do you intend to depose me during the ancestral worship ceremony?'
He slowly drew his iron sword, pointing its tip to the sky. 'That day, I will make you kneel before our ancestors and break your rebellious bones, one by one.'