On the steps, the two expert fighters turned around in shock. 

Upon hearing the commotion, the crowd of ministers rushed out from the grand hall and then froze like wooden puppets. 

Ning Cheng, who was surrounded on the steps and was indeed responsible for drawing the enemy’s attention, a flash of admiration and jealousy flashed across his eyes. 

The imperial guards on the steps, who had stood stunned ever since Ning Cheng threw the corpse, stared blankly at the light of the sword, all of them squinting their eyes. 

At the bottom of the steps, the Regent stood there stunned. 

At the bottom of the steps, the corpse had fallen at his feet. 

Blow the steps, the young man clad in sky-blue robe, with his back to him, calmly sheathed his sword. He stood there with ease, continuously brushing dust off his body— he had been hiding under the steps for a whole day. That was something he could endure, but he disliked the dust that kept drifting down. 

After finally dusting himself clean, he slowly walked over. As he passed before the Regent, who was still standing there, perhaps finding him to be in the way, he gave the Regent a casual shove. 

Just a light push. 

A jet of blood shot into the sky in that instant. 

It spewed out from Yin Zhi Shu’s throat and shot toward the bright sun in the sky. The blood red light shot in a straight line, aiming right for the sky! 

It was just a small wound, but it struck the most vital part of the body. A thin, narrow gash was enough to drain away all of a person’s blood and life force. 

It also drained all the color from the faces of the court officials.

Everyone’s breathing stopped. Their mind went completely blank as they stared, unable to believe such a scene could really be happening right before their eyes. They couldn’t even really process what this scene represents. 

Amidst the spurting blood, Yin Zhi Shu was somehow still able to remain conscious. He slightly opened his eyes, and through a sea of blood spreading like a peach blossom fan, across the jade steps and golden palace that seemed to be floating in the clouds, saw the young man holding a little girl, his expression was one of indifference. 

He saw his misty eyes, the calm and coldness in them that penetrated the blood haze. 

He saw Lu Rui beside him, saw the joy that came into his eyes after the shock. 

If a person has the eyes of wisdom, then they would see the truth that was usually obscured by ignorance and worldly cares, and in exchange, gain instant enlightenment. 

His eyes narrowed slightly and let out a long sigh in his heart. He had thought he had the world at his fingertips, but in truth, he was surrounded by enemies all along. 

He then slowly lowered his eyes and looked at the corpse at his feet. She lay there quietly, emptiness in her eyes. 

All those years of painstaking planning and maneuvering, in the end, nothing was gained. 

He suddenly remembered many years ago, when she was not yet his brother’s imperial concubine. Standing by the flower wall of the Grand Commandant’s mansion, she raised her face and looked up at him sitting on the wall, and said “Tomorrow, I will enter the palace.” 

He sat on the wall, broke off an apricot blossom, and pointed at her with the broken end, and said word by word, “You can sleep with him, but you must die by my side in the end.” 

The words that had been uttered in a fit of anger turned out to be nothing more than a prophecy already written by fate. 

The corner of his lips curled up in a smile, seemingly both mocking and indifferent.

Softly. 

At the end of his life. 

He finished saying the word he couldn’t finish earlier. 

“….Ruan.” 

———————————————-

The wind swept across the palace rooftop, swirled down to the bottom of the steps, stained by the faint scent of blood, before drifting across the silent courtyard.  

Below the steps, the famed and powerful Regent lay quietly beside the woman who held the same unchallenged power in the inner palace. 

As Feng Zhi Wei said, even very very important people have only one life. As long as you dare to kill, then death really could be rather easy. 

This one and only short stretch of path, where he couldn’t bring his thousands of troops, was the path of death that Feng Zhi Wei had long planned. 

Because the guards in front of the Grand Hall changed every six hours, with the Regent’s personal guards and the Imperial Guards taking turns to guard them. Before the shift changes, every corner will be carefully searched, and every stone slab tapped. Whenever there comes an occasion where the Regent will have to ascend the stairs by himself, he will definitely first order his personal guards to search and set up defense. Therefore, if one wants to ambush the Regent, it must be done after the guard changed on the previous day but before the guard change today. Once someone is hidden under the steps, then no more movements can be made. After all, the Regent has many followers, and if someone discovers any hint of an ambush, then all the plans will be useless. 

And to maintain a contorted body for six hours is something very few people in this world could do. But Gu Nan Yi is naturally one of them. 

He is, after all, in possession of the sort of patience that is unparalleled in this world. For someone who, back in the day, could bury himself in a snow pile for the sake of practicing martial arts and almost suffocate himself to death, six hours was naturally no problem at all to him. 

When Lu Rui asked Feng Zhi Wei about Gu Nan Yi’s whereabouts, he had already sneaked down into the hidden steps after the changing of the guards. Feng Zhi Wei was worried that if Lu Rui knew, he would not be able to control his composure when passing that particular step and run the risk of drawing others’ attention, so she simply kept it from him as well. 

This assassination attempt, seemingly simple on the surface, actually involved the best of the best in this world. With the involvement of several powerful forces, anyone caught in such a coordinated attack, both open and hidden, it would be very difficult to stay alive. 

Lu Rui stared at the Regent’s corpse below the steps, after a long moment, he wiped away his cold sweat with a trembling hand. 

Besides him, someone asked in a panic, “Grand Marshal…this…this…” 

He was the commander of the Nine Cities Garrison under the Regent. 

Lu Rui slowly turned around, looked at him, and suddenly gave him a rather meaningful smile. 

The man was taken aback, but before his mind could comprehend what the smile meant, Lu Rui’s hand abruptly came down heavily in mid-air. 

“Ah!” 

The sword was drawn and sheathed. Blood spurted out, and several screams echoed through the silent hall. 

The court officials turned around in alarm and saw that all the Regent’s closest confidants, aside from Lu Rui and a few civil officials, all the military officers who held a certain degree of command over troops, were now lying dead on the ground. 

The court officials were all stunned into silence, while a faint smile appeared on Feng Zhi Wei’s lips— having killed the Regent, Old Lu’s decisiveness and courage had finally arrived. 

She raised her head, hugged Gu Zhi Xiao tightly, and the two of them looked at nothing but focused on the steps below. 

There, Gu Nan Yi leisurely passed by Ning Cheng, who was in the middle of a fierce fight, casually tore off a piece of Ning Cheng’s clothes, and walked towards them as he wiped his sword. 

　All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com  　

ps. Sigh…I kinda want to know the story between the Regent and the Empress Dowager.  

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