Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

After Li Zhi left the imperial study, his figure silently shuttled between the palace walls.

The palace lanterns in the corridor were blown up by the night wind, and the dim light cast swaying shadows on the ground, interweaving with the occasional screams coming from afar into a heart-pounding melody.

He walked west along the palace road and arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

As we approached the Qianqing Palace, a suppressed conversation drifted out through the window.

Li Zhi paused, and stuck to the cold palace wall like a gecko, holding his breath and listening attentively.

"Your Majesty, please surrender!"

A deep voice, with undisguised pride, continued, "Your secret guards are all dead. If you still resist, don't blame me if I hurt you later."

Li Zhi quietly turned his head and looked inside through the gap in the carved window lattice.

The Qianqing Palace was in a mess, with several corpses dressed in black lying on the ground. Blood was flowing through the cracks between the golden bricks, glowing dark red in the candlelight.

The emperor was wearing bright yellow casual clothes. Although his figure seemed thin, he was still tall and straight. However, the silver hair on his temples was particularly dazzling in the candlelight.

The eunuch Wang Ling beside him had a sullen face, and his hands were tightly gripping the whisk, his knuckles turning white from the force. Although his breath was fluctuating and it was obvious that he had suffered serious injuries, he still stood in front of the emperor.

Opposite the emperor and his companions, there were three people. They were standing with their backs to the door, blocking the emperor in the Qianqing Palace.

Li Zhi was right behind them, and looking from behind them, he couldn't recognize the identities of these four people for a moment.

At this moment, the Emperor suddenly sneered, his voice chilling to the bone. He growled, "Broken Steel! As a guardian of the Night Patrol, you've committed such a heinous act, and yet you still have the nerve to speak to me?!"

The Night Patrol Guardian broke the steel?

Li Zhi, who was hiding outside the window, was shocked when he heard this. Even his breathing almost became disordered, exposing his whereabouts.

Li Zhi never expected that someone from the Night Patrol would get involved in this palace coup. You know, Duan Gang has been in a semi-retired state since he was injured while protecting the emperor many years ago.

At this moment, his voice sounded full of energy, and he didn't sound like someone who was still seriously injured.

When Duan Gang inside heard the emperor's question, his heart trembled violently and he subconsciously wanted to step back.

But he immediately thought of the present. Things are different now. The emperor in front of him, who is high above everyone else, can no longer decide his life or death with just a few words as before.

Duan Gang took a deep breath, calmed himself, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? You have stripped me of my position as Dharma Protector! Even my nephew, whom I had high hopes for, died in mysterious circumstances! Do you know that my Duan family is only half a step away from destruction?"

However, the Emperor continued to sneer. He scolded mercilessly, "How dare you, a scoundrel harboring evil intentions, question me? Do you really think I don't know what you're thinking?"

"You simply want to use the excuse of being seriously injured to have Duan Heng take over your position as guardian. Then, on the pretext of being fully recovered, you can ask Zhao Wuji for a guardian position. By then, with two guardians in your Duan family, even Situ Han in the Night Travel Division will be wary of you..."

There was a gleam of wisdom in the emperor's eyes, as if all of Duan Gang's plans had been exposed under the emperor's nose.

Broken Steel's face flushed red from the rebuttal, but he stiffened his neck and shouted, "There's no point in saying more at this point! Even if you talk to the heavens, you can't escape this fate!"

The emperor glanced at Duan Gang with cold disdain, ignoring him and fixing his gaze on the man beside him. He spoke in a deep voice, "Duan Gang's ambitions are unjust, and he deserves the consequences. But what about you, Lin Tianshan?"

When Li Zhi heard the name, he couldn't help but gasp, almost thinking that he had heard it wrong.

Lin Tianshan is one of the ten guardians of the Night Patrol Division!

Moreover, compared to Duan Gang, who was deprived of his position as a guardian, Lin Tianshan is very different.

He is the person the emperor trusts the most.

It is said that when the emperor had not yet ascended the throne, Lin Tianshan was already the emperor's bodyguard, and even risked his own life many times to save the emperor from danger.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he never forgot Lin Tianshan's achievements. With the emperor's promotion, Lin Tianshan's position in the Night Tour Division also rose steadily.

But now, this legitimate old minister of the palace, the emperor's true confidant, has appeared in opposition to the emperor.

Lin Tianshan was silent for a moment when he heard the emperor's question. His emotions seemed extremely complicated. In the end, he just shook his head and replied, "Your Majesty's grace, Tianshan has no way to repay you, but... Tianshan has compelling reasons... After this matter is resolved, Tianshan will commit suicide to apologize..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..."

The emperor seemed to have heard a huge joke.

He laughed so hard that his shoulders shook violently.

However, there was no joy in this laughter, only bone-chilling coldness and ridicule, which made people feel nervous.

After laughing for a full half cup of tea, the emperor slowly stopped laughing and his expression instantly returned to calm, as if he was not the one who had lost his composure just now.

His hawk-like gaze swept across Duan Gang and Lin Tianshan, finally settling on the silent figure behind Duan Gang. His tone was as cold as ice as he asked, "Duan Gang is greedy, Lin Tianshan is foolish and foolish. What about you? Zhao Bao... my good brother!"

The words "Zhao Bao" came out of the emperor's mouth, like thunder exploding in the Qianqing Palace.

Hiding outside the window, Li Zhi's pupils suddenly constricted, and his heart skipped a beat. Zhao Bao? Could this seemingly cynical young man also have ambitions to conquer the world?

Zhao Bao, who had been hiding behind Duan Gang, was shocked. He slowly pushed away Duan Gang that was blocking his way.

He was wearing a black brocade robe, his face was pale to the point of being transparent, his lips were bloodless, and he was looking at the emperor in front of him with a complicated expression.

After a while, Zhao Bao suddenly lifted his robe and bowed deeply to the emperor, his movements as standard as those of the most pious minister: "Zhao Bao... pays homage to our emperor. Long live the emperor."

The emperor stood there motionless, his face eerily calm.

He neither asked Zhao Bao to stand up nor scolded him. He just looked at his younger brother quietly, as if he was examining an object.

When Zhao Bao stood up, cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead.

For the first time, he looked directly at the royal brother whom he had admired since childhood without any reservation. His pale lips moved, and his throat felt like it was blocked by cotton. Thousands of words came to his lips, but in the end, they turned into a heavy sigh.

The emperor shook his head gently, a barely perceptible hint of disappointment crossing his otherwise calm face. His voice was as gentle as the wind across the water, "Since we've done it, we must see it through to the end. What great things can you achieve with such hesitation and womanly compassion?"

Zhao Bao's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. His fingers tightly grasped the corner of his robe, his knuckles turning white. "Brother Emperor, I..."

"No need to say more."

The emperor suddenly waved his hand to interrupt him, the calmness on his face was replaced by gloom, and his tone was filled with murderous intent.

"I know who's behind this! But you traitors... deserve death too!"