Auspicious Omen, Leaving the Imperial Capital

Dominic Zhai received the news and rushed to the city gate at once, only to find his soldiers pale and shaken, as if their souls had fled. In the sweltering summer, they shivered uncontrollably, looking like they were possessed. Dominic’s temper flared.

Possessed? Saw a ghost?

Possessed by what, saw what ghost? If there really were ghosts and gods in this world, it wouldn’t be them who should die. He’d always lived with a clear conscience, never feared ghosts knocking at his door in the middle of the night, and all that talk of spirits—he never took it seriously, not in his mind, not in his heart.

Which soldier’s hands are free of blood? After a major battle, corpses pile up like mountains. In the palace, who hasn’t killed before? Gods and ghosts—so what? Even they fear people. Just as he was about to open his mouth and reprimand them, something unexpected happened...

Boom—

A deafening roar erupted. Dominic Zhai followed the sound and saw fireclouds churning above the imperial palace, thick smoke shooting straight into the sky.

"No—something’s happened to the Emperor!" Raised from childhood to be loyal to the throne, no matter how dissatisfied he felt about the Emperor, Dominic’s first instinct was still to worry about the Emperor’s safety.

"Into the palace—protect His Majesty!" Dominic barked the order, straightened his robes, and dashed toward the stables to enter the palace and safeguard the Emperor.

No matter what, nothing must happen to the Emperor. If the Emperor fell, the grown princes would start fighting for the throne, and the entire nation would be thrown into chaos.

Dominic’s palms broke out in sweat. He kept telling himself to stay calm, stay calm—the stability of the capital now rested on his shoulders.

"Sir, look!" His personal guard was about to help Dominic onto his horse, but was stunned by the strange phenomenon in the sky.

Dominic was about to snap at him—how could anyone have time to gawk at the sky right now? But when he looked up, he saw...

"Five-Colored Auspicious Clouds? How is this possible?"

On one side, fire raged; on the other, five-colored clouds shimmered. Could the rumors in the streets be true—were there really gods and spirits at work?

Dominic shivered all over, swallowed hard. Thankfully, he hadn’t said anything rash just now—otherwise he’d be slapping his own face.

"Quick, go investigate—find out what’s happening!" Dominic calmed himself. With fire on one side and auspicious clouds on the other, some things simply couldn’t be ignored.

If that was the case, then the Emperor was likely unharmed. Right now, if he entered the palace and something went wrong, he’d only become a casualty of a palace coup.

"Seal the city gates—no one enters or leaves." The priority was to block all news and quickly learn who had died in the palace fire, and what those five-colored clouds in the sky really meant.

"Yes, sir."

Dominic split all the troops he could muster in the capital into four detachments: the first entered the palace to protect the Emperor; the second surrounded the residences of princes and ministers; the third openly ‘protected’ but actually controlled high-risk VIPs like Prince Terrence Valen of Lyndaria, Prince Quentin Northlyn, and Sophia Su, ready to kill if needed; and the fourth reinforced the city defenses to prevent any movement in or out.

If the sudden explosion in the imperial palace had shocked Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan, then the sudden appearance of the Five-Colored Auspicious Clouds made him doubt his own eyes. But Nolan would stake his head on it—he wasn’t seeing things.

Wait, that place looked familiar. If he remembered right, the clouds were hanging above Feng Manor. Nolan’s tense face relaxed a little—so that was it.

Nolan glanced sideways at Serena Feng. Seeing her radiant, restrained smile, he knew his guess was right. "Did you create those Five-Colored Auspicious Clouds?"

On the mountaintop, wind whipped their robes, making them flutter noisily. The two stood still as statues, looking from afar like immortals standing above the world.

"Why are you so sure it was me?" Serena countered instead of answering. With the blast, her excitement faded—ten days of careful preparation for this one moment, but when it arrived, the joy was brief.

Killing is actually simple—a light press of her finger, and Liam Li, who’d plagued her for months, was dead. Yet as Liam died, Serena felt strangely empty inside.

She and Liam were the same type of person. They’d only met once, but it was life or death between them. She’d just been luckier—in the end, he was the one who died, not her.

"Who else could it be but you? The clouds above Feng Manor are beautiful." Beautiful—so beautiful it didn’t seem real, so beautiful you’d never doubt it was man-made. Nolan looked at Serena again, realizing he still hadn’t fully understood her.

Serena was like a treasure trove. Every time he thought he’d unearthed everything, he’d find another layer, and the deeper he dug, the more dazzling it became—the harder it was to let go.

The ruler is a boat, the people are water. Water can carry the boat, or overturn it. Once the masses are stirred to rebellion, even the Emperor may not be able to suppress them. Didn’t the previous dynasty fall to a popular uprising?

A demon, an auspicious omen—this was squeezing the Emperor’s soft spot. Even if Liam Li hadn’t died, the Emperor would have dragged him out and burned him alive just to calm the people’s panic.

"It really is beautiful. Don’t worry, there won’t be another omen like this—I never use the same trick twice." The clouds above Feng Manor flashed by like a meteor; if they hadn’t been so bright, people would’ve doubted their own eyes. That was exactly what Serena wanted: "Nolan, we’ve seen the beautiful scene—let’s go back."

From now on, the road ahead splits—we each go our own way. Last night’s events will be treated as if nothing happened.

Serena closed her eyes, forcing down the longing and struggle in her heart.

With this omen, the fire at Feng Manor was perfectly explained. Her reputation was washed clean; those stains on her name wouldn’t be brought up easily, and no one would dare attack her over supposed premarital impurity. She could live like a normal person and start anew.

"Go back? You really think after such a huge incident at the palace, the capital won’t be locked down and you’ll be free to come and go? You think the Emperor will just swallow this loss?" Nolan looked at Serena, amused.

With so many princes in the city, how could they pass up this chance? Serena thinks she can stir the waters and then just let things settle?

Liam Li is dead—the Emperor will have a headache. And if he finds out Serena was involved, she’ll have a headache too.

"In that case, I just won’t go back. Feng Manor is gone; there’s no home for me here. The world is vast—there’s nowhere I, Serena Feng, can’t go." Serena replied carelessly. She trusted Nolan already had backup plans, and besides, it wasn’t easy for the Emperor to pin anything on her.

There were plenty of people who wanted Liam dead—Serena wasn’t even near the top of the list. Now that Liam was gone, many would be lining up to cause trouble for the Emperor. He’d be too busy to bother with a small fry like her.

Besides, there wasn’t much in this capital worth her attachment. If not for worrying about a few people’s safety, and needing to clear her own name to protect those who helped her, she really would have left long ago.

As for Nolan?

He was always impossible for her—why force it? As for what happened last night, Serena considered it nothing but Nolan’s skill making her lose herself. She’d treat it as a beautiful memory, and then move on...