Chapter 350: Building Momentum, Heaven's Mandate Archway

"Seriously ill?"

Gu Yuan set down the white jade wine cup in his hand; the porcelain base touched the small table, emitting a soft sound.

He leaned forward slightly, displaying the proper concern a subject ought to have.

Yin Zhen stared fixedly at Gu Yuan's face, lowered his voice, his tone revealing repressed resentment:

"The Imperial Hospital's bunch of good-for-nothings are helpless. His Majesty is in his prime, with profound cultivation; how could he collapse without any sign? These days, the Elder Prince's side has been frequently mobilizing the suburban garrisons, even the commander of the inner court's imperial guards has been changed three times."

He didn't spell it out fully.

But the meaning is clear: the Eldest Prince poisoned him, or used some kind of witchcraft curse, intending to usurp the throne.

Gu Yuan sat upright in his original position, lowering his eyelids.

Did the Eldest Prince do it?

This black pot really is somewhat unjustly placed on him.

Gu Yuan, while listening, silently activated the Myriad Dao Time-light Lamp.

The gray-purple dao fire moved on its own, and several causality lines imperceptible to ordinary folk followed the Great Yin Divine Dynasty's fortune network, instantly extending deep into the imperial palace.

From a high vantage point looking down, the Great Yin Emperor on the dragon bed, whose breath was like a silk thread, had two forces roiling within his body.

One was the original Purple Astra Dragon Qi, the other was pure dark gold.

Gu Yuan furrowed his brow imperceptibly.

Although he had never deliberately investigated the Great Yin Emperor's background, he was thoroughly familiar with the dynasty's fortune system.

As the ultimate controller of imperial authority, the emperor constantly receives nourishment from the fortune golden dragon.

As long as the Great Yin Divine Dynasty does not perish and its fortune does not scatter, even if the emperor were an ordinary mortal, living three to five hundred years would be easy.

Moreover, this emperor is certainly no ordinary mortal.

How could he suddenly become like this?

Just as Gu Yuan was considering whether to investigate further.

The Second Prince suddenly seized Gu Yuan's wrist, his eyes blazing:

"Ziyuan, with Father Emperor's collapse, the heavens of the capital will change! The Elder Prince has the support of the Empress and top clans like the Cui family, and has already been secretly mobilizing the capital's garrison troops. That reckless Old Three is also making eyes with some generals from the Ministry of War. Though my mother consort has some standing in the palace, in terms of external kin power, she ultimately cannot compare to them."

"But now, I, the Prince, have you!" Yin Zhen's tone turned extremely fervent: "Your methods in Secluded Prefecture have already completely awed those clans. As long as you firmly stand with me, I am confident of laughing last in this succession struggle! Then you will be First Dragon Merit, beneath one, above ten thousand!"

Gu Yuan looked at Yin Zhen's grandiose, pie-in-the-sky fervor and felt only amused.

But he outwardly cooperated, clasping his hands: "Your Highness, rest assured, I am here."

Just then.

The carriage slowly came to a halt.

From outside came the loud chant of a Ministry of Rites official: "Officials enter the capital, pass through the Heaven's Mandate Archway——"

The Great Yin Divine Dynasty's rule: any local official first summoned to the capital, or any newly minted scholar-official riding through the streets, must pass under the Heaven's Mandate Archway outside Proper Yang Gate.

This archway is no mundane object; it is a national treasure personally forged by the founding sage of Great Yin.

It connects to the fortune golden dragon above the imperial city, able to measure a person's political achievements, foundation, and future fate.

Officials passing under the archway will have an illusory image of the fortune golden dragon appear above their heads.

The higher the illusory image, the greater the person's potential and the deeper their contribution to the dynasty. This is not merely a test; it is also the imperial authority's appraisal of officials.

Gu Yuan lifted the curtain, gazing ahead at the towering white jade archway that reached the clouds.

The archway's surface flowed with intricate crimson patterns, faintly emitting the sound of a dragon's chant.

"Ziyuan, today is your first battle upon entering the capital."

Yin Zhen smoothed his robes and stepped down from the carriage together with Gu Yuan,

"Let those high-and-mighty clans of the capital see what kind of bearing the pillar of Great Yin's nation truly has."

At that moment, several officials waiting to enter the capital were already lined up before the archway.

At the front was a prefect who had just been transferred back from South of the River, holding a rank of fifth grade.

This person had achieved flood control merits in his locality and enjoyed a clean reputation.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his official hat, and stepped into the archway's shadow.

A hum.

The crimson patterns on the white jade archway instantly lit up.

In the void above the prefect's head, the crimson official qi surged violently, finally condensing into an illusory golden dragon baring its fangs and claws.

The illusory golden dragon grew with the wind, reaching one zhang, three zhang, five zhang… finally stopping at a height of ten zhang.

The ten-zhang golden dragon coiled in midair, scattering specks of golden light that merged into the prefect's body.

From the surrounding officials and students watching, a murmur of praise arose.

"Ten zhang of fortune! That's the destiny fit to head a ministry and rank as a third-grade high official!"

"South of the River is rich; his flood control merits are indeed profound. His future is limitless."

The Ministry of Rites official in charge of recording beamed, brushed his name into the golden register, and loudly signaled passage.

The following officials were mostly three to five zhang tall; occasionally one reached seven zhang, already drawing frequent sideways glances.

Since the founding of Great Yin, anyone who could evoke a thirty-zhang fortune golden dragon illusion under the Heaven's Mandate Archway has invariably become a historically renowned grand secretary or eminent minister.

"Ziyuan, go." Yin Zhen stepped back half a pace, making way to the archway.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Gu Yuan.

The King of Hell who, in a single night, wiped out thirteen clans in Secluded Prefecture.

The innate sage who quelled a 300,000-strong demon army.

The absolute confidant personally welcomed by the Second Prince after he rode ten li out of the city.

These halos stacked together made Gu Yuan the focal point of the capital's elite gaze.

At this moment, the Minister of Personnel, Cui Hong, standing ahead of the crowd, stared fixedly at Gu Yuan's back. Although the three Grand Secretaries had already sent word that Gu Yuan was one of their own, Cui Hong deep down still felt fear and suspicion toward this killing god.

He wanted to see just how much fortune this young man of humble origins, whose rise was as swift as a monster's, could draw under this demon-revealing mirror!

Not only Cui Hong, but also the spies sent by the Crown Prince to observe in secret and the heads of the great clans all held their breath.

Gu Yuan walked to the spot directly beneath the White Jade Archway and stopped.

He raised his head, glanced at the intricate formation patterns on the archway, and his thoughts stirred.

Gu Yuan did not use the official aura of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, because he simply had none.

And by means of his control over the Fortune Golden Dragon at this moment,

If he is unwilling, then this so-called Heaven's Mandate Archway could not possibly extract any information from him at all.

"Just give him a little face and that'll do."

At the moment he stepped into the archway, Gu Yuan extremely restrainedly leaked a wisp of fortune-source a hundred times finer than a hair from his inner world, which flowed along the official seal into the archway.