Chapter 351

Silence.

Gu Yuan took the first three breaths upon entering the white jade archway; the white jade archway showed no reaction.

No spirit patterns flickered, no dragon roar echoed.

A few suppressed snickers came from the crowd.

"What's going on? Perhaps the slaughter in You Prefecture was too heavy, he's stained with karmic sin, and rejected by Heavenly Dao."

"I said, a poor scholar from a humble family, where would he get such foundation? His merits in You Prefecture might be fraudulently claimed."

Cui Hong's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, he snorted coldly to himself.

Yin Zhen's smile froze for a moment, his hand unconsciously clenched.

If Gu Yuan cannot even draw forth the fortune omen, his grand display today will become a laughingstock under heaven.

However, the laughter had not yet fully spread.

Crack.

A sharp cracking sound came from inside the towering white jade archway.

The official in charge of records from the Ministry of Rites stared blankly, then looked up.

Only to see that the top of the white jade archway, personally refined by the founding sage of Great Yin and having endured thousands of years of wind and rain, actually split open a fine crack.

Immediately after came an extremely painful dragon roar, even tinged with fear.

This dragon roar did not come from inside the archway, but from above the Forbidden City!

The tangible fortune golden dragon that has long coiled above the imperial city, representing the national fortune of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, was forcibly dragged from the imperial city by an irresistible pull!

Boom!

The sky outside Zhengyang Gate was instantly filled with a blinding purple-gold light.

Above Gu Yuan's head, the void had not condensed any phantom; the true body of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty's national fortune golden dragon descended directly!

Ten zhang?

Thirty zhang?

The moment the golden dragon touched Gu Yuan's aura, its size began to swell wildly.

One hundred zhang!

One thousand zhang!

Five thousand zhang!

The clouds were violently torn apart, the gale winds above the capital were completely cleared out.

A purple-gold giant dragon ten thousand zhang long covered the sky and blotted out the sun, enveloping the entire Zhengyang Gate and even half of the capital in its vast shadow.

The giant dragon coiled above Gu Yuan's head, its head lowered; in those eyes that once loomed high and looked down upon all beings, there now appeared an almost fawning submission.

Ten-thousand-zhang golden dragon!

The area outside Zhengyang Gate fell dead silent, like a grave.

The officials who had just been mocking were now pressed down by this vast, incomprehensible imperial dao pressure, their knees went weak, and they thumped to the ground in a heap.

The spies of the aristocratic families, the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army, and even several ministers of the Six Ministries could not control their bodies, trembling as they fell to the ground.

"This... this is impossible... absolutely impossible!"

The Director of the Imperial Observatory knelt on the ground, his black hat already fallen off, his whole body shaking like chaff in a sieve, old tears streaming as he looked up at the ten-thousand-zhang giant dragon in the sky, his voice hoarse and changed: "Ten-thousand-zhang fortune... this is the birth of a sage! This is the true Lord of Heavenly Dao! Long live Great Yin! Long live Great Yin! Our human race will rise!"

Cui Hong's mind went blank.

He finally understood why the three grand councilors did not choose to kill Gu Ziyuan but to win him over.

At this moment.

He felt the three grand councilors were simply utterly glorious!

…

However.

Gu Yuan stood beneath the archway, looking up at the golden dragon still trying to expand, his brow faintly furrowed.

Even restraint seemed still too high.

"If this continues, Great Yin's national fortune will collapse first, and all that effort would be wasted."

Gu Yuan severed the connection between his inner world and the official seal.

The ten-thousand-zhang golden dragon let out a reluctant cry, its massive body spun three times in midair, then turned into a shower of purple-gold light that fell upon every corner of the capital.

The crack on the white jade archway stopped spreading, but the originally crystal-clear jade had now become dull and lifeless.

Its core formation had been completely burned away by that massive energy just now.

Gu Yuan stepped out of the archway and patted his sleeve.

"Record it."

He looked at the Ministry of Rites official slumped on the ground, unable even to hold a pen, and spoke calmly.

The Ministry of Rites official opened his mouth, but only a gurgling sound came from his throat; he could not utter a single word.

"How to record? The histories haven't even coined the term 'ten-thousand-zhang fortune' yet!"

Yin Zhen stood where he was, his whole body as if struck by lightning.

His hands trembled violently, not from fear, but from an intense joy that shot straight to his head.

Ten-thousand-zhang golden dragon! Drawing the national fortune's true body to submit!

With Gu Yuan, what is there to contend for the heir?

Even if he now led troops to storm the palace, all scholars and commoners under heaven would deem him the heaven's mandate.

Because the mandate of heaven stands beside him!

Yinzhen burst out laughing, completely abandoning the prince's reserve.

He strode forward and seized Gu Yuan's arm with an astonishingly strong grip.

「Good! Good! Good! 」

Yin Zhen said "good" three times, his eye sockets reddening,

「Ziyuan truly is a divine person! With Ziyuan present, the Great Yin shall prosper! 」

The surrounding officials who had been kneeling only then woke from a dream; no matter what they thought, they could only follow suit and shout: 「Heaven bless the Great Yin! Congratulations, Your Highness, on acquiring such talent! 」

After entering the city.

The Second Prince did not take Gu Yuan to the guesthouse, but instead directly led him to a luxurious mansion nearest the imperial city.

This was the residence of the former dynasty's premier minister, built beyond regulations, and now Yin Zhen has directly granted it to Gu Yuan.

Inside the study, only two people remained.

Yin Zhen personally poured tea for Gu Yuan, his attitude more intimate than outside the city, even carrying a hint of the reverence a subordinate shows toward a superior.

「Ziyuan, today's affair at the Zhengyang Gate will spread across the Nine Provinces within half a day. 」

Yin Zhen sat down opposite Gu Yuan, his gaze piercing,

「As for the elder brother's side, it's probably already turned into a mess by now. Those originally neutral scholars and generals will soon break down the gates of my mansion. 」

Gu Yuan lifted his teacup, blew away the foam, and asked: 「Your Highness, are you preparing to cast the net? 」

「Not in a hurry. 」

Yin Zhen looked at Gu Yuan, his tone softening: 「Ziyuan, during this time you should rest well in this mansion. I will block the open and hidden attacks in the court for you. You need do nothing; your very presence is the anchor that secures my rule over the world. 」

Gu Yuan set down his teacup and nodded happily.

「Since Your Highness shows consideration, I will then hide away in tranquility. 」

On vacation, with someone providing food, lodging, and protection from blades, why not enjoy it?