[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday":3,"chapter-the-imperial-enforcer-with-an-eight-hour-workday-the-imperial-hounds-of-the-eight-hour-workday-chapter-597":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Imperial Hound on an Eight-Hour Shift",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},2225655,4113,"Chapter 597: Goldsmith","the-imperial-hounds-of-the-eight-hour-workday-chapter-597",597,"\u003Cp>The 26th year of Jiajing, May 21st.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rising sun stretched diagonally along the street, illuminating from bottom to top a signboard standing by the roadside, on which \"Gold Smithy\" was written neatly. However, the gate beneath the signboard was tightly shut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some bloodstains could still be seen on the ground outside the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The loud noise and firelight from the Emperor’s Palace last night were clearly seen by everyone in Kyoto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although they did not know what had happened, everyone at the bottom of society knew clearly—no news was the best news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the dust of the world, whether it was a spring breeze or a cold wind, and whether there was malice or not, it was enough to drag them into the mud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the street, which should have been bustling at this time, did not have a single soul. Every household had closed their doors and windows, waiting for the situation to become clear before going out to work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, for some, trouble could not be blocked by closing doors and windows—especially for a workshop dealing in goldware.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the house with the \"Gold Smithy\" sign, the owner and master craftsman, Yoshida Takeshi, gripped a blood-dripping forging hammer, trembling and panting as he looked at the corpse on the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse was shirtless, revealing faded tattoos crawling all over his upper body. He clutched a short blade in his hand, a piece of his temple was collapsed, and blood flowed out through the door crack to the outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s over...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yoshida Takeshi’s hand shook, and the hammer fell to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had killed someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had killed a \"Yakuza.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is, the underworld of the East.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the great fire at the Emperor’s Palace from afar last night, Yoshida Takeshi knew it was bad. Chaos, for a shop dealing in goldware, was a disaster that could be determined without thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurriedly tried to lock the doors and windows, but just before he locked the last window, this \"Yakuza\" had grinned and climbed in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Interrogation, threats, looting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic, anger, killing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what happened in between, the matter had already headed toward an irredeemable abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yakuza\" were organized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Presumably, other \"Yakuza\" would soon come to the door and find the corpse. By then, whether he was willing to hand over the goldware in the shop or not, he would be dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Leave, yes, leave!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yoshida Takeshi suddenly came to his senses, ran in a panic to the living room, pulled out the wealth he had saved up from under the bed, grabbed some clothes and food, and turned to open the door to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just at this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knock, knock-knock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the silent shop, a knocking sound rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yoshida Takeshi shuddered, the bundle in his hand fell to the ground, and the gold and silver inside made a clattering sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s over...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yoshida Takeshi heard laughter from outside the door. Through the window paper, he could see a figure outside pointing at the house. They had clearly heard the sound he made; pretending there was no one in the shop was now impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse was still lying on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no time to clean up the bloodstains either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had locked all the doors and windows last night, but now he had trapped himself inside the house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knock, knock, knock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The knocking sounded again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Open the door.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An impatient urging voice came from outside. It was a rather magnetic male voice, but the tone was a bit stiff; it did not sound like the deliberately fierce tone of a \"Yakuza.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A glimmer of hope suddenly rose in Yoshida Takeshi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps the person outside was not another \"Yakuza,\" perhaps it was just a customer with an urgent matter... seeing the corpse should scare them away, and he could escape directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this thought, he opened the door, trembling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Not open for business today...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside were three people, two men and one woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leader was an exceptionally tall man, pale-faced, dressed in profound black, chatting and laughing with a beautiful woman. Another youth seemed to have something on his mind, standing behind without a word. \u003C\u002Fp>",702,"2026-06-17T21:54:32.236Z","2026-06-18T03:13:38.468Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","9a041634b076125649d2273e55d1e39e878f5d18d7e54344ae9e69482d5d85be","the-imperial-hounds-of-the-eight-hour-workday-chapter-598","the-imperial-hounds-of-the-eight-hour-workday-chapter-596",647,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-imperial-hound-on-an-eight-hour-shift-cover.jpg"]