Volume One, Chapter 58: Search!

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly clutched his throat.
“Another one,” Zhu Youjian shook his head. “Search.”
The guards found the same item on the old eunuch.
Zhu Youjian looked at the names on the roster and suddenly understood something.
These families were not only the pillars of the Donglin faction.
They also held another identity.
An old eunuch entered: “Your Majesty...”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian was already numb.
Before the words were finished, he too collapsed.
Zhu Youjian continued to examine the roster.
At that moment, an old palace maid came in: “Your Majesty, this old servant knows the truth...”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian did not even look up.
“These twelve families...” the old palace maid said, “they are...”
Before she could finish, she also fell.
Zhu Youjian looked at the bodies scattered on the floor and sneered coldly.
He was about to continue reading the roster when another old eunuch approached.
“Your Majesty...” the eunuch smiled, “do you know?”
“Know what?”
“Do you know why we all must die?” the eunuch suddenly asked.
Zhu Youjian looked up: “Why?”
The eunuch laughed loudly: “Because...”
Before finishing, there was another muffled sound.
Zhu Youjian looked at the eunuch’s corpse and sighed.
The same four words: “Who in the world? Only I reign supreme.”
He kept flipping through the roster and suddenly noticed a strange mark on the last page.
He had never seen this mark before.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “do you want to know what this mark means?”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked at her.
The old palace maid smiled: “This mark represents...”
Before she finished, she too collapsed.
“Are you going to die as well?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“No.” The old eunuch smiled, “I am here to tell you a secret.”
“What secret?”
“These twelve families...” the eunuch said, “actually are...”
Before finishing, he also fell.
Zhu Youjian was too weary to look further.
He continued scanning the roster and suddenly noticed a line of small text beneath each family name.
He had never paid attention to this line before.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “do you see it?”
“See what?”
“That line of text...” the old palace maid said, “it is...”
Before she could finish, she too collapsed.
Zhu Youjian looked at the corpses on the floor and continued reading the roster.
“No.” The old eunuch smiled, “I want to tell you a secret.”
“What secret?”
“These words...” the eunuch said, “actually are...”
Before finishing, he also fell.
Zhu Youjian was numb.
He continued reading the roster and suddenly saw a date beside each family name.
This date was exactly twenty years ago.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “do you know what these dates mean?”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked at her.
The old palace maid smiled: “These dates are...”
Before finishing, she too collapsed.

At that moment, another old eunuch came in: “Your Majesty...”
“Are you going to die as well?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“No.” The old eunuch smiled, “I want to tell you a truth.”
“What truth?”
“These dates...” the eunuch said, “actually are...”
Before finishing, he also fell.
Zhu Youjian had grown accustomed to this.
He continued examining the roster and suddenly noticed a location listed under each family name.
These locations were spread across the country.
Just then, an old palace maid came in.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “do you want to know what these locations mean?”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked at her.
The old palace maid smiled: “These locations are...”
Before finishing, she too collapsed.
Zhu Youjian looked at the corpses on the floor and continued flipping through the roster.
Then another old eunuch came in: “Your Majesty...”
“Do you want to die too?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“No.” The old eunuch smiled, “I want to tell you the final secret.”
“What secret?”
“These locations...” the eunuch said, “actually are...”
Before finishing, he also collapsed.
Zhu Youjian put down the roster and looked at the corpses on the floor.
Yet one by one, they all had taken poison to end their own lives.
At that moment, an elderly palace maid stood at the doorway.
She looked at the bodies scattered across the floor, then glanced at the roster in Zhu Youjian’s hand.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “you will never know the truth.”
After speaking, she pulled out a small paper packet from her sleeve.
“Here we go again!” Zhu Youjian no longer wished to look.
The old palace maid smiled: “These people died as they wished.”
She was about to take poison when she suddenly said, “Your Majesty, do you know?”
“Know what?”
“These twelve families...” the old palace maid smiled, “actually are...”
Before finishing, she swallowed the poison and collapsed to the ground.
Zhu Youjian looked at the bodies and sighed.
Each person left behind the same four words: “Who in the world? Only I reign supreme.”
An old eunuch stood at the doorway, watching everything.
“Your Majesty...” he smiled, “do you really want to know the truth?”
Zhu Youjian looked at him: “Are you going to die as well?”
The old eunuch smiled: “No. I want to tell you...”
Before finishing, he too fell.
Zhu Youjian was numb.
These people each wanted to reveal the truth to him.
Yet one by one, they all chose death.
Each left behind the same four words.
An old palace maid stood at the doorway, watching it all.
“Your Majesty...” she smiled, “do you know why?”
Zhu Youjian looked at her: “Are you going to die too?”
The old palace maid smiled: “No. I want to tell you the last secret...”
Zhu Youjian sat in the great hall of the Eastern Depot, an aged map spread before him. The map marked twelve red dots scattered across various regions.
He examined each location carefully. Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou... these were all key strongholds of Jiangnan.
“Investigate these places,” he ordered Wang Cheng’en.
Wang Cheng’en was about to leave when an elderly eunuch entered, trembling.
“Your Majesty...” the eunuch said, “I have been to all these places.”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked up.

“These are... the ancestral mansions of great aristocratic families,” the eunuch said. “Twenty years ago, the late emperor already...”
Before finishing, he suddenly clutched his throat.
“Here we go again!” Zhu Youjian sneered.
The eunuch collapsed, blood flowing from his seven orifices. Wang Cheng’en searched him and found the familiar slip of paper.
“Who in the world? Only I reign supreme,” Zhu Youjian murmured. “What are these people trying to say?”
He continued studying the map. Each red dot was labeled with a family name.
“This one...” he pointed at the red dot over Nanjing, “is the Xu family’s old mansion?”
Wang Cheng’en nodded: “Yes.”
Zhu Youjian then looked at the red dot over Yangzhou: “This is the Zhou family?”
“Your Majesty, exactly.”
At that moment, an old palace maid entered. “Your Majesty...”
“Do you want to die too?” Zhu Youjian did not look up.
“No.” The old palace maid said, “I want to tell you these places are not just old mansions...”
“What are they?”
“Are...” The old palace maid was about to speak but suddenly collapsed.
Zhu Youjian was accustomed to this: “Search.”
The guards found the same note and poison on the old palace maid.
“These people...” Zhu Youjian sneered, “what are they trying to say?”
He looked back at the map. Twelve red dots, twelve families.
Each family had some connection to the late emperor.
Just then, another old eunuch entered.
“Your Majesty...” he smiled, “do you know the secret of these places?”
“Speak.” Zhu Youjian looked at him.
“These places...” the eunuch said, “actually are...”
Before finishing, he too collapsed.
Wang Cheng’en searched him, but the outcome was the same.
Zhu Youjian continued studying the map. Suddenly, he noticed that the red dots seemed linked by some pattern.
If these points were connected...
An old palace maid came in: “Your Majesty, have you noticed?”
“Noticed what?”
“These points connected...” she began to say, but suddenly collapsed.
Zhu Youjian looked at the map, deep in thought.
He picked up a vermilion brush and began drawing lines on the map.
Line after line...
Gradually, a pattern emerged.
“This is...” Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes.
An old eunuch came in: “Your Majesty, have you figured it out?”
“Figured out what?”
“This pattern...” the eunuch smiled, “is the late emperor’s...”
Before finishing, he too collapsed.
Zhu Youjian continued staring at the map.
The twelve points connected seemed to form an ancient symbol.
“Wang Cheng’en,” he suddenly said.
“I am here.”
“Find out what this symbol means.”
“Yes.” Wang Cheng’en was about to leave.
An old palace maid entered: “Your Majesty, this symbol...”
“Do you want to die too?” Zhu Youjian asked.
“No.” The old palace maid smiled, “I want to tell you a secret.”
“What secret?”
“This symbol represents...” the old palace maid said, “the world...”
Before finishing, she too collapsed.