219, Eunuch Hai, why have you not appeared yet? When will you?

"Why worry?"

Outside the pavilion, by the pondside.

The empress in white held a heavy celadon pot in her delicate hands.

Her almost translucent, jade-green fingers hovered above the water surface, gently stirring it, as fish food scattered through the gaps.

Ripples spread out like rain falling, and the pond's koi fish hurried to the surface, opening their mouths to gulp oxygen.

Mo Chou said:

"Since the Thousand Faces God began assassinating officials from the Imperial Faction, you secretly ordered the Imperial Guard to scatter and monitor certain key figures, even preemptively investigating their social relationships...

After all, the rebels are adept at disguised assassinations, often targeting close associates; the better the disguise, the more they need to surveil and stake out in advance, creating 'traceable clues.'"