282. The Empress's Shock

How was it done?

In the desolate courtyard, quiet under the autumn sky, on the second floor of an ancient building that had stood battered but unbowed through six hundred years of wind and rain,

Zhao Douan and Xu Zhenguan stood facing each other, merely a step apart.

A beam of sunlight, filtering through a break in the clouds, happened to settle right between them.

Through the central axis of the armory, the wide-open double doors divided the stone tablet within the room, bisecting it and the world in two.

"Your Majesty... please quell your anger."

Zhao Douan, feeling the gentle yet oppressive weight of a sword's edge on his shoulder, met her gaze sincerely and earnestly, making no attempt to dodge or hide, his demeanor open and selfless.

At this distance, with a flick of her wrist, Xu Zhenguan could easily decapitate him with the sharp Taia Sword.

Perhaps, by the time his head fell to the ground, there wouldn't be a drop of blood on the blade.

But...