Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

That evening, the sky was overcast, brewing a spring rain.

When Gu Yannian returned from his official duties, he did not go directly back to his small courtyard in Xuanwu Ward.

Instead, they went to a long-established tea shop in the west of the city to buy some high-quality Pu'er tea.

He walked alone in a narrow, dark alley.

His total attribute points, reaching 1,200, made his senses incredibly sharp.

He could clearly sense that about fifty paces behind him, two light footsteps were following him at a leisurely pace.

The two men's breathing was long and deep, and their footsteps were silent.

He is clearly a top-tier martial arts master who excels both internally and externally.

Gu Yannian remained calm and his steps were perfectly steady.

Even the frequency of his heartbeat remained unchanged.

He carried the tea he had just bought and continued walking until he entered a more secluded dead-end alley with high walls on both sides.

The road ahead was blocked by a dilapidated brick wall.

Gu Yannian stopped and turned around.

Behind him, two men dressed in gray cloth short jackets and wearing straw hats appeared at the entrance of the alley like ghosts, blocking his way.

"You must be Lord Gu of the Bureau of Justice?"

The man on the left spoke slowly, his voice filled with a piercing killing intent.

Gu Yannian switched the tea leaves in his hand to his left, while casually placing his right hand behind his back.

"It is I. You two have followed me all this way; what can I do for you?"

Gu Yannian spoke in a calm tone, as if he were greeting an acquaintance.

The man on the right sneered and took out an exquisite sandalwood box from his pocket.

With a flick of his wrist, the wooden box flew steadily toward Gu Yannian as if it had eyes.

It finally landed precisely on the bluestone slab three feet in front of Gu Yannian.

With a soft "snap," the wooden box popped open.

Inside, ten neatly stacked, golden ingots were revealed.

An alluring light emanated from the dark alleyway.

"My master admires Lord Gu's talent."

The man on the left stared into Gu Yannian's eyes.

"This five hundred taels of gold is just a small gift. If Lord Gu is willing to do my master a favor, he will enjoy high office and great wealth in the future."

Gu Yannian didn't even glance at the gold on the ground, but simply watched the two of them quietly.

"May I ask what favors my esteemed masters may bestow upon me?"

"It's very simple."

The man on the right pulled out a small, sealed letter with sealing wax from his sleeve.

"Lord Gu, as the Imperial Tutor, is in charge of the Eastern Palace Library. All you need to do is discreetly slip this letter into His Highness the Crown Prince's favorite copy of the Zizhi Tongjian. Once it's done, you'll receive an additional five thousand taels of silver."

Gu Yannian instantly understood.

This letter must contain some fabricated evidence of treason, or malicious curses.

Once it was found in the prince's private collection of books.

Given Emperor Yongle's suspicious and volatile nature, even if the crown prince didn't die, he would suffer greatly.

King Zhao's tactic of framing and falsely accusing someone was undeniably vicious.

Unfortunately, they came to the wrong person.

"Please leave, both of you. I am a naive scholar who has never seen the world. I only know how to sweep the floor and read books in the pavilion. I don't know anything about letters, and I dare not accept gold of unknown origin."

Gu Yannian refused outright, his tone even carrying a hint of disdain.

The two men exchanged a glance, their eyes instantly turning cold.

"Lord Gu, if you don't accept some money, then we'll only accept paper money."

The man on the left grinned maliciously.

"My master instructed that if you don't know what's good for you, then you'll have to shut up forever. It's not uncommon for a fifth-rank civil official to be robbed in a remote alley in the capital."

Before the words were even finished, the two of them launched their attack simultaneously in perfect unison!

The man on the left drew his soft sword from his waist, the blade transforming into a venomous silver snake in the shadows, aimed straight at Gu Yannian's throat.

The man on the right shouted loudly, and a strange bluish-black energy emanated from his palms.

That was the Poison Sand Palm, honed over decades, carrying the power to shatter stone tablets, which slammed fiercely towards Gu Yannian's chest.

The combined attack of these two would be fatal even to the most skilled martial artists in the world.

They were absolutely confident that they could kill the defenseless civil official before he could even react.

However, in Gu Yannian's eyes, the two of them were moving far too slowly.

They were as slow as two mosquitoes struggling in amber.

Gu Yannian possesses a reaction speed several times faster than the human limit.

His 1,200 points of strength and physique transformed his seemingly frail scholar's body into a weapon more terrifying than the hardest refined steel.

Gu Yannian neither backed down nor avoided the situation.

He simply raised his right hand casually.

"clang!"

A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

The soft sword that the man on the left could cut through iron like mud was actually caught by Gu Yannian with his index and middle fingers!

The sword tip was only half an inch from his throat, yet it seemed to be welded to an iron mountain.

No matter how much the man tried to channel his inner strength, the soft sword remained completely still.

The sword even bent into an exaggerated arc due to the enormous reaction force.

Immediately afterwards, the man on the right, his palms brimming with the domineering power of the Poison Sand Palm, slammed heavily into Gu Yannian's chest.

"Bang!"

A dull, loud bang.

The man expected to hear the sounds of bones cracking and hearts bursting, but the reality was quite the opposite.

He felt as if his hands, capable of shattering monuments and splitting rocks, had struck an indestructible, millennia-old basalt.

A terrifying recoil force surged back along his arms like a flash flood.

"Click, click..."

A series of sharp, cracking sounds rang out in his arms.

The man let out a piercing scream as the bones in his arms snapped inch by inch under the force of the recoil.

He felt as if he had been struck by an invisible hammer, and flew backward with a scream.

He crashed heavily into the brick wall behind him, spitting out a mouthful of blood and immediately losing consciousness.

The man who had the soft sword between his fingers was completely stunned.

His extensive experience in the underworld completely crumbled at this moment, his eyes filled with intense fear and disbelief.

How can this be considered a civil official?

Gu Yannian looked at the assassin in front of him who was already terrified, but his expression remained calm.

He slightly twisted two of his fingers.

"Clang!"

He easily broke that sturdy, flexible sword in two with just two fingers.

The steel blade in his hand was as fragile as a withered branch.

The man was so frightened that he couldn't even hold onto the broken sword, which clattered to the ground.

He fell to his knees with a thud, his whole body trembling like a leaf, and there was even a noticeable wet patch seeping from his crotch.

"M-Your Excellency, spare me! Your Excellency, spare me! I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. Please, Your Excellency, treat me like a fart and let me go!"

The man kowtowed frantically, his forehead slamming against the bluestone slab, blood flowing freely.

Gu Yannian casually tossed the broken sword blade in his hand to the ground, making a crisp sound.

He walked up to the sandalwood box filled with gold, lifted his right foot, and lightly stepped on one of the gold ingots.

He didn't use any qigong; he simply relied on that terrifying power of 1,200 points.

"Creak..."

The hard gold ingot, weighing fifty taels, was as soft as mud under Gu Yannian's shoes.

It was brutally crushed into a thin gold cake.

Even the bluestone slabs on the ground were pressed into a clear shoe print groove by this enormous force.

Let them go?

If they go back and report to King Zhao that I, a weak scholar, am actually a hidden master, then...

The King of Zhao will surely be filled with doubt and uncertainty.

At that time, it will not only attract more and more crazy probing and assassination attempts.

It might even attract the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Emperor.

What is the greatest reliance of those who live forever?

It is about being hidden, being mediocre, and never arousing the suspicion of those in power.

Once people know that he possesses unparalleled martial prowess, he can no longer be the obedient, dutiful person who just goes through the motions.

They were either targeted and suppressed by the imperial court as demons, or forcibly dragged into the army to be used as killing tools.

Either way, it would completely destroy his peaceful life.

Cutting the weeds and eliminating the roots is the true path to longevity.