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

These thoughts flashed through my mind for only a fraction of a second.

Gu Yannian's eyes turned cold in that instant, like a god looking down on ants from the heavens.

He raised two fingers and flicked them lightly in front of him naturally.

Two tiny specks of dust and sand were instantly accelerated to an astonishing degree by his terrifying power.

It even created a very short white streak in the air.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Two faint sounds.

The two top assassins each had a small, bloody hole, no bigger than a soybean, right between their eyebrows.

Those two grains of sand not only easily pierced through their hard skulls.

It directly destroyed their brains, shooting out a cloud of red and white blood mist from the back of their heads.

It disappeared deep into the blue brick wall behind it.

Before the two could even utter a scream, the life in their eyes vanished instantly.

With two thuds, they collapsed to the ground like two puddles of mud, and blood slowly flowed through the cracks in the bluestone slabs.

The alleyway fell silent once more.

Only the cold wind of early spring howled at the alley entrance.

Gu Yannian calmly withdrew his hand.

The strong wind didn't even flutter the hem of his clothes.

"Such crude methods dare to offend my eyes."

Gu Yannian looked at the two corpses on the ground and shook his head slightly.

Since they've been killed, they must be dealt with thoroughly.

He walked up to the sandalwood box filled with five hundred taels of gold, bent down and picked it up.

Then, he picked up a corpse in each hand as if he were carrying two light, tattered sacks.

He bent his legs slightly and exerted force suddenly.

"Whoosh~"

Gu Yannian's figure transformed into a blur that was impossible to detect with the naked eye.

He leaped straight up from the ground and onto the high wall of the alley, which was three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high.

He moved like a ghost across the undulating rooftops of Shuntian Prefecture, his toes touching the tiles without making a sound.

In less than half an incense stick's time, he carried the two corpses to a mass grave outside the city.

Here is a dried-up, abandoned well that has long since dried up and whose bottom is unknown.

Without hesitation, Gu Yannian threw the two corpses in.

Immediately afterwards, he casually picked up a huge bluestone weighing at least a thousand kilograms from the side and easily lifted it above his head.

It was slammed hard into the dry well.

With a dull thud, the dry well was completely sealed off.

These two people were as if they had never existed in this world, with all traces perfectly erased.

As for the box of gold, Gu Yannian did not take it home.

His current salary is sufficient to cover his expenses, and the unexpected extra five hundred taels of gold would be a dangerous weakness.

He arrived at the moat and exerted force with one hand.

He crushed the hard sandalwood box, along with the gold ingots inside, into a shapeless lump of scrap iron and rotten wood.

He then tossed it far into the deepest, most turbulent current of the moat.

After doing all this, Gu Yannian dusted off his sleeves and brushed away non-existent dust from his body.

I walked back into the city and bought a bag of fine Pu'er tea from that time-honored tea shop.

He walked back to the small courtyard in Xuanwu Lane with a leisurely pace.

A light spring rain began to fall, washing the bluestone path.

They thoroughly washed away the last few drops of blood in that dead-end alley.

The next morning, Gu Yannian changed into a brand-new blue official robe of a fifth-rank official.

The chest is embroidered with a lifelike white heron patch.

He stepped into the library of the Imperial Household Department's Bureau of Classics as the clock struck Mao (5-7 AM).

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to physical constitution."

Feeling the vitality within his body surge once more, Gu Yannian took a deep breath.

The library was filled with the unique aroma of camphor wood mixed with old paper.

This smell might be dull to ordinary officials, but to Gu Yannian it was the most reassuring scent in the world.

The library is a magnificent three-story building, containing a vast collection of books.

Apart from an old steward surnamed Wang and a few mute servants who sweep and clean, you can hardly find any outsiders here.

"I have met Gu Xima."

Old Master Wang, trembling, stepped forward to greet them and bowed.

He has spent his entire life here, and now, in his twilight years, he only wishes for a peaceful retirement.

"No need for formalities, Elder Wang. I am new here, and I would appreciate your guidance on the rules and the books in this pavilion."

Gu Yannian was gentle and showed no airs of a fifth-rank official.

This brought a long sigh of relief to Old Manager Wang.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Gu Yannian went straight up to the second floor of the library.

He found a large rosewood desk by the window.

The light here is excellent; push open the carved wooden window and you can see the peach blossoms blooming in the East Palace's rear garden.

Gu Yannian took out his own purple clay tea set from his sleeve and brewed a pot of new tea that he had just bought yesterday.

He casually pulled out a copy of the Taiping Guangji from the bookshelf and began to read it with great pleasure.

No need to deal with superiors, no need to check complicated accounts.

Every day, I can simply read quietly here and clock in.

Gu Yannian enjoyed this blissful life.

Beneath this tranquility, the undercurrents within the Ming court underwent a subtle shift due to the silent massacre of the previous night.

In a secret chamber of the Prince Zhao's residence, Zhu Gaosui paced back and forth anxiously.

Still no news?

He stared at the kneeling guard commander with a sinister look in his eyes.

The commander was covered in sweat, and his voice trembled.

"Your Highness, the two top-tier assassins sent to intercept Gu Yannian have vanished as if they've evaporated into thin air. I sent men to investigate that dead-end alley, but there were no signs of a struggle, no bloodstains, and the box containing five hundred taels of gold has also disappeared."

"What's even stranger is that this morning, our people saw Gu Yannian wearing a brand-new fifth-rank official's robe, heading to the Bureau of Justice to take up his post without a scratch!"

Zhu Gaosui felt a chill run down his spine and straight to his head.

The two men he sent out were top assassins he had recruited from the martial arts world at great expense.

Even if they were surrounded and captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they would definitely be able to escape with one or two of them, even if they couldn't win.

Or at least leave a warning sign.

But now, the two of them, along with five hundred taels of gold, have vanished without a trace.

But the target remained unharmed.

What does this tell us?

"Crown Prince! It must be my elder brother protecting him in secret!"

Zhu Gaosui gritted his teeth, his mind racing with a terrifying conspiracy.

"That Gu Yannian is definitely not just an ordinary tutor! He must be an important confidant of my elder brother, perhaps even in charge of the most core secrets of the Eastern Palace! That's why my elder brother arranged for terrifyingly skilled experts to protect him in secret, capable of instantly killing two top-tier assassins. Even the imperial guards around Father might not be able to do that!"

The more Zhu Gaosui thought about it, the more terrified he became.

He had always thought that Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi was a weak, fat man who only knew how to govern.

Unexpectedly, this big brother was hiding such terrifying strength.

"Pass down the order: all undercover agents must remain inactive for the foreseeable future. No one is to provoke anyone from the Crown Prince's palace, especially that Gu Yannian—keep your distance!"

Zhu Gaosui decisively issued the order and cautiously retracted his tentacles.

Gu Yannian casually tossed two corpses aside, which coincidentally erected an insurmountable wall in the heart of the King of Zhao.

This effectively nipped all potential problems in the bud.

This is probably what they mean by "a chance encounter leading to unexpected success".