Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

Han Cao handed the brocade box to the high priest.

"Thank you for your help, Taoist priest."

The high priest's lips curled into a slight smile as he took the brocade box and held it high in front of everyone.

"This humble Taoist priest is acting on imperial orders to open Kaifeng. If any evil spirits are found there, they shall be punished by heavenly thunder!"

All eyes were on his hands.

These two small brocade boxes are bound to cause a huge uproar in the capital.

When the emperor is enraged, corpses float for miles.

Especially now that Chen Shao holds great power, he is like the King of Hell, whoever he points to will die!

The laws of the time imposed the death penalty on witchcraft and sorcery, and allowed for widespread implication of relatives.

This made witchcraft cases a systematized form of mass destruction.

Everyone was filled with trepidation, even Han Cao was deeply moved. He refused to believe that Chen Shao's heart was so magnanimous as to condone something as sinister as witchcraft.

Without Yu Qi'an and Shen Qingci, all that's left is Hai Rui working in prison, and the court is still his.

Whether the city falls or not, who wins or loses, he will always be the biggest winner.

He will always be second only to the emperor.

The high priest suddenly ripped open the box.

He held the contents of the box high and shouted:

"Gentlemen, this is the source of all evil."

A breeze blew by, ruffling his beard and Taoist robe, and his usually cloudy eyes became bright and alert. At that moment, he seemed to have become decades younger.

"So-called witchcraft is the practice of creating evil, malevolent, and foul energy to disrupt the righteous energy and good fortune of the cursed person."

"A wooden doll is made, and then it is pricked with needles, slashed with knives, burned, and bound... In mild cases, the cursed person will suffer from heart pain; in severe cases, they may be beheaded..."

"Gentlemen."

The high priest's gaze swept over the crowd, and his voice abruptly stopped.

Everyone was looking at him with strange expressions.

A fragrance lingered around his nose.

What does roast chicken taste like?

Upon smelling it, he suddenly felt a warm, sticky sensation on his hand; the texture didn't feel like wood, but more like a lover.

He looked up abruptly and saw that he was holding a plump, tender, and golden-yellow roast chicken.

"???"

The high priest was starting to have doubts about life.

What's going on?

He quickly threw away the first box and opened the second one.

It was still a shiny, roasted chicken.

It was lying quietly in the brocade box, its rear end facing upwards, and its body was still wrapped in half a sheet of oil paper.

Nima!

The high priest's smile froze on his face as he glanced at Han Cao out of the corner of his eye.

The latter was completely dumbfounded and speechless.

He remembered it clearly; it was those two brocade boxes. How could they have turned into roast chicken?

Everyone was stunned.

Chen Shao took two steps back with a look of disgust.

"High Priest, didn't you say that witchcraft requires carving a human doll to be successful? What's the meaning of making it look like a roast chicken?"

Eunuch Wei leaned closer to smell it, then carefully dipped his finger in the oil and put it in his mouth.

"Your Majesty, this is authentic five-spice roasted chicken. The skin is crispy, the meat is tender, it's oily but not greasy, and the bones are soft and flavorful... It's a unique delicacy in the capital."

Chen Shao looked at the high priest and said, "So, the Taoist priest talked to me for so long about witchcraft, about female and male Gu, Yin and Yang, all that fancy talk, wasting so much of my time, and in the end, all he did was show me this roast chicken?"

The high priest was sweating profusely and speechless.

Yu Qi'an and Shen Qingci exchanged a glance, though they didn't understand what had happened.

But they knew that this must have been done intentionally by Chen Shao.

No wonder he was so high-profile, opening the box in front of the entire court...

If Chen Shaoruo really wasn't sure if it was witchcraft, how could he possibly be like that?

It turns out that the Holy Emperor was already in the atmosphere, while they were kneeling and begging for mercy while still standing on the first layer.

The two were clever men, and they immediately began to cooperate with Chen Shao in singing the play.

Yu Qi'an shouted:

"Your Majesty, since I became Minister of War, I have eaten no more than three dishes a day and worn no more than two sets of clothes. I have almost managed to save up enough military rations to make them more varied. I finally managed to scrape together enough money to buy a roast chicken. If Your Majesty wants to eat it, why don't you go and buy it yourself? Why do you have to take this one from me?"

Shen Qingci sneered and began to put on a show.

"Lord Yu, this is clearly someone trying to accuse us of witchcraft."

"I want both of us to die without a burial place."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shao glared at the high priest.

"Because of you, I almost wrongly executed two ministers. You owe me an explanation!"

Upon hearing this, the high priest was struck dumb. He was already considering backing down and had no choice but to implement the second plan.

"Your Majesty... this witchcraft and poison definitely exists, but the opponent's magical power is extremely high... and their aura is very chaotic. This humble Taoist needs... to deduce it more carefully..."

Shen Qingci said:

"I've heard that the High Priest uses many tricks in court, so his magic is certainly not a problem."

"Since witchcraft exists, it means the direction is wrong."

"Your Majesty, I believe that everyone present today is a suspect."

"Strange things are happening one after another in the capital these days, so this is the perfect opportunity to find out who is behind it all."

"As ministers, your humble servant and Lord Yu have also been searched. We beg Your Majesty to issue an order to search the homes of all those present."

These words caused an uproar among the crowd.

Some people instinctively wanted to object, but looking at Chen Shao's gloomy face, they could only swallow their words.

"That's how it should be; that's the only fair way."

"Bai Bingbing!"

Bai Bingbing responded and stepped forward:

"Your humble servant is here."

"The entire Imperial Guard is to be mobilized immediately." Chen Shao paused, his gaze sweeping across Han Cao's face before settling on the assembled civil and military officials:

"From now on, begin a massive search of the capital. This includes the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, the Censorate, the Court of State Ceremonies, and even the Prime Minister Han, as well as the Imperial Palace and the inner palace. All places will be treated equally."

"Anyone who dares to obstruct this will be punished for treason!"

Chen Shao brought his harem and the Prime Minister's residence with him, and no one dared to say a word.

Moreover, everyone believes they are innocent.

What witchcraft? I've never even heard of it. A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear.

Han Cao shared the same idea.

Soon, the entire Imperial Guard was mobilized.

It spread out in all directions from Luming Academy, like a vast net.

The officials and Chen Shao stood in the Luming Academy waiting.

Although they were not afraid of the witchcraft case, anyone would feel guilty about conducting such a search, since everyone had done something shady behind the court's back.

Therefore, the atmosphere was gloomy and somber.

Time passed little by little...

About half an hour later, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still hadn't sent any news.

Chen Shao suddenly frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable in his stomach.

"My lords, please wait here while I go to relieve myself."

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, he turned and walked towards the back of the academy.

No sooner had he left than Han Cao, who had been in deep meditation, opened his eyes.

He slowly took two steps away from the crowd, subtly approaching the high priest's side, and lowered his voice to say:

"What should we do?"

Both of them were looking straight ahead, so it was impossible to tell that they were talking.

The high priest spat out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"You're really good for nothing and good for making things worse. You've ruined something that was a sure thing."

"What's the use of saying all this? I don't know what happened either. What should we do now?"

The high priest paused for a moment, then said in a low voice:

"Just wait for good news. My shamanism is not just about me."