My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

The first to arrive was Du Mingyi, the Minister of Works.

To be precise, he was dragged here by his two disciples.

His official hat was askew, revealing his gray hair, which was messy with a few strands stuck to his forehead and soaked with sweat.

His face was frighteningly pale, his lips were bloodless, and he was supported by his disciples like a soulless shell. His legs were as weak as noodles, and his shoes dragged on the ground with a "rustling" sound.

His neck was stiff, and he was still looking up at the things in the sky, muttering something to himself.

The voice was muffled and unclear; only by listening closely could one discern a few words.

"How did you do that... how did you do that..."

Next to arrive was Cheng Yan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

He ran into the square, panting, his chest heaving. The front of his official robe was soaked, whether from sweat or something else, he couldn't tell.

From the moment he stepped into the Taihe Hall Square, he lowered his head.

Her chin was almost touching her collarbone, her eyes were fixed on her toes, she dared not look up, dared not look to the side, and dared not look at the spot where Shu Jingwei was standing above the steps.

Upon seeing the sky on his way back to the mansion, Cheng Yan knew he was in trouble.

He had just finished telling His Majesty that the sorcerer's demonic power had been exhausted, and he spoke with such certainty and confidence that he felt he was truly the most brilliant strategist.

In the blink of an eye, the sky reappeared...

Looking back now, every word felt like a slap in the face, making his cheeks burn.

He was so frightened on the way to the meeting that he almost cried, terrified that Shu Jingwei would come after him.

Cheng Yan found a corner furthest away from Shu Jingwei and stopped, bending over and panting heavily, but dared not make a sound, holding it in tightly.

He braced himself on his knees, his whole body trembling. His eyes were fixed on his toes, afraid to lift them or look up at the steps, as if a knife hung there, ready to fall at any moment.

He waited cautiously for a while, but nothing happened.

He glanced up furtively and saw that Shu Jingwei's gaze remained fixed on the sky, and she wasn't looking at him at all.

Cheng Yan's heart, which was about to leap out of his throat, finally settled down by half an inch.

He let out a long, silent breath before daring to slowly raise his head and look up at the sky.

Then came Wen Ren, the Vice Minister of Rites, and Wu Yong, the Vice Minister of Works…

One by one, they stumbled into the square, and then, one after another, followed Shu Jingwei's gaze and looked up at the sky.

No one speaks.

The square, which had been occupied by hundreds of people, was as quiet as a cemetery.

Only the wind blew in through the archway at the entrance to the square, making a "whooshing" sound, like someone mourning at a grave.

Shu Jingwei stood at the very front, facing everyone.

Her voice wasn't loud, but in the deathly silence, every word was crystal clear:

"My esteemed ministers, have you all seen it?"

silence.

No one dared to answer.

Because everyone was stunned, and the same question was churning in everyone's mind—

What kind of road is that?

What materials were used?

What kind of process was used?

How were they all built?

Shu Jingwei's gaze swept over everyone present.

Her gaze was like a knife, scraping across the faces of every courtier before finally settling on Du Mingyi, who was sitting on the ground in the center of the square.

"Du Mingyi".

Du Mingyi's body jolted violently.

He slowly and laboriously shifted his gaze from the sky and lowered his head.

"Your subject... is here." His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

Shu Jingwei looked at him, her gaze cold and sharp: "I'm asking you, can you build that kind of road?"

Everyone held their breath, and nearly a thousand eyes turned to Du Mingyi.

Du Mingyi's lips trembled even more violently.

His lips trembled and opened and closed incessantly, making a "hoarse" sound from his throat, like a leaky bellows, or like an exhausted old ox panting.

After a moment, he managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth: "Your...Your Majesty..."

"I...cannot build it..."

"I've been repairing roads for thirty years... I thought I was the most knowledgeable person about roads in the world... but I don't even know what those roads were made of... I... I..."

He couldn't continue.

My throat felt like it was being choked; I could only make muffled, whimpering sounds.

A single, murky tear slid down from the corner of his eye, running down the lines of his face and slowly dripping onto the white marble plaza.

Shu Jingwei shifted her gaze from him to Zheng Tong of the Ministry of Works' Construction Department: "Zheng Tong, what is it?"

Zheng Tong knelt down with a thud, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said truthfully, "Your Majesty... I... I can't repair it... I don't even know what materials that road is made of..."

Shu Jingwei's gaze then turned to Guan Yue, the Vice Minister of Works: "And you?"

When Guan Yue knelt down, his knees struck the white marble with a crisp sound.

He winced in pain, but paid no heed to rub it. He simply lay prostrate on the ground and cautiously began, "Your Majesty, I... I can't even understand how those white lines were drawn... let alone the road itself..."

Shu Jingwei's lips were pressed tightly together, almost devoid of color.

Her gaze swept over them one by one, and with each one she touched, the person reacted as if burned, abruptly lowering their head, kneeling down with a thud, and then saying—

"I cannot do it."

"I do not know how to repair it."

"I wouldn't even dare to think about it."

"I...I really can't do it."

One, two, three, four...

More and more people knelt down, falling one by one like dominoes.

Finally, only Shu Jingwei remained standing in the entire Taihe Hall Square.

Standing at the highest point, looking down at the kneeling courtiers below, she suddenly felt very cold.

It was a cold that seeped into her bones, so cold that she was shivering all over.

She tucked her hands into her sleeves, her fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms, causing a sharp pain.

She is the emperor!

He is the Emperor!

He is the most honorable person in the world!

The white marble plaza beneath her feet, the Hall of Supreme Harmony behind her, the dragon robe she wore, the crown atop her head—

Which one isn't the best in the world?

Which one is not something that all people look up to?

But now, standing at the top of these white marble steps, looking up at the road against the sky, she suddenly felt so small.

As insignificant as a frog at the bottom of a well, sitting in a dry well, looking at the small circular patch of sky above, thinking that the sky is only that big.

Her eyes suddenly turned red.

The whites of his eyes were covered with dense, spiderweb-like blood vessels, a frighteningly red color.

She gritted her teeth, her cheeks taut, her jawline like a fully drawn bow, ready to snap at any moment.

His teeth were clenched so hard they made a "crunching" sound.

Her chest heaved violently, one heave after another, as if something was raging inside, trying to burst out of her chest.

……

"Get up, all of you." After a long pause, she continued, her voice low and deep, as if it were sinking into her lungs.

The courtiers slowly stood up; some of them were so weak in the legs that they had to hold onto the people next to them to keep their balance.

"Keep an eye on them all!"

Shu Jingwei suddenly raised her head and faced the sky again.

The voice suddenly rose in pitch, becoming shrill and sharp, like a knife slicing through the air:

"Look carefully! Look closely!"

Her voice echoed across the empty square, each word striking the walls of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and shattering into pieces.

"I must know that the path of the Great Flame Kingdom is far more arduous than this one—"

She didn't finish her sentence.

But then he suddenly froze.

His pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and his mouth opened wide, unable to close.

Every single one of the ministers below who looked up at the sky as she spoke—

They all gaped open.

The large ones can fit two eggs inside.

It was as if they had seen something that would scare them to death.

What—what is that?!