In Cheong’s homeland, there’s a saying: “Even when absent, the king gets cursed.”

But in Zhongyuan, not even in the solitude of one’s own room does anyone dare curse the Celestial Emperor.

Why? Because if caught, the consequences are fatal—unimaginably so.

If someone overheard and declared, “That person insulted the Emperor,” the accused wouldn’t just face death. Their entire family would be executed first, then the verdict would come.

Family execution is the baseline punishment. For particularly scathing insults, relatives—distant cousins, in-laws, even acquaintances—would be implicated. And for extreme transgressions? Entire clans—up to nine degrees of kinship—would face obliteration.

The …