547-549

Chapter 547: Sounds Of Killing Inside And Outside The Royal Palace

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Inside the main hall of Hanguang Palace was a deathlike silence. Everyone's eyes were open wide in terror, looking at the scene. Other than dripping of blood landing on the bed, there was not another sound.

Blood dripped from Fan Xian's clothes and the sword. It followed the empress dowager's ear and wet half of the old woman's face before it gradually soaked into her clothes.

The sword shining with a cold light was set with unusual steadiness and coldness on the empress dowager's neck.

Since the inception of the country, this was the first time an assassin was able to penetrate so deeply into the Royal Palace and place a blade against the empress dowager's neck.

Including the eunuch aces, everyone was stunned and frozen. They watched with wide eyes as Fan Xian seized the empress dowager, unsure of what to do.

All of this had happened too quickly. From the alert coming from outside of the Palace to Fan Xian falling out of the heavens like a god and heading straight for the bed to control the empress dowager was no more than a few breaths worth of time.

To be able to react so quickly and decisively in such a short period of time, one had to admit that Fan Xian's actions were truly courageous. The people watching this sight in shock, for some reason, felt a coldness from the bottom of their hearts. It was as if, at any time, Fan Xian would pull the long sword and kill the empress dowager.

Fan Xian's expression was too calm and indifferent. It was as if it was a normal person under his sword and not the empress dowager, who would influence the state of the world.

"Send an order for the guards outside to stop attacking."

The deathlike silence inside the hall made the sounds of killing outside the hall sound particularly loud. The Sixth Bureau swordsmen who had broken into the Palace were still battling the internal guards.

After Fan Xian had the empress dowager under his sword, he didn't slow down at all. He slightly bent his right knee and carefully hid his body behind the empress dowager. The long sword flipped and rested on the empress dowager's shoulder. Moving closer to the empress dowager's bloodstained face, he spoke to her quietly.

His tone was calm but emanated a power that would not tolerate anyone speaking in rebuttal. Everyone felt it. If the empress dowager didn't give the order for the guards outside and eunuchs inside the hall to stop attacking, Fan Xian might actually move the sword.

However, the empress dowager was, after all not a normal person. She was the empress dowager of Qing Kingdom. Back when she had been Cheng wangfei, she had experienced many years of political instability. Her state of mind was steady. She was not an ordinary elderly woman. She had also been empress and empress dowager for many years. Living deep in the Palace, she had a sense of dignity and a powerful confidence at heart.

The empress dowager turned her face and looked coldly at Fan Xian. Her white hair was a bit messy, but her brows were pulled together, emanating an inherent prestige. In a cold voice, she said, "Traitorous thing! You dare to threaten me?"

Her voice was like jade being smashed, startling everyone in the Palace.

Fan Xian's heart jumped a little. He had not thought that in such a wretched and dangerous situation, the empress dowager would still be so tough. He understood in his heart that the empress dowager had to maintain her composure so that she could obtain more advantages in the following events.

The even more unexpected event came afterward. The was only a slap. The empress dowager had slapped Fan Xian across the face with the back of her hand.

A faint red palm print appeared on Fan Xian's face. The empress dowager seemed to not be afraid of the cold edge lying across her neck. She gazed at Fan Xian with eyes filled with disdain and shamelessness. In a cold voice, she said, "You actually dare to kill me!"

Everyone in Hanguang Palace was dumbstruck. They had not thought the empress dowager would provoke him so tyrannically while she was under his sword. Was she not afraid that Fan Xian would actually kill her? Watching this scene, a few housemaids and serving girls fainted from fright.

The empress dowager continued to gaze coldly and bravely at Fan Xian.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the empress dowager's wrinkled-filled face without a word. He knew why this old woman was behaving so bravely. She knew that if Fan Xian wanted to control the Royal Palace, he could not kill her at this moment.

Furthermore, she was the empress dowager, after all. She was Fan Xian's true grandmother by blood. She guessed that Fan Xian would not act in front of so many people. Even if she had thought wrong, she still had to maintain her composure. Only then did she have a chance of reversing everything.

…

…

Just as the empress dowager slapped Fan Xian with unusual vigor, a strange thing suddenly happened inside Hanguang Palace. The long silent Eunuch Hou, who had been at the side of the hall, suddenly floated up.

He floated up incredibly fast but didn't charge toward Fan Xian and the empress dowager. Instead, he charged toward the large hole Fan Xian had made.

A strange light flashed through Fan Xian's pupils, but he didn't dare leave the empress dowager's side. He could only watch as Eunuch Hou and a few other eunuch aces stopped a few people by the hole with a few slapping sounds.

Eunuch Hou's palm was locked tightly around the Third Prince's throat.

Yi Guipin was seized by a eunuch.

Lady Ning swung the black dagger but was also surrounded by a few eunuchs.

"Little Duke, don't be so rash." Eunuch Hou choked the Third Prince's throat and spoke respectfully with his head down.

Fan Xian's hand held the sword with unusual steadiness. Looking at Eunuch Hou, a strange light flashed through his eyes. It was only now that he knew that this second in command to Eunuch Yao had such a high cultivation.

Currently, Fan Xian controlled the empress dowager, but Eunuch Hou and the other eunuchs controlled three people that Fan Xian cared a great deal about. How could the situation develop?

Everyone was waiting for Fan Xian's decision.

The empress dowager's face was indifferent. The blood seeping into her clothes was icy cold and made her fingers tremble slightly.

Fan Xian lowered his head and looked at the empress dowager's finger. He was silent for a long time and then took a deep breath. All of the eunuch aces became alert. They didn't know what he would do next.

Fan Xian raised his face and furrowed his brows. Then, he raised his right hand and brought it viciously down on the empress dowager's old face.

The crisp sound of a slap rang out. This sound was even louder than when the empress dowager had slapped Fan Xian. The empress dowager covered her face in disbelief. A trail of blood flowed from the corner of her lips. The old woman's teeth had probably been knocked loose.

Everyone in the hall watched this sight wide-eyed and dumbstruck. It was like the slap had not only landed on the empress dowager's face but also on their own faces and hearts.

Who had been slapped by Fan Xian? It was the empress dowager. the Emperor's own mother, and Fan Xian's own grandmother! Yet Fan Xian dared to slap her!

This was a humiliation that could never be removed. However, as Fan Xian had slapped the empress dowager, it proved that he had thrown caution to the wind. If I dare to slap you, I dare to kill you!

Fan Xian stared the empress dowager's half swelling face and quietly said, "Release them and stop attacking. I don't want to repeat myself a second time."

The empress dowager's entire body trembled in her anger. She also felt a chill that came from the depths of her heart. She knew that, in the end, she had underestimated this grandson that was not surnamed Li. She had underestimated his coldness and courage.

She felt the sword on her neck tighten a bit more. Perhaps it was only an instant or just a while before the empress dowager's gaze finally became desolate. Opening her mouth, she said, "Do as he said."

"The empress dowager will call it out herself. Louder," Fan Xian said.

The empress dowager stared with rage at Fan Xian. Unwillingly, she called in her old voice to the outside of the hall, "Guards, listen to my command, everyone is to stop!"

For some reason, after the empress dowager gave the order, everyone seemed to let out a breath in the hall. Perhaps Fan Xian's behavior made these people overly fearful that they would see the horrifying sight of a grandson killing their grandmother, an official killing the empress dowager.

Only Eunuch Hou, who was choking the Third Prince's throat, furrowed his brows slightly, thinking about something.

"It looks like Eunuch Hou really wants you to die," Fan Xian said to the empress dowager coldly.

The empress dowager glanced at Eunuch Hou. The four old eunuchs furrowed their brows and moved one step closer to Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou sighed and released his hand.

The Third Prince's terror had not settled. The wound he had been given by the assassins earlier began to bleed again. He quickly supported his mother. Along with Lady Ning, the three of them ran in panic to stand behind Fan Xian.

Once the empress dowager's orders went out, the sound of killing around Hanguang Palace immediately disappeared. It was clear that the swordsmen who followed Fan Xian into the Palace had received orders earlier to not take the opportunity to attack back if the guards didn't act.

All of the great wooden doors in Hanguang Palace were pushed open at the same time. With a creak, the entire Palace became much more passable. The people inside the hall could clearly see the tense situation outside—guards with straight knives in hand surrounding Hanguang Palace, as well as countless bodies lying in the empty space outside the hall.

The early autumn breeze outside the hall also blew in, cold and heavy. However, it was not calming. The smell of fresh blood came into the hall with the wind and directly assaulted everyone's nose.

Dozens of completely black-clothed Sixth Bureau swordsmen spread throughout the hall as quickly as possible and surrounded the eunuchs. A few of the powerful eunuchs from the internal court had no choice but to accept this sullen reality and be secured by the metal finger shackles the Overwatch Council had specially made.

The empress dowager was in Fan Xian's hands. He had already proved that he would kill the empress dowager. In such circumstances, how could these internal court aces resist?

Even for someone like Eunuch Hou, who wanted to resist, he was constrained by the bigger picture and could not do anything excessive.

Fan Xian looked at his injury-ridden subordinates. His brows twitched once again. His gaze swept across. He knew that although the battle outside Hanguang Palace had been short, a dozen loyal subordinates had died.

It was impossible that no one would die when breaking into the Royal Palace. To only have to pay such a small price to temporarily control Hanguang Palace was already an impossible task.

The empress dowager was overcome by a powerful coughing fit. Holding her chest, her neck grazed across Fan Xian's sword and left a bloody mark.

Looking at this scene, the eunuchs and serving girls loyal to the empress dowager wore an expression of fear on their faces. They wanted to go forward to help but didn't dare move.

The empress dowager turned her head and stared at Fan Xian with a resentful and poisonous gaze. "You are just like your mother, ambitions of wild wolves! I want to see what you can do holed up in this Royal Palace."

Even if Fan Xian had captured the empress dowager and controlled the Royal Palace, what would he do next? Everyone, including the black-clothed swordsmen, were all staring at him, waiting for his next order.

Fan Xian was waiting for news from the other three units and to hear about the action outside the Royal Palace. He knew that success was not completely his yet. If things went wrong, he and his people would fall at the last hurdle.

In the process of waiting, he didn't sit around and do nothing. He looked coldly at the surrounded Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou's heart trembled as he silently circulated his zhenqi.

Fan Xian nodded.

Eunuch Hou's face drained of color. He flipped his sleeves and prepared to kill. Unexpectedly, he raised his eyes to see a dozen little crossbow bolts shining with black light heading straight toward him.

Since Fan Xian was worried that the 200 people he brought into the Palace would alert enemies outside of the Palace, a great deal of effort was put into the disguises. It was impossible for everyone to carry a crossbow. It was only dozens of people with him that carried 10 secret crossbows.

These secret crossbows were pointed directly Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou gave a cry. His figure suddenly rose. He only rose three meters before he was turned into a hedgehog. Ten crossbow bolts pierced deeply into his body, endlessly sucking blood out of his body.

With a crash, Eunuch Hou fell to the ground, twitching. Filled with dissatisfaction, his eyes refused to close as he died.

Fan Xian watched the scene coldly. Although he didn't know that Eunuch Hou was the Eldest Princess' trusted aide, instinct and the earlier scene made him wary. That was why he had suddenly made things difficult and ordered his subordinates to shoot Eunuch Hou to death.

At such a critical time, Fan Xian was not afraid to kill. He would rather kill incorrectly than let one person slip through.

Eunuch Hou's death sent the hall into a clamor. The initially calmed situation almost became chaotic again. The guards around the outside the Palace became nervous. They came a few steps closer toward Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian did not panic. He slowly removed the sword from the empress dowager's neck and swept his gaze over the scene. Wherever his gaze landed, no one met his eyes. Everyone lowered their heads.

He sat down beside the empress dowager and lowered his head to circulate his qi to listen to the noises in other areas of the Royal Palace. He knew that the other three units must have also met very powerful resistance. Fortunately, his sudden entrance into Hanguang Palace had attracted the most eunuch aces and guards. Jing Ge and the other two units should have it much easier.

Hanguang Palace was completely still. Fan Xian and the empress dowager sat side by side on the bed. The grandmother and grandson were both stained with other people's blood and had chilled their emotions. The grandmother and grandson sitting in such calmness did not fail to chill the heart of anyone watching.

The guards outside the Palace had not been disarmed. Fan Xian didn't have enough extra people to carry out this urgent task. All of the black-clothed swordsmen had returned to the hall. He didn't want to leave this situation to chance anymore. The problem of the guards would be resolved by the Great Prince once he had dealt with the problem of the Imperial Army in the Royal Palace.

He was only waiting. He trusted in the strength of his subordinates and the Black Knights.

Without waiting for too long, chaos suddenly broke out among the guards outside the Palace. It seemed that something startling had appeared behind the camp.

Fan Xian did not rise. He said to the empress dowager next to him, "Have them make a path."

The empress dowager's white hair fell over her cheek, which was stained with blood. The other half of her face that was not stained had already swelled from Fan Xian's heavy slap. She appeared unusually wretched. Hearing Fan Xian's words, she glanced outward with spiritless eyes and nodded.

The leader of the guards saw the situation in the hall, gritted his teeth, and opened up a path blockade.

A dozen black-clothed assassins with a disheveled concubine walked into Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian looked at the number of people and his heart thudded. He knew that this unit had lost more people. After seeing this concubine's beautiful appearance and glimmer of distress, he couldn't help but feel moved.

The newcomer was Lady Shu, the Second Prince's birth mother. After the empress dowager had openly ordered for the Crown Prince to take the throne and the Second Prince had acknowledged his allegiance, the empress dowager had sent the Crown Prince, empress, Eldest Princess, and Lady Shu back to their own Palaces to live. She only kept Yi Guipin, her son, and Lady Ning in Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian looked at Lady Shu with a warm smile. He patted the soft bed beside him. "Your Highness, please sit here."

Ever since her youth, Lady Shu had loved to read and had a gentle personality. In the past, her relationship with Fan Xian in the Palace fairly good. They had not developed much animosity because of the Second Prince. She was also a silent person who was wise enough to look after herself. Fan Xian did not bear much ill will toward her. However, in his surprise attack on the Palace tonight, she was someone he had to control.

Lady Shu had been forcefully seized by assassins. She had originally thought her death was certain but had also guessed who dared to do such a treasonous thing. Seeing Fan Xian's face at this time, an irresistible fear surged up in her heart. It made her unable to utter the angry curses she had thought of earlier.

She looked at the empress dowager's wretched appearance and felt even more chilled. She could only follow his orders and sit next to him.

Capturing Lady Shu first was within Fan Xian's expectations. The Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace's defenses were second only to Hanguang Palace and were also important locations. His subordinates wouldn't be able to succeed so quickly.

When he saw the silver-masked Jing Ge leading his subordinates in Hanguang Palace with a heavy expression, he felt his heart sink and knew that something had gone wrong.

Matters were indeed troublesome. Jing Ge lowered his head to Fan Xian's ear and said a few words. The expression on Fan Xian's face became heavier and heavier. It was as if there were thousand-pound weights between his brows making it difficult to relax them.

Another subordinate came to report. It was still bad news.

Fan Xian furrowed his brows and rubbed forcefully between his brows like he wanted to chase away those annoyances. A moment later, he sighed and said something quietly to the person on the bed.

"I wanted the whole family to get together. It looks like it can't happen anymore."

At this moment, the empress dowager and Lady Shu were on either side of him on the bed while Yi Guipin, Lady Ning, and the Third Prince sat behind him. Of the entire royal family, most of the people were on this bed. Fan Xian used the closest possible distance to control the lives of the two people beside him and protect the three behind him.

The so-called whole family was naturally the Emperor's family. Now that the Emperor was gone, other than the six people on this bed, there was the Crown Prince and his mother as well as the Eldest Princess in Guangxin Palace in the Emperor's family. Fan Xian unconsciously did not include that flower grower because he felt that King Jing was much cleaner than everyone else in this family.

The weighty stone between Fan Xian's brows were the three members of the family that were not part of the current family gathering.

The message that Jing Ge and the other unit had brought was that the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace were empty of all people.

For some reason, the Eldest Princess and Crown Prince had known ahead of time. Just before Fan Xian and his subordinates broke into the Palace, they had taken advantage of the dark night and headed north in the direction of the Cold Palace. Jing Ge led over a hundred assassins after them but did not catch them.

Such a violent and wild surprise attack, yet they had not captured the most important people.

Fan Xian's emotions were unusually heavy, but his face gradually became warm. Although this mission was not a complete victory, they had captured the empress dowager and Lady Shu. In this world, nothing was perfect. He knew that his luck wasn't so good that he could use 200 people to change the course of history.

The empress dowager sitting next to him suddenly said in an aged voice, "I know what you want to do. However, my order has been sent down a long time ago."

The words Jing Ge had said next to Fan Xian's had completely been heard by the desolated empress dowager. A mocking light flashed through her eyes as she looked at Fan Xian. "Chengqian has already taken my order out of the Palace. Tomorrow, the army will enter the capital. Are you afraid now?"

"My daring grows by the day. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to make your face swell." Fan Xian smiled slightly at the empress dowager, but the coldness in his tone made others shiver. The empress dowager's pupils constricted slightly.

"You can write many edicts," Fan Xian said gently to the empress dowager. "For example, the 13 city gate guards are still within your control. If you write another edict to close the city gates, how will the Qin family get in?"

"I trust you know that I sent someone to kill the trusted aide the Eldest Princess placed among the city guards."

"I am helping you to thoroughly control the nine city doors."

"Of course, my goal is to control you."

These words were spat out from between Fan Xian's thin lips. They were particularly gentle and scary. The empress dowager shook with anger and glared at him but could not say a single word.

"Although you are already very old, you are still afraid of death." Fan Xian furrowed his brows as he looked at the empress dowager, as if looking at something that irritated him. "Therefore, you'll eventually have to write this edict."

The empress dowager coughed and turned to look at Lady Ning behind her. She turned her head again to stare in Fan Xian's eyes. "Even if that bastard helps you, at most you'll be able to control the Royal Palace. What are you going to do outside?"

Fan Xian stared back into her eyes and said, "I only brought 200 people into the Palace. It was not because I am confident. I left 1,700 people outside. What do you think I'm going to do outside the Palace?"

…

…

At this moment, in the space between the front palace and the rear palace, some distance away from Hanguang Palace, there suddenly exploded a loud cry and the sound of Palace doors exploding.

Fan Xian listened calmly and knew that the Great Prince's Imperial Army had finally made their way in. His heart relaxed. He stood, giving orders to Jing Ge, "I am leaving Hanguang Palace to you. Regardless of who it is, if anyone makes any strange movements, kill them."

Jing Ge accepted the order without objection. The silver mask on his face reflected a heart-chilling light. Everyone in the hall looked him and wondered at his identity to so obediently and calmly accept Fan Xian's seemingly greatly treasonous order.

If it was a normal member of the Overwatch Council, they would probably feel some fear in their hearts.

They didn't know that this Deputy Commander of the Black Knights had once picked on the eldest son of the Qin family in the military camp and had stayed for a long time in Qing Kingdom's death prison, suffering innumerable torments. He was originally a greatly treasonous person, which was why Fan Xian gave him treasonous tasks.

Lady Ning suddenly lowered her head and said, "Lend me the dagger to use."

Fan Xian glanced at her and smiled. He knew that Lady Ning was worried that when once things actually became chaotic, Jing Ge would not act against the empress dowager. While she was a prisoner of war in Dongyi, she and the child in her belly had almost been killed by the empress dowager. Yet, she had waited for this opportunity filled with bloodlust.

Fan Xian nodded at her and then walked out into the night outside Hanguang Palace. He was going to check on Guangxin Palace and the Eastern Palace. He still felt that there was some strange message shining through this matter.

With a clang, Fan Xian turned his hand and slipped the blood-covered sword into the sheath of his back. Walking down the stone steps of Hanguang Palace, the members of the Qinian unit that had come into the Palace with him followed three steps behind him and also went down the stairs.

Inside and outside the hall, everyone was looking at him. They had no idea where he was going at such a critical moment.

He took a few subordinates and walked calmly out of the hall. He walked past the chaos and internal guards that faced him with a weapon in hand without even a blink.

The guards did not move. They could only watch as he disappeared into the darkness outside Hanguang Palace. Although it was the empress dowager inside the hall, Fan Xian still walked calmly and bravely. It shocked the hearts of a lot of people.

Fan Xian did not purposely suppress the empress dowager's honor. The words he said earlier were not untrue. When he and Yan Bingyun had made the plans in the boudoir of Sun Pin'er, a young lady from a family of the Jingdou government, they had already calculated how much power they could reach out to.

Despite the square building the internal court and military watched, the number of secret agents in the capital that the Overwatch Council could move, the spies hidden in various manors, and the First Bureau that Fan Xian controlled alone brought a total of 1,400 people.

Through the Jingdou government, the 500 Black Knights hidden outside Jingdou entered the capital with disguises. Thus, the number of people Fan Xian could call on reached 1,900 people. Furthermore, these 1,900 people all specialized in working in the dark. Although their martial power could not compare to that of the military, when it came to betrayals and conspiracy, it came easily and effectively.

Fan Xian only brought 200 people with him on his sudden entry into the Palace. It was not that he was arrogant. Rather, when it came to a surprise attack that relied on speed and abruptness, the number of people was never key. Furthermore, he had to leave most of his force outside the Palace. The remaining people were, at this moment, under Yan Bingyun's orders and doing all kinds of work.

Jingdou was too big. There were too many things Fan Xian had to take care of. He could handle the outside of the Palace himself while inside the Palace he had to rely on thousands of Imperial Soldiers to control the situation. When such a cry came from the rear palace, he knew that the Great Prince already had control of the Imperial Army.

…

…

The actions of the Imperial Army were just as the Great Prince said to his trusted officer. The time of movement depended on Fan Xian's progression into the Palace.

When Fan Xian's brave subordinate stopped his steps as the guards surrounded him and fired the signal into the sky and the bright moon, the Imperial Army had begun to move.

The firework was so bright it lit up half of the Royal Palace in an instant. This kind of message arrow was not the kind the Jingdou Garrison, military, or Overwatch Council usually used, but it still gave a very clear signal.

The Great Prince stood beside the city guarding crossbow and watched the fireworks breaking through the night sky. The lines on his face abruptly became hard. He raised his right hand and brought it down in a chopping motion like a knife, chopping down on the night wind at the corner of the palace walls.

…

…

A knife came down on the two soldiers lying on the plank bed, chopping through their necks at the same time. With a splutter, fresh blood sprayed onto the walls, creating too large bloody flowers with unusual bloodiness.

The Imperial General carrying the knife and attacking in the night drew back his knife and cried out, "Kill!"

In the dark night, countless people swarmed into the streets beside the square in front of the Royal Palace. Quietly, they entered the large homes and began a bloody massacre.

A full 600 Imperial Soldiers, whose shifts had been switched, were still dreaming at this moment. Many of them died like this, while some were startled awake. They had absolutely no time to react before greeting the oncoming merciless knife or spear.

If it had been a different time and place, perhaps they would have fought the Hu people shoulder to shoulder, drank alcohol, rubbed the snow-bright edge of a knife, bravely charged into an enemy camp, block arrows for each other, or block knives for each other. Tonight was not like this. It was one side massacring the other, an unusually merciless massacre.

In very little time, the 2,000 soldiers loyal to the Great Prince had cleaned out a large swathe of the area in front of the Royal Palace. Countless bodies and fresh blood mixed together. It stank to high heaven.

The color on the faces of the Imperial Soldiers was not good. They were usually Western Expedition Troops. This was their first time killing their own people. But, they knew that these people were not their own. They didn't allow themselves to feel any weakness for what they had to do.

They saw the Royal Seal the Commander had sent over and Emperor's posthumous edict. Therefore, their hearts were filled with hot blood. They had faith.

We are the righteous side.

They were still alive, so who was to say otherwise?

Chapter 548: Counting Arrows

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

One signal arrow brings for thousands of comrades in arms.

When that brilliant firework exploded over Jingdou's quiet night sky, no one knew how many people were startled in an instant.

The purging of the Imperial Army was a task that started at the beginning. In very little time, the Great Prince successfully controlled all of its power. The 3,000 or so imperial soldiers left in Jingdou had become the most powerful military power surrounding the Royal Palace.

At the same time, the Overwatch Council subordinates hidden in the darkness also saw this firework. They revealed themselves and began to head toward each of their own locations.

The street outside the Ministry of Justice was always dark and sinister, particularly in such a night as this. In the silence, urgent footsteps suddenly rang out outside of it. The officials responsible for the night watch watched the movements on the street with astonishment. They suddenly realized that a large group of people in official black robes was coming toward the Ministry.

The officials' faces were pale white. They immediately sounded the alarm, attempting to wake the old men in the Ministry of Justice and prison guards behind the Ministry. As for themselves, they immediately retreated into the Ministry of Justice's hall. They knew that people wearing black official robes were men from the Overwatch Council. They were certainly not a match for them.

When the alarm rang out, the subordinates of the Ministry of Justice hurried to the rear of the Ministry. Everyone knew that the prison in the Ministry was of the utmost importance. The Crown Prince had locked up the officials who opposed his ascension here. Although these people were only criminals in the Ministry of Justice, once they were released into court, they would become powerful officials that even the empress dowager had to be careful of.

…

…

There were not many horrifying sounds of killing. After a few wretched cries and a moment of chaos, the 300 or so people from the Overwatch Council entered the depths of the Ministry of Justice and charged on to the large square.

The bailiffs of the Ministry of Justice and prison guards were surrounded by Overwatch Council members in the center. The disheveled head officer of the Ministry looked at this scene and felt his heart chill.

The two sides had about the same number of people. It seemed there was a fighting chance. However, the Minister, who, like the generals in the Imperial Army, did not return home and could only closely watch the people in prison, could not summon any will to resist.

The black-clothed men held crossbows in their hands. They were Overwatch Council member who Qing officials were terrified of. This Minister knew that if the Overwatch Council acted so savagely, then Sir Fan junior must have started raising up a blood-soaked storm.

The Overwatch Council's excessive might was still present. Fan Xian's infamy further intimidated everyone's heart. In a situation without the Eldest Princess's power and aid, not many people could openly resist this group.

Furthermore, he had heard that a signal firework had rang out in the Royal Palace. After being startled awake, he had clearly heard the sky-shaking roar that shot into the sky around the Royal Palace.

He didn't know that was the actions of the Imperial Army, but he knew that change was happening in the Royal Palace.

…

…

Dead bodies lay scattered on the ground. The leading official of the Overwatch Council looked with cold eyes at the surrounded Minister of Justice. Enunciating each word, he said, "I am here on the empress dowager's orders and Prince Heqing's military orders to release you all from prison. I'll have to trouble you, Minister, to hand them over."

Hand them over? No, this was a jailbreak. The Minister of Justice was trembling so much he didn't curse at them. The previous night one of his vice ministers had died mysteriously in this hall. No one knew how he had died. The Minister did not want to become the second wronged spirit.

If he surrendered, could he still live? The torch lit up the Minister of Justice's face strangely.

As if guessing his thoughts, the leading Overwatch Council official stared into his eyes and said, "The empress dowager has said that as long as they recant and are truly regretful, bygones will be bygones."

The Minister of Justice laughed awkwardly. They even had the empress dowager's edict. It looked like the Duke of Danbo already controlled the Royal Palace. There was still no news from the Eldest Princess side, so something probably went wrong. In the present situation, why was he still bitterly holding out?

In a flash, he suddenly thought, What if the battle in the Royal Palace had not been resolved and Fan Xian had not taken the high ground? If he surrendered so easily like this, after the matter… How would he explain it to the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess?

The Minister of Justice gritted his teeth. His gaze flickered uncertainty.

The Overwatch Council official watched him coldly and didn't continue communicating with him. Slowly, he raised his right hand. The hundreds of Overwatch Council officials around him raised their crossbows. Some pulled out their metal drills. They were preparing to attack the thick and heavy doors of the Ministry's prison.

"On the count of three." The Overwatch Council official counted without any expression, "Three, two…"

"Wait!" The Minister of Justice's daring was crushed by this monotonous counting. He cried out in a raspy voice, "Wait! I want Duke of Danbo's promise!"

A mocking smile rose to the corner of the Overwatch Council official's lips. At this critical moment, although the Minister of Justice was scared out of his wits, he was not stupid. He knew that the empress dowager's edict was nothing more than a waste of paper. What could truly protect his life was the Commissioner's will.

He took out a document prepared a long time ago from his clothes and threw it over.

The Minister of Justice picked it up and read through it by the faint light of the torch. He confirmed that it was indeed written in Sir Fan junior's own hand.

No one knew when this document was written and prepared, but it clearly stated that the Eldest Princess and Crown Prince had secretly colluded with Dongyi and Northern Qi assassins to kill the Emperor on Dong Mountain. Each crime was clearly listed. On the back, it said that Yan Xiaoyi, the Governor of the Northern Expedition Camp, had been implicated in this rebellion and had already been killed by Fan Xian personally.

The crime was not important. What the Minister of Justice cared about were the last words. Reading to the end, his expression finally warmed a little. There were about 400 words in this so-called rebellion punishing document. In the last 100 words, it was clearly written that those who had been deceived by Li Chengqian would be fully forgiven as long as they were regretful and would work for the new ruler.

The Minister of Justice's hands that held the document shook. There was not the empress dowager's seal on this document, but there was the Emperor's royal seal.

Most importantly, there was Fan Xian's personal signature.

The Minister of Justice knew that, at this moment, no royal seal was as effective as Fan Xian's signature. Furthermore, he trusted that Fan Xian was not a dishonest person.

His face became paler and paler. He looked around him to gather his courage, but there were only the Ministry of Justice bailiffs with ashen faces standing guard. He dropped his head and knelt in front of the Overwatch Council official. In a miserable voice, he said, "I… admit my crimes."

Disarmed, bound, and leashed, all of the Ministry of Justice's martial power was controlled in a short amount of time. However, this group left the Minister some face and only removed his official's robe, which he hadn't been wearing properly anyway.

All kinds of knives, spears, and sticks were piled in a corner. All of the officials in the Ministry of Justice had their arms bound behind their backs with the Overwatch Council's special metal finger cuffs. The cuffs were then strung together with sturdy hemp rope. They were like a row of grasshoppers waiting to be fried in the famine years.

These actions all appeared particularly familiar and were done quickly. The Overwatch Council, from the very first day of its inception, had used these methods to deal with various yamen's in the country's vast machinery.

It could not be said that the Minister of Justice was timid and cowardly or that the departments of Qing Kingdom were useless. It had been many years since the terror of the Overwatch Council had rooted deeply into the hearts of every Qing Kingdom official. Like when were faced with a predator, when the officials were faced with this group of black-clothed people, they couldn't muster up any courage to resist.

The Overwatch Council, a terrifying secret service of the royal family, had become the sharpest knife in Fan Xian's hands since the Emperor's death and Chen Pingping's poisoning.

While dealing with some remaining affairs in the Ministry of Justice, the two heavy doors to the Ministry of Justice prison had long been opened. The officials of the Overwatch Council entered. Many hands helped out 40 to 50 officials, who appeared absolutely wretched.

The official robes on their bodies had not been stripped, but they were covered with injuries. One could see how rushed and chaotic the Crown Prince was that day in Taiji Palace when he seized them.

Many of the officials were unable to walk after being tortured. It was only with the help and support of Overwatch Council officials that they barely managed to step out of the prison doors with a breath of life.

The leading Overwatch Council official's gaze became serious. He walked forward quickly to kneel with one knee in front of these officials, performing a formal bow. In a heavy voice, he said, "I am the head of the Second Bureau of the Overwatch Council, Murong Yan. Following the empress dowager's orders, I have come to meet you all. You have all worked hard."

The civil officials that had been helped out of the door looked at this black-clothed official from the Overwatch Council and could not speak through the feelings rising in their hearts.

Murong Yan did not rise. He turned to the leading two officials and bowed formally. In a low voice, he said, "The Commissioner has asked me to bow to you in thanks."

These were the first-rank officials who had bravely rising in revolt in Taiji Palace and forcefully prevented the Crown Prince from taking the throne, the head scholars of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, Hu the Scholar and Sir Shu Wu.

There was still an injury on Shu Wu's face. He looked at this official and sighed. He did not feel much overwhelming happiness. He only felt a deep worry for the situation in Jingdou. He knew Fan Xian's personality. Since he had braved the danger of breaking into the prison, then the Royal Palace must be in great turmoil. The Emperor… the Emperor… Who knew how many relatives of the Emperor would die in this storm.

Hu the Scholar only smiled and said, "The Duke of Danbo is wrong. I have not helped him, why is he thanking me?"

Murong Yan stared.

He didn't have time to speak in detail about the situation in the Palace. Ten carriages had long arrived outside the Ministry of Justice to pick up these injured officials and then head toward the Royal Palace. Presently, the situation in Jingdou was still dangerous, so these officials released from prison could not return home for now.

Watching the carriages protected by the Overwatch Council follow Chang Street toward the direction of the Royal Palace, Murong Yan, standing at the door of the Ministry of Justice, finally let out a long breath. Although there were still many things he needed to deal with in the Ministry behind him, his heart had already settled down.

He was the head of the Second Bureau. Originally, he was responsible for the gathering intelligence reports and such work. This Overwatch Council revolt, he had been entrusted with the task of forcefully breaking into the Ministry of Justice by Sir Yan junior. Perhaps what he had seen was his calmness.

Attacking the Ministry of Revenue was not difficult. What was difficult was rescuing the officials in the prison wholly and unharmed. Murong Yan was aware of this. Otherwise, the Commissioner would not have given him hundreds of people when there were so few subordinates in Jingdou.

The specific task had been delegated by Yan Bingyun, but the demands had been personally set by Fan Xian. For the Ministry of Justice prison, Fan Xian had sent down a death command that the safety of the scholars Hu and Shu, as well as all the other civil officials, had to be ensured.

He knew that if it hadn't been for these civil officials, who did not fear death, causing trouble in Taiji Palace, forcefully delaying the Crown Prince's day of ascension, and throwing court politics into chaos with Jingdou in a volatile situation, it would be difficult for him to find a chance to successfully break into the Palace.

The civil officials who seemed to have no power other than opening their mouths and admonishing were the greatest contributors to him successfully breaking into the Palace. Fan Xian had borrowed these officials' moral characters. Thus, he had to ensure they were fine because of gratitude and a faint remorse.

…

…

With the fireworks, thousands of people moved out. When the Ministry of Justice's prison was opened, the seemingly impossible-to-attack Jingdou government had its main doors wide open and lamps brightly lit. It looked very strange.

The Jingdou government generally kept the peace in Jingdou and had a large number of bailiffs and officials under its watch. When the fireworks outside the Royal City rang out, the magistrate, Sun Jingwei, a second-rank official in the Jingdou government, walked into the main hall with a serious and heavy expression.

The subordinates who didn't know had happened looked at the magistrate in surprise, thinking, It's so late. Why is Sir Sun still wearing the full court robes?

A moment later, the footsteps stopped like thunder. Sun Jingwei glanced at his subordinates with a complicated expression and sighed with great regret as he ordered them to open the main door of the Jingdou government.

Once the door opened, the Overwatch Council officials filed in. As the Jingdou government officials looked at each other, they took over all the advantageous positions in the main hall and surrounded Sun Jingwei in the center.

The black-robed Overwatch Council officials stepped aside. A person walked out from the middle. It was the head of the First Bureau, Mu Tie. With a face the color of metal, he looked coldly at Sun Jingwei and asked, "Sir has ordered me to come. Have you made up your mind?"

Sun Jingwei sighed again. His expression struggled for a moment. Suddenly, it seemed that his legs suddenly lost their strength. He knelt on the ground with a thud. In a low voice, he said, "I know my crime. I dare not ask the Duke's forgiveness."

Once this scene played out, clamoring broke out. Everyone felt absolutely shocked. They didn't understand why the magistrate who had always followed the empress dowager's orders and had been working so hard to capture Fan Xian would just surrender like this without a thought of resistance when the Overwatch Council came to the door.

Mu Tie's complexion remained like metal. He didn't move at all. However, he was absolutely stunned in his heart. He had accepted orders to come and stabilize the Jingdou government. He thought he was going to face the most desperate battle of his life. Unexpectedly, Yan Bingyung only gave him a quiet order and had him go.

When he entered the Jingdou government, all he saw was a manor filled with light. Mu Tie initially thought that he had fallen into a trap. Surprisingly, the situation was as Sir Yan junior had said and went smoothly.

Sun Jingwei knelt on the ground with an unusually wretched expression. His left hand held his official's hat under his arm. He thought about how he had no choice. Putting aside whether or not the Jingdou government had the power to resist the Overwatch Council, most important was the conversation he had with the white-clothed man earlier in the back garden. It gave him no way out. He could only surrender.

It was not until tonight that he learned that Fan Xian had hidden in his manor for a number of days. The headquarters of the revolt in Jingdou was in his own back garden, in his own daughter's study.

Four hundred of the assassins breaking into the Palace had entered Jingdou with documents from the Jingdou government.

If this matter got out, regardless of what he did tonight, the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess would not tolerate. They would certainly think that he was a spy for Fan Xian's side.

Thus, he had no choice and could only make the very difficult decision of throwing his lot in completely with Fan Xian. In any case, others would think he was Sir Fan junior's man, so he may as well become Sir Fan junior's man. At least he would survive.

For his future prospects and safety, Pin'er should speak on his behalf, right?

Thinking of this, Sun Jingwei couldn't help blood rushing to his head. He almost fainted. The official seals on the documents the assassins breaking into the Palace had all came from his study. Other than Pin'er, who would be able to imitate his handwriting and steal his official's seal without his subordinates becoming suspicious?

In the next life, he wasn't going to have daughters. A daughter's arm was always reaching outside of the home. Sun Jingwei, who had been forced to go back on his word, thought sorrowfully in his heart.

…

…

Not long after the battle in the Royal Palace ended, the Imperial Army suddenly entered through the front door and came to the rear Palace. In front of over a thousand Tiger Guards, the internal guards and eunuchs, who were already stunned out of their wits, wisely chose to surrender. Even if they were stubborn folks, they became nothing more than bodies that the Imperial Army wiped out.

The rear palace temporarily recovered its peace. Faintly, one could hear tidy footsteps and the repeated clacking of armor hitting each other.

With a melancholy face, Fan Xian pushed open the Eastern Palace's main door. He left the swordsmen stationed at this Palace outside. Looking at the dead bodies on the path, he walked into the recently rebuilt hall of the Palace.

Inside Hanguang Palace, Fan Xian's expression was calm. Only he knew how disappointed he was in the depths of his heart.

Having not caught the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess was ripping a huge hole in his plan. A hole that may never be repaired.

He looked at the eunuch and serving girls timidly standing in one area. A moment later, he silently lowered his head as if he could already hear the sound of hooves far away outside the Palace walls.

He knew this was an auditory hallucination, but he believed in the Great Prince's marching speed. Since the Palace was mostly under control, he must have already sent out the majority of the forces and was pushing deeper into Jingdou, doing his best to control a larger area. However, he would be careful to not create sparks with the 13 city gate guards. The Great Prince was like him. Once he had taken action, he would not hold back. Both the Imperial Army and Overwatch Council were, at this moment, desperately searching for traces of the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess.

Most importantly, Wan'er and Da Bao had been taken by the Eldest Princess. Not having rescued his family made him angry and melancholy.

He walked into a quiet room next to the hall and looked at the eunuch sitting on the ground. He looked at the acne on the eunuch's face. A great rage grew in his heart. An instant later, his heart softened as he sighed helplessly.

Chapter 549: Affectionate Eunuch, Merciless Arrow

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Seeing Fan Xian walk in with a heavy expression, the dazed Hong Zhu climbed up from the ground and knelt in front of him with his head lowered. He did not say a single word.

There was no one else around this room but Fan Xian standing and Hong Zhu kneeling. The faint light outside shone through and cast the two people's shadows against the wall. It looked rather strange.

Fan Xian stared at Hong Zhu's panicked expression. The hand hanging in his sleeve tightened into a fist the slowly released. Tiredly, he said, "I want an explanation for this matter."

Hong Zhu raised his head to glance at him. His eyes were full of guilt and deep self-blame. However, he only lowered his head again to kowtow and didn't explain anything.

Hong Zhu had been Fan Xian's biggest help in the Royal Palace. The reason Fan Xian dared to enter the rear palace with only 200 people and control Hanguang Palace in one stroke depended on his complete knowledge of the situation in the rear palace—the placement of the guards and details of the nobles' lives.

All of this had been in the intelligence reports Hong Zhu had braved with great danger to deliver outside of the Palace. This little eunuch, with his meteoric career, had originally been moved to Hanguang Palace. After the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace, he had gone back, unwilling to leave the Crown Prince behind.

Since the empress dowager had set her heart on having the Crown Prince succeed the throne, she did not obstruct his little requests. Thus, Hong Zhu became the strangest person in the Royal Palace. He had once held memorials in the royal study, served the empress dowager in Hanguang Palace, and been interdependent with the empress for two months.

The strangest thing was that all of the nobles appreciated and liked him. Fan Xian was not an exception.

People never knew that Hong Zhu was Fan Xian's spy in the Palace. The strange poisoning of the guards on duty at the door of the Palace to Hanguang Palace was completely the work of this eunuch.

Hong Zhu deserved a great deal of the credit for Fan Xian's successful entry into the Palace. At this time, the gaze Fan Xian turned on him was not gentle. He needed him to give an explanation.

The Crown Prince and empress dowager were in the Eastern Palace, right under Hong Zhu's eye. How could they realize what was happening in the lightning-like entry into the Palace and escape before Fan Xian's sharp sword arrived?

Fan Xian's fists curled together tightly. A dark voice forced its way out from between his teeth. With a cold smile, he said, "You leaked it to them?"

Hong Zhu didn't look at Fan Xian's cold eyes and nodded his head heavily.

Fan Xian sucked in a cold breath and looked at him in disbelief. "Do you know what you are doing? We are rebelling, not playing house!"

Worried that others in the Eastern Palace would hear, Fan Xian did not raise his voice. His emotions inside gradually became violent and impatient.

"What's wrong with you? Is your heart soft?" Fan Xian's brows were furrowed tightly. He spoke strangely and quickly in a sinister voice. "Your kind-heartedness will hurt the entire Qing Kingdom!"

He stamped the ground by his foot and cursed viciously. "I have worked hard to get into the Palace. In the end, you played such a trick. It's fine if you don't want to die, but what about all the people in the Palace. You're forcing me to run without daybreak even arriving yet!"

Fan Xian felt a rare flare of rage because he couldn't understand how such a meticulous plan, in which he had used his spy he had carefully hidden in the Palace for a long time, could have had such a large loophole. He couldn't understand how it happened.

Why? Why! Fan Xian stared at Hong Zhu's face. A dark fire flashed through his eyes.

"The Crown Prince was very good to me." Hong Zhu knelt in front of Fan Xian and suddenly began to cry. Tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes down his young face into his robes. "The empress was very pitiful. I thought for a long time but couldn't stop myself in the end."

Hong Zhu began to sob loudly. Snot and tears smeared across his face. "Sir, kill me. I don't want to live either. I caused Xiu'er to die, who knows how many other people I am going to hurt. These are all my sins… My sins."

Fan Xian sucked in a breath of cold air. Although he had already cursed earlier, he had not thought that the reason Hong Zhu had let the Crown Prince and the empress go was actually because his heart was soft.

"What about Guangxin Palace?"

"I don't know."

The corners of Fan Xian's eyes twitched. His heart suddenly felt a glimmer of coldness. Looking at the eunuch in front of him, he suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Stand up."

Hong Zhu knelt on the ground not daring to rise.

"Stand up!" Fan Xian's roared in a low voice.

Hong Zhu timidly stood up and suddenly felt a pain below his hips, making him cry out involuntarily. Fan Xian slowly pulled back his hand. There was a complicated emotion on his face. Looking at Hong Zhu and without saying a word, he shook his head a moment later and sighed.

Hong Zhu's face was pale white. He looked with fear at Fan Xian. However, he suddenly thought that since he had secretly told the empress and the Crown Prince to escape before the incident happened, his life was probably already forfeit. Since matters were already like so, what was there to be afraid of?

Thus, he straightened his body and looked at Fan Xian without a word. He was unable to wipe away the thick sense of guilt in his eyes.

Unexpectedly, Fan Xian's didn't say anything and didn't draw his sword in rage and chop off his head. Fan Xian only sighed and waved his hand. He walked alone toward the outside of the Eastern Palace. His retreating figure appeared lonely and desolate.

Hong Zhu watched Fan Xian's in a daze and began to cry again for some reason.

…

…

Fan Xian walked out of the Eastern Palace's main doors and could no longer hear Hong Zhu's crying. His anger had, for no reason, decreased a little, but his heart felt empty.

He waved his hand and called over a subordinate. He ordered him to gather all of the eunuchs and serving girls from the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace to the Cold Palace near the Chen corridor to be watched together. Then, he walked alone into the darkness of the Royal Palace.

Hong Zhu's sudden soft-heartedness brought an irreparable loss to his plans. For a moment, the rage-filled Fan Xian indeed had the impetus to kill. This rash feeling immediately disappeared without a trace because he had heard the word "Xiu'er."

When he had been in Hangzhou, he had already wondered what influence the serving girl's death would bring to Hong Zhu's state of mind. From the beginning, he knew that Hong Zhu was not a normal eunuch. He was a eunuch that understood affection and honor. Otherwise, Fan Xian would not entrust so many important matters to him.

However, Fan Xian had not thought that Hong Zhu would be so overly sentimental to be soft-hearted during such an important event as a Palace rebellion.

From this, one could see that the Crown Prince was truly a generous and kind person. Furthermore, the secret-filled Hong Zhu might have developed some different feelings while the Crown Prince was exiled to Nanzhao for a number of months and had been wholly interdependent with the extremely pitiful empress in the Eastern Palace.

Hong Zhu was a sentimental eunuch. He had affection for Fan Xian, which was why he braved such danger to raise a Palace revolt and help him enter the Palace. He also had affection for the Crown Prince and empress, which was why he would let go at the last moment. People have always been complicated creatures, particularly such a eunuch as Hong Zhu, who seemed more like a scholar than scholars.

"Perhaps I am too merciless and that is why I didn't think that people could have such sentiments."

Fan Xian wondered this in his heart and involuntarily thought of Xu Maocai in the Jiaozhou Navy. A self-mocking smile rose to the corners of his lips.

Xu Maocai and Hong Zhu were the two deepest spies he had buried in the Qing court. However, it was in this astonishing court rebellion that both these agents had their own ideas and brought great evils to Fan Xian's plans.

If he didn't have Xu Maocai, he wouldn't have been to escape through the deep sea below Dong Mountain. If he didn't have Hong Zhu, he wouldn't have even been able to enter the rear Palace. He knew that he had no right to blame these trusted aides of anything.

He was reluctant to kill Hong Zhu. He didn't want to blame Hong Zhu. He only thought helplessly that in matters of touching people through emotions, the Crown Prince's practice in this area had far surpassed his own. The Crown Prince occasionally had true affection, while he was a complete sham to the end in this life.

…

…

With the help of the Overwatch Council personnel, the Imperial Army purged the rear palace. All of the guards had been captured and wouldn't be able to cause any more trouble. With a heavy expression, Fan Xian returned to Hanguang Palace but did not go inside to see the empress dowager or comfort the Third Prince and the others. He only gave a few orders in a low voice to Jing Ge outside the Palace.

Jing Ge's expression was slightly confused. It seemed that he hadn't thought that the Commissioner would be considering the problem of failure after such a large victory, but he didn't ask anything. Stretching out his right hand, he pressed the mask firmly against his face and took a knee to accept the order. He then led a portion of the Black Knights that had been brought into the Palace out of it.

From this moment, the safety of Hanguang Palace had been handed to the Imperial Army.

The two main conspirators of the first rebellion in Qing Kingdom's history finally met on the tall palace walls half an hour after the fireworks had shot into the sky.

Fan Xian bowed silently to the fully armored Great Prince. The Great Prince's expression was serious. Despite the armor, he still formally returned the bow. The night wind suddenly picked up. It made the Great Prince's red cape snap in the wind and the black Overwatch Council robes on Fan Xian's body stiffen as if it had been starched.

The soldiers patrolling nervously on the palace walls saw this sight and couldn't help but feel admiration from their heart. Indescribable confidence welled in their hearts. Since the first year of the Qing calendar, the Great Prince had led armies to the West. His prestige had gradually grown. He had yet to experience failure. After Fan Xian took control of the Overwatch Council, he had become Chen Pingping the second. However, he was much prettier than old Director Chen.

The two princes were like the battle robes they wore, a passionate bright red and a cold pure black. With light and darkness joining forces, how many people could stand against it?

Fan Xian and the Great Prince straightened their bodies. Without saying anything, they moved to the outside of the corner tower. They watched the quiet square below the lofty palace walls. In the distance, there came the faint sounds of killing. Further in the distance, there were a few explosions that drew one's attention.

The two of them did not need to speak. Accurately speaking, after the incident at Dong Mountain, the two of them had not met or talked to each other, but they had successfully organized the revolt today in the Palace.

This depended on their mutual trust and confidence. This kind of implicit understanding did not stem from personal advantage but from history. In the Emperor's family, both of these princes had been humiliated and neglected. Their mothers and elders had once battled shoulder to shoulder. Now, these two had finally fought shoulder to shoulder.

There were 3,000 imperial soldiers. At this moment, 1,000 were stationed in the Palace, 1,000 were on the city walls, and 1,000 had ridden off into the depths of Jingdou. They had to control the entirety of Jingdou before daylight broke. It was indeed too difficult to control Jingdou with 1,000 people, but if they included the 1,000 Overwatch Council officials Fan Xian had purposely left outside the Palace as helpers, it would go much more smoothly.

"We must capture them before daylight," the Crown Prince said in a cold voice, referring to the Crown Prince and his mother, and the Eldest Princess, Li Yunrui. Of the soldiers responsible for rooting them out, at least three small riding groups followed the path around the laundry facility, desperately looking for the people who had escaped out of the Palace.

Fan Xian remained silent. After learning that the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess had escaped the Palace, he had already sent orders to the secret agents and swordsmen of the Overwatch Council. They were all doing their best in Jingdou. However, he knew that just as the Eldest Princess found it difficult to find him when he hid among the sea of residences in Jingdou, it would also be a difficult matter for him to catch her.

This kind of thing depended on luck. Unfortunately, Fan Xian and the Great Prince only had the three hours [JW1] before daylight arrived.

"Everything is fine in Hanguang Palace." Fan Xian didn't comment on the Great Prince's words. His eyes looked at the soldiers below the palace walls and changed the subject, "The empress dowager is fine."

The Great Prince furrowed his brows and didn't say anything.

The Great Prince had always been a straightforward, lenient, and filial person. It was impossible for him to do what Fan Xian could do. Even hearing about the empress dowager made him feel gloomy and a bit uneasy.

Fan Xian gazed at him with a slight smile, as if seeing through the shadows in his heart. He opened his mouth and said, "In the battle for imperial power, it is always a matter of life and death. We are only carrying out the Emperor's posthumous edict. The history books will give you the assessment you deserve."

"I don't care about that." The Great Prince shook his head and welcomed the night win on the loft palace walls. In a quiet voice, he said, "There is no need to say more. Since father has given you full authority in the edict to handle this matter, I trust that you will be able to handle it well. I have confidence in you."

If he didn't have confidence, the always filial Great Prince would not risk Lady Ning's life to raise troops in revolt.

"But, do you have confidence in me?"

Fan Xian looked at the expansive Royal Palace and comparatively sparse number of soldiers and sighed. In the front and rear of the Royal Palace, there were only 1,000 soldiers. It was impossible for one to feel a strong sense of support.

The Great Prince understood what he was worried about. After a moment of silence he said, "Father took a group of the Imperial Army to Dong Mountain, and we have lost more tonight. But, rest assured, a one-to-three ratio has always been used to guard cities. Particularly for a Royal Palace like this, one-to-four is also fine."

"But the Royal Palace is very big. It is difficult to watch every party." Fan Xian lowered his head and calculated. "If the Eldest Princess and Crown Prince actually escaped Jingdou and met up with the Jingdou Garrison, how many soldiers could the old Qin family bring into the city?"

"The Jingdou Garrison has 10,000 people." Since the Great Prince had raised the troops, he had calculated clearly the military power inside and outside Jingdou. "If we combine our strength, we have around 5,000 people. We should be able to resist them."

"My people can't be used to guard the Palace." Fan Xian shook his head and raised his right arm to point at Jingdou's sea of homes in the darkness. "They only have power in there."

He turned and looked at the Great Prince's profile and said with slight worry, "You've forgotten one thing. The Second Prince is not in the Palace. If he acts fast, he may have already slipped out of the city. Do you not need to worry about Ye Zhong's people? Besides, the military power of the old Qin family is not limited to just the Jingdou Garrison."

The corners of the Great Prince's eyes twitched. If the Ye and Qin families actually attacked together, even if another 3,000 imperial soldiers suddenly appeared in the Royal Palace, he still wouldn't have much confidence.

"The Royal Palace is an isolated palace and doesn't have grain and food like large counties. If we are surrounded by an army, how many days can we hold out?"

The Great Prince abruptly turned and stared at Fan Xian's eyes. "What exactly do you want to say? I know that the Royal Palace is not easy to guard, but why are we guarding the Palace and not the city?"

"Guard the city? Do we have any of the 13 city gate guards in our hands? We have no idea which of the nine gates would quietly be opened by the Eldest Princes, just like how I knocked open the rear palace doors."

"Don't hide it from me," the Great Prince said. "It is impossible that you have just given up the city gates. Your people have already gone last night. The agent that the Eldest Princess had hidden among the city gate guards has already been killed by you."

Fan Xian laughed self-mockingly and said, "The Overwatch Council is not a god. It is impossible to have rooted out all of the Eldest Princess' agents. I must prepare for the worst. If the empress dowager's edict is unable to subdue Commander Zhang of the city gate guards, then you and I will have to be prepared to be surrounded by an army inside the Palace."

"I only want to know how many days before the Qin family's army would be able to enter the capital. Ye Zhong has taken an order to return to Dingzhou. Even if he stopped halfway, he still needs time to reach the capital."

"If we're just counting the Jingdou Garrison, they can arrive in one day," Fan Xian said calmly. "The Qin family army will probably arrive four days later. Ye Zhong's return to the capital should be around the same time."

The Great Prince didn't ask why Fan Xian was so knowledgeable about the Qin family's plans. He believed that the Overwatch Council had agents in the Qin family's army just like they did in the Imperial Army. The purge earlier would not have gone so smoothly if Fan Xian hadn't named their opponents to him.

"You can control the city gate guards." The Great Prince watched Fan Xian's eyes and suddenly turned the conversation back. "If you couldn't, you wouldn't have the courage to take action. I am curious as to what you are saying these things to me right now."

Fan Xian fell silent.

"Earlier, Jing Ge came to me with your Council token. He took 200 horses and left the Palace," the Great Prince looked at him coldly and said. "Don't tell me you don't have some ideas."

Fan Xian suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, I wanted to say… Let's run."

…

…

A muffled crash rang out. An angry Great Prince slammed his hand against the bricks on the palace walls and said angrily in a low voice, "Run? You're crazy!"

Fan Xian smiled bitterly. "I think I am indeed crazy… Where could I escape to? It was only a joke. Don't get so worked up, alright?"

"This is not the time to make jokes!"

"Everyone is so tense. What's wrong with me making a joke to relax the atmosphere?"

Fan Xian's words were not just a joke. If it had been in the past, when the situation had taken such a turn for the worse, perhaps he would have escaped a long time ago for his own safety. If the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess slipped out of Jingdou, then the seemingly great situation at present would be destroyed at once.

The Great Prince suddenly sighed and heavily patted his shoulder. "You've never led an army and have never seen a true battlefield. It is not strange that you have such thoughts."

As if to give Fan Xian more confidence, the Great Prince lowered his voice and said, "With the help of your people in controlling the city gate guards, even if there are 4,000 people, I can hold Jingdou for 10 days!"

Below the palace walls, the Overwatch Council officials escorted a line of carriages closer to the Palace gates. The Great Prince narrowed his eyes and gazed at the officials who had been tortured for a confession by the Crown Prince came down from the carriage. "With this group of officials present, how can we escape? How could we have the heart to escape?"

Fan Xian was silent. He nodded his head and said, "In your opinion, we should open the court conference today, announce the posthumous edict, and depose the Crown Prince."

The Great Prince furrowed his brows and said, "Circulate in all directions and order all four Roads of the military to return as fast as possible to provide aid."

"Three of the armies are on the borders. They won't be able to make it back in less than 10 days. The closest is the Yanjing Camp. If we summon back soldiers…"

Fan Xian's heart was slightly cold. "You and I may become criminals of Qing Kingdom."

Fan Xian wasn't worried about just anyone. He was worried about the unfathomable Emperor in Northern Qi. In this world, news traveled too slowly. Fan Xian knew that since the Governor of the Northern Western Army had been killed by him and the lives and deaths of the soldiers below Dong Mountain were uncertain, if, at this moment, chaos broke out in the Royal Palace and he summoned back the army stationed in Yanjing in the name of supervising the country, it may become part of the Northern Qi's Emperor's calculations.

He was worried that before the Yanjing camp was able to reach the capital and subdue the Ye and Qin families, the Northern soldiers would already have reached the South.

After experiencing matters for so many years, Fan Xian knew that the Northern Qi Emperor was truly the most incredible person in the world. Since he had communicated secretly with the Eldest Princess and participated on the inside in the Dong Mountain matter, he would definitely not pass up on such a great opportunity.

Therefore, the Yanjing camp could not move.

The Great Prince's expression also became heavy. He knew that Fan Xian's worries were very reasonable, "10 days… We can hold for 10 days at the most. If we can't move troops back to save the country…"

He suddenly smiled and gazed at Fan Xian. "Looks like what you said makes sense. Our best choice would indeed be to run away as soon as possible tonight."

After he said this, Fan Xian stared. Immediately after, their eyes met. They began to laugh without any reason.

The laughter spread out from the palace walls and startled the scholars Shu and Hu by the palace gates below into looking up. They could faintly make out that it was the Great Prince and Fan Xian. Involuntarily, the two scholars felt their hearts ease slightly, thinking, If these two could still laugh so joyously at this time, then the situation must be settled.

No one knew how much helplessness and bitterness was in their laughter. With great mutual understanding, the two of them never brought up the matter of escape again. Since the two of them were already standing on the palace walls, then running away was not reasonable.

"Today, we are unifying the situation. Spread the posthumous edict through the streets and alleys of Jingdou to steady the people's hearts. Send a public edict to each of the provinces." After the laughter stopped, Fan Xian gazed at the Great Prince with a slight smile. "Use the empress dowager's edict to steady the city gate guards and then take control. You said that you can hold the army out for 10 days, then I will give you 10 days."

"Ten days for sure." The Great Prince grasped the sword at his waist tightly. His expression was determined. However, he thought to himself that the blockade around the Royal Palace would be broken eventually in 10 days. Why was Fan Xian so fixated on this time?

"You have to do your best to give me these 10 days."

Fan Xian coughed gently and took out a sharp-smelling pill and swallowed it. His expression was calm. "Although I've never led troops, I still know that the most important thing in an army are the leaders at various levels. Imagine if all of the soldiers from the commander to the secondary commanders to the deputy generals to the officers all died. What would this army look like?"

"A plate of loose sand that would fall before being attacked." The Great Prince furrowed his brows slightly and looked at Fan Xian. If all of the leading officers in the army mysteriously died within 10 days, then he would be able to hold Jingdou, but… No matter how skilled the Overwatch Council was in assassinations, no matter how excellent you were in poisons, it would be impossible to complete such an unnatural thing among the thousands of troops.

Fan Xian didn't resolve his confusion and continued calmly. "If even the Crown Prince and the Eldest Princess suddenly died, do you think this army would still have any reason to exist?"

The Great Prince looked at him with a face full of confusion. He wondered if Fan Xian had gone crazy.

Fan Xian smiled slightly. "The reason I am not running and am willing to guard this lonely city with you is not because I am brave. It is because I have never lost confidence. After this matter, I'm afraid my days will not be easy to live through."

The Great Prince did not understand what Fan Xian was saying. If Fan Xian truly brought out the assault rifle killing machine, who knew how the future would develop?

Suddenly, there was a burst of chaos at the palace gate below. A group of riders arrived in the dust and seemed to have caught a person. The Great Prince focused his gaze and saw that the person captured was a woman. However, the distance was too large, so he couldn't see clearly. It seemed she was wearing a normal serving girl's clothing.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes as he looked and faintly said, "Our luck is still very good. Look, the empress has already been caught. Could the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess be far?"

After saying this, he turned and walked down from the palace walls along the wide stone steps. He was getting ready to welcome the old officials who had suffered and prepare for court conference tomorrow. He quietly considered what kind of crime he was going to arrange for the Crown Prince and Eldest Princess. At the same time, he got ready to comfort the pitiful, stupid, and unlucky empress.

"Should I shut the empress and Hong Zhu in the same room?" A strange idea suddenly surged up in Fan Xian's mind. He quietly thought to himself that, actually, he was quite sentimental.

On the stone steps, his coughing became worse and worse, more and more serious. It seemed that the sharp smelling pill he took earlier didn't have any effect. He leaned against the wall beside the stone stairs and calmed his state of mind. He took out another pill and stuffed it in his mouth. Biting down a few times, he swallowed it down.

The sharp smell was the scent of ephedra leaves. After this pill had been created by Fan Xian and his colleagues in the Third Bureau, it was the second time it had been taken in the world. The strength of this type of pill was overly tyrannical. The ephedra leaves were like a stimulant and could easily make one distracted and zhenqi become chaotic.

The first time this medicine was taken was also by Fan Xian. It had been a few years ago on the sheer precipice on Xi Mountain in Northern Qi when he had faced the combined attacks of Liang Tiao and the others.

Fan Xian breathed forcefully a few times and calmed his mind. After escaping from Dong Mountain, he had been scratched by Ye Liuyun's sword intent, chased across hundreds of li by Yan Xiaoyi, and finally taken an arrow close to his heart. His injuries had been grievous. He had been unable to obtain good treatment. His entire body was already reaching a breaking point.

Although he had rested for a few days in Lady Sun's boudoir, his present realm was still only an eighth of his full strength. In order to break into the Palace, he had no choice but to take this harmful medicine again to ensure that his power would be fully demonstrated.

The first time he took this medicine was for Xiao En, for the secret of the Temple in the old man's mouth. The second time he took this medicine was to break into the Palace, for the territories of Qing Kingdom. There are many things in the world that are more important than health, Fan Xian thought to himself as he walked down.

…

…

Jingdou was in chaos. Compared to the battle-less victory with the Ministry of Justice and Jingdou government, the attack on the Eldest Princess's other manor sunk into a bitter battle from the beginning. The flames that Fan Xian and the Great Prince had seen from the palace walls were a cruel plan that the Overwatch Council had no choice but to use when attacking.

Fortunately, the Eldest Princess was not in the manor. Yuan Hongdao, the main Xinyang strategist, who was supposed to be organizing the defenses, seemed to have been terrified out of his wits by the attack. Thus, the aces and serving girls in the manor had eventually been turned into hedgehogs and poisoned into stiff corpses after the Overwatch Council had paid the price of 10 bodies.

When the Overwatch Council officials broke in, the head of the First Bureau, Mu Feng, received a deep cut on his left shoulder. The blood flowed freely, but his face had an uncaring expression. Viciously, he held the short sword across Yuan Hongdao's neck.

What surprised him was that the strategist he had seized in the Eldest Princess' manor did not seem to be overly scared. Instead, he was very anxious.

Yuan Hongdao gazed at Mu Feng'er and anxiously said, "I have an important matter to report to the Duke of Danbo!"

[JW1] Possibly six hours.