CHAPTER 543: CHAPTER 525: FLATTEN

The prominent families of the Capital City all knew a monumental upheaval was at hand. The womenfolk stayed behind closed doors, anxiously waiting for the storm to pass. However, the Eldest Princess entered the palace early in a carriage, seeking an audience with the Empress Dowager.

Outside the Yangxin Palace, a group of ministers knelt and pleaded for mercy, their cries echoing in the air. The Eldest Princess knew Yuwen Jing was resolute in demanding lives to accompany the dead. Her heart burned with hatred, but she had no choice but to beseech the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager was reciting Buddhist sutras in her small meditation chamber, devoted to a vegetarian diet. She let the Eldest Princess wait an entire hour before seeing her. "I cannot restrain the Emperor," the Empress Dowager said coldly. "But if Xie Xun surrenders, spares the third prince’s life, I can ensure he receives a complete corpse."

The Eldest Princess nearly let out a laugh in anger. Such an ignorant woman! Despite the precarious situation in the Capital City, she still failed to grasp the severity of the matter. Internal strife and external threats were fatal dangers for a dynasty. Yuwen Jing’s self-destruction was not just fatal—it was intolerable.

She had always looked down on the Empress Dowager. The Eldest Princess, raised by the late Empress, had received an elite upbringing since she was a child. Although she had been used as a pawn and married off to Marshal Fang by the royal family’s schemes, she never regretted or complained, quietly accepting her fate. While the late Emperor had calculated her future, the situation was not the same as when the Empress Dowager had schemed against Fengyu back then.

To the Eldest Princess, the Empress Dowager was nothing but a country bumpkin—ignorant and uncultured. After suddenly coming into wealth and power overnight, she greedily sought to revel in it all, sleeping atop piles of gold and silver. Her inability to distinguish right from wrong was absolute. When the Emperor made mistakes, she never admonished him, even going so far as to support his misdeeds.

She couldn’t even perceive the changes in the power landscape of the realm or the shifting dynamics within the Capital City.

Ensuring Xie Xun a complete corpse? The gall she had to utter such nonsense!

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, saving a life is of greater virtue than building a seven-story pagoda. All grudges and enmities have their causes and consequences. What you sow today will bear fruit tomorrow. If you wish for Prince Kang’s life to be spared, you must now save those innocent people being wrongfully executed by the Emperor," the Eldest Princess said gravely. "If you treat those imprisoned as mere weeds and ants, how can you expect Xie Xun to show mercy to Prince Kang in Ningzhou?"

"Mrs. Fang, Xie Xun is in the Capital City as we speak. He is a traitor and rebel. What the Emperor is doing is flushing out these rebels and traitors to restore peace to the world—what fault is there in that? If you wish to save the imprisoned, you might as well persuade Xie Xun to sacrifice himself for the greater good. After all, one man’s life can save the lives of thousands in the prison. Is one man heavier, or are a thousand lives more precious? You, Eldest Princess, know this better than I. The person you should be pleading with has never been in this palace." The Empress Dowager coldly rejected the Eldest Princess’s request.

The Eldest Princess’s expression remained serene, though her words carried a sharp threat. "The Emperor has already forced the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion into rebellion. Zhongzhou is now defended by my son, and Jiangnan’s campaigns are overseen by my husband. When the battles in Jiangnan subside one day, I sincerely hope the Empress Dowager does not live to regret this decision. Within the Yuwen Royal Family, there will always be wise and capable rulers to ascend the throne. If this Emperor is unfit, then we will simply replace him with another!"

The Eldest Princess turned with a sweep of her sleeve and left. Her words had pushed matters to the brink—they were almost entirely estranged now, perhaps even enemies.

"How dare you! Guards, stop her!" The Empress Dowager erupted in fury. Yet, within her palace, there were only eunuchs and palace maids. What power did this crowd have to stop the Eldest Princess?

The Eldest Princess stared coldly at the palace maids and eunuchs blocking her way. "Get out of my sight!"

The onlookers, gripped with fear, hurriedly made way. The Eldest Princess stormed off, her presence oppressive and commanding. The Empress Dowager, shaking with rage, hurled a teacup to the ground. "Useless wretches, all of you!"

Yet behind her fury lurked rising despair. Could they truly be planning to replace the Emperor?

If her son ceased to be Emperor, she would no longer be the Empress Dowager!

What was she to do?

When news of the Eldest Princess’s failed plea reached the Jinyi Guard prison, Grandmaster Zhang and the loyal old ministers wept openly, as if finally accepting the grim reality before them.

The hour had arrived, and no one could stop the Jinyi Guard from carrying out their orders.

This band of ruthless Jinyi Guards would undoubtedly slaughter the innocent families imprisoned within.

"Gentlemen," Zhang Shun said, his voice stern, "the time has come. By the Emperor’s decree, we are here to take prisoners from the dungeons. I urge you all to step aside!"

"Zhang Shun, you treacherous dog! You’ll die miserably!"

Miss Chang’s fiancé spat curses, struggling desperately against those restraining him. He seemed ready to risk his life to attack Zhang Shun.

Grandmaster Zhang, seeing the incense beside him burn to its end, lifted his tear-streaked face to the heavens. "I have served as the Grand Tutor through three reigns, educating four emperors and crown princes. My teachings have reached countless minds; my lifelong aspirations have poured into these lessons. I had hoped the Yanyang Monarch might grow to be virtuous, selfless, upright—a ruler who could bring peace to the world and prosperity to its people. Yet I find myself having taught a sovereign devoid of integrity, a betrayer of trust, and a defiler of traditions. I have failed my ancestors and shamed the legacy of the late Emperor. Today, I cannot stop His Majesty from massacring innocents. Hence, we, the old ministers, will stand together in life and death and use our deaths to make our resolve clear. Let this serve as a warning to His Majesty to turn back from the wrongful path."

Zhang Shun frowned in irritation and waved his hand dismissively. "Men, charge in! Don’t mind them!"

"Yes, sir!"

At the command, the Jinyi Guard drew their blades, cold steel glinting under the light. A menacing aura shrouded the gate of the prison, tensions on the verge of eruption.

Grandmaster Zhang and a few aging members of the Yuwen Royal Family rose unsteadily, supporting one another. Their frail, sickly frames stood defiantly in the path of the blades. "If you want to enter, you’ll have to kill us first!"

Zhang Shun, growing more impatient, lifted his hand for another signal. The Jinyi Guard readied themselves to advance when, suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats thundered from the far end of the long street.

The approaching rhythm of the galloping hooves was orderly and commanding, like the charge of an army on the battlefield.

Zhang Shun and his men turned to look back. The crimson uniforms of the Kyoto Capital Guard surged like a brilliant, fiery wave, flooding the long, empty street with blistering intensity.

And atop his white horse, wearing striking red robes, Xie Xun stood radiant and unyielding.

Zhang Shun’s face contorted in horror. Why had the Kyoto Capital Guard followed Xie Xun to the Jinyi Guard prison? A chill ran through him as he watched the Jinyi Guard raise their swords, their blades aimed menacingly at the surging guards. "Xie Xun! So, you truly dare to come!"

Xie Xun’s scarlet robes fluttered like flames, and when his longsword emerged from its scabbard, the air around him surged with an overwhelming killing intent. "Men, advance! Leave no one alive. Flatten the Jinyi Guard prison!"