The moment of military defeat!

The crowd parted one by one, clearing a path as Jingrong walked forward through the rain.

Eh!

Wasn’t Jingrong already deathly ill?

Yet now, he clearly stood as steady as Mount Tai, standing in the misty drizzle with an air of unyielding strength, spirited and vigorous. Especially those eyes—full of energy, with a faintly visible imposing and intimidating aura within them.

This… where was there any sign of illness?

At this moment, Jing Yi finally realized his own predicament—he was already surrounded. His lips trembled for a long while, unable to utter half a sentence. “You…”

On Jingrong’s chiseled handsome face, the fine drizzle gradually covered it, like sculpting a layer of silver light akin to that on a sword blade, heart-stirring and awe-inspiring. His eyebrows were sharp as arrows, and his spirited eyes met Jing Yi’s shocked gaze as he said, “Jing Yi, your momentum has already crumbled. At the third quarter of the mao hour, those who entered the palace were not Judicial Commissioner Ji’s troops, but the Kong family’s troops.”

“The Kong family? No… impossible.”

“Just one hour after you ordered the city gates closed last night, the gates were quietly opened. The Kong family’s troops had already secretly entered the city. And just half an hour ago, Judicial Commissioner Ji’s men stationed inside and outside the capital have all been captured. Once the third quarter of the mao hour arrives, he will be escorted into the palace.”

Eh!

Impossible!

Jing Yi’s face turned ashen. The momentum of assured victory was gradually being drawn out from his body bit by bit.

Had he truly lost?

Jingrong said, “You thought you had calculated everything perfectly, but despite all your calculations, you still underestimated people’s intelligence. You thought that by capturing Mr. Ji, you could put me in a fatal position. But when all is said and done, you still placed your pieces in the wrong positions, and in the end, you lost the entire game.”

“I haven’t lost!” Jing Yi swept his sleeves dramatically, veins bulging across his face, pulling out the imperial edict signed and sealed by Emperor Qizhen. He held it up high and declared loudly, “You never expected this—just one incense stick’s time ago, Father Emperor already passed the throne to me. I hold the imperial edict in my hands—the situation is truly settled. Your current actions constitute rebellion! Rebellion! According to Great Lin law, this warrants execution.”

His voice rang out.

Everyone looked at the imperial edict in his hands, exchanging glances with one another.

Lang Bo was also greatly alarmed. He turned and whispered to his prince, “My lord, we still arrived one step too late. Now that Prince Yi has the imperial edict, I fear…”

Before he could finish speaking, Jingrong raised his hand to interrupt.

He smiled and raised an eyebrow at Jing Yi, saying, “Why don’t you open the edict and look—see whether what’s written above is truly an imperial edict or just waste paper?”

Hmm?

Jing Yi was puzzled and quickly unrolled the edict.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Qizhen’s signature and the imperial seal’s stamp had disappeared from the edict.

“How can this be?” At this moment, he was truly panicked.

Jingrong sneered coldly, “I’m afraid this waste paper in your hands can hardly save your life.”

“That’s not right—they were clearly there. The seal stamp was clearly there.”

“Clang!” A sound of something falling came from inside the great hall behind them.

Hearing the sound, everyone turned to see a young eunuch walking out from within.

This person—wasn’t this the same young eunuch who had earlier carried the tray presenting writing materials?

He stood beside Jing Yi, removed the eunuch’s hat from his head, and also removed the thick false eyebrows.

Looking closer, this person was…

Ji Yunshu!

Jing Yi’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked worriedly toward the inner hall.

Ji Yunshu said, “Prince Yi need not worry—Consort Xiao inside is quite well.”

“You… weren’t you dead?”

She smiled, “If I were dead, wouldn’t I be a ghost standing here now?”

“…”

“Prince Yi must have many questions in your heart, right? Why is it that you clearly saw me beheaded on the execution platform, yet how could I possibly still be alive? Your troop deployment was clearly so meticulous—why was there a gap in your perfect plan that led you to such a predicament? And how did I appear by the Emperor’s side? Also, regarding this imperial edict in your hands—why have both the signature and seal disappeared?”

Yes, these were Jing Yi’s questions.

Where exactly had he slipped up?

Ji Yunshu glanced at Jingrong and slowly explained to him, “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, one by one. Actually, from the moment the Emperor appointed me as Judicial Commissioner and Prince Rong nodded to me, a trap had already been set for you, and your fate today was already sealed. The reason I accepted this official position was simply to force you into rebellion, to force you to use me as a scapegoat. But what you could never imagine was that the pieces around you that you thought were usable had actually long fallen into someone else’s chess bowl.”

Following this, Jingrong continued her words, saying, “When you arranged to imprison Mr. Ji in the Ministry of Justice prison, Academician Lin from the Hanlin Academy had already notified me. We devised a substitution scheme. Just as Judicial Commissioner Ji was once able to fake his death in prison to deceive General Su from Qujiang, today I could copy the same method. The person escorted to the execution ground was actually someone who had committed a grave crime and was about to die anyway.”

“Eh!”

“And what you never expected was that from the moment I decided to return to the capital from the Imperial Manor, I had already secretly sent messages to the distant Yicheng and Hanzhou in the northwest, borrowing the Kong family’s troops to meet you in this battle. Combined with Commander Xiao’s coordination from within, the timing was just perfect.”

“…”

Ji Yunshu continued, “On the day the Emperor had me imprisoned, I already reminded His Majesty. How could someone as intelligent as the Emperor truly fall for your scheme? After leaving the prison, I replaced the eunuch you had arranged beside the Emperor and entered Fuyang Hall. Knowing you would certainly force the palace and make the Emperor issue an edict, I prepared writing materials and a fake imperial seal early on. Both the ink and the seal were coated with sunflower juice and ginger water. The writing and seal impression would disappear from the paper in less than one incense stick’s time. As for the Emperor’s illness—he actually recovered long ago. All of this was merely a good show performed to buy time for the Kong family’s army to enter the capital.”

Haha!

After hearing this, Jing Yi’s complexion was not merely ashen—it had turned terribly pale.

His once-powerful hands clenched that piece of “waste paper” tightly, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it to the ground.

The imperial edict rolled down the stone steps and fell into the rain.

Damn it!

I refuse to accept this.

He pointed directly at Jingrong, “Jingrong, now that I’ve fallen into your hands, it’s not that I lost—it’s that I was too careless. Even if I become a ghost, I will never let you go.”

Steam practically came from his nostrils!

Who would have known that Jingrong would suddenly draw Commander Xiao’s sword and toss it to him, then draw Lang Bo’s sword and hold it in his own hand.

The sword edge pointed at Jing Yi: “Jing Yi, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. After all, you and I have been brothers. Haven’t you always wanted to compete with me? Fine. As long as you defeat me, I’ll let you leave the capital. From then on, you can go wherever you wish—to the ends of the earth.”

Lang Bo was alarmed, “My lord?”

“No one is to interfere. Stand back.”

Everyone received the order and stepped aside one by one.

They cleared an open space.

Jing Yi was surprised. He stood dazed for a moment, then gripped the sword in his hand tightly. His eyes were blood-red as he descended the steps step by step, placing himself in the rain.

Now, standing opposite Jingrong, he was nothing more than a cornered tiger making its final desperate struggle.

“Jingrong, today it’s either you die, or I perish.”