Until nightfall descended, Liang Qiang standing on the capital’s city walls still felt the burning sensation on his face gradually fade away.
He laughed at himself mockingly.
Having walked this far to reach today, he actually still retained a sense of shame.
When he heard those words, he should have immediately bowed down and respectfully ingratiated himself: “This lowly general is unworthy, please instruct me, Young Master.”
How could he feel ashamed?
He should have been delighted that this young master stopped to speak with him. Never mind a mocking remark—even if he spat in his face, it would be his honor.
He, Liang Qiang, could stand here today only thanks to others’ favor. Otherwise, at this very moment, his entire family would still be laboring in the border commandery.
Liang Qiang gazed at the night before him. If they were still doing labor service in the border commandery, at this very moment they should already be lying down to rest in their quarters.
Today was an even-numbered day, so the evening meal should have meat oil and would provide an extra flatbread. With a full belly tonight, they could sleep soundly and sweetly.
Actually, it had been a long time since he slept soundly and sweetly. Thinking back, the sweetest sleep these past few years was actually when he was doing labor service sleeping on an earthen bed.
Liang Qiang laughed at himself mockingly again. How ridiculous—what use was sleeping sweetly and soundly at the labor service camp?
But what difference did it make that he stood here with guards clustered behind him?
At the labor camp, he at least knew whether tomorrow he would dig pits or build city walls. But he hadn’t known in advance that he would come here to guard the city, nor did he know if he would still be standing here tomorrow.
He suddenly didn’t know whether Xie Yanfang could truly succeed.
The moment they received news of the Yunzhong Commandery launching an attack against the court’s forces, he received orders to reinforce the city defense. Even by fast horse, Yunzhong Commandery was half a month’s journey from the capital, not to mention the countless cities, military forces, fortifications, and checkpoints in between—
Why increase city defense and heighten vigilance now?
Did the Xie clan believe Empress Chu could actually fight her way here?
When he had stood before Empress Chu and suddenly understood from her description who was behind everything—Xie Yanfang—compared to that girl and Xie Yanfang, he had chosen Xie Yanfang without hesitation.
But now Xie Yanfang was actually so wary of that girl? Had that girl already become someone who could be discussed on equal terms with Xie Yanfang?
Lost in these chaotic thoughts, a cry of alarm suddenly rang out beside him.
“Beacon fires—”
Beacon fires? In the scorching summer of the sixth month, this shout made Liang Qiang shudder violently. He looked up and saw flames leaping into the sky against the dark night horizon.
She’s here!
She actually came!
As flames continued rising at the horizon’s edge, the earth also began to tremble, as if tens of thousands of troops were rolling forward.
“Enemy attack—”
“Enemy attack—”
……
……
Within the palace shrouded in night, the outer palace normally had no one except officials on night duty, but tonight was not cold and quiet. Instead, footsteps constantly sounded.
Standing on the inner palace walls, one could see guards everywhere.
“The moment Yunzhong Commandery went to war, the imperial city immediately deployed defenses,” one Imperial Guard said. “The garrison has increased at least twofold.”
Another Imperial Guard, holding a long spear, said: “Even if there’s only the military force of one Yunzhong Commandery, no one dares underestimate it. After all, that is the Empress.”
At the mention of the Empress, the earlier Imperial Guard fell silent for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh: “I still remember when the Empress fought her way into the imperial city back then. Could this time also—”
The Imperial Guard beside him coughed lightly to interrupt: “Don’t speak carelessly.”
After the incident with Empress Chu, the imperial city’s Imperial Guards naturally replaced a batch. Those Dragon Wei Army members were all gone, replaced with some new people.
For them to remain was already very fortunate. They absolutely must not cause trouble.
Today the outer palace increased its troops, and the inner palace also added many guards. That Young Master Xie brought them personally, and Young Master Xie was currently stationed in the inner palace.
“We Imperial Guards exist to protect His Majesty. We don’t hear or ask about other people and other matters,” the Imperial Guard said quietly.
The earlier Imperial Guard nodded and didn’t continue this topic. His gaze looked forward and suddenly focused.
“Outside seems like the situation isn’t quite right—”
……
……
Inside the brightly lit Emperor’s bedchamber, Xiao Yu wasn’t diligently reading memorials as usual but was pacing back and forth.
The attendants were all absent. The masked young master sat on the dragon throne’s footstool, concentrating on wiping mud stains from his shoes.
“Uncle,” Xiao Yu stood before him, lowering his voice. “Is there really no solution?”
Xie Yanlai ignored him.
So Xiao Yu turned and walked back and forth again, then stopped when something occurred to him.
“Uncle,” he said urgently in a low voice, “I’ve thought of a solution. You take me away from the imperial city to find Elder Sister. Then Elder Sister won’t have to fight her way here. Wherever I am, that is the capital, and it can vindicate Elder Sister’s name.”
Xie Yanlai concentrated on removing embedded stones and said: “Your Majesty overestimates me. Take you away? I can’t even leave myself.”
He raised his head.
“Do you really think I’m in charge of the Xie family? This authority is what others let me have. When they let me have it, I am the master. When they don’t let me have it, I am nothing.”
He pointed outside.
“Right now, you and I are both in a cage.”
Xiao Yu murmured: “Then what can we do? How can we help Elder Sister?”
Xie Yanlai lowered his head and continued wiping his shoes: “If you do well being yourself, that’s already helping.”
Xiao Yu’s expression grew dejected. Even if he did well being himself from now on, never again being self-important or thinking himself clever—but if Elder Sister couldn’t return—
Scattered footsteps sounded outside, and someone pushed the door open.
Xiao Yu quickly turned his head and saw Eunuch Qi closing the door.
“Outside, something seems wrong,” he turned around and said quietly.
……
……
Tonight the capital was not glittering like a river of stars or bustling like daylight as usual. After learning that Empress Chu had ordered troops to fight out of Yunzhong Commandery, the capital declared a curfew.
In the thick night, every household’s doors were tightly shut. Occasionally they heard the clatter of hoofbeats on the streets.
The sudden curfew made everyone nervous.
“It’s so far away! What’s there to fear? How could she fight her way here in the blink of an eye? Empress Chu isn’t an immortal.”
“You don’t understand. This is to prevent people from gathering and talking wildly.”
“Right, I heard that some gambling houses actually opened betting pools, wagering on whether Empress Chu or the Xie clan would win—”
Some mocked, some were relaxed, others cursed it as absurd. Amid the clamor, footsteps sounded in the street, and doors seemed to be knocked, accompanied by banging and shouts.
“The Empress enters the city—keep doors tightly shut—”
“The Empress enters the city—keep doors tightly shut—”
The shouts were loud, male and female, old and young, racing past like the wind, the wind drilling into every household.
In an instant, the people inside their residences all fell into stunned shock.
The Empress enters the city?
The Empress has already arrived?
Could the Empress truly be an immortal who can shrink the earth beneath her feet?
Accompanying the shouts, the hoofbeats and footsteps on the streets grew chaotic, sounds of slaughter arose everywhere, and the smell of blood spread through the scorching summer night.
……
……
Standing on the city wall looking back, inside the city it was like lamp flowers bursting—dense points of light, as if the entire lamp-covered mountain was burning.
“Enemy troops have already infiltrated the city,” Liang Qiang said.
The deputy general beside him stood firm and steady: “A few rats and snakes need not concern us.”
Liang Qiang looked toward the highest point of the lamp-covered mountain in the city. He wanted to say he worried about His Majesty, but then mocked himself—where was his place to worry? The palace was surely already heavily defended.
“The rebel Chu’s troops are attacking,” a guard shouted.
Liang Qiang withdrew his gaze to look outside the city and saw that the burning horizon had somehow been torn open, with dark clouds surging forward like a flood breaching a dam.
So fast!
How many troops did Empress Chu bring?
“Defend the city—” the deputy general beside him raised his blade and shouted.
With his shout, countless arrows flew toward the city exterior. Burning oil ignited in the air, flames rose outside the city into a sea of fire, and heaven and earth brightened like daylight.
In Liang Qiang’s vision appeared a military formation. Their armor was orderly, weapons bristling, banners fierce. On the great banner, the spread-winged phoenix seemed to come alive.
Beneath the shrieking, dancing fire phoenix, a woman sat on horseback holding a blade horizontally.
She really came. This was no bluff, no feint—
She swung her long blade, and roaring arose from the sea of fire. Below the city gate, countless flying stones hurled toward the city walls.
“Attack the city—”
……
……
It seemed countless heavy hammers struck the ground. The entire capital trembled. Children held in their parents’ arms in residences screamed.
The sounds of slaughter close by at the doors had vanished, replaced by sounds of slaughter that seemed distant as the horizon, overwhelming like a tsunami engulfing everyone.
“Will we die?” the children cried.
The young children were experiencing this for the first time.
But the adults were not experiencing it for the first time.
Many remembered the nightmare of several years ago, when many residences were set ablaze and streets ran with blood.
The adults held the children tightly: “No.”
This time was different from that time. That sudden uprising came out of nowhere. This time the Empress issued a warning.
In the night, beneath the sounds of slaughter, many people comforted the children without reservation, also comforting themselves.
“The Empress is punishing the wicked and eliminating evil. She won’t harm us.”
……
……
When the sounds of slaughter inside the city began, Xie Yanfang had just finished taking medicine and was about to fall into drowsiness. In that moment, his dim eyes brightened.
“So fast,” he said.
Watching Seventh Master Xie rush in, Steward Cai was also somewhat incredulous: “Is it a bluff? How many troops? It can’t be tens of thousands!”
Seventh Master Xie said nothing, but Xie Yanfang already shook his head: “How could it be? Once she makes her move, she’s determined to succeed.”
Seventh Master Xie said angrily: “Even if she arrived at the capital completely undetected, she still won’t succeed!”
Steward Cai asked curiously: “How did she get here? Who helped her?”
Xie Yanfang paid no attention to their subsequent words, lying against the pillow, his eyes dimming again: “Such a pity I cannot witness it with my own eyes—”
Before he finished speaking, he fell silent.
Seventh Master Xie cried urgently “Yanfang—”
Steward Cai arranged Xie Yanfang’s bedclothes properly and said softly: “The young master is asleep.”
Seventh Master Xie knew Xie Yanfang’s current condition. No matter how capable he was, when the hour came, even if heaven collapsed and earth split, he could only sleep.
“This is all that Empress Chu’s doing!” he said hatefully, looking at the young master’s peaceful sleeping face on the bed. “If not for the hunting grounds injury, at this very moment the young master would personally wield a blade and behead that Empress Chu.”
Just like when he beheaded the Third Prince in one stroke amid the chaos.
Steward Cai suddenly laughed.
Laughing at a time like this! Seventh Master Xie turned to glare at him.
“I feel tonight is very much like that night,” Steward Cai said with a laugh, his expression somewhat wistful. “I don’t know which era this is.”
Seventh Master Xie hadn’t forgotten that night. That night was not a beautiful memory. For the Xie clan, all their schemes collapsed with the deaths of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
“Tonight will absolutely not be like that night.” Seventh Master Xie stood up, looking outside, his eyes cold, saying viciously: “This time, she should be the one whose heaven collapses and earth splits!”
Empress Chu merely depended on where the Emperor was. Without the Emperor, what would she be? Nothing but an ant or insect!
Their Xie clan was different. Even without the Emperor, they could still overturn clouds and rain!
……
……
Even layers upon layers of palace walls couldn’t block the sounds of slaughter. All around the capital, flames leaped up.
Eunuch Qi stood on the steps outside the hall, gazing in all directions, feeling the ground tremble, as if tens of thousands of troops were charging the capital, or perhaps it was just guards running about within the imperial city.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Eunuch Qi turned and saw Xiao Yu wearing dragon robes and holding a dragon banner.
“Your Majesty, what is this?” Eunuch Qi hurried over.
Xiao Yu said: “Eunuch Qi, if I go out like this to rally everyone to welcome the Empress, those brave enough to go with me shall be rewarded with the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!”
Eunuch Qi looked at the youth whose head almost reached his shoulder, eyes bright in the night, no longer the child who once cowered trembling in the dark.
“Your Majesty, you must not be rash,” he said kindly.
Xiao Yu was about to speak when a cold laugh came from behind.
“Save your energy.”
Eunuch Qi and Xiao Yu turned to see Xie Yanlai walking out.
“You don’t need to do anything, nor can you rally anyone.” Xie Yanlai reached out and pulled the dragon banner from his arms.
As these words were spoken, footsteps outside the palace gate grew heavier.
“Your Majesty—we have come to protect you.” Shouts came from outside the gate. “Please open the palace gate.”
The Imperial Guards from the outer palace had arrived. A squad of Imperial Guards from the inner palace also came running.
“Your Majesty, the rebel Chu is attacking the city gate,” the leading officer said. “Please take shelter quickly, Your Majesty.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yu not only didn’t retreat but couldn’t help moving forward—
“Really?” he asked.
But the next moment someone grabbed him and flung him backward. At the same time, something flashed before his eyes. With a squelching sound, Xiao Yu saw that dragon banner pierce the chest of the officer who had come running.
The officer’s expression was shocked. He uttered “You—” and in the next moment, the blade hidden behind his back fell to the ground with a clang.
What was happening?
This all happened very suddenly.
Eunuch Qi didn’t hesitate for a moment. Holding Xiao Yu, he shouted loudly “Protect His Majesty—”
This shout also snapped the guards behind the dead officer out of their daze. No longer concealing themselves, they drew their blades: “Kill—”
The dragon banner whirled, blades flashed wildly. In the blink of an eye, the bright yellow dragon banner was dyed completely red.
Held by Eunuch Qi, Xiao Yu showed no fear. He even reached out to support the old man, both eyes fixed on the whirling dragon banner.
Indeed, just as Xie Yanlai said, he and Xie Yanlai were both in a cage. Now the keepers wanted to slaughter their prey.
Xiao Yu watched Xie Yanlai fighting among the guards. One hand whirled the dragon banner, the other held a long blade. Like a flood dragon rolling among the hunters, the dozen or so Imperial Guards who had surrounded them fell one after another.
No matter how brave a dragon, one person could resist ten—but what about twenty, thirty, or a hundred?
Xiao Yu looked around. Footsteps clattered chaotically. Countless Imperial Guards came running. He opened his mouth, not knowing what promise could make these people risk their lives for him.
The whirling dragon banner was planted among the corpses on the ground. The banner had already become a blood banner. The person gripping it removed his mask.
“I am Xie Yanlai—” he shouted loudly, looking at the Imperial Guards surging around him. “—Where are the Imperial Palace Guards?—”
Xie Yanlai?
This name made the Imperial Guards pause.
Especially several guards running from behind.
They didn’t know what was happening. Why did fighting suddenly break out in the inner palace? Was this Empress Chu’s troops arriving, or someone else’s?
Tonight was so chaotic. Their minds were also in complete disarray. They didn’t know whether to stop or charge forward, and after charging forward, who should they kill?
Until they heard this shout, this name—they suddenly came to their senses.
“Xie Yanlai!”
“It’s Colonel Xie!”
“But didn’t Xie Yanlai die?”
Several people looked ahead at the young man standing among corpses, gripping a blood banner. Firelight danced, illuminating his face.
Firelight, blood banner, pale face, phoenix eyes and cold brows.
“It’s Xie Yanlai—” an Imperial Guard murmured.
He had never forgotten this person.
Once Xie Yanlai had also been an Imperial Palace Guard. On such a night, he stood on the city wall, wielding a long blade, shouting—
“Imperial Palace Guards, protect the Son of Heaven.”
That Imperial Guard unconsciously became spirited and shouted along: “Those who dare attack are all traitors—”
Other Imperial Guards, eyes glazed, murmured “Colonel Xie’s spirit has manifested—”
Whether spirited or dazed, they ran toward Xie Yanlai without hesitation.
The Imperial Guards were still running, but now it was different from before. They clearly divided into two forces. One side pointed their blades and spears at Xie Yanlai, while the other turned around, their backs to Xie Yanlai.
“Protect His Majesty—”
“Colonel Xie commands, protect His Majesty—”
……
……
Countless arrows flew up the city walls. Guards unable to dodge fell instantly. Flying up along with them were ropes and iron hooks, mixed with whistling sounds.
The whistling was like waves battering the city walls. The solid, thick walls seemed to tremble.
Liang Qiang gripped his blade and looked down, seeing densely packed guards below the city wall. People constantly fell, but people constantly climbed using rope ladders and wooden frames.
He turned back to look at the city wall. Amid firelight, boulders, and arrows, corpses lay everywhere. Guards poured arrows and various weapons toward below the wall.
He looked again into the distance. The sounds of slaughter inside the city grew louder, especially from the direction of the imperial palace.
“General, their siege engines are coming—” a guard screamed.
So they were going to ram the city gate. Liang Qiang gripped his blade and turned to run down toward the city below.
“Follow me to kill the enemy—”
Some guards instinctively ran with him. Others didn’t react immediately. The next moment, more arrows and flying stones came. Some fell, some took cover. The city wall fell into chaos again.
Below the city wall, guards also ran about.
Compared to above, the area below the gate protected by the city wall was not much safer.
Inside the city, attacks came constantly—intermittent, furtive. They couldn’t be finished off, but couldn’t be eliminated either. The guards couldn’t leave the city gate yet had to divide their attention.
“Open the city gate—” Liang Qiang suddenly shouted, charging first toward the gate. “Follow me to kill the enemy—”
The gate guards and the guards following him were somewhat dazed. “Follow me to kill the enemy” they understood, but “open the city gate” seemed somewhat wrong.
Liang Qiang had already reached the city gate. Two guards instinctively moved to stop him, but Liang Qiang raised his hand and swung his blade. The two guards fell rolling to their knees.
“Open the city gate—kill the enemy—”
Although he was supported by the Xie clan to this day and his martial prowess was false, his identity and position were real. Military orders were like a falling mountain. Even if it seemed strange, the guards surged forward one after another. Countless guards came rushing.
“Liang Qiang, you treacherous dog!” an officer chased from behind, shouting. “—Seize him—”
But it was too late. The city gate slowly opened.
Liang Qiang seized a horse and galloped out.
“The city gate is open—welcome Empress Chu into the city—” Liang Qiang shouted loudly while raising his blade.
He could already see the phoenix banner flying close behind the siege engine.
That woman was right there.
If back then in the imperial city when she questioned him, he had told her about meeting Xie Yanfang in the wine house, would he now be at her side, fighting shoulder to shoulder?
If even earlier, in the border commandery, when she saved his arm from beneath the blade and he had been honest with her about what happened, would he have already been at her side long ago, fighting alongside her?
Liang Qiang watched the phoenix banner drawing ever closer and saw that woman’s figure. She sat on horseback, blade in hand, blood on the blade.
Since that first glimpse in the wine house, she had grown ever more brave and martial, ever more invincible.
While he retreated step by step.
“Empress Chu—Liang Qiang welcomes you into the city—” Liang Qiang shouted again.
But before he finished speaking, an arrow flew toward him. He instinctively raised his hand to block. Accompanying the horse’s neigh, he fell.
“The Empress enters the city—lay down your weapons and you won’t be killed—”
“The Empress enters the city—surrender quickly—”
Guards trampled forward, shouts like thunder. The siege engine rumbled, splitting mountains and cleaving seas.
Chu Zhao looked ahead.
“Someone seemed to be shouting something just now,” Xiao Man said quietly. “Surrender?”
Chu Zhao said indifferently: “Do I still need people to surrender now? Pay it no mind.”
She looked at the city gate ahead that had already been smashed open.
Troops surged in like a tide.
Countless shouts also surged into the city.
“The Empress enters the city—lay down your weapons and you won’t be killed—”
……
……
The sounds of slaughter continued, even fiercer than before. The houses seemed to shake along with them. But the people in their residences no longer felt the earlier terror. Instead, they couldn’t help listening outward.
“Listen—”
“The Empress enters the city—”
“The Empress has entered the city—”
People held children in their arms, gently rocking them.
“It’s all right now, it’s all right.”
……
……
The city’s slaughter hadn’t ended. Battles raged everywhere.
“If we can’t take the imperial palace, we must force our way into households,” Ding Dachui shouted loudly. “Your Ladyship, otherwise we can’t hold out.”
The city had long been deployed with troops by the Xie clan—open soldiers and hidden formations, every step a fortress.
Chu Zhao looked ahead: “The most advantageous entry point is the imperial palace.”
Ding Dachui certainly knew that, but it was surely the place most heavily defended by Xie clan troops. And moreover—
“Your Ladyship, if we assault the imperial palace now and His Majesty meets with mishap,” he said quietly, “then you—”
In that case, all under heaven would truly fall into chaos. With chaos under heaven, the identity of Empress would no longer hold an advantage.
Chu Zhao looked ahead and suddenly smiled: “He won’t.”
He won’t?
Ding Dachui was about to speak when Chu Zhao already spurred her horse forward, galloping straight toward the imperial palace.
“Ding Dachui,” Xiao Man held her blade in her left hand. “After one serious injury, your courage has shrunk!”
Ding Dachui’s face flushed red: “It hasn’t—”
“It hasn’t? Then why are you thinking this and that, considering everything so much?” Xiao Man snorted. “At this point, what’s there to think about? Just do it—”
With that, she swung her blade and galloped forward to chase Chu Zhao.
Laughter rang out nearby. Ding Dachui glared at the men around him: “What are you laughing at! Didn’t you hear the order? Go kill them dead!”
The men howled and yelled, charging forward in disarray.
……
……
Fighting through street after street, compared to the boiling city, the imperial palace sat in complete silence.
The high walls were shrouded in darkness, soundless and still, like a place of death.
The troops rushing forward involuntarily slowed their pace.
“It looks like—” Ding Dachui couldn’t help starting to speak again.
But Chu Zhao’s speed didn’t slow in the slightest. She galloped straight toward the city gate, looking up and shouting loudly.
“A’Jiu—”
This female voice echoed before the deathly silent palace gate.
Again and again.
The female voice was hoarse, dry, not particularly pleasant.
The figure shrouded in darkness atop the wall seemed unable to listen any longer. Legs swung, and the person stood up.
“What are you shouting about?” he said, looking down at the city gate below. “The gate is open.”