Civil officials were utterly devoted to flattery and fawning, while military generals all shrank from battle.
Jin, which had once dominated the various nations as a powerful state, had the Duke Zhenguo as its greatest pillar of support!
When Father Emperor was alive, he once said… Duke Zhenguo’s mansion was the backbone of the Great Jin!
The two characters “Zhenguo” were not something an ordinary noble family could bear.
Now… Jin no longer had Duke Zhenguo, no longer had Bai family generals and the Bai family army willing to sacrifice their lives for Jin to stand guard.
The southern and northern frontiers had reached the point where they needed her granddaughter to rush about and provide support to achieve victory.
If they no longer had her granddaughter, Jin would inevitably decline, and even a hundred years later… it would perish.
Grand Princess suddenly felt a desolate sense of being at a dead end.
But what could she do? Could she force her granddaughter to become the next Duke Zhenguo, to become the next living target feared by the monarch and attacked by court officials, all for the sake of the Lin family’s imperial power?
She was already buried up to her neck in yellow earth. She could only do her utmost to guard this Great Jin realm for Father Emperor and Imperial Brother before she closed her eyes. After she closed her eyes… she would at least have the face to meet Father Emperor and Imperial Brother!
As for what happened after her death, how Jin changed… she could no longer manage it, even if… her granddaughter were to rebel against the Lin imperial power.
Grand Princess closed her eyes, fingering her prayer beads, listening to the fierce sound of rain continuously washing the palace’s high steps outside, and the battle cries mixed with the rain and wind.
Suddenly, an Imperial Guard rushed up from below the steps, kneeling outside the hall and clasping his fists toward Grand Princess: “Grand Princess, Fan Yuhuai of the patrol battalion is escorting His Highness the Crown Prince into the palace to protect the emperor! The patrol battalion is fighting to the death against the Imperial Guards brought by Prince Xin!”
Upon hearing this news, Grand Princess stood up. Soon, another Imperial Guard rushed quickly up the steps, clasping his fists and kneeling before Grand Princess: “Reporting to Grand Princess, Min Zhongxin, the Imperial Guard general guarding Wude Gate, claims the Crown Prince is leading the patrol battalion to force the palace and murder His Majesty. He has already opened the palace gates and is coming toward His Majesty’s sleeping quarters together with the rebels!”
Grand Princess gripped her dragon-headed staff tightly, hurriedly walking several steps outside. Her clouded vision looked toward the distance… only to see Fan Yuhuai carrying the pale-faced Crown Prince on his back… the Crown Prince unable to open his eyes from the rain washing over him, while Quan Yu carried the Crown Prince Consort, charging straight up the high steps under the rear guard protection of the patrol battalion.
The aged Imperial Teacher Old Tan was also being carried by a strong soldier, and even Old Fang was being jostled about dizzy and disoriented, his arms tightly wrapped around the soldier’s neck, constantly shouting “hurry” from his mouth.
“Have the archers prepare to support the Crown Prince’s entry into the hall!” Grand Princess commanded loudly.
Suddenly, Gao Demao’s sharp, joyful crying came from within the great hall: “His Majesty has awakened! His Majesty has awakened!”
The imperial physicians hurriedly knelt in panic before the emperor’s couch, taking the emperor’s pulse.
Grand Princess turned back, looking toward the swaying shadows within the hanging gauze curtains, her eyes ice-cold… waking up at this time would be worse than not waking up at all! When the emperor heard that Prince Liang had conspired with his legitimate son and the empress to design his fall from the horse, instigating Prince Xin and the empress to rebel while planning to be the mantis stalking the cicada, he would probably wish he could just sleep forever!
The Crown Prince, soaked like a drowned rat, was carried up the high steps by the panting Fan Yuhuai. When set down, he couldn’t stand due to weak legs.
That arrow from Prince Xin just now… had barely grazed past his ear. If not for his good fortune, after being drenched by this heavy rain, his corpse would probably be completely cold by now.
As soon as Quan Yu set down the Crown Prince Consort, she collapsed to the ground, her legs trembling, hands covering her abdomen while crying out about stomach pain.
“Quick! Quickly help the Crown Prince Consort inside to warm up and have an imperial physician examine her!” Grand Princess said urgently.
Only then did the Crown Prince come to his senses, nodding to Grand Princess: “Grand Princess…”
Imperial Teacher Old Tan climbed down from the soldier’s back and bowed to Grand Princess: “Grand Princess!”
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince, please go in and see His Majesty! His Majesty has awakened!” Grand Princess turned to instruct Nanny Jiang, “Go get dry clothes for the Crown Prince, Crown Prince Consort, and Imperial Teacher Old Tan!”
Hearing this, the Crown Prince hurriedly pushed away Fan Yuhuai, who was supporting him, cried out “Father Emperor,” and rushed into the great hall.
Hearing the Crown Prince inside the hall tearfully telling the emperor about Prince Xin’s rebellion and how he had barely managed to bring the patrol battalion into the palace to protect the emperor, Grand Princess fixed her gaze on Fan Yuhuai, who was equally soaked, and nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, Minister Fan! Minister Fan is bringing the patrol battalion here… we can indeed hold out for a while longer!”
Fan Yuhuai wiped the rainwater from his face with his hand and bowed to Grand Princess: “Grand Princess, please rest assured. Princess Zhenguo has instructed… This humble minister will certainly defend this hall to the death. Before Princess Zhenguo leads the twenty thousand soldiers of Anping Great Camp to rescue the emperor, we absolutely will not let the rebels advance even half a step into the great hall! Please, Your Highness, Grand Princess, and Imperial Teacher Old Tan, first enter the hall to take shelter.”
Hearing the four characters “Princess Zhenguo,” Grand Princess’s eyes welled up with tears as she gripped her staff firmly and nodded.
Fan Yuhuai clasped his fists in salute to Grand Princess and Imperial Teacher Old Tan, then turned and charged into the rain curtain. His hand gripped tightly to the sword at his waist, his momentum greatly rising as he shouted down the steps: “Soldiers of the patrol battalion, today we fight alongside the Imperial Guards for His Majesty and the Crown Prince! We swear to defend this hall to the death and absolutely cannot let it be breached! Princess Zhenguo has already left the city to lead twenty thousand soldiers of Anping Great Camp to rescue the emperor! Even if we die… we must use our corpses as walls! We must firmly block those rebel traitors outside this great hall! Everyone says… Princess Zhenguo is the legitimate eldest daughter of Prince Zhenguo’s mansion! Personally raised and taught by Prince Zhenguo Bai Weiting, who has never known defeat in our Great Jin! Victorious in every battle at the southern and northern frontiers!”
“But are we of the patrol battalion and Imperial Guards vegetarians? No! We also eat meat! We must kill several more rebels before Princess Zhenguo arrives, lest we be laughed at by Princess Zhenguo and the brothers of Anping Great Camp! Lest they think we of the patrol battalion and Imperial Guards have grown soft from living comfortably in this capital and have forgotten how to kill enemies!”
The more tense the moment, the more a general must face it with ease, so that the soldiers under his command would not fear.
As soon as Fan Yuhuai finished speaking, the Imperial Guards and patrol battalion soldiers below the high steps raised their weapons high and shouted three times…
“Kill the enemy!”
“Kill the enemy!”
“Kill the enemy!”
Prince Xin, still entangled with the rear guard patrol battalion, gripped his blood-dripping blade, thoroughly drenched by the heavy rain.
Hearing the sounds of battle at Wude Gate suddenly cease, he lifted his gloomy gaze through the rain curtain, glanced toward the direction of the emperor’s sleeping quarters, and said: “Withdraw! First, go join General Bi and General Min!”
Uncle had painstakingly paved this path for him. He had no way to turn back, and this battle must be won!
Once the great matter was settled, he would chop the Crown Prince into minced meat pieces by pieces, to see how he could still compete with him for the throne.
The general protecting Prince Xin shouted: “Withdraw!”
In the heavy rain, as soon as the generals of Anping Great Camp came out of the Court of Judicial Review, they heard that Princess Zhenguo wanted them to go to the East Gate. After thinking briefly… they knew that the twenty thousand soldiers of Anping Great Camp were at the East Gate. Now that such a major incident had occurred in the capital, Princess Zhenguo should be having them lead troops to rescue the emperor.