When three red-plumed urgent messengers holding torches knocked open the gates of the Yun estate, Yun Ye’s face was as pale as a sheet of paper. His hands trembled as he dared not open the leather tube before him. After taking a deep breath, he finally opened the tube and discovered inside an edict ordering the garrison troops from the thirty-six prefectures of Guanzhong to rush to the capital immediately. The format and specifications were all correct, except it was missing the Emperor’s vermilion endorsement and the seal of the Central Secretariat—only bearing the eight large characters “Receiving the Mandate of Heaven, Long Life and Eternal Prosperity” of the imperial jade seal.

Yun Ye closed the edict and with a single command, his household warriors swarmed forward and seized the three red-plumed messengers. Turning a deaf ear to their roaring protests, Yun Ye ordered with a dark expression that the guards escort these three messengers along with him into Chang’an.

Before leaving, he glanced at Liu Fang, who nodded imperceptibly. Only when Yun Ye saw Xiao Miao’s armor-clad figure appear in the courtyard did he finally mount Wang Cai and gallop urgently toward Chang’an.

His mind was in complete chaos along the way. The harder he tried to calm himself down, the more panicked he became. If not for his coordination with Wang Cai having reached an instinctive state, he would have fallen from his horse countless times already.

Who dared to issue him commands at a time like this? If it was the Emperor, he couldn’t possibly be unaware that Yun Ye could reject such an incomplete and deficient edict. If it wasn’t the Emperor but rather an order from Chengqian, then a private explanation would have arrived along with this edict. Apart from them, no one else had the authority to command him—not even Zhangsun had this right.

Could it be that someone had already seized control of Chang’an in the chaos? As long as Li Er still had breath in his body, no one could succeed. This wasn’t a matter of confidence but simple fact. No one understood every whisper of movement in Chang’an better than the Emperor. He himself had risen to power through rebellion—how could he possibly not guard against such things?

Fifty-seven household warriors, plus Yun Ye himself made fifty-eight people. The Marquis of Lantian, Yun Ye, could only possess sixty armored soldiers, which had to include himself. The reason he brought one fewer was to show reverence for imperial authority. He wasn’t the only one who did this—everyone with the right to maintain armored soldiers did the same. Propriety was forever indispensable.

Without looking carefully, even in the night one could see the brilliantly lit Chang’an City. Human shadows moved back and forth atop the city walls, weapons clanging. The entire city of Chang’an was like a primordial beast just awakened from slumber, stretching its terrifying claws and fangs.

Something had definitely happened—something major. Thinking of that damned barbarian monk, Yun Ye’s heart kept sinking. Though some doubt remained, tears seemed ready to flow again.

The great banner atop the city walls hadn’t changed, which gave him some comfort. The five-clawed golden dragon flag seemed even more ferocious in the firelight. Liu Jinbao, holding Yun Ye’s waist token, shouted loudly toward the Xiaowei guards already prepared to attack at the top of the walls: “The Marquis of Lantian, Minister of War Yun Ye, requests entry to the city!”

A flaming arrow whistled and embedded itself before Yun Ye’s horse, startling Wang Cai into neighing and retreating continuously. Yun Ye snatched the torch from a household warrior’s hand and illuminated his own figure and face. Before long, he heard the small side gate creak open. The city gate’s hinges were deliberately kept unoiled to create noise. Hearing such grating sounds on a night like this made Yun Ye’s heart even more irritable.

Riding swiftly into Chang’an, he found the streets everywhere filled with torch-bearing soldiers, their attitudes hostile and showing no recognition of authority. Yun Ye’s group was interrogated no fewer than three times. Only when Yun Ye lost his temper and used his whip on someone did anyone dare question them further. As they gradually approached the palace, his heart actually settled down—Qianniu Guards! These were the Emperor’s personal troops, and they still firmly held the palace, which meant the imperial family still controlled the inner palace.

Before the palace, there were many armor-clad people like Yun Ye. As Minister of War, he surprisingly didn’t recognize half of them. Seeing them enter the palace grounds even more smoothly than himself, he wanted to ask who these people were.

A man in armor rudely tried to push past Yun Ye’s horse, and was immediately struck on the head by Yun Ye’s whip. Yun Ye had expected the fellow to at least identify himself, but unexpectedly the man turned and began cursing—in authentic Guanzhong accent.

Sitting on his horse watching the man being beaten and rolling on the ground by his household warriors, Yun Ye asked the surrounding strangers who had intended to help: “Who the hell is this bastard?”

No one answered. The man on the ground, even under the savage kicks of countless feet, still managed to shout crude street insults like “Don’t let me catch you alone!” Only when Liu Jinbao placed his foot on the man’s foul mouth did silence finally come.

Getting no answer, Yun Ye simply pushed past countless people to enter the palace first. That crude fellow could be dealt with more thoroughly after sorting out what had happened here.

The three red-plumed messengers bound to the war horses saw Old Cao, the Palace Attendant guarding the palace gate—their direct superior—and immediately cried out their grievances at the top of their lungs.

They were all acquaintances. Old Cao couldn’t bring himself to be harsh and leaned close to Yun Ye, asking quietly: “What happened?”

“What happened? Old Cao, your gall is too big! You dare send me a troop deployment edict with improper seal and regulations? I came here to hold you accountable. If you can tell me what exactly happened in the palace, I’ll forget this matter and go directly to ask His Majesty about it, clearing your name in the process.”

Cao Zhan’s fat body involuntarily shivered. Gripping Yun Ye’s hand, he said: “Don’t ask. Even if you ask, I dare not say. His Majesty is currently in Wanmin Palace in a towering rage. You’d best not ask about this. Give me my men back and I’ll handle them myself. At a time like this, it’s better to have one less problem than one more.”

Cao Zhan wasn’t usually like this—normally he didn’t hide things from his brothers. His caution now suggested the matter was far from small. However, since Li Er could still rage in Wanmin Palace, it meant he was fine. As long as he was fine, what major trouble could Chang’an have? Only that edict was somewhat strange. These past days he’d been constantly worried about Li Er’s life and death. Now at least there was definite news—whether alive or dead, it was a conclusion. No need to keep guessing wildly up and down. His whole person seemed to relax.

“Hurry and go in. The assembly drums at the third watch are nearly finished. If you don’t go in now, be careful you don’t get hung on a flagpole later. Premier Fang and the retired Premier Du have already gone in, along with all the generals of the Sixteen Guards and every general in the capital who commands troops. You’re the last one.”

Hearing Old Cao say this, Yun Ye quickly dismounted, tossed the reins to Liu Jinbao, and hurried into the palace. As for the three red-plumed messengers, Old Cao would naturally handle them. But that foul-mouthed fellow still had great use—he couldn’t be let go easily. As Minister of War, not recognizing so many generals was an utter disgrace. He had to find out where they’d crawled out from.

Just emerging from the corridor, he was startled by the neatly arranged corpses before him—fully two hundred or more people.

Crouching down to examine one corpse carefully, he discovered the wound was at the waist and ribs. After looking at several more corpses, he understood completely—this entire group were death-sworn warriors who, seeing the situation turn unfavorable, immediately chose suicide, striking cleanly and decisively.

Assassins? Yun Ye immediately stood up, instinctively moving away from these people. Seeing the generals filing into Wanmin Palace one after another, he dared not delay and ran up the steps, following behind someone he didn’t recognize into Wanmin Palace.

Wanmin Palace was silent as a tomb. Arm-thick whale oil candles formed candle mountains that illuminated the entire hall brilliantly. Many people kept pushing forward—having seen the assassins’ corpses, they wanted to demonstrate loyalty before Li Er. Yun Ye pressed his body against the curtains on the side, hiding in the shadows to carefully observe the expression of every person in the great hall.

Li Er sat bare-headed upon the dragon throne, still wearing a gray-white monk’s robe. The green jade hairpin on his head glittered under the candlelight, making it impossible to see his expression clearly.

Fang Xuanling’s face was, as always, expressionless. Today the old man wore two-piece leather armor with a sword hanging at his waist. His tall hat had been replaced with a silk cord binding his hair in a topknot, making his entire bearing appear quite efficient.

Li Chengqian stood opposite Fang Xuanling with a dark expression. Li Tai seemed to keep his head down looking at the floor, constantly rubbing the golden bricks of the hall with his foot, appearing extremely troubled.

Li Er, who had been resting with closed eyes, suddenly opened them and asked loudly: “The assembly drums have ceased. Those who fail to arrive shall be executed. Where is Yun Ye? Has the order I commanded you to issue mobilizing the garrison troops been dispatched?”

Unexpectedly, the first person Li Er asked about upon raising his head was himself. Yun Ye quickly stepped forward, took out the edict from his breast, and holding it up with both hands, said to Li Er: “Your Majesty, this edict bears only the state seal. First, it lacks Your Majesty’s personal vermilion endorsement. Second, it lacks the seal of the Central Secretariat. Third, it lacks the annotation of the Censorate’s Reminder Official. It is truly a three-deficient edict. Your subject dares not obey this decree!”

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui almost simultaneously opened their eyes. Chu Suiliang, the Reminder Official of the Censorate, also stepped forward. They intended to examine at the first opportunity this edict that had reached the Minister of War’s hands without passing through the Central Secretariat or the Censorate. But without the Emperor’s word, they could not move.

Duan Hong immediately took the edict from Yun Ye’s hands, opened it, and showed it to the Emperor.

Li Er glanced at the edict and coughed lightly: “It was an oversight on my part. Not deploying troops is also acceptable. With all of you here, the palace’s security can surely be maintained.”

Fang Xuanling stepped forward to memorialize: “Your Majesty, Marquis Yun’s rejection of the edict is within his authority. If necessary, this old minister believes the Imperial City’s defenses should still be strengthened. Since the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the armies of the Sixteen Guards have fought for the nation, with officers and soldiers suffering heavy losses that have never been replenished. Summoning the sons of Guanzhong now to fill the vacancies in the Sixteen Guards is also proper and fitting.”

Li Er shook his head: “I have resolved to lighten corvée labor and reduce taxes. How can I break faith with the people? Speak no more of this matter. I summoned you beloved ministers here to have you see those corpses outside the hall. I can tell you clearly—those people were all death-sworn warriors, highly skilled, able to infiltrate the palace without detection. Tell me, what is the reason for this?”

Yun Ye had originally wanted to hide his body back behind the curtains again. At a time like this, whoever stuck their neck out was a fool. So although the generals below discussed in whispers, not one dared speak loudly. Suddenly he felt as if someone was watching him. Looking around, he discovered Li Chengqian facing sideways to Li Er, silently mouthing toward him: “Save me!”

Yun Ye’s entire body froze as if struck by lightning.