Liu Huanle raised his head to look at him, though there was fear in his eyes, there was no yielding: “This realm does not belong to you alone through merit. The five Xiongnu tribes, each one contributed their strength.”
“The heir His Majesty favored was never you!” Liu Huanle said. “If you could preserve the glory of the Xiongnu, it would be acceptable, but you cannot. In battles against the Zhao Family Army, we’ve retreated step by step, and now we’ve reached the critical moment of our tribe’s survival!”
He said sorrowfully, “Zhao Hanzhang has already captured Wang Jun, and Shi Lei is now working for her. We have nowhere left to retreat! We migrated from beyond the frontier into Bingzhou nearly a hundred years ago. Our people cannot return beyond the frontier to live that harsh and bitter life again. If we don’t want our tribe exterminated, surrender is the only option.”
Liu Cong was furious: “Nonsense! Even if we only have one county left, we will never retreat!”
“That’s because you cannot bear to part with the power in your hands!” Liu Huanle shouted. “Or rather, you cannot bear to die for your people. You’re afraid that if you surrender, Zhao Hanzhang will kill you just as you killed Emperor Jin!”
His thoughts exposed, Liu Cong flew into a rage. He turned and drew a guard’s sword, swinging it down. Liu Huanle’s many remaining words could not leave his mouth. His head rolled aside with a gurgling sound, his mouth still opening and closing unconsciously twice before stopping.
The other ministers who had been arrested along with him turned pale, trembling all over.
Liu Cong gave them no chance to beg for mercy or defend themselves, directly ordering “Kill them.” In less than half a quarter-hour, all the ministers in the hall who had participated in the rebellion were killed.
The other ministers watching from the side, as well as Empress Dowager Shan sitting in the seat of honor waiting to celebrate her birthday, turned pale and dared not make a sound.
Liu Cong, with his back to them, gave the order: “Close all city gates tightly, search the entire city for the Prince of Beihai!”
“Yes!”
Liu Yi and his group had seized a city gate early on. They knew they couldn’t hold it for long, so they split their forces into two groups—one went to mobilize troops to attack the palace, while the other led family members to evacuate through the city gate.
The people sent to capture Liu Yi and those preparing to attack the garden encountered each other halfway, and everyone started fighting right there in the street.
Before long, earth-shaking sounds of fighting and killing came from outside into the garden. Everyone’s faces turned even paler, and Empress Dowager Shan swayed unsteadily, both hands involuntarily clutching her skirt.
In her heart she kept cursing Liu Yi—she had told him to flee quickly, so why did he come back to attack?
His greatest military achievement was once persuading Zhao Hanzhang to negotiate peace. He was inferior to even Liu Cong’s eldest son—Liu Jie had at least been on the battlefield. How could he fight against Liu Cong?
Empress Dowager Shan’s eyes darkened, feeling that tonight both she and her son’s lives would end.
Liu Cong didn’t go out, only continuously sending people to gather information and make arrangements accordingly.
After he had arranged everything, only then did his gaze heavily turn back to look at everyone.
The remaining ministers and tribal leaders all knelt down, lowering their heads, not daring to look at him.
Liu Cong’s gaze slowly slid upward, landing on Empress Dowager Shan.
Empress Dowager Shan trembled slightly with tension, hesitating whether she should also kneel to beg for mercy.
While she was still hesitating, Liu Cong walked up step by step and grabbed Empress Dowager Shan’s hand. She shook all over, almost sliding down to kneel and beg for her life, but Liu Cong forcefully pulled her up with seeming smile that was not quite a smile, asking: “Why did Your Ladyship come to the banquet alone tonight? Where are your palace maids?”
Empress Dowager Shan said with trembling lips: “They’re… they’re in the room.”
“Oh?”
Liu Cong turned his head to look at the guards. A guard immediately knelt down and said: “The palace maid who tipped off the Prince of Beihai at the main gate is from the Empress Dowager’s palace.”
Liu Cong stared at Empress Dowager Shan. “What does Your Ladyship have to say?”
Empress Dowager Shan gritted her teeth and insisted: “I don’t know, when I came out, she was in the room…”
Liu Cong snorted coldly. “If Your Ladyship refuses to tell the truth, then you can only go back and wait quietly for news. You’d best pray that Seventh Brother still has some sense of sovereign-subject duty. Otherwise, I’ll have to bring Your Ladyship to the front lines to meet Seventh Brother. At that time, I won’t ask Your Ladyship again how your palace maid got to the main gate.”
Empress Dowager Shan began trembling violently, unable to utter a word.
Seeing she still wouldn’t confess, Liu Cong waved his hand, and guards immediately came forward to drag Empress Dowager Shan away.
Liu Cong frowned with displeasure: “Escort the Empress Dowager down.”
The guards then released her and stood aside, requesting her to go.
Empress Dowager Shan barely managed to stand steady and shakily followed the guards away.
The guards shut her in a room. As soon as the door closed, her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor.
This wasn’t the first time she’d been so close to death, but Empress Dowager Shan still couldn’t help being afraid. She didn’t want to be afraid—she wanted to be braver—but she was just so terrified.
Empress Dowager Shan worked hard to build up her mental fortitude, but in the end still couldn’t stand up. She simply crawled forward, supporting herself on the table to stand, then shakily sat in a chair.
After quite some time passed, she finally moved her body in the darkness. She heard the increasingly loud sounds of fighting and killing from outside. Was this her son attacking his way in?
She couldn’t help pricking up her ears to listen. Faintly she heard orderly and rapid footsteps. Empress Dowager Shan’s heart trembled. Finally she gritted her teeth and stood up. She lit a candle, opened the wardrobe, and fumbled inside to take out a white silk cord.
This was something she had prepared for herself after Liu Yuan’s death. She didn’t dare use it, but also didn’t dare not prepare it. Liu He was jealous of Liu Yi, and she had always feared Liu He would kill her, so she had chosen her method of death early on.
Liu Cong… she feared him even more.
Empress Dowager Shan bundled one end of the white silk into a ball, then carefully climbed onto the table and threw the silk upward. The white silk passed over the high beam and fell down. She untied the bundle and began making a knot.
As Empress Dowager Shan tied the knot, she cried, cursing Liu Yi in her heart: “I told you to leave, why did you have to come back?”
“Since you came back, it’s clear that in your heart there’s only grand ambitions, not your mother. Otherwise, if you lose this battle, you’ll certainly die. And if you die, what’s the point of my living?” Tears streamed down Empress Dowager Shan’s face. Her mind was occupied with cursing Liu Yi, not noticing the faint sounds at the window sill. “And if you don’t lose, I still can’t live. Otherwise if Liu Cong drags me to the front lines, wouldn’t that trap you between filial impiety and disloyalty?”
Her son could have a thousand reasons for failure, but Empress Dowager Shan absolutely could not let herself become that reason.
If one of the two had to die, or if one death meant two deaths, then it was better for just her to die.
Empress Dowager Shan finished tying the knot and tried putting her neck into it. She found this height was neither too high nor too low, just right. So she cried even harder. She touched the knot but couldn’t bear to put it around her neck, so she untied it first and tied it higher up. After testing it, she untied it again and tied it lower, tested again, and found she really couldn’t find any more excuses to delay. Only then did she tie it at just the right position and put her head through…
She closed her eyes tightly, steeling herself for quite a while. Finally she made up her mind to lift her feet from the table when her legs were grabbed by someone…
She was so frightened her eyes went wide, unable to make a sound. After being set down and having her mouth covered, the person quietly leaned close to her ear and said: “Your Ladyship, don’t be afraid. We are the Zhao Family Army, ordered to rescue you.”
Empress Dowager Shan’s eyes grew even wider. The Zhao Family Army was even managing to rescue her?