Chapter 72
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Zhao Yuan was surrounded inside and outside the hall, they had already used their last resort. Jing Wang was the first to shout, “Old Five, offered a toast don’t reject it to drink a punishment toast!”
Zhao Yuan just sneered, calmly saying, “Alright.”
He turned around and stood there, his face changing to a chilling expression. His cold gaze swept over the faces of everyone in the hall, all of whom looked like they were waiting to catch a turtle in a jar.
“Well, what do you want to do? Kill me?”
Upon hearing this, the four of them stared at him with wide eyes. They knew that if they were to truly make a move at this moment, it would be a lose-lose situation for both sides.
With the men he had prepared today, it would be more than enough to trap Zhao Yuan. However, if they were to try to take the life of the Regent King, it would require a great deal of effort. Furthermore, most of the civil and military officials in the court now only listened to the orders of the Regent King. If they dared to kill him, it would immediately cause chaos in the world.
None of them had the ability to restore order to the country once it was in chaos. How could they dare to provoke public anger? If they could take the life of Zhao Yuan and seize power, there would be no need to rely on the plan of Li Yi’s rebellion.
The key was to destroy the foundation of Zhao Yuan’s reputation, which was the crucial factor in this situation.
“Fifth Brother, don’t act impulsively,” said Ning Wang, who stepped forward to mediate the situation. Although he was not as skilled in leading troops as Jing Wang, let alone Zhao Yuan, he had both wisdom and strategy.
For the past two years of peace, Ning Wang had been building his own power, working hard in various ways. Now that he had seen the possibility of forming an alliance with the Shen family and had surpassed Jing Wang, he had quietly become the leader among the princes.
“But this is a matter of great importance. I’m afraid you’ll act in your own interest. If you let the criminal escape, wouldn’t that be a disaster? It’s better for Fifth Brother to sit here and wait with us for a while. In the time it takes for a few cups of tea, when the person is brought here and questioned thoroughly, it won’t take more than a few hours. When the time comes, Fifth Brother can go wherever he wants and I’ll send you there.”
The doors of the hall were tightly closed, and Zhao Yuan stood silently in the shadows, listening to everything. The others thought he was acquiescing, but he remained silent.
Shen Zhi turned her head and gestured to the warm palace on the side. The little eunuch immediately wanted to leave the hall to find someone to pass on the order to capture Li Yi.
However, when the man had just walked halfway, a cold glint suddenly flashed through the hall, and dozens of pairs of eyes stared in shock.
A stream of blood, a zhang high, spurted into the air, and the red spray hit the white pepper wall three chi away. The little eunuch’s neck tilted and he fell to the ground with a bang, already dead.
But the blood was still gushing out.
“Zhao Yuan! You!”
“Old Five!”
Both Shen Zhi and Jing Wang stood up in shock at the same time.
No one had expected Zhao Yuan to take out his sword and kill someone directly in front of the Empress Dowager and the princes without saying a word.
Zhao Yuan turned around, his face showing no signs of killing intent, only his eyes were as dark as a bottomless abyss. He gently pulled up the crimson silk dragon sleeve, covering the sword blade, and calmly wiped away the remaining blood.
This was the Empress Dowager’s Ningan Palace, and Zhao Yuan had just killed someone in front of everyone. This was a rebellion.
Shen Zhi slapped the table and randomly pointed to a group of people surrounding Zhao Yuan, “Go! Spread my orders and bring the person from the Regent’s Palace!”
The twenty or so people brought by the three kings were all carefully selected guards, and even three to five of them facing a group of imperial guards would not be afraid. It was only because no one in the palace was allowed to carry weapons that they gathered more people.
The eunuch who was pointed at was indeed agile, and had already evaded Zhao Yuan’s attack with ease. The person near him also cooperated well and skillfully covered him with their attacks.
Seeing that the eunuch was about to rush out of the hall, Zhao Yuan chased after him, his long sword like a spiritual snake, piercing through the eunuch’s back and pinning him to the door. He then changed his sword style, turned around, and in the blink of an eye, took the life of the person who was assisting him.
The blood dripped from the consecutive door panels like newly painted red paint, but it was actually hot human blood.
“Make way. Or die cleanly,” Zhao Yuan said lightly, his expression and posture were as if he was asking whether to go see a play or drink tea.
Although he appeared indifferent and relaxed on the outside, his inner turmoil had already burnt his insides to ashes. The ashes of last night’s incident had not yet been extinguished, and he had tried to avoid it many times, but in the end, these people had completely ignited him.
During the scorching hot summer, everyone felt as if the main hall of the Ningan Palace had become the Palace of the King of H*ll, with a chilling atmosphere that made their bones tremble.
If they were to leave the hall now, they would all have a chance to live. However, today’s events had caused the empress dowager and the princes to lose face and suffer a humiliating defeat. Not to mention dragging Zhao Yuan off his horse, even Li Yi would probably escape unscathed.
Shen Zhi watched as Zhao Yuan repeatedly slaughtered in her palace, as if he was in a deserted place. The empress dowager shook her hand and words spewed out from between her teeth, “Whoever dares to let Zhao Yuan go, die–!”
Zhao Yuan turned around and hooked his mouth. Yesterday, he had even spoken of restoring the dynasty. So today, he would start by killing all the people in this hall. It was a good way to begin.
The beast that had already surfaced could no longer be put back into its cage. H*ll had opened, and there was no way out.
Zhao Yuan continued to take the lives of two more people in succession, and the situation in the hall suddenly reversed. There was no longer any talk of not allowing Zhao Yuan to leave. Over a dozen eunuchs had already turned into a group of ants, one after another…
Broken limbs, maimed bodies, and blood everywhere. First, they gathered together, and then they crisscrossed and flowed through the entire hall. Even the tightly packed seams between the golden bricks were infiltrated with blood stains.
Various screams filled the air, and the smell of blood permeated it. Internal organs spilled out, the stench so strong it made people nauseous.
There were all kinds of shameful things pouring out of their bodies, yellow, white, and everything in between, painting the place to be a picture of h*ll.
Quickly, the stacked corpses formed an entrance resembling the gates of the underworld. Without hesitation, Zhao Yuan stepped forward, heading straight towards the main seat in the golden hall, seeking to claim a life!
“Old Five, are you crazy?!”
Among the three princes, both Jing Wang and Ning Wang drew their weapons, no longer concerned about anything else, and desperately tried to stop Zhao Yuan. Their swords clashed with a piercing sound, piercing through the hearts and chilling the soul.
Ning Wang was slightly slower by half a beat, and his left arm was already cut. He quickly evaded to the side, and blood gushed out, splattering behind him.
As blood splattered on her body, Shen Zhi couldn’t bear it any longer and let out a piercing scream.
The four palace doors were violently pushed open from the outside.
A surge of warmth flooded in, dispelling the cold atmosphere in the hall. Wei Che led the Imperial Guards and rushed in, followed by the Emperor himself, walking hastily.
Even though everyone present had experienced battles on the battlefield and witnessed various scenes, they were all stunned at the sight before them.
It was like the underworld, not the main hall of the palace.
If they were a little later…
Zhao Heng had lingering fears in his heart. The Empress Dowager and the princes had no idea who Li Yi was, yet they dared to attack. If they had really pushed Zhao Yuan too far…at this moment, the emperor silently thanked God for protection.
Zhao Heng saw that Su Wang still had his sword out and quickly said to him, “Li Yi is with me, everything is alright.”
Zhao Yuan gradually came back to his senses when he heard this. Unexpectedly, Shen Zhi was not an ordinary woman. She had the courage to speak to the emperor even after what had just happened. Her voice was trembling when she spoke, but when she thought of the situation just now, she shouted in a hoarse voice, “Zhao Yuan has rebelled! Your Majesty, kill this traitor and Li Yi!”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng didn’t have time to care about Shen Zhi and immediately turned to look at Zhao Yuan. He saw that Zhao Yuan was looking at Shen Zhi as if he were looking at a dead person.
This was just adding more trouble.
The Emperor urgently said, “The Empress Dowager has lost her mind. Help her to rest! Everyone else can leave! The Regent Prince will come with me.”
They needed to separate everyone quickly.
Wei Che stood beside the Emperor, protecting him closely. Seeing the current state of Su Wang, it was hard to say whether there would be any changes. Zhao Xi was so anxious that he broke out in a cold sweat, while Yuchi Rui stayed in the corner, calculating. If the lord really rebelled, would he have a chance against Wei Che? He also thought about how many brave men were under the lord’s command. If the lord were to become emperor…just thinking about it made him feel excited deep down.
From the beginning of emperors, which man did not have such ambition?
However, Su Wang suddenly sheathed his sword and threw it to Wei Che.
“Clean it and send it back to the mansion.”
The Emperor and Wei Che both breathed a sigh of relief. Zhao Yuan took the initiative to disarm, and this almost hopeless situation had finally passed.
Zhao Yuan took a few steps away from the horrific scene behind him and knelt before the Emperor. His voice and demeanor had returned to their usual calmness.
“I will change my clothes first, Your Majesty.”
If he were to appear in his current state, he would probably scare Li Yi.
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