The night of the 15th day of the second month, 39th year of the Great Peace Era.
Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The rich scent of medicinal herbs hung heavily in the air, filling the entire palace. From the emperor's bed, a faint cough could be heard now and then.
Emperor Taikang lay against soft silk pillows while two imperial palace elites channeled their internal energy into him, keeping him alive.
A long time passed.
Wei Yang stepped inside and knelt to pay his respects. "Your Majesty, I've made all the necessary arrangements for what comes after."
The emperor nodded. "That eunuch in the Cold Palace isn't bad. It seems he's trained in Consort Ming's Seven Forms of Flowing Water technique. It's a pity he lacks ambition. But if he helps Wu'er in the future, he could be a valuable asset."
With a wave of his hand, the emperor signaled the attendants. Two young eunuchs brought in two cups of poisoned wine.
"There are two cups here," the emperor said calmly. "One for Empress Qi. The other for the Empress Dowager. Are you willing to carry this out?"
Poisoned wine for the Empress and the Empress Dowager?
The moment the words were spoken, the eunuchs in the hall froze in shock.
But Wei Yang accepted the wine without hesitation. "I won't fail Your Majesty's trust."
Carrying the wine, he led a group of eunuchs from the Imperial Guard toward Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager had been gravely ill for four years. Ever since Consort Qi was made empress, she had stayed there to care for her.
Suddenly, a withered old eunuch appeared out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the emperor. With a sigh, he said, "Your Majesty, why go this far? The Empress Dowager doesn't have many years left. To kill one's own mother; that's an unpardonable offense. And if the Crown Prince ever finds out about Empress Qi, he'll surely grow to resent you."
The emperor smiled. "I'm already a dying man. Let all the sins be mine alone. It doesn't matter anymore. I've endured the meddling of the inner palace for too long. The Crown Prince will understand. I want to leave him a kingdom free of shackles."
The old eunuch could only sigh again.
Emperor Taikang couldn't help but ask again, "Master Rongku, do immortals truly exist in this world? If such beings walk among us, perhaps they could still save this broken body of mine. Then I wouldn't have to take this path of sin."
"Unspoken, unknowable, not to be presumed," the old eunuch Rongku simply said. "I've pursued the martial path my entire life and never reached its limit. How could one hope to grasp the elusive way of immortals?"
Hearing this, Emperor Taikang fell silent.
The Hall of Mental Cultivation, too, sank into stillness.
That very night, a meteor streaked across the sky and fell to the north of the capital. The Astronomical Bureau issued a grim warning: a cursed star has fallen from heaven: the nation is on the verge of chaos.
By dawn, news broke from the palace.
The Empress and the Empress Dowager had both died suddenly during the night in Cining Palace.
When Emperor Taikang was informed, he was overcome with grief. Crying out that he had failed as a son, he coughed up three mouthfuls of blood and collapsed, unconscious. From that point on, he could no longer recognize anyone. The Imperial Medical Bureau was helpless.
Consort Minshu stepped in to carry out the Empress's duties and urgently summoned the Crown Prince to return from the north.
At noon the next day, Chancellor Lu entered the palace in full armor, leading all court officials to seek audience with the emperor. That same afternoon, word spread like wildfire across the capital: Emperor Taikang was on the brink of death and would not survive beyond three days.
The Imperial Guards took over defense of the capital. Martial law was declared.
By evening the next day, Noble Consort Lu was found dead in the Cold Palace. Another sudden death.
Soon after, rumors began to swirl: a traitor had infiltrated the palace. The Empress Dowager, the Empress, and Noble Consort Lu had all been murdered, and even the emperor was now in the traitor's hands. The enemy, it was said, intended to kill the emperor and install a puppet ruler.
Panic spread. The capital grew more unstable by the hour.
....
The midnight of the 17th day of the second month, in the 39th year of the Great Peace Era.
Boom!
A thunderous crash echoed from the Meridian Gate of the imperial palace. The gate had collapsed.
Then, loud and unified chants echoed throughout the capital: "The traitors plan to assassinate the emperor tonight! Chancellor Lu bears the emperor's secret decree; march to the palace and save the throne!"
"Chancellor Lu bears the emperor's secret decree; march to the palace and save the throne!"
Massive waves of troops surged through the streets, heading straight for the Meridian Gate.
The fighting broke out almost instantly across the entire capital.
The Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Guard, the Eastern Depot, the Department of Cavalry and Infantry, the City Watch, and the Forbidden Army... all were mobilized.
Amid the chaos, countless martial masters appeared, darting across rooftops like shadows. Some took advantage of the confusion to loot and plunder, profiting in secret.
Before long, new cries echoed from the direction of the palace:
"The Emperor has issued a decree. Chancellor Lu is rebelling against the throne! His crimes are unforgivable! The Emperor calls on all martial heroes to enter the palace, defend the dynasty, and whoever slays the traitor Lu shall be named a king in his own right!"
"The Emperor has decreed. Chancellor Lu is a traitor!"
At the sound of this, several martial masters erupted with overwhelming aura, rushing toward the palace like a tidal wave.
...
Outside the capital, atop the peak of Luobai Mountain, Li Qing stood at a high vantage point, quietly watching the fires consume the capital. Zhang Yong stood beside him.
After leaving the palace, Li Qing hadn't lingered in the city. He had brought Zhang Yong and the family of Wang Li's son to a nearby village at the foot of Luobai Mountain, choosing a life in hiding.
Wei Yang's sister had been buried here on the mountain. Her grave was unmarked, but Li Qing had found it.
"Little Li," said Zhang Yong, now fifty-seven and clearly showing his age, "you think His Majesty will make it through the night?"
"Let's just watch for now."
Li Qing didn't answer directly. At this moment, his heart was far from calm.
In the darkness, he could sense an overwhelming number of martial masters. Quite a few had fully opened all eight vessels.
But even these peak-tier masters were falling easily under a hail of arrows from military formations.
In a clash between armies, even a single peak-level master could only do so much.
The world was too dangerous for recklessness. Even the peak-level masters who had only opened two vessels had to stay in hiding.
No matter how powerful, martial strength remained a mortal force. Li Qing reminded himself: Until I reach the Xiantian stage, I will not step into the martial world.
From his high vantage point, Li Qing spotted Wei Yang. His unit stood out, around two hundred strong, all dressed in purple with stark white hair. They stormed out from the Meridian Gate, cutting straight through Chancellor Lu's rebel forces, fighting their way to the gates of the Chancellor's residence.
But then, from Chancellor Lu's residence, another group charged out. Also white-haired and clad in white robes. They shattered Wei Yang's formation in turn.
The White Lotus Sect!
These were the White Lotus Sect's death warriors. Men who had also trained in the Twelve Golden Needles Meridian technique, and they were aiding Chancellor Lu.
After the death warriors appeared, more and more White Lotus masters emerged across the city, all heading toward the palace to join the fight.
The balance was tipping.
Li Qing narrowed his eyes and murmured, "Tonight, Chancellor Lu has won."
"How could that be…" Zhang Yong's voice trembled. A former eunuch, he naturally sided with Emperor Taikang. "His Majesty struck first to force Chancellor Lu into open rebellion. How could it end in total defeat?"
"I said Chancellor Lu has won tonight," Li Qing replied, thoughtful. "As for who wins in the end. That's still undecided."
Watching the night's chaos unfold from a distance, Li Qing began to understand the emperor's true intention.
As the saying goes: From destruction comes creation.
In the thirty-nine-year Taikang era, the emperor effectively ruled for just seven years. The court, from top to bottom, had already been deeply riddled with corruption by various forces, full of holes and flaws.
Emperor Taikang's true intention had been to use this night of rebellion to draw out all the hidden powers in the shadows, force them into the open, and then wipe them out in one sweeping strike to lighten the burden for the Crown Prince.
Li Qing also guessed the truth: the Empress Dowager and the Empress had both been given death by the Emperor's own hand. It was his way of paving the road ahead, leaving behind a clean and uncontested imperial legacy for his son.
To be honest, in this moment, Li Qing felt a flicker of respect for Emperor Taikang.
The man had spent his life being weak. And yet, at the very end, he had finally found the courage to act.
One bold move, and perhaps it was enough to create a different future for the next-generation dynasty.
"Does that mean His Majesty still has a chance?" Zhang Yong asked in surprise. "Is he only pretending to be ill? Maybe he secretly summoned loyal troops from the provinces to surround the capital?"
"That must be it! There's definitely a Xiantian grandmaster inside the palace. If that grandmaster already helped the emperor escape, then once the reinforcements arrive, Chancellor Lu won't stand a chance!" Zhang Yong lit up, visibly hopeful.
Li Qing shook his head.
"You're assuming Chancellor Lu is a fool,
"If that were really the case, why would Chancellor Lu even dare to rebel in the first place?
"If he dared to rebel, then His Majesty must already be dead."
"Then what hope is left?" asked Zhang Yong.
"I don't know. But I'm certain the emperor had a final move prepared. We'll know once the morning court assembles. All we can do is wait and listen...."
The chaos in the capital raged on, continuing until dawn, when it finally began to quiet down.
Blood stained the streets of the capital. Corpses lay strewn across the Imperial Road.
DONG!
The bell for morning court tolled, echoing across the city. Officials left their residences, uneasy, and made their way toward the palace.
Li Qing did not enter the city. He remained in the small village outside the capital, waiting for the turmoil to pass. He had already paid the Tiger Might Escort Agency with silver, entrusting them to recover Wei Yang's body.
They would bring it to him when the city calmed.
The capital was far too dangerous now for him to attempt it himself.
By midday, the final word from the capital arrived.
An Eastern Depot eunuch paraded through the streets, carrying Chancellor Lu's severed head and proclaiming the decree to all corners:
"Chancellor Lü has committed treason. At the first quarter of the chen hour, he was executed!"
"Chancellor Lü has committed treason. At the first quarter of the chen hour, he was executed!"
….
TLer: Chen hour means 7 to 9 a.m.
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