Book 12: Chapter 57: Burning Palace, Killing Soldiers, Watching Mountain
Book 12: Chapter 57: Burning Palace, Killing Soldiers, Watching Mountain
Everyone in the Fragrance Palace, the maids, the inner servants, even the imperial physician who had entered the Fragrance Palace before, after Yun Fei’s death, was summoned into the Fragrance Palace, and then all of them were killed within it. Then, the entire Fragrance Palace was sealed up, but those people’s corpses were all left inside, not cleaned up.
If the emperor didn’t issue a decree, no one would dare touch those corpses even though they were fully aware that in this type of midsummer weather, in less than two days, some unpleasant smells would quickly spread.
“Just burn it down.”
When the Central Continent Guard’s silver-armored officer sent over by Wen Xuanshu got up, Yunqin Emperor who had an overcast cold smile on his face instead coldly spat out these three words.
The silver-armored Central Continent Guard officer who had just gotten up trembled. He couldn’t understand the emperor’s intentions through just these three words.
“Send someone to burn down the entire Fragrance Palace.”
Yunqin Emperor didn’t give him another look. He walked past his side, coldly adding this with a cold and fierce voice.
…
More than twenty civil officials gathered at a certain street entrance, sitting on the ground in a row, blocking the rows of Central Continent Guards whose bodies flickered with silver radiance.
Lu Miedi’s palms gently caressed the rough metal surface of the fixed large scale crossbow on the corner tower. When his skin moved across the metal surface, there were actually some noises sounding. When one looked down from this corner tower he was in, those civil officers’ figures on that Central Continent City street couldn’t be seen at all, only able to vaguely make out that this area looked like it was plugged up by a lump of mercury.
He was a Central Continent City Defense Army Commander, also dressed in silver armor right now. The full bearded, straightforward looking officer standing at his side was his deputy general Guan Yong.
The way civil officials and military officers conducted themselves were indeed entirely different.
Back when Inspection Division was set up, the day Yunqin statesman Jiang Rui died, an important Central Continent Guards Defense Army Commander Lu Miedi and Guan Yong had previously had a conversation on this northern corner tower[1]. Back then, Lu Miedi already felt like many civil officials in the royal court were stupid and unreasonable, all of them doing some meaningless things.
However, at this time, when they saw this place being plugged up, even though Lu Miedi still inwardly cursed those people for being stupid, cursing those civil officials for having shit for brains, inside, he didn’t carry a trace of mockery or ridicule.
It was because whenever this type of time arrived, in the royal court, it was instead always these civil officials who stood out first, doing some things that even though they knew were useless, even though they knew they would die by doing them, they still insisted on doing them.
“Sir, everything has been prepared.”
The fiery tempered Guan Yong displayed a rare showing of patience today. He also saw those soldiers that were stopped, as well as the flickering metal radiance in many places within Central Continent City, reporting this in a quiet voice.
“Alright, let’s head down.”
Lu Miedi took a deep breath, his expression cold and fierce. However, his voice unconsciously trembled a bit.
Six hundred Central Continent Guards dressed in silver armor were already awaiting his order below the corner tower.
All Central Continent Guards had to experience careful selection, so there wasn’t a single one of these soldiers who weren’t robust and strong, moreover full of unswerving expressions.
They only knew that great changes were definitely going to happen today in Central Continent City, but they didn’t know what kind of changes were taking place, didn’t know what kind of missions they were going to take on next.
Under the lead of Lu Miedi and Guan Yong who descended from the corner tower, these Central Continent Guards quickly entered Central Continent Guard Defense Army’s north defending camp.
The massive Central Continent City had a total of three sets of city walls.
One was Central Continent City Wall, one was the old town city wall from before Central Continent CIty’s scale reached its current state. The last was precisely the Imperial Palace City Wall.
The old city wall’s corner towers and other past garrisoned locations that were now vacant now became some camp regions for the Central Continent Guards.
Right now, in the City Defense Army’s northern camp, there were a total of a thousand and three hundred soldiers who still hadn’t put on their armor. When these soldiers received orders, after eating their fill, they would all get dressed and carry out their tasks. However, at this time, these thousand three hundred soldiers who didn’t put on their armor all became drowsy, lacking strength.
When many people realized that something wasn’t right, they began to shout angrily, rushing out of the resting camp and began to seize weapons, moreover began to fight against the six hundred Central Continent Guards who were waiting sternly. Lu Miedi and Guan Yong led this troop to the camp region.
“Kill these rebel soldiers who aren’t dressed.”
While looking at the complicated expression on Lu Miedi, Guan Yong clenched his teeth, wishing to speak in Lu Miedi’s place. However, Lu Miedi instead forcefully clenched his fists, and then waved forward, giving this order.
The six hundred silver-armored, long spear wielding Central Continent Guards revealed hesitation. In their eyes, these were all Yunqin people, to the extent where many of them were even people they normally recognized. Even if they faced enemies several times their own numbers, they would rush out without any hesitation. However, at this time, they felt shock and hesitation inside, unable to move forward.
“These are the Emperor’s orders.” Lu Miedi spoke out again.
Guan Yong released a fierce shout, and then charged. While hesitating, the six hundred Central Continent Guards finally chose to obey and carry out the military orders, charging towards those unarmed and defenseless soldiers, unleashing a bloody massacre.
Lu Miedi didn’t move.
He only watched this scene of blood blossoming before him.
He understood extremely clearly that the things that happened here were only a small corner of the dispute between the Emperor and some others. Unlike those civil officials, he was a soldier. The victory or defeat he believed in wasn’t in this moment right now, he wouldn’t do things like pointless sacrifices. That was why after Inspection Division was established, what he had to do was already set and clear: Obey Wen Xuanshu, watch Wen Xuanshu.
From that time forth, he no longer bickered with momentary glory or infamy.
…
Just like the day Jiang Family unleashed a decisive and ferocious retaliation, most of the civilians in Central Continent City didn’t have time to find out what was happening.
It was because the population of millions in Central Continent City really was just too vast. Some places flowed with blood, but some places were totally oblivious. The marketplaces carried on like usual, some middle-aged women by the side of some rivers still calmly washing clothes like before.
Liu Xueqing[2] walked out from a private residence, entering a carriage that had already been arranged.
Under the sounds of horse hooves, his carriage that was escorted by several Inspection Division bodyguards began to speed towards Central Continent Imperial City.
After Jiang Rui died, even though he already moved from his post as Justice Sector’s Imperial Censor to Inspection Division, becoming one of the giants of the Inspection Division, obtaining greater authority, moreover looked like the trusted aide of Wen Xuanshu and the emperor, all of the officials in the royal court knew that he was upright and honorable. That was why after Jiang Rui died, he formlessly became the leader of all of Yunqin’s clear stream and civil officials, his influence in the royal court becoming great.
When he heard his majesty declare Zhong Family’s betrayal, some troops from Central Continent Guards directly rushing into some of Zhong Family’s residences before anyone could react, sealing up their land, and then began to search homes and confiscate possessions, hunting them down and slaughtering them, his face became ashen, the rice bowl in his hands directly falling to the ground.
It had nothing to do with his personal situation.
Whenever there were any great changes in the royal court, an upright official like him would have the clearest conscious, the last one to need to worry about himself. What he worried about was only the massive Central Continent City, this massive cornerstone of the Yunqin Empire.
Zhong Family was in charge of casting money and transport. Most of their disciples and attendants came from Immortal Academy.
The emperor’s actions weren’t solely going against Zhong Family, it was also acting against Immortal Academy, pulling out his own cornerstone!
Only a mad emperor would expose the grudges in the palace under open daylight. This was especially in this type of situation where Yunqin and Great Mang’s battle situation was still in a statemate, even if everything stated in the emperor’s decree was real, the emperor had to adopt some more dependable methods. Moreover, even though all of the straight and upright civil officials seemed foolish in the eyes of some soldiers, as long as one stuck to their own morals and beliefs, then they weren’t truly stupid.
He completely refused to believe that Zhong Family would truly rebel, which was why the very first thing he had to do after dropping his rice bowl, was to head to the Imperial Palace, to carry out a remonstration.
The number of mysterious shadows in today’s Central Continent City seemed especially high.
The moment this speeding carriage entered the city’s main street, making their way through a still extremely calm street, several black clothed individuals suddenly followed along the rooftop black tiles, leaping down, instantly landing on this carriage.
The eyes of Liu Xueqing in the carriage immediately contracted. The instant he heard the irregular noise, he saw a masked black clothed man’s dagger cut through the carriage curtains, coldly looking at himself!
The dagger’s cold blade was releasing drops of blood.
Liu Xueqing didn’t know who it was that incited this type of assassination towards him, but just from the powerful aura released from this assassin’s body, his body in the carraige already couldn’t move at all, completely unable to struggle free from the enemy’s grasp.
He watched as this masked black clothed man’s dagger was about to ruthless stab into his body. The masked black clothed man’s entire body suddenly trembled, an even greater wave of power smashing into the carriage, completely blasting the shaft of the carriage apart. The masked black clothed man turned around, borrowing the surging of his body’s soul force to leap out from above the carriage. However, the instant he turned around, his body separating an inch from the carriage, a sword tip already came out of his chest.
Boiling hot blood scattered over Liu Xueqing’s body. Liu Xueqing who was stunned by this assassin’s soul force wanted to remain conscious, but when the masked assassin’s body lightly fell into his chest, he fainted, losing consciousness inside the carriage’s pool of blood.
…
“According to his majesty’s will, those who stand in the army’s way are assisting the rebels. They will be executed without discussion!”
The moment Liu Xueqing suffered an assassination from who knew what power, and was then saved by some other unknown power, in that mercury plugged street, a silver-armored officer took a deep breath, and then slowly said this to the twenty or so civil officers seated on the ground.
The twenty or so civil officers’ faces became increasingly pale. However, not a single person stood up from the ground, instead, these people’s hands clasped together.
The silver-armored high ranking officer closed his eyes, no longer looking.
Many silver-armored soldiers also closed their eyes, holding their ice-cold weapons as they advanced.
The silver metallic stream passed over these civil officials’ bodies, hot blood scattering across the bluestone with pu pu sounds.
…
Wen Xuanshu was standing on a bridge outside the Imperial Palace’s gates’ main axis.
A refined white clothed scholar appeared in his line of sight, walking up to the bridge, to his face. He bowed slightly and said with a calm low voice, “His majesty has decisively issued this type of decree.”
“He has already gone mad, but there are some areas where he isn’t stupid. We cannot go crazy like him.”
Wen Xuanshu calmly looked at this white clothed scholar, saying, “He will watch me… those officials in the royal court will continue to watch me, so I cannot guide the wrath of those people onto myself. That is why this type of killing all who block the street, scaring some people here, by making the emperor feel that we respect his wishes and that we aren’t stirring up trouble for our own benefits and our own reputation, it is already enough. Have those people properly deal with those civil officials’ corpses. Also, afterwards, you have to control Di Choufei and the others, don’t let them take the chance to kill those officials who are normally at odds with us… On the contrary, you have to do your best to protect some people.”
The white clothed scholar nodded, bowing and leaving.
…
Di Choufei was currently in Central Continent City.
Most of his subordinates were already cooperating with Wen Xuanshu and the emperor in carrying out the most cruel and bloody massacre in Central Continent City ever since Yunqin Empire was established.
However, right now, he didn’t act like Wen Xuanshu thought, taking this chance to kill some more of his enemies.
Instead, he was strolling about, observing the mountains.
He was looking at that great mountain behind Central Continent Imperial City that seemed to support all of Yunqin Empire… True Dragon Mountain.
For him, this was the best timing to enter True Dragon Mountain.
1. https://www.wuxiaworld.com/novel/immortal-devil-transformation/idt-chapter-533
2. Chief Inspector of the Inspection Division B2C19