Chapter 786: Chapter 489: The Empress Returns (6k)_2
"Crash!"
Suddenly, with a crisp sound of the floor tiles breaking, Kong Wu, who was originally rescued by Li Yanfu from the death row, stomped through the floor of the hall.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he dashed out, leaving behind a trail of afterimages, as he sprinted wildly towards the hall’s exit!
He wanted to escape!
He still believed that the Empress had not truly regained the Heavenly Battle Power, hence he held onto a slim hope, thinking that if he fought desperately, he still had a chance to escape the Imperial Palace!
"Where did this fool come from..." Zhao Douan’s eyelid twitched slightly, he smirked and prepared to unleash the Golden Crow Flying Dagger from within his sleeve.
But Zhenbao beside him calmly said, "No need for you to act."
The Taia Sword in the Empress’s hand flew out with a whistle, a majestic line tearing through the air, pulling out a turbulent white stream.
The old martial artist Kong Wu dashed out from the main hall, jumping up attempting to climb and escape the palace. As he was in mid-air, he suddenly let out a muffled grunt, incredulously lowered his head, seeing the bright sword tip piercing out from his chest.
Then, the Taia Sword forcibly opened a bowl-sized hole in Kong Wu’s chest, shredding his organs.
"Thud!"
Kong Wu’s corpse fell, hitting the ground, his lifeless eyes remained fixated on the direction outside the palace walls, towards freedom.
Those inside the hall were unaware of Kong Wu’s fate, yet none showed any concern at this moment.
As the members of the Li Party knelt down one after another, the court’s officials finally came back to their senses.
"Your Majesty... this old minister welcomes Your Majesty back to the palace!"
Grandmaster Dong, overwhelmed with joy, tears glistening in his eyes, was about to kneel down.
Yuann Li, Ma Yan, the Chiefs of Staff from various departments, and other officials like Lu Zhi also awakened as if from a dream, revealing the joy they had survived a calamity, loudly welcoming.
The four female Tribute Officials also smiled, albeit with deep astonishment.
"Grandmaster Dong, there is no need for such courtesy," Xu Zhenguan raised her hand to support them virtually, causing Dong Xuan and the other ministers to halt their kneeling. Facing this group of ministers, she finally revealed a smile:
"During the period I was away from the capital, thanks to Grandmaster Dong and the efforts of all ministers, they managed the situation laboriously and almost got harmed by treacherous individuals. This was my failure, but luckily everything is not too late."
"Your Majesty..." Grandmaster Dong’s tears streamed down, the dignified Emperor’s Master, at this moment, was overwhelmed with emotion, sobbing uncontrollably.
Yuann Li and the others were better off, full of questions, wondering about what exactly happened and what events transpired between the Empress and Zhao Douan. But this moment was evidently not the occasion to ask.
"All the ministers must have many things to say, but right now the urgent matter is to handle the rebellion of the Li Party." Zhao Douan reminded with a smile.
Everyone quickly agreed, not daring to show any disrespect to their colleague Zhao Douan.
"Mr. Zhao is entirely correct," Xu Zhenguan pressed down her emotions, hardened her expression, and said towards the exterior:
"Come, guard these rebels in batches, especially Li Yanfu; you must ensure he doesn’t die without my word."
Outside the hall, the imperial guard commanders who had already arrived rushed inside, responding hastily.
Xu Zhenguan continued:
"Commanders of the Yulin Guard and Hu Ben Guard, listen to orders, immediately disarm and control the two camps involved in the rebellion, clean up the palace inside and outside, all remaining rebels, any resistance, kill on the spot!"
"We follow orders!" The two guard leaders broke into a cold sweat, fearing being held accountable by the Empress for dereliction, anxious to prove themselves.
Xu Zhenguan spoke again:
"Ma Yan, listen to orders, immediately leave the palace and lead the Imperial Court’s Jinyi to arrest the Li Party conspirators outside the palace, especially to eliminate the traitors who kidnapped and controlled the Ministers’ families inside the hall, no need to interrogate, kill immediately after capture."
Through her Divine Sense, she had already heard the previous conversation inside the hall; otherwise, she wouldn’t handle it effortlessly, killing the rebels first before entering the main hall.
Ma Yan’s emotions surged, as if returning to the day of the Xuanmen Coup, he cupped his fists:
"Minister, we follow orders!"
Immediately, he twisted his body and rushed outward, glancing at Zhao Douan in passing, slightly surprised, vaguely sensing Zhao Douan’s realm seemed different than before.
Zhao Douan returned with a radiant smile.
The rebellion did not involve many people. The heads of the Li Party and the rebel commanders were dead. Mostly small fries remained. In his eyes, it would take at most half a day to settle.
...
...
In a moment, from the four gates of the Imperial Palace, armored imperial guards surged out like torrents, rapidly exterminating the remnants of the Li Party.
Zhao Mansion.
You Jinhua tensely clung to her daughter within the mansion’s doors. At this moment, the main entrance of the Zhao family was tightly closed, mother and daughter could only peer outside through the gap in the door.
Behind them, the household servants wandered at a distance, the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.
The large Zhao Residence was located in an area densely packed with officials, everyone living nearby was either rich or powerful.
Not long ago, house servants came to report, saying a group of unidentified assassins appeared nearby, roamed through streets and alleys, broke into several mansions of court ministers, and the sound of fights and exclamations were heard.
Suspected that some scoundrels invaded the residence.
You Jinhua was shocked and ordered the doors to be closed hurriedly, house servants and Protectors armed themselves with sticks and swords, holding their breath and remaining vigilant.
Fortunately, those assassins had clear objectives, not targeting the Zhao family.
But in this Inner City area, where there are usually government officers patrolling, how could there be brazen scoundrels?
Even You Jinhua, naive as she might be, grasped the oddity, fearing that something major occurred within the court.
It was during this moment of unease, hours felt like seconds, when suddenly plenty of cavalry swept down the street with a whistle, the ones arriving were adorned in familiar Imperial Court’s Jinyi.
They fiercely stormed into various residences, rapidly seized control, capturing and killing those arranged by Li Yanfu.
"Open the door, quickly open the door!" You Jinhua’s eyes brightened, hastily instructing.
Zhao Pan swiftly unlatched the door, and once the yard door was pushed open, You Jinhua crossed the threshold in a few steps, waving towards the group of Jinyi and shouting: "Lord Zhang! Has something happened?"