DDT - Chapter 47
Chapter 47: General × Little Emperor (2)
After taking a swift horse from the stables, Chi Junluo left the military camp and galloped toward the Imperial City without stopping.
Chi Junluo was stationed at the Northwest Border, and the Imperial City was to the southeast. She urged her horse onward, racing in that direction.
This was the first time in her life Chi Junluo had ever ridden a horse, and she was actually panicking inside. Fortunately, the original owner of this body had years of riding experience, and the muscle memory was deeply ingrained, saving Chi Junluo from embarrassing herself back in the stables.
Once she adapted to the rhythm of riding, Chi Junluo dared to spur the horse on, following the map in her memory as she rushed toward the Imperial City.
Meanwhile, in the Imperial City.
Emperor Yi Han had always been in the habit of sleeping and waking early. However, he disliked having palace maids and eunuchs attend to him personally, so few people knew of his peculiar schedule.
It was now the hour of the tiger, just before dawn. The young emperor, already dressed in his robes, sat on a chair in the small study west of his bedchamber. He hadn't lit any lamps. A sense of unease churned within him, as if some latent instinct was telling him this was no ordinary night. This feeling had saved him several times before.
Restless, Yi Han finally stood up, lightly took his personal sword from the wall, and slowly drew the blade without making a sound. He fastened the scabbard to his waist and stood in the darkness, holding his breath as he crept toward his own dragon bed. His eyes had adjusted to the dark. A few slivers of moonlight filtering through the window revealed a shocking sight: a dark figure was sneaking toward his bed.
Yi Han frowned, tightened his grip on his sword, and took a soft step back. Holding his breath, he watched as a silver glint reflected off the figure's hand—it was a dagger!
The figure acted without hesitation, viciously stabbing the dagger down into the bed.
There was no cry of pain as the figure expected, nor the feeling of a blade sinking into flesh. The empty strike immediately told the assassin that something was wrong—his target wasn't in the bed! Realizing he had been exposed, the figure tried to retreat at once. But in that instant, a piercing whistle cut through the air. The black-clad man subconsciously tried to block with his dagger, but the two were far too close. With the speed of a thunderclap that leaves no time to cover one's ears, the young emperor's sword slit the assassin's throat.
With a clatter, the dagger fell to the floor. The assassin clutched his neck in disbelief and collapsed.
Yi Han's hand trembled slightly. He had no time to think. He immediately sheathed his sword and began searching the cooling body of the assassin, hoping to find something that could prove his identity.
Although he could guess with his toes that this was surely the handiwork of his "good" imperial brothers, those princes with treacherous hearts.
Yi Han eventually found a signal flare in a hidden pocket inside the assassin's sleeve. His mind raced. An assassin entering the palace with a signal flare? Could it be to send a signal to people outside? A signal…
The only thing Yi Han could think of was that the people outside were already fully prepared. This was not a simple, small-scale assassination like the ones before. Behind this operation, it was highly likely that his good uncles were staging a coup!
Yi Han stood up and sneered, kicking the dead assassin's body. He turned and strode into the small study, found the Imperial Jade Seal and the command tally for the Imperial Guards hidden in a secret compartment on a shelf, and wrapped them in a cloth. He also took some silver banknotes, shed his bright yellow dragon robe for a set of black clothes, tied the bundle to his body, and slipped out through a window at the back of his bedchamber.
Outside the palace, several richly dressed men stood with their troops before the north gate. Eerily, the sound of so many soldiers arriving hadn't alerted the Imperial Guards within the palace. Unbeknownst to them, the Fourth Prince had long used his authority to transfer the guards away from the north gate. However, without the official command tally, he could only control the Imperial City and the palace's north gate. Thus, the princes who had rushed from their fiefdoms could only surround the outside of the gate with their men.
The disturbance at the north gate was beginning to attract the attention of the Imperial Guards inside the city. The other princes looked anxiously at the Fourth Prince.
"Fourth Brother! What's going on with your man? Where's the signal flare?" the Second Prince asked impatiently.
"Fourth Brother, hurry and send someone else in to check!" the Third Prince added.
The other, younger princes had been dragged along by their older brothers to make up the numbers and remained silent.
The Fourth Prince waved his hand, and two more black-clad figures leaped over the palace wall.
Inside the palace, the young emperor Yi Han ran all the way to the west gate. The Imperial Guards on night watch saw a black figure approaching and instinctively drew their longswords. "Who goes there?!"
The hurried young emperor ran into the torchlight, revealing his face. "There is a coup! I command you to immediately proceed to the north gate and intercept the rebels!"
Seeing it was His Majesty, the captain of the Imperial Guards froze for a moment before quickly kneeling to salute. Yi Han paid him no mind and continued, "I have urgent business and must leave the palace. You are to guard it well for me."
He then ordered the soldiers to open the gate, and Yi Han slipped away into the night.
The captain of the Imperial Guards was speechless. So His Majesty is just running away, isn't he? Why make it sound so noble!
The captain's mouth twitched as he watched the figure disappear into the darkness. He then turned and led his soldiers toward the north gate.
After a short wait, the two black-clad assassins returned to the Fourth Prince's side. "Reporting to the Fourth Prince, Eleven is dead. The emperor is nowhere to be found."
The Fourth Prince slammed his fist in frustration. "That idiot!"
With a wave of his hand, the soldiers charged forward, forced open the palace gates, and swarmed inside. They came face-to-face with the captain of the Imperial Guards, who had just fired a signal flare. The two groups of soldiers stared at each other for a moment, and then the battle began.
Chi Junluo galloped through the mountain forests, resting for only two hours at night before continuing her journey.
After two full days and nights of relentless travel, Chi Junluo finally arrived at a hill outside the Imperial City at dusk.
She dismounted and stood atop the hill, seeing the city ablaze with light. Soldiers were constantly moving in and out, and commoners were fleeing in all directions.
Chi Junluo frowned. In the original world's timeline, the young emperor Yi Han was hunted down and eventually died a miserable death deep in the mountains. Looking at the entire Imperial City, the east was plains, while only the northwest had forests. That meant the young emperor must have fled into the very forest behind her.
Without entering the city, Chi Junluo turned and entered the forest northwest of the Imperial City.
Ever since Yi Han had hidden in the forest, he had been living a life of hiding and fleeing. In just two short days, he was already covered in dirt and grime. The men sent by the princes had been relentlessly combing the forest for the past few days. He had now been hiding for half a day in a small hollow under a giant boulder. To avoid being discovered, he had piled a lot of dirt and dead leaves to cover the entrance, making it almost impossible to spot from the outside that a person could fit inside.
It was difficult to even sit up straight in the cramped hollow. Yi Han's expression was cold. If he managed to escape this time, he would definitely flay his usurping uncles alive!
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of footsteps crunching on dry leaves and branches came from outside the hollow.
Yi Han: ???
The young emperor instinctively shrank back, his back pressing against the wall of the hollow. Dim light filtered in through the leaves and branches at the entrance. The sky outside was beginning to darken.
Suddenly, the sound of clashing weapons came from not far away, followed by a hoarse, surprised male voice. "Damn it! What are you doing here?!"
"Ah!"
A few screams followed, and then silence.
"Crunch, crackle, crunch."
Someone with a very slow pace was walking through the forest, stepping on the dry leaves and branches, seemingly searching for something.
Yi Han held his breath, but his heart began to pound.
Suddenly, his vision went dark. The light from the entrance was blocked! This meant the person had likely found his hiding spot!
Then, a hand reached in, about to pull back the dirt and branches covering the entrance. Yi Han didn't know what came over him, but he grabbed the hand and lunged forward, biting down hard!
The owner of the hand clearly hadn't expected this. A pained "Ah!" echoed outside the hollow.
It was a deep voice, and somehow… a little familiar?
With almost no pause, the hand's owner tried to yank it back. But Yi Han was holding on too tightly. Startled, the person pulled with too much force, dragging the young emperor right out of the hollow. The person outside had been crouching and was now pulled off balance, falling to the ground. Due to inertia, Yi Han was thrown forward, landing on a hard, cold suit of armor.
Chi Junluo and Yi Han: ???
Yi Han squeezed his eyes shut, thinking this was the end. But after a long moment, the expected pain never came.
After pulling the person out of the hollow, Chi Junluo had immediately retracted her hand. Two neat rows of teeth marks were imprinted on her left wrist and the base of her thumb. The bite had been so forceful that a sharp, lingering pain remained. The area was already turning purple, with beads of blood welling up. Chi Junluo cradled her hand, blowing on it pitifully. It wasn't until the young emperor lying on top of her opened his eyes that the two of them met each other's gaze.
Yi Han stared in shock at Chi Junluo, who was pinned beneath him in her armor. "General Chi?! Why is it you?"
A trace of grievance and hurt appeared on Chi Junluo's face. "Your Majesty, this servant was late in coming to your rescue! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Seeing a seven-foot-tall man with what looked like a wronged expression, and then noticing the two rows of teeth marks on General Chi's hand, the young emperor Yi Han felt a little embarrassed. "Ahem, General Chi, I didn't realize it was you. Your hand… is it alright?"
Yi Han asked hesitantly as he stood up.
Seeing the young emperor finally get off her, Chi Junluo immediately rose and, following her memory, saluted Yi Han. "This servant, Chi Luo, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"
Yi Han quickly bade Chi Junluo to rise.
Only then did Chi Junluo get a good look at the young emperor. He had refined features and was not ugly at all. On the contrary, he was quite handsome.
"Heavenly Dao, Heavenly Dao, the little emperor is so good-looking. Are you sure he's not a girl?" He was totally her type.
The Heavenly Dao expressed its dissatisfaction with Chi Junluo's sudden infatuation. It rolled its eyes. "The Power of the Heavenly Dao is on his head. You should be thinking about how to collect it, not these useless things."
Chi Junluo was stunned. "On his head??? Heavenly Dao, are you messing with me?! This is ancient times! How can I, a subject, touch the Son of Heaven's head???"
The Heavenly Dao, lying on a conjured bed, rolled over. "You can do it! Go for it!" (Gloating.jpg)
Chi: Ah! Damn it! Screw your gloating!!!
Yi Han watched General Chi's expression shift constantly, wondering if he had been bitten stupid…
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