VBNWDW - Chapter 138
Chapter 138
The sun reached its zenith in a sky unobscured by clouds. Birds flapped their wings as they soared past, peering down at the ant-like crowds below.
After marching for half a day, the grand army had suddenly halted, coming to a complete standstill.
The soldiers at the rear, who had managed to endure it at first, began to grumble as time wore on. They had already stood in formation once that morning and were now counting on reaching the next destination to rest, yet here they were, inexplicably forced to stand at attention again.
“What in the world is going on?” someone couldn’t help but shout, their voice fraught with anxiety.
Those around him echoed the sentiment. It made no sense to stop so suddenly right after setting out. All eyes were fixed on the mounted soldiers who were riding back and forth through the ranks.
An army of one hundred thousand was difficult to manage, especially when stretched out in a long column. It required dedicated riders to shuttle back and forth, relaying orders from the front and correcting any units that strayed. It wasn't uncommon in the past for troops to lose their way while following the main force.
So, the men were clamoring for the riders to give them a straight answer, to stop them from standing around waiting blindly, which was making them all uneasy.
But the riders ignored them. Their expressions were different from usual—visibly panicked. They whipped their horses incessantly, as if they were delivering some urgent message.
“What on earth is it?” the men began to mutter among themselves.
“We haven’t even been out of the city gates for that long! It can’t be that the Chu army has attacked, can it?” the man next to him joked.
“Didn’t they say a few days ago that they were in Qingzhou? There’s no way they could be here that fast.”
After another short wait, a rider’s voice suddenly carried from the distance. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, as if trying to make his cry heard from the front of the column all the way to the back.
Everyone immediately stood on their toes, straining their ears to listen.
“...The Luo Family is plotting a rebellion! They have already entered the palace and are forcing His Majesty to abdicate the throne to them!”
“What?!” Shock and disbelief washed over the crowd.
“The Luo Family? That noble house that has endured through several dynasties?” a burly man bellowed.
A look of realization dawned on the person next to him. “So the rumors were true,” he said immediately. “For a while now, it’s been said all over the capital that the Luo Family, which hasn’t produced an official for three generations, has suddenly changed its tune…”
The man on the other side grew anxious when he stopped halfway and urged, “Keep talking! The Luo Family’s status is unparalleled. Why would they covet the throne?”
“Where have you been hiding these past two days? The capital has been buzzing with it. They’re saying the Luo Family could have taken official posts anytime, but they chose to do so now, when Great Liang is in such a precarious state.”
“Heh!”
The man slapped his forehead. “The Luo Family has been planning this for a long time! They’re taking advantage of the Grand Princess leading the army on this expedition, leaving the capital’s forces weak, and the fact that His Majesty and the Crown Prince have let their guard down around them…”
Looks of understanding spread through the crowd, quickly replaced by a different kind of anxiety.
Even the greenest recruit knew that the rear controlled the front line’s supplies. If the capital fell into chaos, what would happen to them? Would anyone still send them rations?
As they pondered this, the rider reached them, repeating the sentences they hadn’t heard clearly before.
“The Grand Princess has ordered an immediate return to the capital! Clear the Emperor's side, execute the traitors, and protect the legitimate rule of Great Liang!”
“The Luo Family is plotting a rebellion…”
They were at the very end of the column, and by the time the news reached them, the front was already in motion.
The crowd swiftly parted, clearing a narrow path. Then, Zhong Jueyu, clad in silver armor and mounted on a white horse, emerged at the head of a charge, bursting through the ranks.
The red ribbon tying her hair danced in the wind, and the sunlight glinted off her silver armor. Her deep-set features carried a piercing chill. Her innate pride, fused with the cold severity forged in a sea of blades and blood, inspired an involuntary fear in all who saw her.
She cracked her whip and commanded, “All soldiers, hear my order! Follow me back to the capital and execute the traitors!”
Ruan He and Li Shigui, flanking her, immediately followed up: “All who stand in our way are accomplices of the Luo Family! Slay them without mercy!”
The thundering hooves kicked up a great cloud of yellow dust. Before their voices had fully faded, a large contingent had already vanished from sight, and the rest of the army scrambled to follow.
There was no time to think. Even if some sensed that something was amiss, they didn’t dare disobey. The journey that had taken half a day to march out now had to be retraced in an instant!
The birds that had been leisurely flapping in the sky were startled into flight, scattering in terror. The ground was now a swirling cloud of yellow dust, with only a dark, flowing mass visible within it.
Inside the imperial palace, however, the scene was one of cheerful harmony.
In a magnificent side hall, the Luo father and son had been summoned to the front row. Their seats were only a few meters from the emperor, almost level with the Crown Prince, while Prime Minister Meng could only sit behind the prince.
Who had the emperor’s favor?
The answer was obvious.
Even Luo Qiyuan couldn’t help but smile, actively agreeing with the emperor several times. Luo Yueyin, shedding his previous aloofness, proactively joined the conversation.
Their only vexation was that His Majesty still hadn’t given up on the idea of having the Crown Prince study under Luo Qiyuan. No matter how skillfully Luo Qiyuan deflected, he couldn’t escape His Majesty’s repeated mentions of the topic. It was as if they were required to agree today.
Just as Luo Qiyuan was about to raise his sleeve to wipe his brow, he heard the emperor speak again. “When it comes to raising children, I am indeed inferior to Master Luo.”
He sighed. “Jueren was intelligent in his youth, but I was preoccupied with state affairs and neglected his education.”
Luo Qiyuan quickly replied, “Your Majesty was concerned for the people, sacrificing your family for the sake of the nation.”
Zhong Tuming pressed his forehead and sighed. “Educating the Crown Prince is also a matter of great national importance. It is just that I no longer have the energy to oversee it. Master Luo…”
Luo Qiyuan hurriedly interjected, “Your Majesty worries too much. The Crown Prince is benevolent and gentle, and he is widely praised by the people. He is not like my own unruly son, who still idles at home in his twenties.”
Luo Yueyin quickly chimed in with agreement.
The topic was diverted once more. In their painstaking efforts to refuse, the Luo father and son failed to notice the increasingly grim expressions on the faces of the emperor and his son. The golden cup held by Zhong Tuming had become misshapen at some point, its wine spilling over the base of his thumb.
Zhong Jueren forced a smile and spoke again. “Master Luo thinks too highly of this young one. I have always felt myself to be dull and incompetent. In the past, I had to deliberate repeatedly to resolve official matters. Now, seeing Yueyin, I envy him for having Master Luo as a teacher.”
Luo Qiyuan quickly said, “How could Your Highness disparage yourself so? Your Highness’s talents are known to the world…”
He deflected the topic once again, unwilling from the bottom of his heart.
Not only did he look down on the emperor and his son, but if Zhong Jueren truly became his student, then a teacher snatching the throne from his student…
Literati placed great importance on the teacher-student relationship. A student was like one’s own child, as close as family.
Throughout history, one only heard of a Junior Tutor risking his life for the Crown Prince, fighting tooth and nail for his claim to the throne. There was no precedent for a father figure stealing from his child.
No matter how improper the usurpation, they could still argue that the emperor was fatuous and incompetent, and that the Luo Family, unwilling to see the people plunged into the chaos of war again, had risked the world’s condemnation to seize the throne amidst the storm.
But if the Crown Prince and Luo Qiyuan were teacher and student, then even if the Luo Family held a blade to their necks, that group of scholars would spit at them, cursing the Luo Family for having plotted this all along, blaming him for not teaching Zhong Jueren properly, which led to the Crown Prince’s incompetence.
In the future, no matter how well he and Luo Yueyin governed, they would be scorned behind their backs. No amount of justification would work. The centuries-old reputation of their noble house would be utterly ruined in their hands.
So, no matter what the emperor or the Crown Prince said, he refused to relent.
On the other side, the emperor and his son were thinking along the same lines. The more the Luo Family refused, the more credible the matter Meng Yunshan had brought up became.
Could it be that the Luo Family truly harbored treacherous intentions?
Zhong Tuming’s face was grim as his gaze swept to the other side.
Meng Yunshan sat in his place with his head lowered. From beginning to end, he had not uttered a single word, let alone tried to deliberately lead the Luos into a trap.
When Zhong Tuming and Zhong Jueren first heard of this, they found it incredible, even suspecting that Meng Yunshan was worried about his own position and was deliberately slandering the Luo Family. Zhong Tuming had even offered a few words of helpless consolation to Meng Yunshan.
But Meng Yunshan’s words had been resolute. He had even staked his own life as a guarantee, saying that this matter was being spread all over the capital and beyond, and that the Luo Family’s ambitions were known to all.
Although the father and son disliked Meng Yunshan, finding his past actions too rigid and by-the-book, this very quality now became the reason they trusted him. A man like him would never deliberately tarnish another’s name for the sake of an official position.
But while the two had initially been only half-convinced, they now felt it was eighty percent likely.
Becoming the Crown Prince’s Junior Tutor was an immense honor. In ancient times, how many scholars had fought tooth and nail for the chance to educate the Crown Prince?
Moreover, it was ninety-nine percent certain that Zhong Jueren would inherit the throne. At that time, the tutor would be granted the title of Imperial Tutor, the highest ideal for every scholar. Who would refuse such an offer again and again?
At this thought, Zhong Jueren picked up his chopsticks only to put them down again. He hadn’t touched a single bite of the delicacies before him; he had no appetite at all.
Zhong Tuming was about to speak once more, intending to give the Luo father and son one last chance, when he suddenly heard a series of shouts from outside.
The side hall was spacious and the doors were shut tight. The shouting was distant, making it difficult to hear clearly. They could only vaguely make out the three words, “Clear the Emperor's side.”
But those three words alone were enough to cause alarm.
Meng Yunshan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly shot up. He slammed his palm on the table and roared, “How dare you collude with the Imperial Guard to rebel!”
The Imperial Guard was the army that guarded the palace and answered only to His Majesty’s command. With Zhong Jueyu leading the army to attack Chu, only the city garrison and the Imperial Guard remained in the capital.
The emperor and his son were already suspicious of the Luo Family. Hearing these words from the trustworthy Meng Yunshan, they didn’t have time to think and subconsciously accepted his statement as fact.
Meng Yunshan casually grabbed a porcelain bowl and took several steps forward, positioning himself as if to shield the emperor and the Crown Prince.
Zhong Tuming and his son instinctively hid behind him. Then, Zhong Jueren peeked his head out and cursed, “Luo Qiyuan, what audacious ambition!”
Across from them, the Luo father and son were utterly bewildered. They did indeed covet the throne, but they hadn’t planned to go this far yet!
Luo Qiyuan finally reacted and shouted, “Your servant has been wronged! Your Majesty, your servant has been wronged!”
But the emperor and his son remained wary, clearly no longer trusting him at all.
Outside, the palace grounds were bathed in brilliant sunlight, but the tranquility of the past was gone. The sounds of battle shook the city, and a wave of terror spread in an instant.
The city gates were wide open, without a single sign of damage, as if they had opened naturally the moment the army arrived. The soldiers guarding the walls were nowhere to be seen, or perhaps they had already joined the returning army. The Liang Brothers, in particular, had even procured two horses from somewhere and were riding close beside the Grand Princess.
It wasn't that they hadn't been given important roles by the Grand Princess; it was that they had been left behind to coordinate from within.
The Imperial Guard at the palace gates scrambled to respond but couldn’t hold back the formidable army. In an instant, the main gate was breached, and the troops charged straight inside.
At the same time, someone led the shouts: “The Grand Princess received a secret order that the Luo Family intends to seize the throne during this opportunity! She was ordered to lead the army back to court immediately!”
“Those not involved in this matter are to lay down their arms at once and move aside!”
“All who resist will be considered partisans of the traitorous Luo Family! Slay them without mercy!”
These cries spread through the four corners of the capital with each small contingent. Perhaps because Zhong Jueyu’s reputation was so good, upon hearing that it was her order, the common people became surprisingly calm, retreating into their homes to wait.
Those who sought to fish in troubled waters were captured before they could even start making trouble. Those who deliberately incited chaos were executed on the spot, their bodies left where they fell, the blood pooling around them as a deterrent to others.
As a result, no one dared to cause a disturbance. The vast city was filled only with the sound of troops running back and forth, like a prelude to a coming storm.
Back in the imperial palace, Zhong Jueyu had already led her troops inside.
The Imperial Guard, who answered only to the emperor, tried to resist, but they were no match for Zhong Jueyu’s superior numbers. An army of one hundred thousand crushed the ten thousand guards in an instant.
The next moment, Zhong Jueyu dismounted, a long saber in her right hand, and strode up the steps that were already covered in blood.
Ruan He, Li Shigui, and the others hurried to follow. Those who had made it this far were all Zhong Jueyu’s trusted confidants, so she did not call for them to halt, allowing them to follow her.
The attendants who had been waiting nearby had been killed by a volley of arrows. The wooden doors were riddled with shafts, and the windows were shattered, giving the hall a dilapidated look.
Zhong Jueyu raised her foot and kicked the door hard.
With a loud bang, the closed wooden doors were kicked open, and sunlight instantly poured in.
The luxurious hall was already in chaos. The first thing to meet the eye was the emperor, lying in a pool of blood. Then, at the far side, were the Luo father and son, desperately holding down the Crown Prince. Meng Yunshan was hiding nearby, his face a mask of vigilance.
“Grand Princess!” This was the panicked cry of the Luo father and son. They tried to crawl over but feared Zhong Jueyu would strike them, hesitating in their indecision.
“Your Highness!” This cry came from Meng Yunshan. He suddenly dropped to his knees and shouted, “His Majesty has been murdered by the Luo father and son!”
“Zhong Jueyu!” This was from Zhong Jueren, who had struggled free, his eyes bloodshot. He scrambled backward a few steps, as if seeing a terrifying monster rather than his own sister.
But Zhong Jueyu only looked straight ahead, her eyes as dark and bottomless as a deep pool. Her voice was cold and filled with fury as she roared, “Luo traitors, give me back my Father Emperor’s life!”
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