"Protect the Princess!"
"To hell with the imperial court! The Princess saved our lives, no one is allowed to harm her!"
At this critical moment, someone among the disaster victims shouted loudly. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of victims rushed over angrily, surrounding the Princess protectively.
All the disaster victims in the city glared at the imperial court officials with fury.
This scene left the imperial general wide-eyed in astonishment.
The imperial soldiers all wore expressions of shock and confusion.
The general reined in his horse just in time and berated these tens of thousands of "ungrateful wretches": "Do you all intend to oppose the imperial court? Don't forget, the disaster relief food you're eating was provided by the court."
"You praise the court when you're holding your bowls, but as soon as you put them down, you support the rebels! What kind of bewitching potion has the Princess given you?!"
Just as these angry words fell—
*Beep—*
*Connection established!*
Gu Sang had just woken up from a nap and happened to have time to initiate a connection with the Princess.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the connection was made, she witnessed such a sensational scene.
The rain was falling in a drizzle, with tens of thousands of people facing off against the imperial court.
Gu Sang's connection screen was projected in mid-air. Since it wasn't a live broadcast, the screen was only about the size of a movie screen, allowing for eye contact with the imperial commanders.
Gu Sang looked around and remarked, "Is this all the people you've brought?"
The commander's face flushed with anger: "How dare you!!"
"Imperial Consort Gu, what are you doing here again? Are you trying to incite these commoners to rebel once more?"
"And you disaster victims, do you really want to oppose the imperial court for the sake of this rebel? This is a capital offense that will implicate your entire clan for nine generations!"
Under the commander's stern threats—
The commoners didn't flinch at all, standing straight to shield the Princess.
Someone among them mustered the courage to shout: "Stop pretending to care, imperial court! Yesterday when we begged you to send troops to save people, you refused. Now what right do you have to arrest our savior?"
"That's right, I haven't eaten any of your disaster relief food. My family and I owe our lives to the Princess. If you want to kill her, you'll have to trample over all of us first."
"Your Excellency, please have mercy, don't kill the Princess!"
"Why beg them? Yesterday when we knelt on the ground begging these people to go save our loved ones, did we see them take action? They only injured us instead!"
"Even if I die, I will protect the Princess!"
"Protect the Princess!!"
The commoners glared at the troops opposite them with bloodshot eyes full of anger.
The imperial general's warhorse neighed, its hooves splashing muddy water onto the faces of the disaster victims standing at the front.
Seeing the Princess being supported like this by the people infuriated the imperial general. He directly pointed his gun at the disaster victims in front of him: "You think I really won't dare to kill you!"
"Those who dare to protect a rebel shall be executed without mercy!" The last sentence was suddenly directed at the soldiers behind him.
"Yes, sir!"
"Execute without mercy!"
A heavy, murderous intent rang out from the mouths of the imperial soldiers.
The commoners, enveloped by the soldiers' oppressive aura, nervously swallowed. Hesitation and fear flashed in their eyes, but moments later, they still stood firm in place without moving.
They were very afraid of death, but they were also betting that the soldiers wouldn't actually kill civilians.
Moreover, these were disaster victims from all over the city!
"Good! Good! Good! You've got guts!" Seeing that no one was backing down, the general laughed in extreme anger, repeating "good" three times.
Just as he was about to give the order—
Suddenly—
Gu Sang's casual words came through the connection screen: "General, have you thought this through? Are you sure about this?"
"With this shot, you might kill a few civilians, or if you're really ruthless, you might kill thousands or tens of thousands. But what you'll destroy is the hearts of the people in this entire city, perhaps even the whole empire!"
"I just spoke with Pei Changying a few days ago. I remember he sent you here to win over the people's hearts, not to slaughter innocents indiscriminately."
"You've already failed to win the people's support, which shows your incompetence. Now you want to callously take lives as well?"
"I'm starting to suspect that you're the real traitor within the imperial court. Otherwise, why would you force tens of thousands of civilians into rebellion?"
The general trembled with rage at Gu Sang's words that turned the tables on him.
Faced with this confrontational situation, he truly didn't know what to do!
After all, standing before him were not enemies, but civilians—disaster victims who couldn't harm a fly. He could kill one, two, or ten, but could he kill ten thousand or a hundred thousand?
Yet judging by the expressions of these disaster victims, they were clearly prepared to die.
The general, both angry and furious, coldly shouted at Gu Sang: "Nonsense! How could I possibly kill thousands or tens of thousands of disaster victims? I'm here to kill rebels!"
"Besides, your words are far too untrustworthy."
"Everyone in the imperial court knows you're in league with the Princess!"
Gu Sang glanced coldly at the general, the contempt and disdain in her eyes deeply reflected in the general's pupils.
Gu Sang chuckled lightly: "General, at this point, does it really matter whether you believe me or not? You only have two options now. The first is to withdraw your troops and pretend nothing happened."
"As for the second... well, you'd have to trample over the corpses of these civilians to kill the Princess. Just how many corpses would that be? If it's just a few, it might still be explainable. But what if it's thousands? Tens of thousands? All the disaster victims?"
"General, you really need to think this through. We're talking about tens of thousands of civilians here. Even if Pei Changying is incompetent, he wouldn't allow you to casually kill tens of thousands of disaster victims."
"If news of this spreads, think about how the people of the empire will view the imperial court."
"Do you want a repeat of the Zhao Ronghua Incident?"
The general's pupils constricted violently. He knew about the Zhao Ronghua Incident—all the civilians in the capital had been calling for the Emperor to give an explanation.
Even the Emperor, under such pressure, had been forced to release the Zhao family and a group of imperial physicians.
Thinking of this, the general couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
If he really killed so many civilians, even with justification, the Emperor would likely use him as a scapegoat in the face of public outrage.
The imperial general couldn't help but calm down. Looking again at the disaster victims opposite him, he saw that their eyes were full of determination, unyielding and fearless even in the face of death!
This...
The imperial general hesitated. He was a general meant to protect the civilians and the empire. Could he really kill civilians?
Moreover, up until now, the Princess hadn't really committed any major crimes. All she had done was cure the plague and save civilians trapped by the flood!
She had merely discovered sweet potatoes!
Enough!
There weren't really two options—there was only one path.
In the face of tens of thousands of people's hearts, he was powerless.
"Very well." The imperial general took a deep breath and looked at Gu Sang, saying, "I can withdraw the troops on this matter, but how can you guarantee that His Majesty won't blame me for failing in my duty?"
Gu Sang smiled and said, "I will explain the situation on your behalf, General. You have no other option now; withdrawing the troops is your only path. You can only trust me."
The general took another deep breath. "......"
"Alright, I'll trust you this once."
The general felt uneasy hearing Gu Sang's words, but he had no other choice.
Pei Changying had ordered him to kill the Princess at all costs, but he hadn't said to kill the disaster victims along with her at all costs! This could lead to a major incident!
