Outside the Taiji Hall, Liu Ming'an and hundreds of scholars were forced at swordpoint into a corner, their hearts filled with boundless sorrow.
As learned men, how could they not understand what their current situation meant?
Imperial power was crumbling, and their corpses would pave the way.
While wails and pleas for mercy echoed around him, Liu Ming'an stood woodenly, gazing beyond the palace gates.
Ning...
Memories of days past flooded his mind, and Liu Ming'an lowered his eyes, a smile playing at his lips.
Life had been worth living, he thought.
"Your Highness, spare us! Please spare us..."
The cries suddenly erupted, snapping Liu Ming'an back from his memories to find many of his fellow scholars kneeling around him.
Looking up at the white jade steps, he saw that soldiers had intimidated the mourners inside the hall to come out. The wide corridor was packed with trembling people, and Liu Ming'an recognized several familiar faces with a quick glance.
Yuwen Yan, Lou Baili, Nangong Ya, Lou Yuhuan, Lou Lianyu, Nangong Muyan...
Among them were also many great scholars who had taught him during his time at the Imperial Academy.
Men and women were lined up on opposite sides. A burly middle-aged man stepped forward first, and upon seeing the gathering of frail scholars below, he broke into a hearty laugh and praised the one who had led the raid on the examination hall: "Linwei, well done!"
"Thank you for your praise, Father!" Chang Linwei beamed with pride.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'll do anything you say! Anything!"
A terrified scholar in the crowd began screaming hysterically, recklessly pushing aside those around him as he tried to throw himself at the jade steps to beg for mercy.
Liu Ming'an looked at him with pity. The man was in his forties, his temples already graying. He had likely spent half his life preparing for the imperial examinations, how could he accept dying like this?
Before the scholar could take two steps, Chang Linwei frowned, muttering "noisy" with obvious irritation. With one swing of his long sword, a head rolled on the ground, blood spraying forth, shocking everyone present.
"Ah!"
The sheltered ladies had never witnessed such a bloody scene. Many fainted with screams, while those who remained conscious were scared half to death, their faces pale and tears streaming down their cheeks.
Nangong Muyan held the unconscious Luo Siyi, her eyes full of helpless resignation. What a mess this was - why couldn't she have just a few peaceful days?
Pretending she might faint as well, Nangong Muyan helped Luo Siyi lean against the railing. Since their group consisted only of women and children, merely seven or eight guards with swords were watching them, and even they weren't paying much attention, their gazes directed elsewhere.
After settling Luo Siyi, Nangong Muyan looked toward the group of scholars. With over five hundred people gathered in one place, from her vantage point she could only see a sea of black heads, making it impossible to distinguish individuals. But she knew Liu Ming'an was among them.
Well, there was no choice - she had raised him after all, and she couldn't just watch Jiang Ning become a widow.
To catch a bandit, first catch their leader.
Nangong Muyan inconspicuously moved closer to the hall entrance, calculating the timing of her strike.
Inside the hall were only the Prince of Lin, the Crown Prince, and two guards holding swords to the Crown Prince's neck. Nangong Muyan gripped her silver hairpin tightly, planning to strike when the Prince of Lin emerged.
When the scholar's head fell, Yuwen Yan's eyes flashed with hatred at the sound: "Second Brother, Father's body isn't even cold yet, your actions are truly treasonous!"
"Sixth Brother, I'm acting precisely because his body isn't cold yet, don't you understand?"
Yuwen Jin walked slowly to the cold jade coffin, staring at the corpse dressed in dragon robes inside as he smiled: "Once he's truly in the imperial tomb and you've ascended the throne, it would be too late for me to do all this."
Yuwen Yan looked at his back and suddenly smiled with a hint of resignation: "If you want the throne, I can give it to you directly. Why needlessly slaughter the innocent?"
Yuwen Jin turned back in surprise: "You'll give it to me?"
"Yes, I'll give it to you. I can write a declaration right now, criticizing myself as unworthy and incompetent, requesting to be stripped of my position as Crown Prince..."
"Hahaha..." Yuwen Jin interrupted before Yuwen Yan could finish: "Do you take me for a fool? You're just trying to buy time until the troops stationed outside the capital come to your rescue!"
His thoughts exposed, Yuwen Yan swallowed the rest of his words.
The troops outside the capital could arrive within half a day. They were his loyal followers, and as long as he was still alive, they wouldn't let Yuwen Jin's plot succeed.
But judging by Yuwen Jin's behavior, he wasn't foolish enough to leave such a huge risk.
"Acting so righteous and benevolent," Yuwen Jin looked at Yuwen Yan and sneered: "I've come this far, why should I take the long way around?"
Yuwen Jin stepped forward, meeting Yuwen Yan's eyes, his mockery clear: "You're still trying to stall for time? I won't leave myself vulnerable to future troubles. But since you're playing at being so wise and righteous, I'll spare your life for now. After you watch those hundreds of scholars die, then I'll send you on your way—"
A sharp pain shot through his neck as blood gushed forth. Yuwen Jin's eyes widened in shock as he tried to turn his head, but all strength instantly drained from his body. He collapsed to the ground, his eyes remaining open in death.
Before the two guards could comprehend what had happened, their throats were also slashed open. They didn't even have time to cry out before they fell.
The situation reversed in an instant. Yuwen Yan stared at the suddenly appearing Jiang Ning, watching in shock as she killed three people in the blink of an eye.
"Third Lady," Yuwen Yan struggled to speak: "How did you..."
"No time for talk!"
Jiang Ning glanced outside the hall. Apart from Nangong Muyan smiling meaningfully by the door, no one had noticed what had happened here yet.
"Once Chang Jian dies next, those rebels will be leaderless, and you, Crown Prince, should step up to your role."
Yuwen Yan quickly nodded: "Don't worry!"
However, before Jiang Ning could act, Chang Jian turned to look into the hall. Nangong Muyan, who had been crouching nearby, suddenly rose, nimbly slipping past the sword-wielding guards and violently stabbing her silver hairpin into his carotid artery.
"Father!"
At the bottom of the steps, Chang Linwei watched this scene with bulging eyes, especially as Nangong Muyan kicked the corpse down after killing him.
Blood flowed down the white jade steps as Chang Jian's body tumbled to the bottom. Chang Linwei rushed over, his heart filled with grief: "Father! Father!"
"Kill her! Kill her! I want this woman cut into a thousand pieces, ground into meat paste!"
Chang Linwei had gone berserk, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Nangong Muyan, looking as if he wanted to flay her alive and drink her blood.
The guards on both sides of the corridor had just begun to move at his command when two people walked out of the Taiji Hall side by side. A commanding male voice rang out, thunderous in the moment: "This Prince would like to see who dares to act rashly!"
This stern shout made the guards pause, and then everyone saw clearly who had emerged.
It was Yuwen Yan, completely unharmed.
At his side, Jiang Ning, emanating a fierce killing intent, held a corpse in one hand. Walking to the steps, she, like Nangong Muyan before her, kicked it down.
The body tumbled down along the bloody trail to land beside Chang Jian. Chang Linwei recognized it as Yuwen Jin.
"The traitors Yuwen Jin and Chang Jian have been executed. If you surrender now, you may be spared!"
Yuwen Yan's gaze swept across the crowd, his voice resonating like a great bell, making hearts tremble.
"Don't listen to him, he's lying! Don't listen!"
Chang Linwei shouted at the guards who were slowly lowering their weapons, having already become somewhat deranged.
"This Prince knows you were coerced and had no choice but to participate in this treasonous act. As long as you return to the right path and atone for your crimes through meritorious service, I promise, as Crown Prince, that your families will not suffer for your crimes of rebellion."
Yuwen Yan added another weight to tip the scales of the wavering hearts. Moments later, someone dropped their sword and fell to their knees with a thud.
One, two, three... ten, a hundred...
Finding himself isolated, Chang Linwei threw back his head and laughed: "Hahaha... the victor becomes king, the loser a bandit! The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit!"
As his words fell, he raised his blood-stained sword one last time, but this time it would taste his own blood.
Four corpses lay sprawled beneath the Taiji Hall, marking the end of this attempted coup.
Those scholars who had brushed shoulders with death had the look of survivors written all over their faces - some were weeping, others laughing hysterically.
In the crowd, Liu Ming'an stood eerily quiet, starkly out of place, his gaze fixed intently on the figure standing on the steps.
Ning had come to protect him.
