You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 44 Zhou Junxian

Qingfeng Palace.

After getting the answer she wanted, Empress Wu Ying smiled at Zhou Junxian and said, "I knew you wouldn't watch me die."

"Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you."

"We are not rebelling, nor are we trying to kill that person in the Hall of Mental Cultivation; we are simply removing corrupt officials from the court."

"He is still the emperor of the Great Zhou, and the Zhou dynasty will still rule the country. There will be no change from before."

"It's just about letting that person in the Hall of Mental Cultivation return to the kind of bed-sitting life they had in the imperial palace before."

"That way, he's happy, I'm happy, and everyone's happy."

Empress Wu Ying looked at Zhou Junxian and said comfortingly.

Empress Wu Ying knew that although Zhou Junxian had given her an answer, he was not entirely pleased.

However, Zhou Junxian's feelings for her were too deep, so he was forced to make this choice.

Therefore, Empress Wu Ying wanted to reassure Zhou Junxian and soothe his reluctance.

Empress Wu Ying's words were her stated attitude on the surface.

Empress Wu Ying wanted to tell Zhou Junxian that she would not rebel or assassinate the emperor to seize the throne, and that the Zhou dynasty would still belong to the Zhou family. She told Zhou Junxian that he didn't need to have too much of a burden on his mind.

It must be said that Empress Wu Ying had a very accurate grasp of people's hearts.

Her words were quite persuasive.

But no matter how persuasive it may seem, don't treat others like fools.

The emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty is still him; he's just purging the court of corrupt officials.

In the end, isn't it all just using this pretext to purge Zhou Chen's close associates, so that Zhou Chen has no one to rely on, and thus the imperial power will fall into the wrong hands again?

The claim that it wasn't a rebellion was merely a fig leaf to cover it up.

Only a political novice would commit regicide to seize the throne.

Holding the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords—that's the sophisticated tactic of a schemer.

Undoubtedly, Empress Wu Ying was highly skilled in this regard.

After hearing Empress Wu Ying's words, Zhou Junxian said nothing more, but a bitter feeling welled up in his heart.

As a favored son of the royal family and the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, how could Zhou Junxian not see that Empress Wu Ying was using him?

In Zhou Junxian's eyes, Empress Wu Ying's words of comfort were superfluous.

Rather than offering these high-sounding words of comfort, it would be more practical to simply tear off the veil of pretense.

At least that way, it wouldn't be too much of a self-deception.

The reason why Zhou Junxian was willing to be used by Empress Wu Ying was not because he was stupid.

It wasn't because Zhou Junxian needed the Empress Wu Ying or other high-sounding reasons to use as an excuse.

It was because Zhou Junxian loved Empress Wu Ying.

Love to the core, willing to give up everything for her, that's love.

Unfortunately, Empress Wu Ying used Zhou Junxian's deep affection for her as a bargaining chip to exploit him.

This is undoubtedly a tragedy for Zhou Junxian.

"Wu Ying, it seems that in your heart, desire still outweighs everything else."

"In your heart, I, Zhou Junxian, am nothing more than someone who still has some use."

Zhou Junxian thought to himself with a gloomy expression.

Seeing Zhou Junxian remain silent, Empress Wu Ying stopped wasting words and went straight to the point, asking, "Now that Jin He is not here, how many Imperial Guards can you control?"

If you want to take action in the palace, you can't avoid the Imperial Guards.

Although Jinhe took away 20,000 imperial guards, 10,000 imperial guards remained in the palace.

If we can handle a portion of the Imperial Guards, things will become much easier.

"Three thousand."

Zhou Junxian uttered two words.

This is the limit of what he can do.

Although Jin He left, he entrusted Zhou Junxian with the safety of the palace.

However, control of the Imperial Guards was in the hands of the lower-ranking generals.

Zhou Junxian only had the right to mobilize, not the right to control or command.
Especially in the current situation, even with the three thousand people Zhou Junxian can control, he'd be lucky to have half of them actually make a move. After all, this is tantamount to a crime of rebellion.

After the Imperial Guards had just undergone a bloody purge, who, apart from a few true confidants, would dare to do such a thing?

That's right, Zhou Junxian is the Deputy Commander Zhou who was entrusted with the safety of the palace when Jin He left.

If Jin He found out that this Deputy Commander Zhou, whom he had always been reluctant to trust, was also a person of Empress Wu Ying in Qingfeng Palace.

After Jin He left, he cooperated with Empress Wu Ying. I wonder what he thought about that.

Upon hearing Zhou Junxian's figure, Empress Wu Ying frowned slightly.

Three thousand?

It seems that the number of people is quite large, accounting for one-third of the ten thousand imperial guards currently remaining in the palace.

But when the time comes, I'd be lucky if half of them actually followed their lead.

In addition, there were other people in the Imperial Guard who were not purged.

There should be around two thousand.

"Two thousand Imperial Guards?"

"enough."

Empress Wu Ying thought to herself.

Although there are still 10,000 imperial guards in the palace, apart from those guarding the four gates of the palace and other places, there are not many people that can be mobilized.

Empress Wu Ying looked at Zhou Junxian; "Junxian, it's up to you now. Dispatch all the imperial guards patrolling around the Hall of Mental Cultivation that you can, and replace them with people you can control but dare not take action against."

"Then, you can just watch from the side."

Empress Wu Ying knew that Zhou Junxian had given him the result.

But it would be impossible for Zhou Junxian to lead his troops to storm the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Zhou Junxian's ability to do what she asked for was already a huge help to her.

As for the matters concerning the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she can handle the coordination.

Zhou Junxian nodded silently and said nothing more.

"Wu Ying, this is the last thing I can do for you."

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Junxian left Qingfeng Palace dejectedly, the sadness in his heart uncomprehending to anyone else.

He gave Empress Wu Ying an answer, but wasn't he also giving himself an ending?

Regardless of the outcome of this matter, Zhou Junxian's fate is already sealed.

Even if he is the son of the Eighth Prince, he still has to give an explanation.

After Zhou Junxian left, Empress Wu Ying immediately ordered Wan'er and Wei Zhong: "Notify our people to take action immediately, at all costs, to take down Yangxin Hall for me."

"If anything goes wrong, we will not care whether that person in the Hall of Mental Cultivation lives or dies."

Empress Wu Ying said coldly.

She had just told Zhou Junxian that she would not commit regicide.

But that's only under normal circumstances.

If anything unexpected or unforeseen happens, don't blame her for resorting to any means necessary.

When faced with the bigger picture, everything else is secondary.

The process is not important.

What matters is the results.

Everyone understands the principle of "the victor is king, the loser is villain." If the one in the Hall of Mental Cultivation is out of control, then we can only let him sleep forever.

"Yes, ma'am."

Wei Zhong and Wan'er immediately accepted the order.

Empress Wu Ying watched the two figures leave with burning eyes.

Success or failure hinges on this moment.

Is it a return to power?
Or perhaps everything vanished into nothingness.

We'll see what happens next.

……

(End of this chapter)