Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2557 The Xuanwu Gate Incident: The Three Kings Vanish

"What a fine poem! Let's raise a toast! All of you will be rewarded!" The four ministers recited the Ode to the Primordial Beginning together, and Wang Yu immediately put down his wine cup and clapped and laughed.

The four lines, though hastily composed, possess a broad and expansive spirit. They depict the grand feast before us, subtly reflect on the three great victories, and express our hopes for a well-governed future, making them quite fitting for the occasion.

The civil officials immediately echoed the sentiment, and some military officers, though not fully understanding the deeper meaning, knew it was auspicious and cheered as well.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the hall became even more harmonious. An official skilled in music played the zither on the spot, and the clear and melodious sound of the zither flowed. A witty and humorous attendant told a few elegant jokes, which made the whole hall laugh.

Among the sons of nobles, there were also those who performed horseback archery skills, using pitch-pot as a substitute for shooting, and wrestling. Although there were some restrictions inside the palace, they still won rounds of applause.

Just as the emperor and his ministers of the Han Dynasty were enjoying themselves together, civil and military officials were celebrating the festival.

On this festive occasion, in the distant capital of Jiangqian, a political upheaval that would directly affect the entire Jiangqian region and even the entire world came to a bloody close.

The Jiangqian Imperial Palace has four gates, one in the east, one in the west, and one in the south, each named after one of the four symbols. Unlike most dynasties that prioritized the south, the Qinglong Gate, the first of the four symbols, was the central gate and the ceremonial gate reserved exclusively for the emperor.

The Vermilion Bird Gate was used by the Empress and concubines for daily entry and exit, while the White Tiger Gate was used by the Imperial Guards to enter and to receive gifts from prisoners of war.

The Xuanwu Gate, the last gate, became the daily passage for officials.

With the year drawing to a close, the Han Dynasty took this opportunity to celebrate the victories of the three major campaigns against the Yan, Song, and Yi.

As for the Great Qian Dynasty, it also took advantage of the approaching year-end to hold a grand banquet for the world and inspire people.

After all, although the current Great Qian Dynasty has not completely quelled the chaos and still has various internal problems, it is at least a world of difference compared to a few years ago.

After pacifying numerous rebel kings in the north, except for Tian Qi, last year, and after more than half a year of war against Xuan this year, the rebel kings can no longer pose a real threat to Da Qian.

The entire Daqian state is confident that by next year, it will be able to completely quell the remaining three rebel kings and restore Daqian's rule.

At Jiang Ziya's suggestion, the five princes of the imperial clan, who currently hold actual power over the entire Daqian military and political government, convened this year-end celebration banquet in the name of the imperial court.

At the banquet, the five princes will jointly deliver a work declaration, summarizing last year's achievements, stabilizing and inspiring the people of Daqian, and looking ahead to next year's battle plans, preparing to welcome a new year and a new atmosphere.

These five princes of the imperial clan naturally wouldn't object to such a thing. The Great Qian Dynasty had been in decline for so many years, but now it was finally showing signs of improvement, and they even saw hope of completely quelling the rebellious kings. It was only right to take this opportunity to boost morale.

However, just as King Changlin Jiang Chuan, King Lujiang Jiang Zhao, King Tianyi Jiang Che, and Jiang Chaoyu were about to enter the palace through the Xuanwu Gate, the heavy gate behind them suddenly fell, and the Xuanwu Gate closed directly.

Just as the princes realized something was wrong, it was too late. Long Xuhu had already surrounded them with the palace guards. Behind Long Xuhu was the last of the five princes, Prince Kaoshan, Jiang Ren.

Currently, the five individuals hold complete control over the military and political power within the entire Great Qian Dynasty. In other words, all the troops in the Great Qian Dynasty are actually under their control. There is only one exception: the imperial guards of the palace.

Although the current Daqian court has maintained a superficial unity, it is ultimately only on the surface. In reality, none of the five princes truly trust each other.

The young emperor in the palace, though a puppet supported by them, has already seized the most fundamental right to rule since he sits on the throne.

Based on this, none of the five trusted the remaining people to look after the palace. Even Jiang Ren, who appeared to have no ambition, was not trusted by the other four.

Politicians never entrust their fate to the personal character of a single person.

After all, once the young emperor is in the hands of one of the five, they can use the emperor to punish the disloyal, putting the others at a political disadvantage.

Ultimately, after discussion, the five men, each distrusting the other, could only compromise: none of them would station troops in the palace, and the palace's troops would be placed under Jiang Ziya's command.

They feared that any of the other five people besides themselves would seize control of the young emperor, but they were not afraid that Jiang Ziya would.

Although Jiang Ziya was also a member of the royal family, he had concealed his identity and entered the Chan Sect for many years. In reality, he had no real foundation in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Only by having sufficient power to control the young emperor can one pose a threat to the others; without sufficient power, simply controlling the young emperor is useless.

Moreover, although they compromised and agreed that Jiang Ziya would take control of the palace, they strictly limited the size of the palace guards, giving Jiang Ziya only three thousand men.

With such a small number of people, even if they were released into Jiang Ziya's control, the enemy wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

Of course, the most crucial point is that Jiang Ziya has no children. Given his current age and the absence of offspring, even if he had any ideas, who would listen to him?

Even a powerful leader who has no offspring by the age of thirty will cause unrest among his subordinates, let alone Jiang Ziya, who is more than twice that age.

In recent years, Xiao Ping'an's forces have been in a state of panic. Even some of his earliest followers have left, simply because they have no heirs to carry on the legacy.

Although Xiao Ping'an still has an adopted son, Mu Xuanyang, and has even taken in three more adopted sons in the past two years, he still cannot completely change this situation.

From any perspective, Jiang Ziya had no possibility of working alone without them.

In addition, each time these princes entered the palace, they would be accompanied by several hundred soldiers, so they would never go into places they couldn't control alone.

Their main focus was on guarding against the remaining four people, rather than on Jiang Ziya.

But now, they have fallen into the hands of Jiang Ziya, who was the least prepared.