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Chapter 331 The Reversal of Doubt
Below, a deafening roar seemed poised to overturn the entire imperial city, but Chu Lu simply watched calmly and then spoke calmly: "So that's how it is, they've come to force the emperor to abdicate and stage a rebellion."

From her vantage point on the high-rise building, Changhong took in the entire scene. She raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Pretending to be quite calm, huh?"

On the palace road, the words "treason" felt like a red-hot branding iron, searing Huo Qi's skin. His emotions surged, and he cried out, "Your Majesty! This is not treason, but upholding the nation! My loyalty is to the empire, not to some tyrannical ruler sitting on the throne! I have come here today to find a way to survive for the people of this city!"

Chu Lu didn't speak, but slowly swept his gaze across Huo Qi and Shen Shi'an's faces, then over the civil and military officials behind them with their various expressions, and finally looked at the group of Imperial Guards armed to the teeth.

In an instant, the entire palace seemed to be drained of all sound, so quiet it was painful to the ears. Only the wind howled like a wild dog between the crenellations of the palace walls; it could flutter the hems of officials' robes and the banners of the Imperial Guards, but it couldn't dispel the oppressive atmosphere. Everyone's heartbeat felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, tightening more and more, almost bursting out of their throats.

It's unclear how much time passed—perhaps just a moment, perhaps an eternity. Chu Lu finally spoke again. His voice was surprisingly gentle, yet the words he uttered were extremely sharp: "What if I refuse?"

Huo Qi's expression remained completely calm; clearly, he had rehearsed this scenario a thousand times in his mind.

“If Your Majesty does not wish to maintain your dignity,” he said calmly, “then I will have no choice but to help you maintain your dignity.”

Chu Lu's face finally turned cold. He looked at Huo Qi and said, "Fine. Then I'd like to see how you plan to save face for me."

High up on the building, Yun Que's eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Princess, look at this emperor, he's really bold. With such a grand display, he doesn't even flinch."

Chang Hong crossed his arms and looked down at him, letting out a light snort: "What's so special about this? If you knew you had someone backing you up, you'd be much more dignified than him. Once his backer shows up and I take him down in one fell swoop, you'll see how pathetic he really is."

“That’s true,” Hibari suddenly realized, then put on his usual contempt. “In the end, he’s just a man.”

Below, the standoff had reached its peak, and a bloody massacre could begin at any moment. Huo Qi's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, the murderous intent within almost overflowing.

He slowly raised his hand, preparing to give the life-or-death command—

"The Imperial Guards..."

At that critical moment, a completely untimely, raspy voice suddenly rang out from behind the crowd.

"Report! Battle report! My battle report! It's here!"

Everyone turned their heads and saw Ah Sheng, like an eel, carrying a scroll of documents, desperately squeezing into the crowd. He was running so fast that he could barely speak and kept shouting.

This scene was quite absurd, incongruous, and out of place, instantly dispelling the originally somber atmosphere.

When Huo Qi saw it was him, his brows immediately furrowed tightly.

Because of Asheng's eccentric personality, even Huo Qi had heard of him and recognized him. However, he was just a lowly soldier, so he only knew him superficially.

At such a critical juncture, and with such an insignificant figure, Huo Qi naturally wouldn't pay him any attention personally. One of the captains beside him immediately understood and gave a wink to the two soldiers behind him, signaling them to drag A Sheng away.

The two soldiers immediately stepped forward and grabbed Asheng from the left and right.

Asheng was not about to give in and immediately started spouting nonsense again: "Drag me away? You want to drag me away? Let me tell you, I, Asheng, am not a pig, you can't drag me! I eat beef and chicken breast every day, all my strength is in my nose hairs!"

As he struggled, he shouted even louder, "I'm telling you, this battle report is more important than your heads! If you delay it, I'll be furious!"

Upon hearing this, many civil officials nearly burst out laughing. This was not only due to Asheng's peculiar language skills, but also because of the content of his words.

They thought to themselves: In the face of this forced abdication, what battle report could be more important than this?
However, Huo Qi and Shen Shi'an couldn't laugh. Their expressions were serious, and they just wanted to get rid of this troublemaking madman as soon as possible so they could continue dealing with Chu Lu.

But at that moment, Chu Lu spoke up: "Huo Qi, you'd better take a look at the battle report he brought."

Huo Qi snorted coldly, unmoved: "Your Majesty need not delay, it's useless."

Chu Lu's eyes turned slightly cold. In that instant, he seemed to shed all pretense and suddenly become a different person. His aura surged instantly, like a demon crawling out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, carrying a chilling aura. He spoke slowly in a terrifyingly calm tone, "This is for your own good. Open it and take a look."

The sound, though not loud, was like an ice pick, piercing Huo Qi's heart. He felt a chill run down his spine to the top of his head, and goosebumps involuntarily rose all over his body, causing his expression to change slightly.

On the high-rise building, Changhong watched this scene expressionlessly, then suddenly chuckled and said, "See? What did I tell you? It hasn't even gotten to the point where I'll take care of the person behind him, and he's already showing his fear. Look at him, desperately stalling for time, just trying to prolong his death a little longer. Tsk tsk tsk." Yun Que immediately chimed in, "Exactly, exactly, how pathetic."

Changhong added, "However, in this situation, no one with a sound mind would pay any attention to him; he's just humiliating himself. It's truly pathetic."

However, to her surprise, Huo Qi below remained silent for a moment before actually saying to the captain, "Bring me the battle report."

Chang Hong was taken aback, then laughed sarcastically: "Hesitating so much, not decisive at all. That's just how men are, so indecisive. Oh well, it won't take much time anyway, I'll just wait patiently."

As she spoke, she actually found a comfortable position and sat down.

Below, the captain took the battle report from Asheng and presented it to Huo Qi.

Huo Qi took it, unfolded it, and began to examine it. He hadn't intended to look closely, but after just one glance, his pupils constricted sharply, and all color drained from his face. He looked at it repeatedly, over and over again, and finally couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "This... how is this possible?!"

Chang Hong was taken aback upon hearing the sound.

Seeing his strange reaction, Shen Shi'an hurriedly went over to check. What he saw struck him like a thunderbolt; he stood frozen, instinctively shouting out the contents of the battle report: "Our army has won a great victory?! We have completely annihilated the allied forces of the Great Jiang Kingdom and the Great Liang Kingdom?!"

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

Chang Hong suddenly stood up, his face full of shock: "What did he say?!"

The officials below were instantly in an uproar, craning their necks to demand to see the battle report. After the report circulated among several high-ranking officials and its contents were confirmed, everyone was stunned speechless by this unbelievable news.

"It's fake! This must be fake!" Shen Shi'an was the first to react, shaking his head frantically. "We've been suffering defeat after defeat these past few days, how could we suddenly achieve such a great victory?!"

He then turned to Huo Qi, eagerly confirming, "General Huo, are you right? This must be fake!"

Huo Qi's face was ashen, and he said in a dry voice, "That's how it should be... However, this battle report has General Geng Lie's signature and seal, as well as the tiger tally issued by the Ministry of War, and the handwriting is correct... It is definitely not fake."

"This is unreasonable...this is unreasonable! Didn't General Geng Lie sacrifice himself? Didn't he send you his last letter?" Shen Shi'an shook his head and backed away as if he had gone mad.

The next moment, as if sensing something, he abruptly turned his head and stared intently at Chu Lu. The other man's expression remained calm, seemingly unsurprised by this astonishing reversal. A terrifying thought instantly struck Shen Shi'an.

He pointed at Chu Lu, his voice trembling, and said, "You knew?! You knew all along?! Didn't you?!"

Upon hearing this, the other officials also looked at Chu Lu in astonishment.

Chu Lu neither answered nor explained. He simply glanced at the kneeling civil and military officials and asked calmly, "Now, who still wants me to abdicate?"

silence.

Deathly silence.

Who would dare to reply? The crowd looked at each other, their faces filled with terror.

A moment later, Huo Qi slowly and heavily knelt down, his forehead touching the ground: "This humble general is guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Next came Shen Shi'an, then Jia Ruhui, Wen Yutang... The dark mass of people bowed their heads again and shouted, "Your Majesty, we are guilty and beg Your Majesty to punish us."

Chu Lu's tone returned to its original state, still as nonchalant as if he were chatting casually: "You may all leave, I am going to retire for the night."

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to his palace without looking back.

Only kneeling officials remained.

(End of this chapter)