Too high to reach

Chapter 401 The dust has settled
"emperor……"

Empress Dowager Qian was truly remarkable; her reaction was extremely swift.

Even the Empress and the Crown Prince were focused on the newly arrived Imperial Guards...

And she has already moved on to the next step.

He moved closer to the Emperor, his expression tense and concerned, and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "This is definitely a premeditated rebellion. As the Emperor, you must use swift and decisive measures! Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free! No matter what, strike first and control the situation as soon as possible. They don't treat you as their father or ruler, so what are you worried about? Don't forget, you still have several sons!"

She concealed the madness and passion in her eyes...

It all depends on whether we can kill two birds with one stone; success or failure hinges on this!
That's very alluring...

The Emperor glanced at the Crown Prince, whose expression was serious and tense. The Crown Prince didn't dare to look in his direction and kept staring at the palace gate.

It seems they're anticipating what's happening outside...

Li Jing, that bastard, remained calm, surveying the people in the hall in circles.

"Crown Prince, Prince Qi, what are you doing?" The Emperor remained relatively calm. "Are those your people outside?" he asked the Crown Prince, then turned to Li Jing, "Or are they yours, Seventh Prince? Or perhaps both of yours? Are you two... planning a rebellion?"

He had barely finished speaking when a cannon blast rang out outside, followed by shouts...

"Your Majesty, didn't you notice?"

Now that things had come to this, Empress Jiang stopped pretending and said coldly, "Today is the day Li Jing attacked my son and me. Even the Bodhisattva-like Empress Dowager can't stand by and watch."

She smiled and glanced at Empress Dowager Qian. "Let's not talk about how Li Jing plotted to frame my son and me. Let me ask you, was he out suppressing bandits the other day? It was so unbelievable, even I found it amusing. He's already playing the court and you like puppets!"
If you wish to give him the position of Crown Prince, my son and I will have no objections. But he intends to humiliate and then kill us… We can't just sit and wait, can we? We must protect ourselves!”

The Prince of Yong'an calmly analyzed: That's right, the Crown Prince intends to rebel and assassinate the emperor... He won't let either the Emperor or Li Jing go. He'll kill one and frame the other. Given the enmity between them today, it makes sense.

What's that Li Jing has in his hand? I'm really curious... This guy seems to have come prepared today...

All things considered, I really am a good kid...

The pervasive stench of blood and the glint of swords at the scene sent shivers down his spine, and he couldn't help but feel excited. He licked his lips: I really want to get involved, what should I do?
She secretly slipped behind Consort Dong and asked, "...What do you think we should do?"

Consort Dong, however, lacked the ambitions of Empress Dowager Qian and the Empress. Right now, she was more concerned about the fifteenth prince remaining in the palace. She had closed the palace gates and kept him there, but hoped he wouldn't run away due to his youthful nature. Her beautiful eyes fixed on the people present: "Regardless of them, as long as you, Chen'er, and I are safe and sound..."

Tsk, a bit disheartening, but... "Okay."

"Hear my command! Arrest the Empress, the Crown Prince, and Prince Qi! If they dare to resist, kill them without mercy!" The Emperor finally gave the order.

"Tch! So slow and hesitant!" Empress Dowager Qian cursed inwardly. "Useless things! Can't they just kill them first?" But there was no use in being anxious; she had no one to help her…

No sooner had the emperor finished speaking than someone rushed toward Li Jing, moving swiftly and elusively, drawing a crossbow from his sleeve as he rose.

Li Jing remained unmoved. A man flashed in front of him, raised his knife and struck several times, knocking down the crossbow bolts, and then retaliated with his own hand.

Some rushed towards the Crown Prince… Of course, the Crown Prince wasn't someone to be trifled with; his protectors were formidable. Only Yu'an let out a scream, a rather loud one…

At this moment, chaos erupted outside, with shouts of battle rising and falling, and arrows flying wildly inside the palace... some of them were aimed at the Emperor.

Empress Dowager Qian cleverly hid behind a pillar, winking at someone: Since things have come to this, let's make sure we've made our money first!

The situation outside was unclear, and Commander Wu really didn't dare to take the Emperor out easily. "Your Majesty, please come this way..."

Let the emperor go to a corner with two walls, which will make it easier to defend.

As the Emperor retreated, two palace maids serving tea and snacks nearby, seemingly terrified, crouched on the ground. When the Emperor was a few steps away from them, the two maids suddenly attacked.

A person approached with lightning speed, flicked their wrist, and a dagger appeared, thrusting forward...

Another person made a feint at Chief Eunuch Liu, who was standing beside the Emperor, and then went over to Commander Wu.

The incident happened suddenly, but Commander Wu remained calm and composed. While protecting himself, he also knocked the dagger that another palace maid was pointing at the emperor from her hand. But the palace maid darted back with her left hand! Before she could stab the emperor, a small crossbow flew in and pierced his body, and he fell to the ground motionless.

The Emperor saw it; the crossbow bolt aimed at the palace maid was fired by Li Jing. If he intended to target him… Before he could even feel safe, the eunuch standing behind the pillar suddenly revealed a crossbow hidden in his sleeve, pointing it at the Emperor…

There are still more!

The Emperor was greatly alarmed!

Empress Dowager Qian's eyes flashed with a fierce light... At the critical moment, Liu Su, the Emperor's chief attendant, grabbed him and shielded him with his body. The crossbow bolt pierced Liu Su's shoulder, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Commander Wu swiftly dispatched the eunuch.

The two groups that just attempted to assassinate the emperor were led by palace maids who were working for the empress, and by eunuchs who were working for Empress Dowager Qian.

Two excellent opportunities, but he failed to seize them...

Empress Dowager Qian sighed: Heaven is not on my side!
Many more Imperial Guards entered and began to protect the Emperor.

Although the Crown Prince's men were capable, they couldn't withstand the open attacks of the Imperial Guards and the covert attacks of Li Jing's men. He himself was wounded, Yu'an lay on the ground groaning, and the Empress was in a panic...

The Imperial Guards seemed to favor Li Jing, surrounding him but not touching him, and even helped him deal with the attackers.

After a while, Li Jing carefully observed the area again and, finding that there was no major danger, called a halt to his men's movements.

The Empress and Crown Prince were surrounded, their faces deathly pale. Neither the Emperor nor Li Jing had managed to handle this situation; they now had to wait and see what happened outside.
I don't know how much time passed... but finally it quieted down.

Two people entered from outside the door. One went to report to the Emperor, while the other went to Li Jing.

"It's all over!" Li Jing's cousin from the Zhao family replied.

"well done!"

The Empress and the Crown Prince exchanged another glance, their eyes filled with helplessness. They sat down on the ground, knowing that all was lost...

The hall reeked of blood at that moment.

Empress Dowager Qian was still hiding behind a pillar, cursing the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and Li Jing, "They're all useless!"

They didn't kill a single one...

She stared at what Li Jing was holding, filled with despair... She wanted to take out poison from her purse... Suddenly, she felt a tightness behind her neck, and she felt her feet leave the ground. "Ah!?" she cried out.

He was thrown into the middle of the main hall with a thud.

She was stunned; the pain all over her body made her unable to scream or breathe, and she almost fainted.

Qian Nianzu really has some ambition; he rushed over to help her without hesitation.

The Imperial Guards, both men and women, forcefully gathered everyone in the room together and searched them one by one. Those without any issues were shoved to the other side... At this point, no one cared whether you were a prince or a princess; they groped you all over, even pulling out your hairpins...

In no time, it was cleaned up.

The Emperor returned to his seat and looked around... He saw the Empress, the Empress Dowager, and the Crown Prince with his hands hanging down beside him...

Right now, they're all lying down in the middle of the hall...

“Father, now, I can read this letter aloud, no, it’s not a letter yet, it’s…”

He took a few deep breaths before reading it aloud slowly and deliberately…

After hearing this, the Emperor stood there dumbfounded, "Is this true?"

There were hundreds of people in the entire hall, yet there wasn't a sound... All the princes and ministers were dumbfounded.

"I'll take it over here, so you can take a look yourself?" Li Jing asked.

The Emperor turned his head with difficulty to look at the Empress Dowager, the Empress, the Crown Prince...

Then, pointing at them and laughing loudly, "Do we even need to look?"
The message was written all over their faces!
He spat out a mouthful of blood...

"Zhi Yu'an let out a scream, and it was quite loud..."

Princess: Why is it always me who gets hurt?

Some readers want the emperor to vomit blood, so let him vomit!

(End of this chapter)