DLWAV CH145

Prince Rui and his trusted aides truly didn’t react at first.

They said: “General Chen, General Zhao, General Li… why are you still sitting there?”

Who knew they would remain completely motionless.

Even the coldness in their eyes had turned into a mix of half coldness and half pity.

Most importantly, their bodies remained taut, and their hands were kept firmly on the hilts of the swords at their waists.

Even if Prince Rui and his trusted aides were slow to catch on, by this point, they should have noticed something was wrong.

They instinctively moved to shield Prince Rui.

Prince Rui’s pupils contracted, and the fists hanging by his sides clenched instantly: “General Chen, General Zhao, General Li… what are you trying to do?”

General Chen, the leader among them, simply said: “We aren’t planning to do anything, really. It’s just that Your Highness has a guest who will be arriving shortly, so we ask that you wait a moment.”

“What guest?”

Prince Rui no longer hesitated: “Men! Men—”

But he waited and waited, and not a single response came from outside the hall.

Moreover, the previously bustling and lively Prince of Minjiang’s manor was now eerily quiet.

At this point, if Prince Rui and his trusted aides still didn’t realize that these generals were rebelling, and that the situation was clearly already under their control, then they had truly lived all these years in vain.

Prince Rui’s face was ashen: “Are you the Crown Prince’s men, or the Second Prince’s?”

His trusted aides wore expressions of pure disbelief. The Crown Prince and the Second Prince had neither talent nor virtue; on what basis could they have won over General Chen and the others right under their noses?

One must know that these generals commanded an army of nearly a hundred and eighty thousand men!

Most importantly—

“General Chen, have you forgotten? You were originally nothing but a lowly fifth-rank guerrilla general. If Prince Rui hadn’t been open-minded and hadn’t looked down on you because of your youth, could you have leaped to become the commander of the Vanguard Battalion, a proper third-rank high official of the imperial court, in your early thirties, in less than half a year?”

“And you, General Zhao. When you were framed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Chaoming Pass for colluding with the enemy, it was Prince Rui who firmly believed you couldn’t possibly do such a thing, and vouched for you with his own life and reputation. That was what gave you the chance to prove your innocence. Otherwise, you and your entire family would have been sent to the underworld long ago.”

“General Li, although Prince Rui never promoted you, you are the one he appreciates the most. He had originally planned to request a marquis title for you and to heavily rely on you in the future. Yet… yet is this how you repay Prince Rui?”

However, those generals remained completely silent.

But a voice did ring out.

“General Chen first discovered that the Chief Administrator of the Prince of Qinghe’s estate had an illegitimate son hidden in his hometown. Then, by using that illegitimate son, he coerced the Chief Administrator, allowing the imperial court to easily defeat the Prince of Qinghe’s army. Most importantly, he was the one who captured the Prince of Yingchuan alive, and he was the first to fight his way into Lizhou—”

“With such merits, isn’t it perfectly natural for him to take the position of commander of the Vanguard Battalion? Why, in your mouths, has it all become Prince Rui’s credit?”

“However, the fact that you all were able to become second-rank commanders and third-rank deputy generals without ever having fought in a battle or killed enemies on the front lines—that is indeed Prince Rui’s doing.”

“As for why General Zhao was framed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Chaoming Pass for secretly colluding with the Prince of Yingchuan, wasn’t it because he disagreed with your plan to lead a lone army deep into enemy territory for a sneak attack, and publicly contradicted you? And the Commander-in-Chief framed him precisely to curry favor with you?”

“As for why you didn’t take the opportunity to eliminate General Zhao, but instead firmly stood on his side, it was merely because you wanted to use the chance to drag down the Commander-in-Chief of the Chaoming Pass as well, replace him with your own man, and build a good reputation for being fair and impartial while you were at it.”

“And the reason General Zhao was later able to clear his name was because he subsequently presented a defense deployment map of Lizhou, allowing the imperial court to smoothly eradicate the Prince of Yingchuan’s rebel army.”

“And from that defense deployment map of Lizhou, it was also evident that the plan you proposed back then—to lead a lone army deep into enemy territory for a sneak attack—was indeed a mistake.”

…

The person who entered was a young man.

Seeing him come in, the generals seated all stood up: “Mr. Yao.”

The expressions of Prince Rui and the others completely changed.

“Who are you?”

The young man raised an eyebrow: “Ah, right. Prince Rui is an exalted prince; how could he possibly know a lowly commoner like me?”

He cupped his hands toward Prince Rui: “However, His Highness Prince Rui should have heard of my name.”

“I am Yao Wenju!”

Yao Wenju?

How could he possibly forget Yao Wenju, the man who had helped Ao Ruize set him up outside the Meridian Gate back then?

Prince Rui’s pupils contracted violently. So, the mastermind behind all this was actually: “Prince Wu—”

Then he fiercely glared at General Chen and the others.

He had originally thought they were the Crown Prince’s or the Second Prince’s men.

But the one possibility he hadn’t considered was that they were Prince Wu’s men.

How dare they?

This was treason.

As if guessing what Prince Rui and the others were thinking, Yao Wenju directly said: “This is naturally because this world was originally conquered by our Prince Wu’s manor to begin with. They all have a scale called justice in their hearts.”

“Your Ji family acts against the tide of history and is ruthless and cruel. Not only does the Heavens see this, but the billions of commoners across the world see it as well.”

Of course, the main reason was actually that he was the one who leaked the information about the Chief Administrator’s illegitimate son to General Chen; he was the one who sent the defense deployment map of Lizhou to General Zhao; when General Li’s youngest son was kidnapped by mountain bandits, he was the one who helped rescue him; when General Sun’s youngest daughter was killed by her husband’s favored concubine, he was the one who helped him uncover the truth…

And then he revealed his true identity to them, promising them high official positions and handsome salaries.

They knew full well that if they didn’t join Prince Wu’s manor, Prince Wu’s manor would turn right around and report the matter to the imperial court.

They knew exactly what kind of person Emperor Jianzhao was.

So they were deeply aware that once the imperial court found out, they would absolutely all be slapped with the charge of secretly colluding with Prince Wu’s manor. When that time came, whatever fate awaited the Wu family would be their fate as well.

So in the end, they could only grit their teeth and defect to Prince Wu’s manor.

However, for the sake of their reputation, there was no need to tell Prince Rui and the others about these details.

Then, as if remembering something, Yao Wenju couldn’t help but laugh: “So you didn’t really think that this time, you were able to wipe out the nine major vassal kings in one fell swoop because your methods were so brilliant and your stratagems so outstanding, did you?”

“If it weren’t for us, you would have been wiped out by the Prince of Yingchuan back in Lizhou.”

But as he spoke, the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

In the end, only mockery remained: “So should we say you are stupid, or should we say you lack even a shred of self-awareness?”

“If you Ji family members had this kind of capability, you wouldn’t have been reduced to becoming a live-in son-in-law for the Wu family back then, and later you wouldn’t have been reduced to relying on despicable means to murder the old Prince Wu and the others.”

What is a sudden blow to the head? What is being struck by lightning? This was it!

Prince Rui’s face completely twisted.

The fact that the imperial court was able to eradicate the nine major vassal kings so smoothly was clearly all because he devised strategies in his command tent to ensure victory a thousand miles away.

Therefore, he absolutely could not accept Yao Wenju’s words that all of this was to the credit of Prince Wu’s manor.

But none of this mattered anymore. What mattered was that they had now fallen into the hands of Prince Wu’s manor. How would Prince Wu deal with them—

At this thought, all their expressions changed.

Most importantly, Yao Wenju didn’t give them any opportunity to ponder countermeasures.

He gave a sharp command without any hesitation: “Men, drag them all out and, together with the Prince of Yun and the other four kings, behead them as a sacrifice to the flag—”

Prince Rui’s pupils contracted violently: “No—”

However, before he could finish speaking, the soldiers who had followed Yao Wenju in all drew their swords and charged straight at them.

In just one clash, his trusted aides guarding him were all hacked to the ground.

The next second, a soldier kicked Prince Rui hard in the thigh.

Prince Rui fell straight to his knees. The long sword he had just drawn hadn’t even been raised before it fell to the ground, bouncing back up.

Then, just as the long sword finally settled on the ground, Prince Rui was also subdued.

The terror on his face practically materialized.

But he had no room left to resist.

Because immediately after, those soldiers directly clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him out, just like dragging a dead pig…

Boom!

In the capital, a sudden bolt of lightning from a clear sky startled Emperor Jianzhao and the assembled civil and military officials who were happily enjoying the long-street banquet.

When they recovered, their expressions weren’t much better.

After all, this was not a good omen.

Especially when Emperor Jianzhao had just been holding his wine cup, speaking words of prayer for the Great Yang.

Fortunately, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet quickly reacted: “Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

“They say that after thunder, there must be a rainstorm, but after this thunderclap, not a single drop of rain fell from the sky. This means this thunderclap wasn’t a sign of rain, but rather the Heavens responding to Your Majesty’s prayers!”

The others also chimed in one after another: “Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!”

The smile on Emperor Jianzhao’s face was instantly restored: “Good!”

In his view, at present, the complete eradication of the nine major vassal kings and the remnants of the Wu clan was only a matter of time. The Great Yang also had a successor who was no less capable than himself or Emperor Taizu. Therefore, this sudden bolt of lightning from the Heavens must be, just as the Grand Secretary said, a celebration for him and for the Great Yang.

With this thought, he lifted his dragon robes and fell straight to his knees: “Today, in front of the billions of commoners of the Great Yang, I swear an oath: In this life, I will absolutely not fail the Heavens, nor will I fail the common people. After my passing, the generations of descendants of the Yangji imperial family must also abide by my grand aspiration. Otherwise, may we be struck by lightning and die a horrible death.”

Saying this, he lowered his head and poured all the wine from his cup onto the ground.

Seeing this scene, the civil and military officials present also knelt down: “Long live our Emperor, long live, long, long live!”

Seeing this, the commoners present no longer doubted anything and also followed suit, kneeling down: “Long live our Emperor, long live, long, long live!”

For a moment, the deafening cheers resounded straight into the clouds.

Only then did Emperor Jianzhao stand up, thoroughly satisfied.

But what he never expected was that, right at this moment, an urgent voice suddenly came from afar.

Precisely because the civil and military officials and commoners present were all kneeling, Emperor Jianzhao could easily see the appearance of the person arriving.

It was a messenger on horseback.

He was driving a warhorse, galloping frantically toward them, causing a massive commotion and sending people flying wherever he passed.

Soon, he rushed to the foot of the platform.

“Report! An eight-hundred-mile urgent dispatch from Changzhou!”

“After Prince Rui led the grand army to breach Changzhou, his subordinates Chen Pengju, Li Sui, and others actually colluded with Prince Wu’s manor and rebelled! Prince Rui was captured alive. After the people from Prince Wu’s manor beheaded Prince Rui, the Prince of Yun, and five other kings as a sacrifice to the flag, they led over a hundred thousand troops to attack the neighboring prefectures and counties. Now, more than half of the southwestern territory has fallen into the hands of the rebel army—”

Boom!

Before his words even finished, there was another thunderclap from a clear sky.

Only then did the people present realize.

It turned out that the thunderclap just now was truly what the ancients called divine punishment, rather than the Heavens’ approval of the Great Yang as the Grand Secretary had claimed.

The next second.

Another rush of hoofbeats approached from the other direction.

The rider dismounted and practically scrambled and crawled to the foot of the platform: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty… because Prince Wu was ill, when this subject learned yesterday that the gates of Prince Wu’s manor were tightly shut, this subject didn’t take it to heart. But unexpectedly, today, there was still no movement at all from Prince Wu’s manor. This subject felt something was wrong and led people to charge inside, only to find… only to find that Prince Wu’s manor has long been completely empty…”

However, for a long while, no sound came from the platform above.

The man instinctively looked up, just in time to see Emperor Jianzhao fall straight backward.

“Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty—”

The capital descended into chaos.

The news also quickly reached the backyard of the Minister of War’s estate.

Meng Jiao, who was just fuming over the news that the group of so-called pure scholars who had previously besieged Wu Chuyao to no avail, not only had no intention of letting the matter drop, but were preparing to jointly petition Emperor Jianzhao in a few days to write the Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, and the Three Obediences and Four Virtues into the Great Yang Laws: “…”

After the major villain (Wu Ruize) killed Male Lead #9 (Fu Deben), and the Male Lead (Prince Rui) successively killed Male Lead #8 (the Prince of Qinghe), Male Lead #7 (the Heir of Luoyang), and Male Lead #6 (Prince Cheng’s shadow guard leader) in one breath, the major villain (Wu Ruize), together with Male Lead #5 (Yao Wenju), chopped down Male Leads #4, #3, and #2 (who were all Prince Rui’s trusted aides) and the Male Lead (Prince Rui) all together.

Chopped them down!!!

Looking again at the female lead—

The female lead was lying flat once more.

Because the female lead was also attending the long-street banquet at the time, and because she arrived late, she was seated at the very end of the banquet. As a result, when that messenger rushed over, his horse kicked the female lead and sent her flying…

And according to the original plot, by this point, the female lead should have already been forced by the drugged Male Lead and become pregnant with his child.

But now, the Male Lead was dead, and the female lead hadn’t even met him.

Meng Jiao was completely numb!