The Imperial Guards and Imperial Bodyguards arrived from all directions, their swords and blades aimed at their own comrades before they could even be aimed at the enemy.

Meanwhile, Song Ting held her soft sword and aimed it at Liu Zhang.

"My lord, what are you doing?" Liu Zhang asked, his face full of doubt. But his hands unconsciously tightened their grip on the knife.

The murderous intent that flashed in his eyes in an instant could not escape Song Ting's notice.

Without a word, Song drew his sword and thrust it at Liu Zhang. But at that moment, he suddenly felt his blood and qi stagnate, and he was unable to exert his internal strength.

His gaze suddenly shifted to the tassel on the sword. Song Ting already understood.

Liu Zhang's longsword had already cut through the wind—

Song Ting reversed his meridians, dodging the fatal sword strike. He rolled on the ground, and the long sword followed closely behind, grazing Song Ting's left cheek and shattering the nearby rocks.

Immediately, Song Ting vomited a mouthful of blood and tightly gripped the sword tassel in his hand.

"Song Ting, today is your death day!"

"Clang—" Just then, a long sword slashed in from the side, parrying Liu Zhang's longsword, and grabbed Song Ting, saying, "You were so capable, how did you end up in such a sorry state?"

The person who came was actually Zhou Tong!

Song Ting: "..."

But at a time like this, he still has the mind to joke around. No wonder he is Chu Huaiqing's deputy general.

But Liu Zhang was no pushover either; in the blink of an eye, he had already drawn his sword and slashed at them—

"Brother Zhou, be careful—"

...

As the horse galloped along the mountain road, Chu Huaixu's mind was filled with the words Qi Zhou had spoken to him in front of the stable, and the look Song Ting had given him before leaving.

What was that person thinking at the time? Did he ever think about telling him the truth?

If their guesses are true, how exactly did that person manage to get through all these years?

Did he ever consider that he might actually kill him?

I have no regrets.

No regrets.

How dare this person say such a thing? What exactly does "no regrets" mean...?

Chu Huaixu was in a state of turmoil. He hated Song Ting so much, he hated her to the extreme, and he resented her intensely.

I hate it more than ever before.

How dare Song Ting... what is she still hiding from him? What is the truth of what happened back then...?

Suddenly, the black horse stopped abruptly, and Chu Huaixu smelled a strong stench of blood.

"Young master, something seems wrong. I'll go check it out ahead."

“No need,” Chu Huaixu dismounted, “I’ll go see for myself.”

Boulders rolled all over the ground, corpses littered the area, and gushing blood seeped into the mountain path, staining the rocks a glaring red.

The two hurried away and saw that among the corpses were officials from the imperial court, as well as members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guard. There were even signs of infighting among the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guard.

A coffin stood abruptly in the middle of the mountain road, with two men dressed in imperial guard uniforms lying on it, already dead.

Many more people were buried under the rocks. Today, as everyone was attending the Empress Dowager's funeral, they were all dressed in the same mourning clothes. After being smashed by the rocks, their faces were so disfigured that they could not even be recognized.

Only the Embroidered Uniform Guards and Imperial Guards would wear their identity badges on their waists. Chu Huaixu dug up several corpses, first recognizing their faces, and only checking their name tags if he couldn't identify them. Qi Zhou did the same.

There were too many corpses. As they turned over them one by one, Chu Huaixu's face grew paler and paler.

He was in excruciating pain in his chest, and the strong smell of blood awakened the Gu poison within his body, which then took effect at that very moment.

Chu Huaixu forced himself not to show it, but the most vicious aspect of "Soul Severance" was that it was unbearable.

Chu Huaixu's meridians were severely damaged, and his body was already in worse shape than that of an ordinary person. How could he possibly withstand the onset of the Gu poison? Before long, he could no longer hold on and fell forward!

Qi Zhou was behind him at the time and did not notice his abnormality. When he saw him fall down without warning, he was so frightened that his heart almost stopped.

It was too late when they reached out to help; they watched helplessly as the man crashed headfirst into a boulder in front of them.

Blood splattered everywhere, staining the stone red!

"Young Master Chu!"

Chu Huaixu's face was ashen, and he was unconscious.

...

When Song Ting received the news that Chu Huaixu had fainted, he had already returned to the palace and was having his wounds treated by the imperial physician.

The people from the Red Lotus Pavilion came with a do-or-die mentality. The Empress Dowager's entry into the mausoleum was a golden opportunity that they could not afford to miss. If they did not seize this opportunity, it would be difficult to have another chance.

What Song Ting didn't expect was that even Liu Zhang was a member of the Red Lotus Cult.

Including Yang Zhaowen, both commanders of the Imperial Guards protecting the palace were actually backed by the Red Lotus Sect.

It's hard to imagine how many followers the people hiding within have gathered and how many schemes they've devised over the years, all of which they've kept completely hidden, even deceiving the Imperial Guards.

If the person behind this hadn't been a bit impatient lately and slipped up, they might not have been able to find out who it was.

This conjecture was utterly chilling. No wonder the young emperor remained silent for a long time after hearing the news, his face grim, before asking Song Ting:

"Minister Song, has my position as emperor truly deteriorated to such a wretched state? Not a single one of my closest confidants truly cares for me..."

Song Ting didn't know how to comfort him, because he himself wasn't truly sincere. He could only offer a few perfunctory words of comfort.

Liu Zhang was no match for Zhou Tong, but he was determined to die. He had already planted explosives on his body and even tried to take Song Ting down with him in the end.

Song Ting was injured while trying to avoid the explosion.

After cleaning up the mess and returning to report, Song Ting saw the young emperor with a deathly pale face, leaning against a rock with his eyes closed, looking like he was on the verge of death. Song Ting thought he had suffered serious injuries and was quite frightened.

Upon asking, they learned that he had only been cut on the arm by a longsword and was bleeding. With Gu Yi around, nothing serious would happen.

The young emperor is intelligent and patient, but he's still as timid as he was when he was a child, often looking like he's about to faint from fright.

"How is His Majesty?"

"The wound has been treated, and I am currently discussing matters with some adults."

The blasting of the mountain was unexpected, resulting in heavy casualties. The survivors were also injured to varying degrees. The thought of such a group of people now gathered together to discuss national affairs made Song Ting inexplicably want to laugh.

Wang Guanghe noticed his expression and asked curiously, "What funny thing has come to mind, sir?"

To be honest, laughing at such a moment is obviously inappropriate, but since the person who did it was this commander, Wang Guanghe didn't find it strange.

In fact, Song Ting herself didn't know why she wanted to laugh. She just suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relief. The rebellion was basically resolved, and the Empress Dowager and Zhang Bingzhi were both dead.

Even worse, with today's incident, it seems the Empress Dowager is no longer allowed to enter the imperial mausoleum.

The stain on the Duan Prince's Mansion has been cleared, and Huai Xu is right beside him.

He has accomplished everything he wanted to do before. Even faster than he planned.