Rescuing the Emperor (Part 4)

The atmosphere in front of the palace gates instantly became even more tense, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Zhou Yanzhi stepped forward calmly, standing protectively beside Zhou Shouji to prevent Zhou Yu'an from suddenly attacking.

What do I want?

Zhou Yu'an paused, as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world.

He tightened his grip on the Empress Dowager's hand, his knuckles turning a ghastly white from the force, forcing her to let out a muffled groan of pain.

Zhou Yu'an stared intently at Zhou Shouji's face, forcing out each word through clenched teeth: "I want you to kneel! Kneel before the palace gates where civil and military officials come to pay homage..."

"Tell the people of the world that you, Zhou Shouji, have disregarded the trust of loyal ministers, fueled the flames, and are utterly wicked; you are unfit to be the ruler of a country!"

“Then, in front of this palace gate…” He suddenly drew a sword from a nearby imperial guard and hurled it at Zhou Shouji. The hard blade struck the cold, hard stone slab, producing a piercing clang.

Seeing Zhou Shouji's increasingly somber expression, he said, word by word, "I will commit suicide!"

These words struck like a thunderclap before the palace gates. A commotion instantly erupted around them, and countless eyes, some panicked and some tentative, focused on the young emperor.

"Ji...er..." The Empress Dowager's face had turned from flushed to pale, and with the last of her strength, she squeezed out broken words from her throat: "Don't...don't listen to...him..."

A surge of ferocity flashed in Zhou Yu'an's eyes. He raised his hand and knocked her unconscious with a karate chop. The Empress Dowager shuddered, then collapsed weakly into his arms. Looking at Zhou Shouji opposite her, he coldly said, "Zhou Shouji, don't you want your mother to live?"

"Your Majesty!" Zhou Yanzhi stepped forward abruptly, his hand already on the hilt of his sword, his whole body exuding a chilling murderous aura.

Zhou Shouji raised his hand and turned his head to indicate that Zhou Yanzhi was alright. Then he looked at Zhou Yu'an, who was staring intently at him, his gaze as calm as a still pond. The previous shock, anger and urgency had been silently crushed.

A sudden gust of wind whipped up his white clothes, making them flutter and accentuate his slender, pine-like figure.

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet strangely suppressing all other noises. His tone was not as urgent as before, and his words clearly reached everyone's ears.

"Did my brother set up this murder trap simply to watch my brother commit suicide?"

"So what if it is?!" Zhou Yu'an retorted sharply.

Zhou Shouji's gaze swept quickly over the unconscious Empress Dowager, finally settling on Zhou Yu'an's maniacally contorted face. His tone remained calm, yet carried immense weight: "So, even if I shed my blood here today, do you think that, given your actions of harming your stepmother and forcing your brother to his death, the imperial clan and the world will allow you to sit on that throne?"

"So what?!"

Zhou Yu'an seemed to be thoroughly stung, roaring hoarsely, every word filled with resentment and venom, "Why?! Why is it that after all my scheming and plotting to bring down the Xiao family, it is you, the cold-blooded bystander, who ends up sitting on the dragon throne?! What is it about me that I lack compared to you?!"

Upon hearing the words "Xiao family," Zhou Yanzhi's grip on his sword tightened almost imperceptibly, and his gaze toward Zhou Shouji became extremely complex.

The Xiao family...

The world...

Is it truly for the greater good, or for the selfish motives of those in power...?

Suppressing his emotions, Zhou Yanzhi turned to look at Zhou Yu'an, only to see him press the blade firmly against the Empress Dowager's neck, and a glaring line of blood instantly seeped out.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at Zhou Shouji, like a dying beast: "Within three breaths!"

"Zhou Shouji, tell me, do you want your mother's life, or your throne?!"

Having said that, before Zhou Shouji could say anything more, Zhou Yu'an began to count down.

"three."

Zhou Shouji did not move.

"two."

Zhou Shouji picked up the sword.

Seeing this, a hint of smugness flashed in Zhou Yu'an's eyes. But just as he was about to utter the word "one," and the blade had already sliced ​​into the Empress Dowager's skin...

"call out!"

Suddenly, a sharp sound and a piercing eagle's cry ripped through the air!

Zhou Yanzhi looked up instantly, a glint of light flashing in his eyes—it was Wu Goulang!

Now that Wu Goulang has arrived, well... in the blink of an eye, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems His Majesty was merely stalling for time, waiting for reinforcements to arrive, and these reinforcements...

Zhou Yanzhi couldn't help but look in the direction from which the arrow's sound came, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.

Under the bright moonlight, a sharp arrow flew from mid-air and struck the steel blade in Zhou Yu'an's hand with lightning speed and perfect accuracy!

"sulfuric acid--!"

In an instant, sparks flew everywhere!

The immense impact caused Zhou Yu'an's wrist to tremble violently, his tiger's mouth to go numb, and the blade to be involuntarily deflected half a foot, completely veering away from the Empress Dowager's neck.

Before anyone could react, the second arrow came in quick succession, so fast that it left only a blur in everyone's eyes before piercing Zhou Yu'an's right shoulder blade with a "thud"!

The arrow pierced through his body, leaving a trail of blood mist, completely eliminating any possibility of him retaliating!

At this moment, Zhou Yanzhi quickly took the unconscious Empress Dowager away from Zhou Yu'an and had Qi Minghua treat her.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yu'an had lost his last bargaining chip and had no chance of turning the tide.

The entire audience was astonished; everyone felt a chill run down their spines from the incredible power of those two arrows—when did the palace acquire someone with such martial prowess?!

Zhou Yu'an groaned in pain, his face turning deathly pale as he stared in horror at the direction from which the arrow had come.

Against the light, a slender yet upright figure stood quietly atop the high palace wall, her palace dress fluttering in the wind, and the bowstring of the longbow in her hand even humming softly.

A cold wind swept by, slightly dispersing the shimmering light in front of her, revealing a dignified and well-maintained face.

Everyone who saw this face was shocked!

How could they forget that during Emperor Zhaowu's reign, the Empress Dowager, who was then the Empress, also led troops into battle, and that the valiant Black Feather Camp was personally founded by this "Empress".

That is, the people did not call her "Empress Xianjia", but rather - "Empress Wulin".

However, after the world was at peace and the people of Zhao were happy, and after Emperor Zhaowu passed away, this "Empress Wulin" completely faded from everyone's sight and became the "Empress Dowager Xianjia" who did not care about worldly affairs in the mouths of the younger generation.

Unexpectedly, after all these years, she's still as sharp as ever...

...

The Empress Dowager slowly lowered her bow and crossbow, her gaze calm and serene, piercing through the clamor to land on the disheveled Zhou Yu'an. Her voice was not loud, but carried with unwavering resolve, clearly echoing throughout the deathly silent palace gates: "Yu'an'er."

She looked down at Zhou Yu'an, a look of pity crossing her face: "From the very beginning of this game, you made the wrong move."

The next moment, countless Black Feather Guards emerged from all sides, trapping the rebellious Imperial Guards within them, and no matter how they struggled, they could not break free.

"Report!"

Disheveled and in a sorry state, Su Feng pushed through the crowd and rushed to the Empress Dowager, bowing respectfully. His voice was still slightly out of breath as he reported, "Your Majesty, the rebels in the palace have all been executed, and the explosives hidden in the palace have been cleared away."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager nodded, then turned to Zhou Shouji on the other side and sighed, "Ji'er, the rest is up to you to handle."

After all, her grandson was even more ruthless than his grandfather.

Zhou Shouji lowered his eyes, stepped forward, and bowed to the Empress Dowager with an extremely humble posture: "Yes, grandson understands, thank you, Grandmother."

The Empress Dowager nodded, leaped down the wall, and her figure completely disappeared into the darkness...

...

Zhou Shouji remained in the posture of respectfully seeing off the Empress Dowager for a long time before straightening up and casting a cold gaze upon Zhou Yu'an, sending chills down his spine.

After a long pause, Zhou Shouji slowly spoke: "Guards, throw the traitor Zhou Yu'an into the imperial prison and await trial."

Immediately, someone dragged the disheveled Zhou Yu'an away.

"Cough cough..."

Several low coughs were heard. Zhou Shouji closed his eyes, turned around and walked towards Emperor Zhaowen and the Empress Dowager, who had just woken up.

"Father, Mother."

Emperor Zhaowen leaned weakly against Zhou Yanzhi. Hearing the voice, he slightly raised his eyes and looked at the tall and elegant Zhou Shouji in front of him. A complicated look flashed in his eyes. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say anything. In the end, he just closed his eyes in extreme exhaustion and said very softly, "...I entrust the Great Zhao to you."

Zhou Shouji simply bowed silently without replying.

...

By the time the chaos in front of the palace gates was completely quelled, it was nearly dawn. As the first rays of sunlight broke through the darkness, the faint glow of the rising sun fell on the blood-stained blue bricks, and the tense palace coup came to an end.

In the early morning, the air is filled with wisps of mist, and each breath carries a slight coolness.

On the road leading to the Qi residence, three figures walked side by side.

Suddenly, one of the green figures hopped forward a few steps, then turned to face the other two, and started walking backwards.

“Good heavens, you have no idea how calm His Highness the Crown Prince… no, His Majesty was back then.” Su Feng gestured as he lowered his voice and exaggerated, “Before I even told him that the Fourth Prince was missing, the people who reported that something had happened to the Empress Dowager arrived.”

"I was startled at the time, but His Majesty only thought for a few moments before quickly writing a note for me, telling me about a secret passage leading to the Forbidden City, and instructing me to go find the Empress Dowager."

Zhou Yanzhi smiled and said, "That's an exaggeration."

After saying that, he thought of something and his heart sank – in fact, at that time, the Empress Dowager had not yet been pushed out by Zhou Yu'an.

The reason he had the Black Feather Guards report that something had happened to the Empress Dowager was because, deep down, he had a feeling that Zhou Shouji would not show up for Emperor Zhaowen.

As the sky gradually brightened, Zhou Yanzhi understood more and more that the young emperor who was about to ascend the throne had already turned the affection between father and son and the loyalty of his subjects into cold and hard bargaining chips.

Just as he once said, "The overall situation is paramount."

The dawn following this palace coup was more unsettling than any night of bloodshed.