"Why? Why is Father treating me like this? Why?!" Xuan Yuan Yu went mad, tearing the imperial edict to shreds and throwing it on the ground.

The tattered imperial edict floated to the feet of Xuan Yuanzhi and Xuan Yuanduo, both of whom turned deathly pale.

They once thought that with Xuanyuan Zhan gone from the capital, their father had finally seen them and allowed them to oversee the country together, and even put the city guards under their control. But it turned out that it was all a joke.

Everything Father Emperor did was merely paving the way for Xuan Yuanzhan. Father Emperor’s preferred heir has always been Xuan Yuanzhan, not any of them!

At this moment, the three princes who grew up by their father's side all seemed like a joke.

Cao Qi didn't care what madness Xuan Yuan Yu was going through, and shouted at the soldiers below again: "Open the city gates! Welcome the Holy King!"

This time, the soldiers finally understood the general direction of the situation and immediately obeyed and opened the city gate.

Outside, whether it's Xuan Yuanzhan's army, the Su family army, the Kyoto reserve army, or the three armed forces, they have long since stopped fighting each other; the war has long since ended.

After all, it's clear that everyone has now pledged allegiance to the Holy King, so naturally everyone is on our side, and there's no need to fight anymore!

When Xuanyuan Yu on the city tower saw that the soldiers below had actually opened the city gate, he immediately became anxious and shouted, "Don't open the gate! Cao Qi's imperial edict is fake! Everyone obey my orders! No one is allowed to open the gate!"

No matter how frantically he shouted, the soldiers below ignored him and opened the city gate together.

Seeing that they had actually opened the city gates, Xuanyuan Yu was so enraged that he wanted to kill everyone in the world and slaughter everything!

Xuanyuan Zhi closed his eyes in despair, then stared intently at Tuoba Xiong, who was surrounded by soldiers.

Xuanyuan Duo had not expected the battle to end this way, and he was worried about his fate, feeling extremely flustered.

Xuanyuan Zhan raised his eyes to look at Cao Qi on the city wall: "I will have to trouble General Cao to escort Xuanyuan Yu, Xuanyuan Zhi, and Xuanyuan Duo back to the palace."

"Yes," Cao Qi immediately bowed in response.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Holy King will become the Crown Prince of Eastern Chu, and he has no choice but to be respectful.

"Welcome back to the capital, Your Majesty!" the soldiers at the gate shouted in unison.

"Let's go into town!"

With a wave of his hand, Xuanyuan Zhan led his troops into the capital city in a grand procession.

On the city tower, Cao Qi gave Jin Lu and Shan Jing winks.

The three immediately understood and escorted Xuan Yuan Yu and the others down the city wall.

Xuanyuan Zhi and Xuanyuan Duo seemed to have resigned themselves to their fate, letting them take them as they pleased.

Only Xuanyuan Yu continued to jump around and shout: "Cao Qi, Jin Lu, how dare you betray me! When I see my father, I will definitely exterminate your entire family!"

Unfortunately, no matter how he called out to them, Cao Qi and the others were too lazy to pay him any attention.

Now that they have the Emperor's decree in hand, they can disobey even the Emperor's orders. He even wants to use the Emperor to suppress them. How could they be afraid!

Ignoring Xuan Yuan Yu's shouts, the four of them escorted them back to the palace.

Xuanyuan Zhan led his army into the capital city in a grand manner, attracting crowds of people to line the streets and watch.

"The Holy King has entered the capital? Wasn't there a war? How come he's entered the capital so quickly?"

"I didn't hear any major commotion at the city gate. Was the battle over so quickly? Did the Holy King win?"

"Even the Su family army couldn't stop the Holy King? How is the Holy King so powerful?"

"Didn't you see the Su family army following behind the Holy King? This Su family army is clearly part of the Holy King's faction!"

"But wasn't the Su family army sent by the Third Prince to stop the Holy King? How come the Su family army is helping the Holy King instead?"

"What's so strange about that? The Holy King is General Su's son-in-law, and the Su family army is General Su's personal guard. Naturally, they'll help the Holy King."

"Look, aren't those the three princes? Why are they all being escorted?"

"It's General Cao from the Kyoto Reserve Army, the commander of the three armies. Weren't they all sent by the three princes to guard the city? Why are they all holding the three princes hostage?"

"What on earth happened? It seems like everything is going in the opposite direction."

The Su family army, the reserve army, and the three armies of Kyoto were all supposed to be helping the three princes to defeat the Holy King, but now it seems that's not the case at all.

Amidst the curious gazes of the people, Xuanyuan Zhan led his army toward the palace.

As soon as the group reached the main street of Kyoto, they saw a huge fire phoenix fly over their heads.

"It's a phoenix!"

Suddenly, some people started shouting.

In an instant, everyone's attention was drawn to the sight of a giant fire phoenix streaking across the sky and heading towards the palace.

"What a huge fire phoenix!"

"That must be the Vermilion Bird divine beast!"

"Isn't the Vermilion Bird the guardian beast of the Western Liang Kingdom? Why is it here in our Eastern Chu?"

"Yeah, it seems like it's happened twice before?"

Upon seeing the fire phoenix, Xuan Yuan Yu and Xuan Yuan Zhi's eyes instantly darkened.

That's definitely the Vermilion Bird mythical beast!

They had been in close contact in the valley in the western suburbs back then!

Does the appearance of this Vermilion Bird mean Su Xuening has returned?

Upon seeing the Vermilion Bird divine beast, Mu Lingchen excitedly looked at Xuan Yuanzhan and asked, "Is that my cousin Ning'er?"

Xuan Yuanzhan saw the direction the Vermilion Bird flew in and knew that Su Xuening had entered the palace. He said to Mu Lingchen with some concern, "You take Xuan Yuanyu and the others into the palace. I'll go find Ning'er first."

As he spoke, Xuanyuan Zhan rode off alone at full speed to catch up with Zhuque.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the Vermilion Bird, Long Jiaojiao, lying in the prison cart, suddenly opened his eyes.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Long Jiaojiao raised her hand and exerted her strength, shattering the prison cart.

With a loud "boom!", the surrounding soldiers were instantly startled.

Mu Lingchen turned around and saw Long Jiaojiao fly out of the prison cart. He was so frightened that he blurted out, "Quick, grab her!"

With a wave of her red sleeve, Long Jiaojiao unleashed two bursts of internal force that knocked the soldiers surrounding the prison cart to the ground.

Long Jiaojiao's peach blossom eyes swept across the crowd, and she immediately spotted Su Yun'an's face, which was exactly the same as Su Xuening's. Her eyes flashed with a sharp light, and like an eagle snatching a chick, she swooped down, grabbed Su Yun'an, and took him away.

"Holy crap!" Seeing Su Yun'an being captured by Long Jiaojiao, Mu Lingchen was stunned and immediately shouted, "Quickly, go after her!"

Without a second thought, Youyi, who was following Su Yun'an, chased after Long Jiaojiao.

Ye Feng, Ye Yun, Bai Ying, and the others immediately followed after them.

The soldiers wanted to give chase, but they simply couldn't keep up with Long Jiaojiao's speed.

Seeing the soldiers in disarray, Ling Lang quickly said to Mu Lingchen, "My lord, let's take the men into the palace first. That demoness's martial arts skills should only be able to rival those of the prince. We should inform the prince of this matter as soon as possible."

Mu Lingchen had calmed down a bit by now. He glanced at Long Jiaojiao and the others, who had already disappeared, and said in a deep voice, "No need to chase them. Let's go to the palace first!"