dusk

The roar of the black-armored cavalry entering the city was like the war drum of the god of death, beating in the heart of every rebel.

However, after the initial panic, Third Prince Xie Wujiu's face was transformed into a desperate madness. He grabbed Crown Prince Xie Wuchen, who was lying limp on the ground like mud, and placed the cold blade across his neck, laughing wildly at the outside world:

"Xie Wuqi! Look who this is! Your good nephew, the rightful crown prince of the Great Zhou! If you dare take another step forward, I will immediately sever his head from his body! Then, you will be the eternal sinner who forced the crown prince to his death!"

He held the Crown Prince hostage, and under the protection of his trusted followers, he swaggered out of Chengxin Hall and arrived at the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the center of the palace. The setting sun was like blood, stretching his figure outsize, adding a hint of the ferocity of a desperate man.

Around the square, more and more rebels, hearing the Third Prince's cries, gathered around him as if they had found a rallying point, a massive mass of nearly ten thousand men! Most of them were the Third Prince's long-awaited assassins, as well as some of the Beijing camp's soldiers who were bound by his interests. Knowing the situation was hopeless, they still fought desperately!

"Let go of the prince!" Xie Wuqi led the charge, standing before the black-armored cavalry. He wore no armor, only the dark garb of a prince. His black hair flowed in the wind, and his posture stood tall and straight like a pine tree. Facing a rebel force several times his size, his face showed no fear. Only his phoenix eyes, as cold as a thousand-year-old pond, held a monstrous murderous intent.

His voice was not loud, but it carried an invisible pressure and was clearly heard throughout the square.

"Xie Wuqi! Stop pretending to be kind and righteous here!" Xie Wujiu grinned, and the blade of his sword drew a bloody mark on the prince's neck, causing the prince to scream like a slaughtered pig. "You want this bastard alive? Sure! Immediately make your people lay down their weapons and leave the palace! Kneel down and be tied up! Otherwise..."

Before he finished speaking, Xie Wuqi suddenly raised his hand and stopped the cavalry behind him who were ready to move.

He looked at the crazy Xie Wujiu calmly, and even a very faint, almost pitiful arc appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Xie Wujiu, do you think you can threaten me by holding a worthless person hostage?" His voice was filled with condescending mockery. "I led the border troops into the capital to purge the emperor's court, rectify the government, and restore order to the Great Zhou! If the crown prince dies, it's because he was incompetent and deserved this fate! And you—killed the king, usurped the throne, poisoned your own father, and are hated by both humans and gods! Today is the day you die!"

His words were cold and resolute, yet they carried a kind of righteousness and strength that was heartbreaking! Not only did they completely shatter Xie Wujiu's support, but they also firmly pinned the crime of "regicide" on him!

Many of the already hesitant rebels in the square erupted in a commotion upon hearing this, looking at Xie Wujiu with eyes filled with surprise and fear. Regicide?! Was His Majesty poisoned by the Third Prince?!

"You're talking nonsense!" Xie Wujiu's face changed drastically, and he roared in frustration, "It's clearly the Crown Prince's incompetence that has pissed off Father! It's you, Xie Wuqi, who's full of ambition and plotting a rebellion!"

"Whether it's nonsense or not, we will judge for ourselves." Xie Wuqi stopped looking at him, his gaze sweeping across the wavering rebels. His voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap, "Listen up, soldiers! Xie Wujiu murdered the king and usurped the throne. The evidence is irrefutable! You are all citizens of the Great Zhou. Do you really want to follow such a disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust person and be infamous for eternity?! Lay down your weapons now. I guarantee in the name of Prince Jing that only the ringleader will be executed, and those who were coerced will not be questioned!"

"Only the main culprit will be punished! The accomplices will not be questioned!"

"Only the main culprit will be punished! The accomplices will not be questioned!"

The black-armored cavalry behind him roared in unison, and the sound was like a tsunami, impacting the rebels' already fragile psychological defenses!

Clang! Clang!

Some rebels began to drop their weapons, unable to bear the enormous pressure and psychological impact.

Like dominoes falling, more and more people are surrendering!

"No surrender! No one is allowed to surrender! Whoever dares to surrender, I will kill his entire family!" Xie Wujiu's eyes were bloodshot, he waved his sword and roared madly, but he could no longer stop the torrent of defeat.

Seeing that the number of guards around him was decreasing, a trace of desperate madness flashed in Xie Wujiu's eyes. He suddenly raised his sword and was about to chop it down at the prince's neck!

“Now!”

Xu Xianyue, who had been hiding in the shadows, closely observing the battle, suddenly had a cold glint in her eyes! The dark red mandala velvet flower she had been holding between her fingers suddenly popped out with a special technique!

The velvet flower was not shot at Xie Wujiu, but at a loose bluestone slab not far from his feet!

“Bang!”

With a slight crisp sound, the velvet flower shattered, and an extremely fine dust with strong hallucinogenic and paralyzing properties spread out instantly, and was inhaled quickly by Xie Wujiu due to his excitement!

His movements suddenly stopped, his eyes became distracted for a moment, and the arm holding the sword also stiffened for a moment!

This is the moment that decides life or death!

"call out--!"

A wolf-tooth arrow from the Black Armor Iron Cavalry Formation, like a meteor chasing the moon, with a shrill sound of breaking through the air, pierced Xie Wujiu's sword-holding right arm with incredible precision!

"Ah!" Xie Wujiu screamed, and the sword fell to the ground!

Jingzhe swooped out from the flank like a ghost and snatched the frightened prince away from Xie Wujiu!

"Catch the traitor!" Xie Wuqi gave the order!

Several cavalry guards pounced on him like wolves and tigers, pinning Xie Wujiu, who was still struggling under the effects of the drug and with blood pouring from his arms, to the ground!

The rebels completely collapsed.

In the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a group of rebels knelt down, their weapons and armor abandoned.

The setting sun completely sank into the horizon, leaving only a sad and beautiful blood-red on the horizon, reflecting the palace where the battle had just ended, making it look particularly desolate.

Just as the dust settled in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, another silent but even more cruel ending was taking place in the Cining Palace.

Princess Huixi, holding a bowl of freshly prepared "calming soup", walked up to the empress dowager who was under house arrest in a side hall and had a pale face.

The Queen Mother looked at her, the daughter whom she had raised but who turned against her at the last moment, her eyes filled with resentment and disbelief.

"Hui Xi...you...you have such a cruel heart!" The Queen Mother's voice was hoarse, with a dying struggle.

There was no expression on Princess Huixi's face, only a cold calmness.

"Mother," she said softly, her voice like a venomous snake gliding across ice, "Compared to how you poisoned my father with your hooked tongue and ended my brother with your trolley, what does this mere bowl of 'soul-calming soup' mean to you?"

She passed the bowl of soup to the Queen Mother's lips, her tone gentle, yet chilling, "You are tired, it's time to rest. From now on... leave the care of the Great Zhou Dynasty to your daughter."

The Queen Mother stared at her, her lips trembling. She wanted to scream, but the palace maid behind Huixi covered her mouth tightly.

The bowl of pitch-black medicine was poured into the empress dowager's throat bit by bit.

On the seventh day of the ninth month in the twenty-third year of the Yongxi reign, at the end of the Xu hour.

Empress Dowager Zhou, the Holy Mother of the Great Zhou Dynasty, died in Cining Palace due to "excessive grief." She was posthumously named Empress Dowager Xiaozhen Jingyi and given the posthumous title "Duan."

A palace coup that lasted a whole day and night finally came to an end with the capture of the third prince, the sudden death of the queen mother, and the rescue of the crown prince.

However, the joy of victory did not last long.

Xie Wuqi stood in the square littered with corpses, looking at the rescued prince who was still in shock, and then looked at the bottomless palace, the solemnity between his brows did not dissipate.

The emperor has passed away, his will remains unclear, only fragments remain. The crown prince is incompetent, the third prince has been executed, the empress dowager has "died of illness", and there is also the ambitious Princess Huixi, who has just poisoned her adoptive mother...

The court of the Great Zhou Dynasty was like a huge power vacuum at this moment.

And he, Prince Jing Xie Wuqi, has been pushed to the center of this vortex by virtue of his merit in saving the emperor and the powerful military power in his hands.

He turned around and looked at Xu Xianyue who was slowly walking towards him from the direction of Changchun Xianguan.

In the darkness of the night, her clothes fluttered in the wind, and her cold face was stained with some blood, but she was still calm, unlike an ordinary person.

Their eyes met.

Everything is implied.

The old order has been broken and a new era is about to come.

Will they be the founders of this new era, or... pawns swallowed up by the torrent of the new era?

The answer is still unknown.