Chapter 317 Unwilling

The two men were dressed like ordinary bodyguards, but they were not masked. One had a slender, elegant figure, while the other had sharp, towering eyebrows.

What surprised Eunuch Ren and the Emperor was not the extraordinary appearance or imposing manner of the old man and the young man.

Instead, they recognized the two men: the younger one was none other than the Northern Frontier King, who had stirred up a storm in the capital, and the older one was Ye Guhong, known as the number one person in the martial arts world.

But how is that possible?

The Tiger Soaring Army's attack was over in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The Emperor's hundreds of thousands of soldiers were still putting up a stubborn resistance. Even if there were some problems with these hundreds of thousands of soldiers now, it was impossible for them to be able to break through so quickly.

They can hold out for at least two more hours, enough time for the emperor to escape.

How did these two people manage to appear out of thin air in the Hall of Diligent Governance amidst a vast army?

Upon closer inspection, the two men were covered in mud, as if they had just emerged from the ground.

Eunuch Ren rubbed his eyes hard. The two men were still standing unharmed before the Emperor. He finally believed it was true and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Assassins..."

With just one shout, Ye Guhong was in front of him, forcefully twisting his head, silencing the remaining words of Eunuch Ren. He fell to the ground, his eyes wide open, staring in the direction of the Emperor.

The commotion alerted the remaining eunuchs and palace maids in the Hall of Diligent Governance.

Ye Guhong looked at the crowd rushing over and pointed at Eunuch Ren, saying, "Quiet down. The one who was yelling has already gone downstairs. Anyone who wants to keep him company can try again..."

He was clearly smiling, but everyone felt their breath catch in their throats, as if they were being choked by an invisible force, unable to utter a sound.

The Emperor knew that even if these dozen or so eunuchs and palace maids attacked together, it wouldn't be enough to make Ye Guhong draw his sword, nor would it be possible for him to escape from under Ye Guhong's nose. Therefore, he didn't care. What he cared about was his thirty-odd secret guards. If they were there, they could still fight against these two and buy him a chance to escape.

Seeing that the Emperor's gaze was still peering out the window, Wen Zhiming couldn't help but chuckle, "Your secret guards? You mean the brothers Ye Jian and Ye Fan? Or their thirty-two subordinates?"

"So what if they were here? They were just here a moment ago, and they've only left temporarily. If they were here, would they allow you to act so recklessly? The King of the Northern Frontier has always prided himself on being upright and honorable, yet he acts so furtively. If you really have the ability, just wait for my secret guards to arrive, and then we'll settle this once and for all."

The Emperor slowly recovered from his shock and disbelief. Regardless of how Wen Zhiming and Ye Guhong got here, the most important thing now was to escape from their clutches and find a way to survive.

Ye Jian and Ye Fan have followed him for over a decade, living a life of luxury and privilege, no different from royalty. They would never betray him.

They're probably just leaving temporarily and will be back soon.

If we can stall until they return, there is hope of escape.

"Hahaha..." Ye Guhong laughed upon hearing this, and took out a bag of jewelry from his pocket. "This old man wanted to compete with them, but those two brothers were in a hurry to escape. In order to prevent me from harming them, they even offered me this bag of jewelry as a bribe. This old man was indebted to them and had no choice but to let them go. If you want to wait for them to come back, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until your next life."

The bag of jewels was open, its contents sparkling with priceless treasures. The Emperor glanced at it briefly and immediately recognized the red jade thumb ring at the top as the very one he had bestowed upon Ye Jian.

The two brothers actually managed to escape.

Not only did he escape, but he also took all thirty-two of his remaining bodyguards with him.

"You heartless, treacherous lackey!" the Emperor couldn't help but grit his teeth and curse, "You always talk about being willing to die for me, but when the time comes to use you, you actually abandon me and run away!"

He was usually most generous to Ye Jian and Ye Fan, after all, these two could protect his life and property at any time.

But when disaster struck, it was these two who betrayed him first.

"How can a person without virtue deserve others to risk their lives to save them?" Ye Guhong laughed. "You gave them your brothers rewards, and they served you for more than ten years. It was a fair exchange between you. Now you want them to die for you. You are too greedy."

The emperor was speechless for a moment.

He only wanted to leave this place and rejoin the remaining forces, but the sudden appearance of these two people cut off all his escape routes.

Wen Zhiming approached him and said, “I’ve heard that you love to beat people to death, skin them alive, tear them to pieces. I really want you to experience all of these ways of dying. But time is of the essence. The longer we linger here, the more innocent soldiers and officers will die for a tyrannical and cruel person like you. So I have no choice but to let you die quickly.”

The Emperor retreated step by step, gritting his teeth as he said, "I truly regret not killing you back then, leaving such a huge hidden danger. If I had killed you, your father, your mother, and everyone in the Prince of Anshun's mansion back then, things wouldn't have come to this..."

Wen Zhiming's eyes darkened, and he swiftly plunged the sword into the emperor's left leg, then pulled it out and plunged it into his right leg.

"Even now you show no remorse, only regretting that your evil deeds weren't thorough enough. Even if you had slaughtered everyone in the Anshun Prince's Mansion back then, there would still be others who rebelled, and there would still be kings from the East, South, and West to come and take your dog's life..."

The emperor was unable to move his legs and crawled on the ground with his hands, leaving two long trails of blood.

I'm so unwilling to accept this.

He still has troops and court officials. As long as he leaves this place, he can make a comeback. His leg injury is nothing to worry about; a royal physician will treat him...

Wen Zhiming followed behind him, sword in hand, and addressed the dozen or so palace maids and eunuchs outside the door who dared not move: "This dog emperor is cruel and tyrannical, and today is his death day. If you have a grievance, seek justice; if you have a grudge, seek revenge. Each of you may come up and stab him with your sword. Is there anyone who dares to come forward?"

The palace maids and eunuchs inquired among themselves, and soon an older maid stepped forward, took the sword from Wen Zhiming's hand, and said with tears in her eyes, "My sister and I have served in the palace for many years. My younger sister had typhoid fever and coughed while serving him. The tyrant beat her to death on the grounds of disrespect in front of the emperor. This sword was stabbed for my sister..."

She stabbed the emperor in the left hand with a sword. The emperor stared at her with bloodshot eyes, but was unable to resist due to his serious injury.

After she stepped down, a young eunuch took the sword and said angrily, "The tyrant complained that the candles were too bright and made me extinguish hundreds of candles with my own flesh and blood. My chest and back are still covered with burn scars. I never dreamed that I would have a day of revenge in my lifetime."

"This servant accidentally knocked over a teacup, and the tyrant severed my arm on the spot. Now, this servant will use my left hand to avenge my right hand..."

"..."

Eunuchs and palace maids entered one after another, without missing a single one.

They recounted the injustices and torments they had suffered, avoiding the emperor's deadly attacks, and finally mustered all their strength to stab him with a sword.

The emperor was in so much pain that he was trembling and couldn't even speak.

Besides the pain, there was even more humiliation.