Chapter 197 Smashing the Cup as a Signal
The dancers who were originally dancing energetically in the center of the hall seemed to sense the suffocating tension in the air, and their faces turned pale and their movements became stiff.
"Step back."
The Empress Dowager waved her hand coldly.
The music stopped abruptly, and the dancers, as if granted a pardon, hurriedly retreated from the hall.
The vast Hall of Supreme Harmony fell into a deathly silence, with only the occasional sound of wind coming from outside the window, like the wailing of ghosts.
Pei Yunjing remained languidly leaning against the tiger-skin chair, one hand playing with Tang Li's fingers, the other holding the glass of wine that had been tested for poison but hadn't been drunk from, a faint mockery playing on his lips.
He was like a tiger that had eaten and drunk its fill and was now dozing off, completely ignoring the malicious stares around him.
Looking at his stubborn and arrogant demeanor, the Empress Dowager finally ran out of patience.
The scars on her face throbbed faintly beneath the veil; they were the marks of shame.
If she doesn't kill this adulterous couple today, how can she, as the Empress Dowager, have any face to live in this world?
"The Regent".
The Empress Dowager's voice became sharp and sinister, like rusty iron scraping against each other:
"I'll ask you one last time."
"Are you really not going to drink this celebratory toast?"
Pei Yunjing raised his eyelids, glanced at her indifferently, and casually threw the wine glass on the ground.
"Sizzle—"
The spilled liquor on the carpet, though non-toxic, conveyed a sense of resolute determination.
"dirty."
He only replied with one word.
The Empress Dowager suddenly stood up, her chest heaving violently, and the murderous intent in her eyes could no longer be concealed.
"Very good! Very good!"
"Since you refuse to listen to reason and are forced to drink the penalty cup, then don't blame me for not showing any consideration for our relationship as uncle and sister-in-law!"
She raised the precious glass cup in her hand high and smashed it hard against the hard gold brick floor!
"Smack—!!!"
A crisp, piercing cracking sound suddenly rang out in the deathly silent hall.
"Boom!"
As the cup shattered, the heavy curtains that had been hanging down around the Hall of Supreme Harmony were suddenly pulled open from behind.
The carved screens were violently pushed to the ground with a deafening crash.
"kill--!!!"
Shouts of battle erupted instantly, shaking the entire palace.
Countless soldiers clad in heavy armor and wielding sharp axes surged into the hall from all sides like a flood bursting its banks.
Those were the Empress Dowager's private army—five hundred axemen—who had been raised for many years.
They were all burly men with menacing faces, and the large Xuanhua axes in their hands gleamed with a bloodthirsty cold light in the candlelight.
Without the slightest hesitation, the axemen rushed forward and surrounded Pei Yunjing and Tang Li on the high platform, making it impossible for them to pass through.
The civil and military officials below were so frightened that they all crawled under the table, trembling with fear.
The young emperor burst into tears, covering his head and shrinking into the dragon throne, not daring to look at anyone.
"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"
The Empress Dowager looked at the two people who were surrounded and let out a maniacal laugh.
She ripped off her veil, revealing a terrifying face covered in centipede-like scars, pointed at Pei Yunjing, and roared angrily:
"Pei Yunjing!"
"As the regent, instead of serving your country, you have been bewitched by a sorceress, disrupting the court and plotting a rebellion!"
She slapped a label on Pei Yunjing that was enough to condemn his entire family, standing on the moral high ground and declaring her verdict with all her might:
"Today, I will cleanse the house of the late Emperor!"
"Purge the court of corrupt officials! Eliminate the wicked!"
"Kill them! Chop those two scoundrels into mincemeat! Whoever can take Pei Yunjing's head will be rewarded with ten thousand gold pieces and granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"
A greedy red glint instantly appeared in the eyes of the five hundred axemen. They raised their giant axes and advanced step by step, the encirclement growing ever smaller.
However, Pei Yunjing, who was at the center of the storm, didn't even blink.
He remained seated in the tiger-skin chair, showing no intention of even getting up.
He simply turned his head slightly to look at the small woman beside him who also looked calm and was even peeling sunflower seeds.
Are you scared?
He asked softly, his gentle tone incongruous with the somber atmosphere.
Tang Li tossed a melon seed into her mouth, clapped her hands, and looked at the fierce-looking executioners around her with a disdainful smile.
"Afraid?"
She shook her head and pointed to the Empress Dowager, who was still stomping her feet:
"I just felt... the prelude to this scene was too long."
"Now that almost everyone has arrived..."
Tang Li turned her head to look at Pei Yunjing, her eyes sparkling with excitement:
"Looks like that 'charlatan' will be making his appearance soon, won't he?"
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