The tall and majestic palace appears even more solemn and mysterious under the full moon in the night sky, as if shrouded in a layer of golden light, exuding a calm and ancient atmosphere.
The palace had already been hung with all kinds of exquisite and gorgeous lanterns by the palace servants, making the place sparkle with light and be as bright as day.
The melodious sound of stringed instruments floated in the Yonghe Hall. All around, various elegant pots and vases were planted with blooming exotic flowers and plants, as if dancing for the festival. The ministers and their families who came to the banquet gathered in twos and threes to greet each other and talk.
Because Tian An was at home in confinement after giving birth, Zhao Yiming had to attend the banquet alone, and he arrived almost on time.
But Prince Wenxuan, who was sitting at the head of the hall, seemed to have been paying attention to the entrance of the hall. When he saw him coming, he put aside his status as an elder and stood up to greet him, "My dear nephew Mingyu, do you still remember your eighth uncle?"
Zhao Yiming smiled and bowed politely, "How is Eighth Uncle? Things have been turbulent at home these past few days, and I only learned about your arrival before entering the palace. I'm sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please forgive me."
Prince Wenxuan smiled lovingly and patted his shoulder, "My boy, we haven't seen each other for many years and we've become strangers. Yet you're still so polite to your uncle."
"I was ignorant when I was little and made my eighth uncle laugh at me." Zhao Yiming said with a hint of embarrassment.
The two exchanged a few more pleasantries until the palace servants came over and asked them to take a seat, and then they stopped talking.
However, just as he took a step forward, Prince Wenxuan turned back and invited Zhao Yiming, "Mingyu! Your eighth aunt stayed at the post station today to take care of your cousin Minru and cousin Qingwei. You also came to the palace alone. Why don't you come and sit at the same table with your eighth uncle, so that we can catch up on the past!"
"This might be a little against the rules!" Zhao Yiming said in a law-abiding manner.
"Oh! We are all family, what's the big deal?" King Wenxuan said, putting his hand on Zhao Yiming's shoulder and leading him to his seat.
To outsiders, the two seemed to be very familiar with each other.
After sitting down, Prince Wenxuan took the initiative to talk to Zhao Yiming about the previous incident with Xiao Minru and her sister. "Your uncle only found out about what happened a few days ago today. Your two cousins have been spoiled by your uncle. I thought they were just a little domineering, but I didn't expect them to develop such a reckless personality.
Don't worry, your uncle has already scolded them when they came here. After a few days, your uncle will personally bring them to apologize to your nephew's wife."
"Uncle Eighth, you're too polite. I think my two cousins have learned their lesson by now..."
After exchanging pleasantries with him for a while, Zhao Yiming finally heard the eunuch's voice: "The Emperor has arrived, the Empress has arrived..."
As soon as the emperor and empress arrived, the originally relaxed atmosphere suddenly became serious, and the officials were no longer as casual as before.
After the emperor said a few polite words, he turned his attention to Prince Wenxuan.
The two of them expressed their longing for each other, and soon they were performing a drama of brotherly love in front of everyone.
Even some of the ministers below joined in the conversation, praising the brotherhood between the two men with beautiful words.
The hall was filled with a harmonious scene between the emperor and his subjects.
Outside the palace, the streets decorated with countless lanterns were bustling with people, and there were all kinds of vendors and acrobatic performances that dazzled the audience.
As soon as the hour of Xu arrived, a float slowly drove out from the four already crowded streets of the capital.
The float is decorated with lanterns and flowers of various shapes, and beautiful dancers in tulle twist their waists and dance around the float.
As the melodious music sounded, a graceful veiled woman slowly appeared on the float while dancing, instantly attracting everyone's attention.
The woman's graceful dance made passers-by subconsciously stare at her intently. Some men were even called several times by their wives who were walking with them, but they still didn't come to their senses.
They were so angry that they stomped their feet and pointed at the woman on the float and called her a vixen.
He had just said it in anger, but he had never expected that it would come true. These women were all man-eating monsters.
The woman seemed to be deaf to the insults outside the float, and instead danced even harder. Her slender waist swayed so softly that people saw double.
Many fascinated men followed the floats with red eyes. They stared at the beauties on the floats and didn't even bother to look at the road under their feet, as if they were afraid of missing a glimpse of them.
Gradually, the float was surrounded by men.
They were so focused on looking at the beauties that they didn't even notice when their wives and children got separated.
At this moment, with a "whoosh..." sound, a red firework streaked across the dark night sky. Its tail was like a bright red line, rushing straight to the sky and then blooming, shaped like a swaying red spider lily.
Immediately afterwards, a steady stream of red fireworks rushed into the night sky and bloomed, interweaving in the air to form a gorgeous sea of red flowers.
Just as people looked up to admire the spectacular fireworks display, a faint scream suddenly came to their ears, but was soon drowned out by the sound of the fireworks.
At first people thought it was an admiration for the fireworks, until the screams grew louder and louder, so loud that they could not be drowned out by the sound of the fireworks, and then those who looked up at the fireworks realized that something was wrong.
When they turned around, the scene before them was one that terrified them for the rest of their lives.
Countless masked men in black clothes and red turbans on their heads appeared out of nowhere at some point in time.
They were using the fireworks as a cover, waving their scimitars vigorously to quickly harvest heads.
Regardless of gender, age or status, almost anyone they saw was hacked to pieces. The originally bustling crowd was like rice in autumn, falling down wherever the machete went.
Bright red blood instantly stained the street beneath their feet. Frightened people began to flee in all directions, and screams of terror filled the air.
There were men in black chasing behind them. As people fled, they pushed the people in front of them vigorously. Many people were pushed to the ground. Before the men in black could catch up, they were trampled to death by the fleeing crowd. The bustling streets suddenly turned into a living hell.
The beautiful dancers who were just supported and admired by the crowd now turned into deadly soul-snatching messengers, and almost all the people closest to the floats died at their hands.
The bright red blood sprayed on the snow-white gauze on their bodies, as if it were painted with blooming red plum blossoms, making them look ghostly and enchanting.
At some point, the red Lycoris radiata in the night sky had quietly faded away, leaving only the fleeing crowd screaming, calling for help, despairing, and wailing.
The city defenses that rushed over after hearing the news were isolated outside by the crowd. They watched helplessly as the men in black killed people without restraint. They were so anxious that they jumped up and down. The leader of the team quickly took out a signal flare and fired it, requesting support...
Compared to the hell on the streets, those who stayed in the houses were considered to have escaped disaster.
However, the real riot has just begun.
At the same time, tens of thousands of troops who had been lying in ambush outside the city were waiting for an opportunity to move.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
