In the year 996 of the Heavenly Stem calendar, the Taiping Army, led by Ye Li, and the three rebel kings who called themselves the Asura King, the Flood Dragon King, and the Qilin King, along with the Fengtian, Black Dragon, and Tianrui armies, approached the capital from four different directions.
Several rebel kings are now only a few dozen miles away from the capital and could appear outside the city walls at any moment.
In the present-day capital, it seems that only the Imperial Guards, who are directly under the emperor, remain.
Although the other armies received the letters to come to the emperor's aid, they all remained inactive and simply watched from the sidelines.
They were simply watching, perhaps waiting for the rebel army to breach the capital before devising a new monarchy to reap the benefits.
Today's imperial court is quite different from the past.
Some ministers mysteriously disappeared some time ago, while others have quietly left the capital.
The court was somewhat empty, with only a few people still standing there.
"My esteemed ministers, if you have something to report, please do so; otherwise, the court may adjourn."
Emperor Liu Jie continued to eat and drink as usual, seemingly without any sense of tension that the enemy was at the gates and he might lose his head.
The prime minister also stood aside, without saying a word.
"Your Majesty, news from outside the city indicates that four rebel groups have already attacked. Should we leave the capital and head south, or wait here for reinforcements?"
The Minister of Rites was the first to step forward and speak, seemingly wanting to consider the interests of the royal family, but his eyes flickered, suggesting that he also had his own ideas.
"..."
Liu Jie didn't speak, but just stared quietly at the Minister of Rites, making him feel as if those eyes could see right through him.
I could only pretend I didn't see it, lower my head, and wait for someone else to speak.
He wasn't afraid of anything. He and several colleagues had already discussed it beforehand. They were going to join the strongest rebel army, the Fengtian Army of the Asura King.
In any case, as long as they surrender and defect, they can still keep their property, and serving a new master is not impossible.
They all have bright futures, so why should they stay on this dilapidated ship?
As expected, after the Minister of Rites, the Vice Minister of War also began his proposal.
"Your Majesty, the capital is now indefensible. Once the various rebel groups attack, the Imperial Guards will have no chance of resisting."
However, there are still loyal soldiers of our dynasty in the south. They wish Your Majesty would move south, so that one day you can reclaim the empire.
Their idea was to make the emperor leave the capital. If a dynasty loses its capital, it will be very difficult to recover.
Their master, who was the first to lead the troops into the capital, thus gained the greater good.
"My beloved ministers, you are indeed my loyal subjects, so loyal, so incredibly loyal..."
"His Majesty!"
Several veteran officials who were still willing to work hard looked up at this moment, wanting to ask the person above them a question.
Are you really unable to understand what they're trying to do, or do you see no hope and are simply giving up?
But when everyone looked up, they saw an emperor who looked quite different from usual, as well as black-clad guards who had appeared inside the hall at some unknown time.
"You are all virtuous and capable men who have worked hard for me. You care about the people of the world and have also become one with the rebels outside."
They colluded with the Fengtian Army and secretly informed the Black Dragon Army about the city wall's defenses, hoping to invite the Tianrui Army to be the first to enter the capital.
"Oh, there are no Taiping soldiers here. Are you afraid of them too, afraid that the Taiping commander will have you all executed?"
"What?"
They thought their secret communication was discreet enough, so why would this incompetent emperor know? And why, even though he already knew, did he remain silent before?
The prime minister walked up to them with a stack of letters in his arms and threw them on the ground.
"Everyone, why don't you take a good look at the contents inside? Do they seem familiar?"
They didn't pick up the letter from the ground; the few words that were visible were enough for most of the people present to confirm that it was indeed a letter they had written to the rebel king.
Who copied this?
"Alright, it's about time now. Please, my beloved subjects, set off."
The black-clad guards swarmed forward, and the ministers, who tried to activate their true forms to resist, had no chance to struggle.
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