After a long silence, Emperor Rui flew into a rage and shouted, "Bring me wine right now, or I will not spare you!"
A rustling sound came from outside the hall. A moment later, a young eunuch was pushed in as if he had been forced in. He almost tripped over the high threshold and stumbled forward a few steps. He stopped abruptly, looking at Emperor Rui on the dragon throne with fear in his eyes. His voice trembled as he asked, "Your...Your Majesty, what did you say?"
Emperor Rui grabbed an inkstone from the long table in front of him and smashed it over his shoulder, shouting angrily, "Are you deaf? I want wine, go and get me some wine right now!"
The inkstone fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces with a loud thud, but fortunately it didn't hit the little eunuch. The little eunuch trembled and said timidly, "Yes, this servant will go and get it right away."
Having said that, the little eunuch turned and left as if fleeing.
Soon, the young eunuch entered carrying a wine cup in both hands. His legs trembled slightly as he approached Emperor Rui, took the cup, and poured a cup of wine for him. However, his hands shook so badly that he spilled a lot of the wine.
"Hmm?" Emperor Rui looked coldly at the little eunuch, who trembled in fear and immediately took a step back, prostrating himself on the ground and saying in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, spare my life!"
Seeing the young eunuch's frightened expression, Emperor Rui suddenly felt disheartened. He sighed softly and said lazily, "Fine, you can go now. I'll do it myself."
The little eunuch was stunned for a moment, then felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He got up and stumbled away.
Emperor Rui drank cup after cup of wine as the sun slowly moved across the sky; it was already dusk.
Just then, a commotion arose outside, as a large group of ministers, led by Zhang Chao, gathered outside the hall and were discussing the matter amongst themselves.
"Lord Zhang, the outer city is about to fall, what should we do..."
"Lord Zhang, shouldn't we report this to the Emperor?"
"I told the Emperor to go to Weicheng to hide a long time ago, but the Emperor listened to the Jade Prince and refused to believe that the rebels would attack. Now that things have come to this, there's no way to hide!"
"Lord Liu is right. I have long said that Prince Yu has ulterior motives, but the Emperor trusts Prince Yu the most now..."
"Master Zhang..."
"..."
"Enough!" Zhang Chao's gloomy gaze swept around the room, and he said coldly, "Report to the Emperor? Who will go?"
"this……"
The ministers looked at each other, none of them willing to step forward.
Suddenly, a young man dressed as a guard stumbled over. He quickly reached the assembled ministers, his face grim and panting, and said, "It's terrible...it's terrible...the rebels have breached the outer city and are attacking the east and west gates of the inner city..."
Zhang Chao's expression changed. He turned to look at the wide-open doors of the Hall of Diligent Governance, then back at the assembled ministers. After a long silence, he turned to the guard and said, "Tell all the officers to do their utmost to defend the inner city. I... I'll try to find a way to summon reinforcements..."
After saying this, Zhang Chao pushed aside the ministers blocking his way and hurriedly left.
Seeing that Zhang Chao had left, the ministers exchanged glances and then dispersed without saying a word.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
