Faced with this sudden turn of events, everyone was thrown into chaos. Tongji University's actions were driven by nothing more than a desperate attempt to survive before facing certain death.
Sure enough, taking advantage of the chaos, he fled, soaring into the air. The guards below fired arrows at him, but the rain of arrows could not stop his escape.
"Damn it, that old bald monk! He acted so righteous just now, I thought he'd bravely face death and stop causing trouble!"
"This Tongji is truly cunning; the late Emperor and Empress Dowager must have been bewitched by him!"
"Guards! Help the Crown Prince down to treat his injuries. Then send an elite force to capture Tongji. Whether he's dead or alive, chase him to the ends of the earth and bring him back to me!"
"yes!"
The Imperial Guards received the order and set off immediately.
At this moment, only two guilty officials, Prime Minister Xia and Prince Pingxi, remained unpunished in the main hall.
Kong Wang had already been taken away by the guards and sent back to Yunyin Temple along with the group of monks.
Before leaving, his bewildered gaze, filled with sorrow, repeatedly turned to the Empress Dowager, who had died by striking her head against a pillar.
It seems incomprehensible why everything turned out this way.
"Xiahou Qing, Bian Lingchang, you conspired with the Empress Dowager to rebel and attempt to force her to abdicate. Do you know your crime?"
Li Shengyuan's eyes were deep and cold, filled with murderous intent.
"Your Majesty, spare us! It all started because of the Empress Dowager and Tongji. We are innocent. If the Empress Dowager hadn't summoned us and said those things to deceive us, we wouldn't have sided with her!"
"Your humble servant, King Pingxi, has a heart as vast as the heavens and earth, and is utterly loyal to the Great Yue!"
"You plotted a rebellion, yet you have the nerve to beg for mercy! Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, these two must not be spared! Otherwise, who knows when they might harbor rebellious thoughts again!"
Before Li Shengyuan could speak, Feng Miao, who was standing next to the Prince of Pingxi, suddenly pointed at the Prince of Pingxi and shouted angrily.
Having said that, he didn't give the Prince of Pingxi a chance to speak, and directly drew his long sword.
It suddenly pierced into the abdomen of the Prince of Pingxi.
“Master, although I was trained by you, I do not condone your actions! Treason is a capital offense. If you are not executed, more people will be implicated. We soldiers followed you, but you led us down the wrong path. I, Feng Miao, am now ready to put righteousness above family ties and declare my loyalty to the Emperor!”
After Feng Miao finished speaking, he suddenly drew his sword, rummaged through the Prince of Pingxi's bosom, pulled out a tiger tally, knelt down, cupped his hands, presented it to the emperor, and kowtowed.
"Long live the Emperor! This humble general has executed the traitor on the spot! In the entire Great Yue Kingdom, there is only one Emperor, and that is you! Forever you!"
"Very well, Feng Miao, you have rendered meritorious service in executing the rebels, so I will appoint you as a first-rank marquis and temporarily appoint you as the Prince of Pingxi to lead the army. I will accept this tiger tally."
Li Shengyuan curled his lips into a cold smile, gripping the blood-stained tiger tally tightly in his hand, and the heavy weight in his heart finally lifted.
The Prince of Pingxi stared wide-eyed in disbelief as blood gushed from his abdomen, which he tried to stop with his hands but to no avail.
He never dreamed that he would die at the hands of the apprentice he had personally trained and mentored.
"Feng Miao, you..."
Unfortunately, he didn't even have time to finish his last sentence before losing consciousness and collapsing in a pool of blood.
That's enough.
Li Shengyuan will never let him off for his treasonous act. It would be better if he died like this, as long as his clansmen are not implicated.
Especially Ling Ru, she's still in the palace...
The last thing the Prince of Pingxi thought about was whether the Imperial Noble Consort's situation would change because of him.
He opened his eyes wide in despair, and then he was no longer breathing.
This horrifying scene terrified Xiahou Qing, who screamed repeatedly, clutching his head and retreating while clinging to the emperor's trouser leg: "Spare me, spare me... Your Majesty, spare me... I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again."
Seeing that Li Shengyuan showed no sign of letting go, and instead looked at the trouser leg that he was holding with a disgusted expression.
A cold glint flashed in Feng Miao's eyes, and he once again raised his blood-stained longsword, ready to slash down at Feng Miao's hands.
"Wait!"
Mi Shan was enduring the pain in her shoulder, her face was pale, and she was sweating profusely. It was clear that she was about to break down.
Upon seeing Xiahou Qing in danger, he let out a soft cry and lunged forward.
The blade landed right on his shoulder.
Blood spurted out.
His clothes were torn open, and blood gushed out.
At the same time, Qiao Yunsheng anxiously blurted out, "Lord Marquis, spare their lives!"
Mi Shan's face paled, the pain intensified, and she nearly fainted.
Straining his fading consciousness, he saw Feng Miao drop his sword in fright and kneel down, begging for mercy: "Your Majesty, I only wanted to deal with the rebels for you, but who would have thought... Consort Mi Hui would suddenly rush out, I didn't mean to!"
"You don't need to say anything more."
Surprisingly, the Emperor did not, as usual, fly into a rage and lose his composure over the slightest injury to his beloved concubine.
Instead, he remained unusually calm, quietly squatting down, pinching Mi Shan's small face, and scrutinizing her with a suspicious gaze.
"My beloved concubine, what do you mean by this? Why are you so worried about a traitor?"
"You're even willing to use your body to shield this traitor from harm?"
"Could it be that you have some connection with this traitor?"
"Yes, an ordinary girl would run away as fast as she could when she saw such a bloody scene, let alone rush in like Consort Mi Hui. I don't believe they have no connection."
More court officials echoed this sentiment, further deepening the emperor's suspicions.
Prime Minister Xia was so frightened that he could not speak. He trembled and hunched over on the ground, repeatedly muttering, "No, don't kill me, Your Majesty, don't kill me."
Mi Shan took a deep breath. She knew that the more chaotic the situation became, the more she needed to stay clear-headed.
Of course she was scared, but...
Xiahou Qing, that's Xia Ranxue's father!
She is also the only remaining relative of Sister Xue in this world.
No matter what, she couldn't let him be killed. Otherwise, Sister Xue would become an orphan and might be implicated, since this was treason, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of her family.
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