A few days later in Beijing.
Dozens of Great Xia guards stood at the alley entrance, draped in heavy black cloaks. Their armor, boots, and gloves were also black. One of them had a longsword at his waist, while another carried an iron rod.
The people of the capital glanced at them and found that they were all unfamiliar faces.
A little girl couldn't resist walking up to them and asking, "Are you from the capital? I've never seen you before."
Not only her, but all the people had never seen it before.
The guard did not respond, but stood stiffly in place, like a wooden figure.
During this period, the people of Beijing have been trying their best to stay home, but even so, fear continues to spread.
Lin Mo chose to concede and let Wei Maozhen go, but that doesn't mean he'll let everyone else go.
Ling Tiande, the Empress's most notorious traitor, was sentenced to have his entire family executed. Zheng Changqing, the Imperial Guard Commander, was already dead, but his subordinates and family members who knew about his crimes but failed to report them were all executed. The Minister of War was to have his entire family executed, and the Vice Minister of Personnel was to be beheaded immediately...
As a result, officials were executed in the square every day. Most of their bodies were claimed and taken back for burial, but a few "heinous" officials were left to rot in the square.
As people passed by, they could clearly see the rotting corpses, each surrounded by a large flock of crows circling and cawing, as numerous as flies in a garbage dump.
This caused widespread panic in the capital, and rumors began to circulate.
Some say that Lin Mo is a complete demon; he successfully rebelled, imprisoned the Empress, and is now massacring court officials.
Some say that Empress Wei Maozhen betrayed her country for personal gain and massacred court officials, and that Prince Lin Mo of Shu did this in self-defense.
Some people say, no, the Empress attempted to poison Prince Lin Mo of Shu at the Lantern Festival banquet, and the poison came from Qiu Zi. But Lin Mo saw through the plan, and the two groups ended up fighting.
In short, there are many versions of the story, but the theme remains the same: the Empress is imprisoned, and Prince Lin Mo of Shu is now the regent!
Everyone in the capital is talking about war now; the Great Xia is about to descend into chaos and is on the verge of splitting apart.
The new regent's order undoubtedly confirmed this statement: all three city gates of the capital were tightly closed and bolted, except for the south gate, which remained open but was heavily guarded by guards who appeared out of nowhere, allowing entry but not exit.
As for the Beijing Garrison, which originally guarded the capital, the general consensus is that they have been reassigned!
Suddenly, the sound of gongs rang out throughout the capital.
A washerwoman looked up and listened, wondering what the gong sound meant this time.
"What's wrong now?" a skinny man shouted.
"God, please have mercy! Why is this never going to end?" an old woman wailed.
On the second floor of the alley, a hot-tempered man pushed open the window. "Which corrupt official is going to be beheaded this time?"
The skinny man shouted at him, "It's not beheading! That gong sound sounds like an assembly; there must be some government decree to announce!"
Several eight- or nine-year-old boys skipped and hopped by, splashing up a large puddle of water.
The old woman cursed them, but they did not stop.
Others also began moving toward the city center to see what was going on.
The man from the second floor ran down, chasing after a slow-moving boy. "Where are you going?" the man shouted as he caught up to him. "What happened?"
The little boy glanced back, but didn't slow his pace. "Your Majesty, they are taking Your Majesty to the square."
"Who are you bringing?" the man asked incredulously, then quickly stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress! They say that His Highness the Prince of Shu intends to convict her!"
A passing carriage left deep ruts on the ground. The boy leaped over them, but the man didn't pay attention and was almost knocked over by the carriage.
"Are you blind?!" the person in the carriage cursed angrily.
"Make way immediately!" someone shouted at the crossroads. "Lord Sun is here! Make way immediately!"
The man looked up and saw it was the procession of Lord Sun Mian, the future father-in-law of the King of Shu.
"It seems it's true. Is His Majesty really going to be punished?" he thought to himself. "This is unprecedented!"
So he quickly followed the main group to find out what was going on.
Then, more and more people headed in the same direction, eager to find out the reason for the gong sound.
The bells seemed to grow louder and louder, ringing out incessantly.
"It's confirmed to be His Majesty! They're going to cut off her head!"
"I heard His Majesty is dead!"
"Bullshit! He's not dead! That butcher prince hasn't tormented him enough yet!"
"Fool, the King of Shu is a good prince, that woman is the villain! Do you know what a hen crowing at dawn is? A hen crowing at dawn!"
"Shut your filthy mouths, or you'll be arrested and beheaded!"
When they arrived at the palace gate, the crowd was already shoulder to shoulder, so crowded that it was impossible to move.
The palace gates were packed with people, excitedly chatting and jostling to get closer to the center and get a better view.
The guards trying to maintain order pushed the crowd forcefully, but the flow of people was so large that many conflicts broke out between the people at the front and the guards.
Finally, it was a general who brandished a long whip that forced the crowd to retreat.
After a long while, the protagonist appeared.
"It's not His Majesty, but Li Hu, General Li!"
Li Hu walked onto the city wall and appeared in the sight of the people, with a guard on each side.
He was wearing a thick coat and a cotton cloak draped over his shoulders.
But those fortunate enough to see him could hardly believe that the Great General of Xia was so thin and haggard. His face was etched with pain.
Standing behind him was Sun Mian. Lord Sun was quite old, with gray hair, but he still looked very robust.
Following Sun Mian were civil and military officials, but many of them were unfamiliar faces, just like the guards.
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