Chapter 319 Great Victory
The Star Gazing Tower is the tallest building in the entire palace, standing several tens of feet high. It is isolated at the top, with no walls or railings on the lower level, supported only by a large pillar at each of the four corners.
It was an elegant place in the palace used for appreciating the moon and listening to music.
The Emperor deliberately placed all the officials here so that they would have nowhere to go, neither to heaven nor to hell.
If anything were to happen to him, these people certainly wouldn't be allowed to benefit the King of the Northern Frontier so easily. A large fire would be set, and all the civil and military officials would have to follow him down to the underworld to resume their roles as ruler and subject.
The Observatory was usually accessible only by a single suspended staircase, but now that the staircase has been removed, the officials above watch anxiously as the guards place the fuel, with nowhere to escape.
The civil officials felt dizzy looking down from such a high building, but a few young military officers were bold enough to stand at the top of the stairs and shout angrily.
"Instead of waiting to die, I'd rather go down and fight them. I'll jump first, and if I don't die from the fall, I'll be a human cushion for everyone down below."
“I’ll jump too. If I fall to my death, at least I’ll have a body. But if I wait to be burned to death, there’ll be nothing left.”
"I'm with my two brothers. Even if I lose an arm or a leg, I'm still a hero. If I'm smashed to pieces, please tell my mother that I'm not a coward!"
The civil officials quickly pulled them back, advising, "No, jumping from such a height would be extremely risky. They haven't lit the fire yet; we mustn't panic."
"Yes, there are heavy guards below. Even if you don't die from the fall, they will stab you to death. If you don't want to be a coward, don't be a reckless fool."
"Judging from the sound, they must be getting close. Someone will come to rescue us. We must not act rashly."
The majority of the officials were civil officials. After some patient persuasion, the young military officers finally gave up their idea of jumping down. However, some sharp-eyed ministers noticed that the guards below had lit torches and were walking towards the pile of firewood.
The official immediately screamed and collapsed again.
Those with a modicum of sense quickly took off their outer garments.
“Since there are many of us, we can take off all our outer garments, tie them into long strips, and let them hang down so we can climb down…”
The civil officials, who were usually so formal and proper, could no longer care about their image. They rushed to take off their outer robes and squeezed to the entrance of the suspended staircase, all wanting to be the first to go down.
However, it was too late. The firewood, which had been mixed with accelerants, burned extremely quickly. The long strips of clothing they had woven were not long enough, and thick smoke was already billowing from where they were. The air below was filled with the scorching heat and the crackling of burning.
The fire has already reached the four large pillars below the observatory and will soon spread to their location, or burn through the base pillars and cause them to collapse completely.
The officials, their faces streaked with tears from the smoke, were in a state of panic and wailing when a loud shout rang out: "The dog emperor is dead! The King of the Northern Frontier has ordered that all officials be rescued, and a reward of a thousand taels of silver will be given for each one rescued."
Immediately following was a deafening shout from below: "Jump down! Jump now! I'll catch you down here!"
"Come down, here is my one thousand taels of silver."
"Hurry up, or they'll burn. I wonder if the King of Northern Frontier will pay the officials who are roasted."
"The building is about to collapse. If you don't come down now, you'll all be burned to ashes."
The officials heard the voices below, which sounded like those of martial arts heroes. They usually looked down on these people, but now they were extremely grateful. The air above was so hot and humid that they could no longer stay there, so one after another, they jumped down like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Fortunately, Ye Guhong brought a large group of martial arts figures, many of whom were skilled in light-footed techniques. They saw the ministers jumping down as if they were large banknotes, fearing that the banknotes would fall into the fire. They used their light-footed techniques to catch one minister after another, and managed to prevent a single minister from falling into the sea of fire.
Wen Zhiming guessed that the Emperor would not let the officials off easily, and that if something happened to him, he would probably make the officials pay with their lives. So he made arrangements in advance, sending Ye Guhong with a group of martial arts masters to the place where the officials were being held to rescue them.
These martial arts practitioners, though generous and righteous, still rely heavily on money when traveling. With a generous reward, they will undoubtedly go to great lengths.
Apart from two who were unconscious from the smoke, all the officials were unharmed. The officials were saved, the martial arts practitioners were rewarded, and everyone was overjoyed. Everyone praised Ye Guhong, saying that he had a capable disciple who allowed them to easily earn several years' worth of income.
The martial arts practitioners who came all saved at least one official, and some of the more powerful ones even saved several. They lined up the officials they had saved and led them in groups to exchange them for silver.
The officials, having survived the ordeal, were deeply grateful to the King of the Northern Frontier. The Emperor wanted to burn them alive, but the King of the Northern Frontier spent a fortune to save them.
In the Emperor's heart, they were all dispensable pawns, but in the hands of the King of Northern Frontier, they were so valuable that, though no one said it, they had already accepted the King of Northern Frontier as their new ruler.
Even when they later learned that the thousand taels of silver they owed would be deducted from their monthly salaries, no one complained. After all, when they were about to be engulfed by flames on the Star Gazing Tower, they would have given up anything, even their entire fortune, to save their lives, let alone a thousand taels of silver.
The battle for the imperial city was won in just three hours. Over ten thousand government soldiers and over two thousand Tiger Warriors were killed or wounded. Blood flowed like rivers at every palace gate, and corpses littered the fields.
After taking control of the situation, Wen Zhiming properly handled the wounded soldiers, buried the dead, distributed compensation to the families of the deceased, and reorganized the remaining officers and soldiers. He was busy until late at night before finishing all the work.
For the next two days, Wen Zhiming dealt with palace affairs and the reassignment of court officials.
The emperor was dead, but his harem and his princes and princesses remained in the palace. Knowing that there was no benefit in resisting, they all surrendered after the emperor's death.
His ministers advised that these people were potential threats and suggested that Wen Zhiming eliminate them completely. However, Wen Zhiming saw that the princes had been suppressed by the emperor for many years and were all cowardly and timid. The women in the harem were all weak and powerless. Killing them would be tantamount to bullying the weak. Moreover, these women were more or less related to him, so he placed them under house arrest first.
Although all the officials in the court were rescued, the treacherous officials who had aided and abetted the tyrant in the early stages still needed to be investigated and severely punished, and replaced with new, reliable officials.
Meng Xingyuan was brought back to the capital and reinstated to his original position.
Upon hearing this news, the servants who had previously left the Meng family all requested to return to serve in the Meng family. Meng Xingyuan accepted all of them and even recruited another batch of people.
When Meng Lingge returned with Meng Xiyao and Meng Qingyu, the Meng residence had been completely transformed, bustling and festive everywhere, with officials coming in droves to exchange pleasantries and reminisce.
Du Shiyin had already received the news and knew that the three of them were returning today. She instructed someone to wait at the door and welcome them into the backyard as soon as they appeared.
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