Seeing that the third faction consisted of either Prince Jing’s and Long Yisi’s followers, the ones colluding with Prince Hui according to the list, or die-hard elements, and that their numbers were very few, the Emperor was as clear-minded as a mirror and remained very firm in his stance, he ordered the execution of anyone who dared submit a petition to kill the Crown Princess Consort.
Seeing that they could not change the Emperor’s mind, those people shifted their attention to the Crown Prince Mansion.
He Junyuan led the guards of the mansion to block them all at the great gate, with each guard’s face set in a deadly serious expression and knives and swords in their hands flashing with a chilling and sharp light.
Having no other choice, those people knelt outside the great gate, crying out righteously, pleading with Yang Mengchen to commit suicide for the sake of the Dongchu people, to preserve his loyalty and integrity.
The people from both houses were furious enough to burst into flames, with each face showing frosty coldness and outrage, and their bodies filled with a bloodthirsty ferocity.
If it had not been for the orders of the Crown Princess Consort to not act rashly, they would have long since torn those ungrateful curs to shreds. The Crown Princess Consort was such a benevolent and righteous person, who thought of the country and its people, and yet these curs dared to pressure her—it was unforgivable!
"The Crown Prince’s orders: execute all these people, throw their bodies into the mass graves to feed the dogs, and extirpate their Nine Clans!" Mo Yun suddenly rode in on horseback, holding the Token.
The guards who had been holding back their anger surrounded these curs upon hearing the orders relayed by Mo Yun. Swinging their swords without a shred of mercy, they slaughtered them completely, then lifted the bodies onto carts and brazenly transported them to the mass graves.
Passersby saw several carts of bodies along the way and learned that these people had actually gone to the Crown Prince Mansion to force the Crown Princess Consort to commit suicide to prove her loyalty. They were instantly filled with righteous indignation, some cursing and some throwing rotten vegetable leaves and spoiled eggs; some even ran to these people’s homes to hurl abuse.
As for the Nine Clans of those people, Long Xuanmo had already had them locked up in the great prison. Since the citizens couldn’t see the people themselves, they threw various foul things into their mansions, even dog’s blood.
From then on, no one dared to speak of sacrificing Yang Mengchen for righteousness.
This year’s top scholar, Shen He, admired Yang Mengchen from the bottom of his heart. Using Yang Mengchen’s great achievements as a basis, he wrote a passionate and eloquent denunciation, incisive with words that hit the nail on the head, and then presented it to the Emperor for his review.
The Emperor was extremely pleased and immediately ordered a large number of copies to be printed and distributed in the Rebel Army’s camp by spies who read it aloud or spread the word, thus disturbing the Rebel Army’s morale.
Many of the soldiers in the Rebel Army had been confused or coerced into joining, and no one wanted to die. Now, after hearing the content of this denunciation, a large part of the soldiers naturally developed a rebellious heart, either gathering to resist or sneaking away. freёwebnovel.com
With the Imperial Army rounding them up from the outside, and soldiers continuously rebelling and fleeing from the inside, the Rebel Army gradually became a disorganized mess, and victorious reports were sent back to the Capital one after another.
While the Imperial Army was routing the Monon Rebel Army, Prince Hui, with a force of elite troops, including an army borrowed from the Emperor Xiliang and heavily-paid martial experts disguised as merchants, commoners, and caravan guards, arrived at Changzhou.
Rumors had it that during the previous dynasty, someone had spent years and immense manpower and resources to dig a secret passage leading directly to the Capital. Unfortunately, that person had all those in-the-know executed, and after his death, no one else knew the entrance to the secret passage.
Unexpectedly, the blueprints marking the entrance to the secret passage were in the hands of Prince Hui’s mother, Consort Yi. Before her death, Consort Yi handed the blueprints to Prince Hui. However, the blueprints were too simplistic and filled with many ’enigmas.’ Prince Hui had spent decades without figuring it out, not until just before this rebellion, when he handed it over to Lin Zheqi.
After several days of joint examination by Lin Zheqi, Long Xuanmo, and Yang Mengchen, they finally cracked the secrets of the blueprints. Lin Zheqi and Long Xuanmo devised countermeasures and sent news to Prince Hui.
When Prince Hui led the rebels into that secret passage, Long YiXuan and Yang Chengyu followed them at the entrance with a large force, and Grand Prince, together with Lin Zheqi and Min Luozhan, led a large army to lay an ambush around the exit, ordering an immediate attack as soon as the rebels emerged.
In the end, Prince Hui was captured alive, most of the Rebel Army was exterminated, and the rest who surrendered of their own accord were imprisoned in the great jail.
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