In a sorry state.
An unprecedented level of embarrassment.
As Regent Xiao Yuan left the Golden Palace in a daze, he could clearly feel the gazes behind him like countless sharp steel needles piercing his spine. Contempt, fear, schadenfreude... all sorts of emotions intertwined into an invisible net, binding this once powerful prince firmly within it, rendering him unable to move.
Military power was taken back.
In front of the entire court, in the most unquestionable and irrefutable way, it was decisively and cleanly taken back by his sickly nephew whom he had never taken seriously.
He had cultivated power and prestige for half his life, and today, in just one short hour, it all collapsed.
Upon returning to the Regent's Palace, he dismissed all the servants and locked himself alone in his airtight study.
The light of daylight shifted from bright to dim, and then was completely swallowed by darkness.
There wasn't a single lamp lit in the study.
Xiao Yuan sat there quietly in the darkness, motionless, like a soulless stone statue. His mind replayed the scenes from the day's court proceedings: the emperor's cold gaze, the ministers' disdainful faces, and the box of irrefutable evidence that left him speechless…
We lost.
He knew he had lost. On the chessboard of power struggles, he was utterly defeated by his nephew, whom he had always regarded as weak and incompetent.
He was forced to the edge of a cliff, with a bottomless abyss behind him and no way to retreat.
Should we simply surrender and wait for the Emperor's birthday three days later, when he will be accused of treason and rebellion, have his entire family executed, and be remembered with infamy for eternity?
No!
no way!
In the darkness, two terrifying eerie lights suddenly burst forth from Xiao Yuan's lifeless eyes, like the final madness of a dying beast.
He may lose, but he will never admit defeat!
Xiao Yuan, a veteran of half a lifetime of military service, helped the Xiao imperial family conquer half the country. He is the one most qualified to sit on the dragon throne! Why? Just because of that so-called "legitimate lineage," does he have to hand over everything to a good-for-nothing who only knows how to hide behind women and pretend to be sick?
On what grounds?!
Since verbal sparring failed, and since all plans have come to naught...
So……
Let's use the most primitive and direct method to decide who owns this land!
--bleed!
As the first ray of moonlight shone through the window into the dark study, Xiao Yuan suddenly stood up. All the dejection and resentment on his face now transformed into ferocity and madness.
He completely tore off the facade of gentleness and refinement that he had maintained for half his life.
"Someone come here!" he growled hoarsely at the door.
Soon, several dark figures appeared silently in the study like ghosts. Each of them possessed a calm demeanor, ruthless eyes, and a strong stench of blood emanating from them. They were Xiao Yuan's trusted assassins, his most loyal and last resort.
Immediately afterwards, the most core loyalists within the Prince's residence also received the secret order, and they gathered solemnly in the study. They were all completely bound to the Regent's cause; their fates were intertwined. They were aware of today's court events, and each understood that they had reached a critical juncture of life and death.
The candle was finally lit.
The flickering light illuminated Xiao Yuan's twisted and terrifying face. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was disheveled, and a crazed grin hung on his lips. He no longer possessed the dignified bearing of a former prince; instead, he resembled a demon crawling out of hell.
“Your Highness…” A trusted advisor, seeing his appearance, felt a tremor in his heart and hesitated before speaking.
"Everyone's here?" Xiao Yuan ignored him and instead looked around at the crowd below, his voice hoarse like a broken gong, "Very good... It's good that everyone's here."
He paced slowly, a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes.
"Today, in the Golden Palace, that young brat, that sickly coward who only knows how to hide behind women, stripped me of my military power!"
"He thought that this would be enough to win?"
"Did he think that this was the end for me?"
Xiao Yuan suddenly let out a low, manic laugh that sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
"Innocent!"
He slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Since he won't give me a way out! Then I... will make him, and this entire empire, pay with his life!"
"If words fail, then let's settle this with swords!"
"Rules? Ancestral rules?" He laughed wildly, as if he had gone mad. "From this day forward, my blade is the rule! My will is the ancestral rule!"
"Relay my order!"
Xiao Yuan whirled around, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at the crowd below, and issued the most insane and bloodthirsty order of his life:
"The Emperor's birthday banquet will be held in three days!"
"At all costs, use every manpower we have! Give this king... a bloodbath at the palace banquet!"
"Kill that sickly emperor! Kill that wicked empress who only knows how to plot and scheme! Seize the throne for me!"
He spread his arms wide, like a madman embracing death, and roared with all his might, his voice echoing throughout the hall:
"I will make all those who betrayed me pay with their blood!"
"I will show those opportunists who the true dragon of this world is!"
"I will make this capital city a river of blood!!!"
The entire study fell into a deathly silence. Everyone present, whether assassins or trusted confidants, was stunned by Xiao Yuan's mad plan to destroy everyone.
Bloodshed at the palace banquet!
This is no longer a rebellion; this is a declaration of war against the entire order of the Great Liang! This is a world-destroying act that aims to wipe out all the princes, nobles, civil and military officials!
One of the assassin leaders, who had followed Xiao Yuan the longest, finally couldn't hold back any longer. He hesitated for a moment, then knelt on one knee and said, "Your Highness, the palace will surely be heavily guarded for the Emperor's birthday celebration, with the Imperial Guards protecting it and countless experts. Although we... with such a small force, a direct attack would be... no different from throwing an egg against a rock!"
These words expressed the sentiments of everyone present. They were not afraid of death, but they did not want to make meaningless sacrifices.
However, upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan's crazed smile grew even more intense.
He slowly walked up to the leader of the assassins, leaned down, and whispered in his ear in an almost eerie, malicious tone:
"Who said...we are eggs?"
He straightened up, slowly walked to the window, pushed it open, and pointed to the distant outline of the massive palace city lying prostrate in the night.
"I have already prepared a grand gift in the palace for them, for all the civil and military officials, for my good nephew and his wicked queen!"
In his eyes, the shadow of the distant palace was reflected, but that shadow seemed to be burning with a raging flame that could consume everything!
"At that time, the entire palace will be for me..."
"To be buried with him!"
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