Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 590: Chaos (Part 1)

Bang! Bang!

Two more loud noises sounded.

The gate of the palace was continuously struck. Given the sturdiness of the Zhaohai Palace’s main door, it would take dozens of people with a log to make such a commotion. The fighting outside had been relentless; perhaps the battle had already been decided?

The officials, who had arrows pointed at them, felt their hearts pounding violently, and looked at the door with hopeful eyes. It was as if the door might be breached at the next moment, and a savior would descend from the heavens to rescue them from danger.

Jiang Yi, who had been smiling all along, now had a slight change in expression and couldn’t smile anymore. He quickly exchanged a glance with Zheng Chen.

The depth of that glance was known only to the two of them.

Zheng Chen was about to speak when suddenly a sharp pain shot through his right wrist.

It turned out that Prince Ping, Jiang Hao, had fiercely bitten his wrist. The bite was extremely vicious. Zheng Chen, caught off guard by the excruciating pain, reflexively grabbed Jiang Hao’s neck.

Jiang Hao once again felt the terror of being strangled and had to let go, opening his mouth to cry, but no sound came out.

Looking again at Zheng Chen, a bloody indentation already marked his left wrist, bleeding continuously.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of impact echoed in everyone’s ears.

Ministers Zhang and Dai showed a hint of joy in their eyes. Those striking the gate must be the loyal Imperial Guards, risking their lives to save the officials. If the rebels had the upper hand, they wouldn’t be doing such a thing.

"Princely Heir, cease your actions quickly!"

Minister Ji bravely opened his mouth again to persuade: "Reinforcements have arrived, and they will soon break into the palace. If you stop now, perhaps you can still save your life."

Duke An didn’t know whether he was looking at Jiang Yi or his son, Zheng Chen: "Rebellion is a grave crime punishable by the execution of one’s entire family! Take the opportunity to stop now, while there’s still a way back."

Zheng Chen stood with his back to Duke An and showed no intention of turning around.

Jiang Yi squinted his eyes and suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Don’t worry, even if it comes to the last moment, before I Jiang Yi close my eyes, I’ll take all you Da Liang ministers with me on the road."

On the road? What road?

To the Yellow Springs, of course.

The ministers’ hearts sank suddenly, and their expressions changed. Jiang Yi was surrounded by a dozen experts, each armed with deadly arrows. If the palace doors were broken open, they would rapidly shoot arrows and then hack down with their weapons. It would be impossible to kill everyone inside, but taking some along "on the road" was absolutely doable.

Everyone has only one life; who wants to die unjustly?

Under Jiang Yi’s threat, no one dared to speak again. The palace fell into an eerie silence.

"Insurgents inside the palace, Nanyang County Princess has arrived, surrender quickly!" A deep, resonant male voice came through as the palace doors were struck open to a gap.

Nanyang County Princess is here!

The officials’ eyes quietly brightened. Prime Minister Wang, who was losing a lot of blood and was on the verge of fainting from the pain, also managed to open his eyes with effort and looked towards the palace doors.

Strangely enough, as soon as they heard Jiang Shaohua’s name, the officials’ hearts, which had been floating, seemed to settle down a lot.

Jiang Yi’s feeling was entirely opposite, as if a huge boulder weighing a thousand pounds had landed on his heart. He couldn’t help but glance at Zheng Chen.

Zheng Chen, with his back to the officials, was only visible in expression to Jiang Yi and the dozen archers.

Zheng Chen’s face was grim, but without a trace of regret in his eyes, heavy with a murderous intent.

Having come this far, there was no turning back. With no hesitation, they would let the heads roll!

Zheng Chen signaled to Jiang Yi with a look.

Jiang Yi instantly understood.

Having endured suppression for over a decade, his soul had long turned dark and twisted, seeing nothing wrong with killing. If he dared to act against Emperor Taihe in secret, what about these Da Liang ministers before him?

"You all go over and drag the ministers of the third rank and above here."

At Jiang Yi’s command, ten fierce men immediately came over, drawing bright long knives at Minister Zhang and others: "Will you come over yourselves, or do we have to do it?"

Prime Minister Wang was immobile, thus the civil servants took Minister Zhang as their leader. Minister Zhang, with a long knife pointed at him, felt his throat tighten, his legs weakened. He had to muster the strength to stand, preserving his last bit of dignity.

Next were Duke An, Minister Dai, and Minister Ji, all ministers of the Six Ministries and court’s key officials.

There also were General Bao, Left General, General Liu, General Sima, and others. They were Da Liang’s top military generals holding military power. Unfortunately, Jiang Yi struck while they were paying respects in the mourning hall, and though they resisted, each suffered varying degrees of injury.

General Bao was the most severely injured, stabbed in the chest with blood flowing everywhere. At this moment, he stood only by the sheer force of a general’s tenacity, blood gushing from the chest, swaying as if he might collapse any moment.

The Six Ministry Vice Ministers were also forced to rise.

Sadly, Minister Li and Li Boyuan were both killed, closing their eyes forever.

Only Vice Minister Xu, the first to express support for Jiang Yi’s usurpation, could remain securely where he was.

Vice Minister Xu was also quite fearful inside. He shrank his body desperately, trying to hide among the crowd. The surrounding officials all cast looks of disgust and disdain at him; no one was willing to give up space.

"Jiang Yi!"

The door, under successive impacts, had a gap growing larger, and a cold, stern young female voice reached everyone’s ears: "Put down your weapons and surrender, I’ll spare your life!"

It was the voice of Nanyang County Princess, Jiang Shaohua!

A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Yi’s eyes, then he suddenly laughed heartily: "Jiang Shaohua, if you have the ability, come in and talk to me face to face. Talking from behind doors, what skill is that..."

Before he could finish, there was a loud rumble and the palace doors finally burst open, revealing enough space for one person to pass through.

Swish, swish, swish!

Ten trusted aides holding long knives were ready to kill Minister Zhang and others at any time. Beside Jiang Yi, there were ten archers who, without waiting for orders, immediately launched their arrows.

Every arrow found its target.

But appearing in the gap was not Jiang Shaohua, but a burly man nearly nine feet tall. This man, over forty years old, was wearing soft armor and his eyes were wide open. Several arrows had pierced his chest, and his head and face were also hit.

The truth was that before these arrows hit, the burly man was already dead. He was just being used as a human shield.

Jiang Yi’s eyes swept over, and his heart trembled.

This burly man was named Gao Shan, the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard. He was the most useful piece in Jiang Yi’s palace coup.

Gao Shan was a man with ambition and unwilling to remain confined in the court, eager to become a commander of an army. Jiang Yi had recruited him four years ago.

Jiang Yi promised Gao Shan that once the plan succeeded, he would make Gao Shan the Commander of the Imperial Army, replacing General Bao.

Little did he expect Gao Shan to die so quickly!

No sooner said than done, the archers immediately fired a second volley.

Gao Shan’s corpse was still being used as a shield, while those behind used a long spear to push through, barging into the Zhaohai Palace.