The roar was like a heavy hammer, smashing the joyous atmosphere inside Taiji Hall to pieces.
The smiles on the faces of the civil and military officials froze.
Everyone stood there in a daze, unable to understand what had driven this powerful minister to such madness.
Yet Lin Zhenxiong’s movements did not pause in the slightest.
The instant the wine cup shattered, a series of shrill screams suddenly erupted at the entrance of the hall!
“Ah!”
Several Imperial Guards stationed at the entrance were caught completely off guard as blades thrust through their backs from behind—by their own comrades.
Blood gushed forth, staining the polished threshold of Taiji Hall crimson.
“There are traitors! Protect His Majesty!”
The commander of the Imperial Guards stared in fury. He abruptly drew the saber from his waist and roared at the top of his lungs.
But it was already too late.
The traitorous death soldiers House Lin had planted among the Imperial Guards had long since taken up the most advantageous positions.
Their blades rose and fell, swiftly and ruthlessly eliminating the loyal guards at the entrance.
Immediately afterward, more than a dozen burly rebels shoved against the two enormous bronze-clad doors with all their might.
“Rumble…”
Amid the terrifying grinding of heavy metal, the towering doors of Taiji Hall slammed shut.
“Bang!”
A black-iron door bolt as thick as an adult’s thigh was brutally hammered into its slot by the rebels.
Taiji Hall had become an impenetrable iron fortress!
The light inside the hall dimmed, leaving only the flickering candle flames around them, swaying restlessly.
The civil and military officials were scared out of their wits by the sudden turn of events.
The officials who had been enjoying the spectacle moments ago now scattered in panic like ants in a boiling pot, screaming as they fled in every direction.
“The doors are shut! The hall has been sealed!”
“Great General! What are you doing? Are you planning a rebellion?!”
Several elderly upright censors pointed at Lin Zhenxiong, their entire bodies trembling as they angrily denounced him.
Lin Zhenxiong paid no attention to the panicking officials.
He slowly turned around and completely drew the gleaming sword from his scabbard.
The tip of the blade pointed straight toward the brand-new steel imperial throne atop the dais.
At that moment, there was no trace of the respect he usually pretended to show on Lin Zhenxiong’s face.
His features were twisted by excitement and madness, making him look utterly savage.
In his blood-red eyes burned an ambition that threatened to devour everything.
“Rebellion?”
Lin Zhenxiong threw back his head and let out a wild laugh that sent chills down everyone’s spine.
“Hahahaha! History is written by the victors! Might makes right! Once today is over, House Lin will be the rightful rulers of all Great Yuan!”
He strode forward, and a shocking killing intent erupted from his body.
“You think that because you’ve dealt with the death soldiers outside, you’ll be able to survive?”
“You think that because you cut off Blackwind Stronghold’s supply of weapons, there’s nothing I can do to you?”
Lin Zhenxiong fixed his gaze on Su Zhen atop the imperial throne, a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
“Su Zhen, you’re far too naive!”
“You think that after years of planning, these are the only means at my disposal?”
He raised the sword in his hand and slashed it viciously through the air.
“The hundred thousand armored troops outside the city have already surrounded the entire imperial capital so tightly that not even a fly can get out!”
“Today is the day House Su dies! And it is also the day every one of you dies!”
His words were like a bolt of thunder, striking the heads of everyone in Taiji Hall.
A hundred thousand troops?!
The imperial capital completely surrounded?!
The hall fell into a deathly silence. Everyone’s breathing seemed to stop.
The officials who had been pointing at Lin Zhenxiong and cursing him moments before now went weak in the knees and collapsed to the floor.
As if to prove Lin Zhenxiong’s words—
“Boom!”
A deep, sonorous drumbeat suddenly rolled in from beyond the distant palace walls.
The sound pierced through everything, pounding directly against the hearts of everyone present.
Then came a second beat, followed by a third!
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The drumbeats grew faster and more violent, rolling like thunder across the heavens and shaking the entire world.
The floor of Taiji Hall trembled faintly beneath the terrifying rhythm.
The wine cups and dishes on the tables clattered against one another.
It was as though a prehistoric beast were awakening beyond the imperial city, unleashing a roar that shook heaven and earth.
“Look out the window! Oh, heavens!”
An official crawled and stumbled toward the window. The moment he looked outside, he let out a despairing howl.
Everyone turned to look.
Through the towering carved wooden windows of Taiji Hall, they saw a suffocating sight.
The pitch-black night sky had been dyed completely blood-red!
Towering flames illuminated the entire perimeter of the imperial city as brightly as day.
Those were the torches of the hundred thousand troops, all lit at once!
An endless fiery dragon coiled around the imperial palace, binding it tightly in its grasp.
The deafening cries of slaughter surged in from outside the palace like wave after wave of a tsunami.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
The roars of a hundred thousand men merged into a terrifying wall of sound powerful enough to destroy everything.
An immense pressure, like Mount Tai crashing down from above, bore heavily upon the backs of everyone inside Taiji Hall.
Despair.
Utter, absolute despair shrouded the hall.
Only moments ago, they had been cheering over Great Yuan’s dominance of the Central Plains.
They had even treated the assassination in the square like a performance put on for their amusement, clapping and laughing as they watched.
But in the next moment, they had become fish on the chopping block, trapped by a hundred thousand troops inside this prison where they could cry to heaven and receive no answer.
The imperial family of Great Yuan had fallen into a true dead end!
Lin Zhenxiong looked at the officials inside the hall, their faces ashen and their bodies trembling, and felt an overwhelming rush of satisfaction.
“Do you see clearly now? This is the foundation of House Lin!”
“With a hundred thousand armored soldiers, leveling this Taiji Hall will take no more than an instant!”
He carried his sword as he paced arrogantly beneath the jade steps, like a tyrant inspecting his domain.
“Now, I’ll give you one final chance.”
“Those who follow me will prosper. Those who oppose me will perish!”
“Anyone willing to submit to House Lin, kneel immediately! Anyone who dares utter a single word of refusal will have their entire clan executed!”
After these words were spoken, the hall first fell into deathly silence.
Then the officials who had always preached benevolence and righteousness and styled themselves upright men of principle finally saw their psychological defenses collapse.
Before the absolute violence of a hundred thousand troops, what were honor and loyalty worth? They were all nothing but shit!
“Thud!”
The Minister of Revenue was the first to stumble forward on all fours.
He had run too fast and stepped on the hem of his own court robes, taking a vicious fall and landing face-first on the floor.
But he did not even have time to feel the pain. Using both his hands and feet, he crawled to Lin Zhenxiong’s feet.
“Great General! No… Your Majesty! Emperor Lin!”
The Minister of Revenue wept so hard that his nose ran freely. He frantically knocked his head against the floor until his forehead was dripping with blood.
“I saw long ago that Su Zhen was a tyrant without virtue and unfit to rule!”
“I am willing to lead my entire family in submitting to Your Majesty! I will go through fire and water for the Lin Dynasty without hesitation!”
Once someone had taken the lead, the other turncoats could no longer suppress their instinct to survive.
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
Great swathes of officials dropped to their knees behind Lin Zhenxiong like wheat cut down by a scythe.
The Vice Minister of Personnel, the Minister of Works, the various censors…
The very men who had been praising the emperor’s greatness moments earlier had now all put on obsequious faces.
They wailed and begged on the floor, scrambling over one another to pledge their loyalty to Lin Zhenxiong.
“The Great General’s divine might is unmatched! You are clearly favored by Heaven!”
“House Su’s fate is sealed. House Lin is the new master of Dayuan!”
“Long live Emperor Lin! Long live! Long live!”
Wave after wave of ear-piercing cries of “Long live!” rang out through the Hall of Supreme Polarity.
Several elderly ministers who had sworn to remain loyal to the imperial family stared at the shameless faces of their former colleagues and spat up mouthfuls of blood in fury.
“Shameless! You treacherous dogs—you’re worse than pigs and dogs!”
“Even in death, I will never join hands with the likes of you!”
But their feeble curses were instantly drowned out by the thunderous cries of “Long live!” from the fickle officials who had switched sides.
Standing in the center of the hall, Lin Zhenxiong listened to the kowtows and flattery of the assembled court.
He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, his face filled with intoxication.
This was the world he had always wanted!
This was the taste of power!
He opened his eyes, his gaze shooting toward the dragon throne on the dais like a venomous snake.
He had thought that, faced with betrayal on all sides and the hopeless situation of an army of one hundred thousand, Su Zhen would be so terrified that his face would turn ashen and he would kneel and beg for mercy.
Yet what infuriated him was that Su Zhen remained seated steadily on the solid-steel dragon throne, his expression cold and utterly composed.
And beside him, the accursed little demoness, Su Yaoyao, was still leisurely gnawing on the chicken leg in her hand!
She even rolled her eyes at the officials kneeling below!
Humiliation!
This was absolutely the greatest contempt and humiliation imaginable for him, the new emperor who was about to ascend the throne!
Lin Zhenxiong’s face twisted with rage.
He shoved away the Minister of Revenue, who was clinging to his leg and sobbing, then strode up to the first step of the jade staircase.
“Su Zhen, you’re at death’s door, yet you still dare put on airs before me!”
“Since you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, I’ll send the two of you on your way right now!”
Lin Zhenxiong abruptly raised the sword in his hand and pointed it at Su Zhen and Su Yaoyao, seated upon the dragon throne.
A hysterical execution order erupted from his throat:
“Archers!”
“Leave no one alive!”
At that command, three hundred elite crossbowmen, clad entirely in black, suddenly emerged from the thick beams and shadowy corners surrounding the Hall of Supreme Polarity.
They appeared without a sound, like venomous spiders lurking in the darkness of night.
Creak. Creak.
The sound of three hundred powerful bows and crossbows being drawn taut rang through the hall.
Three hundred icy arrows, their tips coated in a sinister blue poison, glimmered with a deadly chill in the flickering candlelight.
Every arrowhead was aimed at the imperial family on the dragon throne, forming an impenetrable web of death!
