Chapter 1403: The Crown Prince and Empress Deposed

What Huyan Wei had said was true, but it was not the whole truth. A son trying to kill his own father was an affair within the imperial family, and given the Huyan family's upbringing, he had no wish to say more.

Hao Qingqing, meanwhile, stood there silently shedding tears, not knowing what to say. Her own elder brother actually wanted to kill Father Emperor. Seizing the throne was one thing, but her own blood brother wanting to murder their own father was another.

Once willful and headstrong, she had somehow become melancholy of late, prone to tears at the slightest thing.

Whether Huyan Wei truly did not understand what was happening or was only pretending not to, Hao Yuntu did not care. He himself understood now. With the Qi capital lost, Huyan Wuhen, who commanded the main strength of Qi's armies, had become the final card left to the Three Great Sects.

Now he finally understood why Huyan Wuhen had allowed his son Huyan Wei to accept Hao Hong's appointment, and why he had agreed to let Huyan Wei become Commander of the Imperial Guard.

So long as Huyan Wei held the military authority inside the palace and controlled the Imperial Guard, the ordinary palace guards, eunuchs, palace maids, and the like could do nothing to Hao Yuntu under Huyan Wei's protection.

As for those who were not ordinary people, the cultivators, so long as Huyan Wei was willing to stake his life on protecting him, even the Three Great Sects would not dare force the issue with Huyan Wei.

Hao Yuntu sighed inwardly. As expected of Qi's Supreme General, a man skilled in the use of troops. Without betraying the slightest sign, Huyan Wuhen had planted a contingency long ago. He had steadied Hao Hong on the surface while secretly issuing his son military orders to preserve Hao Yuntu, the emperor.

It was not hard to imagine how helpless Huyan Wuhen must have felt when making certain decisions, forced to strike a difficult balance between his emperor and the State of Qi.

"My Supreme General has not disappointed me!" Hao Yuntu gave a slight nod, then tossed the poisoned wine over his shoulder. The flask hit the ground with a clatter.

Huyan Wei cupped his hands. "Your Majesty, the Three Great Sects intend to withdraw. Once the cultivators pull out, the Imperial Guard alone cannot hold the palace. The situation is urgent. Please do not hesitate. Come with me at once. Even if I have to die for it, I will make the Three Great Sects take Your Majesty with them and withdraw safely. I will not allow any harm to come to Your Majesty!"

"Mm!" Hao Qingqing wiped at her tears and nodded repeatedly. Since becoming husband and wife, this was the first time she had agreed with her husband without the slightest hesitation.

Hao Yuntu swept a hand. "Come. Let us go outside and take a look."

Huyan Wei shouted, "Protect His Majesty!"

The accompanying Imperial Guards immediately formed ranks around Hao Yuntu and escorted him out.

Hao Yuntu wore plain, wide-sleeved robes, his long hair loose over his shoulders. As he strode forward, he asked, "Huyan Wei, how is the Supreme General's battle against the Jin army going?"

"Father has already ordered a full retreat..." Huyan Wei gave him a detailed account of the war outside.

After hearing it, Hao Yuntu abruptly stopped. He slowly raised his head toward the sky and murmured, "The Supreme General has gone so far as to let the troops plunder grain. To think the situation has deteriorated this badly..."

Huyan Wei was growing anxious. "Your Majesty, please hurry. The brothers outside won't be able to hold much longer."

Hao Yuntu drew back his gaze and looked around at the palace walls. Then he suddenly took a deep breath. "Huyan Wei, receive my command!"

Huyan Wei froze for a moment, but still cupped his hands. "This general is here."

Hao Yuntu enunciated each word clearly. "Order the Imperial Guard to put to death every imperial consort in the rear palace who cannot be evacuated. Carry it out immediately. Before the enemy breaches the inner palace, the order must be completed!"

Hao Qingqing's heart lurched. "Father Emperor!"

Hao Yuntu abruptly raised a hand, stopping her from saying anything more.

Huyan Wei hesitated as well. "Your Majesty, even if we can't take them with us, there's no need to kill them all. Let them fend for themselves. Some of them might still have a way to survive."

"What way to survive?" Hao Yuntu turned to him. "You should know exactly what kind of humiliation those women will suffer once the rebels take the inner palace. I cannot even preserve my own capital. Am I supposed to hand my own women over to the enemy for their pleasure as well? With no one to restrain them, do you think every one of those women is a chaste martyr willing to die rather than submit? They may choose humiliation, compromise, flattery, and survival, but I will not permit it!"

His gaze suddenly turned icy. "And the princes and princesses who cannot be taken away. My sons and daughters will not fall into enemy hands to be humiliated. Put them to death as well!"

"This..." Huyan Wei stared at him, speechless.

Hao Yuntu said heavily, "Do you intend to defy the imperial command?"

"I would not dare! I obey!" Huyan Wei cupped his hands, accepted the order, then turned his head toward one of his subordinates. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Do it at once! There's no time for niceties. Use whatever method is fastest!"

"Yes!" The subordinate accepted the order and ran off.

Outside the main palace hall, a crowd of imperial consorts had gathered. The frightened women were being held back by a line of cultivators.

They were not fools. They had already realized preparations were being made to withdraw. Terrified of being left behind, they had all come here and were waiting desperately.

They also understood that the available flying mounts were limited. There was no possibility of taking everyone. Most would have to remain behind, and only a small number could escape.

For that reason, some of the consorts had deliberately brought Hao Yuntu's sons and daughters with them, hoping that the consideration due to imperial blood might help secure them a place among those who would be evacuated.

Then came the pounding of running feet. A force of Imperial Guards rushed over and surrounded them outright.

The encircled palace women and children panicked, having no idea what was happening.

The commotion outside also alerted those within the hall. The Sect Leaders of the Three Great Sects, Hao Hong, the Empress, and the others all hurried to the doorway.

Hao Hong barked, "What's going on?"

The Imperial Guards stood with blades and spears in hand, weapons leveled at the encircled group. No one answered him.

A disturbance arose to one side of the main hall. Hao Hong and the others turned their heads and saw a group approaching. Hao Yuntu strode at the front with his hair hanging loose, Huyan Wei and Hao Qingqing flanking him.

The three Sect Leaders frowned slightly. Hao Hong and the Empress, however, changed color at once. Hao Hong in particular looked deeply uneasy. Clearly, the men he had sent had failed.

Then he looked at the Imperial Guards, who seemed to have slipped entirely beyond his control. His mouth went dry. His Adam's apple bobbed as an inexplicable dread rose in his heart.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty..." The cries of those surrounded rose one after another.

Hao Yuntu stopped outside the Imperial Guards' encirclement and looked at them. Then he suddenly spoke in a ringing voice. "If you enjoyed the benefits of wealth, honor, and splendor, then you must also bear their price. Go on ahead and wait for me." He inclined his head slightly. "Do it."

Huyan Wei sighed inwardly, but still nodded to the officer beneath him, signaling him to act.

The officer immediately swept out a hand. "Kill!"

In an instant, blades and spears struck without mercy. The encirclement closed inward as soldiers stabbed and hacked. Blood sprayed. The terrified victims rushed wildly in every direction, yet there was nowhere to escape. None had imagined disaster would descend upon them so suddenly.

"Your Majesty! Father Emperor..." Shrill screams and dying cries rose without end.

Hao Yuntu stood there expressionless. Hao Qingqing lowered her head and wept, her shoulders trembling.

Inside the hall, children who had been deemed eligible for evacuation had their eyes covered by the adults around them and were quickly led away.

The Sect Leaders of the Three Great Sects were stunned. The cultivators present looked at one another. Hao Hong and the Empress had gone deathly pale, their legs weak. Without people supporting them, they might have collapsed where they stood.

Only after every scream had fallen silent did the Imperial Guards withdraw and continue searching the entire palace for anyone who had escaped the purge.

The wind, rank with blood, lifted Hao Yuntu's long hair. He stepped through pools of blood and among the fallen corpses, walking one step at a time toward the stairs. He reached out and pushed aside the cultivators barring his way, climbed the steps, and stopped before Hao Hong and his mother.

The mother and son retreated several frightened steps.

Hao Yuntu ignored Hao Hong and fixed his gaze on the Empress. "Afraid? My Princess Consort, the woman who should have become Empress of Qi, died right there before my eyes, in the same kind of place where they just fell. Rebel troops surrounded us, corpses piled high, and blood ran like a river. My Princess Consort was not afraid. She shielded me from arrows with her own body and died, her fragrance and beauty extinguished, saving my life. You only had the chance to become Empress of Qi because of what happened to her. Look at yourself. Are you worthy?"

His eyes were filled with contempt.

That look of contempt seemed to carve itself deep into the Empress's bones. She would never forget it for the rest of her life.

Hao Yuntu turned to the Sect Leaders of the Three Great Sects. "The sounds of killing are everywhere outside. The palace city is about to fall. I have already dealt with those who cannot be taken away. If you're leaving, leave while you still can."

The three Sect Leaders glanced at the heap of corpses below the steps. Today, they had truly witnessed the cold ruthlessness of an emperor.

Yuwen Yan raised a hand. "Your Majesty, ride with me on the same mount. I will protect you."

Hao Yuntu shook his head. "Whether I leave or remain no longer matters. Qi has come to this state, and I cannot escape responsibility. Since I dared sit upon this realm's throne, I dare fight to the bitter end alongside the soldiers and defend the realm of Qi!"

He suddenly looked at Hao Hong again. "You want to be Emperor of Qi? I'll give you the chance. If I leave, you stay. If you dare remain behind and fight to the death alongside the soldiers, I will pass the throne to you right now!"

Bei Xuan sighed. "Your Majesty, matters have already come to this. Whatever grievances lie between father and son, why not put them aside for now? First go to the Supreme General. Everything else can be discussed afterward."

Hao Yuntu stared at Hao Hong. "Does he dare let me go? If the two of us go together, the first edict I issue will order the Supreme General to execute him! Hao Hong, I am giving you the choice. Do father and son leave together, or does one of us remain behind?"

Hao Hong's Adam's apple bobbed. His expression was ugly. Everyone watched to see how he would respond.

When he remained silent for so long, Hao Yuntu was disappointed. Truly disappointed. He had never intended to leave in the first place. He had said all this only to see how Hao Hong would react. He had wanted to give his son one chance.

And yet, in front of so many people, Hao Hong had reacted like this. Hao Yuntu was bitterly disappointed.

He no longer entangled himself with his son and said to the three Sect Leaders, "Take the mother and son away. I will remain. That will spare the Supreme General a difficult choice later."

The three Sect Leaders exchanged glances.

Hao Yuntu continued, "Before we part, I will issue one final edict as Emperor of Qi to the three Sect Leaders. Please convey it to the Supreme General as well."

San Qianli said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Hao Yuntu said, "My final edict to the Three Great Sects and the Supreme General is this: depose the Crown Prince and the Empress immediately. Together with their offspring, reduce them all to camp laborers. So long as Qi survives, the mother and son may survive. If Qi falls, the mother and son are not to cling to life. Put them to death!"

Hao Hong and his mother were horrified. The Empress cried out mournfully, "Your Majesty!"

Yuwen Yan looked at their reactions and gave a wry smile. "A state cannot go a day without a ruler. Isn't this going a little too far?"

Hao Yuntu said, "I see that not one of the princes who attends court is present here. Presumably some still live. The Three Great Sects and the Supreme General may choose the worthiest among them and support him as sovereign. There is no need to be rigid about it."

The three Sect Leaders looked at one another. In the end, they reached the same conclusion and cupped their hands together. "We obey the edict!"

Seeing that the three had actually agreed, Hao Hong's breathing quickened, his face bleak. How had it come to this? He could scarcely believe it. Power here had plainly already been in his hands. Father Emperor had been stripped of authority and confined. How could the entire situation overturn the instant he appeared?

What Hao Hong did not know was that his performance just now had disgusted the three Sect Leaders as well.

Put another way, when it came to the arts of emperors and sovereigns, he was no match for Hao Yuntu at all. Hao Yuntu had contended with the Three Great Sects for how many years? In the space of a few moments, he had used them to judge whether Hao Hong was fit to be Emperor of Qi and driven his son straight into desperate straits.

"Then just kill me and be done with it!" Hao Hong suddenly roared and charged at Hao Yuntu.

"Show some restraint!" Yuwen Yan swept out a hand, sending Hao Hong staggering backward. Then he gestured again, and two Tianhuo Sect disciples immediately seized Hao Hong and dragged him away.

The Empress collapsed dispiritedly to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

[End of Chapter 1403]