Chapter 1404: Driven into Desperate Straits

The sounds of battle outside grew steadily louder. Clearly, the defenders on the surrounding streets were collapsing across the board. Hao Yuntu listened for a moment, then waved a hand. "Go. Quickly!"

The Sect Leaders of the Three Great Sects exchanged glances and cupped their hands to Hao Yuntu together.

With matters having reached this point and the Crown Prince already deposed, they no longer wished to take Hao Yuntu with them.

What would happen if they brought him to Huyan Wuhen? If Huyan Wuhen once again acknowledged Hao Yuntu as emperor, where would that leave the three of them? They were the ones who had deposed Hao Yuntu in the first place. If they now restored his authority and position, would that not amount to admitting that the entire situation had deteriorated this far because they had been wrong?

Since Hao Yuntu himself was willing to remain, they were more than happy to go with the current. It fulfilled Hao Yuntu's wish while sparing them embarrassment.

San Qianli called out, "Let's go!"

Having once again witnessed with her own eyes her mother and elder brother being deposed, Hao Qingqing, still silently shedding tears, suddenly said, "I'm not going. I'll stay and protect Father Emperor!"

Everyone froze.

Third Madam Pei appeared from inside the hall holding a swaddled infant. "Princess, even if you won't think of yourself, you have to think of the child!"

Hao Qingqing choked back tears and shook her head. "Third Madam, help me take good care of the child. You must get my child, and the children of Huyan Wei's two elder brothers, safely to their grandfather."

Third Madam Pei grew anxious. "Princess, this is no time to be willful."

Hao Yuntu also said sternly, "Qingqing, hearing you say that is enough for Father Emperor. Go. Leave at once!"

His attitude toward this daughter was plainly different from his attitude toward those who had just been executed below the steps. Of course, part of that was also because she was a daughter-in-law of the Huyan family.

Hao Qingqing burst into tears. "How am I supposed to leave? Am I supposed to stand by and watch Mother Empress and Elder Brother become camp laborers? Stand by and watch Mother Empress and Elder Brother be put to death? Abandon my own father and walk away as though none of it matters? Father Emperor, tell me. What am I supposed to do?"

Hao Yuntu's cheeks tightened. He looked at the daughter he had always doted on most and wondered how this girl, who had never suffered any real setback before, had endured the blow after blow that had struck her lately. The more innocent and carefree she had once been, the more painful all this must be for her now.

Hao Qingqing wiped away her tears, then turned to Huyan Wei. "Blockhead! Take our daughter and go. If you ever let her suffer any grievance in the future, I won't spare you even as a ghost."

Huyan Wei, who had been standing to the side like an idiot, finally reacted, only to give a bitter grin. "Go? Go, my ass! Father gave me a military order to protect His Majesty. If I can't get His Majesty out alive, he told me not to come back alive either. I thought it wouldn't be much of a problem. Who knew all of you would be this troublesome? I fucking sent Father a military pledge, beat my chest, and guaranteed I'd do it. A military pledge. Do you understand what that means?"

He turned again toward the direction of the fighting. The Huyan household's retainers were spilling blood out there. How could he flee alone?

Everyone was speechless. The faces of the three Sect Leaders darkened. They could leave anyone else behind, but not this man. Of Huyan Wuhen's three sons, he was the only one left. If they abandoned him and ran, they would have no way to answer to Huyan Wuhen afterward.

Yuwen Yan said, "Grand Commander, stop making trouble. Come with us immediately. We will explain matters to the Supreme General for you."

Huyan Wei smiled bitterly. "Sect Leader Yuwen, that's easy for you to say. I made a military pledge. You must have heard what my father's military law is like. He never shows favoritism. And if I abandon all these household retainers and run for my life, he'll definitely have my head! Why don't you take His Majesty with you too?"

Bei Xuan refused to touch the question of taking Hao Yuntu. He said heavily, "With us there, what are you afraid of?"

They did not care whether Huyan Wuhen would actually enforce military law against Huyan Wei. What they needed was to bring Huyan Wei back alive so they could give Huyan Wuhen an account. Whatever happened after that would be the Huyan family's own affair.

Hao Yuntu understood their thinking too well. He spoke up. "Let husband and wife remain. As for the Supreme General, the three Sect Leaders may tell him it was my decision."

Everyone looked at him, unable to tell what he had in mind.

To some extent, however, Hao Yuntu understood Huyan Wuhen as well. Huyan Wuhen's military discipline was strict and merciless. If Huyan Wei remained here, he might still have a chance to live. If he truly went back to Huyan Wuhen, Huyan Wuhen would never spare him. With someone else, Huyan Wuhen might conceivably show leniency. But when his own son violated military law, he would be even less likely to show mercy. Huyan Wei would unquestionably be executed.

For Huyan Wei to flee back only to be put to death under military law would dishonor the Huyan family's tradition. By saying this, Hao Yuntu was also giving the three Sect Leaders a face-saving way out.

The three Sect Leaders exchanged glances. It was not that they refused to save Huyan Wei; the emperor himself had ordered otherwise. Naturally, that gave them an explanation they could offer Huyan Wuhen.

Yuwen Yan asked once more, "Grand Commander, are you truly not leaving?"

Huyan Wei sighed. "Who told me to have such a miserable fate and be born into the Huyan family? Even if I want to leave, I can't."

"If so, we won't force you," Yuwen Yan said, settling the matter in a single sentence.

Hao Yuntu suddenly added, "Three Sect Leaders, you must see the Supreme General's grandchildren safely to him. The Supreme General's line must not be allowed to end!"

All three Sect Leaders nodded. They truly could not delay any longer. The longer they remained, the more strength their sects would lose. They immediately issued orders for their disciples to gather and withdraw.

Huyan Wei also hurriedly gave orders for the Imperial Guard to contract its lines and concentrate its strength. Perhaps that would allow them to hold a little longer.

A flock of flying mounts carrying people rose into the sky. The cultivators who had gathered on the ground also formed into groups, fought their way rapidly in one direction, and broke out.

Neither the cultivators departing through the air nor those breaking through on the ground encountered much resistance.

That was exactly what the rebels wanted. So long as these cultivators remained, the rebels would be unable to pacify the Qi capital completely. Only once the cultivators left could they swiftly seize full control of the city.

The cultivators on the rebel side did not want Qi's cultivators defending the capital to fight to the bitter end either. The losses that would inflict on them would be enormous.

Seeing the city's cultivators flee, they were only too happy to let them go and made little effort to entangle them. If they truly cornered the other side and forced them to bite back like mad dogs, no one would come out of it well.

Most of the cultivators defending the city withdrew. Not all of them left, however. A small number secretly remained behind. It was impossible to leave the capital without even a few eyes and ears.

Once the defending cultivators withdrew, the remnants of Qi's army fighting through the streets and alleys immediately lost the strength to resist. Only two choices remained: surrender or be wiped out.

Without cultivators to assist them, while the rebels still had cultivators on their side, even the Imperial Guards defending the palace could no longer stop the attack. Their lines collapsed, and they retreated across the board.

The Imperial Guard withdrew completely to the area around the main palace hall, backs toward the hall and faces toward the enemy.

Howling rebels poured into the palace like a tide and encircled the area around the main hall, trapping the remnants of the Imperial Guard in desperate straits.

Sword in hand atop the steps, Huyan Wei looked left and right at the Huyan household retainers who had fallen back beside him. Every one of them was panting heavily and covered in blood, clearly fresh from brutal fighting. Some of the household retainers were nowhere to be seen. He would probably never see them again.

Inside the hall, Hao Yuntu sat upon the imperial throne with his sword planted before him, staring at the black mass of rebels outside.

Hao Qingqing kept wiping away tears as she held up an oil lamp and, under Hao Yuntu's orders, moved around the hall setting fires.

The hundreds of oil lamps that had originally stood along both sides of the hall for illumination now had their oil put to use as fuel.

Before long, flames were roaring all around the hall.

After finishing, Hao Qingqing walked back to her father, sat down at his feet, and leaned against his leg. Looking through the doorway at Huyan Wei's armored back, she suddenly smiled through her tears. "Father Emperor, that blockhead actually looks the part."

Hao Yuntu reached down and stroked her head. "Who would have thought that, at the very end, I would still have a daughter and son-in-law here to keep me company? Your father did not dote on you for nothing."

Huyan Wei looked back into the hall and saw father and daughter amid the roaring firelight. His cheeks tightened. He turned resolutely toward the enemy, raised his sword, and shouted, "Archers, prepare!"

Using the layered carved-stone railings as cover, the Imperial Guard archers immediately nocked arrows while shield-bearers moved into position around them.

A general among the rebels also shouted, "Archers, prepare!"

Gu Yuanda rode forward through a path opened by the rebel ranks. When he saw Huyan Wei standing on the steps, he was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Huyan Wuhen's son to remain here.

Then delight surged through him.

If he could capture Huyan Wuhen's son alive, would that not give him additional leverage when Huyan Wuhen's great army came to encircle and suppress him later?

He immediately raised a hand, signaling the army not to act rashly, and shouted, "Huyan Wei, do you still recognize me?"

Huyan Wei threw back his head and laughed. "Grand General Gu, who came to my house to pay respects every New Year and festival? How could I not recognize you? Your son often came looking for me and invited me out to brothels for a good time. I'm guessing that was on your instructions too, wasn't it?"

Then he added, "Oh, that's right. To curry favor with me, your son often brought your concubines out to keep me company. I don't know whether you knew about that or not, but every concubine in your household? I've slept with every last one of them. I figure you knew. You just deliberately turned a blind eye. A treacherous bastard like you, what wouldn't you do?"

A burst of laughter rose from the Imperial Guard.

Many among the rebels, however, looked at one another, unable to tell whether any of it was true. Suspicion and uncertainty spread through the ranks.

Beside the throne inside the hall, Hao Qingqing's eyes suddenly went wide. She forgot her grief and sprang to her feet like a tiger baring its teeth.

Hao Yuntu reached out and tugged at his daughter's hand, smiling. "Don't listen to that brat's nonsense. As for visiting brothels, I won't comment. But sleeping with the women of a general under his father's command? Given the Huyan family's upbringing, he wouldn't dare even if you gave him a hundred times the courage. He's deliberately humiliating the other man. Don't take it seriously."

Those half-true, half-false words turned Gu Yuanda's face black. He had discovered that this really was the least reliable member of the Huyan family. None of the others would ever have spewed such outrageous filth.

Gu Yuanda raised a hand and pointed at him. "Huyan Wei, surrender without resistance and I will spare your life!"

Huyan Wei shouted back, "What good is it if you spare me? I know what you're thinking. You want to capture me as a hostage, don't you? You know what sort of man my father is. Taking me hostage won't do you any good. Gu Yuanda, why put yourself through all this? You could have lived as a decent man, but you just had to become a rebel. Once my father's army sweeps down on you, do you really think you can escape?"

Gu Yuanda's heart sank slightly. Thinking about Huyan Wuhen's character, using his son as a hostage truly did seem unlikely to accomplish anything.

Across from him, Huyan Wei swept his sword down and roared, "Loose!"

[End of Chapter 1404]