AUBTN -Chapter 48 Storming the Xuanwu Gate

【This old geezer is dead set on playing both sides!】

Su Hewan watched the scene with tightly furrowed brows, her mind racing.

【When scholars meet soldiers, reason becomes useless. Trying to argue logic or show evidence to a slippery old fox like him is pointless—he only cares about profit and risk. Unless… we can shake his very foundation.】

“Lu Yan, we can’t fight them head-on,” Su Hewan said in a low voice.

“The soldiers don’t know the truth. They’re just following orders. If we start fighting, we’ll really become rebels.”

“Then what do we do? Just stand here and watch that old bastard stall for time?” Shen Jue’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

Just as the standoff reached a breaking point—

“Waaah—!”

A shrill, heart-wrenching cry suddenly shattered the tense atmosphere.

Everyone was startled and turned toward Yu Qing at the same time.

The girl, who had been hiding behind Su Hewan the whole time, suddenly looked as if she had been triggered by something. She tumbled and rolled off the horse—actually using the momentum to roll down. The movement looked dramatic, but she didn’t hurt herself.

“I can’t live anymore! I can’t go on living!”

Yu Qing knelt on the ground, pounding the dirt with both fists, crying so miserably that anyone who heard it would feel their heart break.

【When it comes to acting, I’m a professional!!】

Everyone was stunned—even Lu Yan forgot to draw his sword.

“Wh… who is this?” Wei Guang frowned.

Yu Qing suddenly raised her head. Her large eyes were filled with tears, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

Ignoring Wei Guang completely, she rushed straight toward the barricade at the camp gate and shouted at the ordinary soldiers holding spears, their faces full of confusion.

“Big brothers! Uncles! Please—save His Majesty! Save the people of the capital!”

“I’m a palace maid from the imperial court. I saw it with my own eyes—Prince Ning’s rebel army has already killed their way into the palace! They kill anyone they see and loot everything… even the palace eunuchs are dead! Chopped into minced meat!”

As Yu Qing cried out, she trembled and pointed toward the capital.

“Prince Ning said… once he enters the city, his soldiers won’t sheathe their blades for three days! They’ll wash the imperial palace in blood and kill everyone loyal to His Majesty! The emperor is only seven years old! He’s still just a child! But that beast Prince Ning even set fire to the palace!”

【Sorry, little emperor. For the sake of the performance, I have to make your situation sound a bit more tragic.】

Yu Qing’s voice carried incredible emotion and power.

“You were all born to fathers and mothers too! You all have wives, children, and families at home! Prince Ning’s soldiers are burning, killing, and looting in the city—are you really going to just stand by and watch?”

“If His Majesty dies, the Great Zhou is finished! Your families will have to live under that demon’s rule from now on!”

Her tearful accusation stirred the soldiers, who had been expressionless moments before.

Wei Guang’s face changed drastically. He shouted sharply, “Demonic nonsense meant to confuse the crowd! Don’t listen to this madwoman’s lies! Men—shoot her!”

“Who dares!”

Lu Yan roared and stepped in front of Yu Qing, shielding her.

Yu Qing suddenly stood up and cried out in grief and fury:

“Wei Guang! You’re a court official who takes the court’s salary, yet now that His Majesty is in danger, not only do you refuse to help—you want to kill people to silence them! Can you face the late emperor’s spirit in heaven? Can you face the people behind you?”

“Aren’t you afraid that when midnight comes and you close your eyes, the countless wronged souls will come to claim your life?”

Every word of her accusation sounded like it was soaked in blood and tears.

“If you don’t believe me, then look at this!”

Su Hewan immediately picked up the cue. She knew Yu Qing was responsible for stirring emotions—so she had to deliver the solid proof.

She took the blood-written edict from Lu Yan and raised it high.

“The late emperor’s testament is here! Prince Ning poisoned the late emperor and colluded with foreign enemies—there is undeniable evidence! Lord Lu and Chief Shen risked their lives to bring out this edict so the world could see Prince Ning’s true face! Are you still going to aid a tyrant?”

Shen Jue usually looked down on this kind of tearful performance, but even he had to admit that this woman’s acting… was damn good.

He narrowed his eyes and delivered the final blow at just the right moment.

“General Wei, if you send out troops now, it will be the greatest merit in rescuing the emperor. Titles and honors for your family will soon follow.”

“But if you hesitate any longer… once Prince Ning breaks into the imperial city, how long do you think you’ll still be able to hold on to the military power in your hands?”

“Do you really think Prince Ning would tolerate a general who commands troops and holds power like you?”

Threats, temptations, and moral coercion.

Under this combination of pressure, Wei Guang completely panicked.

He saw the uneasy looks in the eyes of his deputy generals. Some of them had even placed their hands on the hilts of their swords, staring at him with open suspicion.

The army’s morale was wavering.

If he still refused to deploy the troops, a mutiny might break out in the camp before they even reached the battlefield.

“General Wei! Give the order! My mother is still in the city!”

“General! We can’t let the rebels harm His Majesty!”

No one knew who shouted first, but immediately afterward, the calls to go to battle erupted like a tidal wave.

Cold sweat poured down Wei Guang’s forehead. He knew the tide had turned.

If he didn’t agree now, the next one to die might be him.

“Pass… pass on my command!”

Wei Guang clenched his teeth, forcing the words out as if squeezing them through the gaps between them.

“The Jingji Grand Camp will break camp immediately! Follow Lord Lu… and enter the capital to protect the Emperor!”

“Kill——!”

A thunderous roar echoed into the heavens.

Yu Qing’s body went limp as she collapsed onto the ground, letting out a long breath.

【Oh my god, that scared the hell out of me. If that performance doesn’t earn an Oscar for Best Actress, nothing will.】

Lu Yan turned back and looked at her deeply. For the first time, a trace of admiration flashed in his eyes.

“You did very well.”

But he had no time to say more. He leapt onto his horse and shouted, “Full speed ahead!”

The army set out, kicking up clouds of dust that blotted out the sky.

However, reality is often crueler than any drama.

When they finally led the army to the outskirts of the capital, one desperate piece of news after another arrived.

“Report——!”

A blood-soaked scout tumbled down in front of Lu Yan’s horse.

“My lord! Bad news! The vanguard of Prince Ning’s forces used a heavy battering ram, and with help from an insider who opened the city gate… the second palace gate… has fallen!”

Lu Yan’s heart sank to the bottom.

The second palace gate had fallen—meaning the rebel army was already pressing directly toward the inner court.

Only one final barrier remained—Xuanwu Gate.

If Xuanwu Gate fell, the imperial palace would be completely overrun, and the new emperor would surely die.

“Faster! Move faster!”

Lu Yan’s eyes turned blood-red. Ignoring the wounds that had reopened, he whipped his warhorse like a madman.

Before Xuanwu Gate, the scene had already become a living hell.

Corpses were piled like mountains. Blood flowed into rivers, slowly running down the white marble steps and staining this palace gate—symbol of imperial authority—with a glaring crimson.

The remaining Jinyiwei and the last thousand imperial guards still loyal to the emperor were desperately holding the gate.

“Hold the line! Hold the damn line!”

A Jinyiwei thousand-household commander was riddled with arrows, yet he still braced his body against the trembling palace gate. Blood foam spilled from his mouth as he roared,

“The Commander… will definitely come back!”

With a thunderous crash, the massive gate was forced open with a narrow gap.

Countless rebel soldiers surged through the opening like a flood.

Blades flashed. Flesh and blood flew everywhere.