AUBTN -Chapter 49 Palace Coup (Part 1)

By the time Lu Yan arrived, this was the horrific scene that greeted his eyes.

“Prince Ning—!!”

Lu Yan roared in fury. The Xiuchun Blade in his hand flashed out of its sheath as he leapt straight off his horse like an arrow released from the bow, plunging directly into the torrent of rebel soldiers.

The blade gleamed like falling snow.
Where it passed, severed limbs flew.

“It’s the Commander! Commander Lu is back!”

The Jinyiwei who had already fallen into despair exploded with their last reserves of strength when they saw that familiar figure.

“Brothers! Reinforcements have arrived! Kill them!”

Shen Jue followed closely behind, yet the expression on his face only grew more bewitching and unrestrained.

“You dare lay a hand on the Imperial Palace? Ask the Eastern Depot first whether it agrees!”

Two sharp blades once again fought side by side.

But there were simply too many rebels.

For this very day, Prince Ning had plotted for ten whole years.

The elite forces of the Xishan Camp, together with the Jinyiwei who had been turned, totaled thirty thousand troops, surrounding the small Xuanwu Gate so tightly that not even a drop of water could slip through.

“Lu Yan! Take the men and fall back to defend the inner halls!”

Shen Jue’s sword pierced straight through a rebel officer’s throat. Leaning back against Lu Yan, he panted heavily.

“We can’t hold this place! We have to use the terrain and fight street by street!”

“No!”

Lu Yan shattered the shield before him with a single slash, determination blazing in his eyes.

“If Xuanwu Gate falls, the inner palace will have no defenses left! We must nail them down right here!”

“Have you gone mad? That’s throwing lives away!”

“Then we throw them!”

Lu Yan wiped the blood from his face and turned to look at the resolute eyes behind him.

“Jinyiwei, hear my command!”

“Yes!”

The remaining hundred or so Jinyiwei roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.

“Today we fight to the death and will not retreat! Even if we fall to the last man, we will never allow these traitors to step even half a pace through Xuanwu Gate!”

Watching this group of madmen, Su Hewan and Yu Qing hid behind a barricade in the rear, their hands tightly clasped together.

Seeing the sky filled with bloodshed, Yu Qing trembled uncontrollably, tears streaming down like broken pearls.

“Why are we so unlucky? It’s always either going to see the King of Hell or on the way to see him!”

“Don’t be afraid. Trust them!” Su Hewan held her hand. Though she herself was frightened, she still tried to comfort her.

Yu Qing realized that although she usually loved acting dramatic and making sarcastic remarks, when such a brutal war was laid bare before her eyes, she finally understood just how small and powerless she was.

Su Hewan’s face was pale, but her gaze was unusually resolute.

She looked toward the figure standing at the center of the battlefield—wounded yet still standing tall like a war god—and an indescribable emotion surged in her heart.

This was history.

In books, the Xuanwu Gate Incident was described in only a few brief lines.

But in reality, it was a purgatory built from countless streams of blood and piles of bones.

Just then, the rebels’ assault suddenly slowed.

The tide of soldiers parted to either side, opening a passage.

A jet-black warhorse slowly stepped forward.

The man atop it, clad in golden armor, was none other than Prince Ning.

Looking at the blood-soaked, barely standing Lu Yan and Shen Jue, a victor’s smile curved on his lips.

“Lu Yan. Shen Jue. I will give you one last chance.”

Prince Ning’s voice, infused with internal energy, rang clearly across the entire battlefield.

“Hand over the imperial edict and kneel in surrender. If you do, I will leave your corpses intact.”

Lu Yan propped himself up on his blade and slowly straightened his back. Though battered and disheveled, his pride remained unbroken.

He let out a cold laugh.

“Dream on.”

Prince Ning threw his head back and burst into wild laughter. With a sudden crack of his whip, he pointed at the crumbling defensive line ahead, his eyes blazing with manic killing intent.

“Then go die! Flatten Xuanwu Gate for this prince—leave not a blade of grass standing!”

War drums thundered like rolling storms, and the roar of battle shook the heavens once again.

The rebel troops stepped over the corpses of their fallen comrades and launched another tidal-wave charge.

Lu Yan gasped for breath. Every swing of his blade seemed to drain the last of his strength.

Even Shen Jue’s sinisterly beautiful face was now smeared with grime and blood, making him look even more eerie and ghostlike.

“This won’t work!”

Su Hewan crouched beside the stone steps just inside the gate, staring at the chaotic scene while frantically recalling every bit of knowledge she had about ancient city defenses.

This is Xuanwu Gate. It was designed from the start to prevent palace coups—there must be a contingency built in! The structure is a barbican, narrow terrain, easy to defend and hard to attack. As long as we block that point…

Her gaze locked onto an inconspicuous winch high on the inner side of the gate. It controlled the thousand-jin portcullis mechanism. Because of years of disrepair—and the chaos of the battle—no one had paid it any attention.

“Shen Jue! Look up! That winch!”

Forgetting about exposing her position, Su Hewan shouted toward the fighting crowd, her voice sharp with tension.

【That’s the backup mechanism for the portcullis! If you cut the main rope over there, the inner gate will drop and split them in two!】

Amid the chaos, Shen Jue heard Su Hewan’s thoughts—and her shout.

He didn’t need to look back. He didn’t need confirmation. His body reacted faster than his mind.

As expected, this woman’s head was full of useful things.

“Lu Yan! Cover me!”

Shen Jue barked out a command. His figure shot into the air like a phantom, stepping on a rebel soldier’s head for leverage as he vaulted toward the top of the gate wall.

Lu Yan had no idea what Shen Jue intended to do, but the deadly rivalry between them—years in the making—produced perfect tacit coordination at this moment.

With a furious roar, he swept his long blade sideways, forcibly driving back the three spearmen trying to ambush Shen Jue.

“Get lost!”

Shen Jue soared halfway up the wall. His sword flashed into a streak of cold light, striking precisely at the thick hemp rope hidden in the shadows, almost blending into them.

Snap—!

The rope broke with a sharp crack.

Then the ground trembled violently.

A massive iron portcullis crashed down from the middle of the gate passage with overwhelming force.

Dozens of rebels charging in the front didn’t even have time to scream before they were crushed into pulp.

The surging flood of rebel troops was abruptly cut in half by the iron gate. Those outside couldn’t get in—and those inside had become fish trapped in a barrel.

“Nicely done!” Lu Yan wiped the blood from his face, his eyes blazing with renewed vigor.

“Jinyiwei! Clean up the trash inside!”

The pressure instantly eased.

But Su Hewan didn’t relax. She rushed out from behind cover, clutching half a command flag she had picked up somewhere, and climbed onto a raised platform.

“Jinyiwei, listen up! Shield-bearers, form a formation and block the gaps at the gate! Spearmen, thrust from the rear ranks! Archers, up to the battlements—use the crenels to fire at the reinforcements outside!”

Her voice trembled, yet every command was precise and to the point.

【Never thought I’d actually get to practice what I learned in ‘Introduction to Ancient City Defense Tactics.’ At least the tuition wasn’t wasted! Though if this fails… I guess it’s an instant fail—and instant death!】

The Jinyiwei and Jinyiwei, who had been fighting blindly with bloodshot eyes, suddenly felt as though they had found their backbone.

Even though the one giving orders was just a palace maid, the confidence in her voice made people instinctively obey.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Yu Qing was leading a few eunuchs who hadn’t fainted from fear, dragging bodies out from the piles of corpses.

“Good grief, you’re way too heavy! You really should go on a diet, big brother!”