Gate of God

“Prince Yan? Yan Qianli!” Shen Ming’s expression changed. He knew that Yan Qianli would come, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

Just as he was about to ask about Yan Qianli’s current location, he heard the whinnying of horses.

“Surround this place!” An animalistic bellow could be heard from outside.

Then, the officials began to stream in. They all looked to Minister of War Shen Ming with panic in their eyes.

“Minister… things are not looking good. It’s the Yan Cloud Cavalry, the Yan Cloud Cavalry… they have…” One of the officials started to stammer.

Then he stopped. He saw the expression on Shen Ming’s face.

Shen Ming had completely paled. He knew that Yan Qianli was a domineering man, but this was the capital!

The center of the Empire!

The capital of the Great Xia!

Who were the Yan Cloud Cavalry? They were soldiers of Western Liang! That meant that they were not soldiers of the capital! How could they be here!

It was a heinous crime for other soldiers to barge into the capital! It almost bordered on a rebellion!

Where were the city guards?

Why did nobody stop the Yan Cloud Cavalry from entering the city?

The city guards were supposed to protect the city! Yet, they allowed the Yan Cloud Cavalry to enter and surround the Ministry of War!

“Is he mad? Is Yan Qianli crazy? How dare he bring soldiers into the capital!” Shen Ming nearly crumpled to the ground. He refused to believe what was happening.

However, the facts were all there in front of him. Yan Qianli was here. Even the Emperor had to respect this ‘madman’.

The law…

That was the bedrock of the Great Xia Empire.

However, there was one man who didn’t care about the law. This was Yan Qianli, a man who had sacrificed all his brothers to save the Great Xia.

He managed Western Liang single-handedly.

He had secured the borders of the Great Xia! Nobody dared to come within a hundred mile radius of Western Liang.

And now…

He was in the capital! He even brought the Yan Cloud Cavalry along to surround the Ministry of War! How could Shen Ming keep his composure?

“Your Highness, this…”

“Is Yan Qianli the only one who has returned from the banquet?” Crown Prince Lin Tianrong asked the messenger.

“Yes yes yes, what about the Emperor? Where is the Emperor?” Shen Ming replied, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“No, the Emperor is still at the Ten Mile Lake. I heard that he will only return after lunch.” The figure replied.

“Return after lunch?! Erm…” Shen Ming was shocked as he shuddered. He nearly crumpled to the ground.

He knew what that meant…

If Yan Qianli knew about the events of last night, the Emperor would know them too. The Emperor had chosen to stay at the Ten Mile Lake whilst Yan Qianli returned to the capital…

The meaning of that was obvious.

What was he going to do?

There was no one, bar the Emperor, who could hold Yan Qianli back.

Shen Ming turned to look at Crown Prince Lin Tianrong. Lin Tianrong was his only hope in this situation.

However…

Crown Prince Lin Tianrong didn’t seem like he was about to take any action. He simply stood in his position and looked like he was thinking about something.

Shen Ming didn’t dare to ask the Crown Prince what he was thinking about.

The Crown Prince was actually thinking about why the Emperor would choose to stay at the Ten Mile Lake till after he had his lunch.

However, the Yan Cloud Cavalry had no intention of giving him much time to think.

“Neigh!” the horses whinnied.

Then, the gates to the Ministry of War were smashed open as hundreds of soldiers in black cloaks stormed in.

Every soldier rode a war stallion. They looked like a domineering black cloud that suffocated everyone in the Ministry of War.

“Kaboom!”

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky and the somber atmosphere was broken by torrential rain. The glistening armor under the black cloaks began to show.

Shen Ming’s lips twitched as he tried to find words to express himself. At that moment, one of the squad leaders stepped forward and looked at the officials.

Finally…

His gaze rested on Shen Ming.

“Arrest him!” The leader commanded icily.

The Yan Cloud Cavalry sprang into action.

“Woosh woosh woosh!” The Yan Cloud Cavalry drew their bows and pointed them at Shen Ming.

Their arrows glistened in the rain.

Shen Ming shuddered when he saw this. He began trembling in his spot. He never expected to be threatened like this in his own ministry.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince was standing beside him! How dare they do this?

“How dare you! This is the Ministry of War! The Yan Cloud Cavalry… should not be here!” Shen Ming grit his teeth and bellowed.

The Ministry of War oversaw the armies.

As such, they were also guarded by soldiers.

When Shen Ming bellowed, almost 500 soldiers rushed out from within the Ministry of War and lowered their spears at the Yan Cloud Cavalry.

These soldiers were elites in their own right.

However, the Yan Cloud Cavalry were the creme de la creme. No one even came close.

“Shen Ming is resisting arrest, kill him!” The leader’s expression didn’t change when he saw the soldiers run out. He still remained as composed as ever.

“What?!” Shen Ming was stunned.

He couldn’t believe what was happening to him. The fact that he was being surrounded in his own ministry was unfathomable. However… he was floored when he heard the order to kill him.

He was a minister!

Even if his crime was deserving of death, he should be properly tried and sentenced! Right now, he was about to be shot to death without a trial.

How is this possible?

Most importantly, the Crown Prince was standing next to him!

He simply couldn’t believe that this was happening. However, an arrow had already been shot the moment the order was given.

“Zoom!”

The arrow pierced through the air and rain and looked to strike Shen Ming in the head.

This was meant to be a lethal shot.

At the moment the arrow was released, hundreds of others were too. They shot towards Shen Ming as well.

Shen Ming’s eyes widened.

He never expected that the Yan Cloud Cavalry would really attack him. They were attacking him without any hesitation or consideration!

“Madman, he really is a madman!” Shen Ming’s limbs sprang into action when he saw this.

He had some abilities too.

However, it was not easy to dodge away from all these arrows at such a short distance. The was a screen of light in front of him as he rolled to the side.

“Boom boom boom!”

The arrows fell to the ground, piercing holes in the ground. Each one was embedded deep inside the earth.

Crack lines began to form and widen…

This one volley of arrows had virtually shredded the floor of the Ministry of War. This was how powerful the Yan Cloud Cavalry were.

In the face of such power…

The 500 soldiers were completely flawed.

Ordinarily, they would have sprung into action by now. They had a responsibility to protect the ministry. However, none of them moved.

They knew that anyone who could shoot at the Minister of War would not hesitate to kill them either.

The soldiers had a duty…

However, that didn’t mean that they were willing to die in such a pointless manner.

Crown Prince Lin Tianrong looked at Shen Ming, who had tumbled to the side. He was slightly shocked to see the arrows in the ground.

Even though the arrows had gone around his body, they had brushed close enough to him to lift his robe as they passed.

“Yan Cloud Cavalry! Is this the Yan Cloud Cavalry?” Crown Prince Lin Tianrong had seen them before. However, he had only seen them in exercises in Western Liang. He had not interacted with them up close.

At that moment, he finally understood why the Emperor would choose to stay at the Ten Mile Lake. He also understood why none of the 13 Constabularies were stationed in Western Liang.

The army that stood in front of him was a true powerhouse.

This was a powerful army that was virtually impossible to match.

There was only one way to describe it.

Western Liang wasn’t conquered by the Great Xia. They were only able to consider Western Liang one of their territories because of the negotiating prowess of their ancestors. Most importantly, this powerful army had done their job.

This powerful army was the only reason why the Great Xia had managed to survive. At the battle of the Ten Mile Lake, the Yan Cloud Cavalry had traveled over 1000 miles to arrive at the battlefield within the week. They then proceeded to fight for three days straight without any breaks.

30,000 of them had held off an army of 150,000 demons.

Crown Prince Lin Tianrong’s mouth twitched. He could stop this all but he had to make sure that it was worthwhile.

Was it worthwhile to antagonize Yan Qianli over a Minister of War?

He may have considered it before he saw the Yan Cloud Cavalry. He had already lost the Ministry of Law and Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping…

He didn’t want to lose the Minister of War either.

However, when he saw the Yan Cloud Cavalry, he understood at that moment that he could not antagonize this army.

Even if he was the Crown Prince…

Even if he was to be the Emperor someday, he could not antagonize this army, not whilst Yan Qianli was alive.

“Greetings Prince Yan, I am Lin Tianrong, third son of the Emperor!” Crown Prince Lin Tianrong ignored Shen Ming and bowed to the Yan Cloud Cavalry.

As a Crown Prince, he could not possibly greet Yan Qianli before he had shown himself or greeted him.

This meant that he was accusing Yan Qianli of disrespect.

As such, he didn’t introduce himself as the Crown Prince. He merely introduced himself as the third son of the Emperor. In that position, he was of lower rank and it was acceptable for him to greet Yan Qianli first.

All of the pale-faced officials of the Ministry of War were slightly shocked to see this.

However, no one asked any questions. The person on the other side was Yan Qianli. He was definitely worthy of the Crown Prince showing some humility.

It continued to pour.

The rain pummeled the bodies of the Yan Cloud Cavalry but they did not move. They looked at Crown Prince Lin Tianrong solemnly.

No one spoke or moved.

At that moment, a flag was raised from within the ranks. It was a golden flag embroidered with six blood-red clouds.

There was a red “Yan” in the middle of the flag! It was just quite the domineering symbol.

This was a stark difference from the flag they had carried to the Northern Mountain Village when facing the Red Pinion Squad.

This was the real flag of the Yan Cloud Cavalry!

All the soldiers of the Yan Cloud Cavalry parted to the side when the flag appeared. They opened up a path through the middle.

The path was only wide enough for one man to pass through. Right now, there was only one man there.

This man’s stallion was the same as everyone else’s. Even his black cloak and armor were the same as the others.

He did not ride in a carriage or wear anything discernibly different. He too had a sword and a bow.

The black cloak covered most of his face.

Usually, people would not be able to see that this man was different from the other members of the Yan Cloud Cavalry. However, when they saw this man in the middle of the path, only one name came to their minds.

Yan Qianli!