Joy of Life

Inside the main hall of Hanguang Palace was a deathlike silence. Everyone’s eyes were open wide in terror, looking at the scene. Other than dripping of blood landing on the bed, there was not another sound.

Blood dripped from Fan Xian’s clothes and the sword. It followed the empress dowager’s ear and wet half of the old woman’s face before it gradually soaked into her clothes.

The sword shining with a cold light was set with unusual steadiness and coldness on the empress dowager’s neck.

Since the inception of the country, this was the first time an assassin was able to penetrate so deeply into the Royal Palace and place a blade against the empress dowager’s neck.

Including the eunuch aces, everyone was stunned and frozen. They watched with wide eyes as Fan Xian seized the empress dowager, unsure of what to do.

All of this had happened too quickly. From the alert coming from outside of the Palace to Fan Xian falling out of the heavens like a god and heading straight for the bed to control the empress dowager was no more than a few breaths worth of time.

To be able to react so quickly and decisively in such a short period of time, one had to admit that Fan Xian’s actions were truly courageous. The people watching this sight in shock, for some reason, felt a coldness from the bottom of their hearts. It was as if, at any time, Fan Xian would pull the long sword and kill the empress dowager.

Fan Xian’s expression was too calm and indifferent. It was as if it was a normal person under his sword and not the empress dowager, who would influence the state of the world.

“Send an order for the guards outside to stop attacking.”

The deathlike silence inside the hall made the sounds of killing outside the hall sound particularly loud. The Sixth Bureau swordsmen who had broken into the Palace were still battling the internal guards.

After Fan Xian had the empress dowager under his sword, he didn’t slow down at all. He slightly bent his right knee and carefully hid his body behind the empress dowager. The long sword flipped and rested on the empress dowager’s shoulder. Moving closer to the empress dowager’s bloodstained face, he spoke to her quietly.

His tone was calm but emanated a power that would not tolerate anyone speaking in rebuttal. Everyone felt it. If the empress dowager didn’t give the order for the guards outside and eunuchs inside the hall to stop attacking, Fan Xian might actually move the sword.

However, the empress dowager was, after all not a normal person. She was the empress dowager of Qing Kingdom. Back when she had been Cheng wangfei, she had experienced many years of political instability. Her state of mind was steady. She was not an ordinary elderly woman. She had also been empress and empress dowager for many years. Living deep in the Palace, she had a sense of dignity and a powerful confidence at heart.

The empress dowager turned her face and looked coldly at Fan Xian. Her white hair was a bit messy, but her brows were pulled together, emanating an inherent prestige. In a cold voice, she said, “Traitorous thing! You dare to threaten me?”

Her voice was like jade being smashed, startling everyone in the Palace.

Fan Xian’s heart jumped a little. He had not thought that in such a wretched and dangerous situation, the empress dowager would still be so tough. He understood in his heart that the empress dowager had to maintain her composure so that she could obtain more advantages in the following events.

The even more unexpected event came afterward. The was only a slap. The empress dowager had slapped Fan Xian across the face with the back of her hand.

A faint red palm print appeared on Fan Xian’s face. The empress dowager seemed to not be afraid of the cold edge lying across her neck. She gazed at Fan Xian with eyes filled with disdain and shamelessness. In a cold voice, she said, “You actually dare to kill me!”

Everyone in Hanguang Palace was dumbstruck. They had not thought the empress dowager would provoke him so tyrannically while she was under his sword. Was she not afraid that Fan Xian would actually kill her? Watching this scene, a few housemaids and serving girls fainted from fright.

The empress dowager continued to gaze coldly and bravely at Fan Xian.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at the empress dowager’s wrinkled-filled face without a word. He knew why this old woman was behaving so bravely. She knew that if Fan Xian wanted to control the Royal Palace, he could not kill her at this moment.

Furthermore, she was the empress dowager, after all. She was Fan Xian’s true grandmother by blood. She guessed that Fan Xian would not act in front of so many people. Even if she had thought wrong, she still had to maintain her composure. Only then did she have a chance of reversing everything.

…

…

Just as the empress dowager slapped Fan Xian with unusual vigor, a strange thing suddenly happened inside Hanguang Palace. The long silent Eunuch Hou, who had been at the side of the hall, suddenly floated up.

He floated up incredibly fast but didn’t charge toward Fan Xian and the empress dowager. Instead, he charged toward the large hole Fan Xian had made.

A strange light flashed through Fan Xian’s pupils, but he didn’t dare leave the empress dowager’s side. He could only watch as Eunuch Hou and a few other eunuch aces stopped a few people by the hole with a few slapping sounds.

Eunuch Hou’s palm was locked tightly around the Third Prince’s throat.

Yi Guipin was seized by a eunuch.

Lady Ning swung the black dagger but was also surrounded by a few eunuchs.

“Little Duke, don’t be so rash.” Eunuch Hou choked the Third Prince’s throat and spoke respectfully with his head down.

Fan Xian’s hand held the sword with unusual steadiness. Looking at Eunuch Hou, a strange light flashed through his eyes. It was only now that he knew that this second in command to Eunuch Yao had such a high cultivation.

Currently, Fan Xian controlled the empress dowager, but Eunuch Hou and the other eunuchs controlled three people that Fan Xian cared a great deal about. How could the situation develop?

Everyone was waiting for Fan Xian’s decision.

The empress dowager’s face was indifferent. The blood seeping into her clothes was icy cold and made her fingers tremble slightly.

Fan Xian lowered his head and looked at the empress dowager’s finger. He was silent for a long time and then took a deep breath. All of the eunuch aces became alert. They didn’t know what he would do next.

Fan Xian raised his face and furrowed his brows. Then, he raised his right hand and brought it viciously down on the empress dowager’s old face.

The crisp sound of a slap rang out. This sound was even louder than when the empress dowager had slapped Fan Xian. The empress dowager covered her face in disbelief. A trail of blood flowed from the corner of her lips. The old woman’s teeth had probably been knocked loose.

Everyone in the hall watched this sight wide-eyed and dumbstruck. It was like the slap had not only landed on the empress dowager’s face but also on their own faces and hearts.

Who had been slapped by Fan Xian? It was the empress dowager. the Emperor’s own mother, and Fan Xian’s own grandmother! Yet Fan Xian dared to slap her!

This was a humiliation that could never be removed. However, as Fan Xian had slapped the empress dowager, it proved that he had thrown caution to the wind. If I dare to slap you, I dare to kill you!

Fan Xian stared the empress dowager’s half swelling face and quietly said, “Release them and stop attacking. I don’t want to repeat myself a second time.”

The empress dowager’s entire body trembled in her anger. She also felt a chill that came from the depths of her heart. She knew that, in the end, she had underestimated this grandson that was not surnamed Li. She had underestimated his coldness and courage.

She felt the sword on her neck tighten a bit more. Perhaps it was only an instant or just a while before the empress dowager’s gaze finally became desolate. Opening her mouth, she said, “Do as he said.”

“The empress dowager will call it out herself. Louder,” Fan Xian said.

The empress dowager stared with rage at Fan Xian. Unwillingly, she called in her old voice to the outside of the hall, “Guards, listen to my command, everyone is to stop!”

For some reason, after the empress dowager gave the order, everyone seemed to let out a breath in the hall. Perhaps Fan Xian’s behavior made these people overly fearful that they would see the horrifying sight of a grandson killing their grandmother, an official killing the empress dowager.

Only Eunuch Hou, who was choking the Third Prince’s throat, furrowed his brows slightly, thinking about something.

“It looks like Eunuch Hou really wants you to die,” Fan Xian said to the empress dowager coldly.

The empress dowager glanced at Eunuch Hou. The four old eunuchs furrowed their brows and moved one step closer to Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou sighed and released his hand.

The Third Prince’s terror had not settled. The wound he had been given by the assassins earlier began to bleed again. He quickly supported his mother. Along with Lady Ning, the three of them ran in panic to stand behind Fan Xian.

Once the empress dowager’s orders went out, the sound of killing around Hanguang Palace immediately disappeared. It was clear that the swordsmen who followed Fan Xian into the Palace had received orders earlier to not take the opportunity to attack back if the guards didn’t act.

All of the great wooden doors in Hanguang Palace were pushed open at the same time. With a creak, the entire Palace became much more passable. The people inside the hall could clearly see the tense situation outside—guards with straight knives in hand surrounding Hanguang Palace, as well as countless bodies lying in the empty space outside the hall.

The early autumn breeze outside the hall also blew in, cold and heavy. However, it was not calming. The smell of fresh blood came into the hall with the wind and directly assaulted everyone’s nose.

Dozens of completely black-clothed Sixth Bureau swordsmen spread throughout the hall as quickly as possible and surrounded the eunuchs. A few of the powerful eunuchs from the internal court had no choice but to accept this sullen reality and be secured by the metal finger shackles the Overwatch Council had specially made.

The empress dowager was in Fan Xian’s hands. He had already proved that he would kill the empress dowager. In such circumstances, how could these internal court aces resist?

Even for someone like Eunuch Hou, who wanted to resist, he was constrained by the bigger picture and could not do anything excessive.

Fan Xian looked at his injury-ridden subordinates. His brows twitched once again. His gaze swept across. He knew that although the battle outside Hanguang Palace had been short, a dozen loyal subordinates had died.

It was impossible that no one would die when breaking into the Royal Palace. To only have to pay such a small price to temporarily control Hanguang Palace was already an impossible task.

The empress dowager was overcome by a powerful coughing fit. Holding her chest, her neck grazed across Fan Xian’s sword and left a bloody mark.

Looking at this scene, the eunuchs and serving girls loyal to the empress dowager wore an expression of fear on their faces. They wanted to go forward to help but didn’t dare move.

The empress dowager turned her head and stared at Fan Xian with a resentful and poisonous gaze. “You are just like your mother, ambitions of wild wolves! I want to see what you can do holed up in this Royal Palace.”

Even if Fan Xian had captured the empress dowager and controlled the Royal Palace, what would he do next? Everyone, including the black-clothed swordsmen, were all staring at him, waiting for his next order.

Fan Xian was waiting for news from the other three units and to hear about the action outside the Royal Palace. He knew that success was not completely his yet. If things went wrong, he and his people would fall at the last hurdle.

In the process of waiting, he didn’t sit around and do nothing. He looked coldly at the surrounded Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou’s heart trembled as he silently circulated his zhenqi.

Fan Xian nodded.

Eunuch Hou’s face drained of color. He flipped his sleeves and prepared to kill. Unexpectedly, he raised his eyes to see a dozen little crossbow bolts shining with black light heading straight toward him.

Since Fan Xian was worried that the 200 people he brought into the Palace would alert enemies outside of the Palace, a great deal of effort was put into the disguises. It was impossible for everyone to carry a crossbow. It was only dozens of people with him that carried 10 secret crossbows.

These secret crossbows were pointed directly Eunuch Hou.

Eunuch Hou gave a cry. His figure suddenly rose. He only rose three meters before he was turned into a hedgehog. Ten crossbow bolts pierced deeply into his body, endlessly sucking blood out of his body.

With a crash, Eunuch Hou fell to the ground, twitching. Filled with dissatisfaction, his eyes refused to close as he died.

Fan Xian watched the scene coldly. Although he didn’t know that Eunuch Hou was the Eldest Princess’ trusted aide, instinct and the earlier scene made him wary. That was why he had suddenly made things difficult and ordered his subordinates to shoot Eunuch Hou to death.

At such a critical time, Fan Xian was not afraid to kill. He would rather kill incorrectly than let one person slip through.

Eunuch Hou’s death sent the hall into a clamor. The initially calmed situation almost became chaotic again. The guards around the outside the Palace became nervous. They came a few steps closer toward Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian did not panic. He slowly removed the sword from the empress dowager’s neck and swept his gaze over the scene. Wherever his gaze landed, no one met his eyes. Everyone lowered their heads.

He sat down beside the empress dowager and lowered his head to circulate his qi to listen to the noises in other areas of the Royal Palace. He knew that the other three units must have also met very powerful resistance. Fortunately, his sudden entrance into Hanguang Palace had attracted the most eunuch aces and guards. Jing Ge and the other two units should have it much easier.

Hanguang Palace was completely still. Fan Xian and the empress dowager sat side by side on the bed. The grandmother and grandson were both stained with other people’s blood and had chilled their emotions. The grandmother and grandson sitting in such calmness did not fail to chill the heart of anyone watching.

The guards outside the Palace had not been disarmed. Fan Xian didn’t have enough extra people to carry out this urgent task. All of the black-clothed swordsmen had returned to the hall. He didn’t want to leave this situation to chance anymore. The problem of the guards would be resolved by the Great Prince once he had dealt with the problem of the Imperial Army in the Royal Palace.

He was only waiting. He trusted in the strength of his subordinates and the Black Knights.

Without waiting for too long, chaos suddenly broke out among the guards outside the Palace. It seemed that something startling had appeared behind the camp.

Fan Xian did not rise. He said to the empress dowager next to him, “Have them make a path.”

The empress dowager’s white hair fell over her cheek, which was stained with blood. The other half of her face that was not stained had already swelled from Fan Xian’s heavy slap. She appeared unusually wretched. Hearing Fan Xian’s words, she glanced outward with spiritless eyes and nodded.

The leader of the guards saw the situation in the hall, gritted his teeth, and opened up a path blockade.

A dozen black-clothed assassins with a disheveled concubine walked into Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian looked at the number of people and his heart thudded. He knew that this unit had lost more people. After seeing this concubine’s beautiful appearance and glimmer of distress, he couldn’t help but feel moved.

The newcomer was Lady Shu, the Second Prince’s birth mother. After the empress dowager had openly ordered for the Crown Prince to take the throne and the Second Prince had acknowledged his allegiance, the empress dowager had sent the Crown Prince, empress, Eldest Princess, and Lady Shu back to their own Palaces to live. She only kept Yi Guipin, her son, and Lady Ning in Hanguang Palace.

Fan Xian looked at Lady Shu with a warm smile. He patted the soft bed beside him. “Your Highness, please sit here.”

Ever since her youth, Lady Shu had loved to read and had a gentle personality. In the past, her relationship with Fan Xian in the Palace fairly good. They had not developed much animosity because of the Second Prince. She was also a silent person who was wise enough to look after herself. Fan Xian did not bear much ill will toward her. However, in his surprise attack on the Palace tonight, she was someone he had to control.

Lady Shu had been forcefully seized by assassins. She had originally thought her death was certain but had also guessed who dared to do such a treasonous thing. Seeing Fan Xian’s face at this time, an irresistible fear surged up in her heart. It made her unable to utter the angry curses she had thought of earlier.

She looked at the empress dowager’s wretched appearance and felt even more chilled. She could only follow his orders and sit next to him.

Capturing Lady Shu first was within Fan Xian’s expectations. The Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace’s defenses were second only to Hanguang Palace and were also important locations. His subordinates wouldn’t be able to succeed so quickly.

When he saw the silver-masked Jing Ge leading his subordinates in Hanguang Palace with a heavy expression, he felt his heart sink and knew that something had gone wrong.

Matters were indeed troublesome. Jing Ge lowered his head to Fan Xian’s ear and said a few words. The expression on Fan Xian’s face became heavier and heavier. It was as if there were thousand-pound weights between his brows making it difficult to relax them.

Another subordinate came to report. It was still bad news.

Fan Xian furrowed his brows and rubbed forcefully between his brows like he wanted to chase away those annoyances. A moment later, he sighed and said something quietly to the person on the bed.

“I wanted the whole family to get together. It looks like it can’t happen anymore.”

At this moment, the empress dowager and Lady Shu were on either side of him on the bed while Yi Guipin, Lady Ning, and the Third Prince sat behind him. Of the entire royal family, most of the people were on this bed. Fan Xian used the closest possible distance to control the lives of the two people beside him and protect the three behind him.

The so-called whole family was naturally the Emperor’s family. Now that the Emperor was gone, other than the six people on this bed, there was the Crown Prince and his mother as well as the Eldest Princess in Guangxin Palace in the Emperor’s family. Fan Xian unconsciously did not include that flower grower because he felt that King Jing was much cleaner than everyone else in this family.

The weighty stone between Fan Xian’s brows were the three members of the family that were not part of the current family gathering.

The message that Jing Ge and the other unit had brought was that the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace were empty of all people.

For some reason, the Eldest Princess and Crown Prince had known ahead of time. Just before Fan Xian and his subordinates broke into the Palace, they had taken advantage of the dark night and headed north in the direction of the Cold Palace. Jing Ge led over a hundred assassins after them but did not catch them.

Such a violent and wild surprise attack, yet they had not captured the most important people.

Fan Xian’s emotions were unusually heavy, but his face gradually became warm. Although this mission was not a complete victory, they had captured the empress dowager and Lady Shu. In this world, nothing was perfect. He knew that his luck wasn’t so good that he could use 200 people to change the course of history.

The empress dowager sitting next to him suddenly said in an aged voice, “I know what you want to do. However, my order has been sent down a long time ago.”

The words Jing Ge had said next to Fan Xian’s had completely been heard by the desolated empress dowager. A mocking light flashed through her eyes as she looked at Fan Xian. “Chengqian has already taken my order out of the Palace. Tomorrow, the army will enter the capital. Are you afraid now?”

“My daring grows by the day. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to make your face swell.” Fan Xian smiled slightly at the empress dowager, but the coldness in his tone made others shiver. The empress dowager’s pupils constricted slightly.

“You can write many edicts,” Fan Xian said gently to the empress dowager. “For example, the 13 city gate guards are still within your control. If you write another edict to close the city gates, how will the Qin family get in?”

“I trust you know that I sent someone to kill the trusted aide the Eldest Princess placed among the city guards.”

“I am helping you to thoroughly control the nine city doors.”

“Of course, my goal is to control you.”

These words were spat out from between Fan Xian’s thin lips. They were particularly gentle and scary. The empress dowager shook with anger and glared at him but could not say a single word.

“Although you are already very old, you are still afraid of death.” Fan Xian furrowed his brows as he looked at the empress dowager, as if looking at something that irritated him. “Therefore, you’ll eventually have to write this edict.”

The empress dowager coughed and turned to look at Lady Ning behind her. She turned her head again to stare in Fan Xian’s eyes. “Even if that bastard helps you, at most you’ll be able to control the Royal Palace. What are you going to do outside?”

Fan Xian stared back into her eyes and said, “I only brought 200 people into the Palace. It was not because I am confident. I left 1,700 people outside. What do you think I’m going to do outside the Palace?”

…

…

At this moment, in the space between the front palace and the rear palace, some distance away from Hanguang Palace, there suddenly exploded a loud cry and the sound of Palace doors exploding.

Fan Xian listened calmly and knew that the Great Prince’s Imperial Army had finally made their way in. His heart relaxed. He stood, giving orders to Jing Ge, “I am leaving Hanguang Palace to you. Regardless of who it is, if anyone makes any strange movements, kill them.”

Jing Ge accepted the order without objection. The silver mask on his face reflected a heart-chilling light. Everyone in the hall looked him and wondered at his identity to so obediently and calmly accept Fan Xian’s seemingly greatly treasonous order.

If it was a normal member of the Overwatch Council, they would probably feel some fear in their hearts.

They didn’t know that this Deputy Commander of the Black Knights had once picked on the eldest son of the Qin family in the military camp and had stayed for a long time in Qing Kingdom’s death prison, suffering innumerable torments. He was originally a greatly treasonous person, which was why Fan Xian gave him treasonous tasks.

Lady Ning suddenly lowered her head and said, “Lend me the dagger to use.”

Fan Xian glanced at her and smiled. He knew that Lady Ning was worried that when once things actually became chaotic, Jing Ge would not act against the empress dowager. While she was a prisoner of war in Dongyi, she and the child in her belly had almost been killed by the empress dowager. Yet, she had waited for this opportunity filled with bloodlust.

Fan Xian nodded at her and then walked out into the night outside Hanguang Palace. He was going to check on Guangxin Palace and the Eastern Palace. He still felt that there was some strange message shining through this matter.

With a clang, Fan Xian turned his hand and slipped the blood-covered sword into the sheath of his back. Walking down the stone steps of Hanguang Palace, the members of the Qinian unit that had come into the Palace with him followed three steps behind him and also went down the stairs.

Inside and outside the hall, everyone was looking at him. They had no idea where he was going at such a critical moment.

He took a few subordinates and walked calmly out of the hall. He walked past the chaos and internal guards that faced him with a weapon in hand without even a blink.

The guards did not move. They could only watch as he disappeared into the darkness outside Hanguang Palace. Although it was the empress dowager inside the hall, Fan Xian still walked calmly and bravely. It shocked the hearts of a lot of people.

Fan Xian did not purposely suppress the empress dowager’s honor. The words he said earlier were not untrue. When he and Yan Bingyun had made the plans in the boudoir of Sun Pin’er, a young lady from a family of the Jingdou government, they had already calculated how much power they could reach out to.

Despite the square building the internal court and military watched, the number of secret agents in the capital that the Overwatch Council could move, the spies hidden in various manors, and the First Bureau that Fan Xian controlled alone brought a total of 1,400 people.

Through the Jingdou government, the 500 Black Knights hidden outside Jingdou entered the capital with disguises. Thus, the number of people Fan Xian could call on reached 1,900 people. Furthermore, these 1,900 people all specialized in working in the dark. Although their martial power could not compare to that of the military, when it came to betrayals and conspiracy, it came easily and effectively.

Fan Xian only brought 200 people with him on his sudden entry into the Palace. It was not that he was arrogant. Rather, when it came to a surprise attack that relied on speed and abruptness, the number of people was never key. Furthermore, he had to leave most of his force outside the Palace. The remaining people were, at this moment, under Yan Bingyun’s orders and doing all kinds of work.

Jingdou was too big. There were too many things Fan Xian had to take care of. He could handle the outside of the Palace himself while inside the Palace he had to rely on thousands of Imperial Soldiers to control the situation. When such a cry came from the rear palace, he knew that the Great Prince already had control of the Imperial Army.

…

…

The actions of the Imperial Army were just as the Great Prince said to his trusted officer. The time of movement depended on Fan Xian’s progression into the Palace.

When Fan Xian’s brave subordinate stopped his steps as the guards surrounded him and fired the signal into the sky and the bright moon, the Imperial Army had begun to move.

The firework was so bright it lit up half of the Royal Palace in an instant. This kind of message arrow was not the kind the Jingdou Garrison, military, or Overwatch Council usually used, but it still gave a very clear signal.

The Great Prince stood beside the city guarding crossbow and watched the fireworks breaking through the night sky. The lines on his face abruptly became hard. He raised his right hand and brought it down in a chopping motion like a knife, chopping down on the night wind at the corner of the palace walls.

…

…

A knife came down on the two soldiers lying on the plank bed, chopping through their necks at the same time. With a splutter, fresh blood sprayed onto the walls, creating too large bloody flowers with unusual bloodiness.

The Imperial General carrying the knife and attacking in the night drew back his knife and cried out, “Kill!”

In the dark night, countless people swarmed into the streets beside the square in front of the Royal Palace. Quietly, they entered the large homes and began a bloody massacre.

A full 600 Imperial Soldiers, whose shifts had been switched, were still dreaming at this moment. Many of them died like this, while some were startled awake. They had absolutely no time to react before greeting the oncoming merciless knife or spear.

If it had been a different time and place, perhaps they would have fought the Hu people shoulder to shoulder, drank alcohol, rubbed the snow-bright edge of a knife, bravely charged into an enemy camp, block arrows for each other, or block knives for each other. Tonight was not like this. It was one side massacring the other, an unusually merciless massacre.

In very little time, the 2,000 soldiers loyal to the Great Prince had cleaned out a large swathe of the area in front of the Royal Palace. Countless bodies and fresh blood mixed together. It stank to high heaven.

The color on the faces of the Imperial Soldiers was not good. They were usually Western Expedition Troops. This was their first time killing their own people. But, they knew that these people were not their own. They didn’t allow themselves to feel any weakness for what they had to do.

They saw the Royal Seal the Commander had sent over and Emperor’s posthumous edict. Therefore, their hearts were filled with hot blood. They had faith.

We are the righteous side.

They were still alive, so who was to say otherwise?