346 Rebellion at the Palace (2/2)

The crowd who had come to see the princess poured out of the palace, scattering in every direction. Many of them noticed the frightening imperial guards and believed that something bad was going to happen, thus they began running even faster.

One of the King's personal guards appeared at the entrance of the palace and announced the imperial decree loudly, ”His Majesty has decreed for his son-in-law to enter the palace to have an audience with him. He also summons the newly appointed imperial guards to enter the palace and report to His Majesty.”

The ten guards at the gate were shocked. Since the current king was coronated, it was the first time they heard him issue a decree; previously, it was always the Prime Minister who was in charge of matters both within and outside of the royal palace.

One of the guards boldly asked, ”Where is the imperial edict? Where is the seal?”

The imperial guard replied sternly, ”It's His Majesty's order, do you dare to not respect it? ”

Dozens of unidentified guards drew their sabers at the same time and the matter was settled.

Gu Shenwei had just come out of the palace and nodded to the imperial guard. He was then led by the guard and escorted by He Sancai and the others who were pretending to be imperial guards into the palace.

Along the way, they only encountered some small resistance. After the death of two guards, the other guards discarded their weapons and no one else came to stop them. The eunuchs and court maids bowed their heads to make way for the Dragon King and his entourage, daring not to make a sound.

They knew that another coup was about to occur. As usual, no one wanted to declare their position before knowing who the final victor would be.

The king was anxiously waiting for the arrival of Gu Shenwei. There was only a court maid assigned by the Dragon King to protect him and he was feeling very uneasy around this female guard named Guan Shang.

Upon seeing Dragon King lead a group of fearsome guards in, the king finally managed to allay his worries.

”Is everything alright?”

”His Majesty will see the results very quickly.”

Soon, Dragon King's words were proven to be true.

Prime Minister Yang Dou was the first person to be brought in by Maid Lotus. He was powerless like a baby and could not put up any resistance. Seeing the King, he began to regain some confidence. ”Your Majesty, everything is messed up. This, this...what is all this? Princess...Dragon King...”, he said.

”Yang Dou, do you know your crime?” the King had spoken these words thousands of times in his dreams, but he still felt very emotional now that he had the opportunity to say them in real life; he had been waiting for this moment for too long.

”No, I don't know what I am guilty of,” Yang Dou replied, his face turning red. He felt that was the real master of Stone Kingdom and that this king who was already on the decline was just his puppet.

”Collaborating with the enemy and forcing the king to abdicate - Yang Dou, what you have committed is a disgraceful crime worthy of having all your descendants slain,” the King replied as he stood on the steps. After every word he uttered, he felt increasingly refreshed. His perennial problem was apparently solved completely.

Yang Dou was speechless and suddenly turned to Dragon King, ”It's all your fault, it's your plot! Your Majesty, don't believe him. He...he wants to kill the Ju royal family!”

Dragon King snorted softly and a dozen bandits disguised as imperial guards pulled out their shining short swords again. The courtyard was immediately filled with a cold and austere air.

The King's heart trembled slightly, but he soon regained his calm, ”Save your effort in trying to sow discord, Yang Dou, blame yourself for pushing me to a dead end and leaving me without any choice.”

Facing the threat of the weapons, Yang Dou knelt down slowly. He did not understand how Dragon King contacted the king.

More and more people admitted that Dragon King would be the winner of the coup at the palace and began pledging their loyalty to the king and a few eunuchs brought the imperial seal over. It was a symbol of power that even the king had not touched personally since he began his reign.

Most of the imperial guards pleaded guilty and surrendered to the king, while a dozen others fled away. They were all machetemen sent by Golden Roc Fort, who, when they heard of Dragon King, stood on the king's side and immediately left the city as fast as possible to look for the Ninth Young Master for protection.

Aside from Madam Yang, many important officials also arrived. Many wept bitterly, as it was the first time they had seen the king of their own nation.

Gu Shenwei and the bandits placed by Maid Lotus inside and outside the city attacked simultaneously, capturing almost all of the Yang family in one go and escorting them to the royal palace.

When Yang Dou saw that even the youngest of his grandson had been arrested, he completely collapsed and implored the King for mercy.

Seeing that the more or less everything was under control, the king was now able to manage the situation himself. Gu Shenwei released half of the people and took the other half with him. He gave the people from Golden Roc Fort an opportunity to leave Stone Kingdom, but he would be unafraid to fight if they chose not to surrender.

Residents in the city remained calm and every family kept its door shut. The king's herald held the king's flag up high as he publicly declared the crimes of Madam Yang and that martial law was in effect.

The courier station outside the city was another story. The special envoy from Norland and Shangguan Fei hid in a nearby camp belonging to Golden Roc Fort, while all the princes and their attendants retreated to another camp, signifying their neutral stance. There were only more than twenty swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain who remained in the courier station, with Lin Xiaoshan as their leader. They were prepared for any possible incident.

The group from Golden Roc Fort did not flee nor launch any attack. Everything seemed to be happening as per normal for them.

Gu Shenwei observed Golden Roc Fort camp for a while before ordering Li Xiaoshan to enter the city. At the same time, he arranged for some people to send an invitation to the other neutral nations.

Most of the princes and tribal chief's sons wanted to enter the city as they were concerned about their gold which was currently kept in the imperial palace. As long as it was possible, they were hoping to retrieve the gold they had presented during the competition of wealth a few days ago.

It was not until evening when Gu Shenwei recalled the attack on the princess. It was exactly during this time when Guan Shang sent the assassin over to him.

”If it was not for Sister Xu, I would have killed her,” said Tie Linglong indignantly; she had lost her weapons. Xu Yanwei prevented her from killing the Princess and Guan Shang captured her alive. It was that the assassination, which had been planned for many days, failed.