The Child Emperor-Chapter 267: Massacre

Shang-guan Sheng sat alone in the Hall of Diligent Administration, feeling deeply lonely. He tried to elevate this loneliness into something more noble, like the solitude of an emperor, but found himself unable to do so. He could not rid himself of that small trace of fear – that impurity that reduced his loneliness to something mundane.

Therefore, when soldiers brought in the young Emperor Ying, he felt genuinely happy and immediately stood up from his chair.

Emperor Ying rubbed his eyes and yawned as he sat on the throne, saying listlessly, “Why wake me up so early?” freeweɓnøvel.com

“Because someone wants to usurp Your Majesty’s throne,” Shang-guan Sheng said gravely.

Emperor Ying yawned again and made a noncommittal sound. His indifferent attitude angered Shang-guan Sheng, who asked, “Does Your Majesty not care about the throne?”

Emperor Ying startled, not from concern about the throne, but from fear of Shangguan Sheng’s fierce expression. His eyes reddened, tears welled up, and his lips quivered as he was about to burst into loud sobs.

Shang-guan Sheng quickly knelt down, “Fear not, Your Majesty. As long as I am here, you will always be Emperor of Great Chu.”

“Good… ah,” Emperor Ying held back his tears. “You are a loyal minister… can Prince Donghai and the Weary Marquis enter the palace?”

“Those two are the ones trying to usurp the throne.” Shang-guan Sheng had mentioned this before, but Emperor Ying never took it seriously, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Even now, Emperor Ying remained unconcerned. With tears still wet on his face, he smiled, “Those two? They’re probably just playing around.”

Shang-guan Sheng stood up and walked to the steps below the throne, softening his tone: “Would Your Majesty like to go play somewhere else?”

“Yes!” Emperor Ying jumped up, suddenly wide awake. “The palace is so boring. Let’s go demand grain from whoever has the most.” In his memory, the most fun he’d had was following a group to “demand grain” from the Champion Marquis’s house.

“The Princedom of Donghai.”

“Princedom of Donghai? Is that Prince Donghai’s princedom?” Emperor Ying immediately made the connection.

“Yes, let’s go to Prince Donghai’s homeland and seize his grain and land. We’ll give him a surprise when he arrives.”

Emperor Ying cheered, “Let’s go, right now!”

“By your command.” Shang-guan Sheng needed this verbal “decree.”

From that moment on, he never let Emperor Ying leave his side.

Next, Shang-guan Sheng called in more than ten important commanders under his command. These were all people he had personally promoted and recruited after taking office, and they should have been loyal to him. “How is the battle outside the city going?”

“It’s still ongoing. Grand Tutor Cui’s Southern Army is determined to eliminate the Weary Marquis and is using full force. We estimate that after dawn, we’ll be able to completely defeat the Weary Marquis.”

“Dawn is approaching,” Shangguan Sheng muttered, then suddenly asked, “Do you like the Capital?”

The commanders were bewildered, none daring to answer this question.

“Even now, no officials have come forward to support the new emperor,” Shang-guan Sheng said coldly.

One commander spoke up: “Once the fighting ends and the new emperor formally ascends the throne, officials will rush to kneel before him.”

“Heh…” Shangguan Sheng sneered, “When this battle ends, there will be another, and yet another after that. The Weary Marquis is finished, but the Northern Army is on its way. Which side do you think they’ll support when they reach the Capital?”

“Of course they’ll support… the current emperor.”

Shangguan Sheng laughed loudly, hearing the lie and the tension and lack of confidence within it. “The Northern Army will support the Southern Army. Though the two armies compete, they both dislike the Palace Guards. The conflict goes back a long way… His Majesty has just decreed that we will tour the Princedom of Donghai. Prepare immediately. As soon as the battle outside the city ends, we’ll escort His Majesty out.”

The commanders looked at each other uncertainly. Shang-guan Sheng barked, “Any questions?”

None dared to object. These men came from all over the country, most not being natives of the capital, and had no objections to “touring” the Princedom of Donghai. They just found the timing strange. When Shang-guan Sheng showed anger, they immediately yielded, expressing agreement and discussing departure plans before the General and the “Emperor.”

A military officer rushed in, “General Shang-guan, the palace people… have rebelled.”

“What? Who dares to rebel?” Shang-guan Sheng gripped his sword hilt – he was the only one permitted to carry weapons in the Hall of Diligent Administration.

“The eunuchs and palace maids opened the northern palace gate…”

“The eunuchs and maids? Weren’t they all arrested?”

“Some were arrested, but when we continued making arrests, they… they rebelled.”

Shang-guan Sheng flew into a rage, then suddenly thought of something. “How could mere servants open the north gate? Where were the guard soldiers?”

The officer replied nervously, “Someone stole the keys and opened the north gate. And… and it seems the gate guards deliberately let the eunuchs and palace maids escape…”

Shang-guan Sheng slammed the table hard, startling everyone including the young Emperor. “I knew these people couldn’t be trusted.”

Though the palace guard had undergone major expansion and personnel changes, some old guards remained, mainly responsible for guarding the palace gates.

A second messenger arrived, even more panicked. “People from outside are attacking through the north gate…”

Shang-guan Sheng, enraged and humiliated, shouted at his commanders, “What are you waiting for? They’re just a mob – stop them, kill them!”

“But the eunuchs and palace maids…”

“Kill them! Kill them all, leave none alive – they’ve long harbored treacherous thoughts. And execute all the gate guards too!”

Shang-guan Sheng, unable to contain his fury, gestured for an officer to carry the Young King as he led the way out. “Gather your soldiers – only those who can be trusted.”

There were still nearly ten thousand palace guards, with recent recruits making up 70-80%. The commanders immediately carried out orders as more and more followers gathered behind Shang-guan Sheng.

He headed deeper into the palace, ordering the death of every eunuch and palace maid they encountered, regardless of whether they kowtowed or fled. Soon his soldiers didn’t even wait for orders – they killed on sight.

Shang-guan Sheng needed a bloodbath. He believed the more people killed in the palace, the more loyal his soldiers would become.

At the Empress Dowager’s quarters, he ordered his soldiers to stop the killing, though it continued unrestricted elsewhere, especially near the north gate.

The Empress Dowager refused to see her nephew, with over ten terrified eunuchs guarding her door.

Shang-guan Sheng called through the door, “The palace is no longer safe. His Majesty has decided to tour the Princedom of Donghai. Please prepare to leave immediately.”

After a while, a voice from inside replied, “I will not leave the palace. You may go.”

“Your Highness, we will return eventually.”

“My decision is final,” the Empress Dowager’s voice was cold.

Shang-guan Sheng’s anger surged again. The eunuchs facing him must have sensed it, as they all knelt simultaneously.

“Your Highness, you once said the Great Chu needs a fresh start. The Princedom of Donghai is where we can begin anew – it’s the homeland of our Shang-guan clan.”

“You shouldn’t have taken my words literally.”

“Your Highness…”

“If you consider me the Empress Dowager, no more words are needed. If you don’t, why speak at all?”

Shang-guan Sheng felt angry and humiliated, but instead of lashing out, he slowly knelt, kowtowed once, then rose and walked away.

Outside the quarters, large numbers of soldiers stood in formation. The Young Emperor was terrified, burying his face in his carrier’s shoulder.

Shang-guan Sheng announced loudly, “The Empress Dowager wishes to stay and serve the late emperor, but there are too many demons in the palace. Before we leave, we must eliminate them all!”

Until then, the palace guards had only killed those they encountered, and though blood-crazed, the actual death toll wasn’t very high. After Shang-guan Sheng’s order, they began breaking down doors and slaughtering palace residents.

Shang-guan Sheng arrived at a courtyard near the Empress Dowager’s quarters. “The mother and wife of Prince Donghai, the wife of the Weary Marquis, and the son of the Champion Marquis all live here. They are the leaders of the palace demons – execute them all.”

The obedient soldiers hesitated to carry out the order. Shang-guan Sheng was briefly stunned, then realized they were afraid to act. Once the palace guards left the Capital, either Prince Donghai or the Weary Marquis would become emperor, and killing their families would bring serious trouble.

Shang-guan Sheng stepped forward himself. The courtyard gate was tightly shut. He knocked twice, and a trembling voice from inside said, “Unless the Empress Dowager comes, this gate will not open.”

Shang-guan Sheng snorted, drew his sword, turned to face a commander, and said coldly, “Set it on fire.”

After a brief hesitation, the commander nodded and ordered his men to gather firewood or cut down nearby trees.

The wood was quickly collected. Some was piled at the gate and lit, while the rest was distributed among dozens of commanders as torches.

Shang-guan Sheng acted first, hurling his torch into the courtyard with all his might, then supervised the others as they threw their torches one by one.

As the fire grew, screams erupted from within the courtyard.

Shang-guan Sheng didn’t wait to see the final outcome. Time was short. He led his troops toward the North Gate, continuing to kill anyone they encountered. They detoured to the Founding Emperor’s wardrobe chamber to kill Yang Feng, but the eunuch who had been tied to the pillar was gone.

The mob that had attacked the North Gate had been scattered, leaving behind corpses. The survivors had either fled the palace or hidden elsewhere.

Palace Guard soldiers had horses ready outside the North Gate. Shang-guan Sheng mounted and looked toward the city wall. With the gate open, he could hear fighting outside.

He decided to wait a while longer, planning to leave through the East Gate once the palace guards returned victorious.

Shang-guan Sheng looked west and suddenly regretted allying with Grand Tutor Cui. If he had planned his escape earlier, he should have lured the Weary Marquis into the capital to fight against Prince Donghai.

“Lin Kunshan!”

The fate seer was pushed forward by soldiers and came before Shang-guan Sheng’s horse, smiling.

“You deceived me.”

“This humble one wouldn’t dare, nor do I have such ability.”

“You advised me to go east to Donghai, so why did you earlier suggest I ally with Grand Tutor Cui to eliminate the Weary Marquis? Wouldn’t letting them fight each other have been more advantageous for me?”

With nowhere to turn, Lin Kunshan could only say firmly, “The Weary Marquis is crafty. He might not be eliminated this time, but his power will be weakened, making him more evenly matched with Grand Tutor Cui. This way, their future battles will be fiercer, which benefits General Shang-guan even more.”

Shang-guan Sheng stared at the fate seer. “If the Weary Marquis dies, you die too.”

“General Shang-guan’s eastward journey requires capable people. Though I am incompetent, I can… I can… recruit pugilists from across the land…”

As Lin Kunshan desperately searched for words, news arrived that would save his life.

A soldier rode up, shouting from afar, “The Northern Army is coming! The Northern Army is coming! The Weary Marquis is charging toward the North Gate!”

Lin Kunshan sighed in relief. Expressionless, Shang-guan Sheng ordered the commanders beside him, “Move out. Bring him along.”

Only a few thousand remained of the tens of thousands of palace guards. Shang-guan Sheng had no time to gather more troops, nor could he stay to kill more people in the city as he had wished.

As Shang-guan Sheng galloped out the East Gate, Han Ruzi was just leading his troops into the city. Soon after, he would witness the horrific scene in the palace.

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