#555 - The last morning court session of the Tianji year
Huailing City.
While Ning Yongnian was secretly deploying troops and making arrangements, waiting for Wei Changzhi's arrival, Xu Suisui and the others, who had set off a step earlier, were already in an inn in the north of the city.
“Miss, there's still no result for the fifth condition. I'm afraid the negotiations haven't been successful.”
In a room on the top floor, the innkeeper was bowing and scraping, reporting the latest situation of the peace talks to Xu Suisui.
“I estimate they'll continue talking tomorrow. Miss, don't worry, I'll keep people watching. If there's any disturbance, I'll let you know immediately.”
“Okay, thank you, Innkeeper.”
Nodding, Xu Suisui stood up and casually handed over a small piece of silver.
The innkeeper's face immediately lit up with a smile at the sight, and he bowed as he backed out of the room.
“Granny, please rest. I'll go out first.”
“If there's anything else you need me to do, Miss, just tell me.”
“Creak~”
The not-so-smooth wooden door made a sound. Watching the innkeeper leave happily, Xu Suisui shook her head helplessly.
Alas, the hundred thousand people in Huailing City don't know that they are only one step away from not seeing tomorrow's sun.
If they knew, I'm afraid this innkeeper wouldn't be so happy for just a few coins.
Silently walking back to the table and sitting down, the window behind her was not tightly closed, and a cold wind blew in.
Xu Suisui shivered, got up, and wanted to close the window.
When closing the window, she glanced outside and realized that the snow outside was getting heavier and heavier, with no sign of stopping.
Although it had been snowing for a whole day, judging from this momentum, it was estimated that it would have to continue for a while.
“Strange, I don't remember the book saying that Huailing would snow...”
Muttering in confusion, she slowly closed the window.
Xu Suisui sat uneasily on the edge of the bed, staring at the flickering candlelight without moving.
The result of the peace talks in Huailing is no different from what was written in the book—at least, that's how it seems now.
A total of five conditions were proposed, and Da Feng agreed to four. The last one was firmly rejected by Li Qi, which eventually led to the breakdown of negotiations.
And the situation in the capital should not change much.
The Wei family will support Ning Wenjun to ascend the throne, and will also reveal the shocking news of the “true murderer of Yuanzhou City”, thus putting Ning Yongnian in a very awkward situation.
From a “legal” point of view, Ning Wenjun has already successfully usurped the throne and become the new emperor of Da Ning.
From the perspective of “popular sentiment,” the title of “murderous ruler” has been confirmed, and the various states are wavering.
In terms of “strength,” in addition to the 400,000 troops left in Da Feng, it is difficult to mobilize a single soldier from the country.
Ning Yongnian has fallen into this situation just by leaving the capital to negotiate... It has to be said that Wei Changzhi's plan was very bold and indeed had a very good effect.
As for the subsequent development of the incident...
That is the part that Xu Suisui wants to change.
However, now everything seems to have deviated.
Turning her head and glanced at the fluttering snowflakes outside the window, Xu Suisui didn't know if she was overthinking it.
But she always felt that this heavy snow, which should not have fallen, seemed to be foreshadowing something.
The next morning, the Great Ning Imperial Palace.
From the fierce battle for the city walls to the fighting throughout the Imperial Palace.
Although the Suspended Mirror Division had broken through Zhengyang Gate at midnight and entered the Imperial Palace, the entire battle was not completely over until the end of Yin time (3:00-5:00 AM).
With the fall of the last stubbornly resisting red-armored soldier, the entire 50,000 Imperial Guards were completely wiped out.
More than 20,000 people were killed in battle, more than 10,000 were injured or disabled, and more than 10,000 surrendered.
The Suspended Mirror Division, the Capital Garrison Command, and the City Garrison Army also paid the price of nearly 30,000 casualties.
In this light, the number of casualties on both sides is actually about the same.
But it should be known that the Wei family had taken full advantage of the situation in this battle.
Not only was the attack very sudden, hardly giving the Imperial Guards time to deploy defenses, but they also had a complete advantage in terms of "high-end combat power."
Under normal circumstances, the configuration of the Imperial Guard's generals is one chief general plus five deputy generals.
The Wei family, on the other hand, had two second-rank experts, Han Zhao and Wei Zhaohai, plus more than ten third-rank experts.
But even so, the two sides still fought to a "evenly matched" result. It can only be said that the combat power of the Imperial Guard is worthy of being the best in Da Ning.
Of course, no matter how awesome this former Imperial Red Armor Army was, it no longer exists.
What remains are only the tragically dead bodies.
“Carefully check every corpse to see if there are any survivors!”
“Move all the checked ones onto the carts and take them away!”
“Send our people to the Yizhuang! Send the Imperial Guards to the mass burial ground!”
“Hurry up!”
“No one is allowed to pocket spoils of war privately! Anyone found will be dealt with according to military law!”
“Hurry! First, clear the area around the Hall of Supreme Harmony!!”
“...”
Various shouts echoed in the morning mist, mixed with the nauseating stench of blood, enveloping the entire Imperial Palace in fear.
More than 50,000 corpses will undoubtedly take a long time to deal with, and it cannot be completed in just one morning.
But even though the entire Imperial Palace is currently filled with severed limbs and blood, the Hall of Supreme Harmony still opened its doors as soon as Mao time (5:00-7:00 AM) arrived.
The opening of the Hall of Supreme Harmony means that the morning court session will continue as usual today.
“Minister of Rites, Lord Gong has arrived!”
“Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Lord Ran has arrived!”
“Minister of the Court of Judicature, Lord Li has arrived!”
“Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Lord Yu has arrived!”
“Chief Steward of the Internal Affairs Office, Lord Tang has arrived!”
“...”
A new face eunuch stood on one side of the long stone steps carved with cloud dragons, shouting in a sharp voice every time he saw someone walking up the steps.
The court officials whose names were called mostly lowered their heads and remained silent, walking even more slowly, as if their legs and heads were filled with lead and were extremely heavy.
Without a doubt, they certainly knew that today's “morning court session” was Wei Xianzhis' doing.
However, no matter how frightened they were or how unwilling they were, they still had to show up on time.
Of course, many of them already know what will happen later.
But a considerable number of people are completely unaware of this...
The rising sun shines on the vermilion buildings, and the east wind startles the mortal world.
The rosy clouds pierce the mist, plating the city walls and houses in the capital with a layer of golden red color.
It's just that this scene, which was originally beautiful and splendid like a treasure, now seems a bit desolate.
It seems that in the entire capital, only the Imperial Palace still has a trace of vitality.
“Ah!”
On the one hundred and second step of the cloud dragon relief, a man in a vermilion official robe with a white pheasant embroidered on his chest suddenly exclaimed.
This man's name is Ruan Tianfu, and he is a fifth-rank official, serving as a member of the Ministry of Public Works.
This kind of official position can barely squeeze into the court, but he can only stand in the last row during the court session.
The reason why he exclaimed just now was because he happened to see a severed hand hanging on the stone railing next to him.
Only two of the five fingers of this severed hand remained, and the whereabouts of the other three fingers were unknown. The white bones and flesh were clearly visible at the break.
Ruan Tianfu was startled just now because he accidentally passed by this hand.
“...”
Gently stroking his chest, he calmed his breathing.
Ruan Tianfu quietly raised his eyes and looked around. He found that none of the colleagues nearby had noticed his embarrassment, so he breathed a sigh of relief and continued towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony not far away.
However, after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, hesitatingly turning back to look.
At this time, another court official happened to walk next to the severed hand.
“This lord...”
Opening his mouth, Ruan Tianfu seemed to want to remind this person not to be frightened by the bloody palm like himself.
But the person didn't look up at all, or rather, didn't hear Ruan Tianfu's words at all, and just walked past with his head down.
Ruan Tianfu was stunned for a moment before he realized that he was being too sentimental.
He can't even protect himself right now, so how can he care about others.
