tallest building

Chapter 388 The tide has turned

It got completely dark.

But thousands of torches still kept the place as bright as day.

Beneath the flickering flames, corpses littered the ground, and the stench of blood was so thick it was almost unbearable.

The coffin lid, made of fine Phoebe zhennan wood, was opened, and Grand Tutor Dong's corpse was dragged out and chopped into several pieces by the King of Chu.

This pivotal figure of the Great Zhou Dynasty was mutilated after his death, something he could never have imagined.

The King of Chu was also exhausted. He was too badly injured. Driven by the rage in his heart, he killed Ying Tong and the Queen Consort of Zhao, and then mutilated Dong Shou's corpse.

Having vented his anger, he was like a torch about to burn out, with only a faint glow remaining.

At this moment, he was being supported by someone and looked at Ying Wuchou.

"Your Highness, is there anything else you wish to say?" Ying Wuchou squatted down and asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"After I'm gone, please take good care of my widow and her young son. Bury me and Shan'er together; he's so young, he'll be scared." King Chu gasped for breath, like a candle flickering in the wind. Tears welled up in his eyes again when he mentioned his youngest son. "I know you are a man of integrity and sincerity; you will always keep your promise to me. I will be grateful to you even in the afterlife."

"Your Highness, rest assured. I will do as you instructed, and I will also speak up for you before His Majesty," Ying Wuchou said, bowing deeply.

“Your Majesty actually knows everything,” King Chu said, catching his breath a few more times. “The Dong family has been tyrannical for so many years; they should have been wiped out long ago.”

After giving his final instructions, the King of Chu passed away suddenly.

His personal guards wailed incessantly, their cries reaching the heavens.

Just then, King Qisi of the Fenye Kingdom arrived with his men.

Seeing the situation before them, they knew what had happened without even asking any questions.

Ying Wuchou and he exchanged a glance, both understanding each other perfectly.

When Qisihe left the capital to return to the grasslands, Princess Duanmin had already told him to keep a close eye on the King of Zhao to prevent him from plotting anything.

Once he leads a large army into the capital, it will show that he has harbored rebellious intentions.

The shift from peaceful coexistence to irreconcilable conflict between the King of Zhao and the King of Chu was orchestrated by Princess Duanmin and Wen Mingqian, among others.

To completely eradicate the Dong family's power and rid the emperor of the infamy of killing meritorious officials, they must be made to commit unforgivable crimes.

The King of Zhao will definitely force the king to abdicate, and the King of Chu will definitely try to stop him.

With the snipe and the clam fighting like this, the survivor can become the fisherman.

So the King of the Fields has been pretending to be sick these past few days, falling behind, and waiting until everything has settled down before coming forward to clean up the mess.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?" Ying Wuchou's deputy general came over and asked.

"Take away the weapons of all the remaining men of the King of Zhao and the King of Chu and put them under guard to prevent another uprising," Ying Wuchou said.

These people number over 20,000, so they cannot be treated carelessly.

Meanwhile, the people in the capital's main camp also received the news and rushed over on horseback to scout.

Ying Wuchou then ordered someone to go to the capital with them to report, and that he would enter the city after he had finished cleaning up the mess here.

"Your Highness, what should we do with Grand Tutor Dong's body?" Dong Shou's body had been hacked to pieces and scattered on the snow. The soldiers did not know what to do with it.

Ying Wuchou looked at the dismembered corpse and sneered, saying, "Of course we should throw it into the pile of corpses. Why bother polluting this precious coffin?"

Meanwhile, the people in the capital were filled with anxiety. Some people who had returned from outside said that there was a possible mutiny in the capital region.

Later, some people said that the mutinous troops might be about to storm the city. It wasn't until nightfall that they said it was a mutiny by the King of Zhao, but it had already been suppressed.

Dong Sicheng and his wife, Wang, were both ill and unable to leave the city to attend the funeral.

Hearing the news around the house made me feel uneasy.

At first, they held onto a sliver of hope, but when they saw that the funeral procession was not returning to the city, they sent their family members out of the city on fast horses to find out what was going on.

The steward returned hurriedly after more than an hour: "The road to Xuling was filled with the sounds of battle, and we dared not approach it."

"Useless!" Dong Sicheng cursed. "I'd rather raise a dog than keep you all."

The butler lowered his head and endured the scolding meekly; after all, saving his life was the most important thing.

"Logically speaking, the King of Zhao should be arriving in the capital soon. Could it be them?" Dong Sicheng pondered to himself but didn't say it aloud.

"Master! Madam!" An old servant staggered in, crying. "Zhang Shun has delivered a message."

"Zhang Shun?! Isn't he serving the young master?" Madam Wang exclaimed in surprise. "Has the young master returned as well?"

The villagers shook their heads, weeping, saying, "Zhang Shun came back to deliver the news of the death."

Upon hearing this, Wang didn't have time to ask any more questions before her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Fortunately, she was caught by someone.

Dong Sicheng, his eyes red, shouted, "Why aren't you letting him in?!"

Zhang Shun burst in, weeping. He knelt down as soon as he entered, dressed in white mourning clothes, his hands and face covered in chilblains. "Master," he cried, "I lost three horses on the way back. The young master has been killed by the Prince of Chu! The Prince of Chu has gone mad. He's brought a large army into the capital. I don't know what he's up to."

"The King of Chu killed my son?!" Dong Sicheng gritted his teeth. "He's plotting a rebellion!"

"Master, there should be the King of Chu's army in Xuling's area. The flag we saw from afar looks somewhat similar," the steward said hurriedly.

"So it's the King of Zhao and the King of Chu?" Dong Sicheng frowned, looking very worried. "Why aren't troops being sent from other places to suppress them?"

Having served as prime minister, he knew that there were many armies capable of protecting the capital region.

Why is it that the imperial court hasn't sent troops to suppress the fighting on Xu Ling's side even though they've been fighting for so long?

Thinking of this, he couldn't even care less about his son's death: "King Zhao has probably been tricked!"

Soon, news of the Zhao king's defeat and death, along with the Chu king's demise, spread throughout the capital.

People were talking about how the King of Zhao was planning to send a large army to the border and force the emperor to make his son the crown prince.

Meanwhile, the King of Chu and the King of Changliu, among others, came to the king's aid and protected him, thus ensuring the peace of the capital.

In particular, the King of Chu sacrificed himself for his country and died in battle at Xuling.

The next morning at court, Ying Wuchou and the Prince of Fenye reported to the emperor about what had happened the previous day.

They also presented evidence of the King of Zhao's alleged plot to rebel.

The most compelling witness is the King of the Fields.

"During the past few months on the grasslands, King Zhao has been restless, recruiting soldiers and horses everywhere. He has been in close correspondence with Dong Shou and others, spying on what is happening in the palace. He even plotted to force the emperor to abdicate, but under the pretext of escorting me, he led an army of 50,000 into the capital."

After learning of his wolfish ambitions, I wrote to both His Majesty and the Prince of Changliu, urging them to take precautions.

King Fenye was of one mind with Princess Duanmin; whoever Princess Duanmin favored, he would favor.

After the first two rounds of purges, there are very few of the Dong family's confidants left in the court. Coupled with the current situation, even those who were originally part of the Dong faction are now silent and trembling, and no one dares to speak out.

Everyone knows that the tide has turned and it's too late to turn back.