Minister Wang watched Ning Fei and Xie Yu walk out of the room. Then, he looked at Luo Wei, who was flipping the imperial sword in his hand. He decided to ignore Ning Fei’s earlier statement about killing whoever Luo Wei wanted. He couldn’t expect a general who had just come down from the battlefield to speak without any hint of hostility.
“To kill whoever I want?” Luo Wei said to Minister Wang. “Actually, there are many people I want to kill.”
Minister Wang decided to treat Luo Wei’s words as a joke; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to sit still in this study.
At this time, Eleven returned from Yannian Palace with news. He stood in front of Luo Wei and said, “Your Highness, the Empress has also gone to Yannian Palace.”
“How is the Empress Dowager?” Luo Wei asked.
“This subordinate couldn’t get in,” Eleven said. “There was no sound coming from Yannian Palace.”
“How many guards do we have?” Luo Wei asked at this moment.
“We don’t have many, just over three hundred,” Eleven said.
“Are they all here in Yi Jin Garden?” Luo Wei didn’t know that he had over three hundred guards here.
“No,” Eleven shook his head. “There are only about fifty here.”
Besides Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen also entered the room. Fourteen was excited and said as soon as he entered, “Your Highness, are we going somewhere to kill?”
“With just over fifty people, can we storm Yannian Palace?” Luo Wei asked the four of them. “Isn’t the number a bit too small?”
“The noblewomen in the harem can’t be escorted by guards. At most, there are only a few strong eunuchs. With over fifty guards, I think it’s enough. What do you think?” Eleven asked Twelve and Thirteen.
Twelve and Thirteen nodded together, and Fourteen said to Luo Wei, “The four of us can go together. We don’t even need to bring the fifty guards.”
Eleven said to Luo Wei, “Your Highness, it’s just that we are all men after all. Is it alright for us to bring guards in and kill our way over like this?”
“This is an emergency,” Luo Wei didn’t care about the reputation of the harem. This was Long Xuan’s harem, not his. “Then you can bring forty guards with you. Kill those strong eunuchs in Yannian Palace if you can.”
Minister Wang then said, “What about the Empress Dowager Duanmu, the two Empresses Dowager, and the Empress? How do you intend to treat them, Your Highness?”
“Escort Empress Dowager Luo to Yi Jin Garden. As for the other three, let them stay in Yannian Palace for now. I don’t have time to deal with them right now,” Luo Wei said with a look of disgust on his face as he mentioned the three ladies from the harem.
“Shall we go then?” Eleven asked Luo Wei again.
“Go ahead.”
Fourteen asked, “Can we really kill people?”
“It’s just a few eunuchs. If they resist, just kill them,” Luo Wei said. “Even if it’s palace maids, if they resist, kill them too.”
“Your Highness!” Minister Wang exclaimed anxiously. “But what if someone wants to harm Empress Dowager Luo?” If Luo Wei kept killing everyone on sight, what would he do if those three Empresses wanted to kill Luo Zhiyi?
“After you go in, don’t rush into killing people. Save my aunt first,” Luo Wei said to Eleven and the others. “Is that difficult for you?”
“It’s not difficult,” Eleven said. At this moment, he realized that it was actually a good thing not to allow men to enter the harem. It was something he hadn’t thought of before. If they want to kill people in the harem, no one could be their opponent.
“Then go quickly,” Luo Wei waved his hand.
Eleven and the other three left to gather their men and headed towards Yannian Palace.
In the study, only Minister Wang and Luo Wei remained. Minister Wang asked Luo Wei, “Your Highness, what should I do?”
“No need to be so formal with me, Uncle Wang,” Luo Wei said, walking over to the map of Northern Yan laid out on the ground. He said to Minister Wang, “The emperor needs reinforcements. Uncle Wang, what do you think we should do?”
Minister Wang walked over and stood next to Luo Wei, saying, “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“This is Huanxi Beach,” Luo Wei pointed to the location of Huanxi Beach on the map and said, “There is the Huanxi River behind them. They have no way to retreat and can only fight with their backs against the water. If we send reinforcements, we can only break through the joint forces of Yan and Shang. Even if Ning Fei becomes the commander of the second army, we don’t have enough troops to give him. Without troops, no matter how brave Ning Fei is, there’s nothing he can do.”
Minister Wang and Luo Wei fell into contemplation together. The top generals in the court were either in Northern Yan or in Southern Zhao. How could they dispatch the second army? Ning Fei had returned to the court to move troops, and he could indeed be a commander, but where would the troops come from?
Luo Wei paced back and forth in the study. He could ignore Long Xuan, but Wei Lan and his eldest brother were at Huanxi Beach. He had to come up with a solution no matter what. Luo Wei thought about Long Xuan and almost gritted his teeth. He had warned him that Yang Yuansu was not to be trusted, but this person had wanted to gamble on it. Now that they had lost the gamble, what should Great Zhou do?
The study in Yi Jin Garden was very quiet, and you couldn’t hear at all the sound of the slaughter taking place in the palace today.
At the southern gate of the palace, Chang Ling was surprised when he saw Ning Fei. Ning Fei had returned to court. Had the army already won in Northern Yan, and was Long Xuan about to return?
Xie Yu stood beside Ning Fei, pointing at Chang Ling, and said, “Lord Chang, what are you trying to do? Leading troops to the gates of the palace without orders, do you know what crime that is?”
Chang Ling steadied his mind. Today, he had heard the news of Long Xiang’s death and received a letter from Empress Dowager Liu, saying that Luo Wei intended to harm Empress Chang and her child. Just when Chang Ling was still doubtful, a plea for help from Empress Chang also arrived, saying that Luo Wei wanted to kill her and Long Xiao. Empress Chang and her son were Chang Ling’s last hope. If he couldn’t even protect these two, then the Chang clan in Lingnan would truly have no future. It would be better for them all to die. Who knew if Luo Wei’s intention to kill Empress Chang and her son wasn’t at Long Xuan’s behest? With the idea of making a final effort, Chang Ling led his own loyalists to attack the gates of the palace.
Seeing Chang Ling silent at the city gates, but not retreating, Xie Yu loudly read Long Xuan’s edict from the city tower. Then he shouted at the soldiers below, saying, “The Prince has decided that as long as you lay down your weapons, he will not blame you for your past actions.”
Many of the soldiers at the city gates showed hesitation.
“Don’t listen to Xie Mingyuan’s nonsense!” Chang Ling shouted loudly to his subordinates at this time. “He has always been close to Luo Wei. Don’t forget, Xie Mingyuan is Luo Zhiqiu’s disciple! That edict must have been forged by him!”
“Chang Ling!” Ning Fei shouted angrily at Chang Ling. “This is a decree from the Emperor that I personally brought back. Don’t you even obey His Majesty’s orders anymore?”
“You are also a supporter of Luo Wei,” Chang Ling said coldly to Ning Fei. “Why should I believe you?”
“Do you want to be executed with the entire nine generations of your family?!” Ning Fei asked Chang Ling.
“Does the Chang family still have nine generations now?” Chang Ling laughed loudly and waved to his subordinates. “Attack the Imperial City!”
Boundless Dao 
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