After the secret passage was cleared of the Empress Dowager's people, only her own remained. When Xiao Changfeng entered the secret passage, the one who emerged was no longer "Xiao Changfeng."
Xiao Changfeng's command flag would fall into Lu Bing's hands. Having fought alongside Xiao Changfeng against Xiao Changgeng for so long, Lu Bing had memorized and mastered most of the flag commands. In the clash of two armies, with the roar of battle shaking the heavens, troops were not mobilized by verbal orders but solely by the command flag.
With the command flag in hand, Lu Bing led "Xiao Changfeng" out and could order the Invincible Army to stand by.
"Excellent!" The Youning Emperor exclaimed with a mix of anger and laughter, his voice resolute, before breaking into a violent cough.
His gradually paling face flushed with a faint red from coughing, making him appear even more terrifying.
"Your Majesty, I accept your concession." Shen Xihe placed her final piece on the board.
On the chessboard, the black pieces were divided into three sections, each surrounded by white pieces with no escape route.
Since the situation was beyond redemption, the Youning Emperor ceased his futile struggle, tossing away the piece he could no longer steady in his hand. Yet he remained silent, as if unwilling to concede until the very last moment.
Shen Xihe paid no mind to this, nor did she grow impatient. She glanced at the sky outside the window: "Half an hour remains before the fifth watch passes."
Once the fifth watch ended, daylight would break.
However, the situation in the northwest was not as easily controlled by Shen Xihe as in the imperial city. With "Xiao Changfeng's" command flag, the Invincible Army obeyed orders and stood by. Xiao Changgeng and Xie Yunhuai led their troops to confront them head-on, the two sides separated by only three to five steps.
Thus, the conflict came to a temporary halt.
In the Northwest King's city, halfway through the second watch, Shen Yungan mustered his troops and led them away to reinforce and suppress the turmoil in Tibet.
By the third watch, with Xue Heng's assistance, Wang Zheng easily entered the Northwest King's city with the army entrusted to him by the Youning Emperor.
The city's residents kept their doors tightly shut as Wang Zheng led his troops straight toward the Northwest King's residence. However, they were intercepted midway by several forces, and the massive procession was severed by soldiers emerging from the alleyways.
From that point, the two armies descended into chaotic battle.
Everyone knew this was a life-or-death struggle, and all fought with desperate fervor.
The northwest was too far from the capital. Even if the Youning Emperor wished to immediately order a ceasefire, it was already too late. The Invincible Army, which he had painstakingly cultivated, lived up to his expectations—fierce and agile. Had the Northwest Army not been battle-hardened and slightly superior in practical combat, they would have stood little chance against such a force.
The ink-black night gradually faded, and the thick scent of blood lingered like the colorful clouds of dawn, weaving through the skies above the Northwest King's city.
From the third watch to the end of the fifth watch, a full four hours of encirclement and slaughter left the Invincible Army with only over a hundred survivors from more than twenty thousand troops. The Northwest Army also suffered thousands of casualties. The city was littered with corpses—the Northwest King's city had not seen such carnage in a long time.
Only when the victory horn sounded did the citizens, who had been hiding in their homes, emerge cheering. Living in this land, they were accustomed to war. Even amidst the sea of corpses, they felt no fear and even assisted the authorities in handling the dead.
"Your Highness, where did these enemies come from?"
Shen Yueshan's battle robe was stained with blood. Facing the elder of the northwest's great clan, his gaze fell upon the fallen Invincible Army soldiers: "Perhaps they are tribes seeking revenge against this humble king."
The deputy general at Shen Yueshan's side seemed to hesitate, wanting to speak but ultimately not daring to say more.As if sensing his unusual demeanor, Shen Yueshan turned around, his blood-stained face exceptionally imposing: "Escort the remaining captives back to the capital to be dealt with by the court. Remember to send the signal."
The signal, naturally, referred to the signal flares of the Northwest Army.
One after another, from city to city, until the imperial palace in the capital, the northwestern corner of the Hall of Diligent Governance could see them.
At the break of dawn, while the sky still retained some darkness, brilliant fireworks bloomed in the eyes of Shen Xihe and the Youning Emperor.
Shen Xihe slightly closed her eyes, only then loosening her clenched hands that she hadn't realized were tight. No matter how many arrangements were made in the northwest, no matter how confident she was in her father's abilities, until the final moment arrived, Shen Xihe had not felt at ease.
Only when the dust settled did she feel a slight dampness of sweat on her back.
That cluster of sparks rose from a single point of light and blossomed in the somewhat blurred and turbid gaze of the Youning Emperor. The signal of the Northwest Army's victory instantly transported him back to his youth, when he and his brother, accompanied by Shen Yueshan, advanced from the northwest, capturing cities and territories all the way to the imperial capital. Every time they saw this cluster of fireworks, they would exchange knowing smiles, and if they had wine in hand, they would inevitably drink heartily together.
Back then, they were solely focused on vindicating themselves, on proving to the late emperor—who never regarded them seriously—that they, the brothers, were the legitimate heirs. United in purpose, they conquered battlefields and knew no defeat.
But he didn't know when exactly the ambition for power began to corrode him inch by inch.
Killing his brother and seizing the throne was instigated by his mother, but for someone as resolute and strong-willed as him, if he hadn't already harbored such thoughts in his heart, how could his mother have succeeded? He wondered if the outcome would have been different without his mother.
Perhaps... it would still have been the same.
The fireworks were brilliant but fleeting. As the sparks faded, a certain light in the Youning Emperor's eyes gradually extinguished as well.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Shen Xihe, his dim eyes still concealing a sharp edge: "I can draft an edict to pass the throne to the balancing pivot. You return to the northwest and shall not assume regency over the court."
"Your Majesty, at this moment, you no longer have the authority to negotiate with your child." Shen Xihe would never be separated from her own child.
"Is that so?" The Youning Emperor sneered, "Embroidered Uniform Envoys!"
At the emperor's call, twelve Embroidered Uniform Envoys seemed to materialize out of thin air, each gripping the swords at their waists.
Moyu and the others immediately assumed defensive stances.
"I allowed the northwest to honor your Shen Shi, with the balancing pivot as emperor, and I never intended to remove the mother to keep the child. If you have no intention of disrupting the court, why insist on staying in the imperial capital?" The Youning Emperor forced himself to speak through gritted teeth.
Shen Xihe smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, your child has never yielded to coercion, not even when threatened by The Supreme One."
The Youning Emperor was seized by another fit of violent coughing: "Seize them!"
The swishing sounds accompanied the drawing of gleaming sharp swords, but to the Youning Emperor's utter astonishment, six of the twelve envoys did not aim their swords at Shen Xihe and her group but instead held them against their comrades' necks.
Caught off guard by this sudden turn of events, the Youning Emperor, overwhelmed with fury, vomited a mouthful of blood, stood up abruptly, and pointed at Shen Xihe: "You—"
It seemed as if all his strength drained away in an instant. After uttering just that one word, everything went black before his eyes, and he collapsed, hastily caught by Liu Sanzhi.
"A Xi," Shen Xihe commanded calmly.
The Youning Emperor was helped back onto the couch once more, his face as pale as gold paper.Sui Axi was quickly brought in. After checking Your Majesty's pulse, he swiftly applied acupuncture needles. Liu Sanzhi did not intervene or suspect that Shen Xihe intended to harm His Majesty through this means—he understood better than anyone that the Emperor had already reached a state beyond the need for foul play.
The Youning Emperor, who had fainted from anger provoked by Shen Xihe and now weakly regained consciousness, seemed drained of all strength. He stared blankly at the canopy above, barely managing to whisper, "Support... support the Empress Dowager."
(End of Chapter)
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