bayedsolid Chapter 1610 Deathly Remonstration!
Chapter 1610 Deathly Remonstration!
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"
Inside the Golden Palace, Pei Yan's old but loud voice echoed in the empty hall, causing the palace lanterns hanging from the ceiling to sway slightly.
His wrinkled face was full of disbelief, and his cloudy eyes stared at the cold and shining sword in Li Junxian's hand.
Outside the palace, the November snow fell silently, dyeing the entire imperial city white, but inside the palace, the atmosphere was frozen as ice due to this sudden change.
"Li Junxian! You've clearly already promised me!"
Pei Yan's voice was hoarse and trembling. He stretched out his skinny finger and pointed at the armored general in front of him.
"That day, you said with your own mouth that you would work with me to support the country and reverse the decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty! How could you...how could you be hers?"
At the end of his speech, his voice was almost squeezed out from between his teeth, and every word was filled with deep hatred.
The sword in Li Junxian's hand did not move at all, the blade was pressed against Pei Yan's wrinkled neck. Just a slight scratch and this veteran of three dynasties would be covered in blood on the spot.
Snowflakes drifted in from the open palace door, landed on the general's shoulder armor, and quickly melted into water droplets.
His expression was as calm as a deep pool, with only his sharp eyes revealing a complex expression. "I have just made it very clear. All of this was arranged by Your Majesty."
The candlelight in the hall flickered, stretching everyone's shadows long and casting them onto the pillars carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes.
Wu Zhao sat high on the dragon throne, her bright yellow robe sparkling in the candlelight. Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the armrests, and an elusive light flickered in her phoenix eyes.
"If I hadn't pretended to agree, how could Lord Pei jump out so boldly?" Li Junxian's voice was slow and steady, but it made all the ministers in the hall feel a chill.
Outside the hall, the north wind was howling, carrying snowflakes that hit the window frames, making a rustling sound.
Upon hearing this, Pei Yan was struck by lightning and staggered back half a step, but was blocked by the palace pillar behind him.
His gray beard trembled violently, and the blood color on his face, which was covered with age spots, faded completely. "So... so all this..."
He turned his head with difficulty and looked at Wu Zhao who was sitting on the dragon throne. A terrifying light suddenly burst out of his turbid eyes.
"It's all a trick of you and this woman!"
At this moment, he completely tore off the disguise of the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. He pointed his dry fingers directly at the current empress, and his voice was as hoarse as a night owl:
"Wu Zhao! You've really gone to great lengths to deal with me!"
There was an uproar in the hall, and several elderly ministers were almost fainted by the outrageous words.
Wu Zhao remained calm and just raised her chin slightly.
The snowflakes drifting in from outside the hall fell on the dragon table in front of her and quickly melted into water droplets.
She spoke slowly, her voice as cold and clear as the falling snow outside the palace: "My dear Pei, I remember that you have served three dynasties. If you kneel down and confess your guilt now, I will allow you to retire and return home. After your death, I will still grant you a posthumous title and ensure that your Pei family will be rich and prosperous."
"Hahahaha!"
Pei Yan suddenly laughed out loud towards the sky, his laughter full of madness and despair, shaking the snow on the roof of the hall to fall down and pile up into small snowdrifts outside the hall door.
He laughed so hard that he fell backwards, his gray hair spread out in disarray, and he looked like a madman:
"Retire and return home? Wu Zhao, are you afraid of being cursed in history books after your death, so you want to pretend to be kind?"
He suddenly stopped laughing, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the Empress. "What a shame! If I were a coward, I wouldn't be standing here today to oppose you revealing Princess Xiuning's identity!"
As he spoke, he tremblingly took out a piece of white silk from his sleeve, on which were written the words "die for remonstration" in blood.
"Before coming here, I had already written a suicide note and prepared a coffin!"
The hall was dead silent, with only the crackling sound of burning charcoal in the charcoal basin clearly audible.
Pei Yan turned around and looked at the more than 30 ministers behind him who had followed him to make the memorial. Some of them were old ministers with white hair, and some were young officials who had just entered the court. They all looked pale at the moment, but no one retreated.
"Comrades!"
Pei Yan's voice suddenly became unusually calm, like the calm before a storm: "I will go ahead."
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly lunged forward and slammed his neck into the sword in Li Junxian's hand.
"Pfft!"
Blood spurted out like a fountain, appearing a strange dark red in the candlelight.
A few drops of warm blood splashed on Li Junxian's resolute face and slowly slid down his cheek.
The old minister's body slowly fell down, like a felled ancient tree, and landed heavily on the ground paved with gold bricks.
Blood quickly formed a pool under him, reflecting the snow light coming through the temple door, a dazzling red.
Li Junxian looked down at this old minister who once had great power in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and a trace of pain flashed in his eyes.
As a soldier, he admired Pei Yan's sincerity in serving his country.
But as a subject, he must carry out the empress's will.
Wu Zhao sat upright on the dragon throne, her slender fingers unconsciously stroking the carvings on the armrests of the throne.
She looked at Pei Yan's gradually cooling body, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.
This old minister was once an important supporter when she ascended the throne, but now he ended his life in such a tragic way.
The snow outside the temple fell heavier and heavier, as if to cover the tragedy with a layer of white veil.
"Your Majesty..." An elderly minister stepped out tremblingly and was about to speak, but Wu Zetian raised her hand to stop him.
The empress glanced at the thirty-odd ministers. Some of them were so frightened that their legs were shaking, while others stood straight with no fear on their faces.
She spoke slowly, her voice as cold as ice: "Now, who still objects to me revealing Princess Xiuning's identity?"
Silence spread like a tide.
The copper clock in the corner of the temple ticked, recording this difficult moment.
Finally, a young official tumbled to his knees, banging his forehead heavily on the gold bricks: "Your humble servant... Your humble servant was deceived by Pei Yan. Please have mercy on me, Your Majesty!"
"coward!"
A white-haired old minister shouted sternly, he walked out of the queue tremblingly and bowed deeply to Wu Zhao.
"Your Majesty, once Princess Xiuning's identity is revealed, the State of Chu will surely use it as an excuse to annex our dynasty! Then our Great Zhou will be in danger! I, an old minister, would rather die than see our country torn apart!"
After saying this, the old minister, who was nearly seventy years old, suddenly accelerated and crashed into the golden dragon pillar in the hall at an astonishing speed.
With a dull "bang", blood and brain matter splattered on the gilded pillar. His body fell down limply, but his eyes were still wide open, as if he died with his eyes open.
This tragic scene was like a fuse, instantly igniting the trend of death-defying remonstrations in the hall.
A military official suddenly drew the sword of a palace guard and struck the man across the neck amid the crowd's exclamations:
"I will die to prove my will!" Blood gushed out, staining his brand new official uniform red.
"Think twice, Your Majesty!"
Another minister shouted and rushed towards Li Junxian, actively colliding with the other party's sword that had not yet been sheathed.
The sound of the sword piercing his chest was horrifying, but he smiled with relief and slowly knelt down.
The hall suddenly fell into chaos.
Some people begged for mercy with tears, while others went to die without hesitation.
A young official trembled as he took out the poison that had been prepared long ago, tilted his head back and swallowed it. Soon he foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground convulsing.
The other one slammed hard into the palace door, staining it red with blood.
The smell of blood mixed with the smell of charcoal filled the cold air.
The snow outside the palace silently covered every corner of the imperial city, as if to bury all the tragedy.
More than twenty ministers fell one after another, their blood flowing on the gold bricks and finally gathered together to form a shocking picture.
Li Junxian's hand holding the sword trembled slightly. This battle-hardened general was used to seeing life and death, but at this moment he was shocked by the heroic deeds of the civil servants who died to prove their will.
He turned to look at the empress sitting on the dragon throne and found that she still maintained a majestic sitting posture, but her nails had dug deep into her palms, oozing traces of blood.
When the last minister who died for his advice fell, only a dozen trembling officials were left in the hall.
Wu Zhao slowly stood up, and the hem of her bright yellow dragon robe swept across the memorials on the dragon table.
She looked at the corpses filling the hall and said in a terrifyingly calm voice, "Issue an order to bury all the ministers with honor and posthumously confer posthumous titles. Their families shall be treated with respect and not be harassed."
After saying that, she turned and walked towards the back hall, her back as straight as a pine tree, only her slightly trembling fingertips revealed the turmoil in her heart.
Outside the hall, the snow was still falling, burying all the blood and tragedy under the pure white.
Li Junxian looked at the direction where the empress left and sighed deeply.
He knew that from today on, the political situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty would change completely.
This death-defying remonstration in the Golden Palace on a snowy day will surely go down in history and become a topic of eternal debate for future generations.