Chapter 1226 – Return to Royal City
Lin Xuan was also surprised. The person who had just appeared seemed like an Immortal who managed to break past the defenses of the camp, to arrive beside him with incredible speed.
"Your Highness?" Lin Xuan exclaimed in surprise when he recognized the familiar face.
His white robes were as white as jade, his black hair swept down like a waterfall and his aura was ethereal, so who else could it be but Ye Qingyu?
The person by Ye Qingyu's side was none other than Linghu Buxiu who had gone ahead to send for reinforcements.
Ye Qingyu had ultimately managed to arrive at the crucial moment.
"Greetings, Your Highness, I'm an official who has made a grave mistake, Lin Xuan," Lin Xuan immediately said as he bowed respectfully. Ye Qingyu had trusted him and given him such an important mission, but he had failed to bring the new army to the great wall at the appointed time. Now, the new army was also fraught with internal strife, so he was very remorseful.
"Your Highness!" Mo Weinan was also incredibly elated and bowed at the first instance.
"You're wearing your military armor, so there's no need to stand on ceremony," Ye Qingyu said as he raised his hand. Then, a gentle force helped those two men up.
Abundant Emperor qi burst forth from Ye Qingyu's body like an ocean, powerful and incredibly mighty. Everyone suddenly felt as though they were as helpless as driftwood being swept away by the ocean, regardless of the level of their cultivation, as though they could be dragged under by the strong waves at any moment. No one could summon up any courage in the face of such a strong aura.
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
"Greetings, Your Highness!"
A large majority of the ordinary soldiers were not aware of the noblemen's dirty deeds and they felt that since they were formed on the orders of the new Emperor, they would have to obey the new Emperor's edicts. Thus, when they saw that their supreme commander Lin Xuan had already bowed so deferentially in greeting, they quickly got onto their knees as well.
Whoosh!
Most of the soldiers fell onto their knees as though a strong wind had swept past a field of wheat.
Gu Xunchao and his men looked extremely embarrassed and terrified. They could neither bring themselves to kneel nor continue standing.
Ye Qingyu did not even look at them.
Gu Xunchao and his cronies were nothing to Ye Qingyu and they weren't even worth a mention to him. However, Gu Dening who barely managed to remain calm as he stood in the void, was a person of interest to him.
"Why aren't you greeting His Highness?" Lin Xuan turned around to look at Gu Dening as he said, "Are you trying to start a rebellion?"
Gu Dening was completely stunned.
How could this happen?
Didn't he hear that the sovereign of the Sky-reaching clan, Dark Feather clan, and the others had ascended to their Martial Emperor cultivation and had already gone to kill Ye Qingyu? These veteran Martial Emperors who had attained the Dao several thousand years ago and possessed such a depth of resources had joined forces to kill a new Emperor, but this new Emperor had somehow managed to return alive. Was this a joke?
When he recalled how Ye Qingyu had mercilessly killed the three supreme commanders of the Sky-reaching clan, the Dark Feather clan, and the Lofty Mountain clan back in those days, Gu Dening felt shivers run down his spine.
He was extremely frightened and no longer dared to hope for the best as he descended from the void and bowed his head. "Uh… your subject Gu Dening respectfully greets Your Highness," he said respectfully.
The Gu clan might have benefited tremendously this time, and he had also ascended to a half-step to Quasi-emperor cultivation thanks to the gifts from the giants, so he was now able to defeat ordinary Quasi-emperors. But there was still a huge gap in strength between himself and a true Martial Emperor of his time like Ye Qingyu.
"I guess the Gu clan is trying to get themselves completely killed," Ye Qingyu said coldly without even sparing him a glance.
Gu Dening's heart raced at Ye Qingyu's words and he was completely scared out of his wits as he quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy, saying, "This was a mistake on my part. I was bewitched by the promises of power. Please forgive us, I'm willing to bear the punishment for my crimes but please spare the Gu clan."
He didn't dare to resist Ye Qingyu and was overcome with regret. He shouldn't have participated in this at all.
Gu Xunchao and the other noblemen military officers were absolutely terrified when they saw how frantically Gu Dening was begging for mercy. A chill seeped into their bones as they finally realized how precarious their situation was.
"Ack ack…" Gu Xunchao felt an indescribable wave of terror wash over him, and he gurgled a series of strange sounds. He suddenly felt like his mouth was filled with bitterness and a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him. Then, something warm flooded his pants and he fainted dead away, as white foam frothed out of his mouth.
A pungent odor started to spread across the air.
The surrounding military officers from the nobility exclaimed in shock as they hastily retreated.
Mo Weinan stepped forward to check on him, then turned back to report, "Your Highness, he has been scared to death and his spirit has also been completely destroyed…"
No one had expected this nobleman disciple, who had earlier been arrogantly trying to lord over Lin Xuan, to die from terror. He was a Great Saint realm martial artist, but he had been so terrified that he had passed out, releasing urine and feces in his pants, his gallbladder ruptured, and his spirit had been destroyed. His life had been completely wiped out from this world.
The other noblemen military officers who had been Gu Xunchao's cronies looked at his corpse in distaste, as they covered their mouths and noses and retreated. Then, they all fell to their knees and begged for mercy.
Ye Qingyu looked slightly annoyed.
Lin Xuan immediately caught the message and issued an order, "Men, drag all these rebels out of this place. They are to be beheaded and their spirits destroyed in accordance to military law."
The highly-skilled experts from the enforcement division appeared instantly, clad in full armor and mercilessly dragged the rebels out of the area, ignoring their screams and wails of terror. Those who witnessed the scene couldn't help but shiver in fear. Nonetheless, they didn't think that Ye Qingyu nor Lin Xuan were being too heavy-handed since these men's actions had been equivalent to staging a rebellion. The military laws had always been very strictly enforced and it wasn't a child's play.
Soon, the heads of those several dozen noblemen military officers were displayed on the punishment pillars as a warning sign to the others.
"Tell me everything that is happening within Royal City and name every single one of the noblemen and commanders who have participated in this coup. If you speak the truth, I'll only kill you and spare the Gu clan, but if I find out that you've withheld information or lied to me, I swear that every person from the Gu clan will not live to see tomorrow," Ye Qingyu said calmly.
Everyone could tell how much anger was hidden behind his calm words. He had called the incident at Royal City a 'coup', so this meant that there was bound to be bloodshed the moment he returned to Royal City.
Gu Dening knew that the new Emperor was definitely not going to spare him, but was willing to spare his entire clan; this was the best outcome he could have hoped for.
Gu Dening clenched his jaw and didn't dare to hesitate as he truthfully revealed everything he knew.
Ye Qingyu nodded slightly after he finished hearing his account.
"Very well, I shall uphold my end of the bargain," he said. Then, he sent out a ray of sword light with a single thought and Gu Dening was immediately beheaded. His head fell to the ground while his body turned into a puddle of icy water that quickly disappeared.
"The Gu clan have participated in this coup and committed an unforgivable crime. Still, given that their clan elder turned himself in and admitted his guilt, I shall show them mercy. I'll only kill their leader and spare the rest," Ye Qingyu said as he ordered his men to hang Gu Dening's head on the punishment pillar that would follow the army everywhere they went, as a warning to the rest of them.
The new army had just been formed, so they could still be swayed easily. Thus, Ye Qingyu had to be absolutely firm and by displaying Gu Xunchao's, Gu Dening's and his men's heads in public, he wanted to unite his troops and wanted the soldiers who were from the noble clans of Royal City to understand that the military laws were like mountains, and military commands were like prison. Anyone who flouted the law would be put to death.
He also did all these to help Lin Xuan gain complete control of these soldiers in the shortest possible amount of time.
"Your Highness, are we to return to Royal City at once to clamp down on the coup?" Lin Xuan asked.
Ye Qingyu shook his head and said, "No, the soldiers of the new army come from the various large noble clans of Royal City, so if we send these men to clamp down on the coup, I'm afraid that they might not listen to your commands which would then reflect badly on you. I want you to lead the new army to the great wall frontier the next morning and set up camp outside the Unmoving City of Darkness. You are to act in accordance with the orders of the Emperor of the Unmoving City of Darkness. There are also three supreme commanders at the frontier. There used to be four supreme commanders, but one of them perished, so you may carry my Emperor seal to command the remaining three supreme commanders as you wish. I want you to train these soldiers at the frontier and unite your men as soon as possible."
Lin Xuan quickly accepted his orders before he asked in confusion, "What about Royal City…?"
Ye Qingyu looked unruffled as he smiled confidently, "These rebels are nothing but a bunch of noisy animals. I'd be able to crush them with the back of my hand, so there's nothing to fear."
Lin Xuan couldn't help but feel extremely excited and felt a burst of heroic pride.
Ye Qingyu said with a smile, "Don't worry. I'll make sure that your family returns unharmed."
…
…
That very night.
Ye Qingyu had already returned to the Guardians' Royal City.
The Guardians' Royal City didn't seem too different than when he had left, but a tense atmosphere hung in the air. The atmosphere was so strained that it struck fear into the hearts of every living creature. The occasional burst of murderous shouts rang out from the streets, while the metallic smell of blood wafted in the air, turning Royal City into a living hell.
In the beginning, several sovereign-level figures led the sudden attack from the back and targeted the aging sovereign of the Sun clan and Marquis Tingtao's residence, but as the attacks gradually grew more intense, many noblemen factions who bore deep-seated grudges against each other also started fighting amongst themselves; the situation slowly grew out of control.
These sovereign-level figures who instigated the entire situation clearly did not care about the consequences of their actions. In fact, they were even hopeful that this might bring about a radical shift in power in Royal City and across the entire Dark Realm as a whole. Thus, fights broke out all across the city and mournful wails rose and fell as several noble clans found themselves taken completely off-guard, resulting in the annihilation of entire families.
The lives of many ordinary citizens were also affected.
All the signs of a world in turmoil could be seen within Royal City at the moment.
Ye Qingyu arrived at the residence of Marquis Tingtao and discovered that the place had been completely leveled to the ground; nothing but a pile of rubble was left. He didn't fly into a rage but after some calculations, his Emperor qi swept out like a wave and immediately detected Lin Nanzhu's and her mother's aura.
In the number one brothel for servicing the military.
This was a place where only the noblemen of the camp were permitted to enter and many female members of a certain age from the noblemen's families who had been punished for their crimes would be sent to this place. These women would be cruelly tortured and this was a fate worse than death. Their dignity and modesty were worth nothing there, and they were like walking corpses awaiting death since they couldn't even commit suicide.
That evening, Lin Nanzhu and her mother were sent to this brothel.
Gu Dening had gone ahead to persuade Lin Xuan and used Lin Nanzhu and her mother as hostages in an attempt to force Lin Xuan to submit to him, but in fact, there were many who wished to see Lin Xuan dead, so they acted ruthlessly and sent both mother and daughter into that place of despair.
Formations that prevented them from using their martial techniques covered their entire bodies and sapped their energies away, not even letting them commit suicide by biting their tongues. They were dragged away by servant girls to be washed and forced into robes that were light and sheer, before they were sent into a quiet room, like sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
"Haha, this mother and daughter pair will definitely be able to fetch a high price. Haha, there aren't many chances to enjoy the company of the wife and a daughter of a marquis or a duke at the same time. I bet the noblemen will fall over themselves later to fight for this opportunity, when I send them out to the auction platform in a bit. Hahaha!" the manager of the military brothel said, extremely proud of himself.
These hostages were meant to arrive only a few days later, but he had pulled some strings in order to get them in advance, aiming to ask for a high price for these two women.
