Almost simultaneously, two soldiers carried a stretcher over. The imperial officials all craned their necks to take a look.
A piece of white cloth covered the body. Drops of blood constantly dripped underneath. Even shreds of flesh fell off occasionally.
This scene made the officials’ eyes twitch. Fear started forming in their minds.
Before they could say anything, Jiang Pengji ordered the white cover taken away. The corpse underneath was exposed.
As if a mixture of different colors had been poured onto it, the broken head, like a shattered container, was now filled with a mixture of blood, smashed brain, and tiny pieces of skull. From the neck down, the body didn’t look any better.
The only thing that was recognizable and that could be linked to the empress was the clothes. They were no garments for anyone of a lower status than the royal family.
The officials’ faces went pale, and some were almost green. Some even turned around to retch.
The graphic scene grossed out not only the imperial officials, but also Jiang Pengji’s advisers. Even the audience of the streaming room responded with a full bullet screen in the faint hope of covering up the gore. Even to the audience, this level of bloodiness was way over the top.
[Pengji’s Wife]: OMG! I’m so scared! This streaming room’s style beats even horror movies!
[Shenjia]: Streamer, I have a suggestion. How about you give us a heads-up next time before something so graphic is shown?
[Bloody Rose Thorn]: I made it through all the scenes of the streamer fighting and killing, but now I have to kneel down in front of this dead body. As a matter of fact, my hair was standing on end and almost left my head. I heard that scenes too graphic and violent might be censored. This streaming room has something so violent that it is heart-attack worthy… Are you sure it’s not gonna get picked out? To be fair, The Ring was nothing compared to this.
[Damn Genius Guo Fengxiao]: The streamer has been streaming for all these years. If it were gonna get censored, it would have happened a long time ago. There’s no way they would wait till now to start.
[An Changhuan]: As an emergency nurse, I’ve seen a lot of car accident scenes. I thought I had been psychologically prepared for stuff like this and that little could scare me to tears anymore. Well, that was before I stumbled into this streaming room… A big hug to the chubby me!
Yet no matter how strong the audience’s reaction was, Jiang Pengji remained nonchalant at the scene of the body.
She’d seen so much more. What was in front of her was nothing special.
She turned to the officials and spoke lightly.
“Please take a look at the dead body. Do you think it belongs to the evil empress?”
The officials’ faces were all sheet-pale. Some had to be supported to keep a semblance of balance while standing. They all looked at Jiang Pengji as if suspecting that she had deliberately pulled something to play with them.
The body was severely damaged. Perhaps even the mother of the person couldn’t recognize the body, let alone the officials.
They did not have superpowers. How could they tell what it had used to look like from this horse-trampled pile of flesh, blood, and bones?
That being said, the empress had indeed been wearing an outfit like this. Judging from the size and length of the body, it seemed about right.
One of the imperial officials couldn’t stand it anymore. He covered his eyes with his sleeve to avoid looking at the cruelly disfigured corpse.
Jiang Pengji secretly gave a cold smile. “You inconsiderate idiots!” she said to the guards. “Don’t you see that this body is making these respectful officials uncomfortable? What are you waiting for? Go take it away and set it somewhere appropriate. We will deal with it later.” She then turned to the officials. “In my opinion, the most important thing now is to take Chenzhou Imperial City as soon as possible so that we can save people who didn’t have time to retreat before they broke through the city. As for this body, it’s not going anywhere by itself.”
The officials all expressed their agreement. “That makes sense.”
The evil empress was a dead body that didn’t look like it could come back to life in any way. All the accusations and due punishments could wait.
The enemy had broken the city so quickly that people had not even had time to react.
The emperor had only taken the top officials and their families with him on his way out. None of the other officials had had time to escape at all. They had been abandoned.
The longer they waited, the more danger those people would be in.
Just as Jiang Pengji had said, they should turn around and take the imperial city back as soon as they could to reduce possible damage.
The imperial court could not rely only on the emperor. A considerable number of officials and ministers were crucial to support the whole thing.
There was one more important thing…
The top officials exchanged looks, their faces darkening with deep concern.
The emperor had died so abruptly that there was no official document noting a successor.
As the most reliable officials of the late emperor, they had to pick a successor soon to stabilize the situation and prevent the traitors from snatching the throne.
The late emperor had four sons. The oldest had been executed. The second had been imprisoned and eventually died from sickness after being accused of using witchcraft to set up the emperor and the empress. Even his mother’s family had been severely punished by execution.
Now only the third prince and the fourth prince remained alive.
The fourth prince’s legs had been broken permanently, and he could never stand again. How could he rule the country?
In that case, only the third prince, who had been stripped of his royal title, was qualified to be appointed as the successor.
Considering the chaotic situation, if they didn’t act quickly, the third prince might be killed.
If he were, who would inherit the throne?
No doubt another bloody war was in front of them.
The officials’ plan was nice, but they didn’t know that Jiang Pengji hadn’t come to save the imperial family.
“What’s the situation now?” Jiang Pengji whispered to Feng Zhen. “You got the information?”
Feng Zhen squinted. He had sneaked out to get information from the eunuchs and imperial maids and learned a lot of interesting things.
“My lord, I got it. Of the four princes, only the third and the fourth are still alive. But the fourth prince, Wuma Jun, has had his legs broken, and he can’t stand up ever again. So now the best option for the throne is the third prince. This one’s got some real-deal background. His mother was from the side bloodline of the Feng family. If he gets the throne, there will be trouble.”
Jiang Pengji sneered. “Side bloodline of the Feng family… That’s the nicer way to put it. It’s actually just some remote relatives. So what if the third prince gets the throne? The Feng family will put in all their efforts to support him? No way! He would have a better chance of getting their help in his dreams!”
Jiang Pengji saw through it all. The Feng family had figured it out even more thoroughly.
Dongqing was corrupted to the core. Beyond salvation.
Even if the third prince got the throne, would all the lords with their own forces sincerely bow to him and offer their loyalty on silver platters?
Why would they?
They wouldn’t think it worthwhile to give the emperor everything they had.
Just in exchange for the several years’ allowance the Dongqing emperor gave out?
No way!
Jiang Pengji continued, “The Feng family is full of brains. There’s no way they would risk it. Dongqing is pretty much dead. If the Feng family gets involved in the imperial mess because of the third prince, this thousand-year-old noble family might perish. So we don’t have to worry about the Feng family. But what Zishi said was right. If the third prince becomes the emperor, he will bring us problems.”
If there was an adult on the throne, it would be more difficult for Jiang Pengji to become a legitimate magistrate of Wanzhou.
So, as for the third prince…
Apologies to him!
Jiang Pengji made up her mind to get rid of him. Feng Zhen instantly understood. His obsidian-like eyes gave an approving look. He raised his hand and made a slashing gesture.
