Execution!

“Take me to the steward first.”

His voice was the same calm tone as usual, but to Eunuch Mei’s ears, it sounded completely different.

Enduring the pain, Eunuch Mei rapped his hand several times until he struck the acupuncture point that stopped bleeding. Then, he retrieved a white porcelain bottle from his arms and unstoppered the cap, his hands shaking as he poured some pills in his mouth. Buckets of cold sweat beaded his forehead as he redirected his vitality for the pills to take effect.

Xia Ji was not in a hurry either. He returned to the archive chamber and retrieved the thirty-three remaining prayer beads, threading them together with a black cord before hanging them on his arms along with the imperial decree. These were his handmade little trump cards.

With a last look at the place where he had spent more than two years of his life, he turned away with finality and never looked back.

Eunuch Mei had finished treating his wounds. He was ruthless, cutting off his entire right hand and coating the stump with medicinal power. Now, he was standing on the spot with his face deathly pale, no longer running or fleeing.

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When he saw Xia Ji, he fell to his knees with a thump and said, “It’s my fault for being blind, thinking that a ferocious tiger was just a cat for the past two years. I have become convinced after witnessing the might of the Seventh Imperial Prince, and I shall take you to the steward at once.”

Xia Ji said, “Good that you know.”

Eunuch Mei said respectfully, “The steward is waiting for the Ninth Imperial Princess at the front hall. There is a large crowd in the front hall, as well as a great number of guards. Would the prince like to wait for a while?”

Xia Ji eyed him curiously. The eunuch seemed to be quite the tolerant man himself; he had just had one of his hands destroyed, and he had suddenly turned over a new leaf and was being considerate?

Eunuch Mei explained, “I am also one of the people who have been left behind to die in the Imperial City. Those who are in power have already left with the Imperial Emperor.

“Besides, if I had gained power and authority, I wouldn’t have been tasked to keep an eye on you, would I?”

“I’ve been cast away, but I don’t want to be in such a state. Although I’ve lost a hand, I’ve managed to see for myself what kind of person the Seventh Imperial Prince truly is.”

Xia Ji said curtly, “Lead the way.”

“Are we leaving now? There’s a crowd at the front hall.”

“So we can’t go to crowded places?”

“Well…”

Eunuch Mei, who had been arrogant and dominating before, was quickly adjusting his attitude toward the person standing in front of him. No one knew the horror of this one as clearly as he did.

The young man had been sitting and reciting sutras for two years. No one would have thought that he would showcase his prowess during these stormy times. His insane display of patience proved that he was at least someone with an ambitious heart. Now that the world was descending into chaos, why should Eunuch Mei follow if not this person?

…

The front hall of the palace used to be the place where hundreds of officials reported their duties. Now, it was as silent as a graveyard.

The key figures within the officials had all fled along with the Imperial Emperor.

As for the rest who had not received the news that “the Heir Apparent had died in battle and the 100,000 troops had vanished into thin air”, they knew enough to watch the wind and set the helm as well (TN: this idiom means to be flexible and take advantage of the situation). They would naturally follow suit and quietly leave with their families in tow once they saw all the key figures had left.

To get out of the city successfully, they would even hide the truth from others. However, those who had escaped were either prepared to abandon their status as an official, or they were confident they could get by with their connections. Otherwise, for an imperial officer to leave the imperial capital during a war, that was punishable by death.

The sun had set early, and the snow fell even harder.

The steward, along with three hundred guards, waited for the Ninth Imperial Princess at the door of the palace.

The Ninth Princess’s hand had been promised in marriage to the Tujue nation. If she was gone, another princess would have to take her place, but who would be willing to do that?

No one.

When the princess returned, the steward would have his trusted chief of guards accompany the princess to catch up with the Imperial Emperor.

Then, with tiger tally and authority seal in hand, he would escort the scapegoat, who had been abandoned by the royal family, to the front of the city to guard it in a last stand.

When it was confirmed that the Seventh Imperial Prince had died in battle and the imperial family’s image had been preserved, he could then utilize his skills to make a hasty retreat as quickly as possible.

The imperial family of the Dashang Dynasty could not afford to be branded with the shame of abandoning the imperial capital and fleeing. The Seventh Imperial Prince was to be their fig leaf.

The frost giants were the so-called “soldiers” from the enemy’s side. They were at least four to five meters tall, unfathomably strong, and invincible in the snowy weather.

Their armor was made of frost and could block attacks from any knife or spear. Even if they did get hurt, they would recover in a short amount of time, and due to the heavy snowstorm, their tracks would be concealed. They were a bunch of monsters blessed by the snow and ice!

These giants were clearly out of the realm of normal combat considerations. In fact, they had vanished for a long time, and no one knew where the enemy had procured these three thousand frost giants.

The Heir Apparent had succumbed to an ambush even with a troop of 100,000 people by his side. No one could fault him, however. After all, no one would have imagined that the enemy would ambush them in the middle of the night with frost giants.

As the steward waited patiently, the unmistakable sound of footsteps came from the palace square behind him.

His soft face scrunched up. To prevent information from leaking out of the palace, the lower servants and eunuchs, as well as the unpopular concubines, had been locked up with guards watching over every place. So, who else could possibly be coming?

As the steward turned his head, he saw the prince approaching him in the snow. He took a look at Eunuch Mei, who was standing beside the prince, and his brows immediately knotted themselves together. “Eunuch Mei, what happened to your right hand?”

Eunuch Mei did not speak and kept his head down as he stopped in his tracks.

Xia Ji continued striding forward.

When the two men were five feet apart, Xia Ji stopped and used his left hand to retrieve the imperial decree from his arms. Pulling it open, he barked loudly to the steward, “Read it!”

The steward was momentarily stunned, then could not resist laughing out loud. Did the Seventh Imperial Prince lose his mind?”

Xia Ji threw the imperial decree behind him, and Eunuch Mei hurriedly caught it with his left hand.

“Read it!”

Eunuch Mei gave a start. What did the new monarch mean?

Xia Ji demanded, “Read it loudly!”

Eunuch Mei nodded. Although he was weak, he could still enunciate words, so he began, “The edict proclaims that…”

Xia Ji interrupted him. “Louder!”

Bearing the immense pain he was in, Eunuch Mei began reciting with all his might, “The edict proclaims that the enemy has invaded the Central Plain. The Seventh Imperial Prince, Xia Ji, is hereby bestowed the title of War Admiral to defend the Imperial City against the foreigners, respect this!!!”

His sharp, hoarse voice enveloped at least half of the palace, enabling everyone to hear him clearly, which naturally, included the steward.

The Imperial City was deathly quiet in the snow.

Xia Ji took two steps forward and looked the steward straight in the eye as he said calmly, “Well, aren’t you going to return the tiger tally and authority seal to me?”

Weighing the situation at hand, the steward did not know what tricks the Seventh Imperial Prince had prepared up his sleeve. Smiling coldly, he said, “Your humble servant will be taking care of your tiger tally and authority seal for you. As the War Admiral, all you have to do is stand guard and protect the Imperial Capital. Please notify us if there is anything you need, and we will stamp the seal for you.”

As he finished speaking, he felt the ground shudder violently.

Thundering sounds could be heard reverberating from the ground.

He then saw a crimson shadow fleeting forward at the speed of light.

“For keeping a tiger tally to yourself and disobeying orders, execution!”

A voice as booming as thunder came forth!

The steward’s eyes glazed over the prince. He had never thought that the Seventh Imperial Prince would have such hidden strength, not giving anything away until the moment he stepped away from the archive chambers. However, as one of the Imperial Emperor’s closest guards, the steward had impressive martial arts skills as well, and Eunuch Mei’s skills could not be compared to his.

Although it was not feasible to kill the prince, the steward decided that he should still be able to break his legs.

In the blink of an eye, he waved his hands to produce shadows.

Specks of chilling glow radiated from his sleeves.

The icy glow seemed mild, but after they escaped the cuffs of his sleeves, they would explode in front of everyone’s eyes, splitting into hundreds of little dots, dazzling everyone’s eyes with thousands of crisscrossing lines.

This was one of the ways that the Sacred Sunflower Scroll instructed on using vigor. Even steel could be penetrated using the embroidery vigor, let alone a human.

At that moment, the needles all shot toward the prince’s legs!