Ashes to Crown

Chapter 152: Chapter 106: Palace

The events of the night were like a tidal wave, with one surge crashing after another without cease.

The officials standing outside the inner palace gate stared in shock at the returning Deng Yi.

In the short time he was gone, he had returned a completely different man.

The humble Clerk in his blue robes was now a powerful court minister in red. He wore a tall crown, a crimson and purple sash hung from his waist, and the Imperial Guards behind him fanned out like an open hand.

It was a true ascension to the heavens.

”Lord—Lord Deng,” an official stammered. He had opened his mouth and almost called him ’Deng Yi’ out of habit, but corrected himself just in time. ”What are Your Majesty’s orders?”

Deng Yi produced the Jade Seal. ”His Majesty has appointed me Grand Tutor, to take charge of the situation.”

’Grand Tutor! And the Jade Seal! The Emperor actually gave the Jade Seal to Deng Yi!’

For all the years the Crown Prince had served as Regent, the Jade Seal had always remained in the Emperor’s study. It could be used, but the Crown Prince was never allowed to carry it with him.

The officials immediately fell to their knees in a kowtow. ”Long live Your Majesty!”

Deng Yi put away the Jade Seal and stepped forward to help them up. ”His Majesty has placed a heavy trust in me. I ask that you all work with me in one accord. Once the situation is stable, you will all be rewarded.”

The officials were instantly thrilled. Even after his meteoric rise, Deng Yi was still generous. What a straightforward and satisfying promise.

”Lord Deng, just give the order. We are with you,” they declared, each one pledging their loyalty.

One man even hiked up his robes, ready to charge out and kill the enemy.

Deng Yi stopped him. ”Tonight, we have only one mission: to defend the Inner Palace and ensure His Majesty’s safety. We will not concern ourselves with anything else.”

He glanced toward the Outer Imperial City. Sounds of fighting had come from that direction earlier. It must be the Third Prince’s and the Crown Prince’s men fighting for control of the city.

”No matter how they fight to the death, as long as they don’t come to the Inner Palace, they remain Princes.” He looked toward the outer halls, then turned to the commander of the Emperor’s Imperial Guard at his side. ”But the moment anyone approaches the Inner Palace, they become traitors.”

Traitors can be killed. There are no exceptions, not even for one’s own sons.

”Kill them on sight.”

Whether they come seeking aid or to storm the palace gates—the fate of those seeking aid is already sealed, so there is no need to save them. As for those who would storm the gates, they deserve death even more.

The Imperial Guard commander assented.

Hearing this, the officials’ hearts pounded with fear. ’So ruthless, so heartless. Is this the Emperor’s will, or Deng Yi’s?’ But regardless of whose orders they were, the officials breathed a collective sigh of relief, realizing they wouldn’t have to risk their lives. They declared that if anyone dared to violate the palace and offend His Majesty, they would be the first to charge forward and fight to the death. Then they asked, ”So, what can we do right now?”

”Our task is not about the present moment,” Deng Yi said, his gaze fixed on the outer halls. ”It is about what must be done at dawn, after all this is over. I am going to the Grand Tutor Hall.”

The outer halls were where the court convened, and where high-ranking ministers had their own offices for daily affairs.

Now that Deng Yi was the Grand Tutor, it was only natural he should go to the Grand Tutor’s designated hall. The officials all agreed. Deng Yi arranged for men to guard the Inner Palace, then selected another detachment. Armored and armed, a dark throng of soldiers escorted him toward the outer halls.

The heavy thud of their marching feet made the ground tremble. The light from their torches burned away the darkness, bathing the night in a searing white glare.

Deng Yi himself hadn’t expected to be so transformed upon setting foot on this path.

But it didn’t feel illusory. His steps were firm, his heart calm, as if he had always known this day would come.

’Lord Deng is so incredible—’

He suddenly remembered what that girl had said. ’Yes, if she knew I’d become the Grand Tutor, she wouldn’t be shocked. She’d just say, ’Lord Deng is just that incredible.’’

’That’s right,’ he thought. ’Lord Deng is just that incredible. He could go from a Pavilion Chief to a Clerk in the county government. Ten years later, what’s so strange about going from Palace Gate Order to Grand Tutor, holding the Jade Seal, with the Tiger Talisman at his waist?’

”Lord Grand Tutor.” An official, having thought of something, sidled up to him. He already called him Grand Tutor with a practiced ease, as if he had been doing so for years. ”What will be done with the former Grand Tutor?”

The Emperor hadn’t managed state affairs for many years, but that didn’t mean there was no Grand Tutor. The position had always been filled.

Once the dust settled, wouldn’t it be awkward for the two Grand Tutors to meet?

Deng Yi smiled. ”I’ll take care of him beforehand. I won’t let him be embarrassed.”

Spoken like a true Grand Tutor. The official shrank back slightly, then led the way with renewed, fervent enthusiasm. ”This way, Lord Grand Tutor.”

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Torches burned on the walls of the outer watchtower, illuminating the corpses scattered across the ground below.

A vicious battle had clearly taken place here.

Though the scene was quiet for the moment, the fighting had not ceased.

Five figures appeared below the wall of the barbican up ahead. It was dark, with no lights. They moved through the shadows, their steps nearly silent. But just as they were about to cross the threshold of the gate, a figure sprang from the darkness like a black cat.

In a single motion, the throat of the man in front was slit. Before his companions on either side could react, two swift kicks struck their throats. The three of them crumpled to their knees and died without a sound.

The two men in the rear retreated rapidly, raising their gleaming longswords to strike. But they were a step too late. The figure lunged, his limbs ensnaring them both at once. In a single, flying spin, all three hit the ground. With the CLANG of swords on stone, two of them went still.

The figure rose from their midst and looked down at the fresh corpses. He lit a piece of fire and tossed it onto them, then threw the nearby scattered torches onto the pile. Flames instantly shot up, devouring the darkness and bathing the barbican’s main gatehouse in a blinding light.

The figure stood within the blaze like a long spear, its cold glint a warning to any spying eyes.

”Yanlai! Yanlai!”

A voice called out from a nearby battlement, and a rope ladder was lowered.

The figure took a few running steps, leaped, and grabbed the ladder, scrambling up with the agility of a cat.

He vaulted over the wall and landed among them. The other Imperial Guards quickly pulled up the rope ladder.

Torches here illuminated the man who had just landed—it was Xie Yanlai. He looked even more terrifying now than he had on the day he was flogged in the street. His face and body were covered in blood, whether his own or others’, it was impossible to tell.

He raised a hand and wiped his cheek, smearing a single drop of blood into a patch that stood in stark contrast to his pale skin. It was a gruesome sight in the firelight.

The seven or eight Imperial Guards who had pulled him up were also covered in blood, but they were in far better shape than Xie Yanlai.

”Those bastards will be back,” one of them said, his face pale. ”There are too few of us.”

Xie Yanlai looked past them toward the rear. This was the palace wall, dotted with the occasional torch. He could see Imperial Guards stationed sparsely along its length.

A few dozen, perhaps.

There were at least three hundred enemy soldiers outside the barbican.

Moreover, the sounds of fighting still carried from the distance. The entire Capital City seemed to be engulfed in the flames of chaotic battle.

There was no telling how many more men would charge the Imperial City.

”Yanlai,” an Imperial Guard said, ”we should fall back to the Inner Palace.”

There are still plenty of the Emperor’s Imperial Guards in the Inner Palace. It’s the safest place.

Xie Yanlai looked back toward the silent Inner Palace.

”All this fighting is happening out here, yet there’s not a single stir from inside. Not one person has come out to even ask what’s going on. Do you think they don’t know? Or do you think they know everything and are just ignoring it?”

”They’re ignoring the Crown Prince’s life-or-death struggle. They’re ignoring the Third Prince’s villainy. If we run to them for help, do you really think they’ll care?”

”We’d probably be shot full of arrows before we even got close.”