Chapter 34: A Great War Is Coming

The Imperial City was gloomy with thick and dark clouds hanging above it. The originally majestic palace was shrouded in shadows.

The palace maids and eunuchs passing by could not help but speed up. They looked at the sky and felt inexplicably depressed.

“I wonder what’s wrong with this weather. It’s been like this for a few days. Will it rain?”

At this moment, Emperor Sheng Yuan was handling the state affairs in the throne hall. She couldn’t help but think to herself that it had been ten days since Lin Ran set out. If it went smoothly, he should be arriving at the Northern Border soon.

“I wonder how he’s doing over there…”

At this moment, a eunuch ran over. “Your Majesty, something bad has happened.”

“Why are you so flustered? How inappropriate!”

The eunuch knelt on the ground and said with a pale face, “Your Majesty, King Zhao and his men declared open rebellion against us! They’re now heading towards Imperial City.”

“What!”

Emperor Sheng Yuan was shocked. She knew these vassals had ambitions to replace her, so she had been wanting to summon them to the capital to seize their military power, but she did not expect them to take action so quickly and suddenly.

According to her estimation, these people wouldn’t choose to rebel at this time. Now that they suddenly declared war, she was simply caught off guard.

Emperor Sheng Yuan rushed to the top of the city wall. Under the dark sky, she could vaguely see smoke rising not far away. The flames of war were raging, and the sound of fighting sent shivers down one’s spine.

“Welcome, Your Majesty.”

“There’s no need for such formalities at the critical moment. How’s the battle going?”

The generals guarding the city did not look too good. “General Wu has already gone to defend the rebellion, but there are people from the rebel army in the Imperial City. With them working together, I’m afraid there’s no chance of victory…”

Emperor Sheng Yuan’s expression was extremely solemn. “It seems that this group of people planned this for a long time. What a good ploy.” She was not a fool and quickly understood what was going on.

As soon as the “Sword God” left, these people started to rebel. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“These vassals are really capable. It turns out that they also have accomplices in the imperial court. I wonder who is colluding with them.”

A sharp glint flashed across Emperor Sheng Yuan’s eyes as she recalled the scene in the imperial court meeting that day. No wonder she was asked to summon the Sword God to go to the border. It turned out that they were trying to lure the treat away.

“Your Majesty, terrible news! General Wu tried his best to hold back the rebels but he couldn’t make it and was killed. Now that the rebel army has entered the palace gates, it’s not safe here anymore. Please evacuate quickly.”

The battle reports from the front line were extremely disadvantageous to Emperor Sheng Yuan. Her army was defeated repeatedly while the rebel army was unstoppable.

There was nothing she could do. The rebels came prepared. In addition, they had the help of the people in the Imperial City to open the gates for them, so their marching speed was unbelievably fast.

On the other hand, Emperor Sheng Yuan was not prepared at all. In addition, most of her imperial guards were not in the Imperial City. Not long ago, she sent a portion of them to the north to help Lin Ran, which resulted in the current situation.

“Are people already sent out to inform the Sword God?”

“The rebel army has sealed off the Imperial City. I’m afraid it will be difficult for the news to even reach outside the city wall. Even if it does, it will be too late when the Sword God comes back to…”

Before he could finish, Emperor Sheng Yuan understood what he was trying to say.

The imperial guards were outnumbered and could only retreat again and again. The morale of the army was extremely low. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before the entire army was wiped out.

Emperor Sheng Yuan immediately said, “Bring me armor. I will be supervising the battle in person!”

No matter what, she had to hold on until reinforcements arrived.

When the people around heard that, they were stunned for a moment before immediately stopping her. “Your Majesty, you can’t do that. Swords are cold-blooded. If the rebels take advantage of the chaos to attack and assassinate you, then there will be no coming back anymore.”

“Your Majesty, don’t act rashly. As long as you are alive, there’s hope. There might be other ways.”

“I’ve made up my mind. Stop the persuasion.”

Unfortunately, even so, the situation could not be salvaged. There were too many rebels and they had come prepared. In addition, there were too few troops in the Imperial City.

“Your Majesty! The rebels have reached the Black Tortoise Gate. They will arrive here in less than five minutes.”

The empress could only give the order helplessly, “Pass down my orders. All soldiers, retreat to the Upper Gate!”

The Upper Gate was the gate closest to Mount Sword. The Ten Miles Sword God had set up an array formation there. Perhaps she could use it to resist the rebel army.

Soon, they retreated to the vicinity of Mount Sword. Behind them were the ferocious rebels.

“Your Majesty, what should we do now? Our army can’t hold on for long.”

Only the emperors could activate the array formation on Mount Sword. Unless it was necessary, the emperor wouldn’t resort to this last line of defense.

“Kill! If anyone can capture Emperor Sheng Yuan alive, he will be rewarded with 10,000 taels of gold and conferred the title of marquis!”

Wealth and power were irresistible. For a moment, the rebels were filled with killing intent.

Seeing that they were about to step into Mount Sword, Emperor Sheng Yuan ordered the entire army to retreat. Her gaze was cold as she looked at the rebel army like they were just dead corpses.

In the next second, countless dazzling rays of lights rose. As the array formation moved, the ground shook violently.

The rebels were so shocked that their formation was in a mess. Countless people fell to the ground.

“What’s going on? Is it an earthquake?”

The rebels still did not know what was happening.

On Mount Sword, countless spiritual swords trembled, sounding like a humongous troop was approaching from the distance.