Shang Qin never imagined that Xiao Yan would tamper with the palace gates, nor did he expect that, despite Di Tao and the others nearly being wiped out in an ambush without any reaction, he himself would almost be blown to pieces when he led his men over.
When the explosion erupted, Shang Qin narrowly escaped, but was thrown from his horse, his body covered in blood from the flying debris.
Propping himself up from the ground, he looked up and saw the blood-soaked chaos on the Golden Water Bridge and the terrified expressions of the Dragon Court Guards behind him. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Xiao Yan, you dare scheme against me?!”
“Hasn’t General Shang schemed against me as well?”
Xiao Yan stood alone on the opposite side of the Golden Water Bridge, looking at the furious Shang Qin and said:
“I never intended to harm anyone. These measures were merely precautions. But who could have guessed that General Shang, with your boundless ambition, would not only break your word to me but also violate the principles of the Dragon Court Guards, disregarding the Ancestral Seal?”
“You…”
Shang Qin wanted to curse, but his injured organs made his throat taste of blood, and he spat out another mouthful.
Xiao Yan said in a deep voice, “The Great Ancestor founded the Dragon Court Guards to protect the imperial family and safeguard the Xie dynasty, to serve as a sharp blade alongside the Zhen’an Army to resist Beiling.”
“Back then, Shang Zhonglin earned the Great Ancestor’s trust to become the leader of the Dragon Court Guards, fulfilling his duty honorably. Who would have thought that decades later, the Shang family’s descendants would cling to power, ignoring the lives of border citizens, squatting in Linping while allowing Beiling’s armies to run rampant, and now even harboring rebellious ambitions?”
Xiao Yan’s gaze swept over the disheveled Shang Qin, then shifted to the Dragon Court Guards behind him.
“General Fu, General Guo, for someone like Shang Qin, what should be his crime?”
Shang Qin’s expression changed drastically as he whipped his head around, only to see the two deputy generals he had left outside the city now standing there, having entered at some unknown point.
One of them, a burly middle-aged man with a frosty expression, said, “The Dragon Court Guards are loyal to the Great Ancestor. Traitors must be killed!”
The other, an elderly general, looked grim. “Shang Qin, even when Shang Zhonglin was alive, he never dared defy the Great Ancestor’s orders.”
“We followed you to the capital to serve the emperor and purge the court of traitors. Now that the Tiger Tally and the Ancestral Seal have appeared, and the palace has issued an edict declaring no crisis remains, how dare you deceive us into attacking the city and storming the Forbidden Palace? You deserve death!”
“You… you…”
Shang Qin’s face turned deathly pale, his chest heaving with rage as he pointed at the two men.
He never expected that the two deputy generals of the Dragon Court Guards would suddenly turn against him.
True, he hadn’t shared his ambitions with them, but they had long known the truth about entering the capital. They were even aware of the matters in the southern territories. The only surprise was Xiao Yan’s sudden possession of the Dragon Jade Seal.
Yet now, they were biting back, pinning everything on him alone.
As Shang Qin struggled to breathe, blood trickled from his mouth. “You’ve colluded with Xiao Yan to betray the Dragon Court Guards?!”
General Fu said coldly, “Wasn’t it you who betrayed the Dragon Court Guards first? Having seen the Dragon Jade Seal, why didn’t you cease fighting?”
Shang Qin: “I…”
General Guo’s eyes were heavy with sorrow. “Shang Qin, your ambition is too great. You’ve violated the Dragon Court Guards’ code. With your actions, you’re unfit to lead them.”
“Supervisor Xiao, please hand this traitor Shang Qin over to the Dragon Court Guards for our own judgment.”
Xiao Yan nodded. “Very well.”
In just a few words, the two generals reached an “agreement” with Xiao Yan, sealing Shang Qin’s fate. The Dragon Court Guards who followed them stood with cold, indifferent expressions.
Most of Shang Qin’s trusted men, brought into the capital, had been killed in the explosion, and those who survived were either wounded or crippled. The remaining Dragon Court Guards, swayed by Fu and Guo’s words, hesitated and dared not approach.
In that moment, Shang Qin understood everything. Trembling with rage as he propped himself up, blood filled his throat, and he couldn’t help but laugh hoarsely.
“Good, good… I thought I had calculated everything, but I never realized I was already a beast trapped in a cage.”
“Xiao Yan, you’re truly formidable, managing to bribe Fu Yue and Guo Linyi to set this trap with you. I’m afraid you planned to keep me in the capital from the moment you left the northwest.”
“I thought myself clever, delaying to play the oriole behind the praying mantis, not knowing I’d been lured into your trap all along…”
Shang Qin laughed bitterly, blood surging from his throat. In the next instant, he suddenly sprang up, lunging at Fu Yue and Guo Linyi.
But injured as he was, and with the two generals already on guard, his blade barely rose before Fu Yue blocked it with his twin axes.
An axe struck his shoulder, caving it in, and Fu Yue kicked him away.
When Shang Qin hit the ground, the pain nearly made him faint. Spitting blood, he glared at Fu Yue and Guo Linyi, cursing hoarsely.
“You shameless traitors! What did Xiao Yan give you to make you betray the Dragon Court Guards?!”
Fu Yue slammed his axe into the ground. “He never gave us anything.”
“Impossible!” Shang Qin roared. “Without gain, how dare you betray me?!”
“What’s there to fear?”
Xiao Yan, having somehow crossed the collapsed Golden Water Bridge, stood beside them. Looking at Shang Qin’s ferocious expression, he said calmly, “I indeed gave them nothing. It’s you who forgot your duty as a general of Great Wei.”
“You clung to power but ignored the safety of the borders. You had the ability to aid the Zhen’an Army against the enemy but chose indulgence instead, keeping the Dragon Court Guards holed up in Linping, refusing to budge, letting the surrounding citizens die under Beiling’s iron hooves. You’ve likely forgotten what it means for a general to die on the battlefield, fearless in protecting the nation and its people.”
“The Great Ancestor once said he hoped one day the rivers would flow through Wei’s lands, and the sun and moon would shine on Wei’s people. But if everyone were as selfish as you…”
“Great Wei would have fallen long ago!”
When Xiao Yan first met Shang Qin in the northwest, he heard Shang Qin’s arrogant words mocking Di Shuangcheng, humiliating the Zhen’an Army soldiers, and treating the Dragon Court Guards as his personal army.
When Di Shuangcheng questioned why he refused to send troops to stop Beiling’s vanguard, allowing them to slaughter border citizens, Shang Qin casually dismissed the dead as “mere commoners” and said the Dragon Court Guards couldn’t move without the Dragon Jade Seal.
That was when Xiao Yan decided to kill him.
From the moment he “colluded” with Shang Qin, saw through his ambitions, and lured him to the capital, Xiao Yan never intended to let him leave alive.
As for Fu Yue and Guo Linyi, they simply still had a general’s honor.
Shang Qin, shamed by Xiao Yan’s words, retorted, “You speak so nobly, but didn’t you conspire to force the palace? Countless have died by your hands.”
“And Fu Yue and the others, they’re just after military power, hiding behind these laughable excuses. They only want to seize my Shang family’s authority…”
Ugh!
A scream rang out as the fierce Fu Yue kicked out Shang Qin’s teeth.
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You can read ahead to chapterr 470 (100+ extra chapters) here
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