<h4>Chapter 1754: Attack at the Center Gate! Huang Tianzhao!</h4>
Tranted by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The Rebellion of the Three Princes... has finally begun! Wang Chong mentally noted.
Even though he had sessfully captured King Qi, King Qi’s Penal Court forces and his personal army only made up around ten thousand cavalry, which was nothingpared to the First Prince’s overall forces. The First Prince still held the overwhelming advantage.
Wang Chong turned toward King Qi’s men and coldly said, “Everyone, listen up! King Qi harbored disloyal intentions and sought to rebel. As you followed him, ording to thews of the Great Tang, you are all to be executed!” Waves of killing intent surged off his body.
Harsh examples were needed in times of trouble. The Great Tang was at an extremely important juncture, and if there were still people who insisted on remaining ignorant and continuing to rebel, Wang Chong would show no mercy.
Whoosh!
The mention of execution drained the color from all of King Qi’s men. They had been forced to follow King Qi’s order and intrude into the Imperial Pce, but none of them had any burning desire to rebel.
Now that King Qi had been captured and they were standing in front of the King of Foreign Lands, none of them dared to continue rebelling.
“We surrender!”
“We surrender!”
The soldiers in front of the pce gates quickly got down on their knees.
Wang Chong saw this and nodded in satisfaction. Thews of the Great Tang forbade a subject from holding an army of more than one thousand men, and even after gathering his soldiers from all around, Wang Chong was still severelycking in manpower. Subduing King Qi’s men would undoubtedly be of great assistance to him.
Whoosh!
Wang Chong suddenly heard a rush of air. Wang Chong turned and saw that the Three Elders of the Northern Sea had suddenly begun to flee.
“Three Elders of the Northern Sea, are you thinking of rebellion?” Wang Chong sternly said, his eyes exploding with murderous intent.
At this current level of strength, he could even defeat the Tianfu Divine Lord of the Celestial God Organization, let alone some trifling Three Elders of the Northern Sea.
Buzz!
Sensing Wang Chong’s energy locking onto them, the Three Elders of the Northern Sea shivered, their faces paling.
The trio hastily turned around and stiffly said, “King of Foreign Lands, spare us! We are willing to follow Your Highness to suppress the rebellion and protect the Sage Emperor!”
After experiencing Wang Chong’s terrifying strength, none of them dared to oppose him. Attempting to escape was certain to result in death.
Upon seeing King Qi’s most favored Three Elders of the Northern Sea bowing in submission, all of King Qi’s men lost any remaining will to fight and submitted.
“We’re willing to follow Your Highness in pacifying the rebellion and protecting the Sage Emperor!”
Rebellion was a capital crime, and they had all realized that the only way to escape this disaster was to join Wang Chong’s men in pacifying the rebellion.
“Xu Keyi, I leave these people to you. Choose three thousand of the strongest and add them to our forces. Another three thousand should guard the gate, as we can’t have it closed. Thest three thousand should be split up into two groups to pacify any rebellion and maintain order throughout the capital,” Wang Chong sternly said.
Quality was more important than quantity when it came to soldiers. The majority of this force came from the Penal Court, and theycked fighting power. Only around three thousand of them would be usable. More importantly, Wang Chong understood that a rebellion in the capital would inflict the greatest losses not on the Imperial Pce, but on the streets where themon folk lived.
When an empire was in turmoil, there would always be scoundrels with ill intentions rising up to take advantage of it. They would use this opportunity to rob and plunder the capital, and once these buds of chaos took root, the turmoil would rapidly spread through the capital and turn the capital into a sea of fire. This was Wang Chong’s greatest concern.
It was only a few momentster that Wang Chong heard a young and energetic voice. “Your Highness, we’ve finished organizing all the soldiers. Please give your orders!”
Wang Chong turned to the young and bright-eyed figure at his side.
Wei Qingge!
This was the most outstanding descendant of the capital Wei n’s younger generation. In the force of soldiers Wang Chong had borrowed from the great ns this time, Wei Qingge was one of the leaders. It was also this force that Wang Chong had taken with him into the pce to deal with King Qi.
Although Wei Qingge was young, he was brimming with talent. Hecked the ripeness and experience of Zhang Que and Cheng Sanyuan, but he was extremely efficient and was able to very quickly carry out Wang Chong’s orders.
“Move out!”
Wang Chong immediately gave the order to advance. Speed was paramount in war, and each passing moment was another in which the Sage Emperor was in danger.
Rumble!
The army quickly split up into three parts. One was sent to keep order in the capital, one guarded the gate, and thest followed Wang Chong to Taiji Pce.
The rumbling of hooves was constant in the darkness. Wang Chong now had a force of eight-thousand-some people.
“Kill!”
Cries of fighting and tongues of me came from the direction of the Imperial Pce, and Wang Chong’s men moved as quickly as lightning bolts toward them.
Nervous tension hung in the air.
“Zhang Que, mobilize all our birds. No matter what price we have to pay, we have to find out what’s going on in the Imperial Pce. We must guarantee the Sage Emperor’s safety!
“Miyasame Ayaka, we’re suppressed in the skies, and Zhang Que has takenmand of all our remaining birds. You, the Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain Teams, and the spy team are responsible for rying messages!
“Xu Keyi, Cheng Sanyuan, takemand of your armies and get ready forbat! And prepare the ballistae!
“Tell Ju-Que and Tai-A to be on standby for my orders!”
Wang Chong rode through the pce, the winds howling around him, as he issued a string of orders. With each order, a few people would leave the formation.
“Kill!”
As he was issuing orders, the earth suddenly quaked, and then a great din appeared in front of him, fire shooting into the sky as two armies shed.
“Reporting!”
At this moment, a horseman rode over.
“Your Highness, we’ve been ambushed at the Center Gate! General Xu and the others are in the middle ofbat!”
The Imperial Pce was the center of political power in the Great Tang, and Taiji Pce was the Sage Emperor’s residence. To reach it from the pce gates, one had to pass by numerous other buildings and countless checkpoints.
The most important of these were the Qian Gate, the Center Gate, and the Kun Gate. One had to pass through these three gates to reach Taiji Pce.
But all three of the gates were located in narrow avenues and heavily guarded. Trying to get through these chokepoints was no easy task.
Whoosh!
At this moment, a rush of wind carried brazenughter into Wang Chong’s ears.
“Haha, King of Foreign Lands, this Huang has been waiting here for you on the orders of His Highness and the Ghost King for some time!”
A vast wave of energy swept toward him, and as Wang Chong turned to look, he immediately spotted a familiar figure standing atop a forty-some-meter-tall pce wall.
Torches burned all around him, and formidable Golden Guards and imperial household servitors manned the walls. There were even fully-armored master archers taking aim.
Huang Tianzhao!
Wang Chong’s pupils constricted. Huang Tianzhao had been the only Grand Marshal who had not fought in the Imperial Armypetition, but he was also the earliest to join the First Prince. Wang Chong had not expected that Hou Junji would assign him to guard the Center Gate.
“Fire!”
Huang Tianzhao smugly smiled and swung his arm down. Bowstrings vibrated as loudly as thunder, and arrows exploded downward.
“Ah!”
In a sh, the area beneath the walls was awash with blood and screams, numerous men falling to the onught of the master archers.
This sight instantly made Wang Chong pale.
......
At the same time, deep within the Imperial Pce...
“Kill!”
Fierce mes zed in various parts of the pce, and the rumbling of hooves indicated that numerous soldiers were charging toward this location.
The light of the fires outlined their savage faces and murderous figures.
“A rebellion! They’ve really rebelled! But how could they dare?!”
“It’s the First Prince! To think that he wouldmit such a treasonous act...!”
“What do we do? The Imperial Pce is no longer safe. What do we do?!”
“Mistress, I spotted many soldiersing this way. We must leave at once!”
Although it waste at night, no one in the harem was sleeping. They had long ago sensed that the mood in the capital wasn’t right, and now, the sounds of fighting had awakened the consorts and concubines from their restless slumber.
Their maids and eunuchs were curled up together, fear and panic on their faces.
The Great Tang had been at peace for several decades, and the Imperial Pce was the most protected ce in the realm. No one had ever imagined that something like this would happen.
“Li Ying! Li Ying! He’s grown too bold! Is His Majesty in danger?”
The consorts and concubines were rmed and afraid, but before they could do anything, thundering hooves swept over the harem.
“Your Majesties, His Highness has decreed that the Imperial Pce is now under martialw. It is hoped that all consorts and concubines will remain in their rooms and not make any reckless actions. This subordinate will be forced to be discourteous to those who break this decree!”
A cold voice and the ttering of armor prated through the walls and windows. The cold sh of des outside made all the concubines, consorts, and their servants turn ghastly pale.
Within Yuzhen Pce, the bead curtain rustled in response to the sounds of fighting. Consort Taizhen, wearing a white dress, her skin as fair and tender as ever, slowly emerged from behind the curtain.