Before dawn, at the hour of Mao.
It was the moment when the sky was about to brighten but had not yet done so—the darkest and quietest hour.
Heaven Dou Imperial City was like a sleeping giant, with most areas shrouded in silence. Only the watchman's long clapper sounds echoed through the empty streets, carrying an inexplicable chill.
Outside the northern gate of the imperial city.
The once-empty, silent avenue was now filled with an invisible air of murderous intent.
Suddenly, orderly and heavy footsteps came from several interconnected, shadowy alleys, shattering the tranquility of dawn.
Squads of soldiers clad in uniform armor and wielding sharp blades and long spears emerged like an underground current, silently and swiftly forming ranks.
Their gazes were sharp, and their movements carried the fierceness and discipline found only among battle-hardened elites. The faint clang of colliding armor gathered into a dark tide that made one's heart tremble.
Without the slightest hesitation, they marched in unison toward the towering northern gate of the imperial palace!
Qian Renxue had already changed into a lightweight silver suit of soft armor.
She did not ride in a carriage. Instead, she rode a magnificent white charger with a single horn growing from its head, standing at the very front of the formation.
Moonlight mingled with the approaching dawn, illuminating her calm and resolute profile and adding a touch of heroic dignity.
The army quickly arrived beneath the northern gate.
On top of the gate tower, imperial guard commander He Chang had been waiting for some time. Upon seeing the Crown Prince below, he immediately went down in person to open the heavy palace gate.
The enormous sound of the gate hinges turning rang exceptionally clearly in the silent dawn, as if opening the floodgates of a new era.
Qian