Empress Sophia sat on the throne.
The city was in chaos, but Sophia had already calmed down. At this moment, everyone else could be at a loss, but not her. She had to issue commands with absolute clarity; only then could she point others in a direction.
"Madame Yaga, I need to know the Royal Guard's location and the situation at the Ancestral Mausoleum."
With a disturbance this serious, the Royal Guard should have appeared at her side at the first possible moment, yet even now they were still nowhere to be seen. That was highly unusual.
"But if I leave here, no one will be able to protect you," Madame Yaga said.
"I trust that confirming such simple information shouldn't take you too long. And... I'm not exactly a powerless vase, either," the empress said, drawing a wand from behind her.
Madame Yaga hesitated for a moment, then said to several attendants in the hall, "Go. Take up your wands. Before I return, no one is allowed to set foot in the audience hall."
With that, she left, turning into a wisp of clear wind and swiftly departing the palace, racing toward a military camp nearby.
The Royal Guard was stationed here. Their duty was to protect the emperor, so the camp was only a little over a hundred zhang from the Palace of Spring.
However, after taking only a few steps, she noticed a trace of white mist rising in the air. She took a breath and keenly sensed something wrong. "This mist is poisonous... no, not poison. Magic... it seems... to be a Stunning Spell?"
Frowning, she arrived at the camp, and sure enough, discovered that all the guards stationed there had fallen into a deep sleep.
She waved her wand. "Finite Incantatem!"
The guards woke from